Verse 5.137

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

त्रिराचामेदपः पूर्वं द्विः प्रमृज्यात् ततो मुखम् ।
शरीरं शौचमिच्छन् हि स्त्री शूद्रस्तु सकृत् सकृत् ॥ १३७ ॥

trirācāmedapaḥ pūrvaṃ dviḥ pramṛjyāt tato mukham |
śarīraṃ śaucamicchan hi strī śūdrastu sakṛt sakṛt || 137 ||

Desiring bodily purification, one should sip water thrice; then he should twice wipe his mouth; but the woman and the śūdra should each do it once only.—(137).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This is the reiteration (of a former injunction), for the purpose of enjoining what is necessary for the woman and the Śūdra. Though what is said here has been already declared before, yet it is repeated here for the sake of women and Śūdras.

Some people explain this text as follows:—According to the rule that ‘the Śūdra is purified by touching water’, all that the ordinary Śūdra is to do is to touch water; hence washing and touching of the ear, etc., that are understood as applying to the

Śūdra, are regarded as pertaining to the better class of Śūdras. As regards women,—the general rule being that ‘the Brāhmaṇa is purified by water reaching the heart &c., &c.’ (2. 62), where the different castes are specified, it would seem as if all that is prescribed for males is to be done by females also; and it is with a view to preclude this notion that we have the present text.

‘Desiring bodily purification’;—this indicates that if one is quite clean when going to read or to take food, he need not necessarily repeat the acts thrice; nor need there be washing;—all that need be done is the sipping of some quantity of water, and the touching of the organs; and not all the details that have been laid down in connection with the ‘sipping of water’ prescribed among the duties of the Student.—(137).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(Verse 139 of others.)

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 40);—in Madanapārijāta (p. 53),—and in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 992) which explains ‘mukham’ as ‘lips.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (1.36).—(See above, under 136.)

Baudhāyana (1.8.19-22)—‘Let him thrice sip water, reaching his heart; let him wipe his lips thrice;—twice, according to some; the woman and the Śūdra, each only once.’

Āpastamba (1.16.2-6).—‘Sitting, he shall sip water thrice, the water penetrating his heart; ho shall wipe his lips thrice,—according to some, twice; he shall then touch his lips once;—twice, according to some.’

Vaśiṣṭha (3.26-27).—‘Having washed his feet and hands up to the wrist, and sitting with his face turned towards the east, or towards the north, he shall thrice sip water out of the Brahma-tīrtha, without uttering any sound; he shall twice wipe his lips.’

Viṣṇu (62.6, 7).—‘Let him sip water thrice with the Brahma-tīrtha; let him wipe his lips twice.’

Yājñavalkya (1.20).—‘Sipping water thrice, wiping his lips twice, he shall touch the cavities with water.’

Devala (Aparārka, p. 40).—‘With the base of the thumb, he shall twice wipe his mouth; he shall never wipe it either with the finger-tips or with the back of the fingers.’

(See also the texts under 2.60, above.)