WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ancient Indian Law

1 Gautama Sutras : The Laws of Gautama

The facts which can be brought to bear on Gautama’s Institutes are scanty and the conclusions deducible from them somewhat vague. There are only two points, which, it seems to me, can be proved satisfactorily, viz. the connection of the work with the Samaveda and a Gautama Karana, and its priority to the other four Dharmasutras which we still possess. To go further appears for the present impossible, because very little is known regarding the history of the schools studying the Samaveda, and because the Dharmashastra not only furnishes very few data regarding the works on which it is based, but seems also, though not to any great extent, to have been tampered with by interpolators.
As regards its origin, it was again Professor Max Muller, who, in the place of the fantastic statements of a fabricated tradition, according to which the author of the Dharmashastra is the son or grandson of the sage Utathya, and the grandson or great-grandson of Usanas or Sukra, the regent of the planet Venus, and the book possessed generally binding force in the second or Treta Yuga, first put forward a rational explanation which, since, has been adopted by all other writers on Sanskrit literature. He says, Hist. Anc. Sansk. Lit., p. 134, ‘Another collection of Dharmasutras, which, however, is liable to critical doubts, belongs to the Gautamas, a Karana of the Samaveda.’ This assertion agrees with Kumarila’s statement, that the Dharmashastra of Gautama and the Grihya-sutra of Gobhila were (originally) accepted (as authoritative) by the Khandogas or Samavedins alone. Kumarila certainly refers to the work known to us. For he quotes in other passages several of its Sutras.
That Kumarila and Professor Max Muller are right, may also be proved by the following independent arguments. Gautama’s work, though called Dharmashastra or Institutes of the Sacred Law, closely resembles, both in form and contents, the Dharma-stitras or Aphorisms on the Sacred Law, which form part of the Kalpa-sutras of the Vedic schools of Baudhayana, Apastamba, and Hiranyakesin.
As we know from the Karanavyuha, from the writings of the ancient grammarians, and from the numerous quotations in the Kalpa-sutras and other works on the Vedic ritual, that in ancient times the number of Vedic schools, most of which possessed Srauta, Grihya, and Dharmasutras, was exceedingly great, and that the books of many of them have either been lost or been disintegrated, the several parts being torn out of their original connection, it is not unreasonable to assume that the aphoristic law-book, usually attributed to the Rishi Gautama, is in reality a manual belonging to a Gautama Karana.
This conjecture gains considerably in probability, if the fact is taken into account that formerly a school of Sama-vedis, which bore the name of Gautama, actually existed. It is mentioned in one of the redactions of the Karanavyuha as a subdivision of the Ranayaniya school. The Vamsa-brahmana of the Samaveda, also, enumerates four members of the Gautama family among the teachers who handed down the third Veda, viz. Gatri Gautama, Sumantra Babhrava Gautama, Samkara Gautama, and Radha Gautama, and the existing Srauta and Grihya-sutras frequently appeal to the opinions of a Gautama and of a Sthavira Gautama.
It follows, therefore, that at least one, if not several Gautama Karanas, studied the Samaveda, and that, at the tinic when the existing Sutras of Latyayana and Gobhila were composed, Gautama Srauta and Grihya-sutras formed part of the literature of the Samaveda. The correctness of the latter inference is further proved by Dr. Burnell’s discovery of a Pitrimedha-sutra, which is ascribed to a teacher of the Samaveda, called Gautama.
The only link, therefore, which is wanting in order to complete the chain of evidence regarding Gautama’s Aphorisms on the sacred law, and to make their connection with the Samaveda perfectly clear, is the proof that they contain special references to the latter. This proof is not difficult to furnish, For Gautama has borrowed one entire chapter, the twenty-sixth, which contains the description of the Krikkhras or difficult penances from the Samavidhana, one of the eight Brahmanas of the Samaveda. The agreement of the two texts is complete except in the Mantras (Sutra 12) where invocations of several deities, which are not usually found in Vedic writings, have been introduced.
Secondly, in the enumeration of the purificatory texts, XIX, 12, Gautama shows a marked partiality for the Samaveda. Among the eighteen special texts mentioned, we find not less than nine Samans. Some of the latter, like the Brihat, Rathantara, Gyeshtha, and Mahadivakirtya chants, arc mentioned also in works belonging to the Rigveda and the Yagur-veda, and are considered by Brahmanas of all schools to possess great efficacy. But others, such as the Purushagati, Rauhina, and Mahavairaga Samans, have hitherto not been met with anywhere but in books belonging to the Samaveda, and do not seem to have stood in general repute. Thirdly, in two passages, I, 50 and XXV, 8; the Dharmashastra prescribes the employment of five Vydhritis, and mentions in the former Sutra, that the last Vyahriti is satyam, truth. Now in most Vedic works, three Vyahritis only, bhuh, bhuvah, svah, are mentioned; sometimes, but rarely, four or seven occur. But in the Vyahriti Saman, as Haradatta points out, five such interjections are used, and satyam is found among them.
It is, therefore, not doubtful, that Gautama in the above-mentioned passages directly borrows from the Samaveda. These three facts, taken together, furnish, it seems to me, convincing proof that the author of our Dharmashastra was a Sama-vedi. If the only argument in favour of this conclusion were, that Gautama appropriated a portion of the Samavidhana, it might be met by the fact that he has also taken some Sutras (XXV, j-6), from the Taittiriya Aranyaka. But his partiality for Samans as purificatory texts and the selection of the Vyahritis from the Vyahriti Saman as part of the Mantras for the initiation (1, 50), one of the holiest and most important of the Brahmanical sacraments, cannot be explained on any other supposition than the one adopted above.
Though it thus appears that Professor Max Muller is right in declaring the Gautama Dharmashastra to belong to the Samaveda, it is, for the present, not possible to positively assert, that it is the Dharma-sutra of that Gautama Karana, which according to the Karanavyuha quoted in the Sabdakalpadruma of Radhakanta, formed a subdivision of the Ranayaniyas. The enumeration of four Akaryas, bearing the family-name Gautama, in the Vamsa-brahmana, and Latyayana’s quotations from two Gautamas, make it not unlikely, that several Gautama Karanas once existed among the Sama-vedi Brahmanas, and we possess no means for ascertaining to which our Dharmashastra must be attributed. Further researches into the history of the schools of the Samaveda must be awaited until we can do more. Probably the living tradition of the Sama-vedis of Southern India and new books from the South will clear up what at present remains uncertain. In concluding this subject I may state that Haradatta seems to have been aware of the connection of Gautama’s law-book with the Samaveda, though he does not say it expressly. But he repeatedly and pointedly refers in his commentary to the practices of the Khandogas, and quotes the Grihya-sutra of the Gaiminiyas, who are a school of Sama-vedis, in explanation of several passages. Another southern author, Govindasvamin (if I understand the somewhat corrupt passage correctly), states directly in his commentary on Baudhayana I, 1, 2, 6, that the Gautamiya Dharmashastra was criginally studied by the Khandogas alone.
In turning now to the second point, the priority of Gautama to the other existing Dharmasutras, I must premise that it is only necessary to take into account two of the latter, those of Baudhayana and Vasishtha. For, as has been shown above in the Introduction to Apastamba, the Sutras of the latter and those of Hiranyakesin Satydshadha are younger than Baudhayana’s.
The arguments which allow us to place Gautama before both Baudhayana and Vasishtha are, that both those authors quote Gautama as an authority on law, and that Baudhayana has transferred a whole chapter of the Dharmashastra to his work, which Vasishtha again has borrowed from him.
As regards the case of Baudhayana, his references to Gautama are two, one of which can be traced in our Dharmashastra. In the discussion on the peculiar customs prevailing in the South and in the North of India (Baudli. Dh. 1, 2, 1-8) Baudhayana expresses himself as follows:

A Grihya-sutra. of the Gaiminiyas has been discovcred by Dr. Burnell with a commentary by Srinivasa. He thinks that the Gaiminiyas are a Sutra-sakha of the Satyayana-Talavakaras.
My transcript has been made from the MS. presented by Dr. Burnell, the discoverer of the work, to the India Office Library. The passage runs as follows: Yatha vi bodhakyaniyam dharmasastram kaiskid eva pathyamanam sarvadhikaram bhavati tatha gautamiye gobhiliye (?) khandogair eva pathyate || vasishthant tu bahvrikair eva ||

There is a dispute regarding five (practices) both in the South and in the North.
We shall explain those (peculiar) to the South.
They are, to eat in the company of an uninitiated person, to eat in the company of one’s wife, to eat stale food, to marry the daughter of a maternal uncle or of a paternal aunt.
Now (the customs peculiar) to the North are, to deal in wool, to drink rum, to sell animals that have teeth in the upper and in the lower jaws, to follow the trade of arms and to go to sea.
He who follows (these practices) in (any) other country than the one where they prevail commits sin.
For each of these practices (the rule of) the country should be (considered) the authority.
Gautama declares that this is false.
And one should not take heed of either (set of practices), because they are opposed to the tradition of those learned (in the sacred law).’

From this passage it appears that the Gautama Dharma-sutra, known to Baudhayana, expressed an opinion adverse to the authoritativeness of local customs which might be opposed to the tradition of the Sishtas, i.e. of those who really deserve to be called learned in the law. Our Gautama teaches the same doctrine, as he says, XI, 20, ‘The laws of countries, castes, and families, which are not opposed to the (sacred) records, have also authority.’
As clear as this reference, is the case in which Baudhayana has borrowed a whole chapter of our Dharmashastra. The chapter in question is the nineteenth, which in Gautama’s work forms the introduction to the section on penances and expiation. It is reproduced with a number of various readings’ in the third Prasna of Baudhayana’s Dharma-sutra, where it forms the tenth and last Adhyaya. Its contents, and especially its first Sutra which connects the section on penances with the preceding ones on the law of castes and orders, make it perfectly clear that its proper position can only be at the beginning of the rules on expiation, not in the middle of the discussion, as Baudhayana places it.
This circumstance alone would be sufficient to prove that Baudhayana is the borrower, not Gautama, even if the name of the latter did not occur in Baudhayana’s Dharma-sutra. But the character of many of Baudhayana’s readings, especially of those in Sutras 2, 10, 5 11, 13, and 15, which, though supported by all the MSS. and Govindasvamin’s commentary, appear to have arisen chiefly through clerical mistakes or carelessness, furnishes even an additional argument in favour of the priority of Gautama’s text. It must, however, be admitted that the value of this point is seriously diminished by the fact that Baudlhayana’s third Prasna is not above suspicion and may be a later addition.
As regards Baudhayana’s second reference to Gautama, the opinion which it attribute, to the latter is directly opposed to the teaching of our Dharmashastra. Baudlhayana gives II, 2, 4, 16 the rule that a Brahmana who is unable to maintain himself by teaching, sacrificing, and receiving gifts, may follow the profession of a Kshatriya, and then goes on as follows:
‘17. Gautama declares that he shall not do it. For the duties of a Kshatriya are too cruel for a Brahmana.’
As the commentator Govindasvamin also points out, exactly the opposite doctrine is taught in our Dharmashastra, which (VII, 6) explicitly allows a Brahmana to follow, in times of distress the occupations of a Kshatriya. Govindasvamin explains this contradiction by assuming that in this case Baudhayana cites the opinion, not of the author of our Dharmashastra, but of some other Gautama. According to what has been said above, the existence of two or even more ancient Gautama Dharmasutras is not very improbable, and the commentator may possibly be right.
But it seems to me more likely that the Sutra of Gautama (VII, 6) which causes the difficulty is an interpolation, though Haradatta takes it to be genuine. My reason for considering it to be spurious is that the permission to follow the trade of arms is opposed to the sense of two other rules of Gautama. For the author states at the end of the same chapter on times of distress, VII, 25, that ‘even a Brahmana may take up arms when his life is in danger.’ The meaning of these words can only be, that a Brahmana must not fight under any other circumstances.
But according to Sutra 6 he is allowed to follow the occupations of a Kshatriya, who lives by fighting. Again, in the chapter on funeral oblations, XV, 18, those Brahmanas ‘who live by the use of the bow’ are declared to defile the company at a funeral dinner. It seems to me that these two Sutras, taken together with Baudhayana’s assertion that Gautama does not allow Brahmanas to become warriors, raise a strong suspicion against the genuineness, of VII. 6, and I have the less hesitation in rejecting the latter Sutra, as there are several other interpolated passages in the text received by Haradatta. Among them I may mention here the Mantras in the chapter taken from the Samavidhana, XXVI, 12, where the three invocations addressed to Shiva are certainly modern additions, as the old Sutrakatras do not allow a place to that or any other Puranic deity in their works. A second interpolation will be pointed out below.
The Vasishtha Dharmasutra shows also two quotations from Gautama; and it is a curious coincidence that, just as in the case of Baudhayana’s references, one of them only can be traced in our Dharmashastra. Both the quotations occur in the section on impurity, Vas. IV, where we read as follows ‘:
‘33. If an infant aged less than two years, dies, or in the case of a miscarriage, the impurity of the Sapindas (lasts) for three (days and) nights.
‘34. Gautama declares that (they become) pure at once (after bathing).
‘35. If (a person) dies in a foreign country and (his Sapindas) hear (of his death) after the lapse of ten days, the impurity lasts for one (day and) night.
‘36. Gautama declares that if a person who has kindled the sacred fire dies on a journey, (his Sapindas) shall again celebrate his obsequies, (burning a dummy made of leaves or straw,) and remain impure (during ten days) as (if they had actually buried) the corpse.’
The first of these two quotations or references apparently points to Gautama Dh. XIV, 44, where it is said, that ‘if an infant dies, the relatives shall be pure at once.’ For, though Vasishtha’s Sutra 34, strictly interpreted, would mean, that Gautama declares the relatives to be purified instantaneously, both if an infant dies and if a miscarriage happens, it is also possible to refer the exception to one of the two cases only, which are mentioned in Sutra 33. Similar instances do occur in the Sutra style, where brevity is estimated higher than perspicuity, and the learned commentator of Vasishtha does not hesitate to adopt the same view. But, as regards the second quotation in Sutra 36, our Gautama contains no passage to which it could possibly refer.
Govindasvamin, in his commentary on the second reference to Gautama in Baudhayana’s Dharmashastra II, 2, 71, expresses the opinion that this Sutra, too, is taken from the ‘other’ Gautama Dharma-sutra, the former existence of which he infers from Baudhayana’s passage. And curiously enough the regarding the second funeral-actually is found in the metrical Vriddha-Gautama or Vaishnava Dharmashastra, which, according to Mr. Vaman Shastri Islampurkar, forms chapters 94-115 of the Asvamedha-parvan of the Mahabharata in a Malayalam MS. Nevertheless, it seems to me very doubtful if Vasishtha did or could refer to this work. As the same rule occurs sometimes in the Srauta-sutras, I think it more probable that the Srauta-sutra of the Gautama school is meant. And it is significant that the Vriddha-Gautama declares its teaching to be kalpakodita ‘enjoined in the Kalpa or ritual.’
Regarding Gautama’s nineteenth chapter, which appears in the Vasishtha Dharmashastra as the twenty-second, I have already stated above that it is not taken directly from Gautama’s work, but from Baudhayana’s. For it shows most of the characteristic readings of the latter. But a few new ones also occur, and some Sutras have been left out, while one new one, a well-known verse regarding the efficacy of the Vaisvanara vratapati and of the Pavitreshti, has been added. Among the omissions peculiar to Vasishtha, that of the first Sutra is the most important, as it alters the whole character of the chapter, and removes one of the most convincing arguments as to its original position at the head of the section on penanccs. Vasishtha places it in the beginning of the discussion on penances which are generally efficacious in removing guilt, and after the rules on the special penances for the classified offences.
These facts will, I think, suffice to show that the Gautama Dharmashastra may be safely declared to be the oldest of the existing works on the sacred law. This assertion must, however, not be taken to mean, that every single one of its Sutras is older than the other four Dharmasutras. Two interpolations have already been pointed out above, and another one will be discussed presently. It is also not unlikely that the wording of the Sutras has been changed occasionally. For it is a suspicious fact that Gautama’s language agrees closer with Panini’s rules than that of Apastamba and Baudhayana.
If it is borne in mind that Gautama’s work has been torn out of its original connection, and from a schoolbook has become a work of general authority, and that for a long time it has been studied by Pandits who were brought up in the traditions of classical grammar, it seems hardly likely that it could retain much of its ancient peculiarities of language. But I do not think that the interpolations and alterations can have affected the general character of the book very much. It is too methodically planned and too carefully arranged to admit of any very great changes. The fact, too, that in the chapter borrowed by Baudhayana the majority of the variae lectiones arc corruptions, not better readings, favours thisview. Regarding the distance in time between Gautama on the one hand, and Baudhayana and Vasishtha on the other, I refer not to hazard any conjecture, as long as the position of the Gautamas among the schools of the Samaveda has not been cleared up.
So much only can be said that Gautama probably was less remote from Baudhayana than from Vasishtha. There are a few curious terms and rules in which the former two agree, while they, at the same time, differ from all other known writers on Dharma. Thus the term bhikshu, literally a beggar, which Gautama uses to denote an ascetic, instead of the more common yati or sannyasin, occurs once also in Baudlidyana’s Sutra. The sarne is the case with the rule, III, 13, which orders the ascetic not to change his residence during the rains. Both the name bhikshu and the rule must be very ancient, as the Gainas and Buddhists have borrowed them, and have founded on the latter their practice of keeping the Vasso, or residence in monasteries during the rainy season.
As the position of the Gautamas among the Saman schools is uncertain, it will, of course, be likewise inadvisable to make any attempt at connecting them with the historical period of India. The necessity of caution in this respect is so obvious that I should not point it out, were it not that the Dharmashastra contains one word, the occurrence of which is sometimes considered to indicate the terminus a quo for the dates of Indian works. The word to which I refer is Yavana. Gautama quotes, IV, 21, an opinion of ‘some,’ according to which a Yavana is the offspring of a Sudra male and a Kshatriya female.
Now it is well known that this name is a corruption of the Greek, an Ionian, and that in India it was applied, in ancient times, to the Greeks, and especially to the early Seleucids who kept up intimate relations with the first Mauryas, as Well as later to the Indo-Bactrian and Indo-Grecian kings who from the beginning of the second century B. C. ruled over portions of northwestern India. And it has been occasionally asserted that an Indian work, mentioning the Yavanas, cannot have been composed before 300 B. C., because Alexander’s invasion first made the Indians acquainted with the name of-the Greeks. This estimate is certainly erroneous, as there are other facts, tending to show that at least the inhabitants of northwestern India became acquainted with the Greeks about 200 years earlier. But it is not advisable to draw any chronological conclusions from Gautama’s Sutra, IV, 21. For, as, pointed out in the note to the translation of Sutra IV, 18, the whole section with the second enumeration of the mixed castes, IV, 17-21, is probably spurious.
The information regarding the state of the Vedic literature, which the Dharmashastra furnishes, is not very extensive. But some of the items are interesting, especially the proof that Gautama knew the Taittiriya Aranyaka, from which he took the first six Sutras of the twenty-fifth Adhyaya; the Samavidhana Brahmana, from which the twenty-sixth Adhyaya has been borrowed; and the Atharvasiras, which is mentioned XIX, 12. The latter word denotes, according to Haradatta, one of the Upanishads of the Atharvaveda, which usually are not considered to belong to a high antiquity. The fact that Gautama and Baudhayana knew it, will probably modify this opinion. Another important fact is that Gautama, XXI, 7, quotes Manu, and asserts that the latter declared it to be impossible to expiate the guilt incurred by killing a Brahmana, drinking spirituous liquor, or violating a Guru’s bed. From this statement it appears that Gautama knew an ancient work on law which was attributed to Manu. It probably was the foundation of the existing Manava Dharmashastra. No other teacher on law, besides Maru, is mentioned by name. But the numerous references to the opinions of ‘some’ show that Gautama’s work was not the first Dharma-sutra.

2 Rules made by Vedic Laws

The Veda is the source of the sacred law,
And the tradition and practice of those who know the (Veda).
Transgression of the law and violence ate observed (in the case) of (those) great (men); but both are without force (as precedents) on account of the weakness of the men of later ages.
If (authorities) of equal force are conflicting, (either may be followed at) pleasure.
The initiation of a Brahmana (shall ordinarily take place) in his eighth year;
(It may also be performed) in the ninth or fifth (years) for the fulfilment of (some particular) wish.
The number of years (is to be calculated) from conception.
That (initiation) is the second birth.
The (person) from whom he receives that (Sacrament is called) the Akarya (teacher).
And (the same title is also bestowed) in consequence of the teaching of the Veda.
(The initiation) of a Kshatriya (shall ordinarily take place) in the eleventh (year after conception), and that of a Vaisya in the twelfth.
Up to the sixteenth year the time for the Savitri of a Brahmana has not passed,
Nor (for the initiation) of a Kshatriya up to the twentieth (year).
(And the limit for that) of a Vaisya (extends) two years beyond (the latter term).
The girdles (worn by students) shall be strings of Munga grass, a bowstring, or a (wool) thread, according to the order (of the castes).
(Their upper garments shall be) skins of black-bucks, spotted deer, (or) he-goats.
Hempen or linen cloth, the (inner) bark (of trees), and woollen blankets (may be worn as low garments by students) of all (castes),
And undyed cotton cloth.
Some (declare that it) even (may be dyed) red.
(In that case the garment) of a Brahmana (shall be dyed with a red dye) produced from a tree,
(And those of students) of the other two (castes shall be) dyed with madder or turmeric.
The staff (carried by a student) of the Brahmana (caste shall be) made of Biliva or Palasa wood.
Staves made of Asvattha or Pilu wood (are fit) for (students of) the remaining (two castes).
Or (a staff cut from a tree) that is fit to be used at a sacrifice (may be carried by students) of all (castes).
(The staves must be) unblemished, bent (at the top) like a sacrificial post, and covered by their bark.
They shall reach the crown of the head, the forehead, (or) the tip of the nose (according to the caste of the wearer).
(It is) optional (for students) to shave (their heads), to wear the hair tied in a braid, (or) to keep (merely) a lock on the crown of the head tied in a braid (shaving the other portions of the head).
If he becomes impure while holding things in his hands, he shall (purify himself) by sipping water without laying (them on the ground).
(As regards) the purification of things, (objects) made of metal must be scoured, those made of clay should be thoroughly heated by fire, those made of wood must be planed, and (cloth) made of thread should be washed.
(Objects made of) stone, jewels, shells, (or) mother-of-pearl (must be treated) like those made of metal.
(Objects made of) bone and mud (must be treated) like wood.
And scattering (earth taken from a pure spot is another method of purifying defiled) earth.
Ropes, chips (of bamboo), and leather (must be treated) like garments.
Or (objects) that have been defiled very much may be thrown away.
Turning his face to the east or to the north, he shall purify himself from personal defilement.
Seated in a pure place, placing his right arm between his knees, arranging his dress (or his sacrificial cord) in the manner required for a sacrifice to the gods, he shall, after washing his hands up to the wrist, three or four times, silently, sip water that reaches his heart; twice wipe (his lips); sprinkle his feet and (his head); touch the cavities in the head (severally) with (certain fingers of his) right hand; (and finally) place (all the fingers) on the crown of his head and (on the navel).
After sleeping, dining, and sneezing (he shall) again (sip water though he may have done so before).
(Remnants of food) adhering to the teeth (do not make the eater impure as little) as his teeth, except if he touches them with his tongue.
Some (declare, that such remnants do not defile) before they fall (from their place).
If they do become detached, he should know that he is purified by merely swallowing them, as (in the case of) saliva.
Drops (of saliva) failing from the mouth do not cause impurity, except if they fall on a limb of the body.
Purification (from defilement) by unclean substances (has been effected) when the stains and the (bad) smell have been removed.
That (should be done) by first (using) water and (afterwards) earth,
When urine, faces, or semen fall on a (limb) and when (a limb) is stained (by food) during meals (water should be sipped).
And in case the Veda ordains (a particular manner of purification, it must be performed according to the precept).
Taking hold with (his right) hand of the left hand (of his teacher), but leaving the thumb free, (the pupil) shall address his teacher, (saying): ‘Venerable Sir, recite!’
He shall fix his eyes and his mind on the (teacher).
He shall touch with Kusa grass the (seat of the) vital airs.
He shall thrice restrain his breath for (the space of) fifteen moments;
And he shall seat himself on (blades of Kusa grass) the tops of which are turned toward the east.
The five Vyahritis must (each) be preceded by (the syllable) Om and end with Satya.
(Every) morning the feet of the teacher must be embraced (by the pupil),
And both at the beginning and at the end of a lesson in the Veda.
After having received permission, the pupil shall sit down to the right (of his teacher), turning his face towards the east or towards the north,
And the Savitri must be recited;
(All these acts must be performed) at the beginning of the instruction in the Veda.
The syllable Om (must precede the recitation of) other (parts of the Veda) also,
If (any one) passes between (the teacher and the pupil) the worship (of the teacher must be performed) once more.
If a dog, an ichneumon, a snake, a frog, (or) a cat (pass between the teacher and the pupil) a three days’ fast and a journey (are necessary).
(In case the same event happens) with other (animals, the pupil) must thrice restrain his breath and eat clarified butter,
And (the same expiation must be performed), if (unwittingly) a lesson in the Veda has been given on the site of a burial-ground.

Rules for Child

Before initiation (a child) may follow its inclinations in behaviour, speech, and eating. (It shall) not partake of offerings. (It shall remain) chaste. It may void urine and faeces according to its convenience.
No rule of (purification by) sipping water is prescribed for it. But (the stains of impure substances) shall be removed by wiping, by washing, or by sprinkling water.
(Other persons) cannot be defiled by the touch of such (a child).
But one must not employ a (child) to perform oblations in the fire or Bali-offerings;
Nor must one make it recite Vedic texts, except in pronouncing Svadha.
The restrictive rules, (which will be enumerated hereafter, must be obeyed) after initiation,
And (for a student the duty of) chastity, which has been prescribed (above for a child is likewise obligatory),
(Also) to offer (daily) sacred fuel in the fire, and to beg, to speak the truth, (and) to bathe (daily).
Some (declare, that the duty) to bathe (exists) after (the performance of) the Godana (only).
And the morning and evening devotions (Sandhya must be performed) outside (the village).
Silent he shall stand during the former, and sit during the latter, from (the time when one) light (is still visible) until (the other) light (appears).
He shall not look at the sun.
He shall avoid honey, meat, perfumes, garlands, sleep in the daytime, ointments, collyrium, a carriage, shoes, a parasol, love, anger, covetousness, perplexity, garrulity, playing musical instruments, bathing (for pleasure), cleaning the teeth, elation, dancing, singing, calumny, (and) terror,
(And) in the presence of his Gurus, covering his throat, crossing his legs, leaning (against a wall or the like, and) stretching out his feet,
(As well as) spitting, laughing, yawning, cracking the joints of the fingers,
To gaze at and to touch women, if there is danger of a breach of chastity,
Gambling, low service, to take things not offered, to injure animate beings,
To pronounce the names of the teacher, of the (teacher’s) sons and wives, and of a person who has performed the Dikshaniyeshti of a Soma-sacrifice,
To make bitter speeches.
A Brahmana (shall) always (abstain from) spirituous liquor.
(A student) shall occupy a seat and a couch lower (than those of his teacher), shall rise before (him) and retire to rest after (him).
He shall keep his tongue, his arms, and his stomach in subjection.
(If it is absolutely necessary to pronounce), his teacher’s name and family-name, he ought to indicate it by (using) a synonymous term.
(He must speak) in the same (respectful) manner of a man who is (generally) revered and of his betters.
(If the teacher speaks to him), he shall answer after having risen from his couch or seat (in case he was lying down or sitting).
At the command (of his teacher) he shall approach, though the (teacher) may not be visible.
And if he sees his teacher standing or sitting in a lower place or to the leeward or to the windward, he shall rise (and change his position).
If (his teacher) is walking, he shall walk after him, informing him of the work (which he is going to do and) telling (him what he has done).
He shall study after having been called (by the teacher, and not request the latter to begin the lesson).
He shall be intent on (doing) what is pleasing and serviceable (to the teacher).
And (he shall behave) towards (the teacher’s) wives and sons just as (towards the teacher),
But not eat their leavings, attend them while bathing, assist them at their toilet, wash their feet, shampoo them nor embrace their feet.
On returning from a journey he shall embrace the feet of the wives of his teacher.
Some declare, that (a pupil) who has attained his majority is not (to act thus) towards young (wives of his teacher).
Alms may be accepted from men, of all castes, excepting Abhisastas and outcasts.
(In begging) the word ‘Lady’ must be pronounced in the beginning, in the middle, or at the end (of the request), according to the order of the castes.
(He may beg in the houses) of the teacher, of blood relations, (or) of Gurus, and in his own, if he obtains no (alms) elsewhere.
Among these he shall avoid each preceding one (more carefully than those named later).
Having announced to the teacher (what he has received) and having received his permission, the (student) may eat (the collected food).
If (the teacher) is not present, (he shall seek the permission to eat) from his (teacher’s) wives or sons, from fellow-students or virtuous (strangers).
Having placed water by his side, (he shall eat) in silence, contented, (and) without greed.
(As a rule) a pupil shall not be punished corporally.
If no (other course) is possible, (he may be corrected) with a thin rope or a thin cane.
If (the teacher) strikes him with any other (instrument), he shall be punished by the king.
He shall remain a student for twelve years in order (to study) one (recension of the Veda),
Or, if (he studies) all (the Vedas) twelve years for each,
Or during (as long a period as he requires for) learning (them).
On completion of the instruction the teacher must be offered a fee.
After (the pupil) has paid (that) and has been dismissed, he may, at his pleasure, bathe (as is customary on completion of the studentship).
The teacher is chief among all Gurus.
Some (say) that the mother (holds that place).

The Four Orders

Some (declare, that) he (who has studied the Veda) may make his choice (which) among the orders (he is going to enter).
(The four orders are, that of) the student, (that of) the householder, (that of) the ascetic (bhikshu), (and that of) the hermit in the woods (vaikhanasa).
The householder is the source of these, because the others do not produce offspring.
Among them a (professed) student (must follow the rules) given (in the preceding chapters).
He shall remain obedient to his teacher until (his) end.
In (the time) remaining after (he has attended to) the business of his Guru, he shall recite (the Veda).
If the Guru dies, he shall serve his son,
(Or) if there is no (son of the teacher), an older fellow-student, or the fire.
He who lives thus, gains the heaven of Brahman, and (of him it is said that) he has subdued his organs (of sense and action).
And these (restrictions imposed on students Must also be observed by men) of other (orders, provided they are) not opposed (to their particular duties).
An ascetic shall not possess (any) store.
(He must be) chaste,
He must not change his residence during the rainy season.
He shall enter a village (only) in order to beg.
He shall beg late (after people have finished their meals), without returning (twice),
Abandoning (all) desire (for sweet food).
He shall restrain his speech, his eyes, (and) his actions.
He shall wear a cloth to cover his nakedness.
Some (declare, that he shall wear) an old rag, after having washed it.
He shall not take parts of plants and trees, except such as have become detached (spontaneously).
Out of season he shall not dwell a second night in (the same) village.
He may either shave or wear a lock on the crown of the head.
He shall avoid the destruction of seeds.
(He shall be) indifferent towards (all) creatures, (whether they do him) an injury or a kindness.
He shall not undertake (anything for his temporal or spiritual welfare).
A hermit (shall live) in the forest subsisting on roots and fruits, practising austerities.
Kindling the fire according to the (rule of the) Sramanaka (Sutra, he shall offer oblations in the morning and evening).
He shall eat wild-growing (vegetables only).
He shall worship gods, manes, men, goblins, and Rishis.
He shall receive hospitably (men of) all (castes) except those (with whom intercourse is) forbidden.
He may even use the flesh of animals killed by carnivorous beasts.
He shall not step on ploughed (land),
And he shall not enter a village.
He shall wear (his hair in) braids, and dress in (garments made of) bark and skins.
He shall not eat anything that has been hoarded for more than a year.
But the venerable teacher (prescribes) one order only, because the order of householders is explicitly prescribed (in the Vedas).

Marriage Rules

A householder shall take a wife (of) equal (caste), who has not belonged to another man and is younger (than himself).
A marriage (may be contracted) between persons who have not the same Pravaras,
(And) who are not related within six degrees on the father’s side,
Or on the side of the begetter,
(Nor) within four degrees on the mothers side.
(If the father) gives (his daughter) dressed (in two garments) and decked with ornaments to a person possessing (sacred) learning, of virtuous conduct, who has relatives and a (good) disposition, (that is a) Brahma (wedding).
At the Pragapatya (wedding) the marriage formula is, ‘Fulfil ye the law conjointly.’
At the Arsha (wedding the bridegroom) shall present a cow and a bull to him who has (authority over) the maiden.
(If the bride) is given, decked with ornaments to a priest at the altar, that is a Daiva wedding.
The spontaneous union with a willing (maiden is called) a Gandharva wedding.
If those who have (authority over) a female are propitiated by money, (that is) an Asura wedding.
(If the bride) is taken by force, (that is) a Rakshasa wedding.
If (a man) embraces a female deprived of consciousness, (that is) a Paisaka wedding.
The first four (rites) are lawful;
Some say, (the first) six.
(Children) born in the regular order of wives of the next, second or third lower castes (become) Savarnas, Ambashthas, Ugras, Nishadas, Daushyantas or Parasavas.
(Children born) in the inverted order (of wives of higher castes become) Sutas, Magadhas, Ayogavas, Kshattris, Vaidehakas or Kandalas.
Some declare, that a woman of the Brahmana caste has born successively to (husbands of) the (four) castes, sons (who are) Brahmanas, Sutas, Magadhas or Kandalas;
(And that) a woman of the Kshatriya caste (has born) to the same, Murdhavasiktas, Kshatriyas, Dhivaras, Pulkasas;
Further, a woman of the Vaisya caste to the same, Bhrigyakanthas, Mahishyas, Vaisyas, and Vaidehas;
(And) a woman of the Sudra caste to the same, Parasavas, Yavanas, Karanas, and Sudras.
In the seventh (generation men obtain) a change of caste, either being raised to a higher one or being degraded to a lower one.
The venerable teacher declares (that this happens) in the fifth (generation).
And (the same rule applies) to those born (from parents of different classes that are) intermediate between (two of the castes originally) created (by Brahman).
But those born in the inverse order (from fathers of a lower and mothers of a higher caste stand) outside (the pale of) the sacred law,
As well as (those born in the regular order) from a female of the Sudra caste.
But he whom a Sudra (begets) on a female of unequal caste shall be treated like an outcast.
The last (named, the Kandala), is the foulest.
Virtuous sons (born of wives of equal caste) and wedded according to approved rites sanctify (their father’s family).
(A son born of a wife married) according to the Arsha rite (saves) three ancestors (from hell),
(A son born of a wife married) according to the Daiva rite ten,
(A son born of a wife married) according to the Pragapatya rite, also ten.
(But) the son of a wife married according to the Brahma rite (saves) ten ancestors, ten descendants, and himself.

Customs and Rituals

(A householder) shall approach (his wife) in the proper season,
Or (he may do so) at any time except on the forbidden (days).
He shall worship gods, manes, men, goblins, (and) Rishis.
Every day he shall recite privately (a portion of the Veda),
And the (daily) libation of water to the manes (is obligatory on him).
Other (rites than these he may perform) according, to his ability.
The (sacred) fire (must be kindled) on his marriage or on the division of the family estate.
The domestic (ceremonies must be performed) with (the aid of) that (fire).
(Also) the sacrifices to the gods, manes, (and) men? and the private recitation (and) the Bali-offerings.
The oblations (which are thrown) into the (sacred) fire (at the Vaisvadeva-sacrifice are offered) to Agni, to Dhanvantari, to all the gods, to Pragapati, (and to Agni) Svishtakrit;
And (Bali-offerings must be given) to the deities presiding over the (eight) points of the horizon, in their respective places,
At the doors (of the house) to the Maruts,
To the deities of the dwelling inside (the house),
To Brahman in the centre (of the house),
To the Waters near the water-pot,
To the Ether in the air,
And to the Beings walking about at night in the evening.
A gift of food shall be preceded by a libation of water and (it shall be presented) after (the recipient) has been made to say, ‘May welfare attend thee,’
And the same (rule applies) to all gifts presented for the sake of spiritual merit.
The reward of a gift (offered) to a person who is not a Brahmana is equal (to the value of the gift), those (of presents given) to a Brahmana twofold, to a Srotriya thousandfold, to one who knows the whole Veda (vedaparaga) endless.
Presents of money (must be given) outside the Vedi to persons begging for their Gurus, (or) in order to defray the expenses of their wedding, (or to procure) medicine for the sick, to those who are without means of subsistence, to those who are going to offer a sacrifice, to those engaged in study, to travellers, (and) to those who have performed the Visvagit-sacrifice.
Prepared food (must be given) to other beggars.
For an unlawful purpose he shall not give (anything), though he may have promised it.
An untruth spoken by people under the influence of anger, excessive fear, pain (or) greed, by infants, very old men, persons labouring under a delusion, those being under the influence of drink (or) by mad men does not cause (the speaker) to fall.
Before (a householder eats) he shall feed his guests, the infants, the sick people, the pregnant women, the females under his protection, the very aged men, and those of low condition (who may be in his house).
But (when) his teacher, parents (or intimate) friends (visit his house), he shall proceed to the preparation of the dinner after asking them (for orders).
When an officiating priest, his teacher, his father-in-law, paternal or maternal uncles visit (him), a Madhuparka (or honey-mixture must be offered to them).
(If they have been once honoured in this manner, the ceremony need be) repeated (only) after a year.
(But) on (the occasion of) a sacrifice and of the wedding (a Madhuparka must be offered, though) less than a year (has passed since the last visit of the persons thus honoured).
And to a king) who is a Srotriya (a Madhuparka must be offered as often as he comes),
(But to a king) who is not a Srotriya a seat and water.
But for a Srotriya he shall cause to be prepared a foot-bath, an Arghya, and food of a superior quality.
Or his usual food distinguished by a (particularly careful) preparation.
To a (Brahmana) who is not learned in the Vedas, (but) of good conduct, food of a middling (quality) shall be given,
To one who is the reverse (of virtuous) grass, water, and earth,
(Or) at least a welcome.
Honour (must be shown to a guest, and the host must) not dine better (than his guest).
A couch, a seat, (and) a lodging (of the) same (quality as the host uses must be given) to (a guest) of equal condition and to one’s betters; they must be accompanied (on departure) and respectfully attended to (during their stay).
(The host shall show similar) though less (attention) to (a guest) who is inferior (to himself).
He is called a guest who, belonging to a different village (and) intending to stay for one night only, arrives when the sun’s beams pass over the trees.
According (to his caste a guest) must be asked about his well-being (kusala), about his being free from hurt (anamaya), or about his health (arogya).
The last (formula must also be used in addressing a Sudra.
A man of a lower caste (is) not (to be considered) a guest by a Brahmana, except if he has approached on (the occasion of) a sacrifice.
But a Kshatriya must be fed after the Brahmana (guests).
(Men of) other (castes he shall feed) with his servants for mercy’s sake.

Rules for Saluting

(To salute) every day on meeting (by) an embrace of the feet,
And (particularly) on return from a journey,
(Is prescribed in the case) of parents, of their blood relations, of elder (brothers), of persons venerable on account, of their learning, and of the Gurus of the latter.
On meeting (several persons, to whom such a salutation is due), together, the most venerable (must be saluted first).
On meeting persons who understand (the rule of returning salutes) one shall salute (them) pronouncing one’s name, and (saving) ‘I N. N. (ho! salute thee).’
Some (declare that) there is no restrictive rule for salutations between man and wife.
(The feet of) other female (relations) than the mother, a paternal uncle’s wife and (elder) sisters (need) not (be embraced, nor need they be saluted) except on return from a journey.
The feet of wives of brothers and of the mother-in-law (need) not be embraced (on any occasion).
But (on the arrival of an) officiating priest, a father-in-law, paternal and maternal uncles who are younger (than oneself), one must rise; they need not be saluted (as prescribed above, Sutra 5).
In like manner (any) other aged fellow-citizen, even a Sudra of eighty years and more, (must be honoured) by one young enough to be his son,
(And) an Arya, though (he be) younger, by a Sudra;
And he shall avoid (to pronounce) the name of that (person who is worthy of a salutation).
And an official who (is) not (able to) recite (the Veda shall avoid to pronounce the name) of the king.
A contemporary who is born on the same day (shall be addressed with the terms) bhoh or bhavan (your honour),
(Likewise) a fellow-citizen who is ten years older (than oneself),
(Also) an artist who is five years (older),
And a Srotriya belonging to one’s own Vedic school who is three years older,
(Further), Brahmanas destitute of learning and those who follow the occupations of Kshatriyas or Vaisyas,
And (a contemporary) who has performed the Dikshaniyeshti of a Soma-sacrifice before he buys (the Soma).
Wealth, relations, occupation, birth, learning, and age must be honoured; (but) each later named [paragraph continues] (quality) is more important (than the preceding ones).
But sacred learning is more important than all (other good qualities),
Because that is the root of the sacred law,
And because the Veda (expressly declares it).
Way must be made for a man seated in a carriage, for one who is in his tenth (decade), for one requiring consideration, for a woman, for a Snataka, and for a king.
But a king (must make way) for a Srotriya.

Rules for Brahmana Study

The rule for (times of) distress (is) that a Brahmana may study under a teacher who is not a Brahmana.
(A student is bound) to walk behind and to obey (his non-Brahmanical teacher).
(But), when (the course of study) has been finished, the Brahmana (pupil is more) venerable (than his teacher).
(In times of distress it is permissible) to offer sacrifices for (men of) all (castes), to teach (them), and to accept (presents from them).
Each preceding (mode of living is) preferable (to those named later).
On failure of the (occupations lawful for a Brahmana) he may live by the occupations of a Kshatriya.
On failure of those, he may live by the occupations of a Vaisya.
(Goods) that may not be sold by a (Brahmana are),
Perfumes, substances (used for) flavouring (food), prepared food, sesamum, hempen and linen cloth, skins,
Garments dyed red or washed,
Milk and preparations from it,
Roots, fruits, flowers, medicines, honey, flesh, grass, water, poison,
Nor animals for slaughter,
Nor, under any circumstances, human beings, heifers, female calves, cows big with young.
Some (declare, that the traffic in) land, rice, barley, goats, sheep, horses, bulls, milch-cows, and draught-oxen (is) likewise (forbidden).
But (it is permissible) to barter,
One kind of substances used for flavouring others,
And animals (for animals).
Salt and prepared food (must) not (be bartered),
Nor sesamum.
But for present use an equal (quantity of) uncooked (food may be exchanged) for cooked (food).
But if no (other course is) possible (a Brahmana) may support himself in any way except by (following the occupations) of a Sudra.
Some (permit) even this in case his life is in danger.
But to mix with that (caste) and forbidden food must be avoided (even in times of distress).
If his life is threatened, even a Brahmana may use arms.
(In times of distress) a Kshatriya (may follow) the occupations of a Vaisya.

The Moral Order

A king and a Brahmana, deeply versed in the Vedas, these two, uphold the moral order in the world.
On them depends the existence of the fourfold human race, of internally conscious beings, of those which move on feet and on wings, and of those which creep,
(As well as) the protection of offspring, the prevention of the confusion (of the castes and) the sacred law.
He is (called) deeply versed in the Vedas,
Who is acquainted with the (ways of the) world, the Vedas (and their) Aegas (auxiliary sciences),
Who is skilled in disputations (and), in (reciting) legends and the Purana,
Who looks to these (alone), and lives according to these,
Who has been sanctified by the forty sacraments (samskara),
Who is constantly engaged in the three occupations (prescribed for all twice-born men),
Or in the six (occupations prescribed specially for a Brahmana),
(And) who is well versed in the duties of daily life settled by the agreement (of those who know the law).
(Such a Brahmana) must be allowed by the king immunity from (the following) six (kinds of opprobrious treatment):
(I.e.) he must not be subjected to corporal punishment, he must not be imprisoned, he must not be fined, he must not be exiled, he must not be reviled, nor be excluded.
The Garbhadhana (or ceremony to cause conception), the Pumsavana (or ceremony to cause the birth of a male child), the Simantonnayana (or arranging the parting of the pregnant wife’s hair), the Gatakarman (or ceremony on the birth of the child), the ceremony of naming the child, the first feeding, the Kaula (or tonsure of the head of the child), the initiation,
The four vows (undertaken) for the study of the Veda,
The bath (on completion of the studentship), the taking of a help-mate for the fulfilment of the religious duties, the performance of the five sacrifices to gods, manes, men, goblins, and Brahman,
And (the performance) of the following (sacrifices):
The seven kinds of Pakayagnas (or small sacrifices),viz. the Ashtaka, the Parvana Sthalipaka, offered on the new and full moon days), the funeral oblations, the Sravani, the Agrahayani, the Kaitri, and the Asvayugi;
The seven kinds of Haviryagnas, viz. the Agnyadheya, the Agnihotra, the Darsapaurnamasas, the Agrayana, the Katurmasyas, the Nirudhapasubandha, and the Sautramani;
The seven kinds of Soma-sacrifices, viz. the Agnishtoma, the Atyagnishtoma, the Ukthya, the Shodasin, the Atiratra, and the Aptoryama;
These are the forty sacraments.
Now (follow) the eight good qualities of the soul,
(Viz.) compassion on all creatures, forbearance, freedom from anger, purity, quietism, auspiciousness, freedom from avarice, and freedom from covetousness.
He who is sanctified by these forty sacraments, but whose soul is destitute of the eight good qualities, will not be united with Brahman, nor does he reach his heaven.
But he, forsooth, who is sanctified by a few only of these forty sacraments, and whose soul is endowed with the eight excellent qualities, will be united with Brahman, and will dwell in his heaven.

Rules after Completion of Studies

Such (a man) shall bathe, after (having fulfilled) the, law (regarding studentship), take unto him a wife, and, fulfilling the duties of a householder which have been declared above, in addition obey the following ordinances
(He shall be) always pure (and) sweet-smelling (and) bathe frequently.
If he possesses wealth, he shall not be dressed in old or dirty clothes;
Nor shall he wear dyed or sumptuous garments, nor such as have been worn (before) by others,
Nor a garland and shoes (that have been worn by others).
(He may wear a cast-off garment) which has been washed, if he is unable (to afford a new one).
He shall not allow his beard to grow without a (sufficient) reason.
He shall not carry water and fire at the same time.
He shall not drink out of his joined hands.
He shall not sip water standing, nor (shall he sip) water drawn up (from a well),
Nor (water) that is offered by a Sudra or an impure man, or that has been taken up with one hand.
Facing or within sight of wind, fire, Brahmanas, the sun, water, (images of the) gods, and cows he shall not eject urine or faces or other impurities.
He shall not stretch out his feet towards those divine beings.
He shall not remove urine or faces with leaves, clods of earth, or stones.
He shall not stand upon ashes, hair, nail (parings), husks (of grain), pot-sherds, or impure substances.
He shall not converse with barbarians, impure or wicked men.
If he has conversed (with such persons), he shall meditate on virtuous (men),
Or he may speak with a Brahmana.
He shall call (a cow that is) not a milch-cow a cow that will become a milch-cow.
(An event) that is not lucky (he shall call) lucky.
(In speaking of) a skull (he shall use the word) bhagala instead of kapala,
(And in speaking of) a rainbow, manidhanus (the jewelled bow) instead of indradhanus, (Indra’s bow).
Let him not announce it to others, if a cow suckles (her calf),
Nor let him prevent her (from doing it).
After conjugal intercourse he shall at once clean himself
Let him not recite the daily portion of the Veda (lying) on that couch (on which he lies with his wife).
And when he has studied during the third watch of the night, he shall not again retire to rest.
Let him not have intercourse with his wife when she is ill,
Nor during her courses;
Nor let him embrace her (during that period),
Nor an unmarried female.
He shall avoid to blow the fire with his mouth, to contend with words, to show himself covered with perfumed ointments or wearing garlands, to scratch himself with any impure (implement), to take his meals with his wife, to look at (a woman) who is anointing herself, to enter (his village) by a back-gate, to wash one foot with the other, to eat food deposited on a chair, to cross a river swimming, to ascend trees and dangerous (places), or to descend therefrom, and to imperil his life (in any other manner).
Let him not ascend a ship (of) doubtful (solidity).
He shall protect himself by all (possible) means.
In the daytime he shall not wrap up his head while walking about;
But at night he shall cover it,
And while voiding urine and faeces.
(Let him) not (ease nature) without (first) covering the ground (with grass or the like),
Nor close to his dwelling,
Nor on ashes, on cow-dung, in a ploughed field, in the shade (of a tree), on a road, in beautiful (spots).
Let him eject both urine and faeces, facing the north in the daytime,
And in the twilight,
But at night, facing the south.
Let him avoid to use a seat, clogs, a stick for cleaning the teeth (and other implements) made of Palasa-wood.
With shoes on (his feet), he shall not eat, sit down, salute, or worship (the gods).
Let him not pass idly (any part of the day, be it) morning, midday, or evening; (but) according to his ability (he shall make each useful) by the acquisition of spiritual merit or of wealth, and by taking his pleasure.
But among those (three aims of human life) he shall chiefly attend to the acquisition of spiritual merit.
Let him not look at a naked woman wedded to another man.
Let him not draw a seat towards himself with his foot.
He shall keep his organ, his stomach, his hands, his feet, his tongue, and his eyes under due restraint.
Let him avoid to cut, to break, to scratch, and to crush (anything), or to make (his joints) crack, without a (sufficient) reason.
Let him not step over a rope (to which) a calf (is tied).
Let him not be a stay-at-home.
Let him not go to (perform) a sacrifice without being chosen (to officiate as priest).
But at his pleasure (he may go) to see it.
Let him not eat food (that he has placed) in his lap,
Nor what has been brought at night by a servant.
He shall not eat (substances) from which the fat has been extracted, Such as milk from which the cream has separated, butter, oil-cake, buttermilk, and the like.
But he shall take his meals in the morning and in the evening, blessing his food, not grumbling at it.
He shall never sleep naked at night;
Nor shall he bathe (naked);
And he shall perform whatever (else) aged (Brahmanas), of subdued senses, who have been properly obedient (to their teachers), who are free from deceit, covetousness, and error, and who know the Vedas, declare (to be right).
In order to acquire wealth and for the sake of security he may go to a ruling (king),
(But) to no other (being) except the gods, his Gurus, and righteous (Brahmanas).
He shall seek to dwell in a place where firewood, water, fodder, Kusa grass, (materials for making) garlands and roads exist in abundance, which is chiefly inhabited by Aryans, which is rich in industrious (men), and which is governed by a righteous (ruler).
He shall pass excellent (beings and things), auspicious (objects), temples of the gods, crossroads, and the like with his right turned towards them.
The rule for times of distress (is, that) he shall mentally perform all (that is required by the rule of) conduct.
He shall always speak the truth.
He shall conduct himself (as becomes) an Aryan.
He shall instruct virtuous (men only).
He shall follow the rules of purification taught (in the Sastras).
He shall take pleasure in the (study of the) Veda.
He shall never hurt (any being), he shall be gentle, (yet) firm, ever restrain his senses, and be liberal.
A Snataka who conducts himself in this manner will liberate his parents, his ancestors, and descendants from evil, and never fall from Brahman’s heaven.

Laws for Occupation

(The lawful occupations common) to (all) twice-born men are studying the (Veda), offering sacrifices (for their own sake), and giving (alms).
Teaching, performing sacrifices for others, and receiving alms (are) the additional (occupations) of a Brahmana.
But the former (three) are obligatory (on him).
Instruction in the Veda (may be given) without the above-mentioned (vows and ceremonies) in case a teacher, blood relations, friends or Gurus (receive it), and in case (the Veda) is exchanged for money or learning.
Agriculture and trade (are) also (lawful for a Brahmana) provided he does not do the work himself,
Likewise lending money at interest.
To protect all created beings is the additional (occupation) of a king,
And to inflict lawful punishments.
He shall support (those) Srotriyas, (who are) Brahmanas,
And people unable to work, (even if they are) not Brahmanas,
And those who are free from taxes,
And (needy) temporary students.
And (to take) measures for ensuring victory (is another duty of a king),
Especially when danger (from foes threatens the kingdom);
And (to learn) the management of chariots and the use of the bow (is a further duty of the king),
As well as to stand firm in battle and not to turn back.
No sin (is committed) by injuring or slaying (foes) in battle,
Excepting those who have lost their horses, charioteers, or arms, those who join their hands (in supplication), those who flee with flying hair, those who sit down with averted faces, those who have climbed (in flight) on eminences or trees, messengers, and those who declare themselves to be cows or Brahmanas.
If another Kshatriya is supported by (the king), he shall follow the same occupations as his (master).
The victor shall receive the booty gained in battle.
But chariots and animals used for riding (belong) to the king,
And a preferential share, except when the booty has been gained in single combat.
But the king shall equitably divide (all) other (spoils).
Cultivators (must) pay to the king a tax (amounting to) one-tenth, one-eighth, or one-sixth (of the produce).
Some declare, that (there is a tax) also on cattle and gold, (viz.) one-fiftieth (of the stock).
In the case of merchandise one-twentieth (must be paid by the seller) as duty,
(And) of roots, fruits, flowers, medicinal herbs, honey, meat, grass, and firewood one-sixtieth.
For it is the duty (of the king) to protect the (tax-payers).
But to (the collection of) these (taxes) he shall always pay particular attention.
He shall live on the surplus.
Each artisan shall monthly do one (day’s) work (for the king).
Hereby (the taxes payable by) those who support themselves by personal labour have been explained,
And (those payable by) owners of ships and carts.
He for him must feed these (persons while they work).
The merchants shall (each) give (every month one) article of merchandise for less than the market value.
Those who find lost (property) the owner of which is not (known), shall announce it to the king.
The king shall cause it to be proclaimed (by the public crier), and (if the owner does not appear) hold it in his custody for a year.
Afterwards one-fourth (of the value goes) to the finder (and) the remainder to the king.
A (man becomes) owner by inheritance, purchase, partition, seizure, or finding.
Acceptance is for a Brahmana an additional (mode of acquisition);
Conquest for a Kshatriya;
Gain (by labour) for a Vaisya or Sudra.
Treasure-trove is the property of the king,
Excepting (such as is found) by a Brahmana who lives according to (the law).
Some declare, that a finder of a non-Brahmanical caste even, who announces (his find to the king), shall obtain one-sixth (of the value).
Having recovered property stolen by thieves, he shall return it to the owner;
Or (if the stolen property is not recovered) he shall pay (its value) out of his treasury.
The property of infants must be protected until they attain their majority or complete their studentship.
The additional (occupations) of a Vaisya are, agriculture, trade, tending cattle, and lending money at interest.
The Sudra (belongs to) the fourth caste, which has one birth (only).
For him also (are prescribed) truthfulness, meekness, and purity.
Some (declare), that instead of sipping water, he shall wash his hands and feet.
(He shall also offer) the funeral oblations,
Maintain those depending upon him,
Live with his wife (only),
And serve the higher (castes).
From them he shall seek to obtain his livelihood.
(He shall use their) cast-off shoes, umbrellas, garments, and mats (for sitting on),
(And) eat the remnants of their food;
And (he may) live by (practising) mechanical arts;
And the Arya under whose protection he places himself, must support him even if he (becomes) unable to work.
And a man of higher caste (who is his master and has fallen into distress must be maintained) by him.
His hoard shall serve this purpose.
If permission has been given to him, he may use the exclamation namah (adoration) as his Mantra.
Some (declare), that he himself may offer the Pakayagnas.
And all men must serve those who belong to higher castes.
If Aryans and non-Aryans interchange their occupations and conduct (the one taking that of the other, there is) equality (between them).
Rules for The King
The king is master of all, with the exception of Brahmanas.
(He shall be) holy in acts and speech,
Fully instructed in the threefold (sacred science) and in logic,
Pure, of subdued senses, surrounded by companions possessing excellent qualities and by the means (for upholding his rule).
He shall be impartial towards his subjects;
And he shall do (what is) good for them.
All, excepting Brahmanas, shall worship him who is seated on a higher seat, (while they them-selves sit on a) lower (one).
The (Brahmanas), also, shall honour him.
He shall protect the castes and orders in accordance with justice;
And those who leave (the path of) duty, he shall lead back (to it).
For it is declared (in the Veda) that he obtains a share of the spiritual merit (gained by his subjects).
And he shall select as his domestic priest (purohita) a Brahmana who is learned (in the Vedas), of noble family, eloquent, handsome, of (a suitable) age, and of a virtuous disposition, who lives righteously and who is austere.
With his assistance he shall fulfil his religious duties.
For it is declared (in the Veda): ‘Kshatriyas, who are assisted by Brahmanas, prosper and do not fall into distress.’
He shall, also, take heed of that which astrologers and interpreters of omens tell (him).
For some (declare), that the acquisition of wealth and security depend also upon that.
He shall perform in the fire of the hall the rites ensuring prosperity which are connected with expiations (santi), festivals, a prosperous march, long life, and auspiciousness; as well as those that are intended to cause enmity, to subdue (enemies), to destroy (them) by incantations, and to cause their misfortune.
Officiating priests (shall perform) the other (sacrifices) according to the precepts (of the Veda).
His administration of justice (shall be regulated by) the Veda, the Institutes of the Sacred Law, the Aegas, and the Purana.
The laws of countries, castes, and families, which are not opposed to the (sacred) records, (have) also authority.
Cultivators, traders, herdsmen, money-lenders, and artisans (have authority to lay down rules) for their respective classes.
Having learned the (state of) affairs from those who (in each class) have authority (to speak he shall give) the legal decision.
Reasoning is a means for arriving at the truth.
Coming to a conclusion through that, he shall decide properly.
If (the evidence) is conflicting, he shall learn (the truth) from (Brahmanas) who are well versed in the threefold sacred lore, and give his decision (accordingly).
For, (if he acts) thus, blessings will attend him (in this world and the next).
It has been declared in the Veda: ‘Brahmanas, united with Kshatriyas, uphold gods, manes, and men.
They declare, that (the word) danda (rule or punishment) is derived from (the verb) damayati (he restrains); therefore he shall restrain those who do not restrain themselves.
(Men of) the (several) castes and orders who always live according to their duty enjoy after death the rewards of their works, and by virtue of a remnant of their (merit) they are born again in excellent countries, castes, and families, (endowed) with beauty, long life, learning in the Vedas, (virtuous) conduct, wealth, happiness, and wisdom.
Those who act in a contrary manner perish, being born again in various (evil conditions).
The advice of the spiritual teacher and the punishment (inflicted by the king) guard them.
Therefore a king and a spiritual teacher must not be reviled.

Laws for Sudras

A Sudra who intentionally reviles twice-born men by criminal abuse, or criminally assaults them with blows, shall be deprived of the limb with which he offends.
If he has criminal intercourse with an Aryan woman, his organ shall be cut off, and all his property be confiscated.
If (the woman had) a protector, he shall be executed after (having undergone the punishments prescribed above).
Now if he listens intentionally to (a recitation of) the Veda, his ears shall be filled with (molten) tin or lac.
If he recites (Vedic texts), his tongue shall be cut out.
If he remembers them, his body shall be split in twain.
If he assumes a position equal (to that of twice-born men) in sitting, in lying down, in conversation or on the road, he shall undergo (corporal) punishment.
A Kshatriya (shall be fined) one hundred (Karshapanas) if he abuses a Brahmana,
In case of an assault, twice as much.
A Vaisya (who abuses a Brahmana, shall pay) one and a half (times as much as a Kshatriya).
But a Brahmana (who abuses) a Kshatriya (shall pay) fifty (Karshapanas),
One half of that (amount if he abuses) a Vaisya,
(And if he abuses) a Sudra, nothing.
A Kshatriya and a Vaisya (who abuse one another shall pay the same fines) as a Brahmana and a Kshatriya.
(The value of) property which a Sudra unrighteously acquires by theft, must be repaid eightfold.
For each of the other castes (the fines must be) doubled.
If a learned man offends, the punishment shall be very much increased.
If fruits, green corn, and vegetables are appropriated in small amounts, (the fine is) five Krishnalas (of copper).
If damage is done by cattle, the responsibility falls on the owner.
But if (the cattle) were attended by a herdsman, (it falls) on the latter.
(If the damage was done) in an unenclosed field near the road, (the responsibility falls) on the herdsman and on the owner of the field.
Five Mashas (are the fine to be paid) for (damage done by) a cow,
Six for a camel or a donkey,
Ten for a horse or a buffalo,
Two for each goat or sheep.
If all is destroyed, (the value of) the whole crop (must be paid and a fine in addition).
If (a man) always neglects the prescribed (duties) and does that which is forbidden, his property beyond (the amount required for) raiment and food shall be taken from him (until he amends).
He may take, as his own, grass for a cow, and fuel for his fire, as well as the flowers of creepers and trees and their fruit, if they be unenclosed.
The legal interest for money lent (is at the rate of) five Mashas a month for twenty (Karshapanas).
Some (declare, that this rate should not be paid) longer than a year.
If (the loan) remains outstanding for a long time, the principal may be doubled (after which interest ceases).
A loan secured by a pledge that is used (by the creditor) bears no interest;
Nor money tendered, nor (a debt due by a debtor) who is forcibly prevented (from paying).
(Special forms of interest are) compound interest, periodical interest,
Stipulated interest, corporal interest, daily interest, and the use of a pledge.
The interest on products of animals, on wool, on the produce of a field, and on beasts of burden (shall) not (increase) more than the fivefold (value of the object lent).
The property of (a person who is) neither an idiot nor a minor, having been used by strangers before his eyes for ten years, (belongs) to him who uses it,
(But) not (if it is used) by Srotriyas, ascetics, or royal officials.
Animals, land, and females are not lost (to the owner) by (another’s) possession.
The heirs shall pay the debts (of a deceased person).
Money due by a surety, a commercial debt, a fee (due to the parents of the bride), debts contracted for spirituous liquor or in gambling, and a fine shall not involve the sons (of the debtor).
An (open) deposit, a sealed deposit, an object lent for use, an object bought (but not paid), and a pledge, being lost without the fault of the holder, (shall not involve) any blameless person.
A man who has stolen (gold) shall approach the king, with flying hair, holding a club in his hand, and proclaim his deed.
Whether he be slain or be pardoned, he is purified (of his guilt).
If the king does not strike, the guilt falls on him.
Corporal punishment (must) not (be resorted to in the case) of a Brahmana.
Preventing (a repetition of) the deed, publicly proclaiming his crime, banishment, and branding (are the punishments to which a Brahmana, may be subjected).
That (king) who does not do his duty (by inflicting punishment) becomes liable to perform a penance.
(A man who) knowingly (becomes) the servant (of a thief shall be treated) like a thief,
Likewise he who (knowingly) receives (goods) from (a thief or) an unrighteous man.
The award of the punishment (must be regulated) by a consideration (of the status) of the criminal, of his (bodily) strength, of (the nature of) the crime, and whether the offence has been repeated.
Or a pardon (may be given) in accordance with the opinion of an assemblage of persons learned in the Vedas.

Court Laws

In disputed cases the truth shall be established by means of witnesses.
The (latter) shall be many, faultless as regards the performance of their duties, worthy to be trusted by the king, and free from affection for, or hatred against either (party).
(They may be) Sudras even.
But a Brahmana must not be forced (to give evidence) at the word of a non-Brahmana, except if he is mentioned (in the plaint).
(Witnesses) shall not speak singly or without being asked,
And if, (being asked,) they do not answer, they are guilty of a crime.
Heaven is their reward, if they speak the truth; in the contrary case hell (will be their portion).
(Persons) not mentioned (in the plaint), must also give evidence.
No objection (can be raised against witnesses) in a case of (criminal) hurt.
Nor if they have spoken inadvertently.
If the sacred law or the rules (referring to worldly matters) are violated,. the guilt (falls) on the witnesses, the assessors, the king, and on the offender.
Some (declare, that the witnesses) shall be charged on oath to speak the truth.
In the case of others than Brahmanas that (oath shall be sworn) in the presence of the gods, of the king, and of Brahmanas.
By false evidence concerning small cattle a witness kills ten,
(By false evidence) regarding cows, horses, men, or land, in each succeeding case ten times as many (as in the one mentioned before),}
Or (by false evidence) regarding land the whole (human race).
Hell (is the punishment) for a theft of land.
(By false evidence) concerning water (he incurs) the same (guilt) as (for an untruth) about land,
Likewise (by false evidence) regarding (criminal) intercourse.
(By false evidence) regarding honey or clarified butter (he incurs) the same (guilt) as (by an untruth) about small cattle,
(By false evidence) about clothes, gold, grain, and the Veda, the same as (by an untruth) about kine,
(And by false evidence) regarding a carriage (or a beast of burden) the same as (by an untruth) about horses.
A witness must be reprimanded and punished for speaking an untruth.
No guilt is incurred by giving false evidence, in case the life (of a man) depends thereon.
But (this rule does) not (hold good) if the life of a very wicked (man depends on the evidence of a witness).
The king, or the judge, or a Brahmana learned in the Sastras (shall examine the witnesses).
(The litigant) shall humbly go to seek the judge.
If (the defendant) is unable to answer (the plaint) at once, (the judge) may wait for a year.
But (in an action) concerning kine, draught oxen, women, or the procreation (of offspring), the defendant (shall answer) immediately,
Likewise in a case that will suffer by delay.
To speak the truth before the judge is more important than all (other) duties.

Laws Regarding Impurity and Purity

The Sapindas become impure by the death (of a relative) during ten (days and) nights, except those who officiate as priests, who have performed the Dikshaniyeshti (or initiatory ceremony of a Srauta sacrifice), and those who are students.
(The impurity) of a Kshatriya lasts for eleven (days and) nights,
(That) of a Vaisya twelve (days and) nights,
(Or), according to some, half a month,
(And that) of a Sudra a whole month.
If during (a period of impurity) another (death) happens, the (relatives) shall be pure after (the lapse of) the remainder of that (first period).
(But) if one night (only of the period of impurity) remains (and another death happens, they shall become pure) after (the lapse of) two (days and nights).
(If the second death happens) on the morning (after the completion of the period of impurity, they shall be purified) after three (days and nights).
(The relatives) of those who are slain for the sake of cows and Brahmanas (become pure) immediately after the burial,
And (those of men destroyed) by the anger of the king,
(Further, those of men killed) in battle,
Likewise (those) of men who voluntarily (die) by starving themselves to death, by weapons, fire, poison, or water, by hanging themselves, or by jumping (from a precipice).
Sapinda-relationship ceases with the fifth or the seventh (ancestor).
(The rules regarding impurity caused by the death of a relative apply) to the birth (of a child) also.
(In) that (case the impurity falls) on the parents,
Or on, the mother (alone).
(The impurity) for a miscarriage (lasts for a number of days and) nights equal to (the number of) months from conception,
Or three days.
And if he hears (of the death of a Sapinda) after (the lapse of) ten (days and nights, the impurity lasts for) one night together with the preceding and following days,
Likewise when a relative who is not a Sapinda, a relative by marriage, or a fellow-student (has died).
For a man who studies the same recension of the Veda (the impurity lasts) one day,
Likewise for a Srotriya who dwells in the same house.
On touching (i.e. on carrying out) a corpse from an interested motive, the impurity lasts for ten days.
(The duration of the impurity) of a Vaisya and of a Sudra (in the same case) has been declared (by Sutras 3-5).
Or (it shall last for these two) as many nights as there are seasons (in the year);
And (the same rule may be made applicable) to the two higher (castes).
Or (the impurity lasts) three days.
And if the teacher, his son or wife, a person for whom (a Brahmana) sacrifices or a pupil (has been carried out, the duration of the impurity is) the same.
And if a man of lower caste carries, out (the corpse of) one of higher caste, or a man of higher caste (carries out the body of) one of lower caste, (the duration of) the impurity in these (cases) is determined by (the caste of) the dead man.
On touching an outcast, a Kandala, a woman impure on account of her confinement, a woman in her courses, or a corpse, and on touching persons who have touched them, he shall purify himself by bathing dressed in his clothes,
Likewise if he has followed a corpse (that was being carried out),
And (if he has come into contact) with a dog.
Some (declare), that (the limb) which (a dog) may touch (must be washed).
The Sapindas shall offer (libations of) water for (a deceased relative) whose Kaula-karman (or tonsure) has been performed,
As well as for the wives and daughters of such (a person).
Some (declare, that it must be done in the case) of married female relatives (also).
(During the period of impurity) all (the mourners) shall sleep and sit on the ground and remain chaste.
They shall not clean (themselves);
Nor shall they eat meat until (the funeral oblation) has been offered.
On the first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth (days after the death) water (mixed with sesamum) must be offered.
And the garments (worn during that ceremony) must be changed,
But on the last (day they must be given) to men of the lowest castes.
The parents (shall offer water for a son who dies) after he has teethed.
If infants, (relatives) who live in a distant country, those who have renounced domestic life, and those who are not Sapindas, (die), the purification is instantaneous.
Kings (remain always pure), lest their business be impeded,
And a Brahmana, lest his daily study of the Veda be interrupted.

Rules for Funerals

Now (follow the rules regarding) funeral oblations (Sraddha).
He shall offer (them) to the Manes on the day of the new moon,
Or in the dark half (of the month) after the fourth (lunar day),
Or on any day (of the dark half) according to (the results he may) desire;
Or if (particularly appropriate) materials or (particularly holy) Brahmanas are at hand, or (the sacrificer is) near a (particularly sacred) place, no restriction as to time (need be observed):
Let him select as good food as he can afford, and have it prepared as well as possible.
He shall feed an uneven number (of Brahmanas), at least nine,
Or as many as he is able (to entertain).
(Let him feed such as are) Srotriyas and endowed with eloquence and beauty, of a (suitable) age, and of a virtuous disposition.
It is preferable to give (food at a Sraddha) to young (men in the prime of life).
Some (declare, that the age of the guests shall be) proportionate to (that of) the Manes.
And he shall not try to contract a friendship by an (invitation to a Sraddha).
On failure of sons (the deceased person’s) Sapindas, the Sapindas of his mother, or his pupils shall offer (the funeral oblations),
On failure of these an officiating priest or the teacher.
The Manes are satisfied for a month by gifts of sesamum, Masha-beans, rice, barley, and water,
For (three) years by fish and the flesh of common deer, spotted deer, hares, turtles, boars, and sheep,
For twelve years by cow’s milk and messes made of milk,
For a very long time by the flesh of (the crane called) Vardhrinasa, by Ocyrnurn sanctum (sacred Basil), and by the flesh of goats, (especially) of a red (he-goat), and of a rhinoceros, (if these dishes are) mixed with honey.
Let him not feed a thief, a eunuch, an outcast, an atheist, a person who lives like an atheist, the destroyer of the sacred fire; (the husband of) a younger sister married before the elder, the husband of an elder sister whose youngest sister was married first, a person who sacrifices for women or for a multitude of men, a man who tends goats, who has given up the fire-worship, who drinks spirituous liquor, whose conduct is blamable, who is a false witness, who lives as a doorkeeper;
Who lives with another man’s wife, and the (husband) who allows that (must not be invited);
(Nor shall he feed) a man who eats the food of a person born from adulterous intercourse, a seller of Soma, an incendiary, a poisoner, a man who during studentship has broken the vow of chastity, Who is the servant of a guild, who has intercourse with females who must not be touched, who delights in doing hurt, a younger brother married before the elder brother, an elder brother married after his younger brother, an elder brother whose junior has kindled the sacred fire first, a younger brother who has done that, a person who despairs of himself, a bald man, a man who has deformed nails, or black teeth, who suffers from white leprosy, the son of a twice-married woman, a gambler, a man who neglects the recitation (of the sacred texts), a servant of the king, any one who uses false weights and measures, whose only wife is a Sudra female, who neglects the daily study, who suffers from spotted leprosy, a usurer, a person who lives by trade or handicrafts, by the use of the bow, by playing musical instruments, or, by beating time, by dancing, and by singing;
Nor, (sons) who have enforced a division of the family estate against the wish of their father.
Some (allow) pupils and kinsmen (to be invited).
Let him feed upwards of three (or) one (guest) endowed with (particularly) excellent qualities.
If he enters the bed of a Sudra female immediately after partaking of a funeral repast, his ancestors will lie for a month in her ordure.
Therefore he shall remain chaste on that day.
If (a funeral offering) is looked at by dogs, Kandalas, or outcasts, it is blemished.
Therefore he shall offer it in an enclosed (place),
Or he shall scatter grains of sesamum over it,
Or a man who sanctifies the company shall remove the blemish.
Persons who sanctify the company are, any one who knows the six Aegas, who sings the Gyeshtha-samans, who knows the three texts regarding the Nakiketa-fire, who knows the text which contains thrice the word Madhu, who knows the text which thrice contains the word Suparna, who keeps five fires, a Snataka, any one who knows the Mantras and Brahmanas, who knows the sacred law, and in whose family the study and teaching of the Veda are hereditary.
(The same rule applies) to sacrifices offered to gods and men.
Some (forbid the invitation of) bald men and the rest to a funeral repast only.

Rules for Learning the Vedas

The annual (term for studying the Veda) begins on the full moon of the month Sravana (July-August); or let him perform the Upakarman on (the full moon of) Bhadrapada (August-September) and study the Vedic texts,
During four months and a half, or during five months, or as long as the sun moves towards the South.
Let him remain chaste, let him not shave, nor eat flesh (during that period);
Or (this) restrictive rule may (be observed) during two months.
He shall not recite the Veda, if the wind whirls up the dust in the daytime,
Nor if it is audible at night,
Nor if the sound of a Vana, of a large or a small drum, the noise of a chariot, and the wail of a person in pain (are heard),
Nor if the barking of many dogs and jackals, or the braying of many donkeys (is heard),
Nor if (the sky appears flaming) red, a rainbow (is seen), or hoarfrost (lies on the ground),
Nor if clouds rise out of season.
(Let him not study) when he feels the necessity to void urine or excrements,
Nor at midnight, in the twilight, and (while standing) in the water,
Nor while rain falls.
Some (declare, that the recitation of the Veda must be interrupted only) when (the rain) is dripping from the edge of the roof.
(Nor shall he study) when the teachers (of the gods and Asuras, i.e. the planets Jupiter and Venus) are surrounded by a halo,
Nor (when this happens) to the two (great) lights (the sun and the moon),
(Nor) while he is in fear, riding in a carriage or on beasts of burden, or lying down, nor while his feet are raised,
(Nor) in a burial-ground, at the extremity of a village, on a highroad, nor during impurity,
Nor while a foul smell (is perceptible), while a corpse or a Kandala (is) in (the village), nor in the neighbourhood of a Sudra,
Nor while (he suffers from) sour eructations.
The Rigveda and the Yagur-veda (shall not be studied) while the sound of the Samans (is heard).
The fall of a thunderbolt, an earthquake, an eclipse, and (the fall of) meteors (are reasons for discontinuing the reading of the Veda) until the same time (next day),
Likewise when it thunders and rains and when lightning (flashes out of season) after the fires have become visible (in the twilight).
(If these phenomena appear) during the (rainy) season, (the reading must be interrupted) for a day (or a night),
And if lightning (is observed) during the night, (the recitation of the Veda shall be interrupted) until the third watch.
If (lightning) flashes during the third part of the day or later, (the Veda must not be read) during the entire (following night).
(According to the opinion) of some, a fiery meteor (has the same effect) as lightning,
Likewise thunder (which is heard) during the last part of the day,
(Or) also in the twilight.
(If thunder is heard) before midnight, (the study of the Veda must be interrupted) during the whole night.
(If it is heard) during the (early part of the) day, (the interruption must continue) as long as the sun shines,
Likewise if the king of the country has died.
If one (pupil) has gone on a journey (and) another (stays) with (the teacher, the study of the Veda shall be interrupted until the absentee returns).
When an attack (is made on the village), or a fire (breaks out), when one Veda has been completed, after (an attack of) vomiting, when he has partaken of a funeral repast or of a dinner on the occasion of a sacrifice offered to men, (the study of the Veda shall be interrupted) for a day and a night,
Likewise on the day of the new moon.
(On the latter occasion it may also be interrupted) for two days.
(The Veda shall not be studied for a day and a night) on the full moon days of the months Karttika, Phalguna, and Ashadha.
On the three Ashtakas (the Veda shall not be studied) for three (days and) nights.
Some (declare, that the rule applies) to the last Ashtaka (only).
(On the occasion of) the annual (Upakarman and Utsarga the reading shall be interrupted) on the day (of the ceremony) and those preceding and following it.
All (teachers declare, that the reading shall be interrupted for three days) when rain, thunder, and lightning (are observed) simultaneously,
When the rain is very heavy, (the reading shall be interrupted as long as it lasts).
On a festive day (the reading shall be stopped) after the (morning) meal,
And he who has begun to study (after the Upakarman shall not read) at night for four Muhurtas.
Some (declare, that the recitation of the Veda is) always (forbidden) in a town.
While he is impure (he shall) not even (recite the Veda) mentally.
(The study) of those who offer a funeral sacrifice (must be interrupted) until the same time next day,
Even if uncooked grain is offered at the funeral sacrifice.
And (those rules regarding the stoppage of the reading must be observed), which they teach in the several schools.

Fooding Rules for Students

A Brahmana may eat the food given by twice-born men, who are praised for (the faithful performance of their) duties,
And he may accept (other gifts from them).
Fire-wood, water, grass, roots, fruits, honey, (a promise of) safety, food brought unsolicited, a couch, a seat, shelter, a carriage, milk, sour milk, (roasted) grain, small fish, millet, a garland, venison, and vegetables, (spontaneously offered by a man) of any (caste) must not be refused,
Nor anything else that may be required for providing for (the worship of the) Manes and gods, for Gurus and dependents.
If the means for sustaining life cannot (be procured) otherwise, (they may be accepted) from a Sudra.
A herdsman, a husbandman, an acquaintance of the family, a barber, and a servant are persons whose food may be eaten,
And a trader, who is not (at the same time) an artisan.
(A householder) shall not eat every day (the food of strangers).
Food into which a hair or an insect has fallen (must not be eaten),
(Nor) what has been touched by a woman during her courses, by a black bird, or with the foot,
(Nor) what has been looked at by the murderer of a learned Brahmana,
(Nor) what has been smelt at by a cow,
(Nor) what is naturally bad,
Nor (food) that (has turned) sour by itself, excepting sour milk,
(Nor) what has been cooked twice,
(Nor) what (has become) stale (by being kept), except vegetables, food that requires mastication, fatty and oily substances, meat and honey.
(Food given) by a person who has been cast off (by his parents), by a woman of bad character, an Abhisasta, a hermaphrodite, a police-officer, a carpenter, a miser, a jailer, a surgeon, one who hunts without using the bow, a man who eats the leavings (of others), by a multitude (of men), and by an enemy (must not be eaten),
Nor what is given by such men who defile the company at a funeral dinner, as have been enumerated before bald men;
(A dinner) which is prepared for no (holy) purpose or where (the guests) sip water or rise against the rule,
Or where (one’s) equals are honoured in a different manner, and persons who are not (one’s) equals are honoured in the same manner (as oneself, must not be eaten),
Nor (food that is given) in a disrespectful manner.
And the milk which a cow gives during the first ten days after calving (must not be drunk),
Nor (that) of goats and buffalo-cows (under the same conditions).
(The milk) of sheep, camels, and of one-hoofed animals must not be drunk under any circumstances,
Nor (that) of animals from whose udders the milk flows spontaneously, of those that bring forth twins, and of those giving milk while big with young,
Nor the milk of a cow whose calf is dead or separated from her.
And five-toed animals (must) not (be eaten) excepting the hedgehog, the hare, the porcupine, the iguana, the rhinoceros, and the tortoise,
Nor animals which have a double row of teeth, those which are covered with an excessive quantity of hair, those which have no hair, one-hoofed animals, sparrows, the (heron called) Plava, Brahmani ducks, and swans,
(Nor) crows, herons, vultures, and falcons, (birds) born in the water, (birds) with red feet and beaks, tame cocks and pigs,
(Nor) milch-cows and draught-oxen,
Nor the flesh of animals whose milk-teeth have not fallen out, which are diseased, nor the meat of those (which have been killed) for no (sacred) purpose,
Nor young sprouts, mushrooms, garlic, and substances exuding (from trees),
Nor red (juices) which issue from incisions.
Woodpeckers, egrets, ibis, parrots, cormorants, peewits, and flying foxes, (as well as birds) flying at night, (ought not to be eaten).
Birds that feed striking with their beaks, or scratching with their feet, and are not web-footed may be eaten,
And fishes that are not misshapen,
And (animals) that must be slain for (the fulfilment of) the sacred law.
Let him eat (the flesh of animals) killed by beasts of prey, after having washed it, if no blemish is visible, and if it is declared to be fit for use by the word (of a Brahmana).

Laws for the Wife

A wife is not independent with respect to (the fulfilment of) the sacred law.
Let her not violate her duty towards her husband.
Let her restrain her tongue, eyes, and (organs of) action.
A woman whose husband is dead and who desires offspring (may bear a son) to her brother-in-law.
Let her obtain the permission of her Gurus, and let her have intercourse during the proper season only.
(On failure of a brother-in-law she may obtain offspring) by (cohabiting with) a-Sapinda, a Sagotra, a Samanapravara, or one who belongs to the same caste.
Some (declare, that she shall cohabit) with nobody but a brother-in-law.
(She shall) not (bear) more than two (sons).
The child belongs to him who begat it,
Except if an agreement (to the contrary has been made).
(And the child begotten at) a living husband’s (request) on his wife (belongs to the husband).
(But if it was begotten) by a stranger (it belongs) to the latter,
Or to both (the natural father and the husband of the mother).
But being reared by the husband, (it belongs to him.)
(A wife must) wait for six years, if her husband has disappeared. If he is heard of, she shall go to him.
But if (the husband) has renounced domestic life, (his wife must refrain) from intercourse (with other men).
(The wife) of a Brahmana (who has gone to a foreign country) for the purpose of studying (must wait) twelve years.
And in like manner if an elder brother (has gone to a foreign country) his younger brother (must wait twelve years) before he takes a wife or kindles the domestic fire.
Some (declare, that he shall wait) six years.
A (marriageable) maiden (who is not given in marriage) shall allow three monthly periods to pass, and afterwards unite herself, of her own will, to a blameless man, giving up the ornaments received from her father or her family).
A girl should be given in marriage before (she attains the age of) puberty.
He who neglects it, commits sin.
Some (declare, that a girl shall be given in marriage) before she wears clothes.
In order to defray the expenses of a wedding, and when engaged in a rite (enjoined by) the sacred law, he may take money (by fraud or force) from a Sudra,
Or from a man rich in small cattle, who neglects his religious duties, though he does not belong, to the Sudra caste,
Or from the owner of a hundred cows, who does not kindle the sacred fire,
Or from the owner of a thousand cows, who does not drink Soma.
And when he has not eaten (at the time of six meals he may take) at the time of the seventh meal (as much as will sustain life), not (such a quantity as will serve) to make a hoard,
Even from men who do not neglect their duties.
If he is examined by the king (regarding his deed), he shall confess (it and his condition).
For if he possesses sacred learning and a good character, he must be maintained by the (king).
If the sacred law is violated and the (king) does not do (his duty), he commits sin.

Laws of Caste and Order

The law of castes and of orders has been declared.
Now, indeed, man (in) this (world) is polluted by a vile action, such as sacrificing for men unworthy to offer a sacrifice, eating forbidden food, speaking what ought not to be spoken, neglecting what is prescribed, practising what is forbidden.
They are in doubt if he shall perform a penance for such (a deed) or if he shall not do it.
(Some) declare, that he shall not do it,
Because the deed does not perish.
The most excellent (opinion is), that he shall perform (a penance).
For it is declared in the Veda, that he who has offered a Punastoma (may) again come to (partake of) the libations of Soma,
Likewise he who has offered a Vratyastoma.
(The Veda says) further: ‘He who offers a horse-sacrifice, conquers all sin, he destroys the guilt of the murder of a Brahmana;
Moreover: ‘He shall make an Abhisasta perform an Agnishtut sacrifice.’
Reciting the Veda, austerity, a sacrifice, fasting, giving gifts are the means for expiating such a (blamable act).
The purificatory (texts are), the Upanishads, the Vedantas, the Samhita-text of all the Vedas, the (Anuvakas called) Madhu, the (hymn of) Aghamarshana, the Atharvasiras, the (Anuvakas called the) Rudras, the Purusha-hymn, the two Samans (called) Ragana and Rauhineya, the Brihat (Saman) and the Rathantara, the Purushagati (Saman), the Mahanamnis, the Mahavairaga (Saman), the Mahadivakirtya (Saman), any of the Gyeshtha Samans, the Bahishpavamana (Saman), the Kushmandas, the Pavamanis, and the Savitri.
To live on milk alone, to eat vegetables only, to eat fruits only, (to live on) barley-gruel prepared of a handful of grain, to eat gold, to eat clarified butter, and to drink Soma (are modes of living) which purify.
All mountains, all rivers, holy lakes, places of pilgrimage, the dwellings of Rishis, cow-pens, and temples of the gods (are) places (which destroy sin).
Continence, speaking the truth, bathing morning, noon, and evening, standing in wet clothes, sleeping on the ground, and fasting (are the various kinds of) austerity.
Gold, a cow, a dress, a horse, land, sesamum, clarified butter, and food are the gifts (which destroy sin).
A year, six months, four (months), three (months), two (months), one (month), twenty-four days, twelve days, six days, three days, a day and a night are the periods (for penances).
These (acts) may be optionally performed when no (particular penance) has been prescribed,
(Viz.) for great sins difficult (penances), and for trivial faults easy ones.
The Krikkhra and the Atikrikkhra, (as well as) the Kandrayana, are penances for all (offences).

Laws for Punishment

Let him cast off a father who assassinates a king, who sacrifices for Sudras, who sacrifices for his own sake (accepting) money from Sudras, who divulges the Veda (to persons not authorised to study it), who kills a learned Brahmana, who dwells with men of the lowest castes, or (cohabits) with a female of one of the lowest castes.
Having assembled the (sinner’s) spiritual Gurus and the relatives by marriage, (the sons and other kinsmen) shall perform (for him) all the funeral rites, the first of which is the libation of water,
And (afterwards) they shall overturn his water-vessel (in the following manner):
A slave or a hired servant shall fetch an impure vessel from a dust-heap, fill it (with water taken) from the pot of a female slave and, his face turned towards the south upset it with his foot, pronouncing (the sinner’s) name (and saying): ‘I deprive N. N. of water.’
All (the kinsmen) shall touch him (the slave) passing their sacrificial cords over the right shoulder and under the left arm, and untying the locks on their heads.
The spiritual Gurus and the relatives by marriage shall look on.
Having bathed, they (all shall) enter the village.
He who afterwards unintentionally speaks to the (outcast sinner) shall stand during one night, reciting the Savitri.
If he intentionally (converses with the outcast, he must perform the same penance) for three nights.
But if an (outcast sinner) is purified by (performing) a penance, (his kinsmen) shall, after he has become pure, fill a golden vessel (with water) from a very holy lake or a river, and make him bathe in water (taken) from that (vessel).
Then they shall give him that vessel and he, after taking it, shall mutter (the following Mantras): ‘Cleansed is the sky, cleansed is the earth, cleansed and auspicious is the middle sphere; I here take that which is brilliant.’
Let him offer clarified butter, (reciting) these Yagus formulas, the Pavamanis, the Taratsamandis, and the Kushmandas.
Let him present gold or a cow to a Brahmana,
And to his teacher.
But he, whose penance lasts for his (whole) lifetime, will be purified after death.
Let (his kinsmen) perform for him all the funeral rites, the first of which is the libation of water.
This same (ceremony of bathing in) water consecrated for the sake of purification (must be performed) in the case of all minor offences (upapatakas).

Laws of Punishment for Killing a Brahman

The murderer of a Brahmana, he who drinks spirituous liquor, the violator of a Guru’s bed, he who has connection with the female relatives of his mother and of his father (within six degrees) or with sisters and their female offspring, he who steals (the gold of a Brahmana), an atheist, he who constantly repeats blamable acts, he who does not cast off persons guilty of a crime causing loss of caste, and he who forsakes blameless (relatives), become outcasts,
Likewise those who instigate others to acts causing loss of caste,
And he who for a (whole) year associates with outcasts.
To be an outcast means to be deprived of the right to follow the lawful occupations of twice-born men,
And to be deprived after death of the rewards of meritorious deeds.
Some call (this condition) hell.
Manu (declares, that) the first three (crimes, named above) cannot be expiated.
Some (declare, that a man) does not become an outcast (by having connection) with female (relatives), except (when he violates) a Guru’s bed.
A woman becomes an outcast by procuring abortion, by connection with a (man of) lower (caste) and (the like heinous crimes).
Giving false evidence, calumnies which will reach (the ears of) the king, an untrue accusation brought against a Guru (are acts) equal to mortal sins (mahapataka).
(The guilt of a) minor offence (upapataka) rests on those who (have been declared to) defile the company (at a funeral dinner and have been named above) before the bald man, on killers of kine, those who forget the Veda, those who pronounce Vedic texts for the (last-mentioned sinners), students who break the vow of chastity, and those who allow the time for the initiation to pass.
An officiating priest must be forsaken, if he is ignorant (of the rules of the sacrifice), a teacher, if he does not impart instruction, and (both) if they commit crimes causing loss of caste.
He who forsakes (them) under any other circumstances, becomes an outcast.
Some declare, that he, also, who receives (a person who has unjustly forsaken his priest or teacher, becomes an outcast).
The mother and the father must not be treated improperly under any circumstances.
But (the sons) shall not take their property.
By accusing a Brahmana of a crime (the accuser commits) a sin equal (to that of the accused).
If (the accused is) innocent, (the accuser’s guilt is) twice (as great as that of the crime which he imputed to the other).
And he who, though able to rescue a weak man from injury, (does) not (do it, incurs as much guilt as he who injures the other).
He who in anger raises (his hand or a weapon) against a Brahmana, will be banished from heaven for a hundred years.
If he strikes, (he will lose heaven) for a thousand (years).
If blood flows, (he will lose heaven) for a number of years equal to (that of the particles of) dust which the spilt (blood) binds together.

The Penances

(Now follows the description of the) penances.
He who has (intentionally) slain a Brahmana shall emaciate himself, and thrice throw himself into a fire,
Or he may become in battle a target for armed men,
Or, remaining chaste, he may, during twelve years, enter the village (only) for the purpose of begging, carrying the foot of a bedstead and a skull in his hand and proclaiming his deed.
If be meets an Arya, he shall step out of the road.
Standing by day, sitting at night, and bathing in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, he may be purified (after twelve years),
Or by saving the life of a Brahmana,
Or if he is, at least, thrice vanquished in (trying to recover) the property (of a Brahmana) stolen (by robbers),
Or by bathing (with the priests) at (the end of) a horse-sacrifice,
Or at (the end of) any other (Vedic) sacrifice, provided that an Agnishtut (sacrifice) forms part of it.
(The same penances must be performed) even if he has attempted the life of a Brahmana, but failed to kill him,
Likewise if he has killed a female (of the Brahmana caste) who had bathed after temporary uncleanness,
Also for (destroying) the embryo of a Brahmana, though (its sex) may be not distinguishable.
For (intentionally) killing a Kshatriya the normal vow of continence (must be kept) for six years; and he shall give one thousand cows and one bull.
For (killing) a Vaisya (the same penance must be performed) during three years; and he shall give one hundred cows and one bull.
For (killing) a Sudra (the same penance must be performed) during one year; and he shall give ten cows and one bull.
And the same (rule applies) if a female (has been killed) who was not in the condition (described in Sutra 12).
(The penance for killing) a cow is the same as for (the murder of) a Vaisya,
And for injuring a frog, an ichneumon, a crow, a chameleon, a musk-rat, a mouse, and a dog,
And for killing one thousand (small animals) that have bones,
Also for (killing) an ox-load of (animals) that have no bones;
Or he may also give something for (the destruction of) each animal that has bones.
For (killing) a eunuch (he shall give) a load of straw and a masha of lead;
For (killing) a boar, a pot of clarified butter;
For (killing) a snake, a bar of iron;
For (killing) an unchaste woman, who is merely in name a Brahmani, a leather bag;
(For killing a woman who subsists) by harlotry, nothing at all.
For preventing that (a Brahmana) obtains a wife, food, or money, (he must) in each case (remain chaste) during a year,
For adultery two years,
(For adultery with the wife) of a Srotriya three years.
And if he has received a present (from the woman), he shall throw it away,
Or restore it to the giver.
If he has employed Vedic texts for people (with whom such intercourse is) forbidden, (he shall remain chaste for a year), provided (the portion of the Veda thus employed) contained one thousand words.
And the same (penance must be performed) by him who extinguishes the (sacred) fires, who neglects the daily recitation of the Veda, or (who is guilty) of a minor offence (upapataka),
Also by a wife who violates her duty (to her husband): but, being guarded, she shall receive food.
For committing a bestial crime, excepting (the case of) a cow, (he shall offer) an oblation of clarified butter, (reciting) the Kushmanda texts.
They shall pour hot spirituous liquor into the mouth of a Brahmana who has drunk such liquor; he will be purified after death.
If he has drunk it unintentionally, (he shall drink) for three days hot milk, clarified butter, and water, and (inhale hot) air. That (penance is called the Tapta-)krikkhra. Afterwards he shall be again initiated.
And (the same penance must be performed) for swallowing urine, excrements, or semen,
And (for eating) any part of a carnivorous beast, of a camel or of an ass,
And of tame cocks or tame pigs.
If he smells the fume (exhaled) by a man who has drunk spirituous liquor, (he shall) thrice restrain his breath and eat clarified butter,
Also, if he has been bitten by (one of the animals mentioned) above (Sutras 4-5).
He who has defiled the bed of his Guru shall extend himself on a heated iron bed,
Or he shall embrace the red-hot iron image of a woman.
Or he shall tear out his organ and testicles and, holding them in his hands, walk straight towards the southwest, until he falls down dead,
He will be purified after death.
(The guilt of him who has intercourse) with the wife of a friend, a sister, a female belonging to the same family, the wife of a pupil, a daughter-in-law, or with a cow, is as great as that of (him who violates his Guru’s) bed.
Some (declare, that the guilt of such a sinner is equal to) that of a student who breaks the vow of chastity.
A woman who commits adultery with a man of lower caste the king shall cause to be devoured by dogs in a public place.
He shall cause the adulterer to be killed (also).
(Or he shall punish him in the manner) which has been declared (above).
A student who has broken the vow of chastity shall offer an ass to Nirriti on a cross-road.
Putting on the skin of that (ass), with the hair turned outside, and holding a red (earthen) vessel in his hands, he shall beg in seven houses, proclaiming his deed.
He will be purified after a year.
For an involuntary discharge caused by fear or sickness, or happening during sleep, and if for seven days the fire-oblations and begging have been neglected, (a student) shall make an offering of clarified butter or (place) two pieces of fuel (in the fire) reciting the two (verses called) Retasya.
Let him who was asleep when the sun rose remain standing during the day, continent and fasting, and him who was asleep when the sun set (remain in the same position) during the night, reciting the Gayatri.
He who has looked at an impure (person), shall look at the sun and restrain his breath (once).
Let him who has eaten forbidden food [or swallowed impure substances], (fast until) his entrails are empty.
(In order to attain that), he must entirely abstain from food at least for three (days and) nights.
Or (he becomes pure) after eating during seven (days and) nights fruits that have become detached spontaneously, avoiding (all other food).
(If, he has eaten forbidden food mentioned above) before five-toed animals, he must throw it up and eat clarified butter.
For abuse, speaking an untruth, and doing injury, (he shall practise) austerities for no longer period than three (days and) nights.
If (the abuse) was merited, (he shall offer) burnt-oblations, reciting (the Mantras) addressed to Varuna and (the hymns) revealed by Manu.
Some (declare, that) an untruth (spoken) at the time of marriage, during dalliance, in jest or while (one suffers severe) pain is venial.
But (that is) certainly not (the case) when (the untruth) concerns a Guru.
For if he lies in his heart only to a Guru regarding small matters even, he destroys (himself), seven descendants, and seven ancestors.
For intercourse with a female (of one) of the lowest castes, he shall perform a Krikkhra penance during one year.
(For committing the same sin) undesignedly, (he shall perform the same penance) during twelve (days and) nights.
For connection with a woman during her courses, (he shall perform the same penance) for three (days and) nights.
A secret penance (must be performed) by him whose sin is not publicly known.
He who desires to accept or has accepted (a gift) which ought not to be accepted, shall recite the four Rik-verses (IX, 58, 1-4), (beginning) Tarat sa mandi, (standing) in water.
He who desires to eat forbidden food, shall scatter earth (on it).
Some (declare, that) he who has connection with a woman during her courses becomes pure by bathing.
Some (declare, that this rule holds good) in the case of (one’s own) wives (only).
The (secret) penance for killing a learned Brahmana (is as follows):, Living during ten days on milk (alone) or (on food fit for offerings), during a second (period of ten days) on clarified butter, and during a third (period of ten days) on water, partaking of (such food) once only each day, in the morning, and keeping his garments constantly wet, he shall (daily) offer (eight) oblations, (representing) the hair, the nails, the skin, the flesh, the blood, the sinews, the bones, (and) the marrow. The end of each (Mantra) shall be, ‘I offer in the mouth of the Atman (the Self), in the jaws of Death.’
Now another (penance for the murder of a Brahmana will be described):
The rule (as to eating and so forth), which has been declared (above, Sutra 6, must be observed),
(And) he shall offer clarified butter, reciting (the sacred text Rigveda I, 189, 2), ‘O fire, do thou ferry over,’ the Mahavyahritis, and the Kushmandas;
Or, for the murder of a Brahmana, for drinking spirituous liquor, for stealing (gold), and for the violation of a Guru’s bed, he may perform that (same vow), tire himself by repeatedly stopping his breath, and recite (the hymn seen by) Aghamarshana. That is equal (in efficacy) to the final bath at a horse-sacrifice;
Or, repeating the Gayatri a thousand times, he, forsooth, purifies himself;
Or, thrice repeating (the hymn of) Aghamarshana while immersed in water, he is freed from all sins.
Laws for Hidden Offences
Now they say: ‘How many (gods) does a student enter who violates the vow of chastity?’
(And they answer): ‘His vital spirits (go to) the Maruts (winds), his strength to Indra, his eminence in sacred learning to Brihaspati, all the remaining parts to Agni.’
He kindles the fire in the night of the new moon, and offers, by way of penance, two oblations of clarified butter.
(Reciting these two sacred texts), ‘Defiled by lust am I, defiled am I, oh Lust; to Lust svaha;’ ‘Injured by lust am I, injured am I, oh Lust; to Lust svaha.’ (Next) he (silently) places one piece of sacred fuel (on the fire), sprinkles water round the fire, offers the Yagnavastu (oblation), and approaching (the fire) worships it, thrice (reciting the text), ‘May the waters sprinkle me.’
These worlds are three; in order to conquer these worlds, in order to gain mastership over these worlds, (this rite must be performed.)
According to some, the above (described) rite is a penance (for all hidden offences) in general, (and they say) regarding it, ‘He who may be impure, as it were, shall offer burnt-oblations in this manner, and shall recite sacred texts in this manner; the fee (of the officiating priest shall be) whatever he may choose.’
He who has been guilty of cheating, of calumniating, of acting contrary to the rule of conduct, of eating or drinking things forbidden, of connection with a woman of the Sudra caste, of an unnatural crime, and even of performing magic rites with intent (to harm his enemies), shall bathe and sprinkle himself with water, reciting the texts addressed to the Waters, or those addressed to Varuna, or other purificatory texts.
For offences committed by speaking or thinking of forbidden things, the five Vyahritis (must be recited).
Or for all (offences) he may sip water, (reciting) in the morning (the text), ‘May the day and the sun purify me;’ and in the evening, ‘The night and Varuna.’
Or he may offer eight pieces of sacred fuel, [paragraph continues] (reciting the texts beginning) ‘Devakritasya.’ By merely offering them he becomes free from all sin.

Difficult Penances

Now, therefore, we will describe three Krikkhras (or difficult penances).
(During three days) he shall eat at the morning-meal food fit for offerings, and fast in the evening.
Next, he shall eat (food fit for offerings), during another period of three days, in the evening (only).
Next, during another period of three days, he shall not ask anybody (for food).
Next, he shall fast during another period of three days.
He who desires (to be purified) quickly, shall stand during the day, and sit during the night.
He shall speak the truth.
He shall not converse with anybody but Aryans.
He shall daily sing the two (Samans called) Raurava and Yaudhagaya.
He shall bathe in the morning, at noon, and in the evening reciting, the three (verses which begin) ‘For ye waters are,’ and he shall dry himself reciting the eight purificatory (verses which begin) ‘The golden-coloured.’
Next (he shall offer) libations of water.
Adoration to him who creates self-consciousness, who creates matter, who gives gifts, who destroys (sin), who performs penance, to Punarvasu, adoration. Adoration to him who is worthy of (offerings) consisting of Munga grass, who is worth), of (offerings of) water, who conquers wealth, to him who conquers the universe, adoration. Adoration to him who gives success, who gives full success, who gives great success, to him who carries (all undertakings) to a successful issue, adoration. Adoration to Rudra, the lord of cattle, the great god, the triocular, solitary, supreme lord Hari, to dread Sarva, to Isana who carries the thunderbolt, to the fierce wearer of matted locks, adoration. Adoration to the Sun, to Aditi’s offspring, adoration. Adoration to him whose neck is blue, to him whose throat is dark-blue, adoration. Adoration to the black one, to the brown one, adoration. Adoration to Indra, the first-born, the best, the ancient, to chaste Harikesa, adoration. Adoration to the truthful purifier, to fire-coloured Kama, who changes his form at pleasure, adoration. Adoration to the brilliant one, to him whose form is brilliant, adoration. Adoration to the fierce one, to him whose form is fierce, adoration. Adoration to Sobhya, the beautiful, the great male, the middle male, the highest male, to the student of the Veda, adoration. Adoration to him who wears the moon on his forehead, to him whose garment is a skin, adoration.
The worship of Aditya (the sun) must be performed with the same (texts).
Offerings of clarified butter (must be made with the help of) the same (texts).
At the end of the period of twelve days he shall boil rice and make offerings to the following deities,
(Viz.) to Agni svaha, to Soma svaha, to Agni and Soma (conjointly), to Indra and Agni (conjointly), to Indra, to all the gods, to Brahman, to Pragapati, (and) to Agni Svishtakrit.
Afterwards (he must feed) Brahmanas.
By the above (rules) the Atikrikkhra (or exceedingly difficult) penance has been explained.
(But when he performs that), he shall eat (only) as much as he can take at one (mouthful).
The third (Krikkhra) is that where water is the (only) food, and it is called Krikkhratikrikkhra (or the most difficult penance).
He who has performed the first of these (three) becomes pure, sanctified, and worthy (to follow) the occupations (of his caste).
He who has performed the second is freed from all sins which he commits, excepting mortal sins (mahapataka).
He who has performed the third, removes all guilt.
Now he who performs these three Krikkhras becomes perfect in all the Vedas, and known to all the gods;
Likewise he who knows this.

Lunar Penances

Now, therefore, the Kandrayana (or lunar penance will be described).
The (general) rules prescribed for a Krikkhra (are applicable) to that.
(The hair must be) shaved, in case it (is performed as) a penance.
He shall fast on the day preceding the full moon.
And (he shall offer) libations (of water), oblations of clarified butter, consecrate the sacrificial viands, and worship the moon, reciting these (rikas), ‘Increase’ (Rigveda I, 91, 17), ‘May milk be joined with thee’ (Rigveda I, 91, 18, and) ‘Ever new’ (Rigveda X, 85, 19).
He shall offer (clarified butter), reciting the four (rikas beginning) ‘Yad deva devahedanam,’
And at the end (of the offering of clarified butter he shall offer) pieces of sacred fuel, reciting (the texts beginning) ‘Devakritasya.’
Each mouthful of food must be consecrated by the mental recitations (of one) of the following (words): Om, bhuh, bhuvah, svah, austerity, truth, fame, prosperity, vigour, refreshment, strength, lustre, soul, law, Shiva.
Or (he may consecrate) all (of them at once, saying), Adoration svaha.
The size of a mouthful (shall be such) as not to cause a distortion of the mouth (in swallowing it).
The sacrificial viands are, boiled rice, food obtained by begging, ground barley, grain separated from the husk, barley-gruel, vegetables, milk, sour milk, clarified butter, roots, fruits, and water; (among these) each succeeding one is preferable (to those enumerated earlier).
He shall eat on the day of the full moon fifteen mouthfuls, and during the dark half (of the month) daily diminish his portion by one (mouthful).
He shall fast on the day of the new moon, and during the bright half (of the month) daily increase (his portion) by one (mouthful).
According to some (the order shall be) inverted.
That (is called) a month, occupied by the Kandrayana penance.
He who has completed that, becomes free from sin and free from crime, and destroys all guilt.
He who has completed a second (month, living according to that rule), sanctifies himself, ten ancestors, and ten descendants, as well as (any) company (to which he may be invited);
And he who has lived for a year (according to that rule), dwells (after death) in the world of the moon.

Laws for Inheritation

After the father’s death let the sons divide his estate,
Or, during his lifetime, when the mother is past child-bearing, if he desires it,
Or the whole (estate may go) to the first-born; (and) he shall support (the rest) as a father.
But in partition there is an increase of spiritual merit.
(The additional share) of the eldest (son consists of) a twentieth part (of the estate), a male and a female (of animals with one row of front teeth, such as cows), a carriage yoked with animals that have two rows of front teeth, (and) a bull.
(The additional share) of the middlemost (consists of) the one-eyed, old, hornless, and tailless animals, if there are several.
(The additional share) of the youngest (consists of) the sheep, grain, the iron (utensils), a house, a cart yoked (with oxen), and one of each kind of (other) animals.
All the remaining (property shall be divided) equally.
Or let the eldest have two shares,
And the rest one each.
Or let them each take one kind of property, (selecting), according to seniority, what they desire,
Ten head of cattle.
(But) no (one brother shall) take (ten) one-hoofed beasts or (ten) slaves.
(If a man has several wives) the additional share of the eldest son is one bull (in case he be born of a later-married wife);
(But the eldest son) being born of the first-married wife (shall have) fifteen cows and one bull;
Or (let the eldest son) who is born of a later-married wife (share the estate) equally with his younger (brethren born of the first-married wife).
Or let the special shares (be adjusted) in each class (of sons) according to their mothers.
A father who has no (male) issue may appoint his daughter (to raise up a son for him), presenting burnt offerings, to Agni (fire) and to Pragapati (the lord of creatures), and addressing (the bridegroom with these words), ‘For me be (thy male) offspring.’
Some declare, that (a daughter becomes) an appointed daughter solely by the intention (of the father).
Through fear of that (a man) should not marry a girl who has no brothers.
Sapindas (blood relations within six degrees), Sagotras (relations bearing a common family name), (or) those connected by descent from the same Rishi [paragraph continues] (vaidika gotra), and the wife shall share (the estate) of a person deceased without (male) issue (or an appointed daughter).
Or (the widow) may seek to raise up offspring (to her deceased husband).
(A son) begotten on a (widow) whose husband’s brother lives, by another (relative), is excluded from inheritance.
A woman’s separate property (goes) to her unmarried daughters, and (on failure of such) to poor (married daughters).
The sister’s fee belongs to her uterine brothers, if her mother be dead.
Some (declare, that it belongs to them) even while the mother lives.
The heritage of not reunited (brothers) deceased [paragraph continues] (without male issue goes) to the eldest (brother).
If a reunited coparcener dies (without male issue) his reunited coparcener takes the heritage.
A son born after partition takes exclusively (the wealth) of his father.
What a learned (coparcener) has acquired by his own efforts, he may (at his pleasure) withhold from his unlearned (coparceners).
Unlearned (coparceners) shall divide (their acquisitions) equally.
A legitimate son, a son begotten on the wife (by a kinsman), an adopted son, a son made, a son born secretly, and a son abandoned (by his natural parents) inherit the estate (of their fathers).
The son of an unmarried damsel, the son of a pregnant bride, the son of a twice-married woman, the son of an appointed daughter, a son self-given, and a son bought belong to the family (of their fathers).
On failure of a legitimate son or (of the) other (five heirs) they receive a fourth (of the estate).
The son of a Brahmana by a Kshatriya wife, being the eldest and endowed with good qualities, shares equally (with a younger brother, born of a Brahmani);
(But he shall) not (obtain) the additional share of an eldest son.
If there are sons begotten (by a Brahmana) on wives of the Kshatriya and Vaisya castes (the division of the estate between them takes place according to the same rules) as (between) the (son by a Kshatriya wife) and the son by a Brahmani.
And (the sons by a Kshatriya wife and by a Vaisya wife share in the same manner) if (they have been begotten) by a Kshatriya (father).
The son by a Sudra wife even, if he be obedient like a pupil, receives a provision for maintenance (out of the estate) of a (Brahmana) deceased without (other) male issue.
According to some, the son of a woman of equal caste even does not inherit, if he be living unrighteously.
Srotriyas shall divide the estate of a childless Brahmana.
The king (shall take the property of men) of other (castes).
An idiot and a eunuch must be supported.
The (male) offspring of an idiot receives (his father’s) share.
(Sons begotten) on women of higher castes (by men of lower castes shall be treated) like sons (begotten by a Brahmana) on a Sudra wife.
Water, (property destined for) pious uses or sacrifices, and prepared food shall not be divided;
Nor (shall a partition be made) of women connected (with members of the family).
In cases for which no rule has been given, (that course) must be followed of which at least ten (Brahmanas), who are well instructed, skilled in reasoning, and free from covetousness, approve.
They declare, that an assembly (parishad, shall consist) at least (of the ten following (members, viz.) four men who have completely studied the four Vedas, three men belonging to the (three) orders enumerated first, (and) three men who know (three) different (institutes of) law.
But on failure of them the decision of one Srotriya, who knows the Veda and is properly instructed (in the duties, shall be followed) in doubtful cases.
For such a man is incapable of (unjustly) injuring or (unjustly) favouring created beings.
He who knows the sacred law obtains heavenly bliss, more than (other) righteous men, on account of his knowledge of, and his adherence to it.
Thus the sacred law (has been explained).

3 The Laws of Baudhayana

The case of the Baudhayana Dharma-sutra is in many respects analogous to that of the Institutes of the Sacred Law, current in the schools of Apastamba and Hiranyakesin. Like the latter, it is the work of a teacher of the Black Yagur-veda, who composed manuals on all the various subdivisions of the Kalpa, and founded a Sutra-karana, which is said to exist to the present day:
    •     The Brahmanical tradition, too, acknowledges these facts, and, instead of surrounding Baudhayana’s work with a halo of myths, simply states that it was originally studied by and authoritative for the followers of the Taittiriya-veda alone, and later only became one of the sources of the Sacred Law for all Brahmans.
    •     Moreover, the position of Baudhayana among the teachers of the Yagur-veda is well defined, and his home, or at least the home of his school, is known.
But here the resemblance stops. For while the Sutras of Apastamba-and Hiranyakesin have been preserved in care-fully and methodically arranged collections, where a certain place is assigned to each section of the Kalpa, no complete set of the Sutras of Baudhayana’s school has, as yet; been found, and the original position of the detached portions which are obtainable is not quite certain. Again, while the works of Apastamba and Hiranyakesin seem to have been kept free from extensive interpolations, several parts of Baudhayana’s Sutras have clearly received considerable additions from later hands.
According to the researches of Dr. A. Burnell 1, whose long residence in Southern India and intimate acquaintance with its Brahmanical libraries have made him the first authority on the literature of the schools of the Taittiriya-veda, the Sutras of Baudhayana consist of six sections, viz.
    •    The Srauta-sutras, probably in nineteen Prasnas;
    •    The Karmanta-sutra in twenty Adhyayas;
    •    The Dvaidha-sutra in four Prasnas;
    •    The Grihya-sutra in four Prasnas;
    •    The Dharma-sutra in four Prasnas;
    •    The Sulva-sutra in three Adhyayas.
The Grihya-sutra, which in Western India occasionally bears the title Smarta-sutra 2, contains, however, nine instead of four Prasnas. The MSS. of the Baudhayana-sutras, which contain the text alone, are all incomplete, mostly very corrupt and in bad order, and rarely give more than a small number of Prasnas on detached subjects. The copies in which the text is accompanied by a commentary are in a better condition. Thus the Kalpavivarana of Bhavasvamin 3 extends over the whole of the Srauta-sutra, and over the Karmanta and the Dvaidha-sutras.
It shows the proper sequence of the Prasnas on Srauta sacrifices, and that probably the Karmanta and the Dvaidha immediately followed the Srauta-sutra. But there is no hint in the MSS. or in the commentaries how the Grihya, Dharma, and Sulva-sutras were originally placed. With respect to these sections, it is only possible to judge from the analogy of the other extant sets of Kalpa-sutras and from internal evidence. On these grounds it may be shown that the order, adopted by Dr. Burnell, is probably the correct one. For the beginning of the Grihya-sutra 1 shows by its wording that it was not a separate treatise, but was immediately connected with some preceding Prasna.
The analogy of the collections of the Apastambiyas, the Hairanyakesas, the Kathas, and other schools permits us to infer that it stood after the Srauta-sutra. It is further clear that, in its turn, it was succeeded by the Dharma-sutra. For two passages of the latter work, 1, 2, 3, 15, and II, 8, 15, 9, clearly contain references to the Grihya-sutra. In the former, the author gives the rule regarding the length of the staff to be carried by a student, as well as the general principle that the staff must be cut from a tree fit for sacrificial purposes. With respect to the latter clause he adds that the details have been given above.’ As the Dharma-sutra contains nothing more on this subject, it follows that the expression ‘above’ must refer to Grihya-sutra II, 7, where the usual detailed rules regarding the employment of particular woods for the several varnas are given.
In the second passage Baudhayana says that the rules for the performance of funeral sacrifices have been fully explained in the section on the Ashtakahoma, which occurs Grihya-sutra II, 17-18. It is, therefore, perfectly certain that Baudhayana, just like Apastamba, placed the Prasnas on the Sacred Law after those on the domestic ceremonies, and that the Dharma-sutra was not a separate work. Under these circumstances it becomes highly probable that the Sulva-sutra formed, as is the case in other sets of Kalpa-sutras, the conclusion of the whole. Thus the only treatise, whose position remains doubtful, is the Pravarakhanda, the list of the Brahmanical gotras and of their deified ancestors 2. Possibly it may have stood at the end of the Srauta-sutra.
The destruction of the continuity of Baudhayana’s Kalpa-sutra has had the consequence which is commonly observable in other dismembered works, that several of its detached portions have received considerable additions from later and, as it would seem, from several hands. There can be no doubt that a small portion only of the nine Prasnas, found in the Western copies of the Grihya-sutra, really belongs to Baudhayana. For the description of the Grihya rites, which strictly follows the general plan laid down in the first Sutra, is completed in two or three Prasnas 1. Next follows a Prasna on the anukritis, rites resembling those comprised in the subdivisions treated before, and then a Prasna on prayaskittas, or expiations of mistakes committed during, and of the neglect of, the performance of the Grihya-karmani.
The remaining Prasnas are filled with a medley of paribhashas, general rules, and of full descriptions of ceremonies, some of which have been given before, while others are added afresh. Many of the newly-added rites do not belong to the ancient Brahmanical worship, but to the Puranic religions, the service of Shiva, Skanda, Narayana, and other deities, and some show an admixture of Tantric elements. In some of the later Prasnas, especially IV and V, the language closely resembles that of the first three, and shows the same stereotyped phrases and the same Vedic anomalous forms. But in other sections, particularly VI-IX, we find, instead of Sutras, the common Anushtubh Sloka throughout, and expressions peculiar to the metrical Smritis and the Puranas.
At the end of most Adhyayas we read the phrase, ity aha Baudhayanah, or bhagavan Baudhayanah, ‘thus speaks Baudhayana, or the divine Baudhayana.’ Finally, while the first three Prasnas are divided into Kandikas or Khandas, the following ones consist of Adhyayas or chapters.
These differences, as well as the fact that the most important Grihya rites, arranged according to a special plan, are done with in the first three Prasnas, necessarily lead to the conclusion that the whole remainder does not belong to Baudhayana, but consists of so-called Parisishtas, which were composed by the adherents of his school. Further, the fact that the last six Prasnas do not show everywhere the same style and language, makes it probable that the additions were made at different times and by different persons.
The Dharma-sutra seems to have undergone exactly the same fate as the Grihya-sutra. It will be obvious even to the readers of the translation that its fourth Prasna is a later addition. It consists of two parts.
The first, which ends with the fourth Adhyaya, treats of penances, both public and secret ones. The second, Adhyayas 5-8, describes the means of obtaining siddhi, the fulfilment of one’s desires, and recommends for this purpose the offering of the Ganahomas after a previous sanctification of the worshipper by means of a course of austerities. The first part is perfectly superfluous, as the subject of penances has already been discussed in the first sections of the second Prasna, and again in chapters 4-10 of the third Prasna.
Its rules sometimes contradict those given before, and in other cases, eg. IV, 2, 10-12, are mere repetitions of previous statements. The introduction of the means of gaining siddhi, on the other hand, is without a parallel in other Dharmasutras, and the subject is entirely foreign to the scope of such works. Its treatment, too, shows that chapters 5-8 do not belong to the author of the bulk of the Dharma-sutra. For the description of the preparatory ‘restraints’ or austerities contains somewhat more detailed rules for a number of penances, e.g. the Krikkhras and the Kandrayana, which have already been described in the preceding Prasnas.
Moreover, the style and the language of the whole fourth Prasna are very different from those of the three preceding ones, and the differences observable are exactly the same as those between the first five and the last four Prasnas of the Grihya-sutra. The epic Sloka nearly throughout replaces the aphoristic prose, and the common slipshod Sanskrit of the Puranas appears instead of the archaic forms. Finally, the fourth Prasna is divided into Adhyayas, not into the Kandikas or Khandas and Adhyayas which are found in the first two Prasnas.
This latter peculiarity is also observable in the third Prasna, and raises a suspicion against the genuineness of that part also. For, though the third Prasna in style and language resembles the first two, it is hard to believe that the author should, for no apparent reason, suddenly have changed the manner of dividing his work towards its end. This suspicion is further strengthened by two other circumstances. First, Prasnas I-II really exhaust the discussion of the whole Dharma, and the third offers supplementary information only on some points which have been touched upon previously. Secondly, several Adhyayas of Prasna III seem to have been borrowed from other works, or to be abstracts from them.
Thus the tenth chapter has certainly been taken from the Gautamiya Dharmashastra, the sixth bears a very close and suspicious resemblance to Vishnu XLVIII 1, and the third looks very much like a short summary of the doctrine of Vikhanas, whose lost Sutra contained the original rule of the order of the Vaikhanasas or hermits, living in the forest. These circumstances justify, it seems to me, the assumption that Baudhayana’s original Dharma-sutra consisted, like Apastamba’s, of two Prasnas only, and that it received, through followers of his school, two separate additions, first in very ancient times Prasna III, where the style of the master is strictly followed, and later Prasna IV, where the language and phraseology of the metrical Smritis are adopted. It ought to be noted that Govindasvamin, too, does not take the whole of the four Prasnas for Baudhayana’s composition.
With respect to several passages 2 where Baudhayana’s name is introduced in order to give weight to the rules, he says that the Sutras may belong to ‘a pupil.’ I do not think that the criterion which he uses can be relied on in every case, because oriental authors without doubt occasionally speak of themselves as of third persons. But the fact that the commentator, though an orthodox Hindu, had misgivings as to the genuineness of portions of the work, is not without significance. It seems also that even the first two Prasnas are not quite free from interpolations. Thus the Kandikas on the Tarpana 1 are certainly much enlarged by additions, the verse at I, 5, 11, 36, a repetition of I, 5, 9, 5, and some prose quotations which are introduced by the words athapy udaharanti, ‘now they quote also,’ standing usually before verses only, are at least suspicious. That the genuineness of many single passages should be doubtful, is no more than might be expected, not only on account of the separation of the Dharma-sutra from the other parts of the Kalpa, but also because the work, as we shall see further on, remained for a long time without the protection of a commentary. The practical conclusion to be drawn from this state of things is that the greatest caution must be observed in using the Baudhayana Dharma-sutra for historical purposes, and that it will be advisable to draw no inferences regarding Baudhayana’s relation to other teachers and schools from the last two Prasnas, and not to trust too much to historical inferences drawn from single passages of the first two.
The position which Baudhayana occupies among the teachers of the Taittiriya-veda has already been discussed in the Introduction to Apastamba. It has been shown that according to the Brahmanical tradition preserved by Mahadeva, the commentator of the Hiranyakesi-sutras, he composed the first Sutra for the followers of his Sakha. Internal and external evidence has also been adduced, proving that he certainly was more ancient than Apastamba and Hiranyakesin. It is now possible to bring forward some further facts bearing on these points. First, in the section on the Tarpana, the libations of water offered to various deities, Rishis, and the manes, II, 5, 9, 14, Kanva Baudhayana receives his share immediately after the Rishis of the Veda and before Apastamba, the Sutrakara, and Satyashadha Hiranyakesin.
The same order is observed in the distribution of the offerings at the Sarpabali, described in the Grihya-sutra 1, where the following teachers of the Yagur-veda are specially named, viz. Vaisampayana, Phuliegu, Tittiri, Ukha, Aukhya, Atreya the author of the Pada-text, Kaundinya the author of the commentary, Kanva Baudhayana the author of the Pravakana, Apastamba the author of the Sutra, and Satyashadha Hiranyakesin. Neither of these two passages belongs to Baudhayana. They are both clearly interpolations. But they show that Mahadeva’s statement, which makes Baudhayana the first expounder of the Kalpa among the Taittiriyavedins, agrees with the tradition of the Baudhayaniyas themselves. For not only the place allotted to Baudhayana’s name, but still more the title Pravakanakara which he receives, show that the followers of his school placed him before and above all other teachers of the ritual.
The term pravakana, which literally means ‘proclaiming or recitation,’ has frequently the technical sense of ‘oral instruction,’ and is applied both to the traditional lore contained in the Brahmanas, and to the more systematic teaching of the Aegas 2. If, therefore, a teacher is called the author of the Pravakana of a Sakha, that can only mean that he is something more than a common Sutrakara, and is considered to be the originator of the whole ‘system of instruction among its followers. The epithet Kanva, which Baudhayana receives in both the passages quoted above, indicates that he belonged to the Vedic Gotra of the Kanvas. It deserves to be noted that Govindasvamin, too, on I, 3, 5, 13, explains the name Baudhayana by Kanvayana 3.
The style of Baudhayana’s works furnishes, as Dr. Burnell has pointed out 1, another argument for their high antiquity. Compared with the Sutras of Apastamba and Hiranyakesin they are much simpler in their arrangement, and the complete absence of that anxiety to save ‘half a vowel’ which characterises the fully developed Sutra-style is very remarkable. The last point has been noticed by Govindasvamin also.
In commenting on I, 2, 3, 17-18, where Baudhayana first permits students to beg food of men of all castes, and afterwards explains that he means Aryans who follow their lawful occupations, he says 2, ‘(If anybody should ask), “Why give two Sutras, while one Sutra, (‘A student shall ask) Aryans who follow their lawful occupations,’ would have sufficed?” (his objection will be) correct.
For this teacher is not particularly anxious to make his book short.’ In other cases we find a certain awkwardness in the distribution of the subject matter, which probably finds its explanation through the fact that Baudhayana first attempted to-bring the teaching of the Taittiriyas on the Dharma into a systematic form. Thus the rules on the law of inheritance are given without any apparent necessity and against the custom of the other Sutrakaras in two different chapters, I, 5, 11, 9-16 and II, 2, 3, 1-44. The section on purification, too, is divided into two separate portions, I, 4, 6-10 and I, 6, 13-15, and the second which treats of the purification of the vessels at sacrifices, properly ought to have been placed into the Srauta-sutra, not into the Dharma-sutra.
Again, the discussion of several topics is repeatedly interrupted by the introduction of rules belonging to different subjects, and Govindasvamin’s ingenuity is often taxed to the utmost in order to find the reason why certain Sutras which apparently are unconnected with the main subject have been inserted. A third argument for the great antiquity of Baudhayana’s Sutras, derived from the archaic character of some of his doctrines, has been discussed in the Introduction to Apastamba 1. The number of instances where Baudhayana’s rules are based on a more ancient order of ideas than Apastamba’s might be increased very considerably.
But, as now the comparison of the two works is open to all students, I omit the cases contained in the two Dharmasutras, and content myself with adducing one more from the less accessible Grihya-sutras. It is a well-known fact that the ancient Vedic ritual in certain cases admitted Sudras, and particularly the Rathakara or carpenter, who, according to all accounts, has Sudra blood in his veins, to a participation in the Srauta rites. The Taittiriya-brahmana even gives certain Mantras to be recited by the Rathakara at the Agnyadhana sacrifice 2. Now Baudhayana, who, Dh. S. I, 9, 17, 6, derives the origin of the Rathakaras from a Vaisya male and Sudra female, apparently reckons him amongst the twice-born, and explicitly allows him to receive the sacrament of the initiation.
He says, Grihya-sutra II, 5, 8-9, ‘Let him initiate a Brahmana in spring; a Kshatriya in summer, a Vaisya in autumn, a Rathakara in the rainy season; or all of them in spring 3.’ But Apastamba, who shows great hostility against the mixed castes, and emphatically denies the right of Sudras to be initiated, gives the same rule regarding the seasons for the initiation both in his Grihya and Dharmasutras 4. He, however, omits the Rathakara in both cases. There can be no doubt that Apastamba’s exclusion of the carpenter, which agrees with the sentiments prevailing in modern Brahmanical society, is an off-shoot of a later doctrine, and as both he and Baudhayana belong to the same vidyavamsa, or spiritual family, this difference may be used as an argument for his posteriority to Baudhayana. In connexion with this rule of Baudhayana’s it ought to be mentioned that even in the present day certain subdivisions of the modern Sutars or carpenters actually wear the Brahmanical thread, and, in spite of the adverse teaching of the Sastras, find Brahmans willing to perform the ceremony of investiture for them.
While it thus appears not incredible that Baudhayana really was the first Sutrakara of the Taittiriyas, the numerous quotations which his works contain, permit us to form an idea of the extent of the Vedic and profane literature known to him. Among the Vedic works which he adduces as authorities, or otherwise refers to, the three sections of the Taittiriya-veda, the Samhita, the Brahmana, and the Aranyaka, naturally take the first place. For the Aranyaka he seems to have used the Andhra version, as Dh. S. II, 10, 18, 7, 11 references to the seventy-first Anuvaka of the tenth Prapathaka occur. Two long passages, Dh. S. I, 2, 4, 3-8; II, 6, 11, 1-8, which apparently have been taken from the Satapatha-brahmana, testify to his acquaintance with the White Yagur-veda. Baudhayana does not say expressly that he quotes from the Brahmana of the Vagasaneyins, but Govinda has no hesitation in pointing to the Satapatha as their source.
It is remarkable that the fact noticeable in Apastamba’s quotation from the Satapatha reappears here, and that the wording of the two quotations does not fully agree with the printed text of the Brahmana. The differences in the first passage are, no doubt, partly owing to corruptions and interpolations in Baudhayana’s text; but that cannot be said of the second 1. References to the Samaveda and the Samans occur repeatedly, and the passage from the Nidana of Bhallavins regarding the geographical extent of true Brahmanical learning, which Vasishtha adduces, is given I, 1, 2, 11-12. From the Rigveda a few expiatory hymns and verses, such as the Aghamarshana and the Taratsamandis, are quoted.
The Atharvaveda is not referred to by name, but the existence of Atharvana schools may be inferred from the mention made of the vows called Siras, II, 8, 14, 2. Among the authorities on the Sacred Law, mentioned in the Dharma-sutra, Katya I, 2, 3, 46, Maudgalya II, 2, 4, 8, and Aupagandhani II, 2, 3,33, do not occur in other works of the same class 1. Harita, who is mentioned II, 1, 2, 21, and who probably was a teacher of the Maitrayaniya school, is named by Vasishtha and Apastamba also. The Gautama who is quoted I, 1, 2, 7 and II, 2, 4, 17, is, as has been shown in the Introduction to Gautama, most probably the author of the still existing Institutes of Gautama. To the arguments for the latter view, adduced there, I may add that two other passages of the Dharma-sutra, II, 6, 15 and 26, point to a close connexion between Baudhayana’s and Gautama’s works. The former of the two Sutras contains, with the exception of one small clause in the beginning, exactly the same description of the duties of a hermit in the forest as that given by Gautama III, 26-35. The second Sutra states, just as Gautama’s rule III, 36, that the venerable teacher (akaryah) prescribes one order only, that of the householders. The reason given for this opinion differs, however, according to Baudhayana, from that adduced in Gautama’s text. The almost literal identity of the first long passage makes it not improbable that Baudhayana borrowed in this instance also from Gautama without noting the source from which he drew.
On the other hand, the argument drawn from the fact that the tenth Adhyaya of Prasna III has been taken from Gautama’s Sutra loses its force since, as I have shown above, it is improbable that the third Prasna formed part of Baudhayana’s original work. A metrical work on the Sacred Law seems to be quoted II, 2, 4, 14-15. For, as the second verse, adduced there, says that the penance for one who violated his Guru’s bed has been declared above, it seems impossible to assume that the two Slokas belonged to the versified maxims of the Dharma current among the learned Brahmans.
If this quotation is not an interpolation, it proves that, side by side with the Dharmasutras, metrical treatises on the Sacred Law existed in very early times 1. One quotation, finally, which gives a verse from the dialogue of the daughters of Usanas and Vrishaparvan seems to have been taken from an epic poem. The verse is actually found in the Mahabharata I, 78, 10, and again 34, where the altercation between Sarmishtha and Devayani forms part of the Yayatyupakhyana. Considering what has been said above regarding the state of the text of the Dharma-sutra, and our imperfect knowledge of the history of the Mahabharata, it would be hazardous to assert that the verse proves Baudhayana’s acquaintance with Vyasa’s great epic. It will be safer to wait for further proofs that it was known to the Sutrakaras, before one bases far-going speculations on this hitherto solitary quotation.
The arguments which maybe brought forward to show that Baudhayana’s home lay in Southern India are not as strong as those which permit us to determine the native country of Apastamba. The portions of the Sutras, known to me, contain no direct mention of the south except in the desanirnaya or disquisition on the countries, Dharma-sutra I, 1, 2, where certain peculiar customs of the southern Brahmans are enumerated, and some districts of Southern India, eg. Kaliega, are referred to as barbarous countries which must not be visited by Aryans.
These utterances show an acquaintance with the south, but by no means prove that Baudhayana lived there. A more significant fact is that Baudhayana declares, I, 1, 2, 4, ‘going to sea’ to be a custom prevailing among the northern Brahmans, and afterwards, II, I, 22, places that act at the head of the Pataniyas, the more serious offences causing loss of caste. It is probable that by the latter rule he wished to show his standpoint as a southerner. But the most conclusive argument in favour of the southern origin of the Baudhayaniyas is that they, like the Apastambiyas and all other adherents of the Taittiriya schools, are entirely confined to the Dekhan, and are not found among the indigenous subdivisions of the Brahmans in Central and Northern India.
This fact is, if not explicitly stated, at least implied by the passage of the Maharnava quoted in the Introduction to Apastamba 1. It is proved by the present state of things, and by the evidence of the land grants of the southern dynasties, several of which have been made in favour of Baudhayaniyas. Thus we find a grant of Bukkaraya, the well-known ruler of Vigayanagara 2, dated Sakasamvat 1276 or 1354-5 AD., in which a Brahmana, studying the Baudhayaniya-sutra, is mentioned as the donee of a village in Maisur. Again, in an inscription of Nandivarman Pallavamalla, which its editor, the Rev. Mr. Foulkes, places in the ninth century A D. 3, a considerable number of Brahmanas of the Pravakana-sutra are named as recipients of the royal bounty, together with some followers of the Apastambha 4 school. As we have seen that Baudhayana is called in the Grihya-sutra the Pravakanakara, it is not doubtful that the Pravakana-sutra of this inscription is the Sutra of his school.
The villages which the grantees received from Nandivarman were situated on the Palar river in the Kittur districts of the Madras Presidency. Besides, the interesting tradition which asserts that Madhava-Sayana, the great commentator of the Vedas, was a Baudhayaniya 5 is another point which may be brought forward as evidence for the location of the school in Southern India. Further, it must not be forgotten that most and the best MSS. of Baudhayana’s Sutras are found in Southern India. There are also some faint indications that the Andhra country is the particular district to which Baudhayana belonged. For his repeated references to voyages by sea and his rule regarding the duty payable on goods imported by sea show that he must have lived in a coast district where sea-borne trade flourished, and the fact that he uses the Andhra recension of the Taittiriya Aranyaka makes it probable that he was an inhabitant of the eastern coast.
My estimate of the distance between Baudhayana and Apastamba and of that between the latter and the historical period of India has been given in the Introduction to Apastamba, pp. xxii and xliii, and I have nothing further to add on that subject. The oldest witness for the existence of the Srauta-sutra of Baudhayana is its commentator Bhavasvamin, whom Dr. Burnell places in the eighth century A. D. The Dharma-sutra is first quoted by Vignanesvara, circiter 1080-1100 AD. Several of the passages adduced by him are, however, not traceable in the MSS.
As regards the materials on which the translation is based, I had at my disposal six MSS. of the text and two copies of Govindasvamin’s commentary, the Bodhayaniya-dharmavivarana 1, one of which (C. I.) gives the text also. These MSS. belong to two chief groups, a northern and a southern one. The northern group contains two subdivisions. The first comprises (1) D., a MS. bought by me for the Government of Bombay at Ahmadabad (no. 6 of the Dekhan College collection of 1868-69), and about one hundred or one hundred and fifty years old; (2) P., an old MS. of my own collection, bought in 1865 at Puna; (3, 4) B. and Bh., two modern transcripts, made for me in Baroda and Bombay, Among these, D. alone is of real value, as P., B., and Bh. faithfully reproduce all its clerical errors and add a good many new ones. The second subdivision of the northern group is represented by K., a modern transcript, made for the Government of Bombay at Kolhapur in the southern Maratha country (Elphinstone College collection of 1867-68, Class VI, no. 2). The MSS. of the northern group, which give the vulgata current since the times of Nilakantha.(1650 A. D.) and Mitramisra (circiter 2 700 A. D.) in Western and Central India, can be easily recognised by the omission of the third Adhyaya of Prasna IV, and by their placing IV, 5, 1 b-25 after IV, 7, 7. One of the chief differences between K. and the other MSS. of the northern group is the omission of II, 5, 8, 4-II, 6, 11, 15 in the latter. The southern group of MSS. is formed by M., a slovenly Devanagari transcript of a Grantha MS., no. 610/1929 of the Madras Government collection 1, and by the text of C. L, a Devanagari copy of the MS. of Govindasvamin’s commentary, presented by Dr. Burnell to the India Office library 2, The second copy of the commentary, C. T., a Telugu paper MS. from Tanjore, I owe to the kindness of Dr. Burnell.
As might be expected, on account of the southern origin of the Baudhayaniya school, M. gives on the whole the best form of the text. It also carefully marks the Kandikas 3 in the first two Prasnas, ignoring the Adhyayas altogether, and contains at the end of each Prasna the first words of each Kandika, beginning with the last and ending with the first, after the fashion which prevails in the MSS. of the Taittiriya Samhita, Brahmana, and Aranyaka. Very close to M. comes Govinda’s copy, where, however, as in most northern MSS., the Adhyayas alone are marked.
It is, however, perfectly certain that in some very difficult passages, which are disfigured by ancient corruptions, he corrected the text conjecturally. present better and older readings than M. and C. I. 5 Under these circumstances it has not been possible to follow the commentary or M. throughout. Though they had to be made the basis, they had in many passages to be set aside in favour of readings of the northern group. In some cases I have also been obliged to make conjectural emendations, which have all been mentioned in the notes. Three Sutras, I, 8, 16, 13-15, have been left untranslated, because the MSS. offer no safe basis for a conjectural restoration, and the commentary is defective.
Govinda, who, as Dr. Burnell informs me, is said to be a modern writer, seems to have composed his vivarana without the aid of older vrittis. Though he apparently was well acquainted with the writings belonging to the Taittiriya-veda, with the ritual and with the common law-books, he has not succeeded in explaining all the really difficult passages. Sometimes he is clearly mistaken, and frequently he passes by in silence words or whole Sutras, the sense or the general bearing of which is by no means certain.
Though it would be ungrateful on my part to underrate the importance of his work for my translation, I cannot place him in the same rank with Haradatta, the commentator of Apastamba and Gautama, and can only regret that no older commentary based on the living tradition of the Baudhayaniyas has been available.
If such a work were found, better readings and better explanations of many difficult passages would probably come to light. With the materials at my disposal the translation has been a work of some difficulty, and in trying to settle the text I have often experienced the feeling of insecurity which comes over the decipherer of a difficult inscription when the facsimiles are bad. The short Adhyaya on adoption, given in the appendix to the Dharma-sutra, has been taken from the Smarta or Grihya-sutra. It does not belong to Baudhayana, but is frequently quoted by the writers on civil law, who wrote in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of our era.
PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 1, KANDIKA 1.

The sacred law is taught in each Veda.
We will explain (it) in accordance with that.
(The sacred law), taught in the Tradition (Smriti, stands) second.
The practice of the Sishtas (stands) third.
Sishtas, forsooth, (are those) who are free from envy, free from pride, contented with a store of grain sufficient for ten days, free from covetousness, and free from hypocrisy, arrogance, greed, perplexity, and anger.
‘(Those are called) Sishtas who, in accordance with the sacred law, have studied the Veda together with its appendages, know how to draw inferences from that, (and) are able to adduce proofs perceptible by the senses from the revealed texts.’
On failure of them, an assembly consisting at least of ten members (shall decide disputed points of law).
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘Four men, who each know one of the four Vedas, a Mimamsaka, one who knows the Aegas, one who recites (the works on) the sacred law, and three Brahmanas belonging to (three different) orders, (constitute) an assembly consisting, at least, of ten members.’
‘There may be five, or there may be three, or there may be one blameless man, who decides (questions regarding) the sacred law. But a thousand fools (can)not (do it).’
‘As an elephant made of wood, as an antelope made of leather, such is an unlearned Brahmana: those three having nothing but the name (of their kind).’
‘That sin which dunces, perplexed by ignorance and unacquainted with the sacred law, declare (to be duty), falls, increased a hundredfold, on those who propound it.’
‘Narrow and difficult to find is the path of the sacred law, towards which many gates lead. Hence, if there is a doubt, it must not be propounded by one man (only), however learned he may be.’
‘What Brahmanas, riding in the chariot of the law (and) wielding the sword of the Veda, propound even in jest, that is declared to be the highest law.’
‘As wind and sun will make water, collected on a stone, disappear, even so the sin that (cleaves) to an offender completely vanishes like water.’
‘He who knows the sacred law shall fix the penances with discernment, taking into consideration the constitution, the strength, the knowledge, and the age (of the offender), as well as the time and the deed.’
Many thousands (of Brahmanas) cannot form a (legal) assembly (for declaring the sacred law), if they have not fulfilled their sacred duties, are unacquainted with the Veda, and subsist only by the name of their caste.’

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 1, KANDIKA 2.

There is a dispute regarding five (practices) both in the south and in the north.
We will explain those (peculiar) to the south.
They are, to eat in the company of an uninitiated person, to eat in the company of one’s wife, to eat stale food, to marry the daughter of a maternal uncle or of a paternal aunt.
Now (the customs peculiar) to the north are, to deal in wool, to drink rum, to sell animals that have teeth in the upper and in the lower jaws, to follow the trade of arms, to go to sea.
He who follows (these practices) in any other country than where they prevail, commits sin.
For each (of these customs) the (rule of the) country should be (considered) the authority.
Gautama declares that is false.
And one should not take heed of either (set of practices) because they are opposed to the tradition of the Sishtas.
The country of the Aryas (Aryavarta) lies to the east of the region where (the river Sarasvati) disappears, to the west of the Black-forest (Kalakavana), to the north of the Paripatra (mountains), to the south of the Himalaya. The rule of conduct which (prevails) there, is authoritative.
Some (declare) the country between the (rivers) Yamuna and Ganges (to be the Aryavarta).
Now the Bhallavins quote also the (following) verse:
‘In the west the boundary-river, in the east the region where the sun rises,—as far as the black antelopes wander (between these two limits), so far spiritual pre-eminence (is found).’
The inhabitants of Avanti, of Aega, of Magadha, of Surashtra, of the Dekhan, of Upavrit, of Sindh, and the Sauviras are of mixed origin.
He who has visited the (countries of the) Arattas, Karaskaras, Pundras, Sauviras, Vaegas, Kaliegas, (or) Pranunas shall offer a Punastoma or a Sarvaprishtha (ishti).
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘He commits sin through his feet, who travels to the (country of the) Kaliegas. The sages declare the Vaisvanari ishti to be a purification for him.’
‘Even if many offences have been committed, they recommend for the removal of the sin the Pavitreshti. For that (sacrifice) is a most excellent means of purification.’
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘He who performs (by turns) in each season the Vaisvanari (ishti), the Vratapati (ishti), and the Pavitreshti is freed from (all) sins.’

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 2, KANDIKA 3.

The (term of the) studentship for (learning the) Veda, as kept by the ancients, (is) forty-eight years,
(Or) twenty-four (years), or twelve for each Veda,
Or at the least one year for each Kanda,
Or until (the Veda has been) learned; for life is uncertain.
A passage of the revealed texts declares, ‘Let him kindle the sacred fires while his hair is (still) black.’
They do not put any (religious) restrictions on the acts of a (child) before the investiture with the girdle (is performed). For he is on a level with a Sudra before (his second) birth through the Veda.
The number of years (must be calculated) from the conception. Let him initiate a Brahmana in the eighth (year) after that,
A Kshatriya three (years) later (than a Brahmana),
A Vaisya one year later than a (Kshatriya).
Spring, summer, and autumn are the seasons (for the initiation) according to the order of the castes.
(Let him perform the initiation reciting), according to the order (of the castes), a Gayatri, a Trishtubh, (or) a Gagati (verse).
Up to the sixteenth, the twenty-second, and the twenty-fourth (years) respectively (the time for the initiation) has not passed.
The girdles (shall consist of a rope) made of Munga grass, a bowstring, (or a rope) made of hemp.
The skins (shall be) those of a black antelope, of a spotted deer, (or) of a he-goat.
The staff shall reach the crown of the head, the forehead, (or) the tip of the nose, (and be made) of a tree fit for a sacrifice. The details have been stated above.
Let him beg, (employing a formula) consisting of seven syllables, with the word bhavat in the beginning, with the word bhiksha in the middle, and with the (verb expressing) the request at the end; and let him not pronounce loudly (the syllables) ksha and hi.
A Brahmana (student) shall ask for alms, placing (the word) ‘Lady’ first, a Kshatriya placing it in the middle, (and) a Vaisya placing it at the end (of the formula), from (men of) all castes.
The (persons fit to be asked) are Brahmanas and so forth, who follow (their lawful) occupations.
Let him daily fetch fuel out of the forest and offer (it in the sacred fire).
(A student shall be) truthful, modest, and devoid of pride.
He shall rise before (his teacher in the morning) and go to rest after (him in the evening).
He shall never disobey the words of his teacher except (when he is ordered to commit) a crime causing loss of caste.
Let him converse with women so much (only) as his purpose requires.
Let him avoid dancing, singing, playing musical instruments, the use of perfumes, garlands, shoes, (or) a parasol, applying collyrium (to his eyes), and anointing (his body).
Let him take hold (of his teacher’s) right (foot) with the right (hand), and of the left (foot) with the left hand.
If he desires long life and (bliss in) heaven, (he may act) at his pleasure (in the same manner) towards other holy (men), after having received permission from his teacher.
(Let him say), ‘I N. N., ho! (salute thee),’ touching his ears, in order to compose the internal organ.
(Let him embrace his teacher’s leg) below the knee down to the feet.
(A student shall not embrace his teacher) when he (himself) is seated, or lying down, or impure, nor when (his teacher) is seated, lying down, or impure.
If he can (find water to sip), he shall not remain impure even during a muhurta.
If he carries a load of fuel or holds a pot, flowers, or food in his hands, he shall not salute; nor (shall he do it) on similar occasions.
Let him not salute (the teacher) standing too close,
Nor, if he has reached the age of puberty, the young wives of brothers and the young wives of the teacher.
To sit together with (these persons) in a boat, on a rock, on a plank, on an elephant, on the roof of a house, on a mat, or in wheeled vehicles is permissible.
(The pupil) must assist his teacher in making his toilet, shampoo him, attend him while bathing, eat his leavings, and so forth.
(But he) should avoid the remnants of food left by his (teacher’s) son, though he may know the Veda together with the Aegas,
And to assist at the toilet of, to shampoo, to attend in the bath, and to eat the remnants of food left by a young wife of his (teacher).
Let him run after (his teacher) when he runs, walk after him when he walks, attend him standing when he stands.
Let him not sport in the water while bathing.
Let him swim (motionless) like a stick.
To study under a non-Brahmanical teacher (is permitted) in times of distress.
(The pupil shall) obey and walk after him as long as the instruction (lasts).
(According to some this is improper, because) just that (mutual relation) sanctifies both of them.
And (the behaviour) towards brothers, sons, and (other) pupils (of the teacher shall be regulated) in the same manner.
But officiating priests, a father-in-law, paternal and maternal uncles who are younger than (oneself must be honoured by) rising and (by being) addressed.
Katya (declares that) the salutation shall be returned.
For (the propriety of that rule) is apparent (from the story) about Sisu Aegirasa.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 2, KANDIKA 4.

If merit and wealth are not (obtained by teaching), nor (at least) the due obedience, one should die with one’s learning; one should not sow it on barren soil.
As fire consumes dry grass, even so the Veda, asked for, (but) not honoured, (destroys the enquirer). Therefore let him not proclaim the Veda to those who do not show him honour according to their ability.
They proclaim to him a command to the following effect;
‘Brahman, forsooth, made the created beings over to Death. The student alone it did not make over to him.’ He (Death) spake, ‘Let me have a share in him.’ (Brahman answered), ‘That night in which he may neglect to offer a piece of sacred fuel (shall belong to thee),’
‘Therefore a student who passes a night withoutoffering a piece of sacred fuel, cuts it off from thelength of his life, Therefore let the student offer a piece of sacred fuel, lest he spend a night, shortening his life.’
‘A long sacrificial session begins he who commences his studentship. That (night) in which, after being initiated, he (first) offers a piece of sacred fuel corresponds to the Prayaniya (Atiratra of a sacrificial session); that night in which (he offers it last), intending to take the final bath, corresponds to the Udayaniya (Atiratra), Those nights which (lie) between (these two terms correspond) just to the nights of his sacrificial session.’
‘A Brahmana who becomes a student of the Veda, enters existent beings in a fourfold manner, (viz.) with one quarter (he enters) Fire, with one quarter Death, with one quarter the Teacher, the fourth quarter remains in the Soul. When he offers to Fire a piece of sacred fuel, he thereby buys back even that quarter which (resides) in Fire, hallowing it, he places it in himself; that enters into him. Now when making himself poor and, becoming shameless, he asks for alms (and) lives as a student of the Veda, he thereby buys back the quarter which (resides) in Death; hallowing it, he places it in himself; that enters into him. Now when he obeys the orders of his Teacher, he thereby buys back that quarter which (resides) in the Teacher; hallowing it, he places it in himself; that enters into him. [Now when he recites the Veda, he thereby buys back the quarter which resides in the Soul. Hallowing it, he places it in himself; that enters into him.] Let him not go to beg, after he has bathed (on finishing his studentship).... If he does not find another woman whom he can ask for alms, let him beg even from his own teacher’s wife or from his own mother. The seventh (night) shall not pass without his asking for alms. [(He commits) sin if he does not go out to ask for alms and does not place fuel on the fire. If he neglects that during seven (days and) nights, he must perform the penance prescribed for one who has broken the vow of studentship.] All the Vedas come to him who knows that and acts thus.’
‘As a blazing fire shines, even so shines he who, knowing this, thus fulfils the duties of studentship, after he has bathed (on leaving his teacher).’ Thus speaks the Brahmana.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 3, KANDIKA 5.

Now (follow the duties) of a Snataka.
He shall wear a lower garment and upper garment.
Let him carry a staff made of bamboo,
And a pot filled with water.
Let him wear two sacrificial threads.
(He shall possess) a turban, an upper garment (consisting of) a skin, shoes, and a parasol. (He shall keep) a sacred fire and (offer) the new and full moon (Sthalipakas).
He shall cause the hair of his head, of his beard, and of his body, and his nails to be cut on the Parva days.
His livelihood (he shall obtain in the following manner):
Let him beg uncooked (food) from Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, or carpenters,
Or (cooked) food (even from many).
Let him remain silent (when he goes to beg).
Let him perform with that all Pakayagnas, offered to the gods and manes, and the rites, securing welfare.
Baudhayana declares that by (following) this rule the most excellent sages reach the highest abode of Pragapati Parameshthin.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 4, KANDIKA 6.

Now (those who know the law) prescribe the carrying of a waterpot.
It is declared (in the Vedas) that fire (resides) in the right ear of a goat, in the right hand of a Brahmana, likewise in water (and) in a bundle of Kusa grass. Therefore after personal purification let him wipe (his water-vessel) on all sides with his (right) hand, (reciting the mantra), ‘Blaze up, O fire;’ for that (is called) encircling it with fire and is preferable to heating (the pot on the fire).
With reference to this matter they prescribe also (the following rules): ‘If he thinks in his heart that (the pot) has been slightly defiled, let him light Kusa or (other) grass and heat (the pot) on all sides, keeping his right hand turned towards it.’
‘If (pots) have been touched by crows, dogs, or other (unclean animals, they shall be heated, until they are of) the colour of fire, after the (paryagnikarana has been performed).’
(Pots) which have been defiled by urine, ordure, blood, semen, and the like must be thrown away.
If his waterpot has been broken, let him offer one hundred (oblations) reciting the Vyahritis, or mutter (the Vyahritis as often).
(Reciting the text), ‘Earth went to earth, the mother joined the mother; may we have sons and cattle; may he who hates us be destroyed,’ he shall collect the fragments, throw them into water, repeat the Gayatri at least ten times and take again another (pot).
Taking refuge with Varuna, (he shall recite the mantra), ‘That (belongs) to thee, Varuna; again to me, Om,’ (and) meditate on the indestructible.
‘If he has received (the new vessel) from a Sudra, let him recite (the Gayatri) one hundred (times). (If he has received it) from a Vaisya, fifty (repetitions of the Gayatri) are prescribed, but (on receiving it) from a Kshatriya twenty-five, (and on taking it) from a Brahmana ten.’
Those who recite the Veda are doubtful whether he shall fetch water after the sun has, set or shall not fetch it.
The most excellent (opinion is) that he may fetch it.
Let him restrain his breath, while he fetches water.
Fire, forsooth, takes up water.
It is declared (in the Veda), ‘When he has washed his hands and feet with water from his water-vessel, he is impure for others, as long as the moisture (remains). He purifies himself only. Let him not perform other religious rites (with water from his pot).’
Baudhayana (says), ‘Or if on the occasion of each personal purification (he washes himself with other water) up to the wrist, (he will become) pure.’
Now they quote also (the following verses):

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 4, KANDIKA 7.

‘Formerly (the use of) a waterpot has been prescribed by Brahman and the chief sages for the purification of twice-born men. Therefore he shall always carry one.’
‘He who desires his own welfare, shall use it without hesitation, for purifying (his person), for drinking, and for performing his twilight devotions.’
Let him do it with a believing heart; a wise man must not corrupt his mind. The self-existent [paragraph continues] (Brahman) came into existence with a water-vessel. Therefore let him perform (his rites) with a water-vessel.
Let him hold it in his right hand when he voids urine and excrements, in the left when he sips water. That is (a) settled (rule) for all good men.
For as the sacrificial cusp (kamasa) is declared to be pure on account of its contact with the Soma-juice, even so the water-vessel is constantly pure through its contact with water.
Therefore let him avoid (to use) it for the worship of the manes, the gods, and the fire.
Therefore let him not go on a journey without a waterpot, nor to the boundary of the village, nor from one house to the other.
Some (declare that he must not go without it) a step further than the length of an arrow.
Baudhayana (says that he shall not go without it) if he wishes to fulfil his duties constantly.
(The divine) Word declares that (this is con-firmed) by a Rik-shaped (passage).

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 8.

Now (follows the description of) the means of purification.
The body is purified by water, the understanding by knowledge, the soul by abstention from injuring living beings, the internal organ by truth.
Purifying the internal organ (is called) internal purification.
We will explain (the rules of) external purification.
The sacrificial thread (shall be made) of Kusa grass, or cotton, (and consist) of thrice three strings.
(It shall hang down) to the navel.
(In putting it on) he shall raise the right arm, lower the left, and lower the head.
The contrary (is done at sacrifices) to the manes.
(If the thread is) suspended round the neck, (it is called) nivita.
(If it is) suspended below (the navel, it is called) adhopavita.
Let him perform (the rite of personal) purification, facing the east or the north, (and) seated in a pure place; (let him) place his right arm between his knees and wash both hands up to the wrist and both feet (up to the ankles).
Let him not use for sipping the remainder of the water with which he has washed his feet.
But if he uses (that) for sipping, let him do it, after pouring (a portion of it) on the ground.
He shall sip out of the Tirtha sacred to Brahman.
The part (of the hand) at the root of the thumb (is called) the Tirtha sacred to Brahman.
The part above the thumb (is called the Tirtha) sacred to the manes, the part at the tips of the fingers that sacred to the gods, the part at the root of the fingers that sacred to the Rishis.
(Let him not use for sipping water that has trickled) from the fingers, nor (water) that is covered with bubbles or foam, nor (water that is) hot, or alkaline, or salt, or muddy, or discoloured, or has a bad smell or taste.
(Let him not sip water) laughing, nor talking, nor standing, nor looking about, nor bending his head or his body forward, nor while the lock on his crown is untied, nor while his throat is wrapped up, nor while his head is covered, nor when he is in a hurry, nor without wearing the sacrificial thread, nor stretching his feet out, nor while his loins are girt (with a cloth), nor without holding his right arm between his knees, nor making a sound.
Let him thrice drink water that reaches his heart.
Let him wipe (his lips) thrice.
Some (declare that he shall do it) twice.
A woman and a Sudra (shall perform) both (acts) once (only).
Now they quote also (the following verse): A Brahmana is purified by water that reaches his heart, a Kshatriya by (water) reaching his throat, a Vaisya by (water barely) taken into the mouth, a woman and a Sudra by touching (it) with the extremity (of the lips).
‘If (drops) adhere to his teeth, (they must be considered pure) like the teeth, because they are fixed (in the mouth) like the teeth. Let him not sip water on their account in case they fall. If they flow out, he will be pure.’
Now they quote also (the following verse): If anything adheres to the teeth, (it is pure) like the teeth; and if he swallows (it or) whatever else may be in the mouth (or) may remain after sipping water, (he will become) pure.’
(After sipping) he shall touch the cavities (of the head) with water, the feet, the navel, the head, (and) lastly the left hand.
If he becomes impure while holding (a vessel) made of metal, he shall put it down, sip water and sprinkle it, when he is going to take it up.
Now if he becomes impure (while he is occupied) with food, he shall put it down, sip water and sprinkle it, when he is going to take it up.
Now if he becomes impure (while occupied) with water, he shall put it down, sip water and sprinkle it, when he is going to take it up
That is contrary (to the rule) in (the case of an earthen) vessel.
In (the case of a vessel) made of wood there is an option.
Defiled (objects) made of metal must be scoured with cowdung, earth, and ashes, or with one of these (three).
Copper, silver, and gold (must be cleaned) with acids.
Earthen vessels must be heated.
(Objects) made of wood must be planed.
(Objects) made of bamboo (must be cleaned) with cowdung,
(Objects) made of fruits with a rope of cow-hair,
Skins of black deer with (ground) Bel nut and rice,
Blankets (of the hair of the mountain goat) with Areka nuts,
(Cloth) made of (sheep’s) wool by the (rays of the) sun,
Linen (cloth) with a paste of yellow mustard,
Cotton cloth with earth,
Skins (other than deer-skins shall be treated) like cotton cloth,
Stones and gems like (objects) made of metal,
Bones like wood,
Conch-shells, horn, pearl-shells, and ivory like linen cloth.
Or (they may be cleaned) with milk.
(Objects) which have been defiled by urine, ordure, blood, semen, or a dead body, (but) are agreeable to the eye and the nose, shall be rubbed seven times with one of the substances mentioned above.
(Objects) not made of metal which are in the same condition must be thrown away.
The cups and vessels (used) at a sacrifice (must be cleaned) according to the injunction (of the Veda).
The Veda (declares), ‘They do not become impure through Soma.’
‘Time, fire, purity of mind, water and the like (fluids), smearing with cowdung and ignorance (of defilement) are declared to be the sixfold (means of) purification for created beings.’
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘A clever man, who knows (the rules of) purification and is desirous of righteousness, shall perform (the rites of) purification, after having fully considered the time, and the place (of the defilement), likewise himself, (as well as) the object (to be cleaned) and the substance (to be employed), the purpose of the object, the cause (of the defilement), and the condition (of the thing or person defiled).’

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 9.

The Veda declares that the hand of an artisan is always pure, so is every vendible commodity exposed for sale and food obtained by begging, which a student holds in his hand.
A calf is pure on the flowing (of the milk), a bird on the fall of the fruit, women at the time of dalliance, and a dog when he catches a deer.
All mines and places of manufacture are pure excepting distilleries of spirituous liquor; continuously flowing streams of water and dust raised by the wind cannot be contaminated.
The flowers and fruit of flowering and fruit-bearing trees which grow in unclean places are likewise not impure.
On touching a tree standing on a sacred spot, a funeral pile, a sacrificial post, a Kandala or a person who sells the Veda, a Brahmana shall bathe dressed in his clothes.
One’s own couch, seat, clothes, wife, child, and waterpot are pure for oneself; but for strangers they are impure.
A seat, a couch, a vehicle, ships (and boats), the road and grass are purified by the wind, if they have been touched by Kandalas or outcasts.
Grain on the threshing-floor, water in wells and reservoirs, and milk in the cowpen are fit for use even (if they come) from a person whose food must not be eaten.
The gods created for Brahmanas three means of purification, (viz.) ignorance of defilement, sprinkling with water, and commending by word of mouth.
Water collected on the ground with which cows slake their thirst is a means of purification, provided it is not strongly mixed with unclean (substances), nor has a (bad) smell, nor is discoloured, nor has a (bad) taste.
But land becomes pure, according to the degree of the defilement, by sweeping the (defiled) spot, by sprinkling it with water, by smearing it with cowdung, by scattering (pure earth) on it, or by scraping it.
Now they quote also (the following verse):

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 10.

‘A drop of water which is allowed to fall (on the ground) purifies a bull’s hide of land, whether (the land) has been (previously) swept or not, provided no impure substance is visible on it.’
Food which is cooked out of sight must be illuminated (with fire) and be sprinkled with water,
Likewise eatables bought in the market.
For the Veda (declares), ‘For the gods who are (easily) disgusted and desirous of purity do not enjoy the offerings made by a man destitute of faith.’
After reflecting (for a, long time on the respective value of) the (food) of a pure man destitute of faith and of an impure person who has faith, the gods declared both to be equal. But the Lord of created beings said to them, ‘That is not equal, it is unequal. The food of a man destitute of faith is worthless, that which is purified by faith is preferable.’
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘Want of faith is the greatest sin; for faith is the highest austerity. Therefore the gods do not eat offerings given without faith.’
‘A foolish man does not reach heaven, though he may offer (sacrifices) or give (gifts).’
‘He is called a foolish man whose conduct is blemished by doubts, and who, clinging to his own fancies, transgresses (the rules of) the Sastras, because he opposes the fulfilment of the sacred law.’
But pot-herbs, flowers, fruit, roots, and annual plants (must be) sprinkled (with water).
Having placed dry grass, wood of trees unfit for sacrifices or a clod of earth (on the ground), let him void faeces or urine, turning his face during the day towards the north and at night towards the south and wrapping up his head.
(After voiding) urine he shall clean (the organ once) with earth and water,
The hand three times.
In like manner (he shall clean himself with earth and water after voiding) faeces.
The number (of the applications of both is) thrice three for both feet and the hand.
After an effusion of semen (he shall purify himself) in the same manner as after voiding urine.
He shall wash himself, after he has untied or put on the cloth round his loins,
Or he may touch moist grass, cowdung, or earth.
While he is engaged in (the performance of) religious rites, he shall avoid to touch (the part of his body) below the navel.
The Veda (declares), ‘A man’s (body) is pure above the navel, it is impure below the navel.’
Sudras living in the service of Aryans shall trim (their hair and nails) every month; their mode of sipping water (shall be) the same as that of Aryans.
A Vaisya may live by usury.
But (a sum of) twenty-five (karshapanas shall bear an interest) of five mashas (per mensem).
Now they quote also (the following verses) ‘He who, acquiring property cheap, employs (it so that it yields) a higher price, is called a usurer, and blamed in all (treatises on) the sacred law.’ ‘(Brahman) weighed in the scales the crime of killing a learned Brahmana against (the crime of) usury; the slayer of the Brahmana remained at the top, the usurer sank downwards.’
‘Let him treat Brahmanas who tend cattle, those who live by trade, (and) those who are artisans, actors (and bards), servants or usurers, like Sudras.’
But men of the first two castes may, at their pleasure, lend (money at interest) to one who neglects his sacred duties, to a miser, to an atheist, or to a very wicked man.
Through the neglect of sacrifices, of (lawful) marriages, of the study of the Veda, and of (learned) Brahmanas, (noble) families (even) are degraded.
The offence of neglecting a Brahmana cannot be committed against a fool who is unacquainted with the Veda. For (in offering sacrifices) one does not pass by a brilliant fire and throw the oblations into ashes.
Families which are deficient in (the knowledge of) the Veda, are degraded by (keeping) cows, horses and vehicles, by agriculture and by serving the king.
But even poor families which are rich in (the knowledge of) the Veda obtain rank among the (noble) families and gain great fame.
The (study of) the Veda impedes (the pursuit of) agriculture, (the pursuit of) agriculture impedes (the study of) the Veda. He who is able (to do it), may attend to both; but he who is unable (to attend to both), shall give up agriculture.
A fat, bellowing, raging humped bull, who does not restrain himself, who hurts living creatures and speaks according to his pleasure, forsooth, does not reach the (abode of) the gods; (but) those who are small like atoms, (being) emaciated (by austerities and fasts), go thither.
If, erring, in his youth he commits at any time good or evil acts of any kind, (they will all remain without result). (For) if in his later age he lives righteously, he will obtain (the reward of) that (virtuous conduct) alone, not (the punishments of his former) crimes.
Let him always be sorrowing in his heart, when he thinks of his sins, (let him) practise austerities and be careful; thus he will be freed from sin.
‘Where drops of water touch the feet of a man who offers water for sipping to others, no defilement is caused by them. They are equally (pure) as (water) collected on the ground.’

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 11.

Referring to deaths and births, they declare that the impurity of Sapindas lasts ten days; excepting officiating priests, men who have performed the initiatory ceremony of a Soma-sacrifice, and students of the Veda.
But amongst Sapindas Sapinda-relationship (extends) to the seventh person.
(If children die) before the completion of the seventh month or before teething, (the relatives) shall bathe.
In (the case of a child) that dies before the completion of its third year or before teething, offerings of funeral cakes and water are not prescribed, and one should not burn its (body);
Nor when unmarried maidens die.
Some do it in the case of married daughters.
That (is done) in order to gain the good-will of the people. Women are considered to have no business with the sacred texts.
‘The relatives of unmarried women become pure after three days. But the uterine brothers become pure by (following) the rule mentioned before.’
Moreover, the great-grandfather, the grand-father, the father, oneself, the uterine brothers, the son by a wife of equal caste, the grandson, (and) the great-grandson—these they call Sapindas, but not the (great-grandson’s) son;—and amongst these a son and a son’s son (together with their father are) sharers of an undivided oblation.
The sharers of divided oblations they call Sakulyas.
If no other (relations) are living, the property (of a deceased male) descends to them (the Sapindas).
On failure of Sapindas, the Sakulyas (inherit).
On failure of them, the teacher who (holds the place of a spiritual) father, a pupil, or an officiating priest shall take it,
On failure of them, the king. Let him give that property to persons well-versed in the three Vedas.
But the king should never take for himself the property of a Brahmana.
Now they quote also (the following verse): The property of a Brahmana destroys (him who takes it), together with sons and grandsons; poison kills one man only. (Therefore) they do not declare poison to be (the worst) poison. The property of a Brahmana is called (the worst) poison.’
If a birth and a death occur together, one and the same period of ten (days and) nights (shall serve for both).
Now if (other deaths or births) happen before the completion of the ten (days and) nights (of impurity), the first period of ten (days and) nights (shall suffice, provided the new cause of impurity occurs) before the end of the ninth day.
On a birth, indeed, the parents (alone) become impure during ten days.
Some (declare that) the mother (alone becomes impure), because (people) avoid (lying-in women alone).
Others (say that) the father (alone becomes impure) because the semen is the chief cause (of the generation).
For sons who were born without mothers, are mentioned in the revealed texts.
But (the correct opinion is that) both the parents (become impure) because they are equally connected (with the event).
But when a death (has happened, the relatives of the deceased), allowing the youngest to begin, shall pass their sacrificial threads over the right shoulder and under the left arm, descend into the water at a bathing-place, submerge (their bodies), emerge (out of the water), ascend the bank, sip water, pour out libations for the (deceased, repeating the last four acts) severally three times thereafter, ascend the bank, sip water, touch a coal, water or the like at the door of their house, and sit during ten days on mats, eating food that does not contain pungent condiments or salt.
(Let him perform) a funeral sacrifice on the eleventh or the twelfth (day).
In (performing) the remaining rites (one should) conform to (the customs of) the people.
In case of a (death) let him also keep (a period of impurity) for (persons who are) not (his) Sapindas, according to the degree of nearness, three (days and) nights, a day and a night, one day and so forth,
For a teacher, a sub-teacher (upadhyaya), and their sons, three (days and) nights,
Likewise for officiating priests,
Let hire keep on account of a pupil, for one who has the same spiritual guide, for a fellow-student (sabrahmakarin) three (days and) nights, one day and a night, one day and so forth (as periods of impurity).
On a miscarriage females (remain impure) as many (days and) nights as months (elapsed after conception).
If he unintentionally touches the corpse of a stranger, he becomes at once pure after bathing dressed in his clothes.
(If he does it) intentionally, (he will remain impure) during three (days and) nights.
And (the same rules apply if he touches a woman) during her courses.
A son who is born from (intercourse with a temporarily unclean woman) becomes an Abhisasta. Thereby the penances (to be performed) by him have been explained.
On touching one who sells the Veda, a sacrificial post, an outcast, a funeral pile, a dog, or a Kandala he shall bathe.
Now if a worm is produced in an open wound that is filled with pus and sanies, how shall, in that case, a penance be performed?
He who is bitten by a worm will become pure on bathing (daily) during three days and drinking (a mixture of) cow’s urine, cowdung, milk, sour milk, butter, and water boiled with Kusa grass.
He who has been touched by a dog shall bathe dressed in his clothes;
Or he becomes pure by washing that spot (where he has been touched), by touching it with fire, by (afterwards) again washing it and his feet, and by sipping water.
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘But a Brahmana who has been bitten by a dog, is purified if he goes to a river that flows into the ocean, (bathes there and) suppresses his breath one hundred times and (afterwards) eats clarified butter. He will (also) become pure at, once on bathing (in water brought) in golden or silver (vessels), or in a cow’s horn, or in new (earthen pots).’

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 12.

Tame animals must not be eaten,
Nor carnivorous and (tame) birds,
Nor (tame) cocks and pigs;
Goats and sheep (are) excepted (from the above prohibition).
Five five-toed animals may be eaten, (viz.) the porcupine, the iguana, the hare, the hedgehog, the tortoise and the rhinoceros, excepting the rhinoceros,
Likewise five animals with cloven hoofs, (viz.) the white-footed antelope (Nil-gai), the (common ravine) deer, the spotted deer, the buffalo, the (wild) boar and the black antelope, excepting the black antelope,
(Likewise) five (kinds of) birds that feed scratching with their feet, (viz.) the partridge, the blue rock-pigeon, the francoline partridge, the (crane called) Vardhranasa, the peacock and the Varana, excepting the Varana,
(And the following) fishes, (viz.) the Silurus Pelorius (Sahasradamshtrin), the Kilikima, the Varmi, the Brihakkhiras, the Masakari(?), the Cyprinus Rohita, and the Ragi.
The milk of a (female animal) whose offspring is not ten days old, and of one that gives milk while big with a young one, must not be drunk,
Nor that of a (cow) that has no calf or that (suckles) a strange calf.
(The milk) of sheep, camels, and one-hoofed animals must not be drunk.
If (he has) drunk (milk) which ought not to be drunk, excepting cow’s milk, (he must perform) a Krikkhra (penance).
But if (he has drunk) cow’s milk (that is unfit for use, he shall) fast during three (days and) nights.
Stale (food must not be eaten or drunk) excepting pot-herbs, broths, meat, clarified butter, cooked grain, molasses, sour milk, and barley-meal,
Nor (substances) which have turned sour, nor molasses which have come into that state.
After performing the ceremony preparatory to the beginning of the Veda-study (upakarman) on the (full moon of the month) of Sravana or of Ashadha, they shall close the term on the full moon of Taisha or Magha.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 6, KANDIKA 13.

The gods enjoy a pure sacrifice (only);
For the gods are desirous of purity and (themselves) pure.
The following (Rik) declares that, ‘To you, O Maruts, the pure ones, pure viands; to you, the pure ones, I offer a pure sacrifice. They who love the pious rites, who are of pure origin, (themselves) pure and purifiers (of others), came duly to the truthful (worshipper).’
(He will be) pure (if there is) no blemish on his clothes, therefore let him perform all (acts) that are connected with sacrificing, (dressed) in unblemished clothes.
The sacrificer and his wife as well as the officiating priests shall put on dresses which have been washed, and dried by the wind, and which are not in a bad condition.
(It shall be) thus from the (beginning of the) Prakrama,
And thus at the long Soma-sacrifices and the Sattras;
And (on other occasions other dresses must be used) in accordance with the injunction (of the Veda),
Thus at (all) Ishtis, animal sacrifices, and Soma-sacrifices which may be used as spells (against enemies), the priests shall perform (the sacred rites), wearing red turbans and red dresses; (when reciting the hymn seen by) Vrishakapi (he shall) wear a dress and a mantle of many colours and so forth.
At the Agnyadhana (sacrifice) the clothes (shall be made) of flax; on failure of such, (dresses) made of cotton or of wool are used.
Clothes defiled by urine, ordure, blood, semen and the like (shall be) cleaned with earth, water and the like.
(Dresses) made of Tripa-bark and vrikala (shall be treated) like cotton-cloth,
Deer-skins like (dresses) made of bark.
(Let him) not (use) a mantle which has been wrapped (round the loins, or) on which he has been lying (in his bed), without washing it.
Let him not employ for the gods anything used by men without beating it on a stone.
If solid earth is defiled, (it must be) smeared with cowdung.
Loose (earth must be cleansed by) ploughing,
Moist (earth) by bringing pure (earth) and covering (it with that).
Land is purified in four (ways), by being trod on by cows, by digging, by lighting a fire on it, by rain falling on it,
Fifthly by smearing it with cowdung, and sixthly through (the lapse of) time.
Grass placed on unconsecrated ground (must be) washed.
(Grass) defiled out of one’s sight, (shall be) sprinkled (with water).
Small pieces of sacred fuel (shall be purified) in the same manner.
Large pieces of wood (must be) washed and dried.
But a great quantity (of wood shall be) sprinkled (with water).
Wooden vessels which have been touched by impure men (shall be) scraped;
(And) those which are defiled by stains of remnants (shall be) planed.
(Wooden vessels) defiled by urine, ordure, blood, semen, and the like (very impure substances shall be) thrown away.
These (rules must be followed) except in case a (special) injunction (is given);
Thus, for instance, (purification by) washing with Kusa grass and water (is prescribed) on all the following (occasions, viz.) at the Agnihotra, the Gharmokkhishta, the Dadhigharma, the Kundapayinam Ayana, the Utsarginam Ayana, the Dakshayana sacrifice, the Ardhodaya, the Katuskakra, and the Brahmaudanas,
(Again) at all Soma-sacrifices (the cups must be) cleaned with water only on (the heap of earth called) the Margaliya;
If these same (cups are defiled) by urine, ordure, blood, semen, and the like (they must be) thrown away.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 6, KANDIKA 14.

Earthen vessels that have been touched by impure persons (must be) exposed to (the flame of) a fire of Kusa grass.
Those which have been defiled by stains of remnants (of food must be) exposed to another burning.
Those which have been defiled by urine, ordure, blood, semen, and the like (must be) thrown away.
(Vessels) made of metal (must be) washed, after having been scrubbed as (directed) above.
The materials (to be used) for scrubbing (are) cowdung, earth, ashes, and so forth.
Those which have been defiled by urine, ordure, blood, semen, and the like (must be) recast,
Or (they must) be kept during seven (days and) nights completely immersed in cow’s urine,
Or in a great river for as long (a period).
(Vessels) made of stone or of fruits, (i.e.) gourds, Bel-fruit, and Vinalas, (shall be) brushed with (a brush of) cow’s hair.
(Sacrificial implements made of) plaited Nala-reeds, bamboo, or Sara-reeds (shall be) washed with cowdung, water, and the like.
If unhusked rice has been defiled, (it must be) washed (and afterwards be) dried.
But a great quantity (of unhusked rice must be) sprinkled.
Husked rice (which has been defiled must be) thrown away.
The same (rule applies) to cooked sacrificial viands.
But if a great quantity has been defiled by (the touch of) dogs, crows, and the like (unclean beings), one must throw away that portion (as) food for men, and sprinkle (the rest with water), reciting the Anuvaka, ‘Pavamanah suvarganah.’
Hydromel and preparations of milk (are) purified by pouring them from one vessel into another.
In like manner let him pour oil and clarified butter which have been touched by an impure (person) into water, and (afterwards) use them.
If (any) impure (substance) is thrown (into the sacrificial fire) let him place (the two Aranis one) on (the other), produce fire by friction, (and offer) a Pavamaneshti.
If (the rules regarding) purity, the proper place, the mantras, the series of actions, the object, the materials, (their) consecration, and the proper time are conflicting, each earlier-named (point) is more important (than the following ones).

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 7, KANDIKA 15.

The sacred fires (shall be) approached from the north,
(And be) left in the same manner.
The contrary (proceeding should be adopted at sacrifices offered) to the manes.
Let him wash that which has been touched with (his) foot.
Let him touch water, in case he touches his body or the hem (of his garment).
Likewise (let him touch water) after cutting, splitting, digging or removing (anything, or offering oblations) to the manes, to the Rakshasas, to Nirriti, to Rudra, (and after performing sacrifices) intended as spells (against enemies).
Let him not turn round himself a sacrificial implement (the use of) which is accompanied by the recitation of mantras.
(For) the sacrificial implements (are) more nearly (connected with the sacrifice),
The priests, more remotely.
The sacrificer and his wife are even nearer than the priests.
After the sacrificial implements (follows) the clarified butter, after the clarified butter the sacrificial viands, after the sacrificial viands the animal to be slain, after the animal the Soma, after the Soma the sacred fires.
If there is work for them, the priests shall not turn away from the sacred fires.
If he faces the east, let him turn towards his right shoulder,
If he faces the west, towards the left.
The entrance to the sacrificial (enclosure lies) between the Katvala and the Utkara,
(When one comes) from the Katvala, (it lies between) the Ahavaniya fire and the Utkara.
The officiating (priests), the sacrificer, and his wife shall enter by that (road),
As long as the sacrificial rite is not completed.
When it has been finished (they shall) pass to and fro on the side where there is no Utkara (i.e. on the western side of the enclosure).
Let him not put on the fire logs or Samidhs which have not been sprinkled (with water),
The Brahman (priest) and the sacrificer shall enter in front of the Ahavaniya fire.
Some (declare that they shall enter) behind the Ahavaniya fire.
The seat of the Brahman (priest is situated) to the south of the Ahavaniya fire, (that) of the sacrificer to the west of him.
(The seat) of the Hotri (priest is situated) to the north of the northern Sroni (of the Vedi),
(That) of the Agnidhra priest near the Utkara,
(That) of the (sacrificer’s) wife behind the Garhapatya fire.
He scatters Darbha grass on these (seats) as often as (they are used).
A vessel filled with water, for the purpose of sipping, shall be appropriated to (the use of) each (person).
He who has been initiated (to the performance of a sacrifice shall) keep the (following) vows:
Let him not proclaim the guilt of other men; let him not become angry; let him not weep; let him not look at urine and ordure.
If he has looked at any unclean (substance), he mutters (the verse), ‘Unrestrained is the internal organ, wretched (my) eye-sight; the sun is the chief of the (heavenly) lights; O Diksha, do not forsake me!’

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 8, KANDIKA 16.

There are four castes (varna, viz.) Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras.
(Males) belonging to them (may take) wives according to the order of the castes, (viz.) a Brahmana four,
A Kshatriya three,
A Vaisya two,
A Sudra one.
Sons begotten on (wives) of equal or of the next lower castes (are called) Savarnas (of equal caste).
(Those born) of (wives) of the second or third lower castes (become) Ambashthas, Ugras, and Nishadas.
Of females wedded in the inverse order of the castes (are born) Ayogavas, Magadhas, Vainas, Kshattris, Pulkasas, Kukkutakas, Vaidehakas, and Kandalas.
An Ambashtha (begets) on a female of the first (caste) a Svapaka,
An Ugra on a female of the second (caste) a Vaina,
A Nishada on a female of the third (caste) a Pulkasa.
In the contrary case a Kukkutaka (is produced).
Now they quote also (the following verse).: But those sons whom an uninitiated man begets, the wise call Vratyas, who are excluded from the Savitri; (that is a rule which refers) in an equal manner to the three (highest) castes.’

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 9, KANDIKA 17.

The Rathakara (carpenter), the Ambashtha, the Suta (charioteer), the Ugra, the Magadha, the Ayogava, the Vaina, the Kshattri, the Pulkasa, the Kukkuta, the Vaidehaka, the Kandala, and so forth,
Among these, sons of equal caste (spring) from women of equal caste.
A Brahmana (begets) on a female of the Kshatriya caste a Brahmana, on a female of the Vaisya caste an Ambashtha, on a female of the Sudra caste a Nishada,
(According to) some a Parasava.
A Kshatriya (begets) on a female of the Vaisya caste a Kshatriya, on a female of the Sudra caste an Ugra.
A Vaisya (begets) on a female of the Sudra caste a Rathakara.
A Sudra begets on a female of the Vaisya caste a Magadha, on a female of the Kshatriya caste a Kshattri, but on a female of the Brahmana caste a Kandala.
A Vaisya begets on a female of the Kshatriya caste an Ayogava, on a female of the Brahmana caste a Suta.
If among these an Ambashtha (male) and an Ugra (female) unite, (their son) will be born in the direct order of the castes (Anuloma).
If a Kshattri (male) and a Vaidehaka (female) unite, (their son will be) born against the order of the castes (Pratiloma).
An Ugra (begets) on a female of the Kshattri caste a Svapaka,
A Vaidehaka on a female of the Ambashtha caste a Vaina,
A Nishada on a female of the Sudra caste a Pulkasa,
A Sudra on a female of the Nishada caste a Kukkutaka.
The wise declare those sprung from an inter-mixture of the castes to be Vratyas.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 10, KANDIKA 18.

Let the king protect (his) subjects, receiving as his pay a sixth part (of their incomes or spiritual merit).
Brahman, forsooth, placed its majesty in the Brahmanas, together with (the duties and privileges of) studying, teaching, sacrificing for themselves, sacrificing for others, liberality, and accepting (gifts), for the protection of the Vedas;
In the Kshatriyas (it placed) strength, together with (the duties and privileges of) studying, sacrificing, liberality, (using) weapons, and protecting the treasure (and the life of) created beings, for the growth of (good) government;
In the Vaisyas (it placed the power of work), together with (the duties of) studying, sacrificing, liberality, cultivating (the soil), trading, and tending cattle, for the growth of (productive) labour.
On the Sudras (it imposed the duty of) serving the three higher (castes).
For (the Veda states), ‘they were created from the feet (of Brahman).’
Let (the king) choose a domestic priest (who shall be) foremost in all (transactions).
Let him act according to his instructions.
Let him not turn back in battle.
Let him not strike with barbed or poisoned (weapons).
Let him not fight with those who are in fear, intoxicated, insane or out of their minds, (nor with those) who have lost their armour, (nor with) women, infants, aged men, and Brahmanas,
Excepting assassins (atatayin).
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘He who slays an assassin, able to teach (the Veda) and born in a (noble) family, does not (incur) by that (act the guilt of) the murderer of a learned Brahmana; (in) that (case) fury recoils upon fury.’
The duty on goods imported by sea is, after deducting a choice article, ten Panas in the hundred.
Let him also lay just (duties) on other (marketable goods) according to their intrinsic value without oppressing (the traders).
Let the king guard the property of men belonging to a non-Brahmanical caste, the owner of which has disappeared, during a year, and afterwards take it (for himself).
A Brahmana, forsooth, shall not suffer corporal punishment for any offence.
In case (a Brahmana) has slain a Brahmana, has violated his Guru’s bed, has stolen the gold (of a Brahmana), or has drunk (the spirituous liquor called) Sura, (the king) shall cause to be impressed with a heated iron the mark of a headless trunk, a female part, a jackal, (or) the sign of a tavern on the forehead (of the offender) and banish him from his realm.
If a Kshatriya or (a man of any) other (lower caste) has murdered a Brahmana, death and the confiscation of all his property (shall be his punishment).
If those same (persons) slay men of equal or lower castes, (the king) shall fix suitable punishments in accordance with their ability.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 10, KANDIKA 19.

For slaying a Kshatriya (the offender) shall give to the king one thousand cows and besides a bull in expiation of his sin,
For (slaying) a Vaisya one hundred cows, for (slaying) a Sudra ten; and a bull (must be) added (in each case).
(The punishment for) the murder of a woman—excepting a (Brahmani) who had bathed after temporary uncleanness—and for the destruction of a cow have been explained by the (rule regarding the) murder of a Sudra.
If he has slain a milch-cow or a draught-ox, he shall perform a Kandrayana (lunar penance) after (paying the prescribed fine).
The (punishment for the) murder of a (Brahmani) who had bathed after temporary uncleanness has been explained by (the rule regarding) the murder of a Kshatriya.
For killing a flamingo, a Bhasa, a peacock, a Brahmani duck, a Prakalaka, a crow, an owl, a frog, a musk-rat, a dog, (the large ichneumon called) Babhru, a common ichneumon, and so forth, (the offender shall pay) the same (fine) as (for the murder of) a Sudra.
In order to gain the good opinion of men, a witness shall give evidence in accordance with what he has seen or heard.
Of injustice (in decisions) one quarter falls on the party in the cause, one quarter on his witnesses, one quarter on all the judges, and one quarter on the king.
But where he who deserves condemnation is condemned, the king is guiltless and the judges free from blame; the guilt falls on the offender (alone).
(Therefore) a wise man should ask an appointed witness in the following manner:
‘The merit which thou hast acquired in the interval between the night in which thou wast born and that in which thou wilt die, all that will go to the king, if thou speakest an untruth.’
‘A witness who speaks falsely, slays three fathers and three grandfathers and seven (descendants), both the born and the unborn.’
‘By false testimony concerning gold he kills three ancestors; by false testimony regarding (small) cattle he kills five; by false testimony concerning kine he kills ten.’ ‘He kills a hundred by false evidence regarding horses, (and) a thousand by false evidence concerning a man. A witness Who speaks falsely, destroys the whole (world) by false evidence concerning land.’
(Men of) the four castes (varna) who have sons may be witnesses excepting Srotriyas, the king, ascetics, and those who are destitute of human (intellect).
If (the witness rightly) recollects (the facts of) the case (he will receive) commendation from the most eminent men.
In the contrary case (he will) fall into hell.
Let him (who has given false evidence), drink hot milk during twelve (days and) nights or offer burnt oblations (reciting) the Kushmanda (texts).

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 11, KANDIKA 20.

(There are) eight marriage-rites.
If (the father) gives (his daughter) to a student (who has not broken his vow of chastity and) who asks for her, after fully enquiring into his learning and character, that (is) the rite of Brahman (brahma).
If (the father gives his daughter away) after clothing her and decking her with ornaments, (saying) ‘That (is thy wife), fulfil the law (with her),’ that (is) the rite of Pragapati (pragapatya).
If (the bridegroom) after offering the first burnt oblation of parched grain (receives the maiden) for a bull and a cow, that is the rite of the Rishis (arsha).
If (a maiden is given) to an officiating priest within the sacrificial enclosure, while the presents are being taken away, that (is) the rite of the gods (daiva).
The union of a lover with a loving damsel (is called) the rite of the Gandharvas (gandharva).
(If the bridegroom receives the maiden) after gladdening (the parents) by money, (that is) the rite of the Asuras (asura).
(If the maiden is wedded) after being forcibly abducted, (that is) the rite of the Rakshasas (rakshasa).
If one has intercourse with (a maiden) who is sleeping, intoxicated, or out of her senses (with fear or passion and weds her afterwards, that is) the rite of the Pisakas (paisaka).
Among these (eight rites) the four first (named) are (lawful) for a Brahmana. Among these also each earlier named is preferable.
Among the (four) later (named rites) each succeeding one is more sinful (than the preceding ones).
Among these the sixth and the seventh agree with the law of the Kshatriyas. For power is their attribute.

    (i)   Vasishtha I, 33,
    (ii)    Vasishtha I, 35.
    (iii)    Vasishtha I, 34.
    (iv)    Vishnu XXIV, 26.
    (v)    Vishnu XXIV, 27.
    (vi)    Vishnu XXIV, 28; Vasishtha I, 29, 34. The meaning of the last clause is that as, according to I, 10, 18, 3, Brahman placed power in the Kshatriyas, they may adopt marriage rites by which a disregard of conventionalities or strength is displayed.

The fifth and the eighth (are lawful) for Vaisyas and Sudras.
For Vaisyas and Sudras are not particular about their wives,
Because they are allowed (to subsist by such low occupations as) husbandry and service.
Some recommend the Gandharva rite for all (castes), because it is based on (mutual) affection.

PRASNA I, ADHYAYA 11, KANDIKA 21.

The Veda declares, The quality of the offspring depends on the quality of the marriage rite.’
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘It is declared that a female who has been purchased for money is not a wife. She cannot (assist) at sacrifices offered to the gods or the manes. Kasyapa has stated that she is a slave.’
‘Those wicked men who, seduced by greed, give away a daughter for a fee, who (thus) sell themselves and commit a great crime, fall (after death) into a dreadful place of punishment and destroy their family down to the seventh (generation). Moreover they will repeatedly die and be born again. All (this) is declared (to happen), if a fee (is taken).’
On the day of the full moon, on the eighth day (of each half month), on the day of the new moon, on the appearance of a meteor, on the occasion of an earthquake, on visiting a burial-ground, and on the death of the king of the country, of a Srotriya or of one who has the same Guru (satirthya), the study of the Veda must be discontinued for a day and a night.
(The study of the Veda must be interrupted) while (a strong) wind (blows), a foul smell (is perceptible), or hoarfrost (lies on the ground), when dancing (is going on), and while the sounds of singing, musical instruments, weeping, or of the Saman (melodies are audible).
When thunder, lightning, and rain come together, (the interruption shall last) three days except in the rainy season.
In the rainy season, too, (the reading must be interrupted) until the same hour of the (next) day or night, (if thunder and lightning come together), not on account of rain.
If (he has) received anything or dined on the occasion of a sacrifice in honour of the manes, (he shall not read) during the remainder of the day,
(Nor) after meals until (the food) has been digested.
For the hand of a Brahmana is his mouth.
Now they quote also (the following verse): According to the revealed texts there is no difference whether one has eaten or received (a present at a Sraddha).’
(A student shall discontinue the study of the Veda) during three days in case his father has died.
‘Of two kinds, forsooth, is the virile energy of a famous Brahmana who is learned in the Vedas, (that which resides) above the navel and the other (that resides) below the’ navel. Through that which (resides) above the navel, his offspring is produced when he initiates Brahmanas, when he teaches them, when he causes them to offer sacrifices, when he makes them holy. All these are his children. But through that which resides below the navel the children of his body are produced. Therefore they never say to a Srotriya who is versed in the Vedas, ‘Thou art destitute of offspring.’
‘Therefore a Brahmana has two names, two mouths, two kinds of virile energy, and two births.’
(Let him discontinue the recitation of the Veda) as long as he is within hearing or sight of Sudras and Apapatras.
When at night the howl of a solitary jackal is heard, he shall not study until he has slept.
Let him not study in the evening and morning twilights nor on the Parva-days.
He shall not eat meat nor approach his wife (on those days).
It is declared in the Veda, ‘For on the Parva-days the Rakshasas and the Pisakas roam about (in order to injure men).’
And on (the appearance of) other omens and portents (he shall not repeat the Veda), except mentally, during a day and a night.
The mental recitation of the Veda must also be interrupted on births and deaths (occurring in the family).
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘The eighth day destroys the teacher, the fourteenth destroys the pupil, the fifteenth destroys learning; therefore let him avoid (studying the Veda) on the Parva-days.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 1, KANDIKA 1.

Now, therefore, the penances (will be described).
The murderer of a learned Brahmana (shall practise the following vow) during twelve years:
Carrying a skull (instead of a dish) and the foot of a bedstead (instead of a staff), dressed in the hide of an ass, staying in the forest, making a dead man’s skull his flag, he shall cause a hut to be built in a burial-ground and reside there; going to seven houses in order to beg food, while proclaiming his deed, he shall support life with what (he gets there), and shall fast if he obtains nothing;
Or he may offer a horse-sacrifice, a Gosava, or an Agnishtut
Or he may bathe (with the priests) on the completion of a horse-sacrifice (offered by somebody else).
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘He who unintentionally slays a Brahmana becomes sinful according to the sacred law. The sages declare that he may be purified (if he did it) unintentionally. But no expiation is found for a wilful murderer.’
He who has raised his hand (against a Brahmana), shall perform a Krikkhra penance, an Atikrikkhra penance if he strikes, a Krikkhra and a Kandrayana if blood flows. Therefore let him neither raise his hand nor cause blood to flow.’
(For killing) a Kshatriya (he shall keep the normal vow of continence) during nine years,
(For killing) a Vaisya during three (years),
(For killing) a Sudra during one year,
Likewise for killing a woman.
(The penance for killing) a woman who has bathed after temporary uncleanness (is) the same (as that) for (the murder of) a Brahmana.
He who has defiled the bed of a Guru shall place himself on a heated iron bed,
Or embrace a red hot image (of a woman),
Or cutting off his organ together with the testicles and holding them in his joined hands, he shall walk towards the southwest until he falls down (dead).
A thief shall go to the king with flying hair, carrying on his shoulder a club of Sindhraka wood (and say), ‘Strike me with that.’ (Then the king) shall strike him.
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘A thief shall go to the king carrying a club on his shoulder (and say to him), ‘Punish me with that, O king, remembering the duty of Kshatriyas.’ ‘Whether he be punished or be pardoned, the thief is freed from his guilt. But if the king does not punish him, that guilt of the thief falls on him.’
If he has drunk (the spirituous liquor called) Sura, he shall scald himself to death with hot (liquor of the) same (kind).
For unintentionally drinking (Sura), he shall perform Krikkhra penances during three months and be initiated again,
And (on this second initiation) the cutting (of the hair and nails), the vows, and (the observance of the) restrictive rules may be omitted.
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘A Brahmana, Kshatriya, or Vaisya who has unintentionally drunk (the spirituous liquor called) Varuni or has swallowed urine or faeces must be initiated a second time.’
‘But he who drinks water which has stood in a vessel, used for keeping Sura, shall live six days on milk in which (leaves of) the Saekhapushpi plant have been boiled.’
If (a pupil) who is employed by his teacher (on some errand) meets with his death, (the teacher) shall perform three Krikkhra penances.
The same (penance) is prescribed for not finishing (the education of the pupil).
If a student assists at the burial of anybody except (at that of his) mother, of his father, or of his teacher, he must begin his vow afresh.
If a (student) is sick, he may, at his pleasure, eat all the fragments of his teacher’s meal as medicine.
He may physic himself with any (medicine) which he may desire.
When he is unable to move, he may worship the sun, after he has risen, reciting this (Rik verse): A swan, dwelling in purity.’
When he has spent his manly strength in the daytime, let him thrice drink water that reaches his heart, reciting the verses which contain the word retas.
A student who approaches a woman (is called) an Avakirnin,
Let him offer an ass (in the place of) a sacrificial animal.
The sacrificial meat-cake (purodasa shall be offered) to Nirriti, or to the Rakshasas, or to Yama.
It is declared in the Veda, ‘The piece to be eaten by the sacrificer (prasitra, shall be taken) from the organ (of the animal); and the (other) portions shall be offered in water.’
‘Or he may also heap (fuel) on the fire in the night of the new moon, perform the preparatory rites required for the Darvihoma, and offer two oblations of clarified butter (reciting these two sacred texts): “O Lust, I have broken my vow; my vow have I broken, O Lust; to Lust Svaha;” “O Lust, I have done evil; evil have I done, O Lust; to Lust Svaha.”’
‘After he has made the offering, he shall address the fire, closely joining his hands, turning sideways (with the following texts): “May the Maruts grant me, may Indra, may Brihaspati, may this fire grant me long life and strength, may it make me long-lived! “‘
Now the relatives shall empty (the water-pot) of a (grievous offender) at a (solemn) meeting (and he shall confess), ‘I N. N. am (the perpetrator of) such and such (a deed).’ After (the outcast) has performed (his penance) the Brahmanas shall ask him who has touched water, milk, clarified butter, honey, and salt, ‘Hast thou performed (thy penance)?’ The other (person) shall answer, ‘Om’ (yes)! They shall admit him who has performed (a penance) to all sacrificial rites, making no difference (between him and others).
If he unintentionally marries a female who belongs to his own family (gotra), he shall support her, (treating her) like his mother.
If (such a woman) has borne a child; he shall perform Krikkhra penances during three months and offer (two burnt oblations reciting) the two (Mantras), ‘That which is the blemish of my soul’ (and) ‘Fire restored my sight.’
‘An elder brother whose younger brother marries first, the younger brother who marries first, the damsel wedded (by the latter), he who gives her away, and fifthly, he who sacrifices for them (at the wedding), all sink to a region of torment.’
The unmarried elder brother and the married younger brother, the giver (of the maiden) and the performer of the sacrifices become pure by undergoing a Krikkhra penance of twelve days, the female (who has been wedded to the younger brother) by (fasting during) three days.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 1, KANDIKA 2.

Now (follow the offences) causing loss of caste (pataniya),
(Viz.) making voyages by sea,
Stealing the property of a Brahmana or a deposit,
Giving false evidence regarding land,
Trading with merchandise of any description (whether forbidden or not),
Serving Sudras,
Begetting a son on a female of the Sudra caste,
And becoming thereby her son.
(For those who have) committed one of these (offences the following penance is prescribed);
‘They shall eat every fourth meal-time a little food, bathe at the time of the three libations (morning, noon, and evening), passing (the day) standing and (the night) sitting. After the lapse of three years they throw off their guilt.’
‘A Brahmana removes the sin which he committed by serving the black race during one day and one night, if he bathes during three years at every fourth meal-time.’
Now (follow) the minor offences, entailing loss of caste (upapataka),
(Viz.) intercourse with females who must not be approached (agamya, e.g.) cohabitation with the female friend of a female Guru, with the female friend of a male Guru, with an Apapatra woman, and a female outcast, following the profession of medicine, sacrificing for many, living by (performances on) the stage, following the profession of a teacher of dancing, singing and acting, tending cows and buffalos, and similar (low occupations, as well as) fornication.
The expiation (prescribed) for these (offences is) to live as an outcast during two years.
Now (follow the offences) which make men impure (asukikara),
(Viz.) gambling, performing incantations, subsisting by gleaning corn though one does not perform an Agnihotra, subsisting by alms after one has finished one’s studentship, living, after that has been finished, longer than four months in the house of one’s teacher, and teaching such a (person who has finished his studentship), gaining one’s livelihood by astrology and so forth.
But the expiation of these (offences is to perform penances) during twelve months, during twelve fortnights, during twelve times ten days, during twelve se’nnights, during twelve times three days, during twelve days, during six days, during three days, during a day and a night, during one day, in proportion to the offence committed.
Now outcasts shall live together and (together) fulfil their duties, sacrificing for each other, teaching each other, and marrying amongst each other. If they have begot sons, they shall say to them, ‘Depart from among us; thus you will again reach the Aryas.’
For the organs do not become impure together with the man.
(The truth of) that may be learned from this (parallel case); a man deficient in limbs begets a son who has the full number of limbs.
Harita declares that this is wrong.
For wives may be (considered) similar to the vessel which contains the curds (for the sacrifice). If one makes impure milk curdle in a milk-vessel and stirs it, the Sishtas do not use the (curds thus produced) for sacred rites.
In like manner no intercourse can be held with that (offspring) which is produced from impure seed.
If they desire it, (they may perform) a penance,
(Viz. in the case of males) the third part (of the penance prescribed) for crimes causing loss of caste (pataniya); for females the third part (of that).
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘If he applies sesamum to any other purpose, but food, anointing, and charitable gifts, he will be born again as a worm and, together with his ancestors, be plunged into the ordure of dogs.’
He who sells sesamum, forsooth, sells his ancestors; he who sells rice, forsooth, sells his life; he who gives away his daughter, making a bargain, forsooth, sells portions of his spiritual merit.
Grass and wood, in its natural state, may be sold.
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘Animals that have teeth in one jaw only, as well as minerals excepting salt, and undyed thread, these, O Brahmana, are the goods which thou art permitted to sell.’
(If he has committed) any offence excepting a mortal sin (pataka) he may either give to a learned Brahmana (anukana) a hairy cow of brown or red-dish colour, after sprinkling her with clarified butter and scattering black sesamum seeds over her;
Or (he may offer burnt oblations), reciting the Kushmandas, during twelve days,
‘(Thus) he will be freed. from the guilt (of any crime that is) less (heinous) than the murder of a learned Brahmana.’
If one is accused of a mortal sin (pataka), a Krikkhra (penance must be performed by the accused).
The accuser (shall perform) that (Krikkhra penance during) a year.
‘He who during a year associates with an outcast, becomes (likewise) an outcast; not by sacrificing for him, by teaching him or by (forming) a matrimonial (alliance with him), but by using the same carriage or seat.’
The penance for eating impure substances is to fast until the entrails are empty. That is attained in seven (days and) nights.
(Subsisting on) water, milk, clarified butter, (and) fasting,—each for three days,—(and taking the three fluids) hot, that is a Taptakrikkhra penance.
(Eating) during three days in the morning only, during the (next) three days in the evening only, (subsisting) during (another) three days (on) food given unasked, and fasting during three days, (that is) a Krikkhra penance.
(If the period of twelve days is divided into) three (periods of) four days, that is the Krikkhra penance of, women, children, and aged men.
If (observing the rule given) above one eats (at each meal) so much only as one can take at one (mouthful), that is an Atikrikkhra penance.
(If one) subsists on water only, that is a Krikkhratikrikkhra, the third (in the order of the Krikkhra penances).
During a Krikkhra penance (the following rules must be followed, viz.) to bathe at morn, noon, and evening,
To sleep on the ground,
To wear one garment only, to shave the hair of the head, of the beard, and of the body, and to clip the nails.
The same (rules apply) to women except (that referring to) shaving the head.

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 2, KANDIKA 3.

A Brahmana who always carries water (in his pot), who always wears the sacred thread, who daily recites the Veda, who avoids the food of Sudras, who approaches (his wife) in the proper season, and offers sacrifices in accordance with the rules (of the Veda, after death) never falls from Brahman’s heaven.
The Veda (says), ‘Manu divided his estate among his sons.’
(A father may, therefore, divide his property) equally among all, without (making any) difference;
Or the eldest may receive the most excellent chattel.
(For) the Veda says, ‘Therefore, they distinguish the eldest by (an additional share of the) property.
Or the eldest may receive (in excess) one part out of ten;
(And) the other (sons) shall receive equal shares.
While the father lives, the division of the estate takes place (only) with the permission of the father.
The (additional) share of the eldest is, (according to the order) of the four castes, a cow, a horse, a goat, and a sheep.
If there are sons born of wives of different castes (varna), they should make ten portions of the ancestral property and take four (shares), three, two, (and) one, according to the order (of the castes).
But if a legitimate son of the body (aurasa) is born, the (other) sons of equal caste shall obtain one third share (of the estate).
If there is a son of equal caste and a son of a wife of the next lower caste, the son born of the wife of the next lower caste may take the share of the eldest, provided he be endowed with good qualities.
(A son) who possesses good qualities becomes the protector of the rest.
One must know a son begotten by (the husband) himself on a wedded wife of equal caste (to be) a legitimate son of the body (aurasa).
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘From the several limbs (of my body) art thou produced, from my heart art thou born; thou art “self” called a son; mayest thou live a hundred autumns.’
The (male child) born of a daughter, after an agreement has been made, (one must know to be) the son of an appointed daughter (putrikaputra); any other (male offspring of a daughter they call) a daughter’s son (dauhitra).
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘The son of an appointed daughter should offer the first funeral cake to his mother, the second to her father, and the third to his father’s father.’
He who is begotten, by another man, on the wife of a deceased man, of a eunuch, or of one (incurably) diseased, after permission (has been given), is called the son begotten on a wife (kshetraga).
Such a (son begotten on a wife) has two fathers and belongs to two families; he has a right to perform the funeral oblations, and to inherit the property of (his) two (fathers).
Now they quote also (the following verse): The son of two fathers shall give the funeral cakes (to his two fathers, and pronounce) two names with each oblation, and three cakes shall serve for six persons; he who acts thus will not err.’
He (is called) an adopted son (datta) who, being given by his father and his mother, or by either of the two, is received in the place of a child.
He (is called) a son made (kritrima) whom (a mail) himself makes (his son), with the (adoptee’s) consent (only), and who belongs to the same caste (as the adopter).
He is called a son born secretly (gudhagga) who is secretly born in the house and whose (origin is) afterwards (only) recognised.
He is called a son cast off (apaviddha) who, being, cast off by his father and his mother, or by either (of them), is received in the place of a child.
If anybody approaches an unmarried girl without the permission (of her father or guardian), the son born by such (a woman is called) the son of an unmarried damsel (kanina).
If one marries either knowingly or unknowingly a pregnant bride, the child which is born of her is called (a son) taken with the bride (sahodha).
He (is called a son) bought (krita) who, being purchased from his father and his mother, or from either of them, is received in the place of a child.
He (is called the son) of a twice-married woman (paunarbhava) who is born of a remarried female, (i.e.) of one who, having left an impotent man, has taken a second husband.
He (is called) a self-given (son, svayamdatta) who, abandoned by his father and his mother, gives himself (to a stranger).
He who is begotten by (a man of) the first twice-born (caste) on a female of the Sudra caste (is called) a Nishada.
(He who was begotten by the same parents) through lust (is called) a Parasava. Thus (the various kinds of) sons (have been enumerated).
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘They declare the legitimate son, the son of an appointed daughter, the son begotten on a wife, the adopted son and the son made, the son born secretly and the son cast off, (to be entitled) to share the inheritance.’
‘They declare the son of an unmarried damsel and the son received with the bride, the son bought, likewise the son of a twice-married female, the son self-given and the Nishada, to be members of the family.’
Aupagandhani (declares that) the first among them alone (is entitled to inherit, and a member of his father’s family).
‘Now, O Ganaka, I jealously watch my wives, (though I did) not (do it) formerly; for they have declared in Yama’s court that the son belongs to the begetter. The giver of the seed carries off the son, after death, in Yama’s hall, Therefore they carefully protect their wives, fearing the seed of strangers.’
‘Carefully watch (the procreation of your) offspring, lest strange seed fall on your soil. After death the son belongs to the begetter; through carelessness a husband makes (the procreation of) a son useless.’
Let them carefully protect the shares of those who are minors, as well as the increments (thereon).
Granting food, clothes, (and shelter), they shall support those who are incapable of transacting legal business,
(Viz.) the blind, idiots, those immersed in vice, the incurably diseased, and so forth,
Those who neglect their duties and occupations;
But not the outcast nor his offspring.
Intercourse with outcasts shall not take place.
But he shall support an outcast mother, without speaking to her.
The daughters shall obtain the ornaments of their mother, (as many as are) presented according to the custom (of the caste), or anything else (that may be given according to custom).
Women do not possess independence.
Now they quote also (the following verse): Their father protects (them) in childhood, their husband protects (them) in youth, and their sons protect (them) in old age a woman is never fit for independence.’
The Veda declares, ‘Therefore women are considered to be destitute of strength and of a portion.’
Those (women) who strive (to do what is) agreeable to their husbands will gain heaven.
But for a violation (of their duty towards the husband) a Krikkhra penance (must be performed).
(For violating it) with a Sudra (a woman) shall perform a lunar penance (kandrayana);
(For violating it) against the order of the castes with a Vaisya and so forth, she shall perform a Krikkhra or an (Atikrikkhra) penance.
For male (offenders, i.e.) Brahmanas and so forth, a year’s chastity (is prescribed).
Let him burn a Sudra (who commits adultery with an Aryan) in a straw-fire.
Now they quote also (the following verses):

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 2, KANDIKA 4.

‘Anybody but a Brahmana shall suffer corporal punishment for adultery.’
‘The wives (of men) of all castes must be guarded more carefully than wealth.’
‘But corporal punishment (shall) not (be inflicted) for (adultery with) the wives of minstrels and with those who appear on the stage. For (the husbands) carry them (to other men), or, lying concealed (at home), permit them to hold culpable intercourse.’
‘Women (possess) an unrivalled means of purification; they never become (entirely) foul. For month by month their temporary uncleanness removes their sins.’
‘Soma gave them cleanliness, the Gandharva their melodious voice, and Fire purity of all (limbs); therefore women are free from stains.’
‘Let him abandon a barren (wife) in the tenth year, one who bears daughters (only) in the twelfth, one whose children (all) die in the fifteenth, but her who is quarrelsome without delay.’
A widow shall avoid during a year (the use of) honey, meat, spirituous liquor, and salt, and sleep on the ground.
Maudgalya (declares that she shall do so) during six months.
After (the expiration of) that (time) she may, with the permission of her Gurus, bear a son to her brother-in-law, in case she has no son.
Now they quote also (the following verse): One whose appointment can have no result, (viz.) a barren woman, one who has borne sons, one who is past child-bearing, one whose children are (all) dead, and one who is unwilling must not be appointed.’
The sister of a maternal uncle and of the father, a sister, a sister’s daughter, a daughter-in-law, a maternal uncle’s wife, and the wife of a friend are females who must never be approached (agamya).
For intercourse with females who must not be approached (agamya), a Krikkhra and an Atikrikkhra (and) a Kandrayana are the penances prescribed for all.
Thereby (the rule regarding) intercourse with a female of the Kandala caste has been declared.
Now they quote also (the following verses): A Brahmana who unintentionally approaches a female of the Kandala caste, eats (food given by a Kandala) or receives (presents from him), becomes an outcast; but (if he does it) intentionally, he becomes equal (to a Kandala).
‘He who approaches his father’s, his teacher’s, or a king’s wife, is guilty of the crime of violating a Guru’s bed; the penance ordained for him has been declared above.’
(A Brahmana) who is unable (to subsist) by teaching, sacrificing for others, or the acceptance of gifts, shall maintain himself by following the duties of Kshatriyas, because that is the next following (caste).
Gautama (declares that one shall) not (act thus). For the duties of Kshatriyas are too cruel for a Brahmana.
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘Out of regard for the sacred law a Brahmana and a Vaisya may take up arms for (the protection of) cows or Brahmanas, or when a confusion of the castes (threatens to take place).
(Or) the livelihood of a Vaisya should be adopted, because that is the one following (next):
(If he lives by agriculture) he shall plough before breakfast,
With two bulls whose noses have not been pierced, not striking them with the goad, (but) frequently coaxing them.
The (sacred domestic) fire (shall be kindled) at the wedding; the religious ceremonies up to the Agnyadheya (shall be) performed in that.
Now, beginning with the Agnyadheya, follow these (rites in an) uninterrupted (series), as, for instance, the Agnyadheya, the Agnihotra, the new and full moon sacrifices, the Agraya.a at the winter and summer solstices, the animal sacrifice, the Katurmasyas at the beginning of each season, the Shaddhotri in spring, the Agnishtoma. Thus the attainment of bliss (is secured).
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘Neither he who is accustomed to sleep in the daytime, nor he who eats the food of anybody, nor he who falls from a height to which he has climbed, can reach heaven as he desires.’
Let him avoid meanness, hard-heartedness, and crookedness.
Now they quote also with reference to this (subject the following) verse in the dialogue between the daughters of Usanas and Vrishaparvan: ‘Thou, forsooth, art the daughter of one who praises (others), who begs and accepts (gifts); but I am the child of one who is praised, who gives gifts and does not accept them.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 3, KANDIKA 5.

Bathing is suitable for (the practice of) austerity.
The libation to the manes (is offered) after the gods have been satisfied (with water),
They pour out water which gives strength, from one Tirtha after the other.
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘With flowing, unconfined water twice-born men of the three castes shall satisfy the gods, Rishis, and manes, when they have risen in the morning.’
‘They shall not offer (libations of water) con-fined (in tanks and wells), (If they do it), he who made the embankment; will obtain a share (of the merit of their devotion).’
‘Therefore let him avoid embankments (around tanks) and wells made by others.’
Nov they quote also (the following verse): ‘Or, in times of distress—not as a rule—he may bathe in (water) confined (in tanks), after taking out three lumps (of earth); from a well (let him take three) lumps of clay and three jars of water.’
If he has accepted presents from one who is able to give presents to many, or from one whose presents ought not to be accepted, or if he has sacrificed for one for whom he ought not to have sacrificed, or if he has eaten food (given by a person) whose food must not be eaten, he shall mutter the Taratsamandiya.
Now they quote also (the following verse): Those who improperly associate with (an outcast) teacher, those who improperly associate with (outcast) pupils, and those who improperly associate (with outcasts) by (accepting their) food or by (reciting) Mantras (for them), enter into deep darkness.’
Now (follow) the duties of a Snataka.
After offering at the morning and at the evening (meals) with (a portion of) the food which he may have, the Vaisvadeva and the Bali-offerings, he shall honour, according to his ability, Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras (who may come to his house as) guests.
If he cannot (afford to give food) to many, let him give (something) to one who possesses good qualities,
Or to him who has come first.
If a Sudra (has come as) a guest, he shall order him (to do some) work, (and feed him afterwards);
Or (if he cannot spare much), he may give a first portion (agrya) to a Srotriya.
It is prescribed that the division (of the food) shall be made without detriment to (the interests of) those who daily receive a portion.
But he shall never eat without having given away (some small portion of the food).
Now they quote also two verses which have been proclaimed by (the goddess of) food: ‘Him who, without giving me to the gods, the manes, his servants, his guests and friends, consumes what has been prepared and (thus), in his exceeding folly, swallows poison, I consume, and I am his death. But for him who, offering the Agnihotra, performing the Vaisvadeva, and honouring guests, eats, full of contentment, purity, and faith, what remains after feeding those whom he must support, I become ambrosia, and he (really) enjoys me.’
Presents of money must be given, according to one’s ability, to good Brahmanas, Srotriyas, and Vedaparagas, when they beg outside the Vedi, for the sake of Gurus, in order to defray (the expenses of) their marriages, or of medicine, or when they are distressed for a livelihood, or desirous to offer a sacrifice, or engaged in studying, or on a journey, or have performed a Visvagit sacrifice.
Cooked food (must be given) to other (beggars).
Let him eat (seated) in a pure, enclosed place, after having well washed his hands and feet and after having sipped water, respectfully receiving the food which is brought to him, keeping himself free from lust, anger, hatred, greed, and perplexity, (conveying the food into his mouth) with all his fingers and making no noise (during mastication).

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 3, KANDIKA 6.

Let him not put back into the dish a remnant of food.
If he eats (food), containing meat, fish, or sesamum, he shall (afterwards) wash and touch fire,
And bathe after sunset.
Let him avoid a seat, clogs, sticks for cleaning the teeth, and other (implements) made of Palasa wood.
Let him not eat (food placed) in his lap,
Nor on a chair,
He shall carry a staff, made of bamboo, and golden earrings.
Let him not rub one foot with the other while bathing, nor place the one on the other while standing,
Let him not wear a visible garland.
Let him not look at the sun when he rises or sets.
Let him not announce (the appearance of a rainbow) to another (man, saying), ‘There is Indra’s bow.’
If he points it out, he shall call it ‘the jewelled bow.’
Let him not pass between the prakilaka and the beam, at the town gate,
Nor let him pass between the two posts of a swing.
Let him not step over a rope to which a calf is tied.
Let him not step on ashes, bones, hair, chaff, potsherds, nor on a bathing-place (moist with) water.
Let him not announce it to another (man if) a cow suckles (her calf).
Let him not say of (a cow which is) not a milch-cow, ‘She is not a milch-cow.’
If he speaks (of such a one), let him say, ‘It is one which will become a milch-cow.’
Let him not make empty, ill-sounding, or harsh speeches.
Let him not go alone on a. journey,
Nor with outcasts, nor with a woman, nor with a Sudra.
Let him not set out (on a journey) towards evening.
Let him not bathe (entirely) naked.
Let him not bathe at night.
Let him not cross a river swimming.
Let him not look down into a well
Let him not look down into a pit.
Let him not sit down there, where another person may order him to rise.
Way must be made for a Brahmana, a cow, a king, a blind man, an aged man, one who is suffering under a burden, a pregnant woman, and a weak man.
A righteous man shall seek to dwell in a village where fuel, water, fodder, sacred fuel, Kusa grass, and garlands are plentiful, access to which is easy, where many rich people dwell, which abounds in industrious people, where Aryans form the majority, and which is not easily entered by robbers.
‘A Brahmana who, having wedded a wife of the Sudra caste and dwells during twelve years in a village where water (is obtainable) from wells only, becomes equal to a Sudra.’
(If you say that) he who lives in a town and whose body is covered with the dust, (raised) by others, and whose eyes and mouth are filled with it, will obtain salvation, if he restrains himself, (I declare that) that is impossible.
‘The dust raised by carriages, horses, elephants, and cows, and (that which comes) from grain is pure, blamed is (that raised) by a broom, goats, sheep, donkeys, and garments.’
Let him honour those who are worthy of honour.
‘A Rishi, a learned man, a king, a bride-groom, a maternal uncle, a father-in-law, and an officiating priest are mentioned in the Smriti as worthy of the honey-mixture at certain times and occasions.’
‘A Rishi, a learned man, and a king must be honoured whenever they come, a bridegroom and a priest at the beginning of the religious rites, a maternal uncle and a father-in-law when a year has elapsed since their last visit.’
‘Let him raise his right arm on (entering) the place where the sacred fire is kept, in the midst of a herd of cows, in the presence of Brahmanas, at the daily recitation of the Veda, and at dinner.’
‘An upper garment must be worn on the following five occasions: during the daily study, during the evacuation (of excrements), when one bestows gifts, at dinner, and while one sips water.’
‘While one offers oblations in the fire, while one dines, bestows gifts, offers (food to deities or Gurus), and accepts presents, (the right hand) must be placed between the knees.’
‘The revealed texts declare, that the creatures depend on food, food is life; therefore gifts of food must be made. Food is the most excellent of sacrificial viands.’
‘Sin is removed by burnt offerings, burnt oblations are surpassed by (gifts of) food, and gifts of food by kind speeches. That (is declared) to us in the revealed texts.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 4, KANDIKA 7.

Now, therefore, we will declare the rule for (performing) the twilight devotions.
Going to a (sacred) bathing-place, he shall bathe, in case he is impure; in case he is pure, he may, optionally, omit the bath. (But in either case) he shall wash his feet and hands. Sipping water and sprinkling himself, while he recites the (Rik-verses) containing the word Surabhi, the Abliegas, those addressed to Varuna, the Hiranyavarnas, the Pavamanis, the (sacred syllables called) Vyahritis, and other purificatory (texts), he becomes pure (and fit to perform the twilight devotions).
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘Submersion in water (and) bathing are prescribed for all the (four) castes. But sprinkling (water over the body), while Mantras (are being recited), is the particular (duty) of the twice-born.’
He who sprinkles himself (with water) at the beginning of any sacred rite,—before the time of the twilight devotions,—while reciting that same collection of purificatory (texts), becomes pure.
Now they quote also (the following rules): Seated, with his face to the west, on Darbha grass and holding Darbha blades in his (right) hand, which is filled with water, he shall repeat the Savitri one thousand times;
Or (he may recite the verse) one hundred times, suppressing his breath;
Or mentally ten times, adding the syllable Om at the beginning and at the end and the seven Vyahritis.
And if he is tired by three suppressions of his breath (performed) with (the recitation of) the (Anuvaka called) Brahmahridaya (the heart of Brahman, then let him repeat the Savitri).
In the evening he worships (the sun) with the two (verses) addressed to Varuna, ‘Hear this my call, O Varuna,’ and ‘Therefore I go to thee.’
The same (rules apply to the twilight devotion) in the morning, (but the worshipper) shall face the east and stand upright.
In the daytime he worships (the sun) with the two (verses) addressed to Mitra, ‘The glory of Mitra, who supports men,’ and ‘Mitra causes men to join.’
Let him begin (the twilight devotion) in the morning very early, and finish it when the sun has risen.
Let him begin (the twilight devotion) in the evening, when (the sun) has set, (and finish it) very soon after (the appearance of the stars);
And the complete observance of the twilight devotions (produces as its reward) an uninterrupted succession of days and nights.
Now they quote with reference to this (subject) also the following two verses, which have been proclaimed by the Lord of created beings (Pragapati) ‘How can those twice-born men be called Brahmanas who do not perform their twilight devotions, in the morning and in the evening at the proper time? At his pleasure a righteous king may appoint those Brahmanas who neglect to daily perform the twilight devotions, both at morn and at eve, to do the work of Sudras.’
If the time for the (twilight devotion) is allowed to pass in the evening, (the offender shall) fast during the night; and if it is neglected in the morning, he shall fast during the (next) day.
He obtains (thereby) the (same) reward as if he had remained standing and sitting (in the twilight).
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘Whatever sin (a man) may have committed with his organ, with his feet, with his arms, by thoughts or by speech, from (all) that he is freed by performing the twilight devotion in the evening.’
(The worshipper) becomes also connected (thereby) with the (next) night, and Varuna will not seize him.
In like manner he becomes free from the sin committed during the night by worshipping in the morning.
He is also connected with the (next) day, Mitra protects him and Aditya leads him up to heaven.
It is declared in the Veda, ‘A Brahmana who in this same manner daily worships in the twilight, both at morn and at eve and, being sanctified by the Brahman, becoming one with the Brahman, and resplendent through the Brahman, follows the rules of the Shastra, gains the heaven of Brahman.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 8.

Now, after washing his hands, he shall take his waterpot and a clod of earth, go to a (sacred) bathing-place and thrice clean his feet (with earth and water) and thrice his body.
Now some say, ‘One must not enter a burial-ground, water, a temple, a cowpen, nor a place where Brahmanas (sit) without having cleaned one’s feet.’
Then he enters the water, (reciting the following verse): ‘I take refuge with gold-horned Varuna, give me at my request (O Varuna) a purifying bathing-place. May Indra, Varuna, Brihaspati, and Savitri again and again cleanse me from all sin which I have committed by eating the food of unholy men, by receiving gifts from the wicked, and from all evil which I have done by thoughts, speeches, or deeds.’
Then he takes up water in his joined hands, (saying), ‘May the waters and the herbs be propitious to us.’
(Next) he pours (the water) out in that direction in which an enemy of his dwells, (saying), ‘May they work woe to him who hates us and whom we hate.’
Then he sips water, and thrice makes the water eddy around himself turning from the left to the right (and saying), ‘May that which is hurtful, which is impure, and which is inauspicious in the water be removed.’
After having submerged himself and having emerged from the water,
(Acts of) personal purification, washing the clothes by beating them on a stone and sipping water are not (permitted to the worshipper) as long as he is in the water.
If (the water used for bathing) has been (taken from a) confined (place, such as a well), he worships it with the following (Mantra): ‘Adoration to Agni, the lord of the waters; adoration to Indra; adoration to Varuna; adoration to Varuni; adoration to the waters.’
After having ascended the bank and having sipped water, let him again sip water, though he has done so before, (and recite the following Mantras) ‘May water purify the earth, may the purified earth purify me, may Brahmanaspati (and) Brahman purify, may the purified (earth) purify me. May water purify me, (taking away) all (the guilt which I incurred by eating) remnants of food, and forbidden food, (by committing) evil deeds, (by) receiving gifts from wicked men, Svaha!’
Making two Pavitras he rubs (his body) with water. Having rubbed himself, (reciting the) three (verses), ‘Ye waters are,’ &c., the four (verses), ‘The golden-coloured, pure, purifying,’ &c., (and) the Anuvaka, ‘He who purifies,’ &c., he performs, stepping back into the water, three Pranayamas with the Aghamarshana (hymn); then he ascends the bank, squeezes (the water) out of his dress, puts on garments which have been washed and dried in the air and which are not the worse for wear, sips water, sits down on Darbha grass, and, holding Darbha grass (in his hands), recites, facing the east, the Gayatri one thousand times, (or) one hundred times, or any number of times, or at least twelve times.
Then he worships the sun (reciting the following Mantras): ‘Out of darkness we,’ &c., ‘Up that bright,’ &c., That eye which is beneficial to the gods,’ &c., (and) ‘He who rose,’ &c.
Now they quote also (the following maxim): ‘The syllable Om, the Vyahritis, and the Savitri, these five Veda-offerings daily cleanse the Brahmana from guilt.’
Being purified by the five Veda-offerings, he next satiates the gods (with water, saying),

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 9.

‘I satiate the deities of the eastern gate, Agni, Pragapati, Soma, Rudra, Aditi, Brihaspati, together with the lunar mansions, with the planets, with the days and nights, and with the Muhurtas; Om, I also satiate the Vasus;
‘Om, I satiate the deities of the southern gate, the Pitris, Yama, Bhaga, Savitri, Tvashtri, Vayu, Indragni, together with the lunar mansions, with the planets, with the days and nights, and with the Muhurtas; Om, I also satiate the Rudras.
‘Om, I satiate the deities of the western gate, Mitra, Indra, the Mahapitris, the Waters, all the gods, Brahman, Vishnu, together with the lunar mansions, with the planets, with the days and nights, and with the Muhurtas; Om, I also satiate the Adityas.
‘Om, I satiate the deities of the northern gate, the Vasus, Varuna, Aga-ekapad, Ahibudhnya, Ushas, the two Asvins, Yama, together with......
‘Om, I satiate all the gods; the Sadhyas; Brahman; Pragapati; the four-faced god; Hiranyagarbha; Svayambhu; the male attendants of Brahman; Parameshthin; the female attendants of Brahman; Agni; Vayu; Varuna; Surya; the moon; the lunar mansions; Sadyogata; Bhuh-purusha; Bhuvah-purusha; Suvah-purusha; Bhuh; Bhuvah; Suvah; Mahah; Ganah; Tapah; Satya.
‘Om, I satiate the god Bhava; Sarva; Isana; Pasupati; Rudra; Ugra; Bhimadeva; Mahadeva; the wife of the god Bhava; of the god Sarva; of the god Isana; of the god Pasupati; of the god Rudra; of the god Ugra; of Bhimadeva; of Mahadeva; the son of Bhava; of Sarva; of Isana; of Pasupati; of Rudra; of Ugra; of Bhimadeva; of Mahadeva; Om, I also satiate the Rudras, the attendants of Rudra.
‘Om, I satiate Vighna; Vinayaka; Vira; Sthula; Varada; Hastimukha; Vakratunda; Ekadanta; Lambodara; the male attendants of Vighna; the female attendants of Vighna.
‘Om, I satiate Sanatkumara; Skanda; Indra; Shashthi; Shanmukha; Visakha; Mahasena; Subrahmanya; the male attendants of Skanda; the female attendants of Skanda.
‘Om, I satiate Aditya; Soma; Aegaraka; Budha; Brihaspati; Sukra; Sanaiskara; Rahu; Ketu.
To. ‘Om, I satiate Kesava; Narayana; Madhava; Govinda; Vishnu; Madhusudana; Trivikrama; Vamana; Sridhara; Hrishikesa; Padmanabha; Damodara; the goddess Sri; the goddess Sarasvati; Pushti; Tushti; Vishnu; Garutmat; the male attendants of Vishnu; the female attendants of Vishnu.
‘Om, I satiate Yama; Yamaraga; Dharma; Dharmaraga; Kala; Nila; Mrityu; Mrityungaya; Vaivasvata; Kitragupta; Audumbara; the male attendants of Vaivasvata; the female attendants of Vaivasvata.
‘Om, I satiate the gods of the earth; Kasyapa; Antariksha; Vidya; Dhanvantari; the male attendants of Dhanvantari; the female attendants of Dhanvantari.’
Next, passing the sacrificial thread round the neck, (he offers the following libations):
‘Om, I satiate the Rishis; the great Rishis; the best Rishis; the Brahmarshis; the divine Rishis; the royal Rishis; the Srutarshis; the Seven Rishis; the Rishis of the Kandas (of the Yagur-veda); the Rishikas; the wives of the Rishis; the sons of the Rishis; Kanva Baudhayana; Apastamba, the author of the Sutra; Satyashadha Hiranyakesin; Vagasaneyin Yagnavalkya; Asvalayana Saunaka; Vyasa; the syllable Om; the Vyahritis; the Savitri; the Gayatri; the Khandas; the Rig-vela; the Yagur-veda; the Samaveda; the Atharvaegirasa; the Itihasa and Purana; all the Vedas; the servants of all gods; all beings.’
Then, passing the sacrificial string over the right shoulder, (he offers the following libations):

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 5, KANDIKA 10.

Om, I satiate the fathers, Svadha, adoration! the grandfathers; the great-grandfathers; the mothers; the grandmothers; the great-grandmothers; the maternal grandfathers; the maternal grandmother; the mother’s grandmother; the mother’s great-grandmother.
‘Om, I satiate the teacher (akarya), Svadha, adoration! the wife of the teacher; the friends; the wives of the friends; the relatives; the wives of the relatives; the inmates of the house (amatya); the wives of the inmates of the house; all; the wives of all.’
He pours the water out from the several Tirthas (of the hand sacred to the several deities).
(He recites at the end of the rite the following Mantra): ‘(Ye waters), who bring food, ambrosia, clarified butter, milk, and barley-gruel, are food for the manes; satiate my ancestors! May you be satiated, may you be satiated!’
Let him not perform ceremonies in honour of the gods while his clothes are wet, or while he is dressed in one garment only.
Nor those connected with the manes. That is the opinion) of some (teachers).

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 6, KANDIKA 11.

Now these five great sacrifices, which are also called the great sacrificial sessions, are the sacrifice to be offered to the gods, the sacrifice to be offered to the manes, the sacrifice to be offered to all beings, the sacrifice to be offered to men, (and) the sacrifice to be offered to Brahman,
Let him daily offer (something to the gods with the exclamation) Svaha, be it only a piece of fuel. Thereby he performs that sacrifice to the gods.
Let him daily offer (something to the manes with the exclamation) Svadha, be it only a vessel filled with water. Thereby he performs that sacrifice to the manes.
Let him daily pay reverence to (all beings) endowed with life. Thereby he performs that sacrifice to the beings.
Let him daily give food to Brahmanas, be it only roots, fruit, or vegetables. Thereby he performs that sacrifice to men.
Let him daily recite the Veda privately, be it only the syllable Om or the Vyahritis. Thereby he performs that sacrifice to be offered to Brahman.
‘The private recitation of the Veda is, indeed, the sacrifice to Brahman. At that sacrifice to Brahman speech, forsooth, (takes the place of) the Guhu, the internal organ (that of) the Upabhrit, the eye (that of) the Dhruva, the understanding (that of) the Sruva, truth (that of) the final bath, heaven (is) the conclusion of the sacrifice. He who, knowing this, daily recites the Veda to himself, gains as much heavenly bliss as, and more than, he who gives away this whole earth that is filled with wealth, and imperishable (beatitude), and conquers death. Therefore the Veda should be recited in private. Thus speaks the Brahmana.’
Now they quote also (the following passage): ‘If, well anointed, well fed, and lying on a comfortable couch, one recites (the portion of the Veda referring to) any sacrifice, one has offered it thereby.’
Some (teachers) declare (that there is a text) which teaches a fourfold division of these sacred duties. (But) as no (other meaning is) perceptible, (the text) ‘Four paths,’ &c., refers to sacrificial rites.
(Viz.) to Ishtis, animal sacrifices, Soma sacrifices, and Darvihomas.
The following (Rik) declares that, ‘Four paths, leading to the world of the gods, go severally from the earth to heaven. All ye gods, place us on that among them which will gain us undecaying prosperity.’
The student, the householder, the hermit in the woods, the ascetic (constitute the four orders).
A student (shall) obey his teacher until death.
A hermit is he who regulates his conduct entirely according to the Institutes proclaimed by Vikhanas.
A Vaikhanasa (shall live) in the forest, subsisting on roots and fruit, practising austerities and bathing at morn, noon, and eve; he shall kindle a fire according to the Sramanaka (rule); he shall eat wild-growing (vegetables and grain) only; he shall worship gods, manes, Bhutas, men, and Rishis; he shall receive hospitably (men of) all (castes) except those (with whom intercourse is) forbidden; he may even use the flesh of animals killed by carnivorous beasts; he shall not step on ploughed (land); and he shall not enter a village; he shall wear his hair in braids, and dress in (garments made of) bark or skins; he shall not eat anything that has been hoarded for more than a year.
An ascetic shall leave his relatives and, not attended by any one nor procuring any property, depart (from his house performing the customary ceremony) according to the rule.
He shall go into the forest (and live there).
He shall shave his hair excepting the top-lock.
He shall wear a cloth to cover his nakedness.
He shall reside in one place during the rainy season.
He shall wear a dress dyed yellowish-red.
He shall go to beg when the pestle lies motionless, when the embers have been extinguished, and when the cleaning of the dishes has been finished.
With the three means of punishment, (viz.) words, thoughts, and acts, he shall not injure created beings.
He shall carry a cloth for straining water for the sake of purification.
He shall perform the necessary purifications with water which has been taken out (of a well or tank) and has been strained.
(Ascetics shall) say, ‘Renouncing the works taught in the Veda, cut off from both (worlds), we attach ourselves to the central sphere (Brahman).’
But the venerable teacher (declares) that there is one order only, because the others do not beget offspring.
With reference to this matter they quote also (the following passage): ‘There was, forsooth, an Asura, Kapila by name, the son of Prahlada. Striving with the gods, he made these divisions. A wise man should not take heed of them.’
Because no (other meaning is) perceptible, (the text) ‘Four paths,’ &c., refers to sacrificial rites, (viz.) to Ishtis, animal sacrifices, Soma sacrifices, Darvihomas.
With respect to this (question the following verse also) is quoted: ‘That eternal greatness of the Brahmana is neither increased by works, nor diminished. The soul knows the nature of that (greatness); knowing that, he is not stained by evil deeds.’
If he says that, (let him reflect on the following verse): ‘He who knows not the Veda, does not at death think of that great, all-perceiving soul, through which the sun, resplendent with brilliancy, gives warmth, and the father has a father through the son at his birth from the womb.’
(Moreover), ‘Those who, being neither true Brahmanas nor performers of Soma sacrifices, work not for that which is near, nor for that which is far, take hold of the word and with sinful (speech) ignorantly perform the rites.’
There are innumerable (passages in the Veda) which refer to the debts (to be paid by a Brahmana), such as, ‘May I obtain, O Agni, immortality through offspring;’ ‘A Brahmana on being born, (owes) a son to his ancestors,’ &c.
‘Those dwell with us, who fulfil the following (duties), the study of the three Vedas, the studentship, the procreation of offspring, faith, austerity, sacrificing, and giving gifts; he who praises other (duties) becomes dust and perishes.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 7, KANDIKA 12.

Now we will explain the oblations (offered) to the vital air (prana) by Salinas (householders) and Yayavaras (vagrants), who sacrifice to the soul.
At the end of all the necessary (daily rites), let him sit down, facing the east, in a place that has been well cleaned and smeared with cowdung; next let him worship that prepared (food) which is being brought. (saying), ‘Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, Om,’ (and then) remain silent.
(Next) he pours water round the food which has been placed (before him), turning his right hand towards it, and reciting the Mahavyahritis; (afterwards), continuing to hold (the dish) with his left hand, he first drinks water, (saying), ‘Thou art a substratum for ambrosia,’ and (finally) offers five oblations of food to the vital airs, (reciting the texts), ‘Full of reverence, I offer ambrosia to Prana; mayest thou propitiously enter me, not in order to burn me. To Prana, Svaha!’ &c.
After offering the five oblations of food to the vital airs, let him finish his meal silently. Meditating in his heart on the lord of created beings, let him not emit speech while (eating),
If he emits speech, he shall mutter ‘Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, Om,’ and afterwards continue to eat.
Now they quote also (the following rule): ‘If he sees (bits of) skin, hair, nail-(parings), insects, or the dung of rats (in his food), ‘he shall take out a lump, sprinkle that spot with water, scatter ashes on it, again sprinkle it with water, and use (the remainder of the food), after it has been declared fit (for use).’
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘He shall eat, seated with his face towards the east, silent, not despising his food, not scattering (fragments on the ground), and solely attend (to his dinner); and, after he has eaten, he shall touch fire.’
He shall not cut off with his teeth (pieces from) eatables (that must be swallowed) entire, (such as) cakes, bulbs, roots, fruit, and flesh.
(Let him) not (eat) to repletion.
After (dinner) he shall drink water, (reciting the text), ‘Thou art ‘a covering for ambrosia,’ and stroke (the region of) the heart, (saying), ‘Thou art the bond that connects the vital airs; (thou art) [paragraph continues] Rudra and Death; enter me; mayest thou grow through this food.’
After sipping water a second time, he allows (the drops from) the hand to flow on the big toe of his right foot (and recites the following text): ‘May the male be pleased, he who is of the size of a thumb, who occupies (a space of the size of) a thumb, who is the lord of the whole world, masterful, and the enjoyer of the universe.’
Let him perform the subsequent consecration (anumantrana) of the (food which has been) offered, with raised arms, (and let him recite) the five (texts beginning), ‘With faith, worshipping Prana, (I have) offered ambrosia; mayest thou increase Prana through this food,’
(And let him address the soul with the last text of the Anuvaka), ‘(May) my soul (gain) immortality in the universal soul.’
And let him (meditate on his) soul (as) united with the imperishable (syllable Om).
He who sacrifices to the soul, surpasses him who offers all sacrifices.

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 7, KANDIKA 13.

Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘As cotton and reeds, thrown into a fire, blaze up, even so all the guilt of him who sacrifices to the soul is consumed;’
(Moreover), ‘He who eats merely (in order to satisfy his own hunger) reaps only guilt. In vain (the fool) takes food.’
Let him daily, both in the morning and in the evening, sacrifice in this manner;
Or (he may offer) water in the evening.
Now they quote also (the following verses): Let him first feed his guests, next the pregnant women, then the infants and the aged, thereafter the distressed and particularly the diseased. But he who eats first, without having given (food) to those (persons) according to the rule, does not know that he is being eaten. He does not eat, (but) he is eaten.’
‘Let him eat silently what remains, (after he has given their portions) to the manes, the gods, the servants, his parents, and his Gurus; that is declared to be the rule of the sacred law.’
Nov they quote also (the following verses): Eight mouthfuls are the meal of an ascetic, sixteen that of a hermit in the woods, thirty-two that of a householder, and an unlimited (quantity) that of a student.’
‘An Agnihotrin, a draught-ox, and, a student, those three can do their work only if they eat (much); without eating (much) they cannot do it.’
‘A householder, or a student who practises austerity by fasting, becomes an Avakirnin through the omission of the sacrifice to the vital airs;’
Except when he performs a penance. In the case of a penance that (fasting) is the rule.
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘He who never eats between the morning and the evening meals, (obtains the same reward as he who) constantly fasts.’
‘As in case one obtains no materials (for the sacrifice), one must mutter the sacred texts to be recited at the Agnihotra, offered in the three fires, even so one should mutter the texts to be recited at the Pranagnihotra, when one is prevented from dining.’
‘He who acts thus, will become one with Brahman.’ Thus spake Pragapati (the lord of created beings).

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 8, KANDIKA 14.

The offering to the manes secures long life and heaven, is worthy of praise and a rite ensuring prosperity.
Persons who sanctify the company are, a Trimadhu, a Trinakiketa, a Trisuparna, one who keeps five fires, and one who knows the six Aegas, one who performs the vow called Siras, one who knows the Gyeshthasaman, (and) a Snataka;
On failure of these, one who knows the (texts called) Rahasya.
The Rik-verses, the Yagus-formulas, and the Samans (give) lustre to a funeral offering. Therefore he may feed (on that occasion) even a Sapinda relation who (knows) those (texts).
Let him who feeds (Brahmanas at a funeral sacrifice) cause them to hear successively the Rakshoghna Samans, the Yagus-formulas (called) Svadhavat, the Rik-verses (called) Madhu, and the (texts called) Pavitras.
Having invited on the day before (the Sraddha), or just in the morning, virtuous, pure (men), such as Trimadhus, who know the VedaEgas and the sacred texts, who are not related by marriage, nor members of the same family, nor connected through the Veda, at least three, (but always) an odd number, the (sacrificer) makes them sit down on prepared seats, covered with Darbha grass, facing the east or the north.
Then he offers to them water mixed with sesamum seed, adorns them with scents and garlands (and says), ‘I wish to offer oblations in the fire.’ When he has received permission (to do so), he heaps fuel on the sacred fire, scatters Kusa grass around it, performs (all the ceremonies) up to the end of the Agnimukha, and offers three burnt oblations of food only, (reciting the following texts): ‘To Soma, accompanied by the manes, Svaha!’ ‘To Yama, accompanied by the Angiras and by the manes, Svaha!’ ‘To Agni, who carries the offerings to the manes, who causes sacrifices to be well performed, Svaha!’
He shall make these three oblations with food only which has been sprinkled with the remainder of the (clarified butter).
Let him give a cake of food to the birds.
For it is declared in the Veda, ‘The manes roam about in the shape of birds.’
Next he touches the (other food) with his hand and with the thumb,
(And recites the following texts): ‘Fire sees thee, who art co-extensive with the earth, the Rik-verses are thy greatness, lest the gift be in vain; the earth is the vessel for thee, the sky the cover; I offer thee in the mouth of Brahman, I offer thee in the Prana and the Apana of learned Brahmanas; thou art imperishable, mayest thou never fail to (the manes of our) fathers yonder, in the other world.’ ‘Air hears thee, who art co-extensive with the middle sphere, the Yagus-formulas are thy greatness, lest the gift be in vain; the earth is the vessel for thee, the sky the cover;... mayest thou never fail to the (manes of our) grandfathers yonder, in the other world.’ ‘The sun reveals thee, who art co-extensive with the sky, the Samans are thy greatness, lest the gift be in vain;.... mayest thou never fail to the (manes of our) great-grandfathers yonder, in the other world.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 8, KANDIKA 15.

Now indeed (that) happens (also which the following verses teach):
‘Let him sprinkle that food with the remainder of the burnt oblations. But what is given without (touching it with) the thumb does not gladden the manes.’
‘The malevolent Asuras seek an opportunity (to snatch away) that food intended for the manes, which is not supported with both hands.’
‘The Yatudhanas and Pisakas, who receive no share, steal the food if sesamum grains are not scattered (on the seats of the guests), and the Asuras (take it) if (the host) is under the sway of anger.’
‘If a person dressed in reddish clothes mutters prayers, offers burnt oblations, or receives gifts, the sacrificial viands, offered at sacrifices to the gods or to the manes, do not reach the deities.’
‘If gifts are given or received without (touching them with) the thumb and, if one sips water standing, (the performer of the act) is not benefited thereby.’
At the beginning and at the end (of a Sraddha) water must be giver. (to the guests).
In every case the muttering (of sacred texts) and the other (necessary acts must be performed) according to the rule.
The remaining (rules) have been prescribed (in the section) on the burnt oblations on Ashtaka (days).
‘He shall feed two (Brahmanas) at the offering to the gods and three at the offering to the manes, or a single man on either occasion. Even a very wealthy man shall not be anxious (to entertain) a large company.’
‘A large company destroys these five (advantages), the respectful treatment (of the invited guests, the propriety of) time and place, purity and (the selection of) virtuous Brahmana (guests); therefore he shall not invite (a large number).’
‘In front (feed) the fathers of the (sacrificer), to the left the grandfathers, to the right the great-grandfathers, and at the back those who pare off (portions) from the cakes.’

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 9, KANDIKA 16.

(Now follows some) advice for him who is desirous of offspring.
The two Asvins have declared, that fame is gained by the procreation (of sons);
‘Performing acts which tend to prolong life and austerities, intent on the performance of the private recitation and of sacrifices, and keeping his organs in subjection, let him carefully beget offspring in his own caste.’
‘From his birth a Brahmana is loaded with three debts; these let him pay. A prudent man is free from doubts regarding the sacred law.’
‘If he worships the sages through the study of the Veda, Indra with Soma sacrifices, and the manes of his ancestors through (the procreation of) children, he will rejoice in heaven, free from debt.’
‘Through a son he conquers the worlds, through a grandson he obtains immortality, but through his son’s grandson he ascends to the (highest) heaven.’ (All that) has been declared in the Veda.
The Veda shows the existence of the three debts in the following (passage): ‘A Brahmana is born loaded with three debts; (he owes) the studentship to the sages, sacrifices to the gods, and a son to the manes;’
Through the procreation of a virtuous son he saves himself.
He who obtains a virtuous son saves from the fear of sin seven in the descending line and seven in the ascending line, (viz.) six others (in each), himself being the seventh.
Therefore he obtains a reward if he begets issue.
Therefore he should sedulously beget offspring,
Through the application of medicines and sacred texts.
The advice to him (who is intent on the procreation of children) is given in agreement with the revealed texts.
For it produces results in the case of all the castes.

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 10, KANDIKA 17.

Now we will explain the rule for entering the order of ascetics (samnyasa).
Some (teachers say), ‘He who has finished his studentship may become an ascetic immediately on (the completion of) that.’
But (according to others, asceticism is befitting) for Salinas and Yayavaras who are childless;
Or a widower (may become an ascetic).
(In general) they prescribe the profession of asceticism after the completion of the seventieth year and after the children have been firmly settled in (the performance of) their sacred duties.
Or a hermit in the woods (may become an ascetic) on finishing the (special) ceremonies (prescribed for him).
‘That eternal greatness of the Brahmana is neither increased nor diminished by works. The soul knows the nature of that (greatness). He who knows that, is not stained by evil deeds.’
‘It leads to the cessation of births.’
‘The eternal one leads (him) to glory.’ The greatness (of asceticism is declared by these passages).
After having caused the hair of his head, his beard, the hair on his body, and his nails to be cut, he prepares
Sticks, a rope, a cloth for straining water, a water vessel, and an alms-bowl.
Taking these (implements, let him go) to the extremity of the village, or to-the extremity of the boundary (of the village), or to the house where the sacred fires are kept, partake of a threefold (mixture of) clarified butter, milk, (and) sour milk, and (afterwards) fast;
Or (he may partake of) water.
(Saying), ‘Om, Bhuh, I enter the Savitri, tat savitur varenyam; Om, Bhuvah, I enter the Savitri, bhargo devasya dhimahi; Om, I enter the Savitri, dhiyo yo nah pr.akodayat;’ (he shall recite the Savitri) foot by foot, half-verse by half-verse, (and finish by repeating) the whole or the parts (of the verse).
It is declared in the Veda, ‘Entering order after order, (man) becomes (one with) Brahman.’
Now they quote also (the following verse) ‘He who has passed from order to order, has offered burnt oblations and kept his organs in subjection, becomes afterwards, tired with (giving) alms and (making) offerings, an ascetic.’
Such an ascetic (becomes one with) the infinite (Brahman).
Before the sun sets, he heaps fuel on the Garhapatya fire, brings the Anvaharyapakana fire (to the spot), takes the flaming Ahavaniya. fire out (of the Garhapatya), melts butter on the Garhapatya fire, cleanses it (with Kusa grass), takes four times (portions of it) in the sacrificial spoon (called Sruk), and offers in the Ahavaniya fire on which sacred fuel has been heaped, (four times) a full oblation, (saying), ‘Om, Svaha!’
It is declared in the Veda that this (offering is) the Brahmanvadhana (putting fuel on the sacred fires for the sake of the universal soul).
Now in the evening, after the Agnihotra has been offered, he scatters grass to the north of the Garhapatya fire, places the sacrificial vessels in pairs, the upper part turned downwards, on it, strews Darbha grass to the south of the Ahavaniya fire on the seat destined for the Brahman priest, covers it with the skin of a black antelope, and remains awake during that night.
A Brahmana who, knowing this, dies after fasting during the night of Brahman and repositing within himself the sacred fires, conquers all guilt, even (that of) killing a Brahmana.
Then he rises in the muhurta sacred to Brahman, and offers the early Agnihotra just at the (appointed) time.
Next, after covering the (part of the altar called) Prishthya and bringing water, he prepares (an offering) to (Agni) Vaisvanara (which is cooked) in twelve potsherds. That (well-)known Ishti is the last (which he performs).
Afterwards he throws the sacrificial vessels, which are neither made of earth nor of stone, into the Ahavaniya fire,
(And) throwing the two Aranis into the Garhapatya fire (with the words), ‘May ye be of one mind with us,’ he reposits the sacred fires in himself.
(Reciting the sacred text), ‘O Fire, that body of thine, which is fit for the sacrifice,’ he inhales the smell of (the smoke of) each fire thrice three times.
Then, standing within the sacrificial enclosure, (he says) thrice in a low voice and thrice aloud, ‘Om, Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, I have entered the order of ascetics, I have entered the order of ascetics, I have entered the order of ascetics,’
It is declared in the Veda, ‘The gods are trebly true.’
(Finally) he pours out as much water as will fill his joined hands, (saying), ‘I promise not to injure any living being.’
Now they quote also (the following verse) An ascetic who roams about after having given a promise of safety to all living beings, is not threatened with danger by any creature.’
(Henceforth) he must restrain his speech.
He grasps his staff, (saying), ‘(Thou art my) friend, protect me.’
He takes the rope, (reciting the verse), ‘The brilliant light,’ &c.
He takes the cloth for straining water, (reciting the text), ‘With which means of purification the gods,’ &c.
He takes the waterpot, (reciting the verse), Through that light, by which the gods rose on high,’ &c.
He takes the alms-bowl, (reciting the Vyahritis).
Taking with him the staves, the rope, the cloth for straining water, the waterpot, (and) the alms-bowl, he goes where water (is to be obtained), bathes, sips water, (and) washes himself, (reciting the verses called) Surabhimati, AbliEgas, Varunis, Hiranyavarnas, and Pavamanis. Entering the water, he performs sixteen suppressions of the breath, (mentally repeating) the Aghamarshana hymn, ascends the bank, wrings out his dress, puts on another pure dress, sips water, takes the cloth for straining, (saying), ‘Om, Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah,’ and performs the Tarpana (with the following texts), ‘Om, Bhuh, I satiate,’ ‘Om, Bhuvah—, Om,
Svah—, Om, Mahah—, Om, Ganah—, Om, Tapah—, Om, Satyam—.’
He takes up as much water as his joined hands will hold for the manes, (and satiates them with it) exactly in the same manner as the gods, (saying), ‘Om, Bhuh Svadha, Om, Bhuvah Svadha,’ &c.
Then he worships the sun, (reciting) the two verses (which begin), ‘Ud u tyam kitram,’ &c.
(Saying), ‘Om, this (syllable Om), forsooth, is Brahman; this (syllable) which sheds warmth is light; this which gives warmth is the Veda; this must be known as that which sheds warmth;’ he thus satiates the soul (and afterwards) worships the soul (with these texts), ‘The soul (is) Brahman, (is) light.’
Let him repeat the Savitri one thousand times, or one hundred times, or an unlimited number of times.
(Saying), ‘Bhuh, Bhuvah, Suvah,’ he takes up the cloth for straining, (and) fetches water.
Let him not, (at any period) after that (moment), sip water which has not been drawn up (from a well and the like), which has not been strained, and which has not been completely cleansed.
Let him not wear any longer a white dress.
(He may carry) one staff or three staves.

PRASNA II, ADHYAYA 10, KANDIKA 18.

Now the following vows are (to be kept by an ascetic):
Abstention from injuring living beings, truthfulness, abstention from appropriating the property of others, continence, (and) liberality.
There are five minor vows, (viz.) abstention from anger, obedience towards the Guru, avoidance of rashness, cleanliness and purity in eating.
Now (follows the rule for) begging. Let him ask Brahmanas, both those who have houses (salina) and those who lead a wandering life (yayavara), for alms, when the Vaisvadeva offering has been finished.
Let him ask (for it), prefacing (his request with the word) Bhavat.
Let him stand begging no longer than the time required for milking a cow.
When he returns from begging, he lays (the alms) down in a pure place, washes his hands and feet, and announces (what he obtained) to the sun, (reciting the text), ‘Ud u tyam kitram,’ &c. He (also) announces it to Brahman (with the text), ‘The first-born Brahman,’ &c.
It is declared in the Veda, ‘After the Brahmadhana the sacrificer himself (contains) the sacrificial fires. His respiration (prana, represents) the Garhapatya fire, the air that goes downwards (apana, represents) the Anvaharyapakana (or Dakshina) fire, the circulation in the body (vyana, represents) the Ahavaniya fire, the cerebral circulation (udana) and the abdominal circulation (samana, represent) the Sabhya and Avasathya fires. These five fires are abiding in ‘the soul. He (therefore) offers (the oblations) in the soul alone.’
‘This sacrifice, offered in the soul, which is located in and based on the soul, leads the soul to happiness.’
Giving, compassionately, portions (of his food) to the living beings, and sprinkling the remainder with water, he shall eat it as if it were a medicine.
After he has eaten and sipped water, he mutters (the texts), ‘Out of darkness we,’ &c., (and), My speech resides in the mouth,’ &c., and worships the sun with the (verse called) Gyotishmati.
Let him eat food, given without asking, regarding which nothing has been settled beforehand and which has reached him accidentally, so much only as is sufficient to sustain life.
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘Eight mouthfuls (make) the meal of an ascetic, sixteen (that) of a hermit in the woods, thirty-two (that) of a householder, an unlimited (quantity that) of a student.’
‘Alms (may) either (be obtained) from (men of) the three castes, or the food (given) by a single Brahmana (may be eaten); or (he may obtain food) from (men of) all castes, and not (eat) that given by a single Brahmana.’
Now they quote (the following special rules) for the case that the teachers explain (the doctrine) of the Upanishads: ‘Diligently standing (in the daytime), keeping silence, sitting (at night) with crossed legs, bathing three times a day, and eating at the fourth, sixth, or eighth (meal-time only), he shall subsist entirely on (rice) grains, oil-cake, food prepared from barley, sour milk, (and) milk.’
It is declared in the Veda, On that (occasion) he shall rigidly keep silence; pressing the teeth together he may converse, without opening his mouth, as much as is necessary with teachers deeply versed in the three Vedas (and) with ascetics possessing a great knowledge of the scriptures, not with women, nor when he would break (his vow).’
(Let him keep) only one of (the rules which enjoin) standing (in the daytime), rigid silence, and sitting (at night) with crossed legs; let him not keep all three together.
It is declared in the Veda, And he who has gone there may eat, in times of distress, a small quantity of the food prescribed by his vow after (having partaken of other dishes), provided he does not break (his vow).’
‘Eight (things) do not cause him who is intent on standing (in the daytime), keeping rigid silence, sitting (at night) with crossed legs, bathing three times a day, and (eating) at the fourth, sixth, or eighth meal-time only, to break his vow, (viz.) water, roots, clarified butter, milk, sacrificial food, the wish of a Brahmana, an order of his teacher, and medicine.’
Let him mutter the (Mantras which must be recited at the) Agnihotra, in the evening and in the morning,
After performing his evening devotions by (reciting the verses called) Varunis, and his morning devotions by (reciting the verses called) Maitris.
An ascetic shall keep no fire, have no house, no home, and no protector. He may enter a village in order to collect alms, and emit speech at the private recitation of the Veda.’
It is declared in the Veda,’ Limited in number are the Rik-verses, limited in number are the Samans, limited is the answer (of the Adhvaryu priest):
‘Thus (an ascetic) shall not give up the Veda, (but live), until he is liberated from the body, at the root of the tree.’
‘The tree (is) the Veda; the syllable Om is its root; the syllable Om is the essence of the Veda.’
‘Meditating on the syllable Om, he becomes fit (to be united with) Brahman.’ Thus spake the lord of created beings.
Let him cleanse the vessel of Brahman with the seven Vyahritis.

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 1.

Now, therefore, (we will speak) of those who desire (to fulfil) the duties of Salinas (dwellers in houses), Yayavaras (wanderers), and Kakrakaras (circle-goers), who subsist by nine (different) means of livelihood.
The term livelihood’ (vritti) is used because they subsist thereby (tadvartanat).
The word Salina (is used) because they dwell in houses (sala).
To be a Yayavara (means that one) goes on by means of a most excellent livelihood (vrittya varaya yati).
The term Kakrakara is derived from going by turns (to the houses of rich men).
We will explain those (above-mentioned means of livelihood) in their proper order.
They are nine, (viz.) Shannivartani, Kauddali, Dhruva, Samprakshalani, Samuha, Palani, Silonkha, Kapota, and Siddhonkha.
(In addition) to these there is a tenth way of living, viz. forest-life.
(If he desires to adopt) any of the nine ways of living,
He causes the hair of his head, his beard, the hair on his body, and his nails to be cut, and besides gets ready (the following objects),
(Viz.) the skin of a black antelope, a water-pot, a staff, a yoke for carrying burdens, (and) a sickle.
He desires to go forth, after having offered a Traidhataviya (offering) or a Vaisvanari (ishti).
Now on the (following) morning, after the sun has risen, he makes the sacred fires burn brightly, melts butter on the Garhapatya fire, cleanses it (with Kusa grass), heats the (spoons called) Sruk and Sruva, cleans (them), takes out four (spoonfuls of butter) in the Sruk, and offers the Vastoshpatiya (oblation) in the Ahavaniya fire according to (the rules of his) Sutra.
Having recited the Puronuvakya (verse), ‘O lord of the dwelling, permit us,’ &c., he offers (the oblation) with the Yagya verse, ‘O lord of the dwelling, with thy kind company,’ &c.
Some (declare that) every person who has kindled the sacred fires (shall offer these Homas).
Others (say that) a Yayavara alone (shall do it).
After departing (from his house), he stops at the extremity of the village, or at the extremity of the boundary of the village, builds there a hut or a cottage, and enters that.
Let him use the skin of the black antelope and the other (objects) which he has prepared for the several purposes which they are intended to serve.
Known (is) the (duty of) serving the fires; known (is) the (duty of) offering the new and full moon sacrifices; known (is) the successive performance of the five Mahayagnas; it is seen that the vegetables, which have been produced, are offered.
He hallows those (vegetables), either (reciting the text),’ I offer what is agreeable to all the gods,’ or silently, and cooks (them).
For such (a man the duty of) teaching, sacrificing for others, accepting gifts, and (performing) other sacrifices (than those mentioned) ceases.
(The use of) sacrificial food fit to be eaten during the performance of a vow is seen;
That is as follows: (his food may be) mixed with clarified butter or sour milk, (it must) not (contain) pungent condiments or salt, nor meat, nor (be) stale.
(He shall remain) chaste, or approach (his wife) in season.
(It is necessary) to have the hair of his head, his beard, the hair on his body, and his nails cut on each Parva day, and the rules of purification (are obligatory on him).
Now they quote also (the following verses): ‘Two kinds of purification, which the Sishtas reverentially practise, are mentioned in the Veda,—external (purification), which consists in the removal of impure stains and foul smells, and internal (purification), which consists in the abstention from injuring live creatures.’
‘The body is purified by water, the understanding by knowledge, the soul of beings by abstention from injuring, (and) the internal organ by truth.’

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 2.

As regards (the mode of subsistence called) Shannivartani, (that) is (as follows): p. 288
He cultivates six Nivartanas (of) fallow (land); he gives a share to the owner (of the soil), or solicits his permission (to keep the whole produce).
Let him plough before breakfast with two bulls whose noses have not been pierced, not striking (them) with the goad, (but) frequently coaxing (them).
If he cultivates six Nivartanas in this manner (and subsists thereby), that is (the mode of living called) Shannivartani (subsistence on six Nivartanas).
(As regards the mode of subsistence called) Kauddali, he digs up (the soil) near a water(-course or tank) with a spade, a ploughshare, or a pointed piece of wood, sows seed, (and) grows bulbs, roots, fruit, pot-herbs, and vegetables.
(If he thus) cultivates (land) with a spade (and lives on its produce), that is the (mode of life called) Kauddali (subsistence by the spade).
He who lives by the (mode of subsistence called) Dhruva, wraps up his head in a white dress (saying), ‘For the sake of welfare I wrap thee up, O head,’ (and) takes the skin of a black antelope (with the words), ‘(Thou art) spiritual pre-eminence, (I take thee) for the sake of spiritual pre-eminence;’ the Pavitra (reciting) the AbliEga texts; the water-pot (saying), ‘Thou art strength, (I take) thee for the sake of strength;’ the yoke for carrying burdens (saying), ‘Thou art grain, (I take) thee for the sake of prosperity;’ the staff (saying), ‘(Thou art) a friend, protect me.’
On leaving (his hut), he mutters the Vyahritis, and (afterwards the verse used for) hallowing the quarters of the horizon, ‘May the earth, the middle sphere, the sky, the constellations, and all the quarters of the horizon, fire, air, and sun, (may all these) deities protect me on my road.’
Because, after muttering the Manastokiya (text) and entering the village, he shows himself with the yoke (on his shoulder) at the door of each house, they call it ‘showing oneself.’
Because, if every (other) livelihood fails, he persistently (dhruvam) supports himself by this (mode of living), it is called Dhruva (the unchangeable).
(As regards the mode of life called) Samprakshalani, (if, in order to show that) there is no waste of the vegetable (substances) obtained nor any hoarding, he turns the dishes, after washing them, upside down, (that is the livelihood called) Samprakshalani (living by washing).
As to the (mode of subsistence called) Samuha, (if) he sweeps up (grain) with a broom in permitted places where (grain-bearing) plants are found, either on a road or in fields the access to which is not obstructed (by hedges), and lives on (what he has thus obtained), that (livelihood is called) Samuha (living by sweeping).
As to the (mode of life called) Palani, it is also named Ahimsaka (not hurting), and the following (definition) is given. (If) he tries to obtain from virtuous men husked rice or seeds, and maintains (himself) thereby, that (is the mode of subsistence called) Palani.
As to the (mode of life called) Silonkha, (if) he gleans single ears in permitted places where (grain-bearing) plants grow, on a road or in fields the access to which is not obstructed, and supports himself by (these) gleanings, (collected) from time to time, that (is the mode of subsistence called) Silonkha (gleaning).
As to the (livelihood called) Kapota, (if) he picks up with two fingers single grains in permitted places, where (grain-bearing) plants grow, either on the road or in fields the access to which is not obstructed, that (is called), because he acts like a pigeon, Kapota (pigeon-life).
As to (the mode of life called) Siddhonkha, (if) tired with the (other) ways of subsistence, he asks, because he has become old or diseased, virtuous men for cooked food, that (is the livelihood called) Siddhonkha (gleaning cooked food).
If (he adopts) the latter, he must reposit (the sacred fires) in his soul and behave like an ascetic, except (in using) the cloth for straining water and (wearing) a reddish-brown dress.
If he subsists on the produce of the forest, (the fruits) of trees, creepers. and lianas, and of grasses, such as wild millet (syamaka) and wild sesamum, that (is called) forest-life.
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘Moving about with the beasts, dwelling together with them, and maintaining oneself in a manner similar to theirs, that is clearly the road to heaven.’

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 3.

Now the hermits in the wood belong to two classes,
Those who cook (their food), and those who do not cook it.
Among them, those who cook (their food are divided) into five subdivisions, (viz.) those who eat everything which the forest contains, those who live on unhusked (wild-growing grain), those who eat bulbs and roots, those who eat fruit, and those who eat pot-herbs.
Those who eat everything which the forest produces are, again, of two kinds: they either subsist on forest-produce generated by Indra, or on that which has been generated from semen.
Among these, that which has been generated by Indra (is the produce) of lianas, shrubs, creepers, and trees. Fetching (that) and cooking it, they offer the Agnihotra in the evening and in the morning, give (food) to ascetics, guests, and students, and eat the remainder.
That which is generated from semen is the flesh (of animals) slain by tigers, wolves, falcons, and other (carnivorous beasts), or by one of them. Fetching (that) and cooking it, they offer the Agnihotra in the evening and in the morning, give (shares) to ascetics, guests, and students, and eat the remainder.
Those who eat unhusked grain only, fetch rice, avoiding (husked) corn, boil it, offer the Agnihotra both in the evening and in the morning, give (food) to ascetics, guests, and students, and eat the remainder.
Those who eat bulbs and roots, or fruit, or pot-herbs, (act) exactly in the same manner.
Those (hermits) who do not cook (their food are divided into) five (classes), Unmaggakas, Pravrittasins, Mukhenadayins, Toyaharas, and Vayubhakshas.
Among these, the Unmaggakas (collect and prepare their food), avoiding (the use of) iron and stone implements,
The Pravrittasins take it with the hand,
The Mukhenadayins take it with the mouth (only, like beasts),
The Toyaharas subsist on water only,
And the Vayubhakshas (air-eaters) eat nothing.
In this manner ten (different) initiations are prescribed for hermits who follow the rule of Vikhanas (vaikhanasa).
He who has agreed (to obey) the Institutes of his (order, shall wear) a staff, (shall keep) rigid silence, and (shall) abstain from rash acts.
Hermits following the rule of Vikhanas (vaikhanasa) are purified (from sin), and (especially) those who abstain from food.
The sum of the rules applicable to all Brahma-Vaikhanasas (is as follows):
‘Let him not injure (even) gadflies or gnats; let him bear cold and perform austerities; let him constantly reside in the forest, be contented, and delight in (dresses made of) bark and skins, (and in carrying) water (in his pot).’
‘A devotee shall first honour the guests who have come to his hermitage at (dinner) time; he shall be sedulous in (worshipping) gods and Brahmanas, in (offering) the Agnihotra, and in practising austerities.’
“A Brahmana who has taken to forest-life, and who has adopted this difficult (but) pure mode of existence, which keeps him apart from wicked men, which must never be given up, which is similar to (that of the) beasts and birds, which allows the collection of the necessaries of life for one day only, and which necessitates the consumption of astringent and bitter (food), never sinks low.’
‘Moving about with the beasts, dwelling together with them, and maintaining oneself in a manner similar to theirs, that is clearly the road to heaven.’

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 4.

Now if a student commits any act against his vow, eats meat, or approaches a woman, whenever any evil befals him,
He heaps fuel on the fire in the interior of the house, scatters (Kusa grass) around it, and performs the ceremonies up to the end of the Agnimukha; then he offers oblations of clarified butter, (reciting the following texts): ‘It was done by lust, lust does it, to lust (belongs) all this, to him who draws me on, Svaha;’ ‘It was done by the internal organ, the internal organ does it, to the internal organ (belongs) all this, to him who draws me on, Svaha;’ ‘It was done by passion, passion does it, to passion (belongs) all this, to him who draws me on, Svaha;’ ‘It was done by ignorance, ignorance does it, to ignorance (belongs) all this, to him who draws me on, Svaha;’ ‘It was done by sin, sin does it, to sin (belongs) all this, to him who draws me on, Svaha;’ ‘It was done by wrath, wrath does it, to wrath (belongs) all this, to him who draws me on, Svaha.’
That which begins with the muttering (of the Vedic texts) and ends with the gift of a fee (consisting of) a cow is known,
(Afterwards) he stays (during the night) behind (i.e. to the west of) the fire, wrapping himself in the skin of a black antelope, the neck of which is turned towards the east and the hair of which is turned outside.
When the day dawns, he drags himself away from the hinder part (of the skin), goes to a bathing-place, bathes (there) in the manner which is known, (but) performs, while in the water, sixteen suppressions of breath with the Aghamarshana hymn; next he performs the known (ceremonies) up to the worship of the sun, and afterwards goes to the house of his teacher.
Let him know for certain that is equally (effective) as bathing (with the priests) at the end of a horse-sacrifice.

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 5.

Now we will explain the rule of the most holy Aghamarshana.
He goes to a bathing-place and bathes (there). Dressed in a pure dress let him raise, close to the water, an altar, and moistening his clothes by one (application of water), and filling his hand once (with water), let him recite the Aghamarshana hymn (in the manner of his daily) private recitation.
(Let him repeat it) one hundred times in the morning, one hundred times at midday, and one hundred times or an unlimited number of times in the afternoon.
When the stars have risen, let him partake of gruel prepared of one handful of barley.
After seven (days and) nights he is freed from all minor sins (upapataka), whether they have been committed intentionally or unintentionally, after twelve (days and) nights (from all other sins) excepting the murder of a learned Brahmana, the violation of a Guru’s bed, stealing gold, and drinking Sura.
After twenty-one (days and) nights he over-comes even those (crimes) and conquers them.
He overcomes everything, he conquers all, he obtains the reward of all sacrifices, he has bathed at all sacred bathing-places, he has performed the vows required for (the study of) all the Vedas, he becomes known to all the gods, he sanctifies a company (of Brahmanas) by merely looking (at them), and his undertakings are successful. Thus speaks Baudhayana.

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 6.

Now if a man feels his conscience charged with (evil) actions committed by himself, let him boil for himself (alone), when the stars have risen, a handful of barley, (and prepare) gruel (with that).
Let him not perform the Vaisvadeva oblation with (a portion of) that,
Nor (shall) a Bali offering (be performed) on that (occasion).
Let him consecrate the barley before it is boiled, while it is being boiled, and after it has been boiled, with the (following) Mantras
‘Thou art barley, thou art the king of grains, thou art sacred to Varuna and mixed with honey, the sages have proclaimed thee an expeller of all guilt and a means of purification.’ ‘Ye barley-grains are clarified butter and honey, ye barley-grains are water and ambrosia. May you remove my guilt and all my sins:’ ‘Those committed by words, by acts, and by evil thoughts; ill-fortune and the night of all-destroying time,—all that avert from me, ye barley-grains.’ ‘(From the sin of eating) food which had been worried by dogs or pigs, or which had been defiled by crows and impure men, from the sin of disobedience towards mother and father,—from all that purify me, ye barley-grains.’ ‘From the dreadful (guilt of) mortal sins and of the crime (of serving) a king, from the wrong done to infants or aged men, from (the guilt) of stealing gold, of breaking my vows, of sacrificing for an un-worthy man, of speaking evil of Brahmanas,—from all that purify me, ye barley-grains.’ ‘From (the sin of eating) the food of many men, of harlots and of Sudras, of (partaking of) funeral dinners and of (the food given by) persons who are unclean on account of a death or a birth, of that given by thieves, or at a funeral sacrifice offered to one who lately died,—from all that purify me, ye barley-grains.’
(While the barley) is being boiled, he must protect it (and recite the text), ‘Adoration to Rudra, the lord of created beings; pacified is the sky;’ the Anuvaka (beginning), ‘Give strength;’ the five sentences (beginning), ‘The gods who are seated in front, led by Agni;’ the two (texts), ‘Do not hurt our offspring,’ (and) ‘The Brahman-priest among the gods.’
Having purified himself (by sipping water, &c.), he shall eat a little of the boiled (mess), after pouring it into (another) vessel.
Let him offer it as a sacrifice to the soul, (reciting the text), ‘May the gods, who are born from the internal organ and joined to the internal organ, who are very strong, whose father is Daksha, protect us (and) guard us; adoration to them, to them Svaha.’
Let him who desires intelligence (subsist on such food during three (days and) nights.
A sinner who drinks it during six (days and) nights becomes pure.
He who drinks it during seven (days and) nights is purified from (the guilt of) the murder of a learned Brahmana, of violating a Guru’s bed, of stealing gold, and of drinking Sura.
He who drinks it during eleven (days and) nights, removes even the sins committed by his ancestors.
‘But he who during twenty-one days (drinks gruel made) of barley-grains which have passed through a cow, sees the Ganas and the lord of the Ganas, sees the goddess of learning and the lord of learning.’ Thus speaks the venerable Baudhayana.

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 7.

'Let him who considers himself impure offer (burnt oblations), reciting the Kushmandas.’
‘He who has had forbidden intercourse, or has committed a crime against nature, becomes even like a thief, even like the slayer of a learned Brahmana.’
‘He is freed from any sin which is less than the crime of slaying a learned Brahmana.’
If, after wasting his strength except in his sleep, he desires to become free from the stain and holy,
He causes the hair of his head, his beard, the hair on his body, and his nails to be cut on the day of the new moon or of the full moon, and takes upon himself a vow according to the rule prescribed for students,
(To be kept) during a year, or a month, or twenty-four days, or twelve nights, or six or three nights.
Let him not eat meat, nor approach a woman, not sit on (a couch or seat, and) beware of (speaking an) untruth.
To subsist on milk (alone is) the most excellent mode of living; or, using barley-gruel (as his food), he may perform a Krikkhra (penance) of twelve days, or he may (maintain himself by) begging.
On such (occasions) a Kshatriya (shall subsist on) barley-gruel, a Vaisya on curds of two-milk whey.
Having kindled the sacred fire in the morning according to the rule for Pakayagnas, having scattered (Kusa grass) around it, and having performed (the preliminary ceremonies) up to the end of the Agnimukha, he next offers in addition burnt oblations, reciting the three Anuvakas (beginning), ‘What cause of anger to the gods, ye gods,’ ‘The debts which I contracted,’ (and) ‘May worshipful Agni give thee by every means long life.’
Let him offer with each Rik-verse a portion of clarified butter.
After having offered four oblations with (the spoon called) Sruva, reciting (the texts), ‘That strength which lies in the lion, in the tiger, and in the panther,’ &c., and the four Abhyavartinis (i.e. the texts), ‘Thou, O fire, who turnest back,’ &c., ‘O Aegiras,’ &c., ‘Again with strength,’ &c., (and) ‘With wealth,’ &c., after having taken his position, with sacred fuel in his hands, in the place allotted to the sacrificer, he worships (the fire) with the hymn which contains twelve verses (and begins), ‘To Vaisvanara we announce.’
Having placed the piece of sacred fuel (on the fire with the text), ‘Whatever sin I ever committed by thoughts or words, from all that free me (O fire, being duly) praised, for thou knowest the truth, Svaha,’ he gives a fee.
(The ceremonies) which begin with the muttering (of the texts) and end with the gift of a cow as a fee are known.
One (person) only (shall) perform the service of the fire.
Now (let him offer) at the Agnyadheya full oblations (purnahuti, with the texts), ‘Whatever cause of anger to the gods, ye gods;’ ‘The debts which I contracted;” May worshipful Agni give thee by every means long life.’
Having offered (it), he who is about to perform the Agnihotra, (worships) with the Dasahotri (texts); having offered (it), he who is about to perform the new and full moon sacrifices (worships) with the Katurhotri (texts); having offered (it), he who is about to offer the Katurmasya sacrifices (worships) with the Pankahotri (texts); having offered it, (he worships) at an animal sacrifice with the Shaddhotri (texts), at a Soma-sacrifice with the Saptahotri (texts).
And it is declared in the Veda, ‘Let him sacrifice (with the Kushmanda texts) at the beginning of the rites; purified (thereby) he gains the world of the gods.’ Thus (speaks) the Brahmana.

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 8.

Now, therefore, we will explain the rule of the Kandrayana (lunar penance).
Let him fast on the fourteenth day of the bright half of the month.
Having had the hair on his head, his beard, the hair on his body, and his nails, or his beard alone, cut, let him enter, dressed, in new clothes and speaking the truth, the place where the sacrificial fire is preserved.
There a (common) fire, (which may be) fetched once (only, shall serve) him; or (the fire) must be produced by friction with the Aranis.
Let a student, who is a friend (of the performer), be ready at hand to (carry out his) directions;
And sacrificial viands (shall be his) food during the performance of the vow.
Having heaped fuel on the fire, scattered (Kusa grass) around it, and performed (the ceremonies) up to the end of the Agnimukha, he offers burnt oblations, (cutting off portions) from the cooked food,
(The first) to Agni, (the second) to the lunar day whichever it may be, (the third and the fourth) to the lunar mansion together with its guardian deity, the fifth to the moon (with the verse), ‘Atraha gor amanvata,’ the sixth to the sky and the earth, the seventh to day and night, the eighth to Rudra, the ninth to the sun, the tenth to Varuna, the eleventh to Indra, and the twelfth to all the gods.
Now they mention (the following) other (oblations which are to be offered) to the points of the horizon and to their (guardian) deities, to the wide middle sphere and to its (guardian) deity.
Having offered (the oblation) to Agni Svishtakrit (with the verse), ‘Ever new,’ &c., he then places the remainder of the sacrificial viands into a goblet (kamsa) or a cup (kamasa), pours seasoning, that is fit for sacrifices, over them, and eats fifteen morsels of ordinary size,
The first (saying, ‘I offer) thee to Prana,’ the second (saying,’ I offer) thee to Apana,’ the third (saying, ‘I offer) thee to Vyana,’ the fourth (saying, ‘I offer) thee to Udana,’ the fifth (saying, ‘I offer) thee to Samana.’ If there are only four (mouthfuls, he eats) the first reciting two (texts); if there are three, (he eats) the first two reciting two (texts) with each; if there are two, (he eats) the first reciting two (texts and) the second reciting three texts; (if, there is only) one, (he recites) all (the five texts) together.
Having drunk water (with the text), ‘Thou art water used for moistening Soma,’ &c., he then offers the (following) additional oblations of clarified butter, with the seven Anuvakas (beginning), ‘May my Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, and Samana be purified;’ ‘May my voice, mind, eye, ear,’ &c.; ‘May my head, hands, feet;’ ‘May my skin;’ ‘May the sense of hearing, touch;’ ‘May earth, water;’ ‘May that which consists of food.’
(The ceremonies) beginning with the muttering (of sacred texts) and ending with the gift of a cow as a fee are known.
He worships the sun with (three verses) ad—dressed to Surya and the moon with (three verses) addressed to Kandramas.
When he goes to rest, he mutters (the verse), ‘O fire, keep thou good watch,’
When he awakes (in the morning, the verse), ‘O fire, thou art the protector of vows.’
Let him not talk with women and Sudras addressing them first; let him not look at urine and ordure.
If he has seen any impure substance, he mutters (the text), ‘Unrestrained (was) the internal organ, wretched my eye; the sun is the most excellent among the lights of heaven; O initiation, mayest thou not forsake me.’
On the first day of the latter half (of the month he eats) fourteen mouthfuls.
Thus (he takes every day) one (mouthful) less up to the day of the new moon.
On the day of the new moon there is not (even) one mouthful (left to take).
On the first day of the first half (of the month) one (mouthful may be eaten), on the second two.
Thus he daily increases (his meal) by one (mouthful) up to the day of the full moon.
On the day of the full moon he offers a Sthalipaka to Agni, to the lunar day whichever it may be, and to the lunar mansions as well as to their (guardian) deities.
Having offered a burnt oblation to (the lunar mansion) Abhigit (which stands) before Srona, and to its (guardian) deity, he must give a cow to the Brahmanas.
That is the ant-shaped lunar penance; (that which is performed in the) inverted (order is called) the barleycorn-shaped (lunar penance).
A sinner who has performed either of these two (penances) becomes free from all mortal sins (pataka).
They declare that the (Kandrayana) shall be performed for the sake of the fulfilment of wishes of all kinds.
‘Thereby man obtains every wish which he may conceive.’
'Thereby the sages formerly purified themselves and accomplished their objects. That (rite) procures wealth, spiritual merit, sons, cattle, long life, heavenly bliss, and fame; it secures the fulfilment of all desires.’
‘He who studies this, becomes the companion of the lunar constellations, of sun and moon, and dwells in their world.’

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 9.

Now, therefore, we will explain the rule of the Anasnatparayana (recitation of the whole Veda during a fast).
Let him wear a clean garment or a dress made of bark (or grass).
Let him desire food, fit for a sacrifice, or water and fruit.
Going forth from the village in an easterly or northerly direction, smearing a quadrangular sthandila, ‘a bull’s hide’ in size, with cowdung, sprinkling it, drawing the marks on it, sprinkling it with water, heaping fuel on the fire and scattering (Kusa grass) around it, he offers burnt oblations to the following deities, to Agni Svaha, to Pragapati Svaha, to Soma Svaha, to all the gods Svaha, to Svayambhu, to the Rikas, to the Yagus, to the Samans, to the Atharvans, to faith, to right knowledge, to wisdom, to fortune, to modesty, to Savitri, to the Savitri (verse), to Sadasaspati, and to Anumati.
Having offered (these oblations), he must begin with the beginning of the Veda and continuously recite (it).
Let him not interrupt (the recitation) by talking, nor by stopping,
Now if he converses in between or stops, let him thrice suppress his breath, and begin just there where he left off.
If he has forgotten (a passage), he shall recite for as long a time as he does not recollect it, what (he may know, Rik-verses) for Rik-verses, (Yagus-formulas) for Yagus-formulas, (Samans) for Samans.
He may (also) recite the Brahmana of that (forgotten passage) or (the passage from the Anukramani regarding) its metre and its deities.
Let him recite the Samhita of (his) Veda twelve (times). He thereby removes (faults committed by) studying on forbidden (days, by) angering his teacher, (and through) improper acts. His (knowledge of the) Veda is sanctified, is purified.
(If he reads) more than that, a cumulation (of rewards will be the result).
If he recites the Samhita of the Veda another twelve (times), he gains thereby the world of Usanas.
If he recites the Samhita of the Veda another twelve (times), he gains thereby the world of Brihaspati.
If he recites the Samhita of the Veda another twelve (times), he gains thereby the world of Pragapati.
If, fasting, he recites the Samhita one thou-sand (times), he becomes one with Brahman, resplendent like Brahman (and) Brahman (itself).
If he subsists during a year on food obtained by begging, he gains (the power of) supernatural vision.
If during six months he subsists on barley-gruel, during four months on water and barley-flour, during two months on fruit, (and) during one month on water, or performs Krikkhra penances of twelve days, he (obtains the power of) suddenly disappearing, and sanctifies seven descendants, seven ancestors, and himself as the fifteenth, and (any) company (of Brahmanas) which he may enter.
They call that the ladder of the gods.
By means of that the gods reached their divine station and the sages the position of Rishis.
The periods for beginning this sacrifice, forsooth, are three, the time of the morning libation, the time of the midday libation, and the last part of the night, (the Muhurta) sacred to Brahman.
Pragapati, forsooth, proclaimed this (rite) to the seven Rishis, the seven Rishis to Mahagagnu, and Mahagagnu to the Brahmanas.

PRASNA III, ADHYAYA 10.

The law of castes and of orders has been declared.
Now, indeed, man (in) this (world is polluted) by a vile action or acts wrongly, (e.g.) sacrifices for men unworthy to offer a sacrifice, accepts presents from those whose gifts ought not to be accepted, eats the food of those whose food ought not to be eaten, (and) practises what is forbidden.
They are in doubt if he shall perform a penance for such (a deed) or if he shall not do it.
(They declare that he shall not do it) because the deed does not perish.
(The correct opinion is) that he shall perform (a penance).
It is declared in the Veda, ‘Let him offer a Punastoma; (those who offer it, may) again come to (partake of) the libations of Soma.’
He who offers a horse-sacrifice conquers all sin, he effaces the guilt of the murder of a Brahmana.’
Moreover, ‘He who is being accused (of a heinous crime) shall perform an Agnishtut sacrifice.’
Reciting the Veda, austerity, a sacrifice, fasting, giving gifts are the means for expiating such (a blamable act).
The purificatory (texts are), the Upanishads, the initial (verses) of the Vedas, the ends of the Vedas (vedantas), the Samhitas of all the Vedas, (the Anuvakas called) Madhu, (the hymn of) Aghamarshana, the Atharvasiras, (the Anuvakas called the) Rudras, the Purusha hymn, the two Samans (called) Ragina and Rauhineya, the Brihat (Saman) and the Rathantara, the Purushagati (Saman), the Mahanamnis, the Mahavairaga (Saman), the Mahadivakirtya (Saman), any of the Gyeshtha Samans, the Bahishpavamana Saman, the Kushmandis, the Pavamanis, and the Savitri.
To live on milk alone, as if one were fasting, to eat vegetables only, to eat fruit only, (to live on) gruel prepared of a handful of barley-grains, to eat gold, to eat clarified butter (are the modes of subsistence) which purify.
All mountains, all rivers, holy lakes, bathing-places, the dwellings of Rishis, cowpens, (holy) plains and temples of the gods (are) places (which destroy sin)
Abstention from injuring living beings, truthfulness, abstention from theft (or unrighteously appropriating anything), bathing in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, obedience towards Gurus, continence, sleeping on the ground, dressing in one garment only, and abstaining from food (are the various kinds of) austerity.
Gold, a cow, a dress, a horse, land, sesamum, clarified butter, and food (are) the gifts.
A year, six months, four (months), three (months), two (months), one (month), twenty-four days, twelve days, six days, three days, a day and a night, (and) one day are the periods (for penances).
These (acts) may be optionally performed if no (particular penance) has been prescribed, (Viz.) for great crimes difficult (penances) and for trivial faults easy ones.
The Krikkhra and the Atikrikkhra, as well as the Kandrayana, are penances for all (offences).

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 1.

We will separately explain the various penances for the several offences, both heavier and lighter ones.
Let him prescribe whatever may be befitting for each (case),—heavier (penances) for great (crimes) and easier ones for trivial (faults).
Let him perform the penances according to the rule given in the Institutes (of the Sacred Law in cases) where an offence has been committed with the organ or with the feet (and) the arms, through thoughts or speech, through the ear, the skin, the nose or the eye.
Or, in (the case of) transgressions committed through the organ of vision, of hearing, of sensation, of smelling, and through thoughts, he also becomes pure by three suppressions of the breath.
In case (he commits the offences) of eating the food of a Sudra or of cohabiting with a Sudra female, severally, he must perform, during seven days, seven suppressions of the breath on each day.
For partaking of food unfit for eating or drinking, and for selling forbidden merchandise, excepting honey, meat, clarified butter, oil, pungent condiments and bad food, and for similar (offences), he must perform, during twelve days, twelve suppressions of the breath on each day.
For other transgressions excepting mortal sins (pataka), crimes causing loss of caste (pataniya), and the minor faults (called upapataka), he must perform, during half a month, twelve suppressions of the breath on each day.
For other transgressions excepting mortal sins and crimes causing loss of caste, he must perform, during twelve periods of twelve days, twelve suppressions of the breath on each day.
For other transgressions excepting mortal sins he must perform, during twelve half-months, twelve suppressions of the breath on each day.
But for mortal sins he must perform, during a year, twelve suppressions of the breath on each day.
Let him give his daughter, while she still goes naked, to a man who has not broken the vow of chastity and who possesses good qualities, or even to one destitute of good qualities; let him not keep (the maiden) in (his house) after she has reached the age of puberty.
He who does not give away a marriageable daughter during three years doubtlessly contracts a guilt equal to (that of) destroying an embryo.
Such will be the case if anybody asks her in marriage, and also if nobody demands her. Manu has declared that at each appearance of the menses (the father incurs the guilt of) a mortal sin.
Three years let a marriageable damsel wait for the order of her father. But after (that) time let her choose for herself in the fourth year a husband (of) equal (rank). If no man (of) equal (rank) be found, she may take even one destitute of good qualities.
If a damsel has been abducted by force, and has not been wedded with sacred texts, she may lawfully be given to another man; she is even like a maiden.
If, after (a damsel) has been given away, or even after (the nuptial sacrifices) have been offered, the husband dies, she who (thus) has left (her father’s house) and has returned, may be again wedded according to the rule applicable to second weddings, provided the marriage had not been consummated.
He who does not approach, during three years, a wife who is marriageable, incurs, without doubt, a guilt equal to that of destroying an embryo.
But the ancestors of that man who does not approach his wife who bathed after her temporary uncleanness, though he dwells near her, lie during that month in the menstrual excretions (of the wife).
They declare that the guilt of the husband who does not approach his wife in due season, of him who approaches her during her temporary uncleanness, and of him who commits an unnatural crime (with her), is equally (great).
Let him proclaim in the village a wife who, being obdurate against her husband, makes herself sterile, as one who destroys embryos, and drive her from his house.
But for the transgression of that husband who does not approach a wife who bathed after temporary uncleanness, (the performance of) one hundred suppressions of the breath is prescribed (as a penance).
Seated with Kusa grass in his hands, let him repeatedly suppress his breath, and again and again recite purificatory texts, the Vyahritis, the syllable Om, and the daily portion of the Veda.
Always intent on the practice of Yoga, let him again and again suppress his breath. (Thus) he performs the highest austerity up to the ends of his hair and up to the ends of his nails.
Through the obstruction (of the respiration) air is generated, through air fire is produced, then through heat water is formed; hence he is internally purified by (those) three.
Through the practice of Yoga (true) knowledge is obtained, Yoga is the sum of the sacred law, all good qualities are gained through Yoga; therefore let him always be absorbed in the practice of Yoga.
The Vedas likewise begin with the syllable Om,
and they end with the syllable Om. The syllable
Om and the Vyahritis are the eternal, everlasting Brahman.
For him who is constantly engaged in (reciting) the syllable Om, the seven Vyahritis, and the three-footed Gayatri, no danger exists anywhere.
If, restraining his breath, he thrice recites the Gayatri together with the syllable Om and with the (text called) Siras, that is called one suppression of breath.
But sixteen suppressions of breath, accompanied by (the recitation of) the Vyahritis and of the syllable Om, repeated daily, purify after a month even the slayer of a learned Brahmana.
That is the highest austerity, that is the best description of the sacred law. That, indeed, is the best means of removing all sin.

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 2.

We will separately explain the various penances for the several offences, both heavier and lighter ones.
Let him prescribe whatever may be befitting for each (case),—heavier penances for great (crimes), and lighter ones for trivial (faults).
Let him perform the penances according to the rule given in the Institutes of the Sacred Law.
He who is about to accept gifts, or he who has accepted gifts, must repeatedly recite the four Rik-verses (called) Taratsamandis.
But in case one has eaten any kind of forbidden food; or that given by a person whose food must not be eaten, the means of removing the guilt is to sprinkle water (over one’s head) while one recites the Taratsamandi Rikas.
But we will, hereafter, declare another rule for (the expiation of) the murder of a learned Brahmana, whereby (men) are freed also from mortal sins of all (kinds).
Let him (perform), during twelve nights, suppressions of the breath (and) mutter purificatory texts, the Vyahritis, the syllable Om, (and) the Aghamarshana hymn, (living) on milk;
Or (he becomes) pure if he bathes, and during three (days and) nights subsists on air and (remains dressed) in wet clothes.
But if he has repeatedly committed forbidden acts of all kinds, and has (afterwards) worshipped reciting the Varuni (texts), he is freed from all sin.
Now a student who has broken his vow (avakirnin) shall heap fuel on the fire on the night of the new moon, perform the preparatory ceremonies required for a Darvihoma, and offer two oblations of clarified butter (reciting the following texts): ‘O Lust, I have broken my vow, my vow I have broken, O Lust, to. Lust Svaha;’ ‘O Lust, I have done evil, I have done evil, O Lust, to Lust Svaha.’
After he has made the offering, he shall address the fire, closely joining his hands and turning sideways, (with the following texts): ‘May the Maruts grant me, may Indra, may Brihaspati, may this fire grant me long life and strength, make me long-lived.’ The Maruts, forsooth, give back to him the vital airs, Indra gives back to him strength, Brihaspati the lustre of Brahman, Fire all the remainder. (Thus) his body is made whole, and he attains the full length of life. Let him next address (the gods) with three (repetitions of the texts). For the gods are trebly true. (All that) has been declared in the Veda.
He who considers himself defiled by minor offences (upapataka), will be freed from all guilt if he offers burnt oblations according to this same rule;
Or if he has partaken of food unfit to be eaten or to be drunk or of forbidden food, and if he has committed sinful acts or performed sinful rites either unintentionally or intentionally, and if he has had connexion with a female of the Sudra caste or committed an unnatural crime, he becomes pure by bathing (and reciting) the Abliega (verses) and (those called) Varunis.
Now they quote also (the following verse): If he has partaken of food unfit to be eaten or to be drunk, or of forbidden food, and if he has committed forbidden acts or performed forbidden rites, he will, nevertheless, be freed from (crimes) committed intentionally which are similar to mortal sins, nay, even from mortal sins (pataka).’
Or let him fast during three (days and) nights, bathe thrice a day, and, suppressing his breath, thrice recite the Aghamarshana. Manu has declared that is equal (in efficacy) to the final bath at a horse-sacrifice.
And it is declared in the Veda, ‘(That is) the ancient purificatory rite, which is widely known (in the Institutes of the Sacred Law); purified thereby man conquers sin. May we, sanctified by this holy means of purification, conquer our enemy, sin.’

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 3.

We will explain the (secret) penances which are not prescribed (by others, but by the offender himself, and) particularly what shall be done in (case) faults (have been committed) by men who, with concentrated minds, (are) intent (on the performance of their duties).
(Such a man) may sip water, (in order to atone) for all mortal sins, reciting the syllable Om and all the Vyahritis.
When he sips water the first time, he gladdens the Rigveda, the second time the Yagur-veda, the third time the Samaveda.
When he wipes (his lips) the first time, he gladdens the Atharvaveda, the second time the Itihasas and Puranas.
When he sprinkles water on the right hand, the feet, the head, the heart, the nostrils, the eyes, the ears, and the navel, he gladdens the trees and herbs and all deities. Therefore he is freed from all sin by sipping water.
Or let him offer in the fire eight pieces of sacred fuel, reciting (the following) eight (texts): ‘Thou art the expiation of sin committed by the gods, Svaha;’ ‘Thou art the expiation of sin committed by men, Svaha;’ ‘Thou art the expiation of sin committed by the manes, Svaha;’ ‘Thou art the expiation of sin committed by myself, Svaha;’ ‘Thou art the expiation of the sift which we have committed either by day or by night, Svaha;” Thou art the expiation of the sin which we have committed either sleeping or waking, Svaha;’ ‘Thou art the expiation of the sin which we have committed either intentionally or unintentionally, Svaha;’ Thou art the expiation of every sin, Svaha.’
When he has offered (these eight oblations) he will be freed from all guilt.
Now they quote also (the following verse): ‘The Aghamarshana, the Devakrita, the Suddhavatis, the Taratsamas, the Kushmandis, the Pavamanis, the Viragas, the MrityulaEgala, the Durga (Savitri), the Vyahritis, and the Rudras (are texts) which are very efficacious for effacing sin.’

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 4.

We will explain the (secret) penances which are not prescribed (by others, but by the offender himself, and) particularly what shall be done in (case) faults (have been committed) by men who, with concentrated minds, (are) intent (on the performance of their duties).
He who, standing in water, thrice recites that (hymn of) Aghamarshana (which begins), ‘Both right and truth,’ will be freed from all guilt.
He who, standing in water, thrice recites the verse, ‘This spotted bull,’ &c., will be freed from all guilt;
He who, standing in water, thrice recites the verse, ‘Freed from the post as it were,’ will be freed from all guilt.
He who, standing in water, thrice recites the verse,
‘A swan dwelling in purity,’ will be freed from all guilt;
Or, he who, standing in water, thrice recites the Savitri, foot by foot, half verse by half verse, and afterwards entire, will be freed from all guilt;
Or, he who, standing in water, thrice recites the Vyahritis, both separately and altogether, will be freed from all guilt;
Or, he who, standing in water, thrice recites the syllable Om alone, will be freed from all guilt.
Let him not teach these Institutes of the Sacred Law to one who is neither his son nor his pupil, nor has resided (in his house) less than a year.
The fee (for teaching it) is one thousand (panas, or) ten cows and a bull, or the worship of the teacher.

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 5.

Now, therefore, I will proclaim by what rites, connected with the Saman, Rik, Yagus, and Atharva-vedas, (man) quickly attains the wishes of his heart.
Having purified his body by muttered prayers, burnt oblations, Ishtis, restraints, and the like, he will accomplish all his objects. He will not attain success in any other way.
A Brahmana, who is going to mutter prayers, to offer burnt oblations or Ishtis, or to practise restraints, shall, first, during the bright half of the month, on a lucky day and under a lucky constellation, cause his hair and beard to be cut.
Let him bathe in the morning, at noon, and in the evening; let him beware of anger and untruth; let him not address women and Sudras; let him be continent, and subsist solely on food fit for offerings.
Avoiding to sleep in the daytime, let him worship cows, Brahmanas, manes, and gods. As long as he is engaged in muttering prayers, offering Homas and Ishtis, and practising restraints, let him stand during the day and sit during the night.
The Krikkhra (penance) revealed by Pragapati lasts twelve days, (which are divided into four separate) periods of three days; (during the first period of three days he eats) in the daytime (only, during the second) at night (only, during the third he subsists on) food given without asking, (and during the fourth) finally (he lives on) air.
(If one eats on) one (day in) the morning (only), and (on the following day) at night (only, on the next day food) given without asking, (and on the fourth day) subsists on air, and repeats this three times, that is called the Krikkhra (penance) of children.
(If) one eats one mouthful only at each (meal), following, during (three) periods of three days, the rules given above, and subsists during another period of three days on air, that is called the Atikrikkhra penance.
(If) during those (first) three periods of three days one partakes of water only, and subsists afterwards (during three days) on air, that third (variety) must be known to be the most efficacious Krikkhratikrikkhra penance.
If one drinks hot milk, (hot) clarified butter, (and a hot) decoction of Kusa grass, each during three days, and fasts during another three days, that is called the Taptakrikkhra.
(If one lives during one day) on cow’s urine, (during one day) on cowdung, (during one day) on milk, (during one day) on sour milk, (during one day) on clarified butter, (during one day) on a decoction of Kusa grass, and during one (day and) night on air, that is called the Samtapana Krikkhra.
Let him take the cow’s urine, reciting the Gayatri; the cowdung, (reciting the text), ‘Gandhadvaram;’ the milk, (reciting the verse), ‘Apyayasva;’ the sour milk, reciting (the verse), ‘Dadhikravna;’ the clarified butter, (saying), ‘Sukram asi;’ the decoction of Kusa grass (with the text), ‘Devasya tva;’
(And mix together) one part of cow’s urine, half as much cowdung, three parts of milk, two of sour milk, one part of clarified butter, and one part of water boiled with Kusa grass;’ a Samtapana Krikkhra (performed) in this manner will purify even a Svapaka.
He who subsists during five (days and) nights on cow’s urine, cowdung, milk, sour milk, and clarified butter will be purified by (that) Pankagavya (the five products of the cow).
If, self-restrained and attentive, he fasts during twelve days, that is called a Paraka Krikkhra, which destroys all sin.
If he subsists on cow’s urine and the other (substances named above), one day on each, and continues (this mode of life) during thrice seven days, the theologians call that a Mahasamtapana Krikkhra.
If he daily adds to his food one mouthful during the bright (half of the month) and diminishes it daily by one mouthful during the dark (half of the month), and keeps two fasts in the two halves of the month, that is called a Kandrayana.
If, with concentrated mind, a Brahmana eats four mouthfuls in the morning and four mouthfuls when the sun has set, he will perform the Kandrayana of children.
If, self-restrained, he daily eats, during a month, at midday eight mouthfuls of food, fit for a sacrifice, he will perform the Kandrayana of ascetics.
But a Brahmana who eats anyhow, during a month, thrice eighty mouthfuls of food, fit for a sacrifice, goes to the world of the moon.
As the rising moon frees the world from the fear of darkness, even so a Brahmana who performs a Kandrayana removes the fear of sin.
He who lives one day on (rice)-grains, three days on oil-cakes, ‘five days on buttermilk mixed with water, seven days on water, and (one day) on air, (performs) the guilt-destroying Tulapurusha.
Living on barley-gruel (yavaka) removes the guilt of corporeal beings after seven days, and so does a fast of seven days; that has been recognised by wise men.
By dressing in wet clothes, by living in the open air, and by exposing himself to the sun during the light halves of the months Pausha (December-January), Bhadrapada (August-September), and Gyeshtha (May-June), a Brahmana is freed from (all) sin excepting crimes causing loss of caste (pataniya).
(If one swallows) cows’ urine, cowdung, milk, sour milk, clarified butter, and a decoction of Kusa grass, mixed with barley gruel, that is the most sanctifying Brahmakurka.
He who fasts on the new moon day and eats sesamum grains on the full moon day, will be freed in the course of a year from the sins which he committed in the bright and the dark halves of the month.
He who lives on alms obtained from Agnihotrins is purified in one month; (he who obtains his food) from a Yayavara. in ten days; he who receives it from a hermit in the forest, in five days;
(He who lives) on food given by a person who has a store sufficient for one day only, will be purified in
one day; he who drinks water given by a person subsisting by the Kapota-vritti (pigeon-life), is purified in three (days).
If one recites the whole Rigveda, Yagur-veda, and Samaveda, or thrice reads one of these Vedas and fasts, (that is) a most efficient means of purification.
Now if one is in haste to finish, one may live on air during a day, and pass the night standing in water, that is equal (in efficacy) to a Pragapatya (Krikkhra).
He who at sunrise mutters the Gayatri one thousand and eight times, is free from all sin, provided he has not slain a learned Brahmana.
He who distributes food, speaks the truth, and has compassion on all living beings, is more (holy) than all those who have been purified by the restraints mentioned above.

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 6.

The (eleven Anuvakas called) Rudras together with (the ten hymns) seen by Madhukkhandas, the Gayatri with the syllable Om, and likewise the seven Vyahritis (are the texts) which should be muttered (and) which remove guilt.
The Mrigareshti, the Pavitreshti, the Trihavis, the Pavamani are the Ishtis which efface sin, if they are (each) combined with the Vaisvanara (Dvadasakapala).
Learn, also, the following most excellent secret; he will be freed from all sins of all kinds who sprinkles himself with water, reciting the Pavitras, who mutters the eleven (Anuvakas called) Rudras, who offers burnt oblations of butter, reciting the Pavitras, and gives gold, a cow, and sesamum (to Brahmanas).
He who partakes of boiled barley-gruel, mixed with cow’s urine, liquid cowdung, sour milk, milk, and butter, is quickly freed from sin.
Both he who has begotten a child on a Sudra woman and he who has had connexion with a female, intercourse with whom is forbidden (agamya), are purified (if they live) according to this rule during seven days.
(That is likewise) the remedy when one has swallowed semen, ordure, and urine, or eaten the food of persons whose food must not be eaten, (and also) when a younger brother has kindled the sacred fire, has offered a Srauta sacrifice, or taken a wife before the elder.
He who has committed even a great number of (wicked) actions, excepting mortal sins, will be freed (by that rule) from all guilt. That is the statement of the virtuous.
But (this) ordinance, which is based on the authority of the sacred texts, is stated (to be that) through which Bharadvaga and others became equal to Brahman,
Through the performance of these rites a Brahmana, whose heart is full of peace, obtains whatever desires he may have in his heart.

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 7.

The wishes of a Brahmana who has left off evil deeds and is (ever) engaged in holy works are fulfilled even without (the practice of) restraints.
Upright Brahmanas quickly accomplish whatever they wish in their hearts, if they are purified by honest actions.
Thus a wise man should practise those restraints until he has purified his bodily frame.
He who has been purified by those restraints should, after fasting three (days and) nights, begin the performance of that sacred rite through which he wishes to gain the fulfilment of his desires,
(Reciting) the Kshapavitra, the Sahasraksha, the Mrigara, the two Ganas (called) Amhomuk, the Pavamanis, the Kushmandis, and the Rikas, addressed to Vaisvanara,
(And) offering with (each of) these (Mantras) boiled rice and clarified butter during seven days, in the morning, at midday, and in the evening, keeping a rigid silence, living on food fit for a sacrifice, restraining his senses and his actions,
He is freed from all crimes, even mortal sins, after looking on a cross-road at a pot filled with water, (and reciting the text), ‘Simhe me manyuh.’
He is freed from the multitude of sins, committed unintentionally in old age, in youth, and in infancy, and even from those belonging to former births;
After feeding at the end (of the seven days) Brahmanas with milk and rice, well mixed with butter, and distributing to them after their dinner cows, land, sesamum, and gold,
A Brahmana becomes internally pure, his guilt being consumed like fuel, and fit for the performance of rites which secure the fulfilment of wishes and of rites like the kindling of the sacred fire.

PRASNA IV, ADHYAYA 8.

He who, through excessive greed or carelessness, performs this rite for others, is tainted by sin, and perishes like one who has swallowed poison.
A Brahmana who performs this rite for his teacher, his father, his mother, or for himself is resplendent like the sun. Therefore this rite may be performed for those (persons).
Ka (Pragapati) purified by means of this rite the god with a thousand eyes (Sahasraksha), Fire, Wind, the Sun, Soma, Yama, and other lords of the gods.
Whatever there is in these three worlds, famed as possessing a holy name, Brahmanas and the rest, (all) that was produced by Ka through this rite of sanctification.
This sin-destroying secret of Pragapati was first produced; thereafter thousands of purificatory rites came into existence.
He who performs those eight Ganahomas on the (first) day of the year, of a half-year, of a season, or of a fortnight, sanctifies ten ancestors and ten descendants of his line;
And, while still on earth, he is known to the gods in heaven as a holy man, and (after death) that virtuous man rejoices for a very long time in heaven like a god.
If a Brahmana is unable to offer those eight Ganahomas, let him offer one; thereby his guilt is effaced.
He, also, whose sons or pupils offer those eight Ganahomas, is freed from his sin which is bought off by his having instructed (them).
Through a desire of removing one’s guilt one even may cause (these oblations) to be offered by men who have been engaged for money, in case oneself is unable (to do it); a man need not torment himself.
Even among the virtuous a distribution of wealth is made (for the success) of holy rites; some-times a man who is free from debt is (thereby) freed from guilt.
Liberated according to this rule from the ocean of guilt and debt, he considers himself pure and able to successfully perform the sacred rites.
But in the case of that pure mortal who, freed from all sin and debts, begins the sacred rites, they will succeed without any effort.
Let him daily (study and) teach this holy (rule) of Pragapati, which the sage has proclaimed, let him remember it or hear it. (By doing that) he is freed from all guilt and will be exalted in Brahman’s world.
Let him mutter during twelve days those sacred texts through which he wishes to accomplish (his desires), eating once (a day) at night boiled rice with clarified butter, with milk, or with sour milk.
(Let him offer) ten times a burnt oblation and sprinkle clarified butter. (That is) the preliminary worship (which must be performed) when one desires to accomplish one’s objects through those sacred texts.

Parisishta

PRASNA VII, ADHYAYA 5.

We will explain the rule for the adoption of a son.
Man, formed of virile seed and uterine blood, proceeds from his mother and father (as an effect) from its cause.
(Therefore) the father and the mother have power to give, to abandon, or to sell their (son).
But let him not give nor receive (in adoption) an only son;
For he (must remain) to continue the line of the ancestors.
Let a woman neither give nor receive a son except with the permission of her husband.
He who is desirous of adopting (a son) procures two garments, two earrings, and a finger-ring; a spiritual guide who has studied the whole Veda; a layer of Kusa grass and fuel of Palasa wood and so forth.
Then he convenes his relations, informs the king (of his intention to adopt) in (their) presence, feeds the (invited) Brahmanas in the assembly or in (his) dwelling, and makes them wish him ‘an auspicious day,’ ‘hail,’ (and) ‘prosperity.’
Then he performs the ceremonies which begin with the drawing of the lines on the altar and end with the placing of the water-vessels, goes to the giver (of the child) and should address (this) request (to him), ‘Give me (thy) son.’
The other answers, ‘I give (him).’
He receives (the child with these words), ‘I take thee for the fulfilment of (my) religious duties; I take thee to continue the line (of my ancestors).’
Then he adorns him with the (above-mentioned) two garments, the two earrings, and the finger-ring, performs the rites which begin with the placing of the (pieces of wood called) paridhis (fences round the altar) and end with the Agnimukha, and offers (a portion) of the cooked (food) in the fire.
Having recited the Puronuvakya (verse), ‘He who thinking of thee with a discerning mind,’ &c., he offers an oblation, reciting the Yagya (verse), ‘To which performer of good deeds, thou, O Gatavedas,’ & c.
Then he offers (oblations, reciting) the Vyahritis;—(the ceremonies) which begin the oblation to Agni Svishtakrit and end with the presentation of a cow as a fee (to the officiating priest are) known;—
And presents (to the spiritual guide) as a sacrificial fee those two dresses, those two earrings, and that finger-ring (with which he had adorned the child).
If after the performance of these (rites) a legitimate son of his own body is born (to the adopter, then the adopted son) receives a fourth (of the legitimate son’s) share. Thus says Baudhayana.

4 The Laws in Yajnvalkya

Tribal cosmogony refers to a fivefold order that sets forth the timeless sequence of creation, preservation and dissolution of the world of matter. First Order is set in ‘nothingness’. In the beginning there was nothing, nothing at all but water or clouds and mist, or two eggs soft and shone like gold. Second Order causes primary creation of elements from the element of the first order. The first creation was asexual. The golden eggs collided and both broke open. From the one came the earth, from the other the sky. When the sky made love to the earth every kind of tree, grass and all living creatures came into being.
In another story the earth, the cosmic Mother, died of her own accord and every part of her body became the part of the world. Third Order causes natural identity and differentiation in terms of colour, direction and form. Smell is another element of the Third Order; it makes communication between the form and the formless possible. Fourth Order causes the return to primordial state. Water is the self-existing element from which all other elements originate and to which they all return. Fifth Order is the Order of all orders. It creates the scenario of the world in which everything has its proper place, and everything grows and allows others to grow. It is inviolable.
Tribal myths can be parallel in the Vedic textual description of origins. According to the hymn of origins, first there was nothing Rigvedic—neither being nor nonbeing, no air nor yet sky beyond. Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness. The origin of reality is described by the symbol of the golden egg which becomes the God of Gods, Father of earth, of the heavens, of the waters and of all beings.
Another most important hymn reveals the creation and all-embracing function in which the entire universe is involved. Purusa, the cosmic Man, the personal aspect of the whole of reality, performs an act of self-immolation so that the universe may come into being. From the limbs of the cosmic Man came all things both animate and inanimate: animals of every type, liturgical formulas, the four castes of men, the cosmic powers. From his spirit comes the moon, from the eyes the sun, from his mouth Indra and Agni (fire), from his breath the wind, from his navel the air, from his head the sky, from his feet the earth, from the ears the points of the compass — nothing, nobody is omitted.
Traditions differ in respect of both identification and enumeration of elements, but all of which seem to agree that elements of nature are subject to a fivefold order. Origination: From nothingness, everything originated. A break in the radical solidarity gave origins to male-female principle. Heterogeneity is a fundamental aspect in the origin and development of species. The built-in-order of cosmic unity is ‘One-and-many’. Binding: Elements of nature have a binding ability. Each element has a form, a location and a dependent relation with another element.
Interlocking: form and life are cross-linked. Interlocking of elements is descried metaphorically. Earth and sky are universal parents. Fire and wind are brothers as water and mist are brothers. Earth and wind, water and fire are negatively linked; they have always been enemies. Wind is the friend of fire against water and he fights the rain in order to drive it before him.
The more complex interlocking is perceived in the textual tradition. The five primary elements (earth, water, fire, air and sky) are linked with other elements or aspects of nature such as colour, form, sense-organs, physical character, property, functions, etc. They are also linked with psychological attributes called Gunas. Each element is tied with a divinity and its related aspects such as mantras, etc. Overlapping: Elements have both personal (material) and universal (spiritual) attributes. Water and egg which appeared in the beginning have a fundamental feature of sacredness.
In tribal perception, the world is divided into two halves-the sky and the earth. There is a world beyond the sky and another below the earth. The five elements overlap in their formation and so does the world of matter and the other worlds. Transcending: Cosmogonic myths describe how the limits of the natural state are transcended. The state of the primordial solidarity was transcended as the egg broke open and the universe revealed itself.
The natural order of self-origination was transcended by the origin of the male-female principle. The order of self-organization was transcended by the interlocking of various elements. The spatial order of the pluriverse was transcended by the overlapping of spheres in dreaming and trance. Life transcends the limits of the form. Death transcends all attributes of the elements, including the limits of the temporal time. There is no intrinsic disorder in nature; dissolution in an integral aspect of the transcendent order of nature. Transcendence is the Order of all orders. It is inviolable.
The concept of Sunya Brahman as a coherent reality provides us with a framework of thought behind the cosmogonic myths of origin (from nothingness) which appear utterly mystified. The ancient sage Yajnavalkya had defined Brahman as:
That from which beings are born,
that by which, once born they live,
that into which, once dead, they enter.
Amazingly, and not so amazingly, the modern science has said so precisely in the same language. In quantum physics something can come out of nothing for a while, but eventually the debt has to be paid. The manner of the demise of the universe as a whole is determined by the nature of its birth. Cosmologists are of the opinion that about hundred billion stars, including the sun, make up the Milky Way Galaxy, a wheel-shaped structure. The galaxy is itself a part of a group of galaxies that form a cluster, while the cluster in turn form the supercluster of many thousands of galaxies. Powerful telescopes reveal that this pattern of hierarchical clustering prevails throughout the cosmos. What binds the universe together are the cosmic strings which are hypothesized to have some bizarre properties. Long long ago Yajnvalkya had said this to his disciple Aruni: This world and the next world and all beings and all natural phenomenon are strung together by the thread, the Inner Controller the Immortal, the Brahman.
Kabir, a medieval saint poet, has described the mystery of the world in the same language:
No one knows the secret of the weaver
who spreads his warp through the universe.
He dug two ditches, sky, and earth,
made two spools, sun and moon,
filled his shuttle with a thousand threads,
and weaves till today: a difficult length!
Kabir says, they are joined by actions.
Good threads and bad,
that fellow weaves both.
The spiritual metaphor and the scientific metaphor converge with common insights. Creation mythologies and quantum mechanics meet in their intuition about the universe. The polaristic position in the anthropological theory of nature and culture is nullified by traditional vision and modern science, both providing the picture of a coherent self-organizing universe. In human thoughts things may appear separable, in reality they are not so.
The research and activity of the IGNCA aim at redefining the arts and re-establishing the unity of the human cultures in a non-linear relationship as existing in the honeycomb. Inter-relationship of things in the living universe must be taken for granted. Difference between one culture and another or between the people of the past and the present are simply differences of emphasis. Further, the approach of the IGNCA in all its work is inter-disciplinary. Here, theory and practice, textual and oral, verbal, visual and kinetic are seen as a semiotic whole and not as single items to be aggregated.
Vishnu Smriti
The Vishnu-smriti or Vaishnava Dharmasastra or Vishnu-sutra is in the main a collection of ancient aphorisms on the sacred laws of India, and as such it ranks with the other ancient works of this class which have come down to our time. It may be styled a Dharma-sutra, though this ancient title of the Sutra works on law has been preserved in the MSS. of those Smritis only, which have been handed down, like the Dharma-sutras of Apastamba, Baudhayana, and Hiranyakesin, as parts of the respective Kalpa-sutras, to which they belong.
The size of the Vishnu-sutra, and the great variety of the subjects treated in it, would suffice to entitle it to a conspicuous place among the five or six existing Dharma-sutras; but it possesses a peculiar claim to interest, which is founded on its close connection with one of the oldest Vedic schools, the Kathas, on the one hand, and with the famous code of Manu and some other ancient law-codes, on the other hand.
To discuss these two principal points, and some minor points connected with them, as fully as the limits of an introduction admit of, will be the more necessary, because such a discussion can afford the only safe basis for a conjecture not altogether unsupported regarding the time and place of the original composition of this work, and may even tend to throw some new light on the vexed question as to the origin of the code of Manu. Further on I shall have to speak of the numerous interpolations traceable in the Vishnu-sutra, and a few remarks regarding the materials used for this translation, and the principles of interpretation that have been followed in it, may be fitly reserved for the last.
There is no surer way for ascertaining the particular Vedic school by which an ancient Sanskrit law-book of unknown or uncertain origin was composed, than by examining the quotations from, and analogies with, Vedic works which it contains. Thug the Gautama Dharmasastra might have originated in any one among the divers Gautama Karanas with which Indian tradition acquaints us. But the comparatively numerous passages which its author has borrowed from the Samhita and from one Brahmana of the Samaveda prove that it must belong to one of those Gautama Karanas who studied the Samaveda. Regarding the code of Yagnavalkya we learn from tradition that a Vedic teacher of that name was the reputed author of the White Yagur-veda.
But this coincidence might be looked upon as casual, if the Yagnavalkya-smriti did not contain a number of Mantras from that Vedic Samhita, and a number of very striking analogies, in the section on funeral ceremonies particularly, with the Grihya-sutra of the Vagasaneyins, the Katiya Grihya-sutra of Paraskara. In the case of the Vishnu-sutra an enquiry of this kind is specially called for, because tradition leaves us entirely in the dark as to its real author. The fiction that the laws promulgated in Chapters II-XCVII were communicated by the god Vishnu to the goddess of the earth, is of course utterly worthless for historical purposes; and all that it can be made to show is that those parts of this work in which it is started or kept up cannot rival the laws themselves in antiquity.
Now as regards, first, the Vedic Mantras and Pratikas (beginnings of Mantras) quoted in this work, it is necessary to leave aside, as being of no moment for the present purpose, 1. very well-known Mantras, or, speaking more precisely, all such Mantras as are frequently quoted in Vedic works of divers Sakhas; 2. the purificatory texts enumerated under the title of Sarva-veda-pavitrani in LVI.
The latter can afford us no help in determining the particular Sakha to which this work belongs, because they are actually taken, as they profess to be, from all the Vedas indiscriminately, and because nearly the whole of Chapter LVI is found in the Vasishtha-smriti as well (see further on), which probably does not belong to the same Veda as this work.
Among the former class of Mantras may be included, particularly, the Gayatri, the Purushasukta, the Aghamarshana, the Kushmandis, the Vyahritis, the Gyeshtha Samans, the Rudras, the Trinakiketa, the Trisuparna, the Vaishnava, Sakra, and Barhaspatya Mantras mentioned in XC, 3, and the Mantra quoted in XXVIII, 51 (= Gautama’s ‘Retasya’). Among the twenty-two Mantras quoted in Chapters XLVIII, LXIV, LXV (including repetitions, but excluding the Purushasukta, Gayatri, Aghamarshana) there are also some which may be referred to this class, and the great majority of them occur in more than one Veda at the same time.
But it is worthy of note that no less than twelve, besides occurring in at least one other Sakha, are either actually found in the Samhita of the Karayaniya-kathas, the Kathaka (or Karaka-sakha?), or stated to belong to it in the Commentary, while one is found in the Kathaka alone, a second in the Atharva-veda alone, a third in the Taittiriya Brahmana alone, and a fourth does not occur in any Vedic work hitherto known. A far greater number of Mantras occurs in Chapters XXI, LXVII, LXXIII, LXXIV, LXXXVI, which treat of daily oblations, Sraddhas, and the ceremony of setting a bull at liberty. Of all these Mantras, which,—including the Purushasukta and other such well-known Mantras as well as the short invocations addressed to Soma, Agni, and other deities, but excluding the invocations addressed to Vishnu in the spurious Sutra, LXVII, 2,—are more than a hundred in number, no more than forty or so are found in Vedic works hitherto printed, and in the law-books of Manu, Yagnavalkya, and others; but nearly all are quoted, exactly in the same order as in this work, in the Karayaniya-kathaka Grihya-sutra, while some of them have been traced in the Kathaka as well.
And what is even more important, the Kathaka Grihya does not contain those Mantras alone, but nearly all the Sutras in which they occur; and it may be stated therefore, secondly, that the Vishnu-sutra has four long sections, viz. Chapter LXXIII, and Chapters XXI, LXVII, LXXXVI, excepting the final parts, in common with that work, while the substance of Chapter LXXIV may also be traced in it. The agreement between both works is very close, and where they differ it is generally due to false readings or to enlargements on the part of the Vishnu-sutra. However, there are a few cases, in which the version of the latter work is evidently more genuine than that of the former, and it follows, therefore, that the author of the Vishnu-sutra cannot have borrowed his rules for the performance of Sraddhas &c. from the Kathaka Grihya-sutra, but that both must have drawn from a common source, i.e. no doubt from the traditions current in the Katha school, to which this work is indebted for so many of its Mantras as well.
For these reasons I fully concur in the view advanced by Dr. Buhler, that the bulk of the so-called Vishnu-smriti is really the ancient Dharma-sutra of the Karayaniya-kathaka Sakha of the Black Yagur-veda. It ranks, like other Dharma-sutras, with the Grihya and Srauta-sutras of its school; the latter of which, though apparently lost now, is distinctly referred to in the Grihya-sutra in several places, and must have been in existence at the time when the Commentaries on Katyayana’s Srauta-sutras were composed, in which it is frequently quoted by the name of Katha-sutra on divers questions concerning Srauta offerings, and at the time, when the Kasmirian Devapala wrote his Commentary on the Kathaka Grihya-sutra, which was, according to the Kasmirian tradition, as explored by Dr. Buhler, before the conquest of Kashmir by the Muhammadans. Devapala, in the Introduction to his work, refers to ‘thirty-nine Adhyayas treating of the Vaitanika (= Srauta) ceremonies,’ by which the Grihya-sutra was preceded, from which statement it may be inferred that the Kathaka Srauta-sutras must have been a very voluminous work indeed, as the Grihya-sutra, which is at least equal if not superior in extent to other works of the same class, forms but one Adhyaya, the fortieth, of the whole Kalpa-sutra, which, according to Devapala, was composed by one author.
It does not seem likely that the Vishnu-sutra was composed by the same man, or that it ever formed part of the Kathaka Kalpa-sutra, as the Dharma-sutras of Baudhayana, Apastamba, and Hiranyakesin form part of the Kalpa-sutras of the respective schools to which they belong. If that were the case, it would agree with the Grihya-sutra on all those points which are treated in both works, such as e.g. the terms for the performance of the Samskaras or sacraments, the rules for a student and for a Snataka, the enumeration and definition of the Krikkhras or ‘hard penances,’ the forms of marriage, &c. Now though the two works have on those subjects a number of such rules in common as occur in other works also, they disagree for the most part in the choice of expressions, and on a few points lay down exactly opposite rules, such as the Vishnu-sutra (XXVIII, 28) giving permission to a student to ascend his spiritual teacher’s carriage after him, whereas the other work prescribes, that he shall do so on no account.
Moreover, if both works had been destined from the first to supplement one another, they would, instead of having several entire sections in common, exhibit such cross-references as are found e.g. between the Apastamba Grihya and Dharma-sutras; though the absence of such references might be explained, in the case of the Vishnu-sutra, by the activity of those who brought it into its present shape, and who seem to have carefully removed all such references to other works as the original Dharmasutra may have contained. Whatever the precise nature of the relations between this work and the other Sutra works of the Karayaniya-kathaka school may have been, there is no reason for assigning to it a later date than to the Kathaka Srauta and Grihya-sutras, with the latter of which it has so much in common, and it may therefore claim a considerable antiquity, especially if it is assumed, with Dr. Buhler, that the beginning of the Sutra period differed for each Veda.
The Veda of the Kathas, the Kathaka, is not separated from the Sutra literature of this school by an intermediate: Brahmana stage; yet its high antiquity is testified by several of the most eminent grammarians of India from Yaska down to Kaiyata. Thus the Kathaka is the only existing work of its kind, which is quoted by the former grammarian (Nirukta X, 5; another clear quotation from the Kathaka, XXVII, 9, though not by name, may be found, Nirukta III, 4), and the latter places the Kathas at the head of all Vedic schools, while Patatangali, the author of the Mahabhashya, assigns to the ancient sage Katha, the reputed founder of the Katha or Kathaka school of the Black Yagur-veda, the dignified position of an immediate pupil of Vaisampayana, the fountainhead of all schools of the older or Black Yagur-veda, and mentions, in accordance with a similar statement preserved in the Ramayana (II, 32, 18, 19 ed. Schlegel), that in his own time the ‘Kalapaka and the Kathaka’ were ‘proclaimed in every village.’ The priority of the Kathas before all other existing schools of the Yagur-veda may be deduced from the statements of the Karanavyuha, which work assigns to them one of the first places among the divers branches of the Karakas, whom it places at the head of all schools of the Yagur-veda.
Though the statements of the Mahabhashya and Ramayana regarding the widespread and influential position of the Kathas in ancient times are borne out by the fact that the Karanavutha mentions three subdivisions of the Kathas, viz. the Kathas proper, the Prakya Kathas, and the Kapishthala Kathas, to which the Karayaniyas may be added as a fourth, and by the seeming identity of their name with the name of the (Greek Kaoaioi) in the Pangab on the one hand, and with the first part of the name of the peninsula of Kattivar on the other hand, it seems very likely nevertheless that the original home of the Kathas was situated in the north-west, i.e. in those regions where the earliest parts of the Vedas were composed. Not only the (Greek Kaoaioi), but the (Greek Kambisooloi) as well, who have been identified with the Kapishthala Kathas, are mentioned by Greek writers as a nation living in the Pangab; and while the Prakya Kathas are shown by their name (‘Eastern Kathas’) to have lived to the east of the two other branches of the Kathas, it is a significant fact that adherents of the Karayaniya-kathaka school survive nowhere but in Kashmir, where all Brahmanas perform their domestic rites according to the rules laid down in the Grihya-sutra of this school.
Kashmir is moreover the country where nearly all the yet existing works of the Kathaka school have turned up, including the Berlin MS. of the Kathaka, which was probably written by a Kasmirian. It is true that some of the geographical and historical data contained in that work, especially the way in which it mentions the Pankalas, whose ancient name, as shown by the Satapatha Brahmana (XIII, 5, 4, 7) and Rig-veda (VIII, 20, 24; VIII, 22, 12), was Krivi, take us far off from the north-west, the earliest seat of Aryan civilization, into the country of the Kuru-Pankalas in Hindustan proper. But it must be borne in mind that the Kathaka, if it may be identified with the ‘Karaka-sakha,’ must have been the Veda of all the Karakas except perhaps the Maitrayaniyas and Kapishthalas, and may have been altered and enlarged, after the Kathas and Karakas had spread themselves across Hindustan. The Sutras of a Sakha which appears to have sprung up near the primitive home of Aryan civilization in India, which was probably the original home of the Kathas at the same time, may be far older than those of mere Sutra schools of the Black Yagur-veda, which have sprung up, like the Apastamba school, in South India, i.e. far older than the fourth or fifth century B.C.
But sufficient space has been assigned to these attempts at fixing the age of the Kathaka-sutras which, besides remaining only too uncertain in themselves, can apply with their full force to those parts of the Vishnu-sutra only, which have been traced in the Kathaka Grihya-sutra. It will be seen afterwards that even these sections, however closely connected with the sacred literature of the Kathas, have been tampered with in several places, and it might be argued, therefore, that the whole remainder of the Vishnu-sutra, to which the Kathaka literature offers no parallel, may be a subsequent addition. But the antiquity of the great majority of its laws can be proved by independent arguments, which are furnished by a comparison of the Vishnu-sutra with other works of the same class, whose antiquity is not doubted.
In the notes to my translation I have endeavoured to give as complete references as possible to the analogous passages in the Smritis of Manu, Yagnavalkya, Apastamba, and Gautama, and in the four Grihya-sutras hitherto printed. A large number of analogous passages might have been traced in the Dharma-sutras of Vasishtha and Baudhayana as well, not to mention Hiranyakesin’s Dharma-sutra, which, according to Dr. Buhler, is nearly identical with the Dharma-sutra of Apastamba.
Two facts may be established at once by glancing at these analogies, viz. the close agreement of this work with the other Sutra works in point of form, and with all the above-mentioned works in point of contents. As regards the first point, the Sutras or prose rules of which the bulk of the Vishnu-sutra is composed, show throughout that characteristic laconism of the Sutra style, which renders it impossible in many cases to make out the real meaning of a Sutra without the help of a Commentary; and in the choice of terms they agree as closely as possible with the other ancient law-books, and in some cases with the Grihya-sutras as well. Numerous verses, generally in the Sloka metre, and occasionally designed as ‘Gathas,’ are added at the end of most chapters, and interspersed between the Sutras in some; but in this particular also the Vishnu-sutra agrees with at least one other Dharma-sutra, the Vasishtha-smriti, and it contains in its law part, like the latter work, a number of verses in the ancient Trishtubh metre.
Four of these Trishtubhs are found in the Vasishtha-smriti, and three in Yaska’s Nirukta as well, and the majority of the Slokas has been traced in the former work and the other above-mentioned law-books, and in other Smritis. In point of contents the great majority both of the metrical and prose rules of the Vishnu-sutra agrees with one, or some, or all of the works named above. The Grihya-sutras, excepting the Kathaka Grihya-sutra, naturally offer a far smaller number of analogies with it than the Smritis, still they exhibit several rules, in the Snataka-dharmas and otherwise, that have not been traced in any other Smriti except the work here translated.
Among the Smritis again, each single one maybe seen from the references to contain a number of such rules, as are only met with in this work, which is a very important fact because, if the laws of the Vishnu-sutra were found either in all other Smritis, or in one of them only, its author might be suspected of having borrowed them from one of those works. As it is, meeting with analogous passages now in one work, and then in another, one cannot but suppose that the author of this work has everywhere drawn from the same source as the other Sutrakaras, viz. from ancient traditions that were common to all Vedic schools. There are, moreover, a number of cases in which this work, instead of having borrowed from other works of the same class, can be shown to have been, directly or indirectly, the source from which they drew, and this fact constitutes a third reason in favour of the high antiquity of its laws. The clearest case of this kind is furnished by the Vasishtha-smriti, with which this work has two entire chapters in common, which are not found elsewhere. I subjoin in a note the text of Vasishtha XXVIII, 10-15, with an asterisk to those words which contain palpable mistakes (not including blunders in point of metre), for comparison with Chapter LVI of this work in the Calcutta edition, which is exceptionally correct in this chapter and in Chapter LXXXVII, which latter corresponds to Vasishtha XXVIII, 18-22.
In both chapters Vishnu has mainly prose Sutras and throughout a perfectly correct text, whereas Vasishtha has bad Slokas which, supported as they are by the Commentary or by the metre or by both, can only be accounted for by carelessness or clerical mistakes in some cases, and by a clumsy versification of the original prose version preserved in this work in others. Another chapter of the Vishnu-sutra, the forty-eighth, nowhere meets with a parallel except in the third Prasna of the Dharma-sutra of Baudhayana, where it recurs almost word for word. An examination of the various readings in both works shows that in some of the Slokas Baudhayana has better readings, while in one or two others the readings of Vishnu seem preferable, though the unsatisfactory condition of the MS. consulted renders it unsafe to pronounce a definitive judgment on the character of Baudhayana’s readings. At all events he has a few Vedic Mantras more than Vishnu, which however seem to be very well-known Mantras and are quoted by their Pratikas only.
But he omits the two important Sutras 9 and 10 of Vishnu, the latter of which contains a Mantra quoted at full, which, although corrupted (see Vagas. Samh. IV, 12) and hardly intelligible, is truly Vedic in point of language; and he adds on his part a clause at the end of the whole book, which inculcates the worship of Ganesha or Shiva or both, and would be quite sufficient in itself to cast a doubt on the genuineness and originality of his version. It is far from improbable that both Vasishtha and Baudhayana may have borrowed the sections referred to directly from an old recession of this work, as Baudhayana has borrowed another chapter of his work from Gautama, while Vasishtha in his turn has borrowed the same chapter from Baudhayana. It may be added in confirmation of this view, that as far as Vasishtha is concerned, his work is the only Smriti, as far as I know, which contains a quotation from the ‘Kathaka’ (in XXIX, 18).
The Dharma-sutras of Apastamba and Gautama have nowhere a large number of consecutive Sutras in common with the Vishnu-sutra, but it is curious to note that the rule, which the latter (X, 45) quotes as the opinion of ‘some’ (eke), that a non-Brahmanical finder of a treasure, who announces his find to the king, shall obtain one-sixth of the value, is found in no other law-book except in this, which states (III, 61) that a Sudra shall ‘divide a treasure-trove into twelve parts, two of which he may keep for himself.
Of the metrical law-books, one, the Yagnavalkya-smriti, has been shown by Professor Max Muller to have borrowed the whole anatomical section (III, 84-104 including the simile of the soul which dwells in the heart like a lamp (III, 109, III, 201), from this work (XCVI, 43-96; XCVII, 9); and it has been pointed out by the same scholar, that the verse in which the author of the former work speaks of the Aranyaka and of the Yoga-sastra as of his own works (III, 110) does not occur in the Vishnu-sutra, and must have been added by the versificator, who brought the Yagnavalkya-smriti into its present metrical form.
Several other Slokas in Yagnavalkya’s description of the human body (111, 99, 105-108), and nearly the whole section on Yoga (Y. III, 111-203, excepting those Slokas, the substance of which is found in this work and in the code of Manu, viz. 131-140, 177-182, 190, 198-201) may be traced to the same source, as may be also the omission of Vishnu’s enumeration of the ‘six limbs’ (XCVI, 90) in the Yagnavalkya-smriti, and probably all the minor points on which it differs from this work.
Generally speaking, those passages which have been justly noticed as marking the comparatively late period in which that law-book must have been composed: such as the allusions to the astrology and astronomy of the Greeks (Y. I, 80, 295), which render it necessary to refer the metrical redaction of the Yagnavalkya-smriti to a later time than the second century A. D.; the whole passage on the worship of Ganesa and of the planets (I, 270-307), in which, moreover, a heterodox sect is mentioned, that has been identified with the Buddhists; the philosophical doctrines propounded in I, 349, 350; the injunctions regarding the foundation and endowment of monasteries (II, 185 seq.)—all these passages have no parallel in this work, while it is not overstating the case to say that nearly all the other subjects mentioned in the Yagnavalkya-smriti are treated in a similar way, and very often in the same terms, in the Vishnu-sutra as well. Some of those rules, in which the posteriority of the Yagnavalkya-smriti to other law-books exhibits itself, do occur in the Vishnu-sutra, but without the same marks of modern age.
Thus the former has two Slokas concerning the punishment of forgery (II, 240, 241), in which coined money is referred to by the term Nanaka; the Vishnu-sutra has the identical rule (V, 122, 123; cf. V, 9). But the word nanaka does not occur in it. Yagnavalkya, in speaking of the number of wives which a member of the three higher castes may marry (I, 57), advocates the Puritan view, that no Sudra wife must be among these; this work has analogous rules (XXIV, 1-4), in which, however, such marriages are expressly allowed.
The comparative priority of all those Sutras of Vishnu, to which similar Slokas of Yagnavalkya correspond, appears probable on general grounds, which are furnished by the course of development in this as in other branches of Indian literature; and to this it may be added, as far as the civil and criminal laws are concerned, that the former enumerates them quite promiscuously, just like the other Dharma-sutras, with which he agrees besides in separating the law of inheritance from the body of the laws, whereas Yagnavalkya enumerates all the laws in the order of the eighteen ‘titles of law’ of Manu and the more recent law-books, though he does not mention the titles of law by name.
However much the Vishnu-sutra may have in common with the Yagnavalkya-smriti, there is no other law-book with which it agrees so closely as with the code of Manu. This fact may be established by a mere glance at the references in the notes to this translation, in which Manu makes his appearance far more frequently and constantly than any other author, and the case becomes the stronger, the more the nature of these analogies is inquired into. Of Slokas alone Vishnu has upwards of 160 in common with Manu, and in a far greater number of cases still his Sutras agree nearly word for word with the corresponding rules of Manu.
The latter also, though he concurs in a very great number of points with the other law authors as well, agrees with none of them so thoroughly as with Vishnu. All the Smritis of Apastamba, Baudhayana, Vasishtha, Yagnavalkya, and Narada contain, according to an approximate calculation, no more than about 130 Slokas, that are found in the code of Manu as well. The latter author and Vishnu differ of course on a great many minor points, and an exhaustive discussion of this subject would fill a treatise; I must therefore confine myself to notice some of those differences, which are particularly important for deciding the relative priority of the one work before the other. In a number of Slokas Manu’s readings are decidedly older and better than Vishnu’s. Thus the latter (XXX, 7) compares the three ‘Atigurus’ to the ‘three gods,’ i.e. to the post-Vedic Trimurti of ‘Brahman, Vishnu, and Shiva,’ as the commentator expressly states, whereas Manu in an analogous Sloka (II, 230) refers to the ‘three orders’ instead.
At the end of the section on inheritance (XVIII, 44) Vishnu mentions among other indivisible objects ‘a book,’ pustakam; Manu (IX, 219) has the same Sloka, but for pustakam he reads prakakshate. Now pustaka is a modern word, and Varahamihira, who lived in the sixth century A. D., appears to be the first author, with a known date, by whom it is used. It occurs again, Vishnu-sutra XXIII, 56 (prokshanena ka pustakam), and here also Manu (V, 122) has a different reading (punahpakena mrinmayam). The only difference between Vishnu-sutra XXII, 93 and Manu V, 110 consists in the use of singular forms (te, srinu) in the former work, and of plural forms (vah, srinuta) in the latter. Now there are a great many other Smritis besides the Manu-smriti, such as e.g. the Yagnavalkya and Parasara Smritis, in which the fiction is kept up, that the laws contained in them are promulgated to an assembly of Rishis; but there are very few Smritis of the least notoriety or importance besides the Vishnu-sutra, in which they are proclaimed to a single person.
Other instances in which Manu’s readings appear preferable to Vishnu’s may be found, LI, 60 (pretya keha ka nishkritim) = Manu V, 38 (pretya ganmani ganmani); LI, 64 (iti kathankana) = M. V, 41 (ity abravinmanuh); LI, 76 (tasya) = M.V, 53 (tayoh); LIV, 27 (brahmanyat) = M. XI, 193 (brahmana); LVII, 11 (purastad anukoditam) = M. IV, 248; Vasishtha XIV, 16; Apastamba I, 6, 19, 14 (purastad aprakoditam); LXVII, 45 (sayampratas tvatithaye) = M. III, 99 (sampraptaya tvatithaye), &c. But these instances do not prove much, as all the passages in question may have been tampered with by the Vishnuitic editor, and as in sonic other cases the version of Vishnu seems preferable. Thus ‘practised by the virtuous’ (sadhubhiska nishevitam, LXXI, 90) is a very common epithet of ‘akara,’ and reads better than Manu’s nibaddham sveshu karmasu (IV, 155); and krikkhratikrikkhram (LIV, 30) seems preferable to Baudhayana’s and Manu’s krikkhratikrikkhrau (XI, 209).
What is more important, the Vishnu-sutra does not only contain a number of verses in the ancient Trishtubh metre, whereas Manu has none, but it shows those identical three Trishtubhs of Vasishtha and Yaska, which Dr. Buhler has proved to have been converted into Anushtubh Slokas by Manu (II, 114, 115, 144) and Manu seems to have taken the substance of his three Slokas from this work more immediately, because both he (II, 144) and Vishnu, (XXX, 47) have the reading avrinoti for atrinatti, which truly Vedic form is employed both by Vasishtha and Yaska. The relative antiquity of Vishnu’s prose rules, as compared to the numerous corresponding Slokas of Manu, may be proved by arguments precisely similar to those which I have adduced above in speaking of the Yagnavalkya-smriti.
As regards those points in the code of Manu, which are usually considered as marks of the comparatively late date of its composition, it will suffice to mention, that the Vishnu-sutra nowhere refers to South Indian nations such as the Dravidas and Andhras, or to the Yavanas; that it shows no distinct traces of an acquaintance with the tenets of any other school of philosophy except the Yoga and Sankhya systems; that it does not mention female ascetics disparagingly, and in particular does not contain Manu’s rule (VIII, 363) regarding the comparatively light punishment to be inflicted for violation of (Buddhist and other) female ascetics; and that it does not inveigh (see XV, 3), like Manu (IX, 64-68), against the custom of Niyoga or appointment of a widow to raise offspring to her deceased husband. It is true, on the other hand, that in many cases Vishnu’s rules have a less archaic character than the corresponding precepts of Manu, not only in the Slokas, but in the Sutra part as well.
Thus written documents and ordeals are barely mentioned in the code (if Manu (VIII, 114, 115, 168; IX, 232); Vishnu on the other hand, besides referring in divers places to royal grants and edicts, to written receipts and other private documents, and to books, devotes to writings (lekhya) an entire chapter, in which he makes mention of the caste of Kayasthas, ‘scribes,’ and he lays down elaborate rules for the performance of five species of ordeals, to which recourse should be had, according to him, in all suits of some importance.
But in nearly all such cases the antiquity of Vishnu’s rules is warranted to a certain extent by corresponding rules occurring in the Smritis of Yagnavalkya and Narada; and the evidence for the modifications and entire transformations, which the code of Manu must have undergone in a number of successive periods, is so abundant, that the archaic character of many of its rules cannot be considered to constitute a sufficient proof of the priority of the whole code before other codes which contain some rules of a comparatively modern character.
To this it must be added that the Narada-smriti, though taken as a whole it is decidedly posterior to the code of Manu, is designated by tradition as an epitome from another and more bulky recession of the code of Manu than the one which we now possess; and if this statement may be credited, which is indeed rather doubtful, the very particular resemblance between both works in the law of evidence and in the rules regarding property (see LVIII) can only tend to corroborate the assumption that the Vishnu-sutra and the Manu-smriti must have been closely connected from the first.
This view is capable of further confirmation still by a different set of arguments. The so-called code of Manu is universally assumed now to be an improved metrical edition of the ancient Dharma-sutra of the (Maitrayaniya) Manavas, a school studying the Black Yagur-veda; and it has been shown above that the ancient stock of the Vishnu-sutra, in which all the parts hitherto discussed may be included, represents in the main the Dharma-sutra, of the Karayaniya-kathas, another school studying the Black Yagur-veda.
Now these two schools do not only belong both to that Veda, but to the same branch of it, as may be seen from the Karanavyuha, which work classes both the Kathas and Karayaniyas on the one hand, and the Manavas together with the six or five other sections of the Maitrayaniyas on the other hand, as subdivisions of the Karaka Sakha of the Black Yagur-veda.
What is more, there exists a thoroughgoing parallelism between the literature of those two schools, as far as it is known. To begin with their respective Samhitas, it has been shown by L. Schroder that the Maitrayani Samhita has more in common with the Kathaka, the Samhita of the Kathas, than with any other Veda. As the Kathas are constantly named, in the Mahabhashya and other old works, by the side of the Kalapas, whereas the name of the Maitrayaniyas does not occur in any Sanskrit work of uncontested antiquity, it has been suggested by the same scholar that the Maitrayaniyas may be the Kalapas of old, and may not have assumed the former name till Buddhism began to prevail in India.
However this may be, the principal Sutra works of both schools stand in a similar relation to one another as their Samhitas. Some of those Mantras, which have been stated above to be common to the Vishnu-sutra and Kathaka Grihya only, and to occur in no other Vedic work hitherto printed, have been traced in the Manava Srauta-sutra, in the chapter on Pinda-pitriyagna (I, 2 of the section on Praksoma), and the conclusion is, that if the Srauta-sutra of the Kathaka school were still in existence, it would be found to exhibit a far greater number of analogies with the Srauta-sutra of the Manavas. The Grihya-sutra of this school agrees with the Kathaka Grihya-sutra even more closely than the latter agrees with the Vishnu-sutra, as both works have not only several entire chapters in common (the chapter on the Vaisvadeva sacrifice among others, which is found in the Vishnu-sutra also), but concur everywhere in the arrangement of the subject-matter and in the choice of expressions and Mantras.
The Brahmana stage of Vedic literature is not represented by a separate work in either of the two schools, but a further argument in favour of their alleged historical connection may be derived from their respective geographical position. If it has been rightly conjectured above, that the original seats of the Kathas were in the north-west, whence they spread themselves over Hindustan, the Maitrayaniyas, though now surviving nowhere except in some villages ‘near the Satpuda mountain, which is included in the Vindhyas.’ Must have been anciently their neighbours, as the territory occupied by them extended ‘from the Mayura mountain into Gujarat,’ and reached ‘as far as the north-western country’ (vayavyadesa).
Considering all this evidence regarding the original connection between the Kathas and Manavas, it may be said without exaggeration, that it would be far more surprising to find no traces of resemblance between their respective Dharma-sutras, such as we possess them, than to find, as is actually the case, the contrary; and it may be argued, vice versa, that the supposed connection of the two works with the Vedic schools of the Kathas and Manavas, respectively, is confirmed by the kinship existing between these two schools.
In turning now from the ancient parts of the Vishnu-sutra to its more recent ingredients, I may again begin by quoting Professor Max Muller’s remarks on this work, which contain the statement, that it is ‘enlarged by modern additions written in Slokas.’ After him, Dr. Buhler pointed out that the whole work appears to have been recast by an adherent of Vishnu, and that the final and introductory chapters in particular are shown by their very style to have been composed by another author than the body of the work.
If the latter remark were in need of further confirmation, it might be urged that the description of Vishnu as ‘the boar of the sacrifice’ (yagnavaraha) in the first chapter is bodily taken from the Harivamsa (2226-2237), while most of the epithets given to Vishnu in I, 49-61 and XCVIII, 7-100 may be found in another section of the Mahabharata, the so-called Vishnu-sahasranama. Along with the introductory and final chapters, all those passages generally are distinctly traceable to the activity of the Vishnuitic editor, in which Vishnu (Purusha, Bhagavat, Vasudeva, &c.) is mentioned, or his dialogue with the goddess of the earth carried on, viz. I; V, 193; XIX, 24; XX, 16-21; XXII, 93; XXIII, 46; XXIV, 35; XLVII, 10; XLIX; LXIV, 28, 29; LXV; LXVI; LXVII, 2; XC, 3-5,17-23; XCVI, 97,98; XCVII, 7-21; XCVIII-C.
The short invocation addressed to Vishnu in LXVII, 12 is proved to be ancient by its recurrence in the corresponding chapter of the Kathaka Grihya-sutra, and Chapter LXV contains genuine Kathaka Mantras transferred to a Vishnuitic ceremony. Chapter LXVI, on the other hand, though it does not refer to Vishnu by name, seems to be connected with the same Vishnuitic rite, and becomes further suspected by the recurrence of several of its rules in the genuine Chapter LXXIX. The contents of Chapter XCVII, in which it is attempted to reconcile some of the main tenets of the Sankhya system, as propounded in the Sankhya-karika, Sankhya-pravakanabhashya, and other works, with the Vaishnava creed and with the Yoga; the fact that the two Slokas in XCVI (97, 98) and part of the Slokas in XCVII (15-21) have their parallel in similar Slokas of the Bhagavad-gita and of the Bhagavata-purana; the terms Mahatpati, Kapila, and Sankhyakarya, used as epithets of Vishnu (XCVIII, 26, 85, 86); and some other passages in the Vishnuitic chapters seem to favour the supposition that the editor may have been one of those members of the Vishnuitic sect of the Bhagavatas, who were conspicuous for their leaning towards the Sankhya and Yoga systems of philosophy.
The arrangement of the Vishnu-sutra in a hundred chapters is no doubt due to the same person, as the Commentary points out that the number of the epithets given to Vishnu in XCVIII is precisely equal to the number of chapters into which the laws promulgated by him are divided (II-XCVII); though the number ninety-six is received only by including the introductory and final invocations (XCVIII, 6, 101) among the epithets of Vishnu. It seems quite possible, that some chapters were inserted mainly in order to bring up the whole figure to the round number of a hundred chapters, and it is for this reason chiefly that the majority of the following additions, which show no Vishnuitic tendencies, may also be attributed to the Vishnuitic editor.

• Most or all of the Slokas added at the end of Chapters XX (22-53) and XLIII (32-45) cannot be genuine; the former on account of their great extent and partial recurrence in the Bhagavad-gita, Mahabharata, and other works of general note, and because they refer to the self-immolation of widows and to Kala, whom the commentator is probably right in identifying with Vishnu; the latter on account of their rather extravagant character and decidedly Puranic style, though the Garuda-purana, in its very long description of the hells, offers no strict parallel to the details given here. The verses in which the Brahmanas and cows are celebrated (XIX, 22, 23; XXIII, 57-61) are also rather extravagant; however, some of them are Trishtubhs, and the verses in XIX are closely connected with the preceding Sutras. The two final Slokas in LXXXVI (19, 20) may also be suspected as to their genuineness, because they are wanting in the corresponding chapter of the Kathaka Grihya-sutra; and a number of other verses in divers places, because they have no parallel in the Smriti literature, or because they have been traced in comparatively modern works, such as the Bhagavad-gita, the Pankatantra, &c.
• The week of the later Romans and Greeks, and of modern Europe (LXXVIII, 1-7), the self-immolation of widows (XXV, 14; cf. XX, 39), and the Buddhists and Pasupatas (LXIII, 36) are not mentioned in any ancient Sanskrit work. Besides, the passages in question may be easily removed, especially the Sutras referring to the seven days of the week, which form clearly a subsequent addition to the enumeration of the Nakshatras and Tithis immediately following (LXXVIII, 8-50), and the rule concerning the burning of widows (XXV, 14), which is in direct opposition to the law concerning the widow’s right to inherit (XVII, 4) and to other precepts regarding widows. That the three terms kashayin, pravragita, malina in LXIII, 36 refer to members of religious orders seems clear, but it maybe doubted whether malina denotes the Pasupatas, and even whether kashayin (cf. pravragita XXXVI, 7) denotes the Buddhists, as dresses dyed with Kashaya are worn by Brahmanical sects also, and prescribed for students, and for ascetics likewise, by some of the Grihya-and Dharma-sutras. Still the antiquity of the Sutra in question can hardly be defended, because the acquaintance of the Vishnuitic editor with the Buddhistic system of faith is proved by two other Sutras (XCVIII, 40, 41), and because the whole subject of good and evil omens is not treated in any other ancient Smriti. On the other hand, such terms as vedaninda and nastikata (XXXVII, 4, 31, &c.) recur in most Smritis, and can hardly be referred to the Buddhists in particular.
• The Tirthas enumerated in LXXXV, some of which are sacred to Vishnu and Shiva, belong to all parts of India, and many of them are situated in the Dekhan, which was certainly not included within the limits of the ‘Aryavarta’ of the ancient Dharma-sutra (LXXXIV, 4). As no other Smriti contains a list of this kind, the whole chapter may be viewed as a later addition.
• The ceremonies described in XC are not mentioned in other Smritis, while some of them are decidedly Vishnuitic, or traceable in modern works; and as all the Sutras in XC hang closely together, this entire chapter seems also to be spurious.
• The repetitions in the list of articles forbidden to sell (LIV, 18-22); the addition of the two categories of atipatakani, ‘crimes in the highest degree,’ and prakirntakam, ‘miscellaneous crimes’ (XXXIII, 3,5; XXXIV; XLII), to Manu’s list of crimes; the frequent references to the Ganges river; and other such passages, which show a modem character, without being traceable in the Smritis of Yagnavalkya and Narada, may have been added by the Vishnuitic editor from modern Smritis, either for the sake of completeness, or in order to make up the required number of chapters.
• All the passages hitherto mentioned are such as have no parallel in other ancient Smritis. But the Vishnuitic editor did evidently not confine himself to the introduction of new matter into the ancient Dharma-sutra. That he did not refrain, occasionally, from altering the original text, has been conjectured above with regard to his readings of some of those Slokas, which are found in the code of Manu as well; and it can be proved quite clearly by comparing his version of the Vrishotsarga ceremony (LXXXVI) with the analogous chapter of the Kathaka Grihya-sutra. In one case (LI, 64; cf. XXIII, 50 = M. V, 131) he has replaced the words, which refer the authorship of the Sloka in question to Manu, by an unmeaning term.

The superior antiquity of Manu’s reading (V, 41) is vouched for by the recurrence of the same passage in the Grihya-sutra of Sankhayana (II, 16, 1) and in the Vasishtha-smriti (IV, 6), and the reference to Manu has no doubt been removed by the Vishnuitic editor, because it would have been out of place in a speech of Vishnu. References to sayings of Manu and other teachers and direct quotations from Vedic works are more or less common in all Dharma-sutras, and their entire absence in this work is apparently due to their systematical removal by the editor. On the other hand, the lists of Vedic and other works to be studied or recited may have been enlarged in one or two cases by him or by another interpolator, namely, XXX, 37 (cf. V, 191), where the Atharva-veda is mentioned after the other Vedas by the name of ‘Atharvana’ (not Atharvangirasas, as in the code of Manu and most other ancient works), and LXXXIII, 7, where Vyakarana, ‘Grammar,’ i.e. according to the Commentary the grammars of Panini and others, is mentioned as distinct from the Vedangas. The antiquity of the former passage might indeed be defended by the example of Apastamba, who, though referring like this work to the ‘three Vedas’ both separately and collectively, mentions in another place the ‘Atharvana-veda.’ Besides the above works, and those referred to in LVI, the laws of Vishnu name no other work except the Puranas, Itihasas, and Dharmasastras.

• As the Vishnuitic editor did not scruple to alter the import of a certain number of passages, the modernisation of the language of the whole work, which was probably as rich in archaic forms and curious old terms as the Kathaka Grihya-sutra and as the Dharma-sutra of Apastamba, may be likewise attributed to him.
As it is, the Vishnu-sutra agrees in style and expressions more closely with the Smritis of Manu and Yagnavalkya than with any other work, and it is at least not inferior to the former work in the preservation of archaic forms. Thus the code of Manu has seven aorist forms, while the Vishnu-sutra contains six, not including those occurring in Vedic Mantras which are quoted by their Pratikas only. Of new words and meanings of words the Vishnu-sutra contains also a certain number; they have lately been communicated by me to Dr. von Bohtlingk for, insertion in his new Dictionary.

All the points noticed render it necessary to assign a comparatively recent date to the Vishnuitic editor; and if the introduction of the week of the Greeks into the ancient Dharma-sutra has been justly attributed to him, he cannot be placed earlier than the third or fourth century A. D. The lower limit must be put before the eleventh century, in which the Vishnu-sutra is quoted in the Mitakshara of Vignanesvara, From that time downwards it is quoted in nearly every law digest, and a particularly large number of quotations occurs in Apararka’s Commentary, on Yagnavalkya, which was composed in the twelfth century. Nearly all those quotations, as far as they have been examined, are actually found in the Vishnu-sutra; but the whole text is vouched for only by Nandapandita’s Commentary, called Vaigayanti, which was composed in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.
The subscriptions in the London MSS. of the Vaigayanti contain the statement, which is borne out by the Introduction, that it was composed by Nandapandita, the son of Ramapandita, Dharmadhikarin, an inhabitant of Banaras, at the instigation of the Maharaga Kesavanayaka, also called Tammasanayaka, the son of Kodapanayaka; and a passage added at the end of the work states, more accurately, that ‘Nandasarman (Nandapandita) wrote it at Kasi (Benares) in the year 1679 of the era of Vikramabhasvara (= A. D. 1622), by Command of Kesavanayaka, his own king.
These statements regarding the time and place of the composition of the Vaigayanti are corroborated by the fact that it refers in several cases to the opinions of Haradatta, who appears to have lived in the sixteenth century, while Nandapandita is not among the numerous authors quoted in the Viramitrodaya of Mitramisra, who lived in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and who was consequently a contemporary of Nandapandita, if the above statement is correct; and that he attacks in a number of cases the views of the ‘Eastern Commentators’ (Prakyas), and quotes a term from the dialect of Madhyadesa.
The subjoined translation is based upon the text handed down by Nandapandita nearly everywhere except in some of the Mantras, which have been rendered according to the better readings preserved in the Kathaka Grihya-sutra. The two Calcutta editions of the Vishnu-sutra, the second of which is a mere reprint of the first, will be found to agree in the main with the text here translated. They are doubtless based upon the Vaigayanti, as they contain several passages in which portions of Nandapandita’s Commentary have crept into the text of the Sutras.
But the MS. used for the first Calcutta edition must have been a very faulty one, as both Calcutta editions, besides differing from the best MSS. of the Vaigayanti on a very great number of minor points, entirely omit the greater part of Chapter LXXXI (3-22), the genuineness of which is proved by analogous passages in the other Smritis. An excellent copy of the Vaigayanti in possession of Dr. Buhler has, together with three London MSS. of that work and one London MS. containing the text only, enabled me to establish quite positively nearly in every case the readings sanctioned by Nandapandita. I had hoped to publish a new edition of the text prepared from those MSS., and long ready for the press, before publishing my English version.
This expectation has not been fulfilled, but it is hoped that in the mean time this attempt at a translation will be welcome to the students of Indian antiquity, and will facilitate the understanding of the text printed in Givananda Vidyasagara’s cheap edition, which is probably in the hands of most Sanskrit scholars. The precise nature of the relation in which the text of my forthcoming edition stands to the Calcutta editions may be gathered from the large specimens of the text as given in the best MSS., that have been edited by Dr. Buhler in the Bombay Digest, and by myself in two papers published in the Transactions of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Science.
Nandapandita has composed, besides the Vaigayanti, a treatise on the law of adoption, called Dattaka-mimamsa, a commentary on the code of Parasara, a work called Vidvanmanohara-smritisindhu, one called Sraddhakalpa-lata, and commentaries on the Mitakshara and on Adityakarya’s Asaukanirnaya. All these works belong to the province of Hindu law, and both his fertility as a writer in that branch of Indian science, and the reputation enjoyed by some of his works even nowadays, must raise a strong presumption in favour of his knowledge of the subject. The general trustworthiness of his Commentary on the Vishnu-sutra is further confirmed by the frequent references which it contains to the opinions of earlier commentators of that work; and the wide extent of his reading, though he often makes an unnecessary display of it, has been eminently serviceable to him in tracing the connection of certain chapters and Mantras with the Kathaka literature. On the other hand, his very learning, combined with a strict adherence to the well-known theory of Hindu commentators regarding the absolute identity between the teaching of all Smritis, has frequently misled him into a too extensive method of interpretation.
Even in commenting the Slokas he assigns in many cases an important hidden meaning to such particles as ka, va, tatha, and others, and to unpretending epithets and the like, which have clearly been added for metrical reasons only. This practice, besides being contrary to common sense, is nowhere countenanced by the authority of Kulluka, in his remarks on the numerous identical Slokas found in the code of Manu. With the Sutras generally speaking the case is different: many of them would be nearly or quite unintelligible without the explanatory remarks added, in brackets from Nandapandita’s Commentary, and in a number of those cases even, where his method jars upon a European mind, the clauses supplied by him are probably correct. The same may be said of his interpretations of the epithets of Vishnu, excepting those which are based on utterly fanciful etymologies, as the style of the introductory and final chapters is as artificial, though in another way, as the Sutra style.
Though, however, in works composed in the latter style, every ka, va, or iti, &c., which is not absolutely required by the sense, was probably intended by their authors to convey a special meaning, it is a question of evidence in every single case, whether those meanings which Nandapandita assigns to these and other such particles and expletive words are the correct ones. In several cases of this or of a similar kind he is palpably wrong, and in many others the interpretations proposed by him are at least improbable, because the authoritative passages he quotes in support of them are taken from modern works, which cannot have been known to the author of the Vishnu-sutra.
Interpretations of this class have, therefore, been given in the notes only; and they have been omitted altogether in a number of cases where they appeared quite frivolous, or became too numerous, or could not be deciphered completely, owing to clerical mistakes in the MSS. But though it is impossible to agree with some of his general principles of interpretation, or with his application of them, Nandapandita’s interpretations of difficult terms and Sutras are invaluable, and I have never deviated from them in my translation without strong reasons to the contrary, which have in most cases been stated in the notes.
Besides the extracts given in the notes, a few other passages from the Commentary and several other additions will be given in p. 312; and I must apologize to my readers for having to note along with the Addenda a number of Corrigenda, which will be found in the same page. In compiling the Index of Sanskrit words occurring in this work, which it has been thought necessary to add to the General Index, I have not aimed at completeness except as regards the names of deities and of penances. My forthcoming edition of the Sanskrit text will be accompanied by a full Index of words.
In conclusion I have to express my thanks in the most cordial manner to Dr. Buhler, who has constantly assisted me with his advice in the preparing of this translation, and has kindly lent me his excellent copy of the Vaigayanti; and to Dr. von Bohtlingk and Professor Max Muller, who have favoured me with valuable hints on divers points connected with this work. My acknowledgments are due, in the second place, to K. M, Chatfield, Esq., Director of Public Instruction, Bombay, to Dr. von Halm, Chief Librarian of the Royal Library, Munich, to Professor R. Lepsius, Chief Librarian of the Royal Library, of Berlin, and to Dr. R. Rost, Chief Librarian of the India office Library, London, for the valuable aid received from these gentlemen and the great liberality, with which they have placed Sanskrit MSS. under their care at my disposal.
Narada Smriti
Narada: A Rishi to whom some hymns of the.Rig-veda are ascribed. He is one of the Prajapatis, and also one of the seven great.Rishis. The various notices of him are somewhat inconsistent The Rig-veda describes him as “of the Kanwa family.” Another authority states that he sprang from the forehead of Brahma, and the Vishnu Purana makes him a son of Kasyapa and one of Daksha’s daughters. The Mahabharata and some Puranas state that he frustrated the scheme which Daksha had formed for peopling the earth, and consequently incurred that patriarch’s curse to enter again the womb of a woman and be born. Daksha, however, relented at the solicitation of Brahma, and consented that Narada should be born again of Brahma and one of Daksha’s daughters; he was hence called Brahma and Deva-brahma.
In some respects he bears a resemblance to Orpheus, He is the inventor of the vina (lute), and was chief of the Gandharvas or heavenly musicians. He also went down to the infernal regions (Patala), and was delighted with what he saw there. In later times he is connected with the legend of Krishna. He warned Kama of the imminent incarnation of Vishnu, and he afterwards became the friend and associate of Krishna. The Narada-pancha-ratra relates that Brahma advised his son Narada to marry, but Narada censured his father as a false teacher, because devotion to Krishna was the only true means of felicity. Brahma then cursed Narada to lead a life of sensuality, in subjection to women, and Narada retorted the curse, condemning Brahma to lust after his own daughter, and to be an object unworthy of adoration. Narada has the appellations, Kali-karaka,’ strife-maker;’ Kapi-vaktra,’ monkey-faced;’ Pisuna, ‘messenger or spy.’
Narada was also one of the great writers upon law. His text-book, called “Naradiya Dharma-sastra,” has been translated into English by Dr. Jolly.”
[Quelle: Dowson, John <1820-1881>: A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history, and literature. — London, Trubner, 1879. — s.v. ]

Narada: I. A very famous sage of the Puranas.

    (1)    Birth: Narada was the son of Brahma, born from his lap. Brahma mentally created the famous saptarshis, Marici, Angiras, Atri, Pulastya, Vasishtha, Pulaha and Kratu. From Brahma’s anger was born Rudra, from his lap Narada, from his right thumb Daksha, from his mind Sanaka and others and from his left thumb a daughter called Virani. Daksha wedded Virani. (Devi Bhagavata, 5th Skandha).
    (2)    Various Births of Narada: The Puranas refer to more than seven prominent births of Narada. He was first born as the son of Brahma, and after that, on account of Brahma’s curse he was born as the Gandharva called Upabarhana. Following that he was born as the son of emperor Drumila and was named Narada. Again born as the son of Brahma under the name Narada, he married Malati and ended his life as a monkey. He was again born as the son of Brahma and was cursed by Daksha. Afterwards he was born as the son of Daksha and also as a worm. All these births did not occur in one and the same Manvantara. Narada may be noticed doing something or other in connection with the various characters in the Puranas. There is no other character in the Puranas occupying so popular a place in them as Narada. The important five births of Narada are described below.
    (a)    The Gandharva Called Upabarhana: Narada born from the lap of Brahma desired to remain a celibate. But, Brahma suggested that he should assume responsibility for procreation as his (Brahma’s) other sons like Marici and Sanaka had already become celibates. Narada did not accept this suggestion of Brahma at which the latter got angry and cursed Narada to lose his knowledge and to marry fifty beautiful women. Brahma continued:—”You will be born as a Gandharva known as Upabarhana and will become a great musician. You will be unrivalled in the handling of the Vina. After your death as the Gandharva you will be born as the son of a servant woman, and as such you will be a great devotee of Vishnu. Afterwards you will be born as my son when I will impart knowledge to you.”
        There was a Gandharva called Citraketu, who performed penance on the banks of the Pushkara lake to propitiate Shiva for a child. Shiva appeared and blessed Citraketu to the effect that Narada, the son of Brahma, would be born as his son. Accordingly the wife of Citraketu delivered a son whom the family priest named Upabarhana. The boy grew up as a devotee of Vishnu. Brhaspati taught him the worship of Hari (Vishnu). Upabarhana lived on the slopes of the Himalayas performing penance. While Upabarhana was one day engaged in Samadhi fifty daughters of the Gandharva called Citraratha passed that way, and they fell in love with Upabarhana, who was in Samadhi.
        He awoke from Samadhi on hearing the melodious songs of the fifty damsels who stood there with palms joined in reverence. Upabarhana too fell in love with them, and he married all the fifty girls. He returned with them to the palace and lived there for thousands of years. Once the Gandharvas and the Apsaras were invited to sing the story of Vishnu in Brahmaloka. Upabarhana accompanied them. He became lustful towards Rambha.
        The Prajapatis, who noticed it got angry, and Upabarhana well-nigh dead due to their curse returned home. He told his wives all that had happened to him. He spread a darbha grass on the ground and lay on it and died. Malati, the eldest of his wives, got ready to curse Brahma, Yama and Mrtyu. In great consternation they sought refuge under Vishnu, who comforted and sent them back to Malati. They saluted her. Then a brahmin, who went there, questioned Brahma about the death of Upabarhana.
        The brahmin told him that, according to previous decision, life for another thousand years remained for Upabarhana, but he died in the meantime on account of the curse of Prajapati. Immediately the brahmin assumed the form of Vishnu. The brahmin blessed Upabarhana who woke up from death rubbing his eyes. He lived happily at home with his wives. He was blessed with children and grandchildren. Knowing that his end was near Upabarhana and Malati spent their time in austerities on the banks of the Ganga. At last Upabarhana expired, and Malati ended her life in his funeral pyre. (Bhagavata, 7th Skandha).
    (b)    Son of Kalavati: There lived in Kanyakubja the emperor called Drumila. He, along with his wife Kalavati, performed penance on the banks of the Ganga for an offspring. Kalavati pleased Kashyapa, by her worship and with his blessing she became pregnant. Drumila, who in the meantime had renounced everything in life, decided to spend the rest of his life in the forest itself. He gifted away all his wealth to brahmins and died in the forest. Though Kalavati got ready to follow him in the funeral pyre, a celestial voice stopped her and she refrained from committing self-immolation. She returned to the village and lived as a slave in a brahmin’s house. In due course of time she delivered a son. On the birth of the child it rained in the land which was suffering from failure of rains, and because of that the brahmin master of Kalavati named the child Narada, meaning he who gives water. When the child Narada grew up he told his mother the story about his former birth. He turned out to be a great devotee of Vishnu. Meanwhile, Kalavati, who went to milk the cow one night, was bitten to death by a snake, and Narada was orphaned. Shiva and three attendants of his who went there in disguise were pleased at Narada’s great devotion for Vishnu and his service-mentality. He lived on the left-overs given by them. He repeated songs sung by them about Vishnu. Gradually Narada became perfect devotee of Vishnu and a unique master of music. Shiva and others imparted Bhagavata to Narada before they left him. Narada who thus attained divine knowledge performed penance for many years on the banks of the Ganga and died there. (Bhagavata, 7th Skandha).
    (c)    Birth as Kapi (Monkey): Narada, who expired on the banks of the Ganga was again born as the son of Brahma. Though the father wanted the son to get married the latter preferred to spend his days in the meditation on God. Brahma then told his son as follows: — “Why are you so much afraid of the house-holder’s life? Many people have attained salvation by following the four Ashramas (stages in life) like that of the celibate, the house-holder, the anchorite and the sannyasin. In fact, only such people will be able to serve man and God. A girl named Malati alias Damayanti is born to maharshi Sanjaya, and Shiva has granted her the boon that in this birth you will become her husband. You, therefore, go to Naranarayanas engaged in penance on the Himalayas. They will give Malati in marriage to you.”
Accordingly Narada went to Badarikashrama where in the presence of Naranarayanas he married Malati. During those days Narada and sage Parvata started on a pilgrimage in the course of which they went to the palace of emperor Sanjaya to observe Caturmasya. The emperor left a well-furnished house at the disposal of the pilgrims. He also deputed his daughter Damayanti to serve them.
The humble service of Damayanti pleased them both. But, Damayanti’s devotion towards Narada was more ardent and both of them noticed this fact. One day Parvata asked Narada whether Damayanti did not take a special interest in him (Narada) and to this Narada answered ‘Yes, I too think so’. Parvata got angry at this answer of Narada and told him thus: “We had agreed at the time when we started on this tour to divulge all secrets to each other Now you have broken that contract. Why did you not tell me about Damayanti’s partiality for you? You become, therefore, a monkey”. Narada, in turn, cursed Parvata as follows: “You will live in hell in Yamaloka for a hundred years.
Accordingly Narada became a monkey and Parvata lived in hell. At this juncture Sanjaya’s ministers advised him to marry his daughter to a prince, and the news made her very sad. Sanjaya understood the reason for his daughter’s sadness from her nurse. The father had ultimately to yield to her wishes and Damayanti married Narada, who had been turned into a monkey. Hundred years rolled by, and Parvata, the period of his curse being over, returned to the palace of Sanjaya. Narada treated Parvata duly well, and pleased at the treatment, he gave redemption to Narada from the curse. Narada lived very happily with Damayanti for a long time at the palace, and after the demise of Damayanti he attained Brahmaloka. (Bhagavata, 7th Skandha).
(d)    Born as Daksha’s Son: After the creation of the Devas was over, Brahma called Daksha to him and asked him to marry Virani and procreate, and Daksha accordingly begot five thousand sons of Virani. They were called Haryashvas Finding that the Haryashvas also were interested in the procreation of children Narada, the Devarshi, approached and told them as follows:— “Oh ! Haryashvas ! You who are exceptionally vital people seem to be trying to procreate children. But, you have not enquired as to whether there is enough space on earth for such large numbers of people. You are just like children who know nothing about the world. How will you procreate people? Since you could live absolutely free in the sky, why do you not find out the limit of the earth?”
The Haryashvas thereupon ran away in different places to find out the limit of the earth, and they have not, like the rivers which entered the ocean, returned yet. At the loss of the Haryashvas in the above manner, Daksha created the Shabalashvas, whom also Narada sent away to various parts of the earth. Daksha again created five thousand people whom also Narada drove away in the above manner. Angry and sad at this, Daksha cursed Narada thus:— “Well, Narada ! my children roam about like this because of you. Therefore, you too in future will be roaming about without a permanent abode. Moreover, you will have rebirth as my son.” Narada became a world-trotter on account of the above curse of Daksha. He was also reborn as the son of Daksha. (Devi Bhagavata, 7th Skandha and Vishnu Purana, Part 1, Chapter 15).
(e)    Born as a Worm: There is a story about Narada being born as a worm. On the approach of a chariot the worm moved quickly away from its route lest its wheel should crush it to death. The King seated in the chariot burst out into laughter at the above sight when the worm told him as follows:—”There is nothing to be laughed at in my action. In every birth the body is much dear to the atman (soul). Just as you love your body I also love and protect my body.” (Mahabharata).
(3)    Vishnu showed Narada the function of Maya. See under Taladhvaja I.
(4)    Narada became a Woman: While staying once with Krishna at Dvaraka, Narada and the former went out on a tour in an aerial chariot. On the way they saw a stream and Krishna stopped the chariot there as Narada wanted to quench his thirst at the stream. Narada drank water from the stream disobeying Krishna’s injunction that he should bathe before drinking water, and lo! the next moment Narada was turned into a woman and when ‘she’ looked around neither Krishna nor the chariot was to be seen. She wandered about in the forest and at last reached an Ashrama. When the Rishi of the ashrama awoke from his samadhi he saw standing before him a beautiful woman who requested him to accept her as his disciple. He readily granted her request.
The preceptor married the disciple and in due course of time she became the mother of sixty children. One day all the sixty children and their father expired together. The grief-stricken widow felt too weak to perform the obsequies of the dead. An extraordinary hunger also held her in its grips. She raised her hand to pluck a fruit from the mango tree that stood nearby but could not reach the mango above. She placed together the corpses one on the other, mounted upon the heap of dead bodies and plucked the mango-fruit Immediately a brahmin arrived on the spot and exhorted the widow on the impropriety of taking food without bathing after the death of husband and children. Then the widow entered the stream and dived in its waters holding above water the hand in which was held the mango, and lo! it was Narada who came out from the water. Only the hand, which had been held above water and did not therefore get wet, remained like that of a woman with bangles thereon. The brahmin, who stood there on the banks of the stream transformed himself into Krishna. As ordered by Krishna Narada again dived with the whole of his body in the water when the hand also turned into that of a man. The mango held in the hand turned into an excellent Vina. And Krishna told Narada: “The Rishi who lived with you as your husband and who is no more is Kalapurusha, and the sixty children are years Prabhava, Vibhava etc. Krishna and Narada then returned to Dvaraka. (Bhagavata. 7th Skandha).
(5)    Narada met the Woman called Bhakti: When Kalikala held the earth in its grips Narada, on a particular occasion, went round the world viewing the evils of Kali, and he saw a young woman immersed in grief sitting on the banks of the Yamuna, the sports field of Krishna. On both sides of her two old men were breathing in an unconscious state, and the woman, weeping was trying to restore them to consciousness. Many other women were fanning the unconscious men and trying to comfort the woman. Narada approached the young woman when she spoke to him as follows: ‘Oh! great sage, please put an end to my grief, because your words will remove all grief. I am called Bhakti and these two old men are my sons, one of whom is known as Jnana (knowledge) and the other Vairagya (renunciation), and they have become old due to the impact of time. The others found here are sacred rivers, who have come to serve me. But, the service of nobody will do me good.
I was born in the Dravida region, grew up in Karnataka, lived here and there in Maharashtra and became old at Gujarat whereat, atheists due to the evil of Kali inflicted wounds on me for a long time so that I became very weak. I did then go with my sons to the worshipful Vrndavana where I regained my old form and became a young woman in the shape of a ghost. My children suffer here in an unconscious state and I have to leave this for another place. I am so very sad that my sons have become old. Why did I become a young woman when my sons were old people? We three were touring together, and how then did this difference arise with regard to us? Is it not the proper thing for the mother to be older, and her children younger? You will please explain the reason for all these.” Narada read out the Vedas and the Vedangas to her, to no purpose.
Then Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Sanatsujata and others (all of them the mental offsprings of Brahma and gifted with eternal youth) asked Narada to read out Bhagavata to the sons of Bhakti. Narada did so, and they became immediately young. (Padma Purana, Uttarakhanda).
(6)    Tested Sri Krishna: Krishna was living in Dvaraka with his 16008 wives. Narada once wanted to know how Krishna managed to maintain so many wives without any difficulty or quarrels among them. To test it he first went to the palace of Rukmini where both Krishna and herself welcomed and treated him duly. Narada next visited Satyabhama’s house where also Krishna and herself welcomed and treated him well. In the houses of all the 16008 wives of Krishna, Narada had the same experience as above. He was wonder-struck at the divine powers of Krishna and returned home praising Krishna (Bhagavata, 10th Skandha).
(7)    Mahavishnu Put Down Narada’s Haughtiness: Narada had been very proud about his greatness as a musician. Vishnu decided to put an end to this conceit of Narada for which purpose he took Narada to a forest. There they saw many women, whose limbs had been cut, crying on account of insufferable pain. Mahavihsnu asked the women who they were and why their limbs were cut. They answered Vishnu that they were Raginis, the presiding deities over the various tunes and that they were reduced to their present plight by the totally erroneous singing of the tunes by Narada.
Narada hung his head down in shame at the above answer of the women and he was cured of his conceit. (Adbhuta Ramayana).
(8)    Hanuman Shamed Narada: Narada once met Hanuman, who sang a song for him. Enjoying the music Narada placed his Vina on a rock which had been melted by the song of Hanuman, and Narada’s Vina, sank into the melted rock. When the singing by Hanuman was over, the rock, as of old, became hard again and the Vina got stuck up with it. Hanuman asked Narada to melt the rock again with a song of his and take away his Vina. Narada sang and sang, all to no purpose. The rock did not melt again. Then Hanuman sang a song and the rock melted. After praising Hanuman Narada left the place ashamed. (Adbhuta Ramayana).
(9)    Sri Krishna Instructed Narada about Maya: Narada once requested Krishna to teach him about Maya (illusion) and Krishna told him that he would be taught sometime later. Afterwards, one day while Narada was walking about, it began to rain and he took shelter from the rain in a hut near at hand. There was a beautiful young woman in the hut and Narada fell in love with her. Narada lived with her for many years and a number of children were born to them. But, a flood washed the mother and children off into the sea, and Narada was grief-stricken. Then Krishna appeared there and asked Narada whether he loved Maya. Narada confessed that he understood Maya very well and requested Krishna to save him from attachments on account of Maya.
(10)    Narada and Sanatkumara: Once Narada went to Sanatkumara and requested him to instruct him in spiritual wisdom telling the latter that he had already learnt the Vedas and all other scriptures and arts. Sanatkumara accordingly taught him about the perfect nature, without either beginning or end, of supreme bliss. He taught Narada thus : “Everything is God. God exists in all animate and inanimate objects, and God is superior to everything.” (Chandogyopanishad).”

WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA

17 April 2012

Ancient Indian Law – II

1

Gautama Sutras : The Laws of Gautama

2

Rules made by Vedic Laws

Lunar Penances

3

The Laws of Baudhayana

Parisishta

4

The Laws in Yajnvalkya

Narada: I. A very famous sage of the Puranas.

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