History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c40.154

v3.c40.154

In connection with the subject of going to bed at night, a good deal is stated in the smṛtis and digests about sexual intercourse between husband and wife. Some of these rules (viz. about the proper days for intercourse) have already been stated above (pp. 204-205). Gaut. V. 1-2 and IX. 28-29, Āp. Dh. S. II. 1. 1. 16-23 lay down that a householder is to approach his wife on the proper days or he may do so at any time except on forbidden days or when the wife desires it; he is not to have intercourse during day-time or when the wife is ill, nor when she is in her courses nor should he embrace her during that period. Āp. Dh. S. II. 1. 1. 19, Vas.¹⁹¹³ Dh. S. XII. 24 and Yāj. I. 81 refer to the boon conferred on women by Indra according to a legend narrated in the Tai. S. II. 5. 1. When Indra killed Viśvarūpa, son of Tvaṣṭṛ, he incurred the sin of brāhmaṇa murder; all beings loudly condemned him as 'brahmahan', and he went about the universe in search of sharers in his sin, of which one third was taken by the earth (which secured the boon that when a pit is dug it becomes filled up in a year), one-third by trees (that got the boon that even when pruned they would grow again and the exudation from trees is the part of *brahmahatyā* that comes out of trees and the red resins exuded are therefore not to be eaten) and one third by women, who got the boon that they would conceive only during their period (of sixteen days) after the recurring occurrence of menses and that they might indulge in intercourse till the time of delivery and in the case of whom the murder is manifested every month.¹⁹¹⁴ Viṣṇu Dh. S. chap. 69 puts all rules together, some of which are: A householder must avoid sexual intercourse after having been invited at a śrāddha or having partaken of dinner at it or after having given a a śrāddha dinner or after performing the initiatory ceremony of *soma* sacrifice; he must not have intercourse in a temple, in a cemetery, in an empty house or at the root of a tree, in the day time¹⁹¹⁵ or at twilight, or with a woman older than himself or with a pregnant woman or with one who has a limb too much or is deficient in a limb. Vide Viṣṇupurāṇa III. 11. 110-123 for similar rules on the same topic. Most of the rules are eugenic or based on hygiene, though a few may be held to be only religious or superstitious. Gaut. IX. 26, Āp. Dh. S. II. 1. 1. 21-23 and II. 1. 2. 1, Manu IV. 4 and V. 144 say that after intercourse the husband and wife should take a bath or at least wash, sip water and sprinkle water over the body and should sleep on separate beds. Other writers stated different views.¹⁹¹⁶