History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.232

v2.c23.232

The commentators were bewildered by these differences. Viśvarūpa explains Manu II. 30 as 'when the 10th night is past' and Kullūka does the same (i. e. according to him it is performed on the eleventh day). Medhātithi does not⁵⁴⁶ like the addition of 'past' (*atītāyām*) after 'daśamyām' in Manu II. 30 and says just as jātakarma can be performed even when there is impurity due to birth, so nāmakaraṇa may be performed on the 10th and that the only essential thing is that it is not to be performed before the 10th or 12th. Aparārka says that there is an option and one may follow one's own gṛhyasūtra. It appears that the nāmakaraṇa⁵⁴⁷ of Hariścandra, son of Jayatcandra, king of Kanoj, took place three weeks after jātakarma (on 31. 8. 1175 A. D.). In modern times nāmakaraṇa generally takes place on the 12th day after birth and no Vedic ceremony as prescribed in the sūtras is gone through, but women assemble and after consulting the male members of the family beforehand announce the name and place the child in the cradle.