Verse 5.128

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

नित्यमास्यं शुचि स्त्रीणां शकुनिः फलपातने ।
प्रस्रवे च शुचिर्वत्सः श्वा मृगग्रहणे शुचिः ॥ १२८ ॥

nityamāsyaṃ śuci strīṇāṃ śakuniḥ phalapātane |
prasrave ca śucirvatsaḥ śvā mṛgagrahaṇe śuciḥ || 138 ||

The mouth of women is always pure; as also the bird in the dropping of fruits; the calf is pure in causing the flow (of milk); and the dog is pure in the catching of deer—(128).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The mouth of all women is ‘pure’— for the purposes of kissing &c. ‘Women during sexual intercourse etc.’—says another Smṛti -text. What is said here applies only to such women with whom sexual intercourse is possible, and not to the mother, sister and such women. This should not be understood to be the denial of the impurity attaching to the mouth until it is washed after food. Because even though the wife is a woman with whom sexual intercourse is possible, yet it has been declared in discourse IV that ‘one should not eat with his wife’.

The addition of the term ‘always’ implies that the mouth is pure, not only at the time of the actual intercourse, but also during the acts that lead up to it.

‘The bird in the dropping of fruits’.— Though the term “śakuni’, ‘bird’, denotes all kinds of birds, yet by usage, what is said here is not applicable to the crow, the vulture or other such birds as feed upon unclean things.

Since the text uses the term ‘dropping’, the present rule applies only to fruits on the tree.

‘In causing the flow’.—When the cow is being milked, the calf is made to touch the teats for the purpose of making the milk to flow; and yet it has been declared that ‘cows are pure except in their mouths’; so that the touch of the calf’s mouth might be regarded as a source of impurity; it is with a view to preclude this notion that we have the present text.

The dog itself is not pure; but it is to be regarded as pure when in the course of hunting, it catches’the deer—(128).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(Verse 130 of others.)

This verse is quoted in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 835);—in Śuddhikaumudī (p. 355), which says the meaning is that the woman’s mouth is clean, for the purpose of kissing;—and in Kṛtyasārasamuccaya (p. 84) which says ‘women’ means ‘one’s own wife’, and that ‘prasrave’ means ‘in drinking the milk of the cow.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Baudhāyana (1.9, 2).—‘A calf is pure in making the milk flow; a bird in the dropping of fruits, women at the time of dalliance and a dog in catching a deer.’

Sumantu (Parāśaramādhava, p. 145).—‘Women, infants, mosquitoes, flies, cats, rats, shadow, seats, beds, conveyances and water-particles are always pure.’

Bṛhaspati (Parāśaramādhava, p. 145).—‘Of Brāhmaṇas, the feet are pure; of goats and horses, the mouth; of cows, the hind-part is pure; of women, the whole body.’

Vaśiṣṭha (28.8).—‘A calf is pure for the flowing of milk; a bird when it causes a fruit to fall, women during dalliance, and a dog when it catches a deer.’

Uśanas (Parāśaramādhava, p. 144).—‘The cow is pure at the hind-part, the goat and other at the front; women are pure all over; but their heart is impure.’

Vaśiṣṭha (3.45, 47).—‘Wild animals killed by dogs and fruits thrown by birds, what has been spoilt by children and what has been handled by women,...the Lord of Created Beings has declared these to be pure.’

Viṣṇu (23.49).—‘The mouth of the woman is always pure, a bird is pure in the dropping of fruits; a sucking calf in the flowing of milk; and a dog in the catching of deer.’

Yājñavalkya (1.187, 192-195).—‘The woman’s mouth is pure...... So is the deer’s flesh dropped by dogs, Caṇḍālas, carnivorous animals and others...... Sun’s rays, fire, goat, shadow, cow, horse, earth, air, liquid particles and flies are pure for touching; and the calf is pure in making the milk flow. The goat and the horse are pure in their mouth, but not so the cow, nor the excretions from human bodies. Roads are purified by the rays of the sun and the moon and by wind; particles issuing from the mouth are pure, so also water dropped during sipping water and the hairs of the moustache in the mouth.’

Yama (Aparārka, p. 274).—‘Seat, bed, conveyance, woman’s mouth, blanket, and razor,—these and the sacrificial cups, the wise never regard as defiled. The following are always pure to the touch:—cow, horse, liquid particles, shadow, flies, locusts, parrots, goat, elephant, martial umbrella, solar and lunar rays, earth, lire, dust, air, water, curd, clarified butter, milk.’

Śaṅkha (Do.).—‘Smoke, fire and dust wafted by the wind, are pure.’

Brahmapurāṇa (Do.).—‘The mouth of one’s wife during.dalliance and of the infant just born are pure.’

Devala (Do.).—‘Goats and horses arc pure in their mouth, cows are pure in their hind-part, trees are pure when in flower; Brāhmaṇas are always pure.’

Śivadharmottara (Do.).—‘Brāhmaṇa, cow, flies, perspiration, shadow, lire, sun’s rays, dust, earth, air,—are pure in touching...... The shadow cast by the Caṇḍāla and the out cast is never defiling to the touch.’

Paiṭhīnasi (Parāśaramādhava, p. 145).—‘Woman’s mouth during dalliance.’

Parāśara (7.35).—‘Unimpeded currents are never impure, nor dust raised by the wind; women, old persons and children are never impure.’