Verse 4.201

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

परकीयनिपानेषु न स्नायाद् हि कदा चन ।
निपानकर्तुः स्नात्वा तु दुष्कृतांशेन लिप्यते ॥ २०१ ॥

parakīyanipāneṣu na snāyād hi kadā cana |
nipānakartuḥ snātvā tu duṣkṛtāṃśena lipyate || 201 ||

He shall never bathe in the tanks belonging to other persons. Having bathed there, he becomes tainted with a part of the tank-digger’s sin.—(201)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Nipāna,’— which is etymologically explained as ‘nipibanti asmin,’ or ‘nipibanti asmāt,’ — ‘in which, or from which, people drink,’—means ‘water-reservoir;’ that is, a tank, a well or a tank. And one should never bathe in any such tank as has been dug by another man for his own use, and has not been given away for the benefit of the public.

This forbids all kinds of bathing—(a) the obligatory daily bath, (b) the occasional bath necessitated by the touch of the Cāṇḍāla and such other persons, and (c) the ordinary bath taken for the relieving of heat and perspiration.

The text proceeds to point out the evil arising from the disobedience of the said prohibition he becomes ‘tainted’—contaminated—by a part of such sin as there may be of the person who dug the tank.

This is a deprecatory exaggeration, supplementing the preceding prohibition,—(201)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika, p. 169), which adds the following notes:—In view of the term ‘Nipānakartuḥ’ in the second line, the term ‘Parakīya’ should be taken to mean ‘made by another person’; as Kalpataru holds that ‘Parakīya’ must mean ‘made by another’,—whether consecrated or unconsecrated, since no distinction between them is made anywhere;—[This appears to be a gist of Medhātithi’s explanation of ‘Parakīya,’ for which see Translation ];—‘Nipāna’ means ‘water-reservoir.’

This verse is quoted also in Kālaviveka (p. 328), which too makes the same observations as Vīramitrodaya (just quoted).

It is quoted also in Aparārka (p. 234), which makes the remark that the tank that has been consecrated and made over to the public cannot be called ‘parakīya’; and this favours Medhātithi’s interpretation of the verse, which is supported also by what follows in the next verse;—in Smṛtikaumudī (p. 65), which explains ‘parakīya’ as ‘dug by another,’ and says it cannot mean ‘belonging to another’; as is quite clear from what is added regarding the nipānakartṛ;—in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 874);—in Nityācārapradīpa (p. 300), which explains ‘parakīya’ as ‘dug by others’;—and is Śuddhikaumudī (p. 324), which says that ‘Kadācana’ makes it clear that the prohibition is absolute.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Baudhāyana (2.3.5-6).—‘People should not perform their bath in water that has been dammed; a part of the merit goes to the man that built the dam. For this reason one should avoid the dams and wells built by others.’

Yājñavalkya (1.159).—‘He shall not bathe in the tanks of other persons until he has taken out five clods of earth; he shall bathe in a river or in ponds dug by the gods, in lakes, and in springs.’

Viṣṇu (63.1).—‘He shall not perform his bath in tanks belonging to others.’

Paiṭhīnasi (Vīramitrodaya-Āhnika, p. 169).—‘One shall avoid the dams and wells built by others; the builder becomes a partaker in the merit: one should bathe there after throwing in three handfuls of earth (and three jarfuls of water).’