History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.347

v5.c72.347

The Mit. on Yāj. III. 21 (latter half) makes a distinction between knowledge of the death of a sapiṇḍa staying in the same country coming to a person's ears after ten days from death and of the death of a sapiṇḍa staying in another country separated by a big river &c In the latter case the sapiṇḍas coming to hear of the death after ten days but even before three months are purified by a mere bath. It quotes⁶³⁷ a smṛti verse 'on hearing that a person (sapiṇḍa) died in another country and in the case of the death of an impotent person or a forest hermit or an ascetic purification follows after a bath and the same applies to *sagotra* sapiṇḍas in the case of abortion.' The Ṣaḍaśīti (35) has a similar verse⁶³⁸ The Mit. quotes two verses of Bṛhaspati which define what *deśāntara* (a different country) means⁶³⁹ 'Where there is a large river or there is a mountain which separates (one territory from another) or where the languages differ then there is *deśāntara*. Some say that a different country means the distance of sixty *yojanas*, while others put it down at forty *yojanas* and still others at thirty *yojanas*.' There is a difference of opinion as to whether in order to constitute a different country all three must co-exist (viz. a large river, a mountain and difference of speech) or any one of the three will suffice or whether 60, 40 or 30 yojanas would constitute a different country or whether the requirement of ten days for news to be carried to a place would constitute *deśāntara* The Sm. C and Ṣaḍaśīti 37 hold the view that any one of the above three is sufficient while others hold other views. The Śuddhiviveka⁶⁴⁰ holds that a distance of 60 yojanas constituted deśāntara by itself, but even within sixty yojanas if a large river, a mountain and difference of speech occurred together, that could give rise to deśāntara. The Smṛtyarthasāra⁶⁴¹ avers that deśāntara is differently described in the Smṛtis, Purāṇas and the works on tīrthas For yojana, vide H of Dh. vol. III n 185 pp. 145-146