Chapter 23

Vishnu Smriti 23

That which is defiled by bodily excretions, spirituous liquors, or intoxicants is extremely defiled. // Vi_23.1 //

Every metal vessel that is extremely defiled becomes pure when thrown into the fire. // Vi_23.2 //

Those made of gems, stone, or shells, by being buried in the earth for seven nights. // Vi_23.3 //

Those made of horn, ivory, or bone, by scraping. // Vi_23.4 //

Those made of wood or earth, one should abandon. // Vi_23.5 //

Of an extremely defiled garment, that part which, when washed, shows a stain, one should cut off. // Vi_23.6 //

Of things made of gold, silver, shells, or gems, if they are without a smear, purification is by water. // Vi_23.7 //

And of stone bowls and ladles. // Vi_23.8 //

Of sacrificial spoons, ladles, and vessels for boiled rice, with hot water. // Vi_23.9 //

In a sacrificial act, of sacrificial vessels, by wiping with the hand. // Vi_23.10 //

Of the wooden sword, winnowing basket, cart, pestle, and mortar, by sprinkling with water. // Vi_23.11 //

And of beds, vehicles, and seats. // Vi_23.12 //

And of large quantities. // Vi_23.13 //

And of grain, skins, ropes, thread, wickerwork, cotton thread, and cotton clothes. // Vi_23.14 //

And of vegetables, roots, fruits, and flowers. // Vi_23.15 //

And of grass, wood, and dry leaves. // Vi_23.16 //

Of these, by washing. // Vi_23.17 //

And of small quantities. // Vi_23.18 //

Of silk and wool, with alkaline earth. // Vi_23.19 //

Of blankets made of goat's hair, with soap-berries. // Vi_23.20 //

Of fine silk cloth, with Bel fruit. // Vi_23.21 //

Of linen, with white mustard seeds. // Vi_23.22 //

And of things made of horn, bone, or ivory. // Vi_23.23 //

Of garments made of deer hair, with lotus seeds. // Vi_23.24 //

Of things made of copper, bell-metal, tin, or lead, with acid and water. // Vi_23.25 //

Of bronze and iron, with ashes. // Vi_23.26 //

Of wooden things, by scraping. // Vi_23.27 //

Of things made from fruit, with cow's hair. // Vi_23.28 //

Of things in a heap, by sprinkling. // Vi_23.29 //

Of liquids, by straining. // Vi_23.30 //

Of large quantities of molasses and other products of sugarcane stored in the house, by adding water and fire. // Vi_23.31 //

And of all kinds of salt. // Vi_23.32 //

Of earthenware, by firing again. // Vi_23.33 //

Of images of deities that have been purified like other objects, by re-consecrating them. // Vi_23.34 //

Of uncooked food, whatever amount is defiled, having thrown that amount away, one should perform husking and washing of the rest. // Vi_23.35 //

Cooked food exceeding one droṇa in quantity is not defiled by contact. // Vi_23.36 //

Having removed the defiled portion, one should sprinkle it with water consecrated by the Gāyatrī mantra and containing gold, and show it to a goat and to fire. // Vi_23.37 //

Food pecked by a bird, smelled by a cow, shaken by a garment, or sneezed upon, And food defiled by hair or insects, is purified by sprinkling it with earth. || Vi_23.38 ||

As long as the smell and the stain caused by an impure substance do not disappear from it, So long must earth and water be applied in all purifications of things. || Vi_23.39 ||

A goat and a horse are pure in the mouth, but not a cow, nor the excretions of a man; And paths are purified by the rays of the moon and sun, and by the wind. || Vi_23.40 ||

Mud and water on a road, touched by an outcaste, a dog, or a crow, Are purified by the wind alone, as are places paved with baked bricks. || Vi_23.41 ||

For all living beings, one should perform purification with earth and water; And for those extremely defiled, purification must always be done without laziness. || Vi_23.42 ||

Water on the ground is pure, where a cow's thirst can be quenched, Provided it is not pervaded by an impure substance; the same applies to water on a rock. || Vi_23.43 ||

From a well in which a five-toed animal has died, or which is extremely defiled, One should draw out all the water; the rest one should purify with a cloth. || Vi_23.44 ||

One should light a fire in a well lined with baked bricks; And afterwards, when fresh water has sprung up, one should put in pañcagavya. || Vi_23.45 ||

In small, stationary bodies of water, O Earth, The purification is said to be like that of a well; but in large ones, there is no defilement. || Vi_23.46 ||

The gods have ordained three pure things for Brāhmaṇas: What has not been seen by an impure person, what has been cleansed with water, and what is praised by speech. || Vi_23.47 ||

The hand of an artisan is always pure, and merchandise that is displayed for sale, Alms received through a Brāhmaṇa, and all mines are pure. || Vi_23.48 ||

The mouth of women is always pure; a bird is pure when it causes a fruit to fall; A calf is pure when it urinates; a dog is pure when it seizes game. || Vi_23.49 ||

The meat of an animal killed by dogs is declared to be pure, And that of one killed by other carnivorous animals, or by Caṇḍālas and other robbers. || Vi_23.50 ||

The orifices above the navel, one should declare them to be pure; Those below are impure, and the excretions that fall from the body. || Vi_23.51 ||

A fly, a drop of spittle, a shadow, a cow, an elephant, a horse, sunbeams, Dust, the earth, wind, fire, and a cat are always pure. || Vi_23.52 ||

Drops from the mouth do not cause defilement, nor those that do not fall on the body; Nor hairs of the beard that have entered the mouth, nor food stuck between the teeth. || Vi_23.53 ||

The drops that touch the feet of others while one is rinsing one's mouth, Are to be known as equal to those on the ground; one does not become impure by them. || Vi_23.54 ||

If one holding an object is touched by something impure in any way, Without putting that object down, having rinsed his mouth, he attains purity. || Vi_23.55 ||

A house is purified by sweeping and smearing, a book by sprinkling with water; By sweeping, smearing, sprinkling, and scraping, || Vi_23.56 ||

And by burning, the earth is purified, or by the dwelling of cows. Cows are a sacred blessing; in cows the worlds are established. || Vi_23.57 ||

Cows perform the sacrifice; cows are the destroyers of all sin. Cow's urine, cow-dung, clarified butter, milk, curd, and bile-pigment (rocanā), || Vi_23.58 ||

This six-fold substance of cows is supremely auspicious. Water from the horns of a cow is holy, the destroyer of all sin. || Vi_23.59 ||

And the scratching of cows is the destroyer of all blemishes. By giving a mouthful of grass to cows, one is glorified in the world of heaven. || Vi_23.60 ||

In the track of cows, the Ganges resides; prosperity flourishes in their dust; Lakṣmī is in their dung, and dharma in bowing to them; one should always bow to them. || Vi_23.61 ||