Verse 11.108 [Expiation of “Minor Offences”: Cow-killing (goghna)]

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

उपपातकसंयुक्तो गोघ्नो मासं यवान् पिबेत् ।
कृतवापो वसेद् गोष्ठे चर्मणा तेन संवृतः ॥ १०८ ॥

upapātakasaṃyukto goghno māsaṃ yavān pibet |
kṛtavāpo vased goṣṭhe carmaṇā tena saṃvṛtaḥ || 108 ||

The cow-killer, charged with a minor offence, shall drink barley for three months; and having shaved his head and covered with the skin of the cow, he shall live in the cow-pen.—(108)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Cow-killer’—one who has killed a cow; the word being formed with the ‘Ka’ affix.

‘Shall drink barley.’—Some people explain this to mean a drink mixed with barley. Others, however, hold that the name of the original substance (barley) has been used in the sense of its product; hence what is meant is that the man shall drink barley-gruel.

In the ease of the former explanation, it is necessary to assume the addition of water or some liquid substance, without its being mentioned in the text; as mere barley-grains cannot be drunk, until they are mixed up with a liquid substance.

In the second explanation, however, all that is necessary is to take the word ‘barley’ in a figurative sense; and certainly, a figurative or indirect signification is much simpler than the assumption of what is not mentioned at all.

‘Having shaved his head’—with his hair shaved off; or it may simply mean with his hairs cut.

‘Cow-pen’—the place where cows sit and rest.

‘Covered with the skin of the cow’—not necessarily of the cow that has been killed; it may be of another cow also.—(108)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(verses 11.108-116)

These verses are quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Prāyaścitta, p. 191), which adds that this refers to the ease of intentionally killing a cow belonging to a Brāhmaṇa;—in Madanapārijāta (p. 860), which notes that what is laid down in verses 108 to 113 refers to cases of intentional killing of a cow belonging to the Kṣatriya, and what is declared in verses 115 and 116 to cases of killing any cow belonging to a Brāhmaṇa. It goes on to add the following notes:—Since the text mentions no other food, the man should live upon fruits and roots only; or the meaning may be that ‘anena vidhinā’ (of verse 115) refers to the two months’ course detailed in the foregoing verses; and the sense is that the man who is unable to give ten cows with a bull should give away all his belongings. When however one unintentionally kills a cow, young and well-fed, belonging to a Brāhmaṇa, he should observe the three-monthly penance prescribed by Aṅgiras.

They are quoted also in Smṛtitattva (p. 519);—in Smṛtisāroddhāra (p. 358);—and in Prāyaścittaviveka (pp. 196-197), which says that this refers to the ordinary killing of the cow, and not to its killing for sacrifices;—and adds the following explanation:—He should shave his head, cover himself with the skin of the cow he has killed, and drink gruel of barley cooked in cow’s urine’, and thus live in the cow-pen, for one month, and during the next two months he should fast during the day and eat a little in the evening,—‘vīrāsana’ is sitting without any support,—‘abhiśasta’ attacked,—‘bhayaih’ by dangerous animals,—‘sarvaprāṇaiḥ’ (which is its reading for sarvapāpaiḥ’), to the best of his power—‘gām na kathayet’, with a view to have her driven away,—‘sucaritavrataḥ’, he who has followed these restrictions in the right manner,—he should give ten cows along with one bull.

Verse 115 only is quoted in the Śuddhikaumdī (p.241).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 11.108-116)

Gautama (22.18).—‘The penance for killing a cow is the same as that for killing a Vaiśya (vow of continence to be kept for three years and giving one cow and one bull).’

Āpastamba (1.26, 1).—‘If a milch cow or a full-grown ox has been killed without reason, the expiation shall be the same as that for killing a Śūdra (give ten cows with a bull).’

Vaśiṣṭha (21.18).—‘If he kills a cow, he shall perform, during six months, a Kṛcchra or a Taptakṛcchra, clothed in the raw hide of that cow.’

Viṣṇu (50, 16-24).—‘The man shall serve cows for a month, his hair and beard having been shaven;—he shall sit down to rest when they rest; and stand still when they stand still;—he shall give assistance to a cow that has met with an accident;—and shall preserve cows from dangers;—he shall not shelter himself against cold and similar dangers, without having previously protected the cows against them;—he shall wash himself with cow’s urine; and subsist upon the five bovine products;—this is the Go-vrata, cow-penance, which must be performed by one who has killed a cow.’

Yājñavalkya (3.264-265).—‘The man who has killed a cow shall drink the five bovine products for a month, sleeping in the cowpen, serving the cows; and then by giving a cow, he becomes pure; or he shall calmly perform the penance of Prājāpatya Atikṛcchra;—or having fasted for three days, he shall give away ten cows with a hull as the eleventh.’

Parāśara (8.31-42).—‘Having shaved the whole head, he shall bathe three times during the day, and live among cows during the night, and go behind them during the day; when it is hot, or raining, or very cold or when the wind is blowing strongly, he shall not protect himself until he has protected the cows to the best of his ability. If he finds a cow grazing in a field or in a threshing yarn—either his own or belonging to some one else,—he shall not tell of it to any one; nor shall he tell any one when he finds a calf sucking milk. He shall drink water when the cows drink it, he down when they he down, and with all his strength shall save a cow when she has either fallen down or stuck in mud. One shall prescribe as penance for cow-killing a suitable Prājāpatya and Kṛcchra: (Forms of these penances)—For one day he shall eat once; for one day he shall eat only in the evening; for one day he shall eat only what he gets without asking for it; and for one day he shall live on air; for two days he shall eat only once; for two days he shall eat what he gets without asking for it, for two days he shall eat only at night; for two days he shall live on air. Each of these being done for three days; and for four days. The prescribed penance having been performed, he shall feed Brāhmaṇas, present them with fees and recite the sacred texts. After feeding the Brāhmaṇas, the cow-killer becomes purified without doubt.’