History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.339

v5.c72.339

As long as a corpse is not removed from the village in which a man dies, the whole village is in aśauca Āp Dh. S. 1 3 9 14 declares that there is no Veda study till a corpse lies in the village The Smṛti-muktāphala (p 541) quotes ⁶³² several smṛtis to the effect that in a village in which a corpse lies unremoved, there is to be no eating, no Vedic study and no sacrifice, but that this does not apply where in a village there are more than four hundred brāhmaṇas. The Dharmasindhu (p 433) also says the same about a village, but adds that this rule does not apply to a town