History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c40.24.4

v3.c40.24.4

10). Some smṛtis prescribe that while taking each morsel one should say¹⁸³² 'Govinda'. At the time of eating, several postures are forbidden, viz. one should not stretch one's feet or place them on another seat (a footstool &c.) nor should one have one's haunches and knees tied by a garment (Viṣṇu Dh. S. 68. 40) nor should one place one's hand on one's left foot, nor should one wear one's shoes or wooden sandals, nor should one come in contact with leather (vide Smṛtimuktāphala, āhnika p. 425). Baud. Dh. S. (I. 1. 21) states that among usages peculiar to the south were those of eating in the company of one whose upanayana had not been performed or of one's wife or taking stale food. But Baud. disapproved of these. Manu IV. 43, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 68. 46 and Vas. Dh. S. XII. 31¹⁸³³ say that one should not eat together with one's wife and Vas. Dh. S. adds the reason that by so doing the child born has no strength as stated in the Śat. Br. X. 5. 2. 9. Kullūka and some other commentators on Manu IV. 43 hold that the prohibition relates to eating in the same dish with one's wife, while, as Medhātithi states, others hold that it applies also to eating with one's wife at the same time and place. The Sm. C. (I. p. 227) and other digests quote a smṛti verse which allows a brāhmaṇa to eat in the same dish with his brāhmaṇa wife and explain the verse as applying to a brāhmaṇa who is on a journey. The Smṛtyarthasāra (p.