History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.321

v6.c81.321

It is stated that the Rāmanavamīvrata is *nitya* (obligatory) for all, while others say that it is obligatory only for devotees of Rāma and *kāmya* (optional) for those that desire special rewards (such as removal of sin, *mukti* or release from *saṃsāra*). The Agastya-saṃhitā²¹⁶ remarks 'This (vrata) is a course prescribed for all and it is the sole means of worldly happiness and *mukti*. Even a person who is impure or very sinful, having performed this best of vratas, is honoured by all and he becomes as if he were Rāma himself. That wretched man who eats food on Rāmanavamī suffers torments in the terrible hells called Kumbhīpāka. If a man fasts on a single Rāmanavamī all his objects are fulfilled and he is released from all sins'. The Agastyasaṃhitā further prescribes 'on that day (on which Rāma was born) vrata in the form of a fast should always be performed and on that day the devotee intent on Rāma worship should keep awake at night, sitting on the ground'. The use of the word 'sadā' (always) shows that the vrata is obligatory. Others say that the texts promise such rewards as removal of sin and therefore it is kāmya. The conclusion of many works (like the Nirṇayasindhu and the Tithitattva) is that this vrata is both kāmya and nitya according to the Mīmāṁsā maxim of 'samyogaprthaktva'²¹⁷ (Jai IV 3. 5-7) In the section on 'Agnihotra' the Veda says 'he makes an offering of curds in the fire'; there is another sentence in the same, viz 'one who desires bodily vigour should make an offering of curds in the fire'. The meaning is that curds being separately mentioned in two different sentences which are both independent, homa with dadhı is both nitya and kāmya.