Verse 5.133

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

वसा शुक्रमसृग्मज्जा मूत्रविड्घ्राणकर्णविट् ।
श्लेश्माश्रु दूषिका स्वेदो द्वादशैते नृणां मलाः ॥ १३३ ॥

vasā śukramasṛgmajjā mūtraviḍghrāṇakarṇaviṭ |
śleśmāśru dūṣikā svedo dvādaśaite nṛṇāṃ malāḥ || 133 ||

Fat, man, blood, marrow, urine, ordure, nasal excretion, eab-wax, phlegm, tears, rheum of the eyes and perspiration,—these twelve are the ‘excretions’ of human beings.—(134).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The twelve ‘excretions’ or ‘impurities’ are here indicated.

‘Human beings’ includes all five-nailed animals. As regards dogs and jackals, their excretions are impure by reason of their own untouchability.

‘Urine and ordure’—of all animals, except those of the goat, the sheep, the cow and the horse.—(133).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(Verse 135 of others.)

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 271), which explains ‘karṇaviṭ’ as ‘ear-wax’; and adds that these are ‘impure’ only when they have gone out of the body, as is indicated by verse 132 above;—in Mitākṣarā (on 1.190);—in Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika, p. 103), which adds the following notes:—‘vasā’ is the oily substance in the body; ‘asṛk’ is blood; ‘majjā’ is the solidified fatty substance within the skull; ‘dūṣikā’ is the rheum of the eyes; ‘karṇaviṭ’ is ear-wax; the term ‘nṛ’ here stands for human beings only, and not for all living beings (as the root nṛ, ‘ to go,’ might imply); if the latter were meant, then the term ‘nṛṇām’ would be entirely superfluous;—in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 794);—in Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 484);—in Śuddhikaumudī (p. 347);—in Ācāramayūkha (p. 14),—which explains ‘dūṣikā’ as netramalam’;—and in Smṛtitattva (II, p. 303).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (22.81).—‘Adeps, semen, blood, dandruff, urine, faeces, ear-wax, nail-parings, phlegm, tears, rheum, and sweat are the twelve impure excretions from the body.’

Devala (Aparārka, p. 271).—‘Human bone, corpse, faeces, semen, urine, menstrual blood, sweat, tears, rheum, phlegm and urine are declared to be impure.’

Baudhāyana [(Do.) and Vīramitrodaya-Āhnika, p. 104].—‘In the case of the first six (enumerated in Manu), one should take up both earth and water; but in that of the latter six one is purified by water only.’