History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c25.6

v2.c25.6

Vas. Dh. S. (in XI. 34) employs the word *yati* to denote a person in the fourth āśrama. Baud. Dh. S. (II. 6. 17) names the four āśramas in the same way as Vasiṣṭha and vouchsafes the interesting information that it was the *asura* Kapila, son of Prahlāda, who in his rivalry with the gods, made these distinctions to which a wise man should pay no heed. What Baud.⁹⁹⁰ means appears to be that there is really one *āśrama* viz. that of the householder, that Kapila devised the scheme of four āśramas, so that those who became vānaprasthas and parivrājakas would perform no yajñas and thereby the gods would lose the offerings they received from men and become less powerful. Manu VI. 87 speaks of the four āśramas, the last being called *yati* by him and also ‘saṁnyāsa’ (in VI. 96). It would thus be seen that a person who belongs to the last āśrama is variously called parivrāṭ or parivrājaka (one who does not stay in one place but wanders from place to place), bhikṣu (one who begs for his livelihood), *muni* (one who ponders over the mysteries of life and death), *yati* (one who controls his senses) These words suggest the various characteristics of the man who undertakes the fourth āśrama.