History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.360

v5.c72.360

Several rules are mentioned in the smṛtis about the periods of āśauca for the relatives of higher castes when they marry women of lower varṇas (i e. when there are anuloma marriages). For example, Dakṣa VI. 12 says that if a brāhmaṇa has married wives of the four varṇas, then the impurity on the delivery or death of these women respectively lasts for 10, 6, 3 or 1 day. Viṣṇu Dh. S (22. 22-24) provides that when a kṣatriya has sapiṇḍas of the vaiśya or śūdra varṇa the āśauca on the birth and death of these lasts for six or three days, if a vaiśya has a śūdra as sapiṇḍa then impurity is removed after six days. But when people of lower varṇas have sapiṇḍas of higher varṇas then impurity on birth and death ceases when the impurity of the higher varṇa sapiṇḍas ceases. Laghu-Hārīta 84 (= Āpastambasmṛti IX verse 13) has similar provisions. Other smṛtis and purāṇas like the Kūrma (Uttarārdha 23. 30-36) mention differing views quoted in Hāralatā pp 54-60, Smṛ M. pp. 495-496. The Madanapārijāta remarks (pp 425-426) that some say that these varying provisions may be discarded or that they may be assigned their proper place according to the usages of the several countries or they should somehow be explained as based upon the person affected being possessed of virtues or not or they may be held to be applicable to seasons of distress or otherwise.