History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.551

v6.c81.551

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.