History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.554

v5.c73.t1.554

Much is said on the question whether śrāddhas should be performed in the intercalary month. The intercalary month is called by various names, viz. Malimluca (Kāṭhaka Saṃ. 38. 14),¹²²⁶ Saṃsarpa or Aṃhasaspati (Vāj S. 7.30 and 22.31), Malamāsa, Adhimāsa. An intercalary month is known even to the Ṛgveda (Ṛg. I. 25.8). The vendor of soma and the thirteenth month are condemned as *pāpa* (sinful) in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa ¹²²⁷. The Purāṇas tried to bolster up the intercalary month by calling it Puruṣottama-māsa (i. e. the month of Viṣṇu) but the original stigma attaching to the 13th month seems to have persisted. The general rule about an intercalary month is stated by the Gṛhyapariśiṣṭa.¹²²⁸ 'the month called Malimluca is polluted and springs from sin; it is condemned for all acts; it should be discarded in all rites in honour of gods and pitṛs.' But exceptions to this sweeping prohibition have been recognized. Hārīta provides ¹²²⁹ that all śrāddhas that come after Sapiṇḍana are not to be performed in an intercalary month. Vyāsa laid down ¹²³⁰ that such ceremonies as jātakarma, annaprāśana, the navaśrāddhas, śrāddha on Maghā and the thirteenth *tithi*, the sixteen śrāddhas, bath, gifts, japa and śrāddha at the time of the eclipse of the sun or moon—these should be performed even in an intercalary month. The Smṛtimuktāphala concludes (p. 728) that there is no blemish in performing a śrāddha in an intercalary month provided it is to be performed before the end of one year from death. It is provided by Bhṛgu ¹²³¹ that the sāṃvatsarika śrāddha of those who die in an intercalary month may be performed in the intercalary month, but if there be none such then in the ordinary month of the same name. When the tithi for performing a śrāddha comes and there is then an intercalary month, Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha says that śrāddha should be performed in both months.¹²³²