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THE FAMILY
149
and fire 22 The Nayadhammakaha gives a similar description of Dharini's dreams; she saw a big elephant passing into her mouth during the night of her conception.
23
PLRIOD OF PREGNANCY
Then we come to the period of pregnancy which is very delicate for women During this period the women are asked to be very careful while standing, sitting, sleeping and taking meals which should be neither too cold nor too hot, nor too acrid, pungent, sour or sweet but good and nutritious for the safety of the unborn babe They should avoid sickness, sorrow and tenor and being moderate in the use of clothing, perfumes and garlands, should comfortably carry the unborn babe 2+
During the period of pregnancy, dohada or pregnancy longing played an important part in ancient India When two or three months of picgnancy had passed, the women had peculiar cravings. We are told that in the third month of her pregnancy, Dharini had a pregnancy longing to roam about in the outskirts of Vebhāra in the monsoon riding on an clephant When the longing of the queen was not fulfilled she became sick, emaciated, unhappy and lost all her beauty This was brought to the notice of the king who saw Dharini immediately and asked her the reason of her sadness. Later on, Abhayakumara satisfied the pregnancy longing of his step-mother 25 Queen Satyavati was another woman who had a pregnancy desire to play in an ivory palace 26 The Ullaradhyayana commentary refers to another craving of "drinking the moon" (candapyana)
27
The desire to eat meat to fulfil the pregnancy longing seems to be very common. We are told of a woman who had a pregnancy longing to relish various kinds of wine and flesh of various cattle 28 We know of Cellana, who had a chronic longing to eat the flesh of her husband's belly together with wine When prince Abhaya came to know this, he sent a confidential man to get fresh mcat, blood and the entrails from a slaughter house (ghayatthana) 29 This flesh was placed on the belly of the king who pretended to be unconscious 30 The king simulated that the meat came from his body and thus satisfied the longing of the queen. Then we are told of queen Sudamsana, who went to visit the
11 Kalpa 4 66-87
23 Näyä 1, p 8 f
Queen Maya, the mother of Gotama Buddha, dicams a white elephant entering her body, which is sculpturally icpresented on the Baihut Stupa and elsewhere (Nidanakatha, 1, p 50 ff)
24
Naya 1, p 19, cf Avadana Sataka I, 3, p 15
25 Naya 1p 10 ff, also Uttara Ti 9 p 132 a
26 Vya Bha 1 335, p 16a.
27
3, p 57
28
Virā 2, p 14.
29
According to another tradition the piece of flesh was cut from a hare (Aza. cũ. II, p 166).
80 Nirya. 1, pp. 9-11.
