Verse 11.186

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

प्रायश्चित्ते तु चरिते पूर्णकुम्भमपां नवम् ।
तेनैव सार्धं प्रास्येयुः स्नात्वा पुण्ये जलाशये ॥ १८६ ॥

prāyaścitte tu carite pūrṇakumbhamapāṃ navam |
tenaiva sārdhaṃ prāsyeyuḥ snātvā puṇye jalāśaye || 186 ||

If however the expiation has been performed, they shall bathe with him in a sacred reservoir of water and shall throw into the water a fresh jar filled with water.—(186)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The present verse describes what sort of water-offering is to be made for one who has performed the prescribed penance.

‘They shall bathe with him in a reservoir of water,’—in a sacred river, or in a large lake, or in some such sacred place as Prabhāsa, Mānasa and the like;—‘and throw a fresh jar full of water.’

Since the present text speaks of the ‘fresh jar’ and the foregoing one speaks of the ‘female slave,’ it means that in the former case, the jar to be used should be one that has been already in use for other purposes. In both cases the jar is to be filled with water.—(186)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (3.296), to the effect that the aforesaid offering should be made after the offenders have taken a bath in a sacred tank;—in Nirṇayasindhu (pp. 402 and 409);—in Smṛtitattva (p. 472);—and in Madanapārijāta (p. 966), which explains ‘prāsyeyuḥ’ as ‘should throw’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 11.186-187)

Gautama (20.10-14).—‘But if an outcast has been purified by penances, his kinsmen shall fill a golden vessel with water from a very holy lake or river, and make him bathe in that water. Then they shall give him that vessel, and he, after taking it, shall recite the following text—“Cleansed is the sky, etc.” Let him offer clarified butter reciting the sacred texts. Let him then present gold or a cow to a Brāhmaṇa, and also to his teacher.’

Baudhāyana (2.1.36).—(See above, under 182.)

Yājñavalkya (3.295).—‘When he returns after having performed the requisite penances, they shall pour a fresh jarful of water; after that they shall not despise him, and they shall associate with him in all matters.’

Vaśiṣṭha (15.17-20).—‘Outcasts who have performed the prescribed penance may be re-admitted. Those who strike their teacher, mother or father may be re-admitted in the following manner: Having filled a golden or an earthen vessel with water from a sacred lake or river, they pour it over him reciting three sacred texts.’