History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c25.3

v2.c25.3

From the times of the most ancient dharmasūtras the number of āśramas has been four, though there are slight differences in the nomenclature and in their sequence.⁹⁸⁸ Āp. Dh. S. II. 9. 21. 1 says 'there are four āśramas, viz. the stage of householder, (staying in) the teacher's house, stage of being a *muni*, the stage of being a forest dweller.' That here *mauna* stands for the āśrama of *saṁnyāsa* is clear from Āpastamba's own words in II. 9. 21. 7 (atha parivrājaḥ) where he employs the word 'parivrāj' to indicate 'mauna.' Āp. places the householder first among the āśramas, probably on account of the importance of that stage to all other āśramas. Why he should mention the stage of forest hermit last is not clear. Gaut. also (III. 2) enumerates the four āśramas as brahmacārī, gṛhastha, bhikṣu and vaikhānasa. Here also Gaut. speaks of bhikṣu before vaikhānasa and Haradatta⁹⁸⁹ explains this departure from the usual sequence of āśramas as due to the words in Gaut. 28. 47 where we read 'prāg-uttamād traya āśramiṇaḥ' (persons belonging to the three āśramas except the last may constitute a *pariṣad*), i. e. to exclude vaikhānasa from the *pariṣad* he is mentioned last. Why the vānaprastha is called vaikhānasa will be discussed later on under the former word. Vas. Dh. S. (VII. 1-2) names the four āśramas as brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and parivrājaka.