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284
THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES
if he cannot afford to perform any of these sacrifices, lle must go home without
“But if he should not recover but die, then a piece of ground must be dug, south-east or south - west of the place where he lived and died. The ground should be slightly inclined toward the south or the southeast; or, according to others, to the south-west. It should be in length as long as a man with his arms raised, a fathom in width, and a span in depth. The burning and burying-ground (for both according to the Commentator are called śmasána) should be open on all sides, rich in shrubs, particularly of thorny and milky plants (as has been explained before, Asv. Grihya, II, 7), and be elevated in such a manner that waters would run down on every side. The last requisite, however, belongs more particularly to a burning ground.
“How the body of the dead is first to be washed, how his nails, his hair, and his beard are to be cut, and similar matters, are not explained in this place, because, as our author says, they have been explained before, that is to say, in the Srauta-sútras (Asv. Srautasútras, VI, 10). The case under consideration there was, what should be done if a person who is performing a great sacrifice, for which all preparations have been made, and where numbers of priests are engaged, should happen to die before the whole sacrifice, which, in some cases, may last for weeks, months, and years, is finished. Different views are entertained on this point, but the leading idea seems to be that a
