History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.475

v6.c82.475

A few general rules may however be first stated The Atharvana⁹⁰⁵ Jyotiṣa says that a wise man should perform an act or rite with the concurrence of all the four, viz. *tithi*, *nakṣatra*, *karaṇa* and *muhūrta*, if he wants success in it, if a proper tithi cannot be secured then the other three should be availed of, if the first two are not available then the next two, if the first three are not available then secure muhūrta alone; but if there be necessity to hurry and none of the four can be secured, then with the loud declaration by (learned) brāhmaṇas that it is an auspicious day he should do the act and success is secured Certain religious acts have to be done at stated times and in those cases, one should not consider the conditions of Jupiter and Venus called *bālya* and old age or the fact of Jupiter being in Lion sign, or of *dakṣiṇāyana* or there being an intercalary month, as for example, in the rites from *puṁsavana* up to *annaprāśana*. The Rājamārtāṇḍa⁹⁰⁶ states 'the correct astrological position of planets and days is not meant for times of distress, all these (rules about auspicious positions) are to be considered when life is easy (matters are in good condition), so says Bhṛgu'. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday confer success in all actions (begun on those days), only those actions succeed on Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday, for which those days are expressly laid down as proper. But the Nāradapurāṇa says that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are the best, Sunday and Monday are middling and the other two, viz. Tuesday and Saturday, are condemned for Upanayana⁹⁰⁷