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1. What has been defiled by the impure excretions of the body, by spirits, or by intoxicating drinks, is impure in the highest degree.
[XXIII. 2. Âpast. I. 5, 17, 10; Gaut. I, 29.--4. Y. I. 185; Gaut. I. 29, 31.--5. M. V, 123; Gaut. I, 34-7-11. M. V, 111, 112, 116, 117; Y. I, 182, 183.--7, 8. Gaut. I, 29, 30.--13-{footnote p. 98} 15. M. V, 118, 119; Y. I, 184, 182.--16. M. V, 122.--17. M. V, 126; Y. I, 191.--18. M. V, 118.--19-22. M. V, 120; Y. I, 186, 187.--25, 26. M. V, 114; Y. I, 190.--27. M. V, 115; Y. I, 185; Âpast. I, 5, 17, 12; Gaut. I, 29.--28. Y. I, 185--30. M. V, 115; Y. I, 190.--33. M. V, 122; Y. I, 187.--38, 39. M. V, 125, 126.--38. Y. I, 189.--40. Y. I, 194.--41. Y. I, 197.--47-52. M. V, 127-133.--53-55. M. V, 141-143.--53. Y. I, 195; Âpast. I, 5, 16, 12; Gaut. I, 38, 41.--55. Gaut. I, 28.--56, 57. M. V, 122, 124; Y. I, 188.]
2. All vessels made of iron (or of other metals or of composition metals such as bell-metal and the like), which are impure in the highest degree, become pure by exposure to the fire.
3. Things made of gems or stones or water-shells, (such as conch-shells or mother-of-pearl, become pure) by digging them into the earth for seven days.
4. Things made of horns (of rhinoceroses or other animals), or of teeth (of elephants or other animals), or of bone (of tortoises or other animals, become pure) by planing them.
5. Vessels made of wood or earthenware must be thrown away.
6. Of a garment, which has been defiled in the highest degree, let him cut off that part which, having been washed, is changed in colour.
7. Objects made of gold, silver, water-shells, or gems, when (they are only defiled by leavings of food, and the like, and) not smeared (with greasy substances), are cleansed with water.
8. So are stone cups and vessels used at Soma-sacrifices (when not smeared).
[7. The defilement in the highest degree having been treated of in the six preceding Sûtras, he now goes on to discuss the various cases of lesser defilement. (Nand.)
8-11. Regarding the shape of the sacrificial implements mentioned {footnote p. 99} in these Sûtras, see the plates in Professor Max Müller's paper, 'Die Todtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen,' in the journal of the German Oriental Society, IX, LXXVIII-LXXX.]
9. Sacrificial pots, ordinary wooden ladles, and wooden ladles with two collateral excavations (used for pouring clarified butter on a sacrificial fire) are cleansed with hot water (when not smeared).
10. Vessels used for oblations (of butter, fruits, and the like are cleansed) by rubbing them with the hand (with blades of Kusa grass) at the time of the sacrifice.
11. Sword-shaped pieces of wood for stirring the boiled rice, winnowing baskets, implements used for preparing grain, pestles and mortars (are cleansed) by sprinkling water over them.
12. So are beds, vehicles, and seats (when defiled even by the touch of a Sûdra)[1].
13. Likewise, a large quantity (of anything).
14. Grain, skins (of antelopes, &c.), ropes, woven cloth, (fans and the like) made of bamboo, thread, cotton, and clothes (which have only just come from the manufactory, or which are dyed with saffron and will not admit of washing for that reason, are cleansed in the same way, when there is a large quantity of them);
15. Also, pot-herbs, roots, fruits, and flowers;
16. Likewise, grass, firewood, dry cow-dung (used as fuel), and leaves (of the Madhûka, Palâsa, or other trees).
[12. 1 This Sûtra and the following ones relate to defilement caused by touch. (Nand.)
13. 'I. e. more than one man can carry, as Baudhâyana says.' (Nand.)
14. The use of the particle ka implies that resin and other objects mentioned by Devala must be included in this enumeration. (Nand.)]
17. The same (when smeared with excrements and the like, are cleansed) by washing
18. And so (have the objects mentioned in Sûtra 14, if defiled without being smeared, to be cleansed by washing), when there is only a small quantity of them;
19. Silk and wool, with saline earths;
20. (Blankets or plaids) made of the hair of the mountain-goat, with the fruits of the soap plant;
21. Clothes made of the bark of trees[1], with Bèl fruit;
22. Linen cloth, with white sesamum;
23. Likewise, things made of horns, bone, or teeth;
24. (Rugs or covers) made of deer's hair, with lotus-seeds;
25. Vessels of copper, bell-metal, tin, and lead, with acidulated water;
26. Vessels of white copper and iron, with ashes;
27. Wooden articles, by planing;
28. Vessels made of fruits (such as cocoa-nuts, bottle-gourds, and Be] fruits), by (rubbing them with) cows' hair.
29. Many things in a heap, by sprinkling water over them;
30. Liquids (such as clarified butter, milk, &c.), by straining them;
[17. 'All the objects mentioned in Sûtras 12-16 must be washed, but so as to avoid injuring them, in case they have been defiled by excrements or other such impure substances.' (Nand.)
21. The term amsupatta has been rendered in accordance with Nand.'s interpretation, which agrees with Vigñânesvara's (on Y. I, 186). Kullûka (on M. V, 120; see the Petersburg Dictionary) appears to refer it to two different sorts of clothes.
30-37. These Sûtras relate to defilement caused by insects, &c. (Nand.)]
31. Lumps of sugar and other preparations from the sugar-cane[1], stored up in large quantities (exceeding a Drona) and kept in one's own house[2], by water and fire[3];
32. All sorts of salt, in the same manner;
33. Earthern vessels (if smeared with excrements and the like), by a second burning;
34. Images of gods (if smeared), by cleansing them in the same way as the material (of which they are made is generally cleansed), and then installing them anew (in their former place).
35. Of undressed grain let him remove so much only as has been defiled, and the remainder let him pound in a mortar and wash.
36. A quantity of prepared grain not exceeding a Drona is not spoiled by being defiled (by dogs, crows, and other unclean animals).
37. He must throw away thus much of it only as has been defiled, and must sprinkle over the remainder water, into which a piece of gold has been dropped, and over which the Gâyatrî has been pronounced, and must hold it tip before a goat (or before a horse) and before the fire.
[31. 1 Such as raw sugar, candied sugar, &c.--2 If there is no large quantity of them, they require to be sprinkled with water only; and if they are kept elsewhere than in the house, as if they are exposed for sale in a fair, they require no purification at all.--3 They must be encircled with fire, and sprinkled with water afterwards. (Nand.)
32. Nand. mentions as the main species of salt, rock-salt, sea-salt, sochal-salt, and Sâmbhala-salt. The last term refers perhaps to salt coming from the famous salt-lake of Sâkambharî or Shambar in Râgputana.
37. 'A quantity less than a Drona having been defiled must be thrown away, as stated by Parâsara.' (Nand.) One Drona = 4 Âdhakas = 1024 Mushtis or handfuls. The meaning of Âdhaka, {footnote p. 102} however, according to Nand.'s observation, varies in different countries. See Colebrooke's
Essays, 1, 533 seq.]38. That (food) which has been nibbled by a bird (except a crow or other such birds that must not be eaten or touched), smelt at by a cow, sneezed on, or defiled by (human) hair, or by insects or worms, is purified by earth scattered over it.
39. As long as the scent or moisture, caused by any unclean substance, remains on the defiled object, so long must earth and water be constantly applied in all purifications of inanimate objects.
40. A goat and a horse are pure, as regards their mouths, but not a cow, nor the impure excretions of a man's body; roads are purified by the rays of the moon and of the sun, and by the winds.
41. Mire and water upon the high road, that has been touched by low-caste people, by dogs, or by crows, as well as buildings constructed with burnt bricks, are purified by the wind.
42. For everybody let him (the Âkârya or spiritual guide) carefully direct the performance of purificatory ceremonies, with earth and water, when he has been defiled in the highest degree.
43. Stagnant water, even if a single cow only has quenched her thirst with it, is pure, unless it is quite filled with (hair or other) unclean objects; it is the same with water upon a rock (or upon the top of a mountain).
44. From a well, in which a five-toed animal (whether man or beast, but not one of the five-toed
[38. in explanation of the term amedhya, 'unclean substance,' Nand. quotes the following passage of Devala, 'Human bones, a corpse, excrements, semen, urine, the menstrual discharge, adeps, sweat, the rheum of the eyes, phlegm, and spirituous liquors are called unclean substances.']
animals whose flesh may be eaten), has died, or which has been defiled in the highest degree, he must take out all the waters and dry up the remainder with a cloth.
45. If it is a well constructed with burnt bricks (or stones,) he must light a fire and afterwards throw Pañkagavya into it, when fresh water is coming forth.
46. For small reservoirs of water and for ponds the same mode of purification has been prescribed as for wells, O Earth; but large tanks (excepting Tîrthas) are not defiled (by dead animals, &c.)
47. The gods have declared, as peculiar to Brâhmanas, three causes effecting purity: if an (existing) impurity has not been perceived by them; if they, sprinkle the object (supposed to be impure) with water; and if they commend it, in doubtful cases, with their speech, (saying, 'This or that shall be pure.')
48. The hand of a (cook or other) artizan, things exposed for sale in a shop (though they may, have passed through the hands of many customers), food given to a Brâhmana (by other Brâhmanas, or by, Kshatriyas, &c., but not by Sûdras), and all manufactories or mines (of sugar, salt, and the like, but not distilleries of spirituous liquor), are always pure.
49. The mouth of a woman is always pure (for the purpose of a kiss); a bird is pure on the fall of fruit (which he has pecked); a sucking calf (or child), on the flowing of the milk; a dog, on his catching the deer.
50. Flesh of an animal which has been killed by dogs is pronounced pure; and so is that of an
[44. 1 See LI, 6.]
animal slain by other carnivorous creatures (such as tigers) or by huntsmen such as Kandâlas (Svapakas, Kshattris, or other low-caste men).
51. The cavities above the navel must be considered as pure; those below it are impure; and so are all excretions that fall from the body.
52. Flies, saliva dropping from the mouth, a shadow, a cow, an elephant, a horse, sun-beams, dust, the earth, air, fire, and a cat are always pure.
53. Such drops as fall from the mouth of a man upon any part of his body do not render it impure, nor do hairs of the beard that enter his mouth, nor remnants of his food adhering to his teeth.
54. Drops which trickle on the feet of a man holding water for others to sip it, are considered as equal to waters springing from the earth: by them he is not soiled.
55. He who is anyhow touched by anything impure, while holding things in his hands, is purified by sipping water, without laying the things on the ground.
[51. There are, according to Indian views, nine cavities or apertures of the body: the mouth, the two ears, the two nostrils, the two eyes, and the organs of excretion and generation. The two last are impure, the rest are pure.
55. Nand. and Kullûka (on M. V, 143) explain that hasta, 'hand,' here means 'arm,' as it would be impossible to sip water without using the hand. The former adds that, if the things are being carried with the hand, they must be placed in the cavity formed by the fore-arm. He refutes the opinion of the 'Eastern Commentators,' who, arguing from another Smriti, contend that the things have to be placed on the ground and to be sprinkled with water; and he further tries to account for the seemingly contradictory rules propounded by Vâsishtha (Benares ed., III, 43) and Gautama (I, 28) by explaining that a large quantity of things should be laid on the ground, and a small quantity placed upon {footnote p. 105} some other limb, and further, that food should always be placed on the ground, but that a garment, a stick, and the like should be kept in the hand. Compare Dr. Bühler's note on Gaut. loc. cit. It may be remarked, incidentally, that Nand. quotes the reading ukkhishto 'nidhâya in the passage of Gautama referred to.]
56. A house is purified by scouring it with a broom and plastering the ground with cow-dung, and a manuscript or book by sprinkling water over it. Land is cleansed by scouring, by plastering it with cow-dung,
57. By sprinkling[1], by scraping, by burning, or by letting cows (or goats) pass (a day and a night) on it. Cows are auspicious purifiers, upon cows depend the worlds,
58. Cows alone make sacrificial oblations possible (by producing sacrificial butter), cows take away every sin. The urine of cows, their dung, clarified butter, milk, sour milk, and Gorokanâ:
59. Those six excellent (productions) of a cow are always propitious. Drops of water falling from the horns of a cow are productive of religious merit, and have the power to expiate all sins (of those who bathe in, or rub themselves with, them).
60. Scratching the back of a cow destroys all guilt, and giving her to eat procures exaltation in heaven.
[56, 'The term pustaka refers to MSS. or books, whether made of palm leaves, or of prepared hemp, or of prepared reeds (sara).' (Nand.) It may be that Nand. means by the last term a sort of paper, though paper is usually called by its Arabian name (kâgad) in Indian works. See regarding the materials used for writing in ancient India, Burnell's Palæography, p. 84 seq. (2nd ed.)
57. 1 The term seka, 'sprinkling,' either refers to the earth being sprinkled by rain, or to Pañkagavya being poured over it. (Nand.)
58. Gorokanâ is a bright yellow pigment which is said to be prepared from the urine or bile of a cow.]
61. In the urine of cows dwells the Ganges, prosperity (dwells) in the dust (rising from their couch), good fortune in cow-dung, and virtue in saluting them. Therefore should they be constantly saluted.