Sacred Texts Hinduism Index Previous Next
1. If a man associates with one guilty of a crime, he must perform the same penance as he.
2. A Brâhmana who has drunk water from a well in which a five-toed animal has perished, or which has been defiled in the highest degree, must fast for three days.
3. A Kshatriya (must fast) for two days (in the same case).
4. A Vaisya (must fast) for one day (and one night).
5. A Sûdra (must fast) for a night only.
6. And all (the former, but not a Sûdra) must drink Pañkagavya, when their penance has been completed.
7. If a Sûdra drinks Pañkagavya, or if a Brâhmana drinks spirituous liquor, they both go to the hell called Mahâraurava[1].
[LIV. 1. M. XI, 182.--10. M. XI, 203.--11. M. II, 220; Âpast. II, 5, 12, 22; Gaut. XXIII, 21.--12. M. XI, 200; Y. III, 277; Gaut. XXIII, 7.--23. M. XI, 202; Y. III, 291.--24. M. XI, 195; Y. III, 290.--25. M. XI, 198; Y. III, 289.--26. M. XI, 192.--27. M. XI, 193.--28. M. XI, 294.--29, M. XI, 204.--30. M. XI, 209; Y. III, 293.--31. M. XI, 190.--32. M. XI, 191; Y. III, 299.--34. M. XI, 210; Y. III, 294.
7. 1 See XLIII, 5. Nand. infers from an anonymous Smriti passage, that the first part of this Sûtra refers not only to Sûdras, but to women also, and not only to the drinking of Pañkagavya, {footnote p. 176}but also to the offering of burnt-oblations and the muttering of prayers.]
8. If a man has not connection with his wife in the natural season, unless it be on the days of the full and new moon, or because she is ill, he must fast for three days.
9. A false witness[1] must perform the penance ordained for killing a Brâhmana.
10. He who has (unawares) voided excrements without water (being near), must bathe in his clothes, pronounce the 'great words[1],' and offer a burnt-oblation[2].
11. One who has been surprised asleep by the sun rising or setting, must bathe in his clothes and mutter the Gâyatrî one hundred -and eight times.
12. He who has been bitten by a dog, a jackal, a tame pig, an ass, an ape, a crow, or a public prostitute, shall approach a river and (standing in it, shall) stop his breath sixteen times.
13. One who forgets the Vedic texts which he has studied, or who forsakes the sacred fires, must subsist upon alms for a year, bathing at the tree Savanas (morning, noon, and evening, sleeping upon the ground, and eating one meal a day.
14. For setting one's self up by false statements, and for falsely accusing or abusing a Guru, he must subsist upon milk for a month.
15. An atheist, one who leads the life of a member of the Kandâla or of other low castes that
[9. 1 According to Nand., this particular species of criminals is only quoted as an instance of anupâtakinah (criminals in the third degree, see XXXVI), who are all intended in this Sûtra.
10. 1 See LV, 10.--2 The particle ka implies that he must touch a cow besides, as Manu directs (XI, 203).' (Nand.)
14. See XXXVII, 1, 3.]
dwell outside the village (Bâhyas)[1] an ungrateful man, one who buys or sells with false weights, and one who deprives Brâhmanas of their livelihood (by robbing them of a grant made to them by the king or private persons, or by other bad practices), all those persons[2] must subsist upon alms for a year.
16. An unmarried elder brother whose younger brother is married, a younger brother married before the elder, an unmarried elder sister whose younger sister is married, the relative who gives such a damsel in marriage, and the priest who officiates at such a marriage, must perform the Kândrâyana.
17, He who sells living beings, land, religious merit (obtained by a sacrifice or otherwise), or Soma, must perform the Taptakrikkhra.
18. He who sells fresh ginger[1], (edible) plants (such as rice or barley), perfumes, flowers, fruits, roots, skins, canes, (winnowing baskets or fans and the like) made of split bamboo, chaff, potsherds, hair, ashes, bone, cow-milk or curds, oil-cakes, sesamum, or oil, must perform the Prâgâpatya.
19. He who sells the fruit of the Sleshmâtaka tree, lac, bees-wax, shells, mother-of-pearl, tin, lead, iron, copper, or, (sacrificial) vessels made of the horn of the rhinoceros, must perform the Kândrâyana.
20. He who sells dyed cloth, tin[1], precious
[15. 1 'Or nâstikavritti means "one who receives his substance from an atheist."' See also Gaut. XV, 16.--2 'The use of the particle ka implies that calumniators are also intended.' (Nand.)
17. See XLVI, 11.
18. 1 The term ârdra, which Nand. interprets by ârdrakam, might also be connected with the following word, and both together be translated by 'fresh plants.' See Y. III, 38.
20. 1 Tin, perfumes, and, of the articles enumerated in Sûtra 21, {footnote p. 178} lac, and milk have already been mentioned in Sûtras 18 and 19. Nand. tries to remove the difficulty in the second case, by stating the perfumes mentioned here to be perfumes of a different kind, and in the fourth case, by asserting that the milk of female buffalos, &c. is meant in Sûtra 2 1. But he interprets the two other terms as given above. Probably the passage is interpolated.]
stones, perfumes, sugar, honey, liquids or condiments (other than sugar, salt, and the like), or wool, must fast for three days.
21. He who sells meat, salt, lac, or milk, must perform the Kândrâyana.
22. And[1] all those persons (mentioned in Sûtras 17-21) must be initiated a second time.
23. He who has been riding (voluntarily) upon a camel[1], or upon an ass, and he who has (purposely) bathed, or slept, or eaten, quite naked, must stop his breath three times.
24. By muttering attentively the Gâyatrî three thousand times, (by dwelling) upon the pasture of cows, (and) by subsisting on milk for a month, he becomes free from the sin of accepting unlawful presents.
25. He who has (knowingly) offered a sacrifice for an unworthy person (such as a low-caste person, or an outcast), he who has performed the funeral rites for a stranger, he who has practised magic rites (in order to destroy an enemy), and he who has performed a sacrifice of the kind called Ahîna[1], (all those persons) may rid themselves of their
[22. 1 Nand. infers from the use of the particle ka that this rule applies equally to the persons mentioned in the next Sûtra.
23. 1 'The use of the particle vâ, "or," implies that riding upon a cow, and other such animals, is also intended here.' (Nand.)
25. 1 This kind of sacrifice is defined by Nand. as one connected with repeated drinking of the Soma juice, and lasting from two to twelve days. Medhâtithi (on Manu XI, 198) simply defines {footnote p. 179} it as a sacrifice extending over two days or more; Kullûka (ibid.) states that it lasts three days or more, and that it is said in the Veda to cause impurity. See also Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 355.]
sins by performing three Krikkhra (Prâgâpatya) penances.
26. Those twice-born men, by whom the Gâyatrî has not been repeated (and the other initiatory ceremonies performed), as the law directs, must be made to perform three (Prâgâpatya) penances and must be initiated according to custom.
27. Those twice-born men who are anxious to make an atonement for having committed an illegal act[1], or for having neglected the study of the Veda, must be made to perform the same penance.
28. Those Brâhmanas who have acquired property by base acts (such as living by the occupations of a lower caste, or accepting unlawful presents) become free from sin by relinquishing it, and by muttering (Veda texts) and practising austerities.
29. For omitting one of the regular acts enjoined in the revealed (and traditional) law, and for a breach of the rules laid down for a Snâtaka[1], a fast is ordained as atonement.
[26. The recitation and repetition of the Gâyatrî is one of the chief elements of the ceremony of initiation. The words with which the pupil must address his teacher on this occasion are given by Nand.; they are quoted from Âsv. I, 21, 4, and Sânkh. II, 5, 10-11. See also Gaut. I, 46, with Dr. Bühler's note.
27. 1 'I.e. Brâhmanas and others who have gained their livelihood (in times of distress) by such occupations as are lawful for other castes only, and who, when the times of distress are over, wish to atone for those actions.' (Nand.)
29. 1 Regarding the meaning of this term, see above, XXVIII, 42, note. The rules to be observed by a Snâtaka are given in Chapter LXXI.]
30. For attacking a Brâhmana (by raising a stick or a weapon against him), the Krikkhra (Prâgâpatya) penance must be performed; for striking him, the Atikrikkhra; and for fetching blood from him, the Krikkhrâtikrikkhra.
31. With sinners, who have not expiated their crime, let a man not transact business of any kind. But a man who knows the law must not blame (or shun) those who have expiated it.
32. Let him not, however, live (or have any intercourse) with those who have killed children, or with ungrateful persons, or with those who have slain one come for protection, or a woman, even though such sinners may have obtained their absolution, as directed by the law.
33. (An old man) who has passed his eightieth year, a youth under the age of sixteen, women, and sick persons have only to perform half of every penance[1].
34. In order to remove those sins for which no particular mode of expiation has been mentioned, penances must be prescribed, which shall be in accordance with the ability of the offender, and with the heaviness of his offence.