History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.205.1

v2.c34.205.1

The texts (such as Yāj. I. 99) prescribe *japa* (muttering of Gāyatrī and other holy Vedic mantras) as part of saṁdhyā adoration. This has been already referred to above (p. 313). Yāj. I. 99 speaks of *japa* (of verses addressed to the Sun) after morning homa and then in I. 101 again prescribes *japa* after the midday bath of philosophical texts (like the Upaniṣads, as stated in Gaut. 19. 12 and Vas. Dh. S. 22. 9). Vas. Dh. S. 28. 10-15 are verses which mention several hymns principally of the Ṛgveda, by reciting which (inaudibly) several times a man becomes pure. These verses occur in Śaṅkhasmṛti chap. XI (with some variations) and in Viṣṇu Dh. S. 56 (in prose). Some of these Vedic texts are well known, such as Aghamarṣaṇa (Ṛg. X. 190. 1–3), Pāvamānī verses (Ṛg. IX), Śatarudriya (Tai. S. IV. 5. 1–11), Trisuparṇa (Tai. Ār. X. 48–50) &c. Manu II. 87, Vas. 26. 11, Śaṅkhasmṛti XII. 28, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 55. 21 say that a brāhmaṇa attains the highest perfection by *japa* alone, even if he does not do anything else. Gobhila smṛti II. 17 says that one should inaudibly repeat as much of the Veda from the beginning as one can and that *japa* may be performed before *tarpaṇa* or after the morning homa or at the end of vaiśvadeva and that it constitutes brahmayajña (II. 28–29). Viṣṇu Dh. S. (64.