History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c38.20

v3.c38.20

Āp. Dh. S. (II. 2. 3. 1 and 4) says that vaiśvadeva food should be cooked by āryas (persons of the twice-born classes) that are purified (by bathing &c.), or śūdras supervised by āryas may cook the food.¹⁷⁷⁴ Medieval writers remarked, as usual, that the latter rule about śūdras being cooks applied only to another age.¹⁷⁷⁵ Āp. Dh. S. (II. 2. 3. 10-11) further says that when the food is ready i.e. cooked, the cook should announce while standing, to the owner of the house 'it is ready' and the owner should reply 'it (food) is auspiciously ready, it is food that gives supremacy; may it not be lost.' If no vaiśvadeva is performed on any day, the householder had to fast the day and night (Gobhila-smṛti III. 120). Dakṣa II. 62 and Yama condemn to hell him who takes his own meal without offering vaiśvadeva, when he is not himself in distress or difficulty.¹⁷⁷⁶