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PRASNA I, PATALA 5, KHANDA 16.

1. He shall not drink water standing or bent forwards. 1

2. Sitting he shall sip water (for purification) thrice, the water penetrating to his heart. 2

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3. He shall wipe his lips three times.

4. Some (declare, that he shall do so) twice.

5. He shall then touch (his lips) once (with the three middle fingers).

6. Some (declare, that he shall do so) twice.

7. Having sprinkled water on his left hand with his right, he shall touch both his feet, and his head and (the following three) organs, the eyes, the nose, and the ears. 7

8. Then he shall wash (his hands).

9. But if he is going to eat he shall, though pure, twice sip water, twice wipe (his mouth), and once touch (his lips). 9

10. He shall rub the gums and the inner part of his lips (with his finger or with a piece of wood) and then sip water.

11. He does not become impure by the hair (of his moustaches) getting into his mouth, as long as he does not touch them with his hand. 11

12. If (in talking), drops (of saliva) are perceived to fall from his mouth, then he shall sip water. 12

13. Some declare, that if (the saliva falls) on the ground, he need not sip water.

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14. On touching during sleep or in sternutation the effluvia of the nose or of the eyes, on touching blood, hair, fire, kine, a Brâhmana, or a woman, and after having walked on the high road, and after having touched an (thing or man), and after having put on his lower garment, he shall either bathe or sip or merely touch water (until he considers himself clean). 14

15. (Or he may touch) moist cowdung, wet herbs, or moist earth.

16. He shall not eat meat which has been cut with a sword (or knife) used for killing.

17. He shall not bite off with his teeth (pieces from) cakes (roots or fruits).

18. He shall not eat in the house of a (relation within six degrees) where a person has died, before the ten days (of impurity) have elapsed. 18

19. (Nor shall he eat in a house) where a lying-in woman has not (yet) come out (of the lying-in chamber), 19

20. (Nor in a house) where a corpse lies. 20

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21. Food touched by a (Brâhmana or other high-caste person) who is impure, becomes impure, but not unfit for eating. 21

22. But what has been brought (be it touched or not) by an impure Sûdra, must not be eaten, 22

23. Nor that food in which there is a hair, 23

24. Or any other unclean substance. 24

25. (Nor must that food be eaten) which has been touched with an unclean substance (such as garlic),

26. Nor (that in which) an insect living on impure substances (is found), 26

27. Nor (that in which) excrements or limbs of a mouse (are found),

28. Nor that which has been touched by the foot (even of a pure person),

29. Nor what has been (touched) with the hem of a garment,

30. Nor that which has been looked at by a dog or an Apapâtra, 30

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31. Nor what has been brought in the hem of a garment, (even though the garment may be clean),

32. Nor what has been brought at night by a female slave. 32

33. If during his meal,


Footnotes

57:1 16. Haradatta takes âkam here to mean 'to drink water,' and thinks that it is forbidden to do this standing or in a bent position. Others refer the prohibition to 'sipping water for the sake of purification,' and translate, 'He shall not sip water standing or in a bent position (except in case of necessity),' i.e. if the bank of the river is so high that he cannot reach the water sitting down, and in this case he shall enter it up to his thighs or up to his navel.

57:2 Manu II, 60 and 62; V, 139; and Yâgñ. I, 20 and 27; Weber. Ind. Stud. X, 165. Haradatta observes, that the further particulars regarding purification by sipping water must be supplied from other Smritis. The rule quoted by him is as follows: 'The performer should be sitting in a pure place, not on a seat, except when sipping water after dinner, and should sip thrice from his hand water which is free from bubbles and foam, and which he has attentively regarded, in such a quantity as would cover a Mâsha-bean. p. 58 The water sipped by a Brahman should reach his heart, that sipped by a Kshatriya the throat, and that sipped by a Vaisya the palate. A Sûdra sips once as much as to wet his tongue.'

58:7 The eyes are to be touched with the thumb and the fourth finger, either at once, or one after the other, the nostrils with the thumb and the second finger, the ears with the thumb and the small finger.

58:9 Manu V, 138.

58:11 Haradatta observes that this Sûtra shows, that every other foreign substance brought with the food into the mouth, makes the food 'leavings' and the eater impure. Manu V, 141.

58:12 Manu V, 141 declares sipping to be unnecessary in this case.

59:14 Manu V, 145.

59:18 The term "ten days" is used in order to indicate the time of impurity generally. In some cases, as that of a Kshatriya, this lasts longer. In other cases, where the impurity lasts thirty-six hours only, (the abstention from dining in such houses is shorter.)'--Haradatta. Manu IV, 217.

59:19 A lying-in woman is impure, and must not be touched during the first ten days after her confinement. During this time, she exclusively occupies the Sûtikâgriha, or lying-in chamber. Manu IV, 217.

59:20 Haradatta remarks that in the case of the death of a person who is not a relation, it is customary to place at the distance of 'one hundred bows' a lamp and water-vessel, and to eat (beyond that distance).

60:21 'Food which is simply impure, may be purified by putting it on the fire, sprinkling it with water, touching it with ashes or earth, and praising it.'--Haradatta.

60:22 Others say, that the food becomes unfit for eating, only, if in bringing it, the Sûdra has touched it.--Haradatta.

60:23 Manu IV, 207; Yâgñ. I, 167. 'But this rule holds good only if the hair had been cooked with the food. If a hair falls into it at dinner, then it is to be purified by an addition of clarified butter, and may be eaten.'--Haradatta.

60:24 Haradatta quotes a passage from Baudhâyana, which enumerates as 'unclean things' here intended, 'hair, worms or beetles, nail-parings, excrements of rats.' The rule must be understood as the preceding, i.e. in case these things have been cooked with the food.

60:26 Manu IV, 207: Yâgñ. I, 167, 168. This Sûtra must be read with Sûtra 23 above.

60:30 Manu IV, 208; Yâgñ. I, 167. Apapâtras are persons whom one must not allow to eat from one's dishes, e.g. Kandâlas, Patitas, a woman in her courses or during the ten days of impurity after confinement. See also above, I, 1, 3, 25.

61:32 Haradatta thinks, that as the Sûtra has the feminine gender, dâsî, it does not matter if a male slave brings the food. But others forbid also this.


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