History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.987

v6.c81.987

The Puṇyakāla (the holy period) in the case of eclipses lasts only as long as the eclipse is visible to the eye. Jābāli says⁶³⁹ 'In the case of saṅkrānti the puṇyakāla is 16 kalās on both sides thereof, but in the case of a lunar or solar eclipse it lasts only so long as the eclipse is visible'. This leads on to a question that is very much discussed in the several medieval works and on which there is great divergence of views. Much emphasis is laid on the words 'yāvad-darśana-go-caraḥ' and 'rāhudarśane' occurring in several verses (quoted in the notes, 638, 639 &c.) The Kṛtyakalpataru (Naiyatakāla) argues that in those passages 'darśana' (being visible) is declared to be the cause or occasion of the several acts (snāna, dāna &c.) to be performed in an eclipse, that an eclipse is an occasion only when it is known that it has occurred, and that knowledge must be derived from the eye and that therefore when the sun or moon is screened from view by clouds one need not enter upon a bath and the like prescribed in the case of an eclipse.⁶¹⁰ Hemādri on Kāla quotes this view and criticizes it in several ways. He first relies on Manu IV. 37 that prescribes that one should never see the sun when it is rising or setting or when it is eclipsed or is reflected in water or when it is in mid-sky. If actual seeing were necessary, that is an impossible condition as Manu has prohibited it and the result would be that one need not bathe when an eclipse is really on. He further says that śiṣṭas do observe bath &c. even if they do not actually see the eclipse. Therefore, he proposes that puṇyakāla exists so long as the eclipse is deduced to last from the śāstra (of astronomy). The Kṛtyaratnākara⁶¹¹ (pp. 625-26) discusses the question, remarks that snāna and the other prescribed actions should be performed during that period in which the eclipse can be seen. It was argued by some that an eclipse by itself (and not seeing it) is the occasion on which bath, gift &c. must be observed; to this the Kālaviveka⁶¹² gave the reply that, if mere existence of an eclipse were an occasion for bath, then the unacceptable conclusion would be that even if the moon were to be eclipsed (in some other country) according to astronomical calculations a person in a different country would have to undergo a bath by day for a lunar eclipse in a distant land. The Smṛtikaustubha and Samayaprakāśa⁶¹³ therefore lay down that what is meant by ‘darśana-gocaraḥ’ is that when one knows from the astronomical science that the eclipse is capable of being seen with the eye in a particular country one should at the respective times perform bath and the like (even though one may not actually see it). The Saṁvatsara-pradīpa is quite explicit ‘that is said to be an eclipse which can be observed by the eye; one should perform religious acts on such an eclipse, but not on mere calculation.'