Verse 5.139

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

नोच्छिष्टं कुर्वते मुख्या विप्रुषोऽङ्गं न यान्ति याः ।
न श्मश्रूणि गतान्यास्यं न दन्तान्तरधिष्ठितम् ॥ १३९ ॥

nocchiṣṭaṃ kurvate mukhyā vipruṣo'ṅgaṃ na yānti yāḥ |
na śmaśrūṇi gatānyāsyaṃ na dantāntaradhiṣṭhitam || 139 ||

Drops from the mouth, if they do not reach the body, do not make one impure; nor the hairs of the beard that enter the mouth; nor what adheres to the teeth.—(139).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

In the text—‘on having spat and on having told a lie &c.’ (5.144)—it has been laid down that on spitting one should sip water; which indicates that until one has sipped water, he remains impure. Drops issuing from the mouth would also be a form of ‘spitting;; so that the issuing of drops of water from the mouth standing on the same footing as the spitting of phlegm, it might be thought that it should necessitate the sipping of water. With a view to this contingency, the author has added the present verse.

‘Mukhyaḥ’— produced in, or issuing from, the mouth such ‘drops’ do not make one impure, if they do not fall upon the body.

“But it has been already declared that drops are pure (5-132.)”

But that was with reference to things other than bodily excretions. That this was meant there is clearly indicated by the present verse; which makes it clear that all kinds of drops were not meant when they were declared to be pure.

‘Śmaśruṇi’—hairs of the beard,—‘that enter the mouth’—‘do not make one impure’; this has to be construed with the present phrase; so that they do become the cause of some slight evil effects (even though they do not make the man impure).

So also ‘what adheres to the teeth.’ In connection with this we have greater details in another Smṛti text—‘What adheres to the teeth is like the teeth, except what is touched by the tongue;—some say that this is so before it falls off from the teeth;—what falls off is to be treated as saliva the man becomes pure by swallowing it.’ (Gautama 1.38 to 40.) ‘Those that fall off’—i.e. without bang touched by the tongue: since the touch of the tongue has been declared to be not pure.—(139).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(Verse 141 of others.)

This verse is quoted in Śuddhikaumudī (p. 353), which explains ‘mukhyāḥ’ as ‘those proceeding from the mouth’ and ‘Dantāntaraviṣṭitam’ (which is its reading for Dhiṣṭhitam) as ‘what has entered between the teeth’;—and in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 972), which explains Dantānta as between the teeth or in the teeth-cavities and adhiṣṭhitam as attached.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (23.53).—‘Such drops as fall from the mouth of a man upon any part of his body do not render it impure; nor do hairs of the beard that enter his month; nor remnants of food adhering to his teeth.’

Gautama (1.38-41).—‘Remnants of food adhering to the teeth are as his teeth (and do not make him impure), except if he touches them with the tongue; or before they fall from their place, according to some people; if they do become detached, he should know that he is purified by merely swallowing them, like saliva; drops of saliva dropping from the mouth do not cause impurity, except when they fall on a limb of the body.’

Baudhāyana (1.8.24, 25).—‘What adheres to the teeth should be regarded like the teeth; because it is fixed like the teeth. Let him not sip water on their account in case it falls; if it flows out, he shall be pure. They quote the following:—“If anything adheres to the teeth, it is pure like the teeth; and if he swallows it, or whatever else may be in the mouth, or may remain there after he has sipped water, he will become pure.”’

Āpastamba (1.16.11-13).—‘He does not become impure by the hair of his moustache getting into his mouth, as long as he does not touch them with his hand; if drops of saliva are perceived to fall from his mouth, then he shall sip water; some people declare that if the saliva falls on the ground, he need not sip water.’

Vaśiṣṭha (3.37).—‘Drops of saliva falling from the mouth, which do not touch a limb of the body, do not make a man impure.’

Yājñavalkya (1.195).—‘Drops issuing from the mouth are pure; so also the water dropped in sipping water; and the hair of the moustache entering one’s mouth; if anything adheres to the teeth, the man becomes pure by throwing it out.’

Śaṅkha (Aparārka, p. 277).—‘What adheres to the teeth is like the teeth, when it is devoid of any taste,—except when it is touched by the tongue.’

Devala (Do.).—‘What adheres to the teeth and cannot be taken out should be regarded as the teeth; and he should not make much effort to take it out, as if the sticks used wounded him, he would become very impure.’