History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.725

v6.c82.725

appears to mean 'soiled or dirty clothes'. The word 'malimlucu' occurs in Vāj. S. 22. 30, Sāṅkhāyana-śrautasūtra VI. 12.15. The Malamāsatattva derives the word as follows: being mala (soiled) it passes on'. The words 'samsarpa' and 'amhasaspati' occur in Vāj. S. 22. 30 and 31 ¹⁰⁵⁴ respectively, and 'amhasaspati' in Vāj. S. 7. 31 after the mantras referring to the twelve saura months, Madhu, Mādhava &c The Tai. S. (I. 4. 14. 1 and \ I. 5 3. 4) has the formula 'saṁsarpcsyaham-spataye tvā'. ¹⁰⁵⁵ 'Amhaspati' literally means 'the lord of sins or evil' (i, e. a condemned month). Later medieval writers make a distinction¹⁰⁵⁶ between 'samsarpa' and amhaspati'. When there are in one year two adhimāsas and a *kṣaya māsa*, the first of the two adhimāsas is called 'saṁsarpa' and it is not condemned for all religious matters but only for marriages, such sacrifices as Agniṣṭoma, festivals (that are not obligatory) and auspicious rites of children (such as 'nāmakaraṇa'). The name amhaspati is confined to *kṣayamāsa*. The intercalary month is called Puruṣottama-māsa (Viṣṇu being called Puruṣottama) in some of the Purāṇas as in Padma VI 64, probably with the purpose of reducing the opprobrium that attached to an intercalary month.