History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.39

v2.c34.39

The Sm. C. (I. p. 88) quotes the Kūrmapurāṇa to the effect that on getting up from sleep some time before sunrise one should contemplate on God. The Āhnika-prakāśa (p. 16) quotes five verses from the Vāmanapurāṇa (14. 23-27) which are to be recited on getting up as a morning hymn, one of which is quoted below.¹⁵²² These verses are repeated even now by some old people. Some works say that he who repeats the four verses called Bhāratasāvitrī in the morning obtains the reward of hearing the whole Mahābhārata and attains the highest Brahma.¹⁵²³ The Āhnikatattva (p. 327) quotes a verse to be repeated on getting up from bed in which the serpent Karkoṭaka, Damayantī, kings Nala and Ṛtuparṇa are remembered for removing the effects of Kali,¹⁵²⁴ and the Smṛtimuktāphala quotes a verse about Nala, Yudhiṣṭhira, Sītā and Kṛṣṇa as *puṇyaśloka* (singing of whose glory is holy).¹⁵²⁵ The Ācāraratna (p. 10 a) states that one should repeat the names of certain famous and long-lived (cirajīvins) personages viz. Aśvatthāman, Bali, Vyāsa, Hanūmān, Bibhīṣaṇa, Kṛpa, Paraśurāma and Mārkaṇḍeya and also the names of five holy women, Ahalyā, Draupadī, Sītā, Tārā and Mandodarī. Even now old men brought up in the orthodox ways repeat these names on getting up.