Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana lessons for babies in the womb: RSS' arm starts 'Garbha Sanskar'

An organisation associated with the RSS is coming up with a programme aimed a giving 'sanskar' to babies in the womb.

Samvardhinee Nyas, an affiliate of the RSS, has started a campaign titled 'Garbha Sanskar' for pregnant women to teach babies culture and values in the womb, its national organising secretary Madhuri Marathe said on Monday.

Along with gynaecologists, ayurvedic doctors and yoga trainers, the Nyas is planning a programme which will comprise chanting of the Gita, the Ramayana and yoga practice during pregnancy to "impart cultural values to babies in the womb." This programme will start from pregnancy to babies two years of age, will emphasise on chanting of Gita shlokas, chaupais of Ramayana, said Marathe, adding, "a baby in the womb can learn up to 500 words".

"The aim and objective of this campaign is to develop a programme which ensures that the baby can learn 'sanskar' (culture and values) in womb and the process continues till the baby gets two years old," Ms Marathe said.

Samvardhinee Nyas, a wing of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, the women's arm of the RSS, is planning to reach out to at least 1,000 women under this campaign, she said. As part of this campaign, the Nyas on Sunday held a workshop at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, which was attended by several gynaecologists, including from AIIMS-Delhi, she added.

Studies have shown that babies begin absorbing language while still in the womb, according to a report in the Univesity of Washington. Sensory and brain mechanisms for hearing are developed at 30 weeks of gestational age and the babies in the womb can listen to the talks of their moms in the last 10 weeks of pregnancy.

"The mother has first dibs on influencing the child's brain," the website quoted Patricia Kuhl, co-author and co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington, as saying. "The vowel sounds in her speech are the loudest units and the fetus locks onto them."

With inputs from PTI