Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/82

derived from "pu," hell, and "tra," to liberate, and means one who can liberate the Manes from hell. For the common belief is, that as long as one does not have offspring, especially male offspring, his Manes are doomed to perdition. One dying without a son is offered no salvation. Marriage among the Hindoos is therefore a religious sacrament and not a social contract. To beget a son is, with them, to liquidate the debt they owe to their ancestors. No one would like to be called childless, as that is equivalent to a frustration of the real object of matrimony. Sometimes, owing to disparity of age between the husband and wife, or owing to defects in the generative organs of the one or the other, or both, a successful insemination is not possible. With a view to remove these disabilities the sage Vatsayana, an author who wrote about the beginning of the Christian era his book called "Kamasutras," or "Aphorisms of Love," prescribes some remedies. He alludes in his writings to the works of seven earlier authors on the same subject. His disciple Koka has earned a wider popularity. He describes the various causes that prevent conception, and recommends remedial measures. Among other