Niyoga

Niyoga (Sanskrit: नियोग) is an ancient Hindu tradition, in which a woman (whose husband is either incapable of fatherhood or has died without having a child) would request and appoint a person for helping her bear a child. According to this Hindu tradition the man who was appointed must be or would most likely be a revered person. There were various clauses associated with this process, as follows:

In niyoga, the bodies were to be covered with ghee (so that lust may not take root in the minds of the participants but the actual act may take place for conception).

The epic Mahabharata describes one instance of niyoga. Queen Satyavati compels her son and sage Vyasa to perform niyoga with the widows of her son Vichitravirya. The widows Ambika and Ambalika and one of their maids bear Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura respectively.

In the Manusmṛti, niyoga is described in IX.59-63, but the practice is also forbidden in IX.64-68. This text (IX.167) describes the child born by niyoga as a kshetraja child of the husband-wife.

Niyoga is the central issue of Anahat, a Marathi feature film directed by Amol Palekar. It was showcased at the International Film Festival of India 2003.

The movie Eklavya: The Royal Guard has this practice as the central plot. The title character played by Amitabh Bachchan is torn between his duty and the emotions for his children begotten by the practice of niyoga.

It is also portrayed in the 1989 film Oonch Neech Beech, where the character played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda, a sanyasi, is commanded by his teacher to perform niyoga.

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