Garbhadhaana, a compound Sanskrit word, means conception, impregnation or insemination. It is the first of the sixteen Vedic Samskaras and is meant to be performed by man and woman at an auspicious time and date for the sake of begetting the desired child. In Hindu astrology this term is used in connection with Nisheka or consummation of marriage. B.Suyanarain Rao in his commentary on Chapter IV of Brihat Jataka explains that the health of women, and thus the health of the community, depends upon the auspicious planetary influences exerted during the act of sexual union; every male or female must come through a female, and therefore, woman occupies the highest rank in the order of creative agencies.