4. Vishnu II, 17.
5. Manavam, ' the Manava (Sutra),' means literally ' a work pro- claimed by Manu' (mamma" proktam). It is probable that the work referred to by Vasish/^a is the lost Dharma-sutra of the M&nava Saliha, which is a subdivision of the Maitrayawiyas, and On which the famous metrical Manava -Dharnmastra is based. The words of the Sutra may either be a direct quotation or a summary of the opinion given in the Manava-sutra. I think the former supposition the more probable one, and believe that not only Sutra 5, but also Sutras 6-8 have been taken bodily from the ancient Dharma-sutra. For Sutra 6 agrees literally with a verse of the metrical Manusmrz'ti, and at the end of Sutra 8 several MSS. have the word iti, the characteristic mark that a quotation is finished, while the language of Sutra 8 is more anti- quated than Vasish/^a's usual style. If my view is correct, it follows that the lost Minava Bharma-sutra consisted, like nearly all the known works of this class, partly of prose and partly of verse.
6. Identical with Manu V, 41 ; Vishnu LI, 64 ; and Sarikha'- yana GrzTiya-sutra II, 16, r. I take pitr/'daivata, against Kul- luka's and Kr/sh«apa«</ita's view, as a bahuvrihi compound, and dissolve it by pitaro daivatawz yasmiazstat, literally ' such (a rite) where the manes are the deities.' The other explanation, ' (rites)
Iv, 12. Impurity. 27
7. ' Meat can never be obtained without injuring
living beings, and to injure living beings does not
procure heavenly bliss ; therefore the (sages declare)
the slaughter (of beasts) at a sacrifice not to be
slaughter (in the ordinary sense of the word).'
8. ' Now he may also cook a full-grown ox or
a full-grown he-goat for a Brahma^a or Kshatriya
guest ; in this manner they offer hospitality to such
(a man).'
9. Libations of water (must be poured out) for
all (deceased relatives) who completed the second
year and (their death causes) impurity.
10. Some declare that (this rule applies also to children) that died after teething.
1 1. After having burnt the body (of the deceased,
the relatives) enter the water without looking at (the
place of cremation),
1 2. Facing the south, they shall pour out water
with both hands on (those -days of the period of
impurity) which are marked by odd numbers.
to the manes or to the gods,' which is also grammatically correct, recommends itself less, because the rites to the gods are already included by the word yagne, ' at a sacrifice/ As to the Madhu- parka, see Apastamba II, 4, 8, 8-9, and below XI, i.
7. Manu V, 48, and Vishmi LI, 71, where, however, the conclu- sion of the verse has been altered to suit the ahiwsS-doctrines of the compilers of the metrical Smr/tis. The reason why slaughter at a sacrifice is not slaughter in the ordinary sense may be gathered from Vishmi LI, 61, 63.
8. Satapatha-brahmana III, 4, t, 2 ; Ya^navalkya I, 109. 9-10. Vishmi XIX, 7 ; Manu V, 58. Regarding the length of
the period of impurity, see below, Sutras 16, 26-29.
11. Vishmi XIX, -6.
1 2. Vishmi XIX, 7; Gautama XIV, 40. ' On those days of the period of impurity which are marked by odd numbers/ i. e. 'on the first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth, as has been declared by Gau- tama/— Krzsh»apa«dli ta.
VASISHTTfA. IV, 13.
13. The south, forsooth, is the region sacred to the manes.
14. After they have gone home, they shall sit during three days on mats, fasting.
15. If they are unable (to fast so long), they shall
subsist on food bought in the market or given
unasked.
1 6. It is ordered that impurity caused by a death shall last ten days in the case of Sapi«*/a relations.
17. It has been declared in the Veda that Sa-
pi«da relationship extends to the seventh person (in
the ascending or descending line).
1 8. It has been declared in the Veda that for
married females it extends to the third person (in
the ascending or descending line).
19. Others (than the blood-relations) shall per- form (the obsequies) of married females,
20. (The rule regarding impurity) should be
exactly the same on the birth of a child for those
men who desire complete purity,
21. Or for the mother and the father (of the child alone) ; some (declare that it applies) to the
14. Vishnu XIX, 16; Gautama XIV, 37.
15. Vish/m XIX, 14. 17. Vishmi XXII, 5.
19. Gautama XIV, 36; Paraskara Grz'hya-sutra III, 10,42. ' Others than the blood-relations/ i. e. ' the husband and his rela- tives.' The MSS. have another Sutra following this, which Kr/'sh- »apa«<fita leaves out. T£r£'a tesham, 'and they (the married females shall perform the obsequies) of those (i. e. their husbands and his Sapimfes).' It seems to me very probable that the passage is genuine, especially as Paraskara, Grj'hya-sutra III, 10, 43, has the same words.
20. Vish«u XXII, i.
21. Gautama XIV, 15-16. The Sutra ought to have been divided into two.
Iv, 30. Impurity. 29
mother (only), because she is the immediate cause of that (event).
22. Now they quote also (the following verse) :
' On the birth (of a child) the male does not become
impure if he does not touch (the female) ; on that
(occasion) the menstrual excretion must be known
to be impure, and that is not found in males/
23. If during (a period of impurity) another
(death or birth) happens, (the relatives) shall be
pure after (the expiration of) the remainder of that
(first period) ;
24. (But) if one night (and day only of the first
period of impurity) remain, (they shall be pure) after
two (days and nights) ;
25. (If the second death or birth happens) on the
morning (of the day on which the first period of
impurity expires, they shall be purified) after three
(days and nights).
26. A Brahma^a is freed from impurity (caused by a death or a birth) after ten days,
27. A Kshatriya after fifteen days,
28. A Vai^ya after twenty days,
29. A -Sttdra after a month.
30. Now they quote also (the following verses) :
' But (a twice-born man) who has eaten (the food)
of a iSudra during impurity caused by a death or a
23. Vishnu XXII, 35. 24. Vishmi XXII, 36.
25. Vishmi XXII, 37. Kn'sh«apa»<fita explains prabhate, 'on the morning (of the day on which the first period of impurity expires)/ in accordance with Nandapa«<fita's explanation of Vishmi's text by 'during the last watch (of the last night of the period of impurity).' See also the slightly different explanation of the identical words by Haradatta, Gautama XIV, 8.
26. Vish«u XXII, i. 29. Vishmi XXII, 4.
3O VASTSHrtfA. IV, 31.
birth, will suffer dreadful (punishment in) hell and be born again in the womb of an animal.'
31. 'A twice-born man who eats by appointment
in the house of a stranger whose ten days of impurity,
caused by a death, have not expired, after death will
become a worm and feed on the ordure of that (man
who fed him).'
32. It has been declared in the Veda, ' (Such a
sinner) becomes pure by reciting the Sazwhita of
the Veda for twelve months or for twelve half-
months while fasting.'
33. On the death of a child of less than two years
or on a miscarriage, the impurity of the Sapi#</as
lasts three (days and) nights.
34. Gautama (declares that on the former occa- sion they become) pure at once.
35. If (a person) dies in a foreign country and (his
Sapi^das) hear (of his death) after ten days (or a longer
period), the impurity lasts for one (day and) night.
36. Gautama (declares that) if a person who has
kindled the sacred fire dies on a journey, (his Sa-
piwdas shall) again celebrate his obsequies, (burning
a dummy made of leaves or straw), and remain im-
pure (during ten days) as if (they had actually buried)
his corpse.
37. When he has touched a sacrificial post, a pyre,
a burial-ground, a menstruating or a lately confined
woman, impure men or (Afaftd&las and so forth), he
shall bathe, submerging both his body and his head.
32. Regarding the penance prescribed here, the so-called ana- jnatparayawa, see below XX, 46, and BaudhSyana III, 9. 3^,. Vishwu XXII, 27-30. 34. Gautama XIV, 44, and introduction to Gautama, p. liii.
36. Introduction to Gautama, pp. liii and liv.
37. Vish«u XXII, 69. Kr/'sh»apa/wTita and MS. B. read puya,
V, 3- Women. 31
CHAPTER V.
1. A woman is not independent, the males are
her masters. It has been declared in the Veda, ' A
female who neither goes naked nor is temporarily
unclean is paradise.'
2. Now they quote also (the following verse) :
' Their fathers protect them in childhood, their hus-
bands protect them in youth, and their sons protect
them in age ; a woman is never fit for independence.'
3. The penance (to be performed) by a (wife) for
being unfaithful to her husband has been declared in
the (section on) secret penances.
' pus/ instead of yupa, ' a sacrificial post.' The reading is, how- ever, wrong, because the parallel passages of most Sm/Ytis enjoin that a man who has touched a sacrificial post shall bathe. The cause of the mistake is probably a mere clerical error. The MSS. repeat the last word of this chapter, apa ityapa^. The reason is not, as Kr/sh»apa»<fita imagines, that the author wishes to indi- cate the necessity of bathing when one touches a person who has touched some impure thing or person. It is the universal practice of the ancient authors to repeat the last word of a chapter in order to mark its end, see e.g. Gautama note on I, 61. If it is neg- lected in the earlier chapters of the Va"sish///a Dharma-sutra, the badness of the MSS. is the cause.
V. i. Vishmi XXV, 12. The second clause ought to have been given as a separate Sutra. 'A female who no longer goes naked/ i. e. one who has reached the age of puberty. Amrz'tam, ' is para- dise/ i. e. procures bliss in this life and heaven after death through her children.
2. Vishmi XXV, 13. Identical with Manu IX, 3,
3. 'The penance which has been ordained in case a wife is unfaithful to her husband, i. e. goes to a lover and so forth, must be performed in secret, i. e. in solitary places.' — Kr*'sh«apa«<fita. The explanation is clearly erroneous. Rahasyeshu cannot mean 'in secret' or 'in secret places.' It might refer either to a work or works called Rahasydni or to the rahasyani prayaf&ttani. As
32 VAS1SHTHA. V, 4.
4. For month by month the menstrual excretion takes away her sins.
5. A woman in her courses is impure during three (days and) nights.
6. (During that period) she shall not apply colly-
rium to her eyes, nor anoint (her body), nor bathe in
water ; she shall sleep on the ground ; she shall not
sleep in the day-time, nor touch the fire, nor make a
rope, nor clean her teeth, nor eat meat, nor look at
the planets, nor smile, nor busy herself with (house-
hold affairs), nor run ; she shall drink out of a large
vessel, or out of her joined hands, or out of a copper
vessel.
7. For it has been declared in the Veda, ' When
Indra had slain (Wztra) the three-headed son of
Tvash/rz, he was seized by Sin, and he considered
himself to be tainted with exceedingly great guilt
All beings cried out against him (saying to him),
the next Sutra contains a half-verse taken from the section on secret penances, XXVIII, 4, it is evident that VasishMa here makes a cross-reference. Similar cross-references occur further on.
4. Ya^wavalkya I, 72, and below, XXVIII, 4.
5. Vish«u XXII, 72.
6. Taitt. Sa/rch. II, 5, r, 6-7. I read with the majority of the MSS., grah&nna niriksheta instead of gr*Mn na niriksheta, which latter phrase Kr/sh»apa»dlta renders by ' she shall not look out of the house/ My reading is confirmed by his quotation from the Smr/'timaHg-art, where grahaVza'wz niriksha«am, ' looking at the planets, i. e. the sun, moon,' &c., is forbidden. 'A large vessel/ i. e. an earthen jar. — Kr;'sh»apa»rfita.
7. Taitt. Sawh. II, 5, i, 2-5. The name 'slayer of a learned Brahma«a ' is applied to Indra, because Vrrtra is said to have been deeply versed in the Vedas. Regarding the 'proper season of women/ see Manu III, 46-48. In the clause 'That guilt of Bra" hm ana-murder appears/ &c., I read Svir bhavati with the majority of the MSS. For the prohibition to accept food from a ra^asvala, see Vish»u LI, 16-17.
V, g. WOMEN. 33
' O thou slayer of a learned Brahma#a ! O thou
slayer of a learned Brahma«a!' He ran to the wo-
men for protection (and said to them), ' Take upon
yourselves the third part of this my guilt (caused by)
the murder of a learned Brahmawa/ They answered,
' What shall we have (for doing thy wish) ?' He re-
plied, ' Choose a boon/ They said, ' Let us obtain off-
spring (if our husbands approach us) during the proper
season, at pleasure let us dwell (with our husbands)
until (our children) are born/ He answered, ' So be
it/ (Then) they took upon themselves (the third
part of his guilt). That guilt of Brahmawa-murder
appears every month as the menstrual flow. There-
fore let him not eat the food of a woman in her
courses; (for) such a one has put on the shape of
the guilt of Brahmawa-murder.
8. (Those who recite the Veda) proclaim the fol-
lowing (rule) : ' Collyrium and ointment must not be
accepted from her ; for that is the food of women.
Therefore they feel a loathing for her (while she is)
in that (condition, saying), " She shall not approach/' '
