History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.26

v5.c74.t2.26

One such topic is tonsure at Prayāga It is stated by the Gaṅgāvākyāvalī (p. 298) and the Tīr Pr. (p. 335) that, though the author of the Kalpataru says nothing about tonsure at Prayāga, yet as śiṣṭas (respectable and learned people) and the writers of digests accept it as necessary, certain authorities would be set out. The two verses quoted by most1366a writers are 'one should tonsure the head at Prayāga, offer piṇḍas at Gayā, make gifts in Kurukṣetra and should commit (religious) suicide at Benares. What is the use (or necessity) of piṇḍa offerings at Gayā or death in Kāśī, or gifts at Kurukṣetra, if one has tonsured one's head at Prayāga?". Elaborate discussions are held by all these works about the exact intention of the verses, about the application of the maxim of *rātrisattra*¹³⁶⁷ to them and about the results derived from tonsure. They have to be passed over here from considerations of space. The Tristhalī-setu (p. 17) holds that the verse only praises the rite of tonsure at Prayāga and the fruit thereof is simply the removal of sin. The Tri. S. refutes (p. 17) the application of *rātrisattra-nyāya* to these verses, while Tīr. C (p. 32) applies it. Some of the conclusions drawn by the Tri S. are that in one and the same yātrā at Prayāga (even if a man stays there for some days) ceremonial tonsure takes place only once, that widows have to tonsure their heads, that in the case of women whose husbands are living only two or three finger-breadths of tresses are to be cut and offered at the *Triveṇī*, that even1367a boys whose *upanayana* has not been performed have to undergo tonsure provided the *cūḍā* rite has already been performed. The Tristhalīsetu (p. 22) notes that certain traditionalists,¹³⁶⁸ relying on passages that aver that all sins cling to the roots of a person's hair, say that cutting two or three tresses would be merely *kartana* and not *vapana* (tonsure), that even women whose husbands are alive must shave themselves at Prayāga, that such women should make a braid of all their hair, should deck the braid with saffron and other auspicious materials, bow to their husbands and with the husband's permission have the head tonsured, that then they should place the cut hair in their joined hands, place thereon a golden or silver veṇī and pearls and coral and should cast all these into the confluence (Veṇī) of the Ganges and Jumnā after repeating the mantra 'May all my sins be destroyed by this offering of my braided hair into the Veṇī! may my blessedness (the auspicious state of wifehood) always increase in the lives to come'. The Tri. S. states that women do not tonsure their head at any tīrtha except at Prayāga and the only reason for this is that it is the practice of śiṣṭas. Vide above pp 122–124 for tonsure as expiation for sins. The Nāradīya (Uttara) 63. 106 provides the same rule as Parāśara (in note 278 above) for women. The Prāyaścittatattva of Raghunandana prescribes the complete tonsure of the head for women at Prayāga.