Chapter 12

If one sees a bad dream, after vomiting, after shaving, after sexual intercourse, and after being in the smoke of a funeral pyre, bathing alone is prescribed. (II,2, p. 1) // Par_12.1 //

Having unknowingly consumed excrement, urine, or anything touched by liquor, the three varṇas (वर्ण) of the twice-born (dvijāti द्विजाति) are eligible for punaḥ saṃskāra (पुनः संस्कार, the ritual of re-initiation). (II,2, p. 5) // Par_12.2 //

The antelope skin, the sacred girdle, the staff, the practice of begging for alms, and the vows—these are discontinued for the twice-born (dvijāti द्विजाति) during the rite of punaḥ saṃskāra (पुनः संस्कार). // Par_12.3 //

One who has eaten excrement or urine should, for purification, perform the Prājāpatya (प्राजापत्य) penance. He should also prepare pañcagavya (पञ्चगव्य); having bathed and drunk it, he becomes pure. (II,2, p. 6) // Par_12.4 //

For those who have fallen into water or fire, and for those who have abandoned their ascetic vows, and for the classes who have returned to their former state, how is purification prescribed? (II,2, p. 7) // Par_12.5 //

By two Prājāpatya (प्राजापत्य) penances, by pilgrimage to a sacred bathing place, and by the gift of eleven bulls, those three classes are purified. // Par_12.6 //

I shall declare the rule for a Brāhmaṇa: having gone to a crossroads in the forest and shaved his head including the top-knot, he should perform two Prājāpatya (प्राजापत्य) penances. // Par_12.7 //

He should give two cows as a sacrificial fee; Svāyaṃbhuva (Manu) has declared this to be the purification. He is freed from that sin and attains the state of a Brāhmaṇa. // Par_12.8 //

Five holy types of bathing have been declared by the wise: the Āgneya, the Vāruṇa, the Brāhma, the Vāyavya, and the Divya. (II,2, p. 13) // Par_12.9 //

The Āgneya is bathing with ash; the Vāruṇa is immersion in water. The Brāhma is with the mantra āpo hi ṣṭhā; the Vāyavya is remembered as bathing with the dust raised by cows. // Par_12.10 //

That bathing which is done in rain accompanied by sun is called the Divya. Having bathed in that, a man becomes as one who has bathed in the Gaṅgā. // Par_12.11 //

When a dvija (द्विज) goes to bathe, all the gods, along with the hosts of ancestors, follow him in the form of wind, thirsty and desiring water. (II,2, p. 17) // Par_12.12 //

They turn back disappointed when the garment is wrung out. Therefore, one should not wring out one's garment without first having made the offering to the ancestors. // Par_12.13 //

He who offers libations to the ancestors with sesame seeds while they are still lodged in the pores of his skin—the ancestors are offered libations by him with blood and filth. (II,2, p. 18) // Par_12.14 //

He who shakes his hair after bathing, or who voids excrement, or who performs ritual sipping (ācamana) while still in the water—he is excluded from rites for the ancestors and gods. // Par_12.15 //

He who performs ritual sipping (ācamana) with his head or neck covered, or with his lower garment untucked and top-knot untied, or without his sacred thread, is impure even after sipping. (II,2, p. 19) // Par_12.16 //

One standing on dry land should not perform ritual sipping from water, nor one standing in water from a place outside it. Having touched both, one who sips becomes pure in both situations. // Par_12.17 //

After bathing, drinking, sneezing, sleeping, eating, or walking on a public road, one who has already sipped should sip again, and also after changing clothes. (II,2, p. 20) // Par_12.18 //

After sneezing, spitting, and when the teeth are defiled by leftovers, and after telling a lie,

and after telling a lie, and after speaking with fallen persons, one should touch one's right ear. // Par_12.19 //

Prabhāsa and other pilgrimage sites, and the Gaṅgā and other rivers, all reside in a Brāhmaṇa's right ear; thus has Manu declared. (II,2, p. 20; not in BI) // Par_12.20 //

Fire, water, the Vedas, the moon, the sun, and the wind—all of these indeed reside in a Brāhmaṇa's right ear. // Par_12.21(20) //

Bathing during the day, purified by the rays of the sun, is praised. Bathing at night is not praised, except for the sighting of Rāhu (an eclipse). (II,2, p. 21) // Par_12.22(21) //

Bathing, charity, recitation, and fire offerings should be performed at the sighting of Rāhu. At other times, the night is impure; therefore, one should avoid it. // Par_12.23(22) //

The Maruts, Vasus, Rudras, and the Āditya deities—all merge into the moon; therefore, charity should be given during its eclipse. (II,2, p. 22) // Par_12.24(23) //

At a threshing-floor sacrifice, a wedding, the passage of the sun into a new zodiac sign, and an eclipse, charity may be given at night; it is not ordained at other times. // Par_12.25(24) //

At the birth of a son, at a sacrifice, and likewise at a rite of great urgency, and at the sighting of Rāhu, charity is praised at night, but not at other times. // Par_12.26(25) //

Mahāniśā (deep midnight) is to be known as the two middle watches of the night. During the first and last watches, one may perform bathing as if it were day. // Par_12.27(26) //

A sacred fig tree, a funeral pyre, a sacrificial post, a caṇḍāla, and a seller of Soma—a Brāhmaṇa, having touched these, must enter the water with his clothes on. (II,2, p. 24) // Par_12.28(27) //

Before the collection of the bones, having wept, one should perform bathing. For a vipra, within the ten-day period of impurity, after that, ritual sipping is sufficient. // Par_12.29(28) //

All water is equal to the Gaṅgā when the sun is seized by Rāhu (a solar eclipse). The same is said for a lunar eclipse, with respect to bathing, charity, and other rites. (II,2, p. 25) // Par_12.30(29) //

That bathing which is purified with Kuśa grass, and when a dvija performs ritual sipping with Kuśa grass, and water drawn up with Kuśa grass—it becomes equal to the drinking of Soma. (II,2, p. 26) // Par_12.31(30) //

Those who have fallen away from the fire-rite, who have abandoned twilight worship, and who do not study the Veda—all of them are remembered as vṛṣalas (fallen or degraded Brāhmaṇas). // Par_12.32(31) //

Therefore, by a Brāhmaṇa who fears becoming a vṛṣala, especially, even a portion of the Veda must be studied if the whole is not possible. (II,2, p. 27) // Par_12.33(32) //

For one who is nourished by the essence of śūdrānna (food from a Śūdra), even if he studies daily, performs recitation, or offers oblations, there is no upward path. // Par_12.34(33) //

Śūdrānna, contact with a Śūdra, sitting together with a Śūdra, and the acquisition of knowledge from a Śūdra—these cause even a brilliant man to fall. (II,2, p. 28) // Par_12.35(34) //

He who has a Śūdra woman cook for him daily, and whose wife in the house is a Śūdra woman—that dvija, excluded from rites for the ancestors and gods, goes to the Raurava hell. (II,2, p. 29) // Par_12.36(35) //

A dvija whose limbs are nourished by the food of a Śūdra during a period of impurity from death—I do not know into what womb he will go. // Par_12.37(36) //

For twelve births he becomes a vulture, for ten births a pig, and for seven births he is in the womb of a dog; thus has Manu declared. (II,2, p. 30) // Par_12.38(37) //

The vipra who offers an oblation for a Śūdra for the sake of a sacrificial fee—that Brāhmaṇa becomes a Śūdra, and the Śūdra becomes a Brāhmaṇa. // Par_12.39(38) //

A dvija, having taken a vow of silence, should sit and not speak. He who speaks while eating—one should avoid that food. (II,2, p. 31) // Par_12.40(39) //

The vipra who, having half-eaten, drinks water from that same vessel—he destroys his offerings to the gods and ancestors, and also harms himself. // Par_12.41(40) //

Among vipras who are eating, he who first gives up his plate—he is a fool, he is most sinful, and he is indeed called a killer of a Brāhmaṇa. (II,2, p. 32) // Par_12.42(41) //

While the vessels are still present, for those dvijas who perform the 'svasti' benediction, the gods do not attain satisfaction, and the ancestors are likewise disappointed. // Par_12.43(42) //

One should not eat without having bathed, without having performed recitation, and without having offered to the fire. One should not eat on the back of a leaf, nor at night without a lamp. // Par_12.44(43) //

A householder, filled with compassion, should always reflect on dharma. For the sake of providing for his dependents, he should be wise and follow the path of justice. (II,2, p. 33) // Par_12.45(44) //

One must indeed protect oneself with wealth acquired justly. He who lives by unjust means is excluded from all rites. // Par_12.46(45) //

An agnicit (one who has set up the sacred fire), a kapilā (a tawny or brown cow), a satrī (one who performs a great sacrifice), a king, a mendicant, and the great ocean—these purify by sight alone; therefore, one should look upon them daily. (II,2, p. 34) // Par_12.47(46) //

The fire-sticks, a black cat, sandalwood, a fine gem, clarified butter, sesame seeds, a black antelope skin, and a goat—one should protect these in the house. (II,2, p. 35) // Par_12.48(47) //

That land where one hundred cows with one bull stand unrestrained, multiplied by ten, is proclaimed to be a gocarma (a measure of land). // Par_12.49(48) //

A mortal is freed from all sins arising from thought, word, and deed, such as the killing of a Brāhmaṇa and others, by the gift of this gocarma. (II,2, p. 36) // Par_12.50(49) //

A gift that is given to a poor householder, and especially to one learned in the Veda, that gift is auspicious. (II,2, p. 37) // Par_12.51(50) //

A land-thief is not purified by constructing reservoirs, wells, and tanks, nor by a hundred Vājapeya sacrifices, nor by the gift of ten million cows. // Par_12.52(51) //

Before eighteen days have passed, a rajasvalā is purified by bathing alone. After that, it is for three nights; so said the sage Uśanas. (II,2, p. 38) // Par_12.53(52) //

One yoke-length, two yoke-lengths, three yoke-lengths, and four yoke-lengths—this is the distance to be kept, in descending order, from a caṇḍāla, a woman who has just given birth, a menstruating woman, and a fallen person. // Par_12.54(53) //

Therefore, by mere proximity, one should perform bathing with one's clothes on. If one touches them out of ignorance, one should bathe and look at the sun. (II,2, p. 39) // Par_12.55(54) //

A Brāhmaṇa, weak in knowledge, who, though having hands, drinks water with his mouth, is surely born in the womb of a dog. // Par_12.56(55) //

The man who, in anger, declares his wife to be unapproachable for intercourse, if he wishes to have her again, he must announce it in the midst of vipras. (II,2, p. 40) // Par_12.57(56) //

One who is weary, angry, blinded by darkness, or afflicted by hunger, thirst, or fear, and does not perform a meritorious act of charity—the prāyaścitta is for three days. // Par_12.58(57) //

He should bathe at the three junctures of the day at the confluence of a great river. At the end of the vow, he should give a cow and feed ten Brāhmaṇas. // Par_12.59(58) //

Having eaten the food of a vipra of bad conduct and of one who performs forbidden acts, a dvija should observe a one-day fast. (II,2, p. 45) // Par_12.60(59) //

Having eaten the food of a vipra of good conduct, and likewise of one who knows the Vedānta, a man is freed from sin within a day and a night. // Par_12.61(60) //

For being defiled by leftovers from above, from below, or in the air, and likewise during the fertile period, and for impurity from death, one should perform three Kṛcchra penances. (II,2, p. 46) // Par_12.62(61) //

A Kṛcchra penance, ten thousand recitations of the Gāyatrī, two hundred breath-control exercises, and twelve baths in a holy pilgrimage site without wetting the head. // Par_12.63(62) //

A pilgrimage of two yojanas is considered one Kṛcchra penance. If a householder intentionally spills his seed upon the earth, (II,2, p. 48) // Par_12.64(63) //

he should recite the Gāyatrī one thousand times, along with three breath-control exercises. For a killer of a Brāhmaṇa, one who is endowed with the four sciences should duly prescribe the prāyaścitta: (II,2, p. 50) // Par_12.65(64) //

He should prescribe a pilgrimage to the sea-bridge as the prāyaścitta. On the path to Setubandha (Rāma's bridge), he should beg for alms from all four varṇas. // Par_12.66(65) //

Avoiding those engaged in forbidden acts, and without an umbrella or sandals, he should say: 'I am a doer of evil deeds, a perpetrator of a great sin.' (II,2, p. 51) // Par_12.67(66) //

'I, a killer of a Brāhmaṇa, stand at the doors of houses, seeking alms.' He should dwell in cow-pens, or in villages or cities, // Par_12.68(67) //

or perform austerity in forests, at pilgrimage sites, or at rivers and streams. Proclaiming his sin in these places, he should go to the holy ocean. (II,2, p. 52) // Par_12.69(68) //

Ten yojanas wide and one hundred yojanas long, built by the accumulation of materials by Nala, as commanded by Rāmacandra, // Par_12.70(69) //

having seen the bridge of the sea, one casts off the sin of killing a Brāhmaṇa. Having seen the bridge, with a purified soul, he should then bathe in the ocean. // Par_12.71(70) //

Or a king, the lord of the earth, may perform the Aśvamedha sacrifice. Upon returning again, he approaches his house to dwell there. (II,2, p. 54) // Par_12.72(71) //

With his sons and servants, he should host a feeding of Brāhmaṇas. And he should give one hundred and one cows as a sacrificial fee to those learned in the four sciences. // Par_12.73(72) //

By the grace of the Brāhmaṇas, the killer of a Brāhmaṇa is freed. Having killed a woman who is performing a Soma sacrifice, one should perform the vow for killing a Brāhmaṇa. (II,2, p. 76) // Par_12.74(73) //

A dvija who drinks liquor should go to a river that flows to the sea. Then, having performed the Cāndrāyaṇa penance, he should host a feeding of Brāhmaṇas. (II,2, p. 77) // Par_12.75(74) //

He should give a cow along with a bull to the vipras as a sacrificial fee. Having drunk liquor once, he should drink liquor that is fire-colored. (II,2, p. 80) // Par_12.76(75) //

He thus purifies himself in this world and in the next. Having stolen the gold of a Brāhmaṇa, he should then himself, (II,2, p. 84) // Par_12.77(76) //

go to the king, taking a club, for the sake of his own death. Then he attains purity, and he is even released by the king. // Par_12.78(77) //

That which is done intentionally deserves death, not otherwise. From sitting together, lying together, traveling together, conversing, and eating together, sins are indeed transmitted, like a drop of oil in water. (II,2, p. 90) // Par_12.79(78) //

The Cāndrāyaṇa penance, the barley-gruel vow, the Tulāpuruṣa gift, and following the cows—these destroy all sins. (II,2, p. 91) // Par_12.80(79) //

This is the Parāśara Śāstra, a compendium of dharmaśāstra, consisting of five hundred and ninety-two verses. (II,2, p. 287; BI: 534) // Par_12.[81(80)] //

Just as one performs the duty of study, so this dharmaśāstra must be studied with effort by one who is disciplined and wishes to go to heaven. (II,2, p. 288) // Par_12.82 //

FINIS****

NO ORIGINAL TEXT FOR MĀDHAVA'S COMMENTARY on the SECTION ON LEGAL PROCEDURE (Vyavahārakāṇḍa) (Vol. 3, Parts 1 / 2)