GARBHADANA SAMSKARA

-"The scientific concepts of medicine, healing and lifestyle choices that foster holistic health"

BG 7.11

बलं बलवतां चाहं कामरागविवर्जितम् ।

धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु कामोऽस्मि भरतर्षभ ॥११॥

balaṁ balavatāṁ cāhaṁ

kāma-rāga-vivarjitam

dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu

kāmo ’smi bharatarṣabha

Translation

I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles, O lord of the Bhāratas [Arjuna].

The Vedic concept of Family Planning is conscious planning of the act of sexual consummation driven by the sole purpose of obtaining a virtuous progeny and not for sense gratification. Therefore, the act of sexual union is considered a sacred act of yajña or offering to Lord Viṣṇu. This sacred act is governed by a set of medical, cultural, astrological, and spiritual instructions. It is indeed a great science!

Many Vedic texts consider that Garbhadhana samskara is to be performed only once for the first time after marriage. However, vratas, chanting of mantras, and determining the right daytime are very crucial for every sexual union. Without planning, progeny is termed as ‘unintended’.

The Best Progeny:

Nowadays, there is a pathetic raise of unwanted progeny by disturbed couples producing disturbed children who grow up as disturbed adults and have disturbed families. Thus, overall the result is a disturbed society. This is called as varṇa-saṅkara population or population of unwanted progeny in Vedic terms.

Vedic Family Planning Vs Modern Family Planning

There is a marked difference between Vedic Family Planning and Modern Family Planning. Vedic understanding provides for giving birth to and raising as many righteous progenies as possible and considers the sexual act as an act of sacrifice or yajña; while the modern understanding promotes sexual promiscuity and considers progeny as a secondary objective or an accidental result of the sexual act and that the primary objective being ‘population control’.

In Vedic understanding, we can see that the righteous population is not a burden to society whereas the bad population creates instability in the world. The righteous progeny is conceived not by accident but by conscious preparation of mind, body, and environment and conducted on an auspicious day and time governed by astrological principles. This is the cultured way of the civilized world.

The value of great parentage and noble birth is evaluated in connection with the birth of Vidura. The culture of a human being begins when the father invests his semen in the womb of the mother. According to his status of work, a living entity is placed in a particular father’s semen, and because Vidura was not an ordinary living entity, he was given the chance to be born from the semen of Vyasa.

The birth of a human being is a great science, and therefore reformation of the act of impregnation according to the Vedic ritual called garbhadana samskara, which is very important for generating a good population. The problem is not to check the growth of the population, but to generate a good population on the level of Vidura, Vyasa and

Maitreya. There is no need to check the growth of the population if the children are born as human beings with all precautions regarding their birth. So-called birth control is not only vicious but also useless.” (Śrila Prabhupada, Purport to Śrimad Bhagavatam 3.5.19)

Unwanted Dangers with increased risks:

The risk of accidental conception also results in an increased risk of congenital defects in the progeny. These inborn defects could be minor, major, anatomical, physiological, and even latent in nature. We all have heard that the health of a nation depends on the health of its citizens. With the high incidence of unintended pregnancies, there is a high prevalence of diseases among citizens which severely affects the stability and growth of the nation.

Data studies in the USA reveal that 3 – 5% of all births in the USA result in congenital malformations (7% in India); 20 – 30% of all infant deaths are due to genetic disorders; 30 – 50% of post-neonatal deaths are due to congenital malformations; 12% of adult hospital admissions are for genetic causes; 50% of mental retardation has a genetic basis; 15% of all cancers have an inherited susceptibility; 10% of the chronic diseases (heart, diabetes, arthritis), which occur in the adults have a significant genetic component.

Modern family planning a Grand Failure!

Modern family planning boasts of better health for women and children while the data above reveals that it has not achieved its goals, essentially because there is actually no real ‘Planning’. Modern family planning has also failed severely in what it actually wanted to achieve – population control. In spite of promotion involving billions of dollars spent every year; in Spite of acceptance and use of contraception globally; and spite of millions of abortions and sterilization camps conducted worldwide, the fact is that the world population has more than doubled from 3 billion in 1960 to7 billion presently! Overall, modern family planning is a grand failure!

The True seeds of culture!

Vedic alternative not just results in better health for individuals in society, but also keeps the social, cultural, and spiritual fabric of the nation healthy. That is the beauty of all the saṁskaras prescribed in Vedas being followed from time immemorial.

There is a great need to train and educate the youth regarding this great science of Garbhadana samskara. Nowadays, there is talk and controversy regarding sex

education. The real sex education is Garbadhana samskara, the Vedic sex education.