History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.58

v2.c34.58

After preforming śauca one has to rinse the mouth with twelve mouthfuls (gaṇḍūṣa) of water (vide Smṛtimuktāphala, āhnika p. 220). When one finishes the purification of the body by washing the hands and feet and by rinsing the mouth one has to engage in *ācamana*.¹⁵³⁷ A good deal has been said about ācamana above (pp. 315-316) under upanayana. Ācamana (sipping water) is to be done after tying the top-knot and tucking up the garment from behind; the water is to be poured in the hollowed palm of the hand in such a quantity that a grain of māṣa (bean) will be plunged in it and the three fingers except the thumb and the small one are to be joined together and the water is to be drunk from that part of the hand which is called *brāhma tīrtha* described above (n. 750). The word *tīrtha* means that part of the right hand by which water is taken in or poured in religious rites and the parts are given the names of deities for lauding them, as Viśvarūpa says.¹⁵³⁸ In most smṛtis their number is four, viz. prājāpatya or kāya, pitrya, brāhma, and daiva (for example in Manu II. 59, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 62. 1-4, Yāj. I. 19, Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa 34. 103-109, Dakṣa II. 18). Some works like the Śāṭyāyanakalpa and Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha quoted by Viśvarūpa on Yāj. I. 19 name five tīrthas viz. daiva (when a brāhmaṇa faces the east, the front part of his hand), pitrya (the right portion of the right hand), brāhma (the portion of the hand opposite the fingers), prājāpatya (the portion of the hand near the small finger) and pārameṣṭhya (the centre of the right palm). The Pār. gṛ. pariśiṣṭa names the above five, except that it substitutes the name āgneya for pārameṣṭhya. The Śaṅkha-smṛti (in verse, X. 1-2) distinguishes kāya and prājāpatya and omits the name of brāhma altogether which is called prājāpatya by it. Vaik. I. 5 has six, the usual four, the fifth being āgneya (centre of the palm) and the sixth being ārṣa (the roots and tips of all fingers together). According to some, *daiva tīrtha* means the tips of the fingers and the centre of the palm is either saumya or āgneya. According to Hārīta the daiva¹⁵³⁹ tīrtha is to be used in mārjana, worship of gods, offering of *bali* and in *bhojana*; the kāya tīrtha is to be employed in lāja-homa (homa of fried grain) and daily homa, the pitrya in all rites for dead ancestors. Touching the kamaṇḍalu (water jar), eating curds and fresh products of the fields (navānna) are to be done with the saumya tīrtha (Smṛtyarthasāra p. 20). When there is difficulty of getting water and an occasion for purification by ācamana arises, one should touch one's right¹⁵⁴⁰ ear. Very elaborate rules are laid down in the digests on the subject of ācamana (e. g. Sm. C. I. pp. 95-104), Smṛtimuktāphala, Āhnika-prakāśa pp. 221-240, Āhnika-tattva pp. 333-344. Gṛ. R. pp. 150-172 &c., which have to be all passed over for want of space. One matter to be noticed is that according to the Āpastamba-smṛti (in verse) the procedure of ācamana is of four kinds, viz. paurāṇika (in which each sipping of water is accompanied by the names, Keśava, Nārāyaṇa, Mādhava &c.); smārta (as laid down in the smṛtis like Manu II. 60 ff), āgama (i. e. taught in the sacred books of Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava sectarians) and śrauta (laid down in the Śrautasūtras for Vedic sacrifices¹⁵⁴¹). The first of these four is the method usually followed now by most brāhmaṇas.