History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.173

v2.c24.s1.173

A few words on each of the principal components of *saṁdhyā* may be said here. Elaborate rules about ācamana are laid down in several smṛtis; vide Gaut. I. 35-40, Āp. Dh. S. I. 5. 15. 2-11 and 16. 1-16, Manu II. 58-62, Yāj. I. 18-21. Such rules must have been elaborated from very ancient times. The Tai. Br. (I. 5. 10) prescribes that one should not perform ācamana with water that is in a cleft of the earth. Āp. Dh. S. (1. 5. 15. 5) says the same thing.⁷⁴⁹ One should perform ācamana in a sitting posture (and not standing nor bent) in a pure spot, facing the north or east, one should sip water thrice with water that is not hot and that is free from foam or bubbles, one should after sipping water wipe the lips twice (thrice according to Āp.) and should touch with the wet right hand one's eyes, ears, nose, heart and head. The water for ācamana should be as much as would penetrate (or reach) to the heart in the case of brāhmaṇas, to the throat in the case of kṣatriyas, to the palate in the case of vaiśyas; women and śūdras should sip on occasions of ācamana only once as much water as would reach the palate. Manu (II. 18) and Yāj. (I. 18) say that water should be sipped by the brāhmatīrtha (i. e. from the root of the thumb).⁷⁵⁰ The further elaborate rules laid down in such smṛtis as Gobhila gṛ. (I. 2. 5–6), Śaṅkhasmṛti 10 are not set out here. The occasions for ācamana are many. According to Gobhila⁷⁵¹ gṛ. I. 1. 2 one must do every gṛhya rite with yajñopavīta worn in the usual way and after ācamana. Haradatta on Āp. Dh. S. I. 5. 15. 1 says that ācamana is a subsidiary matter in all religious acts. There are several occasions when the sipping of water twice is necessary, the principal being before and after *bhojana* (meals); vide Gautama I. 40, Vas. 3. 38, Yāj. I. 196, Sm. C. I. p. 100, Madanapārijāta p. 57, Par. M. I. part 1. pp. 241–243. Both the Bṛ. Up. (VI. 1. 14) and Chān. Up. V. 2. 2 refer to the practice of sipping water before and after bhojana and the Vedāntasūtra III. 3. 18 is based on these upaniṣad passages and says that water is looked upon as the garment of prāṇa.⁷⁵² Numerous occasions when ācamana is necessary are stated in Āp. Dh. S. I. 5. 16. 15–16, Manu V. 138 and 145, Yāj. I. 196, Kūrmapurāṇa I. 2. 13. 1–8 &c.