History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.33

v2.c34.33

Although as stated in the Sūryasiddhānta¹⁵¹⁷ the day was calculated from sunrise, daytime for practical purposes was extended for a short time before sunrise and after sunrise. According to the Brahmavaivarta-purāṇa the four *nāḍīs* (or *ghaṭikās*) before sunrise and the four *nāḍīs* after sunset are included in daytime (*dina*) i. e. when a man takes his bath before sunrise on a particular day that bath is one for the day that is to begin after he takes his bath¹⁵¹⁸. Several smṛtis like Manu IV. 92, Yāj. I. 115 enjoin that a man should get up from bed at the brāhma muhūrta,¹⁵¹⁹ should reflect over *dharma* and *artha* that he would seek to attain that day and over the bodily efforts that he would have to undergo for securing his object and think out the real meaning of Vedic injunctions. Kullūka and others say that the word *muhūrta* in Manu IV. 92 means only time generally and not a period of two ghaṭikās and that it is called brāhma because that is a time when one's intelligence and one's power to compose a literary work are at their best. The Par. M. (I. 1. p. 220)¹⁵²⁰ says that there are two muhūrtas in the half watch before sunrise, the first of the two is called brāhma and the second raudra. Pitāmaha quoted in the Sm. C. (I. p. 88) says that the last watch of the night is called 'brāhma muhūrta'. From very early times getting up before sunrise was prescribed specially for a student and generally for everyone. Gaut. 23. 21 says that if the sun rose while a brahmacārin was asleep he should stand up the whole day without food and mutter the Gāyatrī throughout the day (as a penance) and if the sun set while he was asleep he should sit up the whole night engaged in muttering the Gāyatrī. Āp. Dh. S. II. 5. 12. 13-14 and Manu II. 220-221 contain similar rules and they employ the word 'abhinirmukta'¹⁵²¹ (or abhinimrukta) to denote one who is asleep when the sun sets. The Gobhilasmṛti (in verse) I. 139 says that on getting up one should wash one's eyes. In the Ṛgvidhāna it is ordained that on getting up one should wipe one's eyes with water after reciting Ṛg. X. 73. 11 the latter half of which says 'remove away from us darkness, fulfil our eyes and release us who are as if bound with snares'.