History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.522

v6.c81.522

One question often raised in some of the medieval digests on Dharmaśāstra is: what is the principal matter in Janmāṣṭamīvrata. Some held that both fast (upavāsa) and worship (pūjā) are principal and they rely on a Bhaviṣyapurāṇa³⁴⁹ passage 'when at midnight on the 8th of the dark half there is Rohiṇī, worship of Kṛṣṇa destroys sins committed in three lives; a man observing a fast then and performing worship of Hari does not sink'. The Samayamayūkha, after an elaborate discussion in which Mīmāṁsā doctrines such as those in Jai. I. 4. 1-3 are employed, arrives at the conclusion that the fast is only an auxiliary (*aṅga*), while worship (pūjā) is the principal thing. On the other hand the Tithitattva³⁵⁰ relying on the verse of the Bhaviṣya opening the description of the vrata 'On that day one should accept the restrictions of upavāsa' and also Mīmāṁsā doctrines holds that upavāsa is the principal matter and pūjā is an aṅga (auxiliary matter). The Jayantinirṇaya contained in the Daśanirṇayī of Hārīta Veṅkaṭanātha discusses at length the two (pp. 3 ff). This subject need not be pursued much further.