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WOMEN AND UNCLEANNESS
180
death had taken place. A Brahmin purohita must
remove the impurity with which all the inmates
To this end he offers sacrifices, recites
are contaminated.
mantrams suitable to the occasion, and at frequent intervals
makes copious libations of holy water l
The monthly period, and the after-effects of child-birth,
as I have remarked before, render women for the time
being unclean 2
The mother of the newly-born child lives entirely apart
for a whole month or more, during which time she may
touch neither the vessels nor the furniture of the house,
nor any clothes, and still less any person whatsoever. The
time of her seclusion being over, she is immersed in a bath,
or else a great quantity of water is poured over her head
and body. Women are similarly isolated during the time
In all decent houses there
of their periodical uncleanness.
but
is a sort of small gynaeceum set apart for them
amongst the poor, in whose huts there is no such accom-
modation, the women are turned into the street, under
a sort of shed or outhouse, or else they are allowed a corner
of the cowshed.
When the time of uncleanness is passed, all the garments
that the woman has worn are given to the washerman.
Her clothes are not allowed inside the house in fact, no
one would even dare to look on them 3
When the washerman brings the clothes back, the Brah-
mins never fail to put them into water again, inasmuch as
where a
come to
.
.
;
;
.
1
According to the law of Moses, when an Israelite died in a house
or in a tent, all the people living therein, and all the furniture it con-
tained, were unclean for seven days (Numbers xix. 14, 15).
Any one
who touched the body, the bones, or the tomb of a dead man was also
unclean for seven days. For purification, the ashes of a red heifer,
which had been offered up as a sacrifice by the high priest on the Day
of Atonement, were cast into a vessel full of pure water (Numbers xix.
3-6).
And an undefined person, free from all impurity, dipped a bunch
of hyssop into this water, and besprinkled the furniture, the room, and
On the seventh day these latter bathed
the people who were defiled.
themselves in water, and washed their clothes, after which they were
Dubois.
considered perfectly cleansed.
2
Jewish women were considered unclean under similar circumstances
and the law of Moses gives clear directions as to the manner in which
they were to purify themselves. Dubois.
8
The Jews shared the same views on this subject. Isaiah lxiv. G.
:
Esther xiv.
10.
Dubois.