Putri ka putra.

It is the ancient Hindu belief that only a son can deliver his parents from the hell called Put, by performing obsequies when they depart.

The Rig Veda declares:" Endless are the worlds of those who have sons. 'O' Agni may I obtain immortality by offspring"

According to the Veda's an Hindu is born burdened with three debts--" He owes the study of the Veda to the Rishis, sacrifices to the god sand a son to the manes.He is free from debt who has offered sacrifices , who has begotten a son and who has lived as student with a teacher."

Manu ,declares the necessity for a son thus--

" Through a son he conquers the world, through a son's son he obtains immortality but through his son's grandson he gains the world of the sun."
Because a son delivers his father from the hell called PUT, he was there fore called Putra [as a deliverer from Put]

This belief like most of our beliefs have endured and firmed up through the centuries. In the process as is often the case in most of our practises,beliefs and rituals , the exceptions or remedies provided , when nature is unwilling to placate the desire of the believer, has been totally overlooked and completely forgotten .

The ancient law givers like Manu, Narada , Yajnavalkya and so on, who are much reviled in modern times, but greatly revered in ancient times have clearly shown the way out of this impasse. It is not infanticide or the modern day feoticide.

A Hindu blessed only with daughters can ask the son of a chosen daughter known as the' Putri ka putra' to perform his funeral rites and obsequies there after.This Putri ka putra is conferred with the power to rescue his grand father from hell or Put.

Ancient writers and law givers refer to 12 kind of sons a Hindu may have.Legitimate, illegitimate , adopted and so on.

Since Vedic times the legitimate son known as 'Aurasa' was desired above all other types of sons for the spiritual benefits as well as the continuation of the family. Aurasa is the son begotten by a man upon his lawfully wedded wife.

Equal to the aurasa son is the son of the appointed daughter , a daughter who is chosen by the father to continue his line . He was known as the Putri ka putra.

The appointed daughter's son became the son of her father if he had no male issue. And he became so not only by agreement with her husband but by a mere intention on the part of her father without any consent asked for or obtained .The status of the Putri ka putra was that of a son's son.

Manu [ 3 rd century BC],who has always been treated by Hindu sages and commentators as a paramount authority on Hindu Law, declares that the Aurasa and the appointed daughter's son are of equal status.

Vasishtha a sage of Vedic period quotes an even earlier Vedic text that says---' The girl that has no brother comes back to the males of her own family , to her father , to the rest. Returning she becomes their son ... .[Vas 27].

There fore according to Vasishta the appointed daughter herself was treated as a son.

According to Yajnavalkya[ 2 nd AD] the law exponent second in importance only to Manu states that the term Putri ka putra is equally applicable to the son of the appointed daughter or to the daughter herself, becoming by special appointment a son ! [ mitakshara--1]

A true and devout Hindu's aspiration for a son is understandable, but what is not is the falling into a rut , turning a blind eye to the alternatives available in Hindu dharmasasthras and laws.

Blame it on ignorance . Does ignorance of law absolve one from the crime of breaking the law?