History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.685

v6.c81.685

On this 8th tithi the performer has to honour maidens, feed them and brāhmaṇas also. He may honour a maiden or maidens from the first to the 9th tithi, but he must do so at least on 8th. The Devīpurāṇa⁴³⁸ says "Durgā is not so much gratified by *homa*, gifts and *japa* as she is gratified (becomes favourable) by honouring maidens." And he has to give them dakṣiṇā also. Hemādri (on vrata vol I. 903-906) quotes a long passage from the Skanda-purāṇa on this subject. Skanda provides that the performer should feed maidens from the first tithi of Navarātra on a rising scale, viz. one maiden on the first tithi, two on the 2nd and so on up to nine on the 9th. If he feeds nine virgins every day (of the Navarātra) he secures land; if he feeds double the number on each succeeding day he gets prosperity. He should not honour a maiden who is one year old (or less), for, such a girl has not developed at that age liking for fruits, flowers and sandal-wood paste. Therefore, he should honour maidens who are from two to ten years old, and not those that are beyond ten years The Devīpurāṇa provides that if no virgin is available, one may honour even a married girl who has had no menstruation⁴³⁹ The Skanda provides that maidens from two years to ten should be honoured under the following names respectively, viz. Kumārikā (two years old), Trimūrti (three years old), Kalyāṇī, Rohiṇī, Kālī, Caṇḍikā, Śāmbhavī, Durgā, Subhadrā. The Skanda provides special pūjā mantras for each of the nine kinds of maidens and different rewards are provided for honouring each of the nine classes. These are passed over here. The general *āvāhanamantra* for all in the morning after the performer has taken a ceremonial bath with oil is noted below.⁴⁴⁰ In this way he is to honour virgins with bodice, clothes, sandalwood paste, flowers and akṣatas, with different kinds of edibles and dishes and feed them with pāyasa (rice boiled in milk and sugar). One should not honour a maiden that has a limb more or less, that suffers from leprosy, or that has varicose veins or has a broken head or has limbs from which blood or pus oozes or has ulcers, that is blind from birth, is squint-eyed or blind of one eye or is ugly or has little hair or much hair or is diseased or is born of a slave woman. A man should honour a brāhmaṇa maiden in all acts, a kṣatriya maiden for victory, one belonging to untouchable castes in acts of terrible nature. After the maidens are fed, brāhmaṇas also should be fed (Durgārcana, pp. 681).