Verse 6.38 [Procedure of going forth as a Wandering Mendicant]

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

प्राजापत्यं निरुप्येष्टिं सर्ववेदसदक्षिणाम् ।
आत्मन्यग्नीन् समारोप्य ब्राह्मणः प्रव्रजेद् गृहात् ॥ ३८ ॥

prājāpatyaṃ nirupyeṣṭiṃ sarvavedasadakṣiṇām |
ātmanyagnīn samāropya brāhmaṇaḥ pravrajed gṛhāt || 38 ||

Having performed the Prājāpatya Sacrifice, wherein all his belongings are given away as the sacrificial fee,—and having reposited the Fires within himself,—the Brāhmaṇa should go forth from his house.—(38).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Prājāpatya Sacrifice’—as prescribed in the Yajurveda; at this the giving away of all one’s belongings is enjoined. After this has been performed, the Fires are reposited by the man within himself; the exact procedure of this repositing also has to be learnt from that same Veda.

The compound ‘Sarvavedasadakṣiṇam’is to be treated as a Bahuvrīhi compound; ‘that at which all one’s belongings are given away as the sacrificial fee’. ‘Vedas’ mean wealth; and the whole of this is to be given away. This is the sense attributed to the ‘an’ affix in the term ‘sarvāvedasa’. Or the ‘an’ affix may be taken in the reflexive sense; the ‘Prajñādi group’ (which are laid down as taking the said affix in this sense) being a purely tentative one.

Others have explained the ‘Prājāpatya sacrifice’ as human sacrifice. At this latter the Brāhmaṇa forms the first animal to be sacrificed in accordance with the injunction ‘the Brāhmaṇa should be sacrificed to Brahman’; and ‘Prājāpati’ is only another name f or Brahman; and since a sacrifice is named after its chief deity, ‘Prājāpatya’ is the name for the human sacrifice. Farther, it is only in connection with this sacrifice that the scriptures have enjoined the giving away of all belongings, the repositing of the Fires within oneself and the going forth as a mendicant. We have the following Śruti -text on this point:—‘Having reposited the

Fires within himself, and regarding this repositing as a worship rendered unto Āditya, the man should go forth; then alone does he become securer than gods and men

Some people have held that the ‘repositing of the Fires within himself’, which is mentioned in connection with Renunciation, becomes fulfilled if the Fires are made over to the wife at her death; and hence Renunciation is to be taken to only in the event of the wife’s death, when a second wife need not be taken.

But in that case the text bearing on the subject should have been in some such form as—‘in the event of the wife dying first, the Fires should be made over to her at her funeral rite’, and since the present treatise is the work of a human author, and not a Veda, the answer would not be available that no exception can be taken to its words. (?)—(38).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

The second half of this verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (on 3.57) to the effect that the Brāhmaṇa only is entitled to the life of Renunciation.

The verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 538), in the sense that when going to enter the stage of Renunciation, the man should perform the Prājāpatya sacrifice in which he should give away all his belongings as the ‘sacrificial fee’;—and in Yatidharmasaṅgraha (p. 13).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Bodhāyana (2.17.21).—‘A Brāhmaṇa who, knowing this, dies after fasting during the night of Brahman, and depositing within himself the sacred fires, conquers all guilts, even that of killing a Brāhmaṇa.’

Viṣṇu (96.1, 2).—‘After having passed through the first three stages, and annihilated passion, he must offer an oblation to Prajāpati, in which he bestows all his wealth as the sacrificial fee, and enter the stage of the Renunciate. Having reposited the fires in his own mind, he must enter the village in order to collect alms.’

Yājñavalkya (3.56).—‘Either after Studentship, or after Hermitship, having performed the Prājāpatya sacrifice, at which his entire wealth is given away as the sacrificial fee, and at its completion, repositing the fires within himself,—(he shall turn his mind towards liberation).’

Kūrmapurāṇa (Parāśaramādhava, p. 538).—‘Repositing the fires within himself, the twice-born should go forth as a Renunciate, devoted to the practice of Yoga. After having performed the Prājāpatya or the Āgneyī sacrifice, and having all his impurities evaporated within himself, he should have recourse to the stage dedicated to Brahman.’

Nṛsiṃhapurāṇa (Parāśaramādhava, p. 539).—‘Leading the life of the Hermit, having his sins burnt by austerity, the twice-born person should, in accordance with the law, take to renunciation and enter the fourth stage. Having made offerings to gods, Pitṛs, sages and men, and also to himself, and having performed the Prājāpatya or the Vaiśvānarī sacrifice, he shall reposit the fire within himself and, reciting mantras, go forth.’

Kātyāyana (Parāśaramādhava, p. 542).—‘Having reposited the fires within himself, seated in the centre of the altar, and meditating upon Hari, having obtained the permission of his guru, he should pronounce the Praiṣamantra.’