Manava Dharmashastra 3.7

3.7

hīnāḥ tyaktāḥ kriyā yasmin kule jātakarmārdyaḥ saṃskārā na kriyante, nityāśca pañcayajñādayaḥ | niṣpuruṣaṃ strīprasu | yatra prāyeṇa kanyā jāyante, na pumāṃsaḥ | niśchandaḥ vedādhyayanavarjitam | romaśārśasam | dvandvaikavadbhāvena kuladvayaṃ nirdiṣṭam | bahudīrghabarhādiṣu lomabhiryuktam | arśāṃsi gudendriyagatānyadhimāṃsanibaddhāni; tāni hi rogarūpatvātpīḍākarāṇi | kṣayī rājayakṣmāvyādhiḥ | āmayāvī maṃdāgniya̍sya bhuktamannaṃ samyaṅ na jīryati | apasmāraḥ smṛtibhraṃśādyupaghātakṛt | śvitraṃ śarīragatācvedavatī śvetatā | kuṣṭhaṃ prasiddham | sarva ete vyādhiviśeṣavacanāḥ śabdā romaśādārabhya matvarthīyapratyayāntā nirdiṣṭāḥ | pūrvervyākhyātṛbhirdṛṣṭamūlatā'sya pratiṣedhasya varṇitā | mātuḥ kulaṃ dvipado'nuharanti | tato hīnakriyādīnāṃ yā prajā sā'pi tacchīlā syāt | vyādhayaśca saṃkrāmanti | evaṃ hi vaidyake paṭhyate "sarve saṃkrāmiṇo rogā varjayitvā pravāhikām" |
16) "ekarātraṃ vāsayet | pārthivām̐llokānabhijayati dvitīyāmāntarikṣām̐stṛtīyāṃ divyān" iti phalakāmasya dvitīyādirātriṣvadhikāraṃ darśayati | atraiva nirvacanaṃ dārḍhyārthamāha anityaṃ hi sthitiḥ | tiṣṭhateratipūrvasyāyaṃ śabdaḥ | auṇādikaiḥ kathaṃcidvyutpattiḥ |

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘That in which the sacred rites’—the natal and other sacraments—‘have been abandoned’—neglected; i.e., in which the consecratory rites as also the compulsory ‘Five Sacrifices,’ etc., are not performed.

‘Male-less’—productive of females; i.e., in which, aṣa rule, only female, not male, children are born;

‘Devoid of the Veda’—destitute of Vedic study.

‘Romaśārśasam’—This copulative compound mentions two kinds of families. ‘Romasha,’ ‘woolly,’—i.e. the members of which have their arms and limbs covered with much and long hair. ‘Piles’—fleshy protuberances in the anus, which being a disease, are extremely painful.

‘Phthisis’—the disease of consumption.

‘Dyspepsia’—slow-digestion: by which the food eaten is not properly digested.

‘Epilepsy’—leading to loss of memory and other cognate troubles.

‘Leucoderma’—white spots on the body, with holes.

‘Leprosy’—is well-known.

All these words—beginning with ‘romasha’—are names of particular diseases, and are to be taken as ending in possessive affixes.

Older commentators have explained that the prohibition. herein contained is based entirely upon ordinary visible considerations: As a matter of fact, bipeds inherit the peculiarities of their mother’s families; hence, children born of mothers belonging to families that have ‘abandoned the sacred rites,’ etc., etc, would be prone to the same defects;

and diseases ace apt to be infectious; works on medicine having declared that ‘all diseases, with the sole exception of’ Diarrhoea, are infectious.’—(7)