A son is a son is a son in English but in Sanskrit, he is known by many names. Each name symbolises an aspect or tells the story of his birth. Some examples are: Aurus which is the name given to a biological son or an adopted one; Pratram is not formally adopted but regarded as one's own son; Sahod Putra is a son who comes with marriage (he is a biological son but was conceived before the formal marriage); Gudo is a son born when the husband is traveling, but from one of the members of the family; Kaanani is born before marriage and is brought up by the maternal grandfather; Putrika is a daughter who is like a son and Putrika Putra is the daughter's son who may belong to the maternal grandfather or inherit his maternal grandfather's kingdom.
The names not only tell us how important a son has always been to Indian society and the cultural importance attached to bearing one but in some manner, they also indicate that we did not always apply a strict moral code to marriage. A woman could have a relationship before marriage and bear a child; the son was not called a bastard as he would be today but was given a name, a place in the family and a purpose within the broad societal framework. Of course, such a courtesy was unlikely to have been extended to the girl child. If it had been, we would have been a completely different country.
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