Verse 3.249 [Procedure after Feeding]

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

श्राद्धं भुक्त्वा य उच्छिष्टं वृषलाय प्रयच्छति ।
स मूढो नरकं याति कालसूत्रमवाक्षिराः ॥ २४९ ॥

śrāddhaṃ bhuktvā ya ucchiṣṭaṃ vṛṣalāya prayacchati |
sa mūḍho narakaṃ yāti kālasūtramavākṣirāḥ || 249 ||

He who, having eaten at a śrāddha, gives the leavings to a śūdra,—this foolish man falls headlong into the Kālasūtra hell.—(249)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Though the text mentions the evil accruing to the diner, yet the advice intended is conveyed to the performer of the śrāddha; the sense being that ‘he should manage it so that the diner does not offer the leavings to a Śūdra.’ This form of the rule is analogous to that pertaining to the Priests (where also what is meant is that the master of the sacrifice so arranges things that the Priests do not commit any breaches of law).

‘Vṛṣala’—Śūdra.

‘Head-long’—With the feet upwards.

The term ‘śrāddha’ has been repeated here for the purpose of guarding against the idea that what is here stated pertains to the ‘Amalgamating Rite’ only.—(249)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 498);—and in Gadādharapaddhati (Kāla, p. 559).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Vṛddha-Śātātapa (51).—[Reproduces Manu, but reading ‘tiryagyonau ca jāyate’ for ‘kālasūtramavākśirāḥ.’]