History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.284

v5.c72.284

The Mit. on Yāj. III 1 defines⁵⁹⁸ āśauca as an emergent attribute attaching to a person, which is got rid of by lapse of time or a bath and the like and which is the cause of the positive direction to offer (to a deceased person) pinda, water and the like and of the cessation of Vedic study and other actions The Mit adds that āśauca is not merely the absence of the privilege or power to do religious acts, since even those who have incurred impurity (on death &c ) are enjoined to do certain religious acts such as offering water (to the deceased) This definition of the Mit appears to be an echo of the Garuda-purāṇa (pretakhaṇḍa) 5. 9 and is probably based on a verse of the work called Saṅgraha. Haradatta⁵⁹⁹ on Gautama 14. 1 states that āśauca may be defined as 'the absence of the privilege to perform religious acts, unfitness for being one whose food may be partaken of, untouchability and the loss of the privilege to make religious gifts.' A comparatively early writer Bhaṭṭācārya,⁶⁰⁰ appears to have defined 'śuddhi' as the 'removal of sin' or as 'being fit for performing religious acts.' This was accepted by the Smṛti-candrikā, but rejected by Nandapaṇḍita, commentator of Ṣaḍaśīti (pp. 2-3) Even the Mit. (on Yāj. III. 18) emphasizes that āśauca has two characteristics, viz. it takes away the privilege of performing religious acts and it renders a person untouchable. The Smṛtimuktāphala follows this. Rudradhara in his Śuddhividveka (D. C ms. No. 309 of 1887-91 folio 1) says that śuddhi is a special attribute which brings about a capacity or privilege for the performance of all dharmas, while aśuddhi is an attribute opposed to śuddhi and arises on the occasion of the birth of a sapiṇḍa or the like.⁶⁰¹