Praśna I, Adhyāya 5, Kaṇḍikā 12

1. Tame animals must not be eaten,^[1]

2. Nor carnivorous and (tame) birds,^[2]

3. Nor (tame) cocks and pigs;^[3]

4. Goats and sheep (are) excepted (from the above prohibition).

5. Five five-toed animals may be eaten, (viz.) the porcupine, the iguana, the hare, the hedgehog, the tortoise and the rhinoceros, excepting the rhinoceros,^[4]

6. Likewise five animals with cloven hoofs, (viz.) the white-footed antelope (Nīl-gāi), the (common ravine) deer, the spotted deer, the buffalo, the (wild) boar and the black antelope, excepting the black antelope,^[5]

7. (Likewise) five (kinds of) birds that feed scratching with their feet, (viz.) the partridge, the blue rock-pigeon, the francoline partridge, the (crane called) Vārdhrāṇasa, the peacock and the Vāraṇa, excepting the Vāraṇa,^[6]

8. (And the following) fishes, (viz.) the Silurus Pelorius (Sahasradaṃṣṭrin), the Cilicima, the Varmi, the Bṛhacchiras, the Maśakari(?), the Cyprinus Rohita, and the Rāji.^[7]

9. The milk of a (female animal) whose offspring is not ten days old, and of one that gives milk while big with a young one, must not be drunk,^[8]

10. Nor that of a (cow) that has no calf or that (suckles) a strange calf.

11. (The milk) of sheep, camels, and one-hoofed animals must not be drunk.^[9]

12. If (he has) drunk (milk) which ought not to be drunk, excepting cow's milk, (he must perform) a Kṛcchra (penance).^[10]

13. But if (he has drunk) cow's milk (that is unfit for use, he shall) fast during three (days and) nights.

14. Stale (food must not be eaten or drunk) excepting pot-herbs, broths, meat, clarified butter, cooked grain, molasses, sour milk, and barley-meal,^[11]

15. Nor (substances) which have turned sour, nor molasses which have come into that state.^[12]

16. After performing the ceremony preparatory^[13] to the beginning of the Veda-study (upākarman) on the (full moon of the month) of Śrāvaṇa or of Aṣāḍha, they shall close the term on the full moon of Taiṣa or Māgha.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

12. Vasiṣṭha XIV, 40.

[2]:

Vasiṣṭha XIV, 48. Govinda says that the particle ca, 'and,' is used in order to indicate that the word 'tame' must be understood.

[3]:

Āpastamba I, 5, 17, 29, 32.

[4]:

Vasiṣṭha XIV, 39. Another explanation of the word śvāviṭ, 'the porcupine' (see also Gautama XVII, 27), is given in the commentary, which says that it is a wild animal resembling a dog, and belonging to the boar species. Govinda points out that there is a dispute among the learned regarding the rhinoceros (Vasiṣṭha XV, 47), and that the peculiar wording of the Sūtra is intended to indicate that.

[5]:

The permissibility of the last-named animal is again doubtful.

[6]:

Gautama XVII, 35. The case of the last-mentioned bird, the Vāraṇa, is again doubtful. From the first rock-edict of Aśoka p. 185 it appears that peacocks, now considered inviolable, were actually eaten in the third century A. D.

[7]:

Vasiṣṭha XIV, 41-42. The names are much corrupted in the MSS., and for Maśakari, which I do not find in the dictionaries, Samaśakari or Samasakari is also read. The Bṛhacchiras is probably the Indian salmon, the Māhsir.

[8]:

-10. Vasiṣṭha XIV, 34-35 Gautama XVII, 22. The meaning of sandhinī, 'a female animal that gives milk while big with young,' is uncertain. See also Viṣṇu LI, 40 Āpastamba I, 5, 17, 23.

[9]:

Gautama XVII, 24.

[10]:

Viṣṇu LI, 38-41.

[11]:

Gautama XVII, 16.

[12]:

Vasiṣṭha XIV, 37-38.

[13]:

Vasiṣṭha XIII, 1-5. Govinda states that this Sūtra has been introduced here, because the purity of one's food ensures p. 186 purity of one's soul, and purity of soul gives strength of memory, and thereby makes one fit to study the Veda.