History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.61

v5.c73.t1.61

But the requisite qualifications were so exacting that it must have been found almost impossible to secure for a śrāddha brāhmanas altogether free from any of the blemishes set out above from Manu. Gautama (15 15-18) contains long lists⁸⁹⁷ of over 50 kinds of brāhmanas that were not to be invited at a śrāddha dinner or at a sacrifice for gods, but Gaut. adds that according to some only those beginning with '*durvāla*' (Gaut. in 15. 18) were to be shunned at a śrāddha (but could be invited at a sacrifice for the gods). The persons so to be shunned, according to some who flourished before Gautama (i. e at least before 600 B C) are. a bald man, a man who has deformed nails or has black teeth (naturally), one suffering from white leprosy, the son of a re-married woman, a gambler, one who neglects *japa* (the recitation of Vedic mantras), a servant of the king, one who uses false weights and measures, one whose (only) wife is a śūdra female, one who does not perform the daily five sacrifices, one who suffers from a virulent skin disease, a usurer, one who lives by trade or by handicrafts, one who makes his living by (manufacturing) bows (and arrows) or by playing on musical instruments or by keeping time (when another is singing), or by dancing or singing. Vas. quotes a verse ⁸⁹⁸ as follows: If a brāhmaṇa knowing the Vedas is afflicted with physical defects which (ordinarily) exclude a person from a row of diners, Yama declares that he is irreproachable and that he does sanctify the row of diners. But it must be said that even in modern times emphasis is laid on inviting learned and well-conducted brāhmanas for śrāddha. The idea (expressed by Manu III. 189 and the Padmapurāṇa) persists that the *pitṛs* enter into and hover round the invited brāhmanas and that the latter are to be looked upon as representing the *pitṛs*.⁸⁹⁹ The Garuḍapurāṇa states that Yama allows the departed souls and the pitṛs to visit the world of men at the time of śrāddha from the nether regions.