स्रावशौच

{ srāvaśauca }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

SRĀVAŚAUCA   Defilement attached to the flux due to abortion. It is ordered in [Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 258] , how to observe this defilement. It is said that women should observe defilement for as many nights as the number of the months of pregnancy, till the flux. If the flux took place in the fourth month, defilement should be observed for three nights. If it was in the fifth month that the flux had occurred, pollution for ten days would have to be observed. This is meant for Brahmins. In the case of a Kṣatriya woman if the flux occurred in the fifth month, she has to observe defilement for four days; and five days for a Vaiśya woman, and eight days for a Śūdra woman. In the case of a Śūdra woman, if the flux is after five months, she has to observe pollution for twelve days. In this stage the father will be purified by a bath.