Verse 3.206 [Method of Feeding]

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

शुचिं देशं विविक्तं च गोमयेनोपलेपयेत् ।
दक्षिणाप्रवणं चैव प्रयत्नेनोपपादयेत् ॥ २०६ ॥

śuciṃ deśaṃ viviktaṃ ca gomayenopalepayet |
dakṣiṇāpravaṇaṃ caiva prayatnenopapādayet || 206 ||

One should prepare with care a clean and secluded place Sloping towards the south, and smear it with cowdung.—(206)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

^‘Clean’— not defiled by the presence of ashes, bones, skulls, and such things.

‘Secluded’—large and unoccupied by many men.

‘Sloping towards the south’—that which is of lower level on the southern side. Such he should make the place, ‘with care.’ That is, if one fails to find a spot that is not naturally so, one should make it so, by one’s own effort.

This place he should smear with cowdung. This precludes the use of clay and such things, the rule being that the smearing should be done with cowdung.—(206)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in ‘Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 652) in support of the view that ‘even though it may not be possible for the performer to find a spot sloping towards the south from himself, he should try and make it slope southwards;’—in Smṛtitattva (page 107) in the sense that the performer should sit on a place that has been previously smeared with cowdung;—and in Madanapārijāta (p. 483), which adds the following explanations:—‘shuchim’—i.e., a sacred place, which is by itself clean; or a place in his own house, which should be free from all foreign sources of uncleanliness;—‘viviktam’ i.e., free from hairs and other unclean things;—and the place should be beaten into a slope towards the south—i.e., capable of allowing the performer to pour offerings towards the south.

This is quoted also in Nirṇayasindhu (p. 268);—in Aparārka, (p. 471), which explains ‘vivikta’ as ‘vijana,’ ‘not crowded by men;’ and adds that even though the place be clean, it should be smeared over with cowdung for the purpose of imparting to it special sanctity;—in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 160);—and in Śraddhakriyākaumudī (p. 102).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (15.25).—‘He should make the offerings in a secluded place.’

Yājñavalkya (1.227).—‘In a place that is secluded, clean and sloping southwards.’

Viṣṇu (85.63).—‘In houses smeared with cow-dung.’

Viṣṇu-dharmottara (2.244.23).—‘In a place that slopes southwards, or in a sacred place of pilgrimage, or in his own house duly sanctified, he shall offer the Śrāddha with care.’

Yama (Parāśaramādhava, p. 652).—‘For the purposes of Śrāddha, one should avoid a place which is very dry, full of insects, damp, evil-smelling, where disagreeable sounds are heard.’

Mārkaṇḍeya (Do.).—‘For purposes of Śrāddha, one should avoid a place which is full of living beings, very dry, burnt by fire, where disagreeable and harsh sounds are heard and which is evil-smelling.’