History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.380

v7.c93.380

This subject of *Kalivarjya* requires some serious consideration. Three of the Kalivarjyas are the prohibition of *niyoga*, of the offering of the *anubandhyā* cow (after avabhṛtha) in Jyotiṣṭoma and of the allotment of the largest share (of ancestral wealth) to the eldest son. All these three were either enjoined or permitted by the Veda. From Ṛg. X. 40. 2 it follows that a sonless widow raised a son for the sake of the spiritual benefit of her husband's soul by sexual intercourse with the husband's brother.²⁰⁶⁶ The Tai. S. (III. 1. 9. 4) has two contradictory passages viz. 'Manu divided his wealth among his sons' (without making any distinction among them) and 'therefore they endow the eldest son with (the paternal) wealth' (Tai S. II. 5. 2. 7). In this last case it may be argued that as two Vedic passages are in conflict there is an option. But from very early times there is a prohibition against allowing the whole ancestral wealth or a major portion of it to the eldest son. Āpastamba quotes both²⁰⁶⁷ Vedic passages, holds that equal division among sons is the proper rule and remarks that allowing the eldest son to take the whole or a major portion of ancestral estate is prohibited by the Śāstras. Among actions forbidden in the Kali age but practised in Vedic times some striking ones (apart from the three already cited above) may be mentioned here: (1) being initiated for Sattras (which were sacrifices extending from 12 days to 12 years or even more and which could be performed by brāhmaṇas alone); Jaimini²⁰⁶⁸ deals with them at some length in VI. 6. 16-32 and other places. It is remarkable that neither Śabara nor Kumārila says anything against Sattradīkṣā as prohibited in Kali. So it was not among generally recognized Kalivarjyas till at least the 8th century A. D. (2) killing of a cow or bull. There were several occasions on which this was done in the Vedic age. Vide H. of Dh. Vol. III. pp 939-940. As flesh-eating came to be looked down upon, cow-sacrifices became most abhorrent and medieval Kalivarjya texts only register a prohibition which had been acted upon for centuries before them. (3) The employment of cups of wine in the Sautrāmaṇī sacrifice.²⁰⁶⁹ Jaimini, Śabara and the Tup-ṭīkā of Kumārila describe it and both Śabara and Kumārila refer to the offering of cups of wine in it Therefore this rite must have become Kalivarjya after Kumārila's day. (4) Offering an animal with the recital of Vedic mantras to the bridegroom, to a guest and in honour of *pitṛs*. Vide H. of Dh. Vol. II, pp. 542-546 for Madhuparka in which a bull or a cow was offered according to the Ait. Br. and Vol. III, pp. 945-46 for this Kalivarjya Manu (V. 41-44) allows the killing of animals in Madhuparka, in sacrifices and in rites for the *pitṛs* (Manes) and gods and emphasizes that sacrificing an animal as laid down by the Veda is no *hiṁsā* but is *ahiṁsā*. Yāj. (I. 258-260) prescribes the periods of time for which *pitṛs* are gratified by the offering of sacrificial food (such as rice or sesame), various kinds of fish and the flesh of several animals. The Mit was²⁰⁷⁰ constrained to observe that, although Yāj shows that sacrificial food (rice &c), flesh and honey are offerings in Śrāddha for all *varṇas*, yet (in its day) the rule established by Pulastya should be followed viz. food fit for muni (i e. rice) should be offered by brāhmaṇas, flesh by kṣatriyas and vaiśyas and honey by śūdras.