History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c41.26

v3.c41.26

*Utsarjana*:—About the time of *utsarjana* also there was divergence of view. The Baud. gṛ. (I. 5. 163) prescribes that it may be performed on the full moon day of Pauṣa or Māgha. Āśv. gṛ. (III. 5. 14) requires Veda study after upākarma for six months and so if the upākarma was performed on the new moon of Śrāvaṇa the utsarjana according to it would be on the full moon of Māgha (vide III. 5. 20 also). The Pār. gṛ. II. 11 states that after having studied the Veda for five months and a half or for six months and a half they (teacher and pupils) should perform utsarga (i. e. the rite of closing the course of Vedic study). These periods are only approximate, since Pār. gṛ. II. 12 further on says that utsarjana should be performed in the month of Pauṣa when the moon is in the Rohiṇī nakṣatra (i. e. about the eleventh of the bright half) or in middle Aṣṭakā (i. e. 8th of the dark half of Pauṣa). The Gobhila gṛ. III. 3. 14 says that utsarga is performed on the full moon of Taiṣa (i. e. Pauṣa), while the Khādira gṛ. III. 2. 24 says that having studied the Veda for four months and a half they close the session on the full moon day of Pauṣa. The Śāṅ. gṛ. IV. 6. 1 holds that utsarjana should be performed on the first day of the bright half of Māgha; Yāj. I. 143 follows Pār. gṛ. II. 12 by saying that utsarga takes place in Pauṣa on the Rohiṇī nakṣatra or on the 8th of the dark half, while Manu (IV. 95-96) says that after studying Veda for four months and a half from upākarma, utsarga should take place when the moon is in the Puṣya nakṣatra thereafter or on the first day of the bright half of Māgha. The Mānava gṛ. I. 4. 7 says that Veda study is stopped 4½ or 5 or 5½ months after upākarma. These several periods (4½ months, or 5½ months or 6½ months) and the various dates of utsarga in Pauṣa or Māgha were due to the fact that upākarma may take place on the full moon day of S'rāvaṇa or ·Bhādrapada (or even Āṣāḍha) or on the 5th of the bright half of S'rāvaṇa or on Hasta in Bhādrapada or S'rāvaṇa.