The study addresses a couple of issues. What was niyoga and what appears to be its genesis? How was it juxtaposed to the institution of marriage? Can it be construed as a strategy of heirship? Did it overlap with widow remarriage and polyandry? Was it a largely a caste based phenomenon? Was it an instrument to consolidate patriliny in a growing patriarchal set up? How did the women involved in the alliance view the practice? Do the normative texts or the narratives record their voice on the issue? How were the progeny of the alliance received in the society especially if they were girls? What accounts for its gradual decline? How pervasive was the institution in the context of the ancient world? Do such practices continue in the contemporary world and if so what is the dynamics of its continuation? Finally how do we locate the institution of niyoga in the context of ancient Indian masculinity and within the larger discourse on sexuality?