Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s3.317

v2.c4.s3.317

Bhrūṇa-han, ‘slaying an embryo’; Bhrūṇa-hatyā, ‘the slaying of an embryo,’ are terms expressing a crime which is repeatedly and severely censured in the later Saṃhitās,¹ where it is said to be the greatest of all crimes, and one of which the guilt cannot be removed. In many later passages² the same crime is referred to, always with reprobation: this fact alone shows the erroneousness of the theory³ that daughters could be allowed, once born, to die if their fathers so desired.