History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c45.39

v3.c45.39

Any person of the three higher varṇas could become a vānaprastha, but a śūdra could not do so. Manu VI. 1 when starting the topic of vānaprasthas employs the word 'dvija'. In the Sāntiparva 21. 15 it is stated that a kṣatriya after transferring the kingdom to his son should subsist in a forest on wild food and follow the śrāvaṇa scriptures.²¹²⁸ In the Aśvamedhika-parva 35. 43 it is expressly stated that the order of vānaprasthas is meant for the three *dvijātis*.²¹²⁹ The Mahābhārata cites many examples of royal personages becoming vānaprasthas. Yayāti after crowning his youngest and most dutiful son Pūru as a king is said to have become a forest hermit (Ādiparva 86. 1) where he practised various austerities (Ādi. 86. 12-17) and ultimately ended his life by fasting (Ādi. 75. 58). In the Āśramavāsi-parva (chap. 19) the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra is said to have become a forest hermit with his wife Gāndhārī who put on bark garments and deer-skin. The Par. M. (I. part 2, p. 139) relying on Manu VI. 2, Yama and other sages states its view that men of the three varṇas could become forest hermits. Women also could repair to the forest. The Mausala parva (7. 74) states that when Kṛṣṇa left the mortal body, Satyabhāmā and other queens of Kṛṣṇa entered the forest having resolved to undergo severe austerities. The Ādiparva (128. 12-13) narrates that, on the death of Pāṇḍu, Satyavatī with her two daughters-in-law repaired to a forest for austerities and died there. Vide also Śānti 147. 10 (for Mahāprasthāna) and Āśramavāsiparva. 37. 27-28. According to Vaik. VIII. 1 and Vāmanapurāṇa 14. 117-118 a brāhmaṇa could pass through all four āśramas, a kṣatriya through three (he could not be a sannyāsin), a vaiśya through two (brahmacarya and gārhasthya) and a śūdra could resort to only one viz. the householder's mode of life. Vide the story of Śambūka referred to above (p. 119).