History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.287

v5.c72.287

Āśauca is of two kinds, viz. that arising on birth⁶⁰² (and so called *jananāśauca* or *sūtaka*) and that arising on death (and therefore called *śāvāśauca* or *mṛtakāśauca* or *maraṇāśauca*). *Śāva* is derived from *śava* (meaning a corpse). The word sūtaka occurs in the⁶⁰³ Ait. Br. (chap. 32. 8) and is there probably used in the sense of impurity on both birth and death. There it is said that if an āhitāgni partook of food from the house of him who was affected by sūtaka, then the prāyaścitta was to offer a puroḍāśa cooked on eight potsherds to Agni Tantumat. Tantu means also 'son or progeny' and so it may be argued that it is an indication that sūtaka is used in the Ait. Br. in the sense of impurity on birth. The word *sūtaka* is used in the smṛtis in three senses: (1) impurity on birth (vide Manu V. 58); (2) impurity both on birth and death, as in Gobhilasmṛti III. 60 and 63;⁶⁰⁴ (3) impurity on death alone (as in Dakṣa VI. 1 and Gobhilasmṛti III. 48).⁶⁰⁵ In some of the modern vernaculars (such as Marathi) the word 'sūtaka' is used in the 3rd sense alone. In each of these two divisions there are two varieties viz. where the duration is brief or comparatively long (Ṣaḍaśīti, verse 2).