Niyoga
Hindu's tradition of conception by proxy fathers / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 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]