Women in the Atharva-veda Samhita
by Pranab Jyoti Kalita | 2017 | 62,142 words
This page relates ‘Rites Related to Birth (a): Svapana’ of the study on women in the Vedic society reflecting the Atharva-veda Samhita in English. These pages discusses the social aspects of women, education, customs of marriage, practices of polyandry and polygamy, descriptions of female deities and various rites and rituals. It is shown how women earned much praise in ancient Indian society. Included are Sanskrit text and references of the Atharvaveda and commentary by Sayana-Acharya.
2. Rites Related to Birth (a): Svāpana
As a part of their conjugal life, it was their prime duty to beget offspring. With this purpose, to avoid disturbance and also to maintain secrecy during cohabitation, the Atharvavedic seer prescribes one kind of spell, known as Svāpana.[1] This spell was used for putting a woman to sleep along with other family members so that the husband may approach his wife safely.[2] To perform this rite, a waterpot was consecrated and sprinkled in the bedroom and the remaining part was put inside the home at the doorstep.[3] This rite was accomplished by the recitation of the Atharvavedic hymn, sahasraśṛṅgo…, etc. (4.5).
Thereafter, a mortar, the northern post of the house, the southern foot of the woman’s bed or the ropes were consecrated.[4]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
sahasraśṛṅga iti svāpanam / Ibid., 36.1
[2]:
sahasraśṛṅgaḥ iti sūktena stryabhigamane tasyāstatparisaravartināṃ ca svāpanārthaṃ… / Sāyaṇa in his Introduction to the commentary on Atharvaveda, 4.5