History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c40.151

v3.c40.151

Numerous rules are laid down in the smṛtis and digests about sleeping, viz. as to the position of the head, what kind of bed to use, where to sleep and what texts to recite and so on Vide Gaut. II. 13 and IX. 60, Manu IV. 57, 175-176, Yāj. I. 136, Viṣṇupurāṇa III. 11. 107-109 for some of these rules. Among the earliest works to give elaborate rules is the Viṣṇu Dh. S. chap. 70, which is set out here. 'One should not sleep when one's feet are wet with water, nor should one have his head towards the north and west or lower (than the other parts of the body), nor should one sleep naked nor below a beam along its length nor in an uncovered place nor on a bed-stead of a palāśa tree nor on one made of five kinds¹⁹¹¹ of wood nor on one made of trees split by an elephant nor on one made of wood burnt by lightning, nor on a broken bed-stead nor on one which is scorched, nor on a bed of trees watered with jars, nor in cemeteries nor in an unoccupied house, nor in a temple, nor in the midst of rash (or mischievous) persons, nor in the midst of women, nor above grain, nor in a stable of cows nor on the bed-stead of elderly persons nor over a fire or over an idol, nor before washing his hands or lips after meals, nor should one sleep by day nor in the twilight nor on ashes, nor on an unclean spot, nor on a wet spot nor on the top of a mountain.' Vide Smṛtyarthasāra p. 70, Gṛ. R. pp. 397-399, Smṛtimuktāphala (āhnika pp. 456-458), Āhnika-prakāśa pp. 556-558 for further details. Some of them may be noted. One should bow to one's favourite deity and keep a bamboo staff near one's bed—says the Smṛtyarthasāra. The Smṛtiratna says that one should not sleep on the same bed with a person suffering from an eye disease or with one who is an epileptic or with one suffering from fever, leprosy, tuberculosis, asthma and hiccough. The Ratnāvalī (quoted in Sm. M. āhnika p. 457) requires that one should place a jar full of water at the head of the bed-stead, recite Vedic mantras for one's protection and mantras against poison and also the hymn to Night (Ṛg. X. 127), remember the five ancient personages well-known as sound sleepers,¹⁹¹² viz. Agasti, Mādhava, Mucakunda, Kapila and Āstīka, salute Viṣṇu and then go to sleep. Hārīta (prose) quoted in Āhnikaprakāśa p. 557 contains similar rules. Vṛddha-Hārīta (VIII. 309-310) says that an ascetic, a brahmacāri, a forest hermit and a widow should not sleep on a cot but on the ground covered over with a deer-skin or a blanket or with kuśas.