Niyoga

Author: Dayanand Deswal दयानन्द देसवाल

Niyoga or Niyog (नियोग) is an ancient Indian tradition, in which a woman (whose husband is either incapable of fatherhood or has died without having a child) would request and appoint a person for helping her bear a child. According to this tradition the man who was appointed must be or would most likely be a revered person. There were various clauses associated with this process, as follows:

1. The woman would agree to this only for the sake of rightfully having a child and not for pleasure.
2. The child, thus born would be considered the child of the husband-wife and not that of the appointed man.
3. The appointed man would not seek any paternal relationship or attachment to this child in the future.
4. To avoid misuse, a man was allowed a maximum of three times in his lifetime to be appointed in such a way.
5. The act will be seen as that of Dharma and while doing so, the man and the wife will have only Dharma in their mind and not passion nor lust. The man will do it as a help to the woman in the name of God, whereas the woman will accept it only to bear the child for herself and her husband. Hence, this should be defined as a taboo or a bad practice.

Explanation

It should be borne in mind that this tradition was followed in exceptional circumstances, where the widow did not want to re-marry but desired to have a son/daughter so that the family-line may extend and the property should remain in heritage. In case of a married woman whose husband was still alive, she had the option to follow it (with husband's consent) because of her husband's inability to conceive her (due to medical reasons or disability). The practice of Niyoga was followed with the consent of the society and other members of the family, in the same way as the ritual of marriage is performed.

In the Manusmriti

The practice of niyoga was solely for widows and childless women who chose not to remarry:

"vidhavāyāṁ niyuktastu ghṛtākto vāgyato nisi।

ekaṁ utpādayetputraṁ na dvitīyaṁ kathaṁ cana।।"

(Manusmriti,Chapter 9 Verse 60)

"Meaning: If a widow desires offspring, she may, with the father's consent, engage in niyoga by anointing herself with ghee on her body and should give birth to a son. However, besides one son, she should never produce another."

Therefore, until a critical situation arose, permission for niyoga was not granted. If someone engaged in niyoga against societal norms, they would face social ostracism :

"jyeṣṭho yavīyasō bhāryāṁ yavīyānvāgrajastriyam।

patitau bhavato gatvā niyuktāvapyanāpadi।।"

(Manusmriti,Chapter 9 Verse 58)

"Meaning: Unless there is a crisis, then with the father's consent, if the wives of both older and younger brothers engage in niyoga, they both will share the sin, leading to the degradation of the varna (social order and duties)."

In the Mahabharata

The epic Mahabharata describes one instance of niyoga. Queen Satyavati compels her son and sage Vyasa to perform niyoga with the widows of her son Vichitravirya, who had an untimely death. The widows Ambika and Ambalika and one of their maids, bear Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura respectively.

Niyoga in modern context

Some people consider the custom of Niyoga a taboo, a sin. But the reality is that modern methods of test-tube baby or surrogacy are nothing but following of this ancient ritual, through advanced medical techniques.

Excerpts from Jat History

Bhim Singh Dahiya writes -

Even the authority of the Vedas, the lure of heaven and the doctrine of retribution are invoked only to push up the morale of the army. Asoka openly expresssed his disapproval of the ceremonies on the occasions of birth, marriage, death, etc., and called them petty and worthless. Arthasastra of Chanakya, permitted widow marriage for Brahhmans. Divorce, too, was allowed and was termed 'Mukti' (liberation). Even Niyoga (getting children after husband's death), was permitted for Brahman widows. "Hence the old nobility and priesthood melted and merged in a common stream of humanity". The Yuga Purana declared, "in that case people would lose their nobility and religion. Brahmans, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras will behave and dress themselves alike".

Thus we see that the Brahmanical caste distinction, rituals, bloody sacrifices, even wasteful expenditure on birth, marriage and death ceremonies were denounced openly. Laws of the land were made applicable to all, without distinction of caste or creed, Hence, writing after the commencement of the Christian era, Ashvaghosha reflects, that "the Brahmanas as caste had disappeared and instead of Chaturvarna (four castes), there was only one caste (Ekavarna)".

External links

महर्षि दयानन्द ने नियोग प्रथा का विस्तृत वर्णन सत्यार्थप्रकाश के गृहस्थ प्रकरण में किया है जिसे इस पेज पर पढ़ा जा सकता है -

http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org/satyarthprakash/satyarth_prakash.htm

• नियोग बनाम वैदिक सैरोगेसी
• http://hindi.speakingtree.in/allslides/meaning-and-conditions-for-niyoga
• https://vedicdharmahinduism.wordpress.com/category/नियोग-प्रथा/

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