History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.106
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.106
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It is not possible from considerations of space to set out all that is said in the other gṛhya sūtras. A few interesting points may be noted here. The Sat. Br XIII. 8. 4. 11, Pār. gṛ. (III 10. 10 ff) expressly provide that funeral rites for any one whose upanayana has been performed are the same from the choosing of the site for the burning of the body to the descent into water on the part of the relatives (for bathing themselves) as those prescribed for a person who has set up the śrauta (Vedic) fires, the only difference being that an *āhitāgni* is cremated with the three Vedic fires kept by him, that one who has kept only the smārta⁴⁹⁴ or aupāsana fire is burnt with that and that common persons who have neither kept the śrauta fires nor smārta fire are burnt with the ordinary⁴⁹⁵ fire. Devala provides that when using ordinary fire, one should avoid taking the fire from a cāṇḍāla or any unclean fire or the fire in the room of a freshly delivered woman or the fire of a *patita* or fire from a funeral pyre.⁴⁹⁶ The Pitṛdayitā states that the mantra 'asmāt tvam &c' was not to be recited when the deceased was a person who had not kept sacred fires.⁴⁹⁷ The Pār. gṛ. further provides that all relatives residing in the same village, if they can trace the relationship, do the same, that they wear only one garment, suspend their sacred thread over the right shoulder, that with the fourth finger of the left hand they spurt away the water with Vāj. S 35.
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6 and facing the south plunge into water and pour out one libation of water with joined hands. The Āp. Dh. S. (II. 6. 15. 2–7) lays down a bath when a person's relatives on the mother's side and father's relatives up to the 7th degree or as long as relationship can be traced die, except in the case of children less than a year old In the case of a child's death before one year, the parents and those who carry the child's body have to bathe. All the above should have dishevelled hair, should throw dust in the hair, wear only one garment, turn their faces to the south, plunge into water, offer water to the dead thrice and then sit down on the bank (of the river or pond), then come to the village and do what the women tell them to do (such as touching fire and bull &c.). Yāj. III 2 also provides the same rules as Pār. gṛ. and prescribes the recitation of the mantra 'apa naḥ śośucad agham' ('May evil be burnt away from us,' Ṛg. I. 97 1, A. V. IV. 33 1, Tai. Ā. VI. 10.1). The G P. S. (II. 23) provides that the funeral pyre is to be made with the wood of sacrificial trees, (II.
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37 and 39) that the sapiṇḍas of the deceased headed by the women, the youngest being the first, fan the corpse placed on the pyre with the fringes of their garments, that the performer of the funeral rites takes a jar filled with water, places a darbhendva (?) on his head and goes round the corpse thrice and the priest gives a light stroke on the jar thrice separately with a stone (*aśman*) or an axe and recites a mantra 'imā āpo &c.' when a stream of water rushes out of the broken jar, (changing the words about 'asmin loke' to 'antarikṣe' and 'svarge' at the 2nd and 3rd perambulations). The performer while standing should drop behind him the jar of water. Then after repeating the mantra 'tasmāt tvam adhijāto'si...asau svargāya lokāya svāhā,' he should set fire to the pyre to burn the body.⁴⁹⁸ The Sat Śr 28 1 38 provides that the family members beat their right thighs, fan the corpse with the fringes of their garments and go thrice round the corpse with the left side towards the corpse and recite the mantra 'apa naḥ śośucad-agham' (Rg. I. 97 1. Tai. Ā. VI. 10. 1). It further provides (28. 1 37–46) that the corpse is carried in a cart or by (four) men and while being carried four stops are made, at each of which clods of earth are dug up and boiled rice is offered thereon with mantras like 'pūṣā tvetaḥ' (Rg. X. 17 3., Tai Ā VI. 10 1), 'āyur viśvāyur' (Rg. X. 17. 4, Tai. Ā VI. 10. 2).
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The Varāha-purāṇa prescribes that a Paurāṇic mantra should be recited, that the performer should go round the pyre and apply the kindled fire towards the part of the pyre where the head is placed.⁴⁹⁹