Since the inception of Indian civilization, venerating women as idols of worship in the form of mother goddesses has always been a prevalent activity. Their employment as a divine figure is not limited to an attribution solely maintained by the Brahmanical Aryan intruders but could be traced from a historical perspective since the age of the first civilization when major urban cities were making headways towards economic and social transformations wherein archaic worshipping of terracotta Mother Goddesses was still in vogue. The instrumentality in providing importance to them was in relation to the attributed functionality of their biological nature in begetting children, which was seen in their divine forms as the ones who could perpetuate wealth, prosperity, and health.
But what if this stress on fertility, which elevates their religious position, digresses and even exploits them in reality in the social milieu of ancient times?
This degeneration of women in society was not in relation to their fertility but alludes to the practice of Niyoga as a demeaning tragedy, which they had to endure just to beget a male heir for the continuance of their familial lineage if the husband was impotent to produce one. The pressure on producing a son has always been a matter of historical and social significance, as has been gleaned from the ‘Aitareya Brahmana’, which posits that the birth of a son is the hope of a family while that of the daughter is considered trouble. Even the opulent composition of Somadeva with its unique collection of legends and folktales in ‘Kathasaritsagara’, deems the birth of a son as bliss, while that of a daughter is treated as the root of misery and discontentment in a natal household.
In accordance with this social consciousness of producing male offspring, the practice of niyoga gained supremacy in the Indian fold, meanwhile, working in the trajectory of either an impotent husband or in the case of a vacuum, where the husband has died due to unforeseen reasons. In the former case, niyoga was practiced to maintain the sanctity of marriage, while in the latter, familial considerations for remarriage were seen as leading towards adultery. The act of producing a male child with this initiative was thus seen as conducive to execution. The enactment of the practice was undertaken solely by the younger brother, who, as per the norm, had the right over the wife of the eldest son, but if there was unavailability, then the right was given to any close member of the family, only with a high moral quality. Permission to perpetuate it came either from the husband or close relatives in the case of the husband’s circumstantial death, while no say was required from the wife. In a polygamous marriage, the allowance of the eldest wife was also required to initiate the act of procreation.
The Manusmṛiti strictly delineates certain rules and regulations in the orchestration of niyoga, in which, before the commencement of the union, certain purificatory rites were to be performed on the engaging partners. After the union, both partners should act like father and daughter-in-law, with the male partner having no right over the conceived child. The purview of niyoga was limited to procreation only and was not to be overtaken by attaining any sort of sexual pleasure. Even in this inhumane practice of female fertility, an ordinance was added that no allowance was to be given to the woman in the selection of her sexual partner but was handed over to the members of the husband’s blood.
Tracing the earliest mentions of niyoga, it could be conjured up through indirect referencing dating to c. 1500 B.C.E., when the composition of the Ṛgveda was first initiated. However, definitive details were only to be brought up during the age of the second urbanization, when texts such as the Dharmasutra of Gautama, Vasistha, Baudhyāyana, and Manusmṛiti were cumulatively produced. Narrative accounts, as mentioned in the Mahābhārata also present some definitive process of niyoga in their stories.
Interesting amongst this is the dilemma of Queen Satyavatī, wife of the dead King Shantanu, in selecting a sexual partner for the daughter-in-law of her dead son, Vicitravīrya to initiate niyoga with the widowed queens. An invitation was thus finally advanced to Ved Vyāsa, half-brother to Vicitravīrya, following Bhīṣma’s vow of celibacy, to whom the offer was first placed. Humiliation and disgrace were meted out to the queens, as in the first meeting with Ved Vyāsa, they perceived him as a dark, red-eyed man with unkempt hair. Seeing Vyāsa in this state, Ambikā fell unconscious, therefore Dhṛtarāṣṭra was born blind, and following suit, Ambālikā, turned pale with fear, thus Pāṇḍu was born an albino.
Even though several instances and regulations were postulated in the religious literature of the Brahmanical faith, Niyoga was still looked upon as abhorrent to practice. Manu too outwardly expressed his disapproval of this significant act of union, which signifies that it was not in such favour as has been looked upon due to the inherent question placed on the women’s fidelity engaged in this practice. Niyoga was thus seen as an Apaddharma (employed during emergencies) and not as a generalized act in the ancient social setting. Even if the aversion is noticeable, male progeny were still given primacy and were required for specific religious activities, such as the srāddhas (funerary rites), which made a begrudging custom into an endless tradition.
Obloquy to this practice of niyoga was also rendered in the visuality of Indian cinema through the lens of Amol Palekar in 2003 with his Marathi cinematic film, Anahat starring Anant Nag and Sonali Bendre in the lead roles. The film introduced for the first time the ground reality of Indian history, presenting to its audiences an anecdote of the factual historical practice of Niyoga and the begrudging state of women in the societal milieu of the time. Although the film deviated from the hard-edge rule of niyoga in the selection of the sexual partner, which, according to the film narrative, was in the hands of the queen herself, it still managed to become an eccentric analytical film, which demolished the notion of romanticizing with the history of ancient India and established the norm of a novel understanding of history with objectivity.
In conclusion, the amplification of niyoga practices witnessed throughout the centuries begets the cardinal questions being placed on a woman’s fertility, position in society, remarriage, and the overall structured patriarchy, adding a blotch on our often reminiscent and romanticized perception of Indian history. Practices such as these which have moulded and shaped the ancient social consciousness, realize the injustices being committed since the ancient times to which we have an equal inheritance. Reminders of the patriarchal hegemony of the male members in generational and traditional terms and the retainment of this ideology need to be shattered and an alternative bypass has to be synthesized to do away with the theodicy of patriarchy, which impacts the life of the present women and their identity of existence as such.
