39

39. But better than that is the other also on account of an inferential mark.

Better than to be outside the āśramas is the condition of standing within an āśrama. The latter state may be due to misfortune; but he who can should be within an āśrama, which state is the more holy and beneficial one. This follows from inference only, i.e. Smr̥ti; for Smr̥ti says, ‘A Brāhmaṇa is to remain outside the āśramas not even for one day.’ For one who has passed beyond the stage of Brahmacarya, or whose wife has died, the impossibility to procure a wife constitutes the misfortune (which prevents him from belonging to an āśrama).–Here terminates the adhikaraṇa of ‘widowers.’