History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.470

v6.c81.470

The Yājñavalkya-smṛti employs the word vrata in the sense of prāyaścitta in III. 251, 252, 254, 266, 269, 282, 298, 300, in the sense of 'brahmacarya' in III. 15, and in the sense of the food to be subsisted upon in III. 289, but hardly ever in the sense of a rite to be observed on a tithi or week day or nakṣatra as in the purāṇas This at least indicates that the vratas mentioned in the purāṇas had not attained prominence in the time of the Yājñavalkya-smṛti, which, in spite of its containing over 1000 verses, hardly ever refers to any vrata in the sense of the purāṇas.