In the sacred tradition, it is taught that there are ten kinds of cultivated grains cherished by humanity: rice, barley, sesame, beans, anupriyangu, wheat, lentils, khalva, and khalakula. For a special ritual, half of each grain is ground, then moistened with curds, honey, and ghee, and clarified butter is offered, sanctifying the act with the essence of the earth. All beings, it is revealed, are nourished by a chain of essences: from the earth arises the plants, from plants the flowers, from flowers the fruits, from fruits man, and from man, semen—the seed of continuity. Prajapati, the lord of creation, once reflected, “Let me establish a foundation here.” With desire, he created woman, and having created her, he worshipped her. Thus, woman is to be revered, for she is prosperity itself. Prajapati raised a stone facing east and with it shaped her form. In her, the lap is the altar, her hair the sacred grass, her skin the two covering stones, and the fire is kindled in the center, symbolizing the vulva. Whoever, with this knowledge, approaches union with a woman as one would the Vajapeya sacrifice, attains a world as vast as that sacred rite. But one who does so without this understanding loses his merit to the woman. This wisdom was known and declared by sages such as Uddalaka Aruni, Nakha Maudgalya, and Kumara Harita, who observed that many noble Brahmins, lacking self-control and insight, lose their merit and depart from this world, not knowing these truths. It is further noted that for many, semen may be emitted, whether in sleep or wakefulness. When this happens, one should touch it and recite: “Whatever semen of mine has fallen to the earth today, whatever has entered plants or water, this semen I take back. May my strength, vigor, and fortune return to me; may the household fires be established in their places.” Touching it with the ring finger and thumb, one should place the hand between the breasts or on the forehead. If he perceives water as his own essence, he should recite, “May energy, strength, fame, wealth, and merit be in me.” The menstrual cloth is considered the prosperity of women. Therefore, when approaching a woman wearing it, one should speak with reverence. If she gives it and he desires her, he should fulfill her desire. If she gives it herself, he should touch her with a staff or his hand before uniting with her, saying, “With your strength and fame I take your fame.” In this, he alone becomes inglorious. However, if he says, “With your strength and fame I take your fame,” both become illustrious. If a man wishes to restrain himself, let him say, “I desire you.” Having set his purpose in her, joining mouth to mouth and touching her sexual organ, he should recite: “From limb to limb you are born, from the heart you arise; you are the essence of the limbs, delight me as one pierced and anointed.” If he wishes that she not conceive, he establishes this intent, and by inhaling and exhaling mouth to mouth, he takes back the seed, reciting, “With your seed I take back the seed.” Thus, she does not become pregnant. But if he desires conception, he deposits the seed with the words, “With your seed I deposit the seed,” and she becomes pregnant. If a wife has been with another and her husband resents it, he should set up a fire in an unbaked vessel, lay sacrificial grass against the grain, and offer three sticks of śara grass anointed with ghee, each time reciting, “May I take away her ill fortune in the kindled fire, may I take away her barrenness, her lack of offspring, her lack of vitality.” The curse of one who knows this is powerful, stripping away the offender’s power and merit. Thus, one should not ridicule the wife of a learned Brahmin, for such knowledge is potent. If a man finds his wife in her menstrual period, for three days he should drink clarified butter with kusa grass, wearing soiled garments, and neither a Śūdra nor a Śūdra woman should touch her. After three nights and a bath, he should pound rice. If he wishes for a fair-skinned son, he should recite the Veda, saying, “May he live his full lifespan,” and, after cooking rice with milk and ghee, both should eat it together. For a tawny or reddish son, he recites two Vedas and cooks rice with curds and ghee. For a son with dark or red eyes, three Vedas are recited as rice is cooked with water and ghee. If he wishes for a learned daughter, he says, “May she live her full lifespan,” and cooks rice with sesame seeds and ghee. For a learned son, victorious in assemblies and attentive in speech, all the Vedas are recited and rice is cooked with the flesh of an ox or bull and ghee; both eat together, producing offspring as they desire. At dawn, after offering the cooked food with clarified butter to Agni, Anumati, and Savitṛ, he eats, gives his wife the remainder, and sprinkles her three times with water, saying, “Arise, O prosperous one, seek another field; may you and your husband together produce offspring.” He then approaches her, invoking their union: “I am the vital force, you are the body; you are the vital force, I am the body; I am Sāman, you are Ṛc; I am heaven, you are earth. Come, let us unite, let us deposit seed together for the birth of a son.” Placing her thighs apart, he prays, “May I open the heavens and the earth.” He strokes her three times, saying, “May Viṣṇu prepare the womb, may Tvaṣṭṛ shape the forms, may Prajāpati pour forth, may Dhātṛ place the embryo for you. Place the embryo, O Śinīvālī; place the embryo, O Pṛthuṣṭukā; may the two Aśvins, the gods with lotus garlands, place the embryo for you.” He invokes the two golden fire-sticks of the Aśvins, churning for the tenth month of gestation, and declares, “As the earth is pregnant with fire, as the sky is pregnant with Indra, as the wind is pregnant with the directions, so I place the embryo in you.” Sprinkling her with water, he prays that the embryo may move within her as the wind stirs the lotus pond, secure in the womb, and asks Indra to protect it. When the child is born, a fire is set up, and the child is placed on the father’s lap. Clarified butter mixed with curds is offered, with prayers for prosperity, offspring, and the well-being of the family. The father places his right ear to the child’s right ear, saying “Speech, speech, speech” three times, then gives the child a name—“You are Veda”—his secret name. Curds, honey, and ghee mixed with hidden gold are given to the child to eat, while the father prays, “On you I place the earth, the atmosphere, the sky, all the worlds.” Touching the child, he blesses him: “Be a stone, be an axe, be gold that is not melted; you are indeed the self, bearing the name of your son. May you live a hundred autumns.” He addresses the mother: “O Maitrāvaruṇī, you have given birth to a hero from a hero. So, become one who possesses heroes, since you have made us possess a hero.” Giving the child to the mother, he offers her the breast, praying to Sarasvatī that her milk may nourish all treasures. Thus, it is said of such a father: “He has become a great father, a great grandfather, reaching the highest state of prosperity, fame, and spiritual brilliance, when such a son is born to a Brāhmaṇa who knows thus.” The lineage is then traced, showing the unbroken succession of teachers and disciples, from Bhāradvāja’s son through many generations and lineages, all the way to Yājñavalkya, who received the white Yajus from Āditya, the Sun. This sacred knowledge, passed through countless sages and families, is declared by Vājasaneya Yājñavalkya, and all is ultimately traced back to Prajāpati, to Brahman, the self-born. To Brahman, salutation.