Verse 3.46

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

ऋतुः स्वाभाविकः स्त्रीणां रात्रयः षोडश स्मृताः ।
चतुर्भिरितरैः सार्धमहोभिः सद्विगर्हितैः ॥ ४६ ॥

ṛtuḥ svābhāvikaḥ strīṇāṃ rātrayaḥ ṣoḍaśa smṛtāḥ |
caturbhiritaraiḥ sārdhamahobhiḥ sadvigarhitaiḥ || 46 ||

Sixteen days, including the four days that are censured by good men, have been declared to be the normal “season” for women.—(46)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The verse is meant to provide a definition of ‘season;’ and what is stated here is based upon medical science, not upon any scriptural injunctions. Similarly, the two verses beginning with the forty-eighth.

‘Sixteen days,’ in every month, constitute the ‘natural season’ for women. That ‘every month’ is meant, we gather from other sources, though it is not mentioned in this verse.

‘Normal’—what comes by nature; i.e., what happens in the case of women in normal health; in cases of disease and such other causes, the flow is absent even when the time has arrived; and by means of such medicines as butter and sesamum, and so forth, or by excessive sexual intercourse, the flow is brought on even before time. Hence the sixteen days are called the ‘normal season.’

‘Including the four days’—the four days that are censured by all good men, during which the touching of, and conversing with, the woman has been prohibited; these are the four days beginning with the first day on which the flow of blood becomes visible. ‘Day’ stands for ‘day and night.’

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 437) in support of the view that counting from the first day of the menses, sixteen days constitute the ‘season’, of which the first four days are condemned by good men.

Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika, p. 539) quotes this verse, and adds that the addition of the term ‘svābhāvikaḥ’, ‘normal,’ indicates that the period may vary, on account of the presence of certain diseases and other causes.

This verse is quoted also in Nirṇayasindhu (p. 166);—in Saṃskāraratnamālā (p. 680), which adds that the specification of ‘night’ implies the prohibition of intercourse during the day;—and in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 38).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.45-50)

See Comparative notes for Verse 3.45.