Sacred Texts Hinduism Index Previous Next
1. Let a man make a hut of leaves in a forest and dwell in it;
2. And let him bathe (and perform his prayers) three times a day;
3. And[1] let him collect alms, going from one village to another, and proclaiming his own deed;
4. And[1] let him sleep upon grass:
5. This is called a Mahâvrata (great observance).
6. He who has killed a Brâhmana (unintentionally) must perform it for twelve years.
7. (He who has unintentionally killed) a Kshatriya or a Vaisya engaged in a sacrifice, for the same period.
[L. 1-6, 15. M. XI, 73; Y. III, 243; Âpast. I, 9, 24, 11-20; Gaut. XXII, 4-6.--7-10, 12-14. M. XI. 88, 89, 129-131; Y. III, 251, 266, 267; Gaut. XXII, 12-16.--16-24. M. XI, 109-116; Y. III, 263.--25-41. M, XI, 131-138; Y. III, 270-274.--30-33. Âpast. I, 9, 25, 13; Gaut. XXII, 19.--34-36. Gaut. XXII, 23-25.--46-50. M. XI, 141-145; Y. III, 275, 276.--46. Âpast. I, 9, 26, 2; Gaut. XXII, 20, 21.
3. 1 Nand., quoting Gautama XXII, 5, takes the particle ka, 'and,' to imply that he should also make way for any Ârya, whom he meets.
4. 'The particle ka here means, according to Nand., that he ought to remain chaste, as ordained by Gautama, XXII, 4.]
8. Likewise, he who has killed (unintentionally) a pregnant woman, or[1] a woman in her courses.
9. Or[1] a woman who has bathed after temporary uncleanness;
10. Or[1] a friend.
11. He who has (unintentionally) killed a king, must perform the Mahâvrata for twice the same number of years (or twenty-four years);
12. He who has (unintentionally) killed. a Kshatriya (not engaged in a sacrifice, nor a king), for one quarter of that time less (or for nine years);
13. He who has (unintentionally) killed a Vaisya (not engaged in a sacrifice), for half of that time (or for six years).
14. He who has (unintentionally) killed a (virtuous) Sûdra, for half of that time again (or for three years).
15. He who is performing any of those penances, must carry (on his stick) the skull of the person slain, like a flag.
16. Let a man serve cows for a month, his hair and beard having been shorn.
17. And let him sit down to rest when they rest;
18. And[1] let him stand still when they stand still;
[8. 1 Nand. infers from texts of Praketas, Yama, and Parâsara, that the particle vâ, 'or,' here refers to pregnant cows, and to women whose confinement is close at hand, or who are married to one who has kindled his sacred fire, or for whom all the sacred rites have been duly performed from their birth.
19. 1 Nand. refers the particle vâ, 'or,' to women of high rank and to a rival wife, or a mother, or a daughter, or a sister, or a daughter-in-law, or a wife, who is of the same caste as her husband.
10. 1 'The particle vâ includes children here.' (Nand.)
18. 1 According to Nand., the particle ka here refers to the {footnote p. 159} precept of Parâsara, that he should drink water when the cows drink, and lie down when they lie down.]
19. And[1] let him give assistance to a cow that has met with an accident (such as getting into a slough, or falling into a pit).
20. And let him preserve them from (the attacks of lions and tigers and other) dangers.
21. Let him not seek shelter himself against cold (and hot winds) and similar dangers, without having previously protected the cows against them.
22. Let him wash himself with cow-urine (three times a day);
23. And[1] let him subsist upon the (five) productions of a cow:
24. This is the Govrata (cow rite), which must be performed by him who has (unintentionally) killed a cow (belonging to a Kshatriya).
25. If a man has killed an elephant (intentionally), he must give five black (nîla) bulls.
26. If he has killed (unintentionally) a horse, he must give a garment.
27. If he has (intentionally) killed an ass, he must give a bull one year old.
28. The same if he has (intentionally) killed a ram or a goat.
29. If he has (intentionally) killed a camel, he must give one Krishnala of gold.
[19. 1 According to Nand., the particle ka here implies another precept of Parâsara, that he should not take notice of a cow grazing or drinking water upon his own ground or that of another.
23. 1 'The particle ka, implies that he should also mutter the Gomatî hymn, as Sâtâtapa says.' (Nand.)
25. 'He is called a bull whose colour is red, whose mouth and tail are of a yellowish-white colour, and whose hoofs and horns are white.' (Yâgñapârsva, quoted by Nand.)]
30. If he has (intentionally) killed a dog, he must fast for three days.
31. If he has (unintentionally) killed a mouse, or a cat, or an ichneumon, or a frog, or a Dundubha snake, or a large serpent (a boa constrictor), he must fast one day, and on the next day he must give a dish of milk, sesamum, and rice mixed together to a Brâhmana, and give him an iron hoe as his 'fee.'
32. If he has killed (unintentionally) an iguana, or an owl, or a crow, or a fish, he must fast for three days.
33. If he has killed (intentionally) a Hamsa, or a crane, or a heron, or a cormorant, or an ape, or a falcon, or the vulture called Bhâsa, or a Brâhmanî duck, he must give a cow to a Brâhmana.
34. If he has killed a snake, (he must give) an iron spade.
35. If he has killed emasculated (cattle or birds)[1], (he must give) a load of straw[2].
36. If he has killed (intentionally) a boar, (he must give) a Kumbha of clarified butter.
37. If he has (intentionally) killed a partridge, (he must give) a Drona of sesamum.
38. If he has (intentionally) killed a parrot, (he must give) a calf two years old.
39. If he has (intentionally) killed a curlew, (he must give) a calf three years old.
40. If he has (unintentionally) killed a wild carnivorous animal, he must give a milch cow.
[35. 1 Thus according to Nand., who declares himself against the interpretation of shanda by 'a eunuch;' see, however, Kullûka on M. XI, 134, and Dr. Bühler's rendering of Gaut. XXII, 23.--2 Nand. adds, 'and a Mâsha of lead;' see the passages just referred to.]
41. If he has (unintentionally) killed a wild animal not carnivorous, (he must give) a heifer.
42. If he has (intentionally) killed an animal not mentioned before, he must subsist upon milk for three days.
43. If he has (unintentionally) killed a bird (not mentioned before), he must eat at night only;
44. Or (if unable to do so), he must give a silver Mâsha.
45. If he has (unintentionally) killed an aquatic animal, he must fast (for a day and a night).
46. If he has killed a thousand (small) animals having bones, or an ox-load of animals that have no bones, he must perform the same penance as for killing a Sûdra.
47. But, if he has killed animals having bones, he must (moreover) give some trifle to a Brâhmana (for each animal which he has killed); if he has killed boneless animals, he becomes purified by one stopping of the breath.
48. For cutting (unawares?) trees yielding fruit (such as the bread-fruit or mango trees), shrubs, creeping or climbing plants, or plants yielding blossoms (such as the jasmine tree), he must mutter a Vedic text (the Gâyatrî) a hundred times.
49. For killing (unintentionally) insects bred in rice or other food, or in (sweets and) the like, or in liquids (such as molasses), or elsewhere (in water and so on), or in flowers or fruits, the penance consists in eating clarified butter.
50. If a man has wantonly cut such plants as
[46, 47. Nand. thinks that the former Sloka refers to intentional, and the latter to unintentional murder of those animals.]
grow by cultivation. (such as rice and barley), or such as rise spontaneously in the wood (such as wild rice), he must wait on a cow and subsist upon milk for one day.