Seemanthonnayanam and Pugumsavanam.. Samskaras

Seemanthonnayanam and Pugumsavanam.. Samskaras

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Someone remarked that Seemantham, a ceremony on the expectant mother, is celebrated to indicate the entry of the soul into the foetus in the womb..

It is not so...

The seemanthonnayanam and pumsavanam samskaras have nothing to do with soul entering the body of of the child..

The seemanthonnayanam is meant to activate certain grandhis or glands in the expectant mothers body to enable her to have a safe delivery.

The ritual is that the husband of the expectant lady would make a scar upwards in the middle of the forehead.. from the location of Aajna Chakra to the beginning of the top of the skull.. symbolically where the Seemantha Rekha is located..

The scar is made using the quill or spine of a porcupine.. The scar is just symbolic, it does not cut the skin

And rightly or wrongly the older generation believed in begetting a male child as a great boon,

and believed that the juices of some plants would convert even the female foetus into a male..

So some herbal extract is poured into the nose of the pregnant woman.

You will be surprised or aghast to know that if the female is deserted or becomes widow during the pregnancy, the father in law or the brother in law or even the brother is expected to perform these samskaras for the lady.. according to dharmasastras.

( I feel reading too deep into the smritis is dangerous for peaceful living.)

It is not known to what extent this belief is well founded.

The samskara of garbhaadhaanam itself is giving life to the foetus..

And the term "Soul" is used very loosely..

Is there any special place for Soul in Vedic religion, which directs the seemantham and pumsavanam ritual.

The term "Soul" appears to be a byproduct of uttarameemaamsa or vedanta.