Niyoga

Not to be confused with Niyog (disambiguation).

Niyoga (Sanskrit: नियोग) was a Hindu practice, primarily followed during the ancient period. It was permitted for the widows or wives who had no child by their spouse to procreate a child with another man.[1][2][3] The basic purpose of niyoga is to ensure the continuation of the family lineage and to mitigate the financial and social precariousness that a childless widow would have faced in society.[4] Niyoga was forbidden in the Kali age by Brhaspati and other smrti writers.[5] It has been held that niyoga has nothing to do with polyandry.[6] Sir Henry Maine thinks that the Niyoga is of a later date than the Levirate, but J. D. Mayne justified regarding the Levirate ( custom of the Hebrews in which marry with brother's wife when brother's widow has no son) as merely an enlarged form of the Niyoga, that came into effect after a man's death.[7] The Niyoga system, which enabled a woman to choose and invite a male with the desirable seed, and bear children.[8]

  1. ^ Thomas P. (1924). Kama Kalpa Or The Hindu Ritual Of Love. p. 21.
  2. ^ Benjamin Walker (2019). Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. p. 592. ISBN 978-0-429-62465-0. The levirate system of the ancient Jews was almost identical with the Hindu custom of niyoga, 'injunction', legalized by Manu
  3. ^ Mishra, V. B. (1977). "The Practice of Niyoga in Ancient Literature of India: A Sociological Study". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 58/59: 773–776. ISSN 0378-1143.
  4. ^ Brick, D. (2023). Widow Remarriage and Niyoga. In Widows Under Hindu Law (pp. 15–101). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197664544.003.0002
  5. ^ “ Pg.29 : Niyoga forbidden in the Kali age by Brhaspati and other smrti writers. “ Kane, Pandurang Kane (1941). History Of Dharmasastra Vol. 2, Part. 1. p. 29.
  6. ^ “ Pg. 78 : It has been held that ‘ niyoga ’ has nothing to do with polyandry. “S.C.Sarkar (1928). Some Aspects Of The Earliest Social History Of India. p. 78.
  7. ^ “ Pg.144 : Sir Henry Maine thinks that the Niyoga is of later date than the Levirate, but J. D. Mayne justified in regarding the Levirate as merely an enlarged form of the Niyoga, which came into effect after a man's death.”Starcke, Carl Nicolai (1889). The primitive family in its origin and development. University of Michigan. New York, D. Appleton and company. p. 144.
  8. ^ “ Pg.822 : The Niyoga system, which enabled a woman to choose and invite a male with the desirable seed, and bear children.”S L Bhyrappa (1979). Parva by S L Bhyrappa. p. 822.