3. Description of the Garbhadhana, Nisheka and Ritu-sangamana rites

Two drinks are encountered in the course of the performance of this rite. The first being a semi-fluid or viscous gruel, which was consumed directly, that is through the mouth, while the second, which forms the crux of the rite (as it is believed to be efficacious in procuring the child) is administered to the wife through her nostril,. The samskara may now be described - On the day of the performance of this rite, the wife had to eat food prepared from the best rice and barley and mixed with milk. So, it must have been a gruel or porridge. .... having provided a shoot of the Nyagrodha tree or a fruit of the Sahadevi, the husband 8. Kane P.V., op. cit., p.203.

26 should instil its juice, into her right nostril, if a son is desired and into the left one, if a daughter is desired. She should not spit out this juice, and should avoid grief and anger. 9 Thereupon, the husband approaches the wife, sprinkling her with water to the recitation of the prescribed mantras "May Visnu make thy womb ready" etc. Some teachers hold the view that the husband should approach the wife, with mantras after having sprinkled water, around the sacred fire and having offered the oblations to Visvedevas, Visnu and others. While most of the grhyasutras, merely mention the Caturthikarma, without a separate description, the Baudh G.S. and the Kath G.S. do not describe the word Caturthikarma separately and the Manu S., Yajnavalkya-smriti and Vi.Dh.S. equate the word Niseka to Garbhadhana. The Vaikh G.S. not only mentions. Rtu-sangamana as distinct from Garbhadhana but also states that Rtu-sangamana (that is approaching the wife after menses) is regarded as Niseka. So, to sum up, it is found that the wife was to subsist on a light and wholesome gruel prior to the performance of the 9. Ram Gopal, op. cit., p.256.

27 27 rite proper. The inserting of the crushed juice of the Nyagrodha shoot or Sahadevi fruit is believed to be a means of begetting progeny, further accentuated by the utterance of mantras and the propitiation of deities. No similar rite is to be encountered on the Zoroastrian front.