Verse 11.87

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

हत्वा गर्भमविज्ञातमेतदेव व्रतं चरेत् ।
राजन्यवैश्यौ चैजानावात्रेयीमेव च स्त्रियम् ॥ ८७ ॥

hatvā garbhamavijñātametadeva vrataṃ caret |
rājanyavaiśyau caijānāvātreyīmeva ca striyam || 87 ||

Having killed an unknown embryo, one should perform this same penance,—also on killing a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya, who has performed sacrifices, or a woman of the ‘Ātreyī’ race.—(87)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Embryo’—belonging to the Brāhmaṇa caste.

The meaning of the verse is that one should not help an abortion.

‘Unknown’—whose male or female sex is not yet ascertainable. When this has become ascertainable, the expiation shall be in accordance with the sex.

“How can there be a killing of the embryo, until the woman is also killed?”

Abortions are generally secured by the use of medicines and such other methods.

‘This same penance.’—They say that, since the singular number is used here, it is the ‘Twelve-year Penance’ that is meant here; specially as this is what has been spoken of in closest proximity to the present text.

Others, however, have held that the term ‘this same’ refers to the means of purification in general; hence it stands for all the expiatory rites that have been laid down in connection with ‘Brāhmaṇa-killing.’

‘A Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya who has performed sacrifices—i.e., who is engaged in a sacrificial performance;—no significance attaching to the past tense (in ijānau’); as in another Smṛti text we read—‘The Kṣatriya and the Vaiśya seated at the Extraction of Soma’; from which it would seem that the rule here laid down refers to the persons who have started the drinking of Soma, and not to those engaged in the performance of the Darśapūrṇamāsa and other sacrifices. But the clear implication of the Vedic text is that it applies to persons engaged in any sort of sacrificial performance;—the actual text being ‘it is only when one has become a Brāhmaṇa that he engages in a sacrifice’ [where no particular sacrifice is specified].

‘A woman qf the Ātreyī race.’—Woman born in the race of Atri. The caste of the man and the woman being the same, what is prescribed in connection with the killing of ‘a Brāhmaṇa’ should apply equally to the case of the male and the female; hence the mention of ‘the woman of the Ātreyī race’ clearly excludes women of the other races; which means that the killing of these other women of other Brāhmaṇa races, would be only a ‘minor offence,’ mentioned above as ‘the killing of a woman of a Vaiśya or a Kṣatriya’ (66). What has been spoken of as ‘the killing of a woman or of a friend eta, eta,’ refers to women of all the four castes. The upshot of all this is—that in the case of the killing of a Brāhmaṇa woman, there are two optional alternatives—the expiation laid down for ‘heinous offences’ and that prescribed for a ‘minor offence’; which one of the two is to be adopted bring determined by the qualifications of the husband or of the woman herself,—as also by the intentional or unintentional character of the crime. For instance, (a) even in the case of a woman of another caste, if she has a child still at her breast, the expiation shall be of the heavier kind, in consideration of the fact, that it would be difficult for the child to live after the mother’s death;—(b) in the case of the Brāhmaṇa woman who, faultless herself, has become an object of hatred to her husband, and is killed by a man because, on being approached by him, she preserves her chastity and does not accede to his proposal,—the expiation shall be of the heavier kind;—as also (c) in the case of recklessly killing a friend’s wife. In other cases on the other hand, ordinary expiation according to Verse 66 would be applicable In the case of the woman of the ‘Ātreyī’ race, however, there are no alternatives.

Others have explained the word ‘Ātreyī’ to mean a woman in her courses, on the strength of its occurring along with the term ‘embryo.’ They quote the text —‘pātyate bhrūṇahā, ātreyyāśca hantā’—where the term ‘bhrūṇahā’ means ‘the slayer of a Brāhmaṇa.’ Under this explanation also the woman in her courses referred to must be a Brāh maṇa. She is called ‘Ātreyi’ in consideration of the fact that she is sure to carry a child in her womb. Though the use of the nominal affix found in the term ‘Ātreyī’ is nowhere laid down in the sense here attributed to it, yet the said denotation may be accepted on the strength of usage.—(87)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (3.251), according to which ‘avijñāta garbha’ indicates the stage of pregnancy before the sex of the child has been determined;—it adds that though the fact of the child in the womb belonging to the Brāhmaṇa-caste would make the offender liable to the expiation for Brāhmaṇa-slaying,—yet, in as much as the possibility of the child being female might lead one to think that the guilt of killing a female would be a ‘minor sin,’ and hence involve a lighter expiation,—it becomes necessary to emphasise the necessity of performing the heavier expiation.

It is quoted in Prāyaścittaviveka (pp. 87, 179 and 228), which adds the explanation that, having killed the Brāhmaṇa embryo, before its sex has been determined, one should perform the rites laid down in connection with ‘Brāhmaṇa-murder,’ as also for killing a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya—while they are performing a sacrifice,—an d also for killing an ‘ātreyī,’ i.e., a Brāhmaṇī.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 11.87-88)

Gautama (22.12-13).—‘The same penance that has been prescribed for Brāhmaṇa-slaying shall be performed by one who has killed a Brāhmaṇa female when she has bathed after her course; also for destroying the embryo of a Brāhmaṇa, though its sex may be not distinguishable.’

Bodhāyam (2.1-12).—‘The penance for killing a woman who has bathed after her courses is the same as that for the killing of a Brāhmaṇa.’

Āpastamba (1.24.8-9).—‘He who has destroyed an embryo of a Brāhmaṇa, or a woman during her courses, is called Abhiśasta, accursed, and stands on the same footing regarding expiation, as the Brāhmaṇa-killer.’

Vaśiṣṭha (20.23, 34-35).—‘He is called Bhrūṇahan who kills a Brāhmaṇa or destroys an embryo the sex of which is unknown. For killing a female of the Brāhmaṇa caste who is an Ātreyī...... the same penance that is prescribed for the Brāhmaṇa-killer should be performed. That woman is called Ātreyī who has bathed after her courses.’

Viṣṇu (50.8-10).—‘He who has killed a pregnant woman, or a woman in her courses, or a woman who has bathed after her courses, or a friend, shall perform the Mahāvrata.’ (p. 839)

Yājñavalkya (3.251).—‘He who destroys an embryo or an Ātreyī woman should perform the penance laid down for the Brāhmaṇa-killer.’