History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.185

v5.c72.185

After the relatives (sons and the like) of a deceased person have offered water, have taken a bath and after they emerge from the water (of a river or the like) and are sitting on a plot of soft green grass, elderly persons should talk to them (in order to lessen their grief) about ancient narratives (Yāj. III. 7 and G. P. S. I. 4.2⁵⁴³). Viṣṇu Dh. S. 20. 22-53 contain a long disquisition on the grip that *Kāla* (Time, Death) has on every body including even Indra, gods, *daityas*, great kings and sages, how everyone that is born is sure to die (i. e. Death is inevitable), and how no one (except the wife) can follow the departed on his journey to the other world, how the good actions and bad actions will accompany the spirit of the dead, how śrāddha confers great benefit on the departed; it winds up that therefore the surviving relatives should offer śrāddha and give up lamentations that help no one, that it is *dharma* that alone follows the soul through his wanderings⁵⁴⁴. Yāj III. 8-11 (=Garuḍapurāṇa II. 4. 81-84) are verses in a similar strain and are intended to serve the same purpose. They are: 'He, who seeks everlastingness in this human life that is as devoid of strength as the stock of a plantain plant, and that is as inconstant as a bubble of water, is a deluded person. What is the use of lamentation if the body, created out of the five elements by reason of actions performed in a former life, returns to those five elements? The earth, the ocean and the gods are destined to go to destruction (at some future date when *pralaya* takes place). How is it possible that the world of mortals which is (evanescent) like foam will not meet with destruction? As the departed spirit, being helpless, has to swallow the tears and phlegm cast by kinsmen, they should not weep but should perform (obsequial) rites according to their ability.’ Gobhilasmṛti III. 39 urges ‘do not lament for what is perishable and what is the characteristic (destiny) of all beings. Exert yourselves in the performance of meritorious acts which will accompany you’ Gobhila then quotes Yāj. III. 8–10 and one verse from the Mahābhārata 544a viz. ‘All collections are to end in dissipation, all rise is to end in fall, all unions in separation and life in death’. Aparārka quotes the Rāmāyaṇa and Vāsudeva’s words from the Śalyaparva to Dhṛtarāṣṭra on the death of Duryodhana. The Par. M. I. 2 pp. 292–93, the Śuddhiprakāśa pp. 205–206 and several other works quote the verses of Viṣṇu, Yāj. and Gobhila.