Verse 11.41 [Expiation for the Neglect of the Agnihotra Fire]

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

अग्निहोत्र्यपविध्याग्नीन् ब्राह्मणः कामकारतः ।
चान्द्रायणं चरेन् मासं वीरहत्यासमं हि तत् ॥ ४१ ॥

agnihotryapavidhyāgnīn brāhmaṇaḥ kāmakārataḥ |
cāndrāyaṇaṃ caren māsaṃ vīrahatyāsamaṃ hi tat || 41 ||

If a Brāhmaṇa who has set up the fires neglects them wilfully, he shall perform the ‘Cāndrāyaṇa’ penance for a month; as his offence is equal to the offence of killing a hero.—(41)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Neglects’—omits to tend; this may mean either the absolute omission of the rite, or allowing the fires to be extinguished.

The text lays down the Expiatory Rite here, because the text has been dealing with the Agnihotra.

Inasmuch as the text speaks of ‘fires’ (in the plural), what is here said may also he assumed to be applicable to the neglect of the ‘domestic fire.’

‘Equal to the killing of a hero’—in view of the declaration,—‘he who allows the fires to become extinguished is regarded by the gods as the slayer of a hero.’

The addition of the qualifying team ‘wilfully’ indicates that when the neglect is not wilful, there should be some other form of expiation.—(41)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Vīra’—‘Son’ (Govindarāja, Kullūka, Nārāyaṇa and Rāghavānanda);—‘a Kṣatriya’ (Nandana);—‘a deity’ (suggested by Rāghavānanda).

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 1154), which adds the following notes:—The construction is ‘māsamagnīn apavidhya’;—‘vīra’ is the sacrificer;—if the omission lasts longer than a month, the man should perform the ‘Three monthly Goghna expiation’;—in Vidhānapārijāta II (p. 115);—in Parāśaramādhava (Prāyaścitta p. 425);—and in Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 391), which explains ‘apavidhya’ as ‘abandoning’,—‘vīrahatyā’ as ‘murdering the sacrificer’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (22.34).—‘The penance of abstaining from sexual intercourse for one year shall be performed by him who extinguishes the sacred fires, who neglects the daily recitation of the Veda or who has been guilty of a minor offence.’

Vaśiṣṭha (1.18).—‘One who extinguishes the sacred fires, or who forgets the Veda through neglect of the daily recitation, is a sinful man.’

Do. (21-27).—‘He who extinguishes the sacred fires shall perform the Kṛcchra penance of twelve days, and shall cause them to he kindled again.’

Viṣṇu (54-13).—‘One who forgets the Vedic texts be has studied, or who forsakes the sacred fires, must subsist on alms for one year, bathing three times, sleeping on the ground and eating only one meal a day.’

Hārīta (Aparārka, p. 1154).—‘If the sacred fires have remained extinguished for a year, one should perform the Cāndrāyaṇa penance and kindle them again; if for two years, he should perforin the Somāyana and the Cāndrāyaṇa; if for three years, he shall repeat the Kṛcchra perance for a year and then kindle the fires again.’

Śaṅkha (Do.).—‘One who has neglected the fires shall perform the Kṛcchra for one year and also give a cow.’

Śaṅkha-Likhita (Do.).—‘He who neglects the fires, or he who reads the Veda improperly, shall beg alms for one year from Brāhmaṇa households.’