History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.621

v6.c82.621

The question arises then how far religious matters, such as Upanayana and marriage, should be regulated by astrological considerations It has been already shown above (p 606 and p 610) how the`astrological requirements for Upanayana and marriage were very few and simple in the times of the gṛhya-sūtras and the Manusmṛti (i. e several centuries before the christian era), how later writers went on adding one requirement after another and how even in the 11th century A. D. orthodox works like the Rājamārtanda advised neglect of all astrological requirements in the case of girls whose marriages had to be postponed very long for some reason or other. Therefore, in respect of religious ceremonies like Upanayana and marriage the author would advise, as a first step towards getting rid of oppressive and meaningless astrological conditions, that people should revert to the simple rules of the gṛhyasūtras and Manu. There are two views on the observance of the rules about the details of religious rites. One is that a person⁹⁸³ need not go beyond the provisions contained in the gṛhyasūtra of his own Veda or *Śākhā* and that when one observes those provisions he would be deemed to have performed all that the śāstra requires of him. The second view (held by a majority of medieval writers of digests) was that one should include in a religious rite details mentioned in works of other śākhās, though not mentioned in his own śākhā, provided the former details are not in direct conflict with the details in his own sakha⁹⁸⁴ These people follow what is called the 'sarvasākhā-pratyayanyāya' of the Pūrvamīmānsā. Both these view-points have been explained at great length by the author in H. of Dh. vol. III p. 870 and vol. IV pp 852-855. In these times one may at most follow the astrological rules provided by the sūtras and Manu. Though the author has pointed out great flaws in the whole structure of Indian astrology, he does not think that it is his duty as a mere historian of Dharmaśāstra to advise people how far they should accept or discard astrology in general.