History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.98

v5.c72.98

⁴⁸⁷ Many of the sūtras refer to this act of making the wife of the deceased lie down to the north of the dead body on the funeral pile and then making her rise up from it. Vide Kauśikasūtra 80. 44–45 'इयं नारीति पत्नीमुपसंवेशयति। उदीर्ष्वेत्युत्थापयति।' These two verses are A. V. XVIII. 3. 1–2. Sat Śr. (28. 2. 14–16) states that before the corpse is placed on the pyre the wife is made to lie down near it with the verse 'iyam nārī' and then her husband's brother or another brāhmaṇa makes her get up with the verse 'udīrṣva nārī'. The same sūtra (28. 2. 22) says that the wife may be made to lie down near the corpse after the latter is placed on the pyre or before (as it appears to prefer).