Brihadaranyak

The earth is verily the essence of all these beings, water is the essence of the earth, herbs of water, flowers of herbs, fruits of flowers, man of fruits and semen is the essence of man.

Prajapati said to Himself - "Well, let Me make a firm basis for it (semen)." So, he created woman. Having created her, He placed her below and worshipped her. Therefore, one should worship a woman, placing her below. He (Prajapati) extended His organ that projects and with it impregnated her.

Her lap is the sacrificial altar, her hair the sacrificial grass, her skin within the organ the lighted fire; the two labia of the vulva are the two stones of the soma-press. He who, knowing this, practises sexual intercourse wins as great a world as is won through the Vijapeya sacrifice; he acquires for himself the fruit of the good deeds of the woman. But he who, without knowing this, practises sexual intercourse turns over to the woman his own good deeds.

Having known this, Uddalaka the son of Aruna, Naka the son of Mudgala and Kumara-harita said - "Many mortals, brahmins only in name, perform the sexual act without knowledge of what has been said and depart from this world impotent and without merit." Even if this much semen-of one asleep or of one awake, is spilled,

He should touch it and repeat the following mantra - "Whatever semen of mine has spilt on earth, whatever has flowed to plants, whatever to water, I reclaim it." With these words he should take the semen with his ring finger and thumb and rub it between his breasts or eyebrows, repeating the following mantra - "Let the semen return to me, let Vigour come to me again, let glow and good fortune come to me again. May the deities who dwell in the sacrificial fire put the semen back in its proper place."

Now, if a man sees himself (his reflection) in water, he should recite the following mantra - "May the gods bestow on me vigour, manhood, fame, wealth and merit." In praise of the wife who will bear him a son - She (his wife) has put on the soiled clothes of impurity; she is, verily, loveliness among women. Therefore, when she has removed the clothes of impurity and appears beautiful, he should approach her and speak to her.

If she does not willingly yield her body to him, he should buy her with presents. If she is still unyielding, he should strike her with a stick or with his hand and overcome her, repeating the following mantra - "With power and glory I take away your glory." Thus, she becomes discredited.

If she grants his desire, he should repeat the following mantra - "With power and glory I give you glory." Thus, they both become glorious.

If a man desires his wife with the thought - "May she enjoy love with me," then, after inserting the member in her, joining mouth to mouth and stroking her organ, he should utter the following mantra - "O semen, you have been produced from my every limb, especially from my heart through the essence of food you are the essence of the limbs. Bring this woman under my control, like a deer pierced by a poisoned arrow."

Now, the wife whom he desires with the thought - "May she not conceive" - after inserting the member in her and joining mouth to mouth, he should inhale and then exhale, repeating the following mantra - "With power, with semen, I reclaim the semen from you." Thus, she comes to be without semen.

Now, the wife whom he desires with the thought - "May she conceive" - after inserting the member in her and joining mouth to mouth, he should inhale and then exhale, repeating the following mantra - "With power, with semen, I deposit semen in you." Thus, she verily becomes pregnant.

Now, if a man's wife has a paramour whom he detests, he should perform the following rite in order to cast an evil spell upon him - Let him put fire in an unbaked earthen vessel, spread stalks of reed and kusa grass inversely and offer in the sacrificial fire the reed tips, soaked in clarified butter, inversely, repeating the following mantra - "You have made a libation in my kindled fire! I take away your prana and apana, you, _______! Here the name of the evil doer should be uttered. You have made a libation in my kindled fire! I take away your sons and cattle, you, _______! You have made a libation in my kindled fire! I take away your Vedic rites and those done according to the Smritis, you, _______! You have made a libation in my kindled fire! I take away your hopes and expectations, you, _______! He whom a brahmin who knows this rite curses, departs from this world impotent and shorn of merit. Therefore let no one even joke with the wife of a Vedic scholar who knows this rite; for he who has this knowledge is a dangerous enemy.

If a man's wife has the monthly sickness, she should for three days drink water from a cup made of bell metal. Let no sudra man or woman touch her. After three nights she should bathe, put on a new cloth and her husband should make her thresh rice.

If a man wishes that a son with a fair complexion should be born to him, that he should study one Veda and that he should attain a full term of life, then they (husband and wife) should have rice cooked in milk and eat it with clarified butter. Thus, they should be able to beget such a son.

If a man wishes that a son with a tawny or brown complexion should be born to him, that he should study two Vedas and that he should attain a full term of life, then they should have rice cooked in curds and eat it with clarified butter. Thus, they should be able to beget such a son.

If a man wishes that a son with a dark complexion and red eyes should be born to him, that he should study three Vedas and that he should attain a full term of life, then they should have rice cooked in water and eat it with clarified butter. Thus they should be able to beget such a son.

If a man wishes that a daughter should be born to him who will be a scholar and attain a full term of life, then they should have rice cooked with sesamum and eat it with clarified butter. Thus they should be able to beget such a daughter.

If a man wishes that a son should be born to him who will be a famous scholar, frequenting assemblies and speaking delightful words, a student of all the Vedas and an enjoyer of the full term of life, he should have rice cooked with the meat of a young bull or of one more advanced in years and he and his wife should eat it with clarified butter. Then they should be able to beget such a son.

Now, towards morning he purifies the clarified butter according to the rules of Sthalipaka and offers Sthalipaka oblations repeatedly, saying - "Svaha to fire! Svaha to Anumati! Svaha to the radiant sun, who produces infallible results!" Having made the offering, he takes up the remnant of the cooked food, eats part of it and gives the rest to his wife. Then he washes his hands, fills the water-vessel and sprinkles her thrice with water, uttering once this mantra - "Get up from here, O Visvavasu! Seek another young woman, a wife with her husband."

Then he embraces her, repeating the following mantra - I am the vital breath and you are speech. You are speech and I am the vital breath. I am Saman and you are Rig; I am heaven, and you are earth. Come, let us strive together so that we may have a male child."

Then he spreads apart her thighs, repeating the following mantra - "Spread yourselves apart, Heaven and Earth." Inserting the member in her and joining mouth to mouth, he strokes her three times from head to foot, repeating the following mantra - "Let Vishnu make the womb capable of bearing a son! Let Tvashtra shape the various limbs of the child! Let Prajapati pour in the semen! Let Dhatra support the embryo! O Sinivali, make her conceive; O goddess whose glory is widespread, make her conceive! May the two Atvins, garlanded with lotuses, support the embryo!

Let the two Atvins chum the womb with the two golden arani sticks! I am placing a seed in your womb to be delivered in the tenth month. As the earth has fire in its womb, as heaven is pregnant with the sun, as the quarters are impregnated by air, so I am impregnating you by placing this seed in your womb." After the reciting of the mantra, he utters his own name and that of his wife and places the seed.

When she is about to deliver the child, he sprinkles her with water, repeating the following mantra - "As the wind agitates a pond on every side, even so let your foetus stir and come out along with the chorion. Indra (prana) made a path when the seed entered the womb. O Indra, follow that path and come out with the foetus and the covering and cause also the after birth to come forth with the babe."

When the son is born, he should light a fire, take the child on his lap, put a mixture of curds and clarified butter in a bell-metal cup and offer oblations in the fire repeatedly, uttering the mantra - "May I increase as the son in my own home and support a thousand people! May the Goddess of Fortune never depart, with children and cattle, from his line! Svaha! The vital breath that is in me, I mentally offer to you. Svaha! If I have done anything too much or too little in this ceremony, may the all-knowing and highly beneficent fire make it just right and proper for me. Svaha!"

The, putting his month to the child's right ear, he should say thrice - "Speech! Speech!" Next, he would mix together curds, honey and clarified butter and feed the child with a golden stick which is not placed inside the month, saying these mantras - "I put the earth (Bhuh) into you; I put the sky (Bhuvah) into you; I put heaven (Svah) into you. The whole of earth, sky and heaven I put into you."

Then he (the father) gives him (the son) a name - 'You are the Veda (knowledge)." That is his secret name.

Then he presents him to the mother to give him her breast, uttering the mantra - "O Sarasvati, that breast of thine, which is fruitful, the sustainer of all, full of milk, the bestower of wealth and generous and by which you nourish all who are worthy, transfer that breast here to my wife, for my child to suck.

Then he addresses the mother - ‘You are the adorable Arundhatī, the wife of Vasiṣṭha; you have brought forth a male child with the help of me, who am a man. Be the mother of many sons, for you have given us a son.’ Of him who is born as the child of a Brāhmaṇa with this particular knowledge, they say - ‘You have exceeded your father, and you have exceeded your grandfather. You have reached the extreme limit of attainment through your splendour, fame and Brāhmaṇical power.’