Manava Dharmashastra 3.228

3.228

veṣṭitamuṣṇīṣādinā | udīcyā hi śāṭakaiḥ śiro veṣṭayanti | ye tu vyācakṣate ‘cūḍākārairapi keśairveṣṭitaśirā bhavatīti' na te yuktivādinaḥ | keśāste veṣṭyante, na śiraḥ | na ca keśā eva śiraḥ | śirasthā hi te | sūtrādestu na niṣedhaḥ | na hi tatra veṣṭanavyavahāro loke | dakṣiṇābhimukhasya doṣavacanāt svalpe pradeśe dakṣiṇetaradigabhimukhasyāpi bhojanamanujānāti | anyathā udaṅmukhānāṃ vidhānāt kuto dakṣiṇasyāḥ prāptiḥ | upānahau carmamayaṃ pādatrāṇam | anye tu carmapāduke upānahāviti vyācakṣate | rakṣāṃsi bhuñjate na pitara iti nindā |

What the guest eats with his head wound up, what he eats with his face towards the south, what he eats with shoes on, all this verily the demons eat.—(238)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Wound up’—with turban and such other things. The Northerners cover their heads with cloth.

Some people explain that this refers also to persons who cover their heads with their hairs Arranged in the form of a top-knot. Rut what they say is not reasonable; as, in this case, it is the hair that is ‘wound up,’ not the head; and the hairs do not form the head; in fact, they are on the head. The prohibition does not apply to threads and such things; as such things are not regarded as ‘covering’ the head.

What is meant by indicating the facing of the south as defective is that, when there is want of space, eating with face towards all directions except the south is permissible. If this were not meant, where would there be any possibility of anyone eating with face to the south, when it has been distinctly enjoined that one should eat facing the north?

‘Shoes’—foot-guards made of leather. Some people explain this as sandals of leather.

‘The demons eat,’—and not the Pitṛs.

This is deprecatory of the conditions described.—(238)