Niyoga


Niyoga was a Hindu practice, primarily followed during the ancient period, in the Indian subcontinent. Niyoga permitted widows or wives who had no child by their husband to procreate with another man. The purpose of niyoga was 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. Niyoga was forbidden in Kali Yuga by Rishi Brhaspati and other Manusmriti writers. It has been held that niyoga is not akin to polyandry. Sir Henry Maine thinks that Niyoga is of a later date than the Levirate marriage, but J. D. Mayne justified levirate union as merely an enlarged form of Niyoga that came into effect after a man's death. The Niyoga practice enabled a woman to bear children upon union with a male with a "desirable seed".

Manusmṛti

In the Manusmṛti, niyoga is described in IX.59-63, but the practice is also allowed in IX.64-68. This text describes the child born by niyoga as a kshetraja child of the husband-wife.

Clauses of Niyoga

There were various clauses associated with this process:
  1. The woman would agree to this only for the sake of rightfully having a child but not for sexual pleasure.
  2. The child thus born would be considered the child of the husband-wife and not that of the appointed man.
  3. Niyoga is permitted only for the purpose of childbirth and not for sexual pleasure.
  4. The appointed man would not seek any paternal relationship or attachment to this child in the future.
  5. To avoid misuse, a man was allowed a maximum of three times in his lifetime to be appointed in such a way.
  6. 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 neither 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.
  7. There will be no foreplay or contact of any kind with the upper body. The bodies of the female and male both are smeared with Ghee. There is a curtain between the male and the female so that none can see each other's face so that passion does not sneak into their minds. Only the legs of the female are kept uncovered. The male penetrates and ejaculates inside the woman and the process is completed.

    Procedure

A wife or a widow must not, however, be forced to have recourse to Niyoga for inheritance or similar purposes. Baudhāyana and Vasistha say that a widow desiring Niyoga should avoid meat, honey etc. and sleep on the ground for a short period not exceeding one year. After six months following the death of her husband, she offers a funeral oblation to her deceased husband and with the approval and aid of her brother or father, other relatives of her husband, and also in consultation with the Gurus of her family, she chooses the man to have an issue by her. A characterless, mad, diseased or very aged widow is not entitled to Niyoga. Sixteen years after maturity is the proper time for Niyoga. A sickly person is to be avoided for the purpose. She must be economically independent of the person whom she appoints for Niyoga and provide for the necessary expenses for food, unguents, etc. for herself.

Limitations

The practice of niyoga was declared by Manu but later prohibited by him on account of the progressive deterioration of the four world ages, it must not be practiced by mortals in the present age according to law. Brahma Purana says "The niyoga, and the taking as sons other than the Aurasha and the Dattaka, are prohibited in the Kali age by the wise." Niyoga or Levirate which Apastamba declares as unfit for practice in a degenerate later age or Manu's repudiation of widow-remarriage as unsupported by Vedic hymeneal Mantras or the text purporting to be Baudhayana's cited in the Smriti-candrika. When in almost the same breath the smriti indicates an institution like niyoga, and the conditions which should govern its application, and also condemns it as an "animal practice", Manusmriti, IX, 59-63 and IX, 64-69, the juxtaposition of apparently opposed views should be treated not as an instance of inconsistency, or carelessness in composition, or of interpolation, but, as explained by Brhaspati, as an indication of applicability and inapplicability to different time-cycles or yugas.

Historical examples

The Haihaya ruler Raja Raj Singh begot a son through niyoga on the advice of his Brahmin councilors.

In popular culture

Niyoga is the central issue of Anahat, a Marathi feature film directed by Amol Palekar. It was showcased at the International Film Festival of India 2003.
The movie Eklavya: The Royal Guard has this practice as the central plot. The title character played by Amitabh Bachchan is torn between his duty and the emotions for his children begotten by the practice of niyoga.
It is also portrayed in the 1989 film Oonch Neech Beech, where the character played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda, a sanyasi, is commanded by his teacher to perform niyoga.