History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.157

v5.c72.157

Manu V. 68, Yāj III. 1, Parāśara III 14, Visnu Dh. S. 22. 27-28, Brahmapurāna quoted by Par M. I 2 p. 238 provide that in the case of abortion, the foetus, and a stıll-born child, and a child that has not yet struck teeth should be decked with clothes and the like and should be buried Children of tender years were not to be cremated, but there was some difference of opinion among ancient writers on the exact age at which one or the other method of disposal was to be resorted to. Pāraskara-gr.528c III. 10, Yāj III. 1, Manu V. 68-69, Yama and some others provide that a child that had not completed two years at death was to be buried under ground in an unsullied spot outside the village (other than the usual cemetery), the dead body being anointed with ghee and decked with flowers and sandal paste and that no burning nor offering of water nor the collection of bones was to be performed in this case The relatives may all follow the body or not and Yama allows the recital of the Yamasūkta (Rg. X. 14) and the verses in honour of the god Yama. Manu V 70, however, states other optional provisions viz. that the offering of water may be done (and therefore the cremation also of the dead body) in the case of infants that have struck teeth or after *nāmakaraṇa*. Therefore there is an option as to cremating an infant of less than two years, viz it may be buried or cremated after nāmakaraṇa or after the appearance of teeth. In this case it is not necessary that all the sapiṇḍa relatives should follow the dead body If a child is two years old or more at death and upanayana has not been performed it must be cremated with ordinary fire and water must be offered silently. The same rule applies to a child whose *cūḍā* (tonsure) had been performed before death as stated by Laugākṣi.528d The Vaik. Sm. S. V.11 lays down that there is no burning with fire until the 5th year for a boy and the 7th year for a girl After Upanayana the child was to be cremated according to the rites prescribed for an āhitāgni so far as they could be applied (i. e. there would be cremation without sacrificial implements and the mantra 'asmāt tvam-abhijāto'si' was not to be recited) The Baud ⁵²⁹ P. S. (II 3.10-11) provides that there is no cremation for children dying before the performance of caula (tonsure) and there is no pitṛmedha for those whose upanayana had not been performed at death or for unmarried girls. It also provides that infants that have struck no teeth are to be buried with syllable 'om' and those that have had teeth with the Vyāhṛtis The Mit. on Yāj. III 2 summarises the rules as follows: Before Nāmakaraṇa there was to be only burial and no offering of water and the like; after Nāmakaraṇa up to the third year cremation and offering of water are optional with burial, from the third year up to upanayana there is cremation and also offering of water but silently (without mantras), if Cūḍā ceremony was performed before the 3rd year and the child died then also the same rule applied. After Upanayana the deceased was to be cremated with ordinary fire but the procedure was to be the same as for an āhitāgni.