food considered especially nourishing
(such as milk products and nuts) to
build their strength. From the mother’s
perspective, pregnancy is an extremely
significant event, since the birth of chil-
dren (especially sons) will solidify her
status in her marital family; but this
significance also contributes its own
quotient of expectation and anxiety.
Since the mother’s emotional state
during pregnancy is believed to affect
the child, all efforts are made to shelter
the expectant mother from unpleasant
thoughts and situations and to generate
happy thoughts.
Aside from protecting the expectant
mother’s physical and psychological
health, Hindus take numerous precau-
tions to guard her from other sorts of
misfortune. As at other life transitions,
during pregnancy and the child’s first
days the mother and her child are con-
sidered particularly vulnerable to black
magic, particularly the witchcraftof
those who might be jealous of the
expectant or new mother. Another
avenue for harm comes from inauspi-
cious events, such as an eclipse, during
which a pregnant woman should stay
inside (away from its malevolent rays)
and remain perfectly still, lest her child
be born with missing limbs. These hos-
tile forces can also be countered by vari-
ous rites of protection, such as wearing
amulets, charms, or iron (considered to
render one impervious to spells), by cut-
ting back on social interaction to avoid
possible contact with inauspicious peo-
ple and things, and by attention to reli-
gious rites.
Prenatal Rites
Life-cycle rituals (samskaras) performed
by a husband before his child’s birth, as
prescribed in the dharma literature, the
texts on religious duty. According to this
literature, there were three such rites:
Garbhadhana, which ensured concep-
tion; Pumsavana, which guaranteed that
the newly conceived child would be a
boy; and Simantonnayana, which was
performed late in the pregnancy to
ensure the child’s good health and the
mother’s easy delivery. Although the
dharma literature prescribes these rites
as obligatory, none of them are widely
performed now except by the most
orthodox brahmins.Pret
(“departed,” “deceased”) The spirit of a
person who has recently died but is still
inappropriately connected to the world
of the living, often as a troubling or
malevolent presence to the departed’s
family or the general population. Prets
are believed to be the spirits of people
who died in childhood and whose
untimely death left them with certain
unfulfilled desires, particularly longings
relating to marriage and family life. Prets
make themselves known to the living in
two ways, either through dreamsor
possession. In some cases they have
specific requests and can be placated
through worshipand offerings. In such
instances, dreams offer a method of
communicating with the living, so that
necessary actions can be performed for
the pret. In other cases, the spirit may
resort to bodily possession in an
attempt to realize unfulfilled desires
directly. These spirits are typically
malevolent and require an exorcism to
be removed. For further information on
the care of unquiet family spirits, see
Ann Grodzins Gold, Fruitful Journeys,
1988; for a psychological interpretation
of spirits, possession, and healing, see
Sudhir Kakar, Shamans, Mystics, and
Doctors, 1991.Prinsep, James
(1799–1840) British official and amateur
Indologist. In 1837, Prinsep became the
first modern person to decipher the
Brahmiscript, and was thus able to
translate the edicts of the Mauryan
emperor Ashoka (r. 269–32 B.C.E.).
Unfortunately, his career was cut short
by an early death, a pattern distressingly
familiar for colonial administrators in
British India. See also Maurya dynasty.Prinsep, James