Verse 2.60

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

त्रिराचामेदपः पूर्वं द्विः प्रमृज्यात् ततो मुखम् ।
खानि चैव स्पृशेदद्भिरात्मानं शिर एव च ॥ ६० ॥

trirācāmedapaḥ pūrvaṃ dviḥ pramṛjyāt tato mukham |
khāni caiva spṛśedadbhirātmānaṃ śira eva ca || 60 ||

First of all he should sip water thrice; then he should wipe his mouth twice, and touch with water the cavities, the soul and also the head.—(60)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Through any one of the aforesaid ‘receptacles’ he should three times ‘sip water,’—i.e., he should let water enter his stomach through the mouth.

‘Then’—i.e., after the sipping of water,—he should ‘twice’—i.e., by repeating the act—‘wipe the mouth,’—i.e., the two lips. This ‘wiping’ consists of removing with a wet hand the drops of water attaching to the lips.

Question.—“Whence do you get the idea that this wiping is to be done with the hand?”

Answer.—We learn this from actual usage, and also deduce it from the fact of the context dealing with ‘receptacles’ (which have been described as parts of the band);—the terms ‘through the receptacle’ and ‘with vrater,’ though occurring elsewhere, being brought in here also.

Further, inasmuch as the wiping is meant only to serve a visible purpose, the term ‘mouth’ is taken to stand for a part of the mouth (i.e., the lips).

‘Cavities’—holes;—‘he should touch with water’—hold in the hand. ‘Upasparśana’ (of the text) is the same as ‘sparśana.’ Since the text has been speaking of the ‘mouth,’ the ‘cavities’ meant to be touched are those pertaining to the mouth (i.e., located in the bead). Says Gautama (1.36)—‘He should touch the cavities in the head.’

‘The Soul’—stands for the Heart and the Navel. In the Upaniṣads we read that ‘one should And the Soul in the heart.’ Hence the ‘touching of the heart’ becomes the ‘touching of the Soul,’ the all-pervading entity ensouling the body. (We have to take it in this sense, because) there can be no touching of the Soul itself, which is something incorporeal. In some law-books it is laid down that ‘one should touch the navel’; hence we have included ‘navel’ also (as indicated by the term ‘Soul’ of the text).

‘Head’—this is well known.

Since all Smṛtis arc meant to serve the same purpose, ‘the washing of hands up to the wrists’ and such other acts (as are laid down in Gauṭama 1.36, for instance) also hare to be done along with those mentioned in the text; such acts, for instance, as not making noise, keeping silent, sprinkling of water on the feet,—or even washing the feet, as laid down in the Mahābhārata.—(60)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Medhātithi (p. 101, l, 21)—‘Kvachit smaryate’—Hopkins refers in this connection to Mahābhārata 13.104.39.

This verse is quoted in Smṛtitattva (p. 178);—and in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 992), which adds the following notes:—‘Mukham,’ the two lips,—the whole for the part,—the ‘holes’ to be touched also are those connected with the face, mukha;—‘ātmānam,’ heart or navel,—the Upaniṣads describing the ‘ātman’ as ‘to be seen within the heart,’—hence the ‘touching’ is to be of the heart, as the ‘Soul,’ being all-pervading, cannot be touched;—the touching of the navel also is laid down in other texts—[Hence ‘ātmānam may stand for either the heart or the navel. ]

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Bodhāyava-Dharmasūtra, 1.5.15-10.—‘Thrice he should sip water, reaching to the heart,—not laughing, not talking, not standing, not looking this way and that, not stooping, not bowing down, not having his śikhā untied, with throat not covered, nor with head covered, not in a hurry, not without the sacred thread, not spreading out his feet, with the end of his lower garment not tucked into the waist-band, with arms not outside the knees, without making any sound; and he should wash thrice; twice, according to some.’

Baudhāyana-Dharmasūtra, 1.5.21.—‘Touching the holes with water, he should touch the feet, navel, head, and lastly, the left hand.’

Gautama-Dharmasūtra, l.38-42.—‘Seated on a clean spot, placing his right arm between his knees, wearing the sacred thread, washing his hands up to the wrist, with speech in check, he should sip water, touching the heart, thrice or four times; he should wash twice; the feet also; should touch the holes in the head; should sprinkle water on the heart also.’

Āpastamba-Dharmasūtra, 1.5.10. 2-9.—‘Seated, he should sip water twice, reaching his heart; should wash the lips thrice—twice, say some; once he should rinse his mouth,—twice, say some; washing the left hand with the right, he should touch with water, the feet, the head, the sense-organs, the eyes, the nostrils and the ears; then he should touch water; when going to take food, he should, even though clean, sip water twice, twice wash his lips and once rinse the mouth; he should sip water alter having washed the lips to the ends.’

Vaśiṣṭha-Smṛti, 3.29-30.—‘With the Brahma-tīrtha, he should thrice sip water and twice wash the lips with water; should touch the holes with water; should sprinkle water on the head.’

Viṣṇu-Smṛti, 62,6-8.—‘With the Brahma-tīrtha, he should sip water thrice; twice wash; touch with water the holes, the head and the chest.’

Gobhila-Gṛhyasūtra, 2.5-8.—‘Going to the north of the Fire, washing his hands, seated, he should sip water thrice, and wash twice; having sprinkled water over the feet, he should sprinkle it over the head; touch the organs with water; the eyes, the nostrils and the ears.’

Yājñavalkya, 1-20.—‘Having sipped water thrice and washed twice, he should touch the holes with water in its natural condition.’