Birth Control

Introduction

Hinduism divides a person’s life into four age-based life stages: Brahmacharya (bachelor stage; 0–25 years), Grihastha (married stage; 26–50 years), Vanaprastha (retirement stage; 51–75 years), and Sannyasa (renounced stage; 76–100 years) ([1], p. 201). In the Grihastha stage, a person’s duties and responsibilities of having a family are discussed, and this stage is considered as the most important stage in a person’s life. The traditional codes of conduct mentioned in the Manusmriti generally guide a Hindu in terms of sex and sexuality, and marriage and childbirth, and any deviation from these rules results in the rejection by the family and community ([2], p. 89). Birth control methods, such as abortion and the use of contraceptives, are generally not approved by the Hindu scriptures as it is believed that the life enters into the human embryo as soon as it gets fertilized. However, the Garbha Upanishad states that in the seventh month, jivan(“life”) enters into the...