History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.382

v5.c72.382

*Āśaucasannipāta* or *āśaucasampāta* (the knowledge of another āśauca coming to a person already observing one āśauca)⁶⁵⁶ The rules about this matter were promulgated early enough and they are based on convenience and common sense. The rules try to give relief to persons who may be sorely tried if it were held that, when another āśauca supervenes while a person is already in the midst of one, he has to finish all the days of the first āśauca and then begin the period of the second āśauca. The Gaut. Dh. S. 14.5 starts by saying that if another āśauca supervenes on one already being undergone, purification results after the remaining days of the first āśauca are over. Then sūtras 6 and 7 provide that if the second āśauca supervenes in the last night of the first āśauca then purification results in two days after the first āśauca ends and if the second āśauca comes to be known in the last watch of the night of the last day of the first āśauca, the second ends in three days after the first ends. Baud Dh. S. I. 5. 123 appears to be similar to Gaut. 14 5–6 Manu V. 79, Yāj. III. 20, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 22. 35–38, Śaṅkha 15. 10, Parāśara III. 28 lay down the general rule promulgated by Gautama 14.5.