History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.161.1

v5.c72.161.1

A yati (sannyāsin) was and is even now buried. In a previous note (n. 528b) a verse of Kratu is quoted that a brahmacārin and yati are to be cremated with uttāpana fire. The explanation of the Śuddhiprakāśa (p. 166) is that the word yati here means an ascetic of the Kuṭīcaka kind and quotes a⁵³⁰ verse as to how the dead bodies of the yatis of four grades are to be disposed of. The⁵³¹ Baud. P. S. III. 11 gives a brief description which is adopted with some variations by the Smṛtyarthasāra (p. 98) that contains a description of the death rites of a *parivrājaka*.⁵³² One should go to the east or north of the village, he should dig a pit (lit. a sacrificial place) as deep as the staff (carried by the yati) under a palāśa tree or on a river bank or on some other pure spot to the accompaniment of the *vyāhṛtis*; then he should sprinkle water thereon thrice repeating the seven vyāhṛtis each time, should spread darbha grass on the bottom of the pit, should deck the dead body (with garlands, sandal paste), deposit the body in the pit with the *mantra* (Tai S. I. 1. 3. 1) 'O Viṣṇu! guard this offering (the dead body).' He should place in the right hand the staff of the parivrājaka (breaking it into three parts) with the mantra 'Viṣṇu took strides over this' (Rg. I. 22. 17, Vāj. S. V. 15, Tai. S. I. 2. 13. 1). He places the *śikya* (loop of strings) in the left hand with the mantra 'what is beyond this world' (Tai. S.