^|JRI^II-4HH: SRI PARASHARA SMRITHI ADHYAYA-1 SRI GANESHAYA NAMAHA Now to begin. — On the top of the snowy hill, in the hermitage of the Devadaru grove, the Rishis of yore inter- rogated Vyasa, who was seated, rapt in thought.
2. Expound, son of Satyavati! the law, which is for the good of mankind, in the present Kali age; and the practice of purification, such as it ought to be.
3. Hearing the above saying of the Rishis, (he) the adept 4n the Veda and the Smriti, and exceedingly bright, like a a kindled fire or the sun, who was attended by his pupils, said in reply, 4. "I have not the knowledge of the whole of the truth. How can I venture to expound the law? It is our father who should be asked." Thus said Vyasa, the son.
5. 6, 7. Then all those Rishis, desirous to obtain correct law, proceeded, under the lead of the Rishi Vyasa, to the Badrika hermitage, (a spot) crowded with various trees, beautified by flowers and fruits, diversified by rivers and rills, ornamented with holy bathing-places, resonant with the voice of beasts and birds, studded with temples, and enlivened by the dance and music of Yakshas, Gandharvas and Siddas 8 & 9. There, Vyasa, accompanied by the Rishis, by putting together both his palms and by cir cum ambulation, obeisances and laudatory speeches, paid respects to Parasara, the son of Shakti, seated at his ease in the midst of an assemblage of Rishis, and surrounded by a host of Munis of the highest rank.
10. Now, with a gladdened heart, the great Muni Parasara, pre-eminent among Munis, thus spoke without rising from his seat, " Tell (me) about your safe arrival."
11 to 15. Vyasa having said " (All are) well," thus interrogated him: " If thou art aware of my reverence (for thee), or from affection, thou affectionate to persons revering thee! expound the law to me, for I am, father, an object of kindness to thee. The rules of law expounded by Manu have been heard by me, and those by Vasishtha and by Kasyapa, and by Garga and by Gautama and by Usanas; the laws of Atri and Vishnu and Samvarta and Daksha and Angira and Shatatapa and Harita and Yajnavalkya, and Katyayana and Prachetas and Apastamba; and the laws of Shankha and Likhita, 16. " All these (laws) have been heard (by me as they were) expounded by thee; they embody the sense of the veda; (they) have not been forgotten by me. (They are) the laws for the four ages, the Krita, the Treta, and the rest, forming parts of this Manvantara.
17. " All laws arose in the Krita age; all have vanished in the Kali age. Expound a part of the rules of conduct fit for the four castes, such as are common (to all).
18 & 19. " Likewise, thou proficient in the nature of law, expound in detail, both in its manifest and in its recondite forms, the law to be followed by those among all the four castes who are skilled in the knowledge of law. " At the end of the words of Vyasa, Parasara the chief of Munis, in detail expounds the law (as) settled, both in the manifest and in the recondite forms.
" Listen, my son, and let the Munis also hear."
20. " In each Kalpa (the deities) Brahma and "Vishnu and Shiva, and the expounders of the Veda, the Smrithis invariably perish, and are born again.
21. " The author of the Veda there is none; (he) the four- faced (God), at each succeeding revolution of a Kalpa, re- calls to mind the Veda; and so does Manu remember the law (at each succeeding revolution of a Kalpa).
22. " In conformity to the character of the age, the rules of law (suitable) for men differ from age to age. The rules for the Krita differ from the Treta rules; the Dvapara laws are not identical with the Kali rules.
23. " Self-mortification is the rule in the Krita age; knowledge is said (to be the same) in the Treta; in the Dvapara, (they) say sacrifice (to the gods to be) the sole (rule); and charity alone in the Kali age.
24. " For the Krita are suited the laws of Manu; for the Treta, those by Gautama (are) prescribed; for the Dvapara those by Shank and Likhita; for the Kali, those by Parasara are prescribed.
25. " In the Krita, one should quit a country itself; one should quit a village in the Treta; in the Dvapara (one should shun) only the particular family; but in the Kali, one should shun the perpetrator alone (of an offence).
26. " In the Krita sin is incurred by one who converses (with a sinner); in the Treta by one who touches (the sinful man); in the Dvapara by taking the sinner's food; in the Kali by a (sinful) act (alone).
27. "A curse in the Krita takes effect the moment it is littered; in the Treta (it does so) in ten days' time; in the Dvapara, in the course of a single month; in the Kali, how- ever, it takes a year.
28. *' In the Krita (the donor himself) comes up to (the donee) and makes the gift; in each succeeding Treta age, (the donee) is invited and the gift is made; in the Dvapara, the gift is made to one who asks for it; in the Kali, how- ever, gifts are made in exchange for service done.
29. " Excellent is the gift, made on coming to the donee's side; the gift after invitation is of the middling kind; gift to a suitor is of a low character; but gift for service (rendered) is fruitless.
30 & 31. "Religion has been overthrown by irreligion; and truth indeed by that which is false; kings have been overpowered by thieves; males have been subdued by females; the worship of fire is dying out; respect to superiors is ceasing to be seen; and maidens are becoming mothers: this is what invariably happens in the age of Kali.
32. ' ' Life in the Krita has its seat in the bones; in the Treta it has its seat in the flesh; in the Dvapara the blood is the seat of life; in the Kali, however, life is dependent upon food and the like.
33. " Special are the rules of conduct for each cyclical age; and the regenerate castes are guided by the rules that govern the age; no censure (therefore) can attach to them; for the regenerates conform to the spirit of the age."
c c 34. The saints have explained what other capabilities are special for each particular age. And the expiation pre- scribed by Parasara too is practiced (in actual life).
o o o -o K 35. " I shall this very day bring to my remembrance the whole of the same, und shall propound it to you. Let the leaders of the saints (literally the bull-like saints) listen to the approved law, which should be followed by a society observing the rule of castes.""
36. Holy is the work composed by Parasara; it leads. to well-being and destroys sins; properly construed, it settles the duties of the Brahman caste, and establishes the religion of all the rest.
37. A blameless life, that fosters righteousness, is what is proper for all the four castes. Righteousness turns its back to those whose bodies are defiled by a blamable life.
CS.
38. A Brahman, who is given to observe the six duties of his caste, who worships the deities and hospitably receives the guests; whose meals consist of what remains after (daily) offerings made (on the fire), has never to suffer from misery or want.
39. Ablution and prayer, inaudible recitation (of sacred words), burnt- offerings, the worship of gods, hospitality to guests unexpectedly come, and offerings made in the name of the Visvadevam, — these are the six duties to be performed every day, 40. When a Brahman has performed the duty of offering to the Visvadevam, if an unexpected guest arrives, — be he a favourite, be he an object of hate, be he a dunce, be he a learned man — he is the very bridge for crossing over to the seats of bliss.
41. He should be considered as a true unexpected guest, who has come over from afar, fatigued in body, after the performance of the rite for the Visvadevam; — one arrived prior thereto is not an unexpected guest.
42. Never should one belonging to the selfsame village be accepted as an unexpected guest. His name atithi (lit., having no date fixed) arises from the fact of his having arrived unexpectedly.
43. To an unexpected guest arrived at the house, one should address words of welcome; and he should be honor ed with the offer of a seat, and of water for washing his feet.
44. The householder should gladden the guest by showing him respect, by the offer of food accompanied with pleasant words;" A and by following him (for some little distance), when he departs (from the house of the host).
45. Where a guest goes back from a person's house, ' — his hope of a welcome unfulfilled, — the forefathers of the householder do not eat, during the period of ten years and five.
46. Where a guest is disappointed in his hopes — useless are the burnt-offerings made by the host, although he may burn a thousand loads of wood and a hundred jars of ghee.
47. The seed should be sown on excellent soil; wealth should be bestowed on a worthy recipient; for what is sown on excellent soil, — what is bestowed on a worthy recipient — is never lost, 48. (A guest) should not be asked his family or his clan; [Lit., his gotra] he should not be questioned as to learning or knowledge. [But the host] should take him to be a god himself; for, in him are united all the gods.
49. Fresh is a Brahman who lives a strictly religious life; and similarly fresh is an unexpected guest; (and also) he who delights in a constant study of the Veda; these three are fresh from day to day.
[By 'fresh' seems to be meant that ' one never should weary of them; these three should be always acceptable and welcome'.]
50. At the hour of the offering for the Visvadevam, if a religious mendicant arrives at the house — one should take a portion from the intended offering to the visvadevas, — should give it as alms, and as a parting gift. [Lit. should dismiss the mendicant, having given the alms.]
51. The religious mendicant, and the religious student, these two are the lords of the food that has been cooked. Giving them no food, and eating himself, one should observe (as a penance) the lunar fast.
* Lit. with pleasant enquiries, I. e., whether any more food would be welcome to the guest, and so forth.
[The 'lunar fast, ' called the * Chandrayana, ' consists in the re- duction of a mouthful every succeeding day, till on the day of the full moon the meal is reduced to a single mouthful.]
52. To the mendicant and the student, one should give three alms in all; then he may give at his option as much as his wealth permits.
53. He should pour water on the mendicant's palm; then he should place the alms upon his hand; and water again. The alms so given equal the Meru in bulk; the water is comparable to the ocean itself.
[The meaning is: Such alms are as efficacious in point of religious merit as if he had given a quantity equal in bulk to the mountain Meru, — the golden mountain on the top of which is situated Indra's heaven. ] \ 54. If an unexpected guest has got an umbrella and a horse; he should be welcomed without hesitation; (for by doing so) the householder goes to the place of Indra, where he mounts on elephants and enjoys riches.
55. If a fault be committed in performing the rite for the Visvadevam, the fault is repaired by (proper hospitality to) a religious mendicant; if a fault, however, be committed with regard to that hospitality, it is not repaired by the rite for the Visvadevam.
56. The regenerate men who eat their meals, not having performed the rite for the Visvadevam, are born as crows; their food by no means should be partaken.
♦ 57. Those despicable members of the regenerate caste, who eat their meals, not having performed the rite for the Visvadevam — they all should be taken as abortive beings and they fall into an impure hell.
58. Those who do not perform the rite for the Visvadevam, or the rite of hospitably receiving guests, — they all are destined to go to hell, and in the next existence are born as crows.
♦ 59. To eat one's meals with his head wrapped round, or with his face towards the south, or with his hand on his left foot, or while he is standing up — is to imitate the manners of the Rakshasa class of beings.
♦ ♦ 60. The king must punish the village where brahmanas take alms without doing austerities and vedic study as it is a theft.
61. A king of the Kshatriya caste should arm himself, and have his troops; should protect his people; should overcome the forces of a hostile king; and rule the State in the way prescribed by law.
62. Whether it be a robber, or a Chandala (the lowest of all the castes), or an enemy, or a parricide, — any one arrived at the time of the rite for the Visvadevam, is to be welcom- ed as a guest, who is like a bridge for crossing over to the seats of bliss.
♦ ♦ 63. To invest money on interest, to be a jeweller, to tend cattle, tillage and trade, — these are declared as occupations for the Vaisya caste, ♦ 64. The highest virtue for a Shoodra is to serve the members of the regenerate castes. Fruitless for him is everything else that he may do.
65. Salt, honey and oil, curded milk, whey, and milk all these are not polluted by the touch of persons of the Shoodra caste. Shoodra may sell these to all the castes.
66. By selling Wine and meat, by consuming prohibited foods, cohabiting with prostitutes a shoodra falls from his caste.
♦ 67. By drinking the milk of a tawny cow, by cohabiting with a woman of the Brahman caste, by discussing the sense of the words of the Veda, a Shoodra becomes a Chandala (Lowest sect) ♦ Here ends the First Chapter of Parasara.
SECOND CHAPTER DUTIES OF HOUSEHOLDER: 1. 2. Now, I shall explain, conformably to what Parasara formerly propounded, the law relating to the duties and observances prescribed for a householder, in the age of Kali; also the rules of conduct, which, being common to all, are suited to the four castes and stages of life, so far as they are able to follow.
A Brahman who regularly performs the six ceremonies, may also betake himself to agriculture.
[The six ceremonies have been enumerated in ch. I., S'loka 39. Madhava says that the causal form ' karayet, ' in connection with the practice of agriculture allowed in the Kali to the priestly class, has a special meaning: — he says that a Brahmana must employ plough- men of the lower caste in carrying on his agricultural operations; he is not permitted himself to hold the plough.]
3. An ox that is hungry, or thirsty, or fatigued, should not be harnessed (to a plough). A bull wanting in a limb, or diseased, or impotent, should not, by a Brahman, be made to work.
4. An able-bodied bull, free from disease, well-fed and hearty, and not impotent, should be made to work for half the day. Then should one give the bull a wash.
5. Then the Brahman should perform the ceremony of inaudibly reciting the sacred word, the worship of gods, the offering on the fire; and likewise should he practice the study of the sacred works. Thereafter should he feed one or two or three or four religious mendicants of the Brahman caste.
[The religious mendicants, called the ' Snatakas ' in the original, are said by Madhava to be of nine classes.]
6. With the paddy cultivated by himself, or acquired from a field cultivated on his behalf, he should offer the five sacrifices (enjoined in the works on Smriti); and should likewise be engaged in celebrating the sacrificial rites, such as the Veda prescribes.
[The five sacrifices are mentioned by Manu in eh. 3, si. 70.]
7. Sesum seeds, or milk, or honey, or butter, should never be sold; they may be bartered for equal quantities of paddy. The sale of grass or wood, or the like, is, for a Brahman, a similar means of living.
8. What sin a fisherman incurs in the course of one full year, — the same is incurred by the driver of a plough- share made of iron in the course of a single day.
9. A hunter who makes his living by killing beasts; one who lives by ensnaring them; a fisherman and a fowler; as also an agriculturist who makes no gifts (of paddy): — all these five incur the same identical sin.
10. By cutting trees, by rending the earth, and by Destroying insects and worms, what sin is incurred by a tiller of the soil is removed by the sacrifice on the threshing- floor.
[The sacrifice on the threshing floor consists of gifts of paddy at that place. ] 11. He who refrains from making gifts to Brahmans, when he stands at the foot of the heaped-up paddy, is a thief; he is the most wicked of all possible sinners; he should be proclaimed as a Brahman-killer.
12. By making a gift of one-sixth part to the sovereign of the land, one twenty-first for the sake of the gods, and one-thirtieth to the Brahman caste, one is freed from all sins.
13. A Kshatriya, likewise, may practice tillage, honoring the gods and the Brahman caste. A 24. For those who died in the course of doing service Vaisya or Shoodra should always take to agriculture, practice arts, and follow trade.
14. Abandoning the service of the regenerate castes, the Shoodras who betake to improper occupations become short-lived beings, and undoubtedly go to hell.
^d-illlHfLI cKIMliHyrcf: TFTTcFT: & 15. This is the eternal rule of life for all the four castes. Here ends the Second Chapter of the Institutes of Parasara.
END OF SECOND CHAPTER THIRD CHAPTER. Impurity caused by birth and death: 1. Now I shall speak of the term of impurity resulting on the occurrence of a birth, or a death. Brahmans in three days become pure again, when a relative has died, or has been born.
2. A Kshatriya recovers purity in twelve days; a Vaisya, when fifteen days have passed; a Shoodra, after the lapse of a month; this is conformable to what Parasara has said.
3. So far as the performance of worship is concerned, a Brahman's corporeal frame is (always) held in purity.
In the case of pollution by a birth, it is allowable to touch the body of a Brahman who has been polluted by such a cause.
[Madhava says that the word * worship, ' upasana in the original, is meant for ' the daily prayers and the burnt-offerings. ' The whole text means that a relative's birth or death does not so far ill effect a Brahman with impurity- as to unfit him for performing his daily worship; and on the birth of a relative to a Brahman, he does not become impure to the extent of being unfit to be touched.]
4. On the occasion of a birth, a Brahman recovers purity in ten days; a Kshatriya does so in twelve days; a vaishya at the expiry of fifteen days; and the purification of a Shoodra takes a month.
[Madhava says that this rule applies to the case where a Sapinda has been born; while the rule of three days applies where a Sama- nodaka, a more distant relative than a Sapinda, has been born.]
5. A Brahman who has studied the Veda, and likewise keeps the sacred household fire, is restored to purity in a single day; he who has the knowledge of the Veda alone will recover purity in three days; while he who is without either the Veda or the fire, will remain impure till ten days are over.
6. A Brahman who has never received the purificatory rites prescribed from the day of birth, who neglects to perform the threefold daily prayers (sandhya), who is a Brahman in name alone, — must observe ten days of impurity on account of a birth.
\ 7. If the relatives are sprang from the same progenitor, (but of a higher caste), and from a mother of an inferior caste, the above rule of impurity should be followed by them, when either a birth or a death has taken place.
[In translating this shloka, I have followed Madhava; but the text of the Rishi is not in its obvious and natural sense capable of that interpretation. ] 8. The aforesaid impurity extends as far as three ances- tors. With the fourth terminates the Sapinda relationship; and so with the fifth born in the same family, (and with the rest).
9. If the common ancestor be the fourth in ascent, then the impurity is for ten days; in the fifth generation, six nights constitute the period thereof; in the sixth, the purity comes back when four days have passed; but in the seventh, in three days' time.
10. If the death has happened by fall from a precipice, or in a country other than the native land, or if it be an infant which has died, or an anchorite who had renounced the world, — then the relatives are purified in the course of that very day.
11. If information arrives that a person of the same family has died in a country other than his native land, — then the rule of three days or of one day does not obtain; then the relatives are purified by bathing themselves on that very day.
12. For infants whose teeth had yet to grow, and for such as had an abortive birth, no cremation is ordained, nor any term of impurity, nor libation of water.
13. If the child should perish, while yet in the womb, or should be miscarried, — then the woman has an impurity of as many days, as would be equal to the number of months the child had been in the womb.
14. An abortion taking place before four months are past, is to be called only an ' oozing ' of the womb (miscarriage) it is named a ' fall ' (or abortion) when happening in the fifth month, or in the sixth; thereafter it is called a parturition. And then for the period of ten days should the impurity last.
15. If an infant has died after teething, or if he has died before the growth of his teeth, but after the performance of tonsure upon him, — then for him crema- tion is prescribed, and his relatives are impure for full three nights.
16. From birth till the commencement of teething, im- purity ceases on the very day of death; up to tonsure, impurity lasts for a single night; it lasts three nights until the investiture with the sacred thread; thenceforward, the term of impurity is full ten nights.
17. A person in his pupilage, and those in whose house offerings are regularly made on the fire; these are not affected with impurity for birth, provided they refrain from coming into contact.
ex. C- 20. A person observing a religious vow, a person purified by being engaged in some sacrificial rite, one of a re- generate caste who has set up a sacred fire in his house, and a person whose services are in requisition by the king — these, and a sovereign, have no impurity on account of birth.
18. Nothing but contact can cause to a Brahman an impure state, — whether it be on account of a birth or a death. To one refraining from all contact, there is no impurity, either for birth or for death.
Artists and artisans, physicians, barbers, slaves, male or female, kings, and Brahmans who lead a sancti- fied religious life, — all these are purified without a moment's delay.
ex A person observing a religious vow, a person purified by being engaged in some sacrificial rite, one of a re- generate caste who has set up a sacred fire in his house, and a person whose services are in requisition by the king — these, and a sovereign, have no impurity on account of birth.
21. A person, who is about to be engaged in a battle, or who has made preparations for making a gift, or who is in distress, or a Brahman who has been invited to partake a religious feast — these become pure then and there; — so it has been ordained by the saints, — -as pure as if they had observed the full and prescribed term (of purification).
22. If a householder, on the occasion of a birth, abso- lutely refrains from all contact, — then the mother becomes pure in ten days, while a plunge in the water will render the father pure.
23. Impurity on the ground of death affects all relatives in the same way; but that for birth affects only the father and the mother; that on the ground of birth affects only the mother; the father becomes pure by washing himself.
[Madhava explains this text as follows: — So far as incompetency to perforin religious rites is concerned, all kinsfolk, whether parents or others, are affected in the same way, if a death occurs. But unfit, ness for being touched is anothter effect of impurity. This is confined solely to the parents, when there is a birth. Again, the mother remains unfit for being touched till the tenth day, while the father remains so till he takes a wash.]
o-, o A brahmana is impure if he touches his wife who gives birth to a child eventhough he may be well versed with the six angas of the veda.
25. These two are destined to reach the very highest of all regions, having penetrated through the solar orb; — namely, a mendicant who has practised Yoga, and a soldier who has been killed, fighting with his face towards the foes.
Objects are pure eventhough if impurity raises due to birth in marriage or yagyas. They are considered pure.
C A For those who died in the course of doing service to the Brahman caste, or while rescuing women, or cows being carried away by force, or in battles, — the impurity lasts only for a single night.
£1 fa HI wft cT% u4H^ci'^rfMt 25. These two are destined to reach the very highest of all regions, having penetrated through the solar orb; — namely, a mendicant who has practised Yoga, and a soldier who has been killed, fighting with his face towards the foes.
^ On -Si 26. Wherever a hero is killed, being surrounded by a number of foes, he reaches regions of undying bliss, — pro- vided he utters no cowardly words.
The sun trembles from his place on seeing a brahmana who has taken sanyasa.This sanyasi pierces the solar orb and reaches the ultimate position of brahman.
27. He who comes forward to protect, when the fighting forces have been routed and are running away on all sides —wins the fruits of a well-performed sacrificial yagya rite.
Celestial damsels seize for themselves, and take delight with the hero, whose body is wounded or cut by arrows, clubs, or maces.
Thousands of celestial damsels, rush forward in a hurry towards a hero killed in battle, each proclaiming, * He is my lord, he is mine. ' The regions which Brahman aspirants after heavenly bliss reach by performing many sacrificial rites, and by austerities of various forms, — the same seats of bliss are attained in an instant's time by valorous men, who meet their death while blamelessly fighting on a field of battle.
If victorious, wealth is won; if death results, beauti- ful women fall to his share; since this corporeal frame is liable to perish in an instant's time, why should we be shy of meeting death on a field of battle?
If blood oozes out from the forehead, 'while fighting, and enters the mouth — that is on a par with a drink of the soma juice, for a fight is a religious rite properly performed: so it has been represented by the saints.
Those excellent Brahmans, who carry the corpse of a friendless Brahman, gain, at every step they take, one by one, all the objects for which a sacrifice is performed.
Blessed is their deed. No evil happens to them; nor do they incur a sin. By plunging in water, they then and there are freed from impurity.
For (the impurity caused by) carrying to the cremation ground and cremating the corpse of a superior Brahman who has departed this life, without a relative or a friend at his side, — one becomes pure by practising a single Pranayama.
[According to Manu, to repeat the Gayatri thrice, while balding I the breath, is called a pranayama.]
For voluntarily following a corpse, whether it be that of an agnate or not, — washing with the clothing on, touching the fire, and eating clarified butter, — these are the means of purifying one's self.
Where a Brahman from ignorance follows the corpse of one who belongs to the military caste, he becomes im- pure for a single night, and purifies himself by eating the fivefold products of a cow.
[These are, milk, curd, clarified butter, cow's urine and cowdung.
If a Brahman, from ignorance, follows the corpse of a person of the Vaisya caste, he should observe impurity for full two nights, and should then practice six Pranayamas.
If a Brahman, with a feeble knowledge of law, should follow a corpse of the Shoodra caste, while the same is being carried to the burning-ground, he shall become impure for full three nights.
When the period of three nights is complete, he should repair to a river that falls into the sea; there a hun- dred Pranayamas are to be practised by him; hereafter he eats clarified butter, and restores him to purity again.
When the Shoodras have finished all the obsequial rites, and have come to the water's side, then they may be follow- ed by persons of the regenerate caste. This law has pre- vailed from ancient times.
[Madhava says that the meaning is not 'coming to the water's side ' — but * when they have ceased to offer libations of water.
End of third chapter of Parasara.
CHAPTER IV.
VARIOUS KINDS OF EXPIATION RITES: 1. Whether from excessive pride, excessive wrath, or from affection, or from fear, should a man or a woman hang one's self, — then this is the destiny that awaits him or her.
M-MVURUdWU-Wf cSF^" dHfa Haifa 2. He or she sinks into a region utterly dark, and filled to the brink with pus and blood; that torment is suffered for sixty thousand years.
3. For such a being there should be no impurity, no libation of water, no cremation, nor any shedding of tears.
4. Those who carry the corpse or set it on fire, or cut the rope wherewith the person hanged himself or herself, must purify themselves by a Taptakrichchhra; so has Prajapati declared the law to be.
[Taptakrichchhra is a sort of penance; the person observing it must live on clarified butter, milk, and hot water, three days each; and must inhale hot air for three days.]
o 5 and 6. The Brahmans who touch the corpse of a per- son killed by cows or bulls, or of one who hanged himself, or of one whose death was caused by a person of the Brahman caste; and those who carry the corpse, or set fire to it; or those other persons who follow the corpse; and also those who cut down the rope; all should purify themselves by a Taptakrichchhra; and then a number of Brahmans should be fed by them. By way of a gratuity they should give to a Brahman, a cow accompanied by a bull able to draw a cart.
Hot water should be drunk for three days, hot milk for three; hot ghee for three; and air should be the sole subsistence for the next three days. Seven palas (a pala = 4 tolas) is the quantity of water to be drunk; three palas that of the milk to be drunk; a single ' pala is the measure of the ghee. This rule governs the penance Taptakf ichchhra If a Brahman associates with persons degraded by sin, but has been forced to do so against his wish, for five, or ten, or full twelve days; or for half a month, or a month; or for a couple of months; or for half a year, or for one complete year; at the expiration of the term he becomes degraded as they. He should fast three days, if the association has ended in the first fortnight; if in the second, the penance should be a Krichchhra; (a sort of penance extending over twelve continuous days, and consisting in partial or absolute fasts); if in the third fortnight, the penance should be a Santapana-krichchhra; if in the fourth fortnight, the penance is a fast for full ten days; if in the fifth fortnight, the fast must be for full twelve days; if in the sixth fortnight, a single Chandrayana is the penance; if in the seventh, a double Chandrayana; if in the eighth, he should, for the sake of purity, observe a Krichchhra extending over full six months. As many gold coins must the gratuity be, as there are fortnights in the period the association lasts.
[A gratuity, dakshina, is the money gifted to a Brahmana, without which no religious observance has efficacy.]
To be purified observe krichhra for six months. Atleast in order of a paksha(15 days) with gift of gold.
If a woman meets not her lord, on the day that her monthly courses stop, — she after death goes to hell, — and becomes a widow in repeated births.
ex *o * If the husband meets not his wife on the day that her monthly courses cease, and she be near at hand, he incurs the awful sin of having killed a foetus. There is not the slightest doubt herein.
If a woman despises her husband, because he being either poor, or diseased, or a dunce, — she, after death, is born a bitch, or a sow, again and again.
If a woman, during her husband's life, observes a religious vow which involves a fast, that woman thereby shortens her husband's life, and after death goes to hell.
If a woman performs a religious rite, without taking her husband's consent, it is the Rakshasas who appropriate the whole of that religious rite. This is in conformity to what Manu has said.
If a woman does harm to her kinsmen and friends, or if she causes herself to miscarry, no one should hold con- verse with her.
What sin is incurred in killing a Brahman, abortion causes a sin twice as great; there is no atonement for that sin. The abandonment of such a woman has been ordained by law.
He who sets his face against righteousness, is but a Chandala by his acts. He gains nothing by being a mendicant, or by worshipping the household fire.
If seeds be carried either by a stream or by wind unto the soil of a person's field, and a crop is yielded by the field so sown, the crop will belong to the owner of the soil, not to the person who owned the seeds.
Similar thereto are the two descriptions of bastard sons, both begotten on another's wife; they pass by the names of Kunda and Golaka. The bastard is a Kunda, if the woman's husband lives; it is a Golaka if begotten after his death.
A son is either an aurasa (son of the body); or a kshetraja (an offspring of one's wife by a kinsman or person duly appointed to procreate issue to the husband); or a datta; (that is, obtained by gifts); or a kritima, (I. e., a son made). If either the father or the mother gives, the same is called a given son.