History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c29.7.4

v2.c29.7.4

she should not sit in a bullock cart even when about to die, she should not put on a bodice, should not wear dyed garments and should observe special vows in Vaiśākha, Kārtika¹³⁷⁰ and Māgha.' The verse 'vidhavā-kabari-bandho &c' (Skanda, Kāśīkhaṇḍa 4.74) is the only verse on which the medieval writers rely for prescribing continual tonsure of widows. That chapter begins by extolling the pativratā (Bṛhaspati does it with regard to Lopāmudrā, the wife of Agastya). It passes one's understanding why when a pativratā whose husband is living is before Bṛhaspati he should wax eloquent over the duties of widows (verses 71-106). Therefore this portion appears to be an interpolation in the Skandapurāṇa itself. In *Lakshmibai v. Ramchandra* I. L: R. 22 Bom. 590, it was held that the text 'vidhavā-kabari-bandho' is of doubtful validity (p. 594). Besides 69 verses of this chapter 4 are common to chap. 7 of the Dharmāraṇya section of the Skandapurāṇa (III) which precedes it. There is no reason why they should have been repeated. The Nirṇayasindhu quotes a passage from the Brahmapurāṇa as cited in the Pṛthvīcandrodaya to the effect that śrāddha food should not be got prepared by a widow belonging to another gotra.¹³⁷¹