Note 145 — Chapter I

The heat of the sun causes the trees and plants to give forth new sprouts, and therefore he is called ‘Savita’ or Producer.145 Solar and lunar rays are also believed to facilitate and expedite delivery.146 The medical science of the Hindus declares the Amāvāsya (new-moon day) and Pūrnima (full-moon day) days—on both of which days the influence of the sun and the moon is most powerful—to be so critical for child-bearing women as to cause, at times, premature delivery.147 Hence, before delivery, women are made to take turns in the sunlight and also in moonlight, in order to invigorate the fœtus, thus securing that their delivery may be easy. [The assistance rendered by solar rays in facilitating the delivery is said to impart a hot temperament to the child so born, and that by the lunar rays a cool one.]148 After delivery, a woman should glance at the sun with her hands clasped, and should offer rice and red flowers to him.149 Sitting in the sun after delivery is considered beneficial to women enfeebled by the effort.150 It is a cure for the paleness due to exhaustion,151 and infuses new vigour.152