History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.471

v5.c71.s1.471

This is prescribed as a penance for all sins by even the most ancient Dharmaśāstra works such as Gaut 24.11, Baud. Dh S IV. 2 19–20, Vas 26 8, Manu XI.259–260, Yāj III 301, Viṣṇu Dh S. 55 7, Śaṅkha 18 1–2 and others. They prescribe that if a man recites (for three days, according to Haradatta) the Aghamarṣaṇa hymn thrice in the day while immersed in water for a bath, he is freed from all sins and that this penance is equal in sanctification to the bath at the end of the Aśvamedha sacrifice The Pr. Sāra p 199 speaks of the Aghamarṣaṇa-vrata He has to fast for three days and stand up by day and sit up by night and donate a milch cow at the end. Śaṅkha 18 1–2 and Viṣṇu Dh. S.46.1–9 prescribe the details.