Verse 11.152

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

अभोज्यानां तु भुक्त्वाऽन्नं स्त्रीशूद्रोच्छिष्टमेव च ।
जग्ध्वा मांसमभक्ष्यं च सप्तरात्रं यवान् पिबेत् ॥ १५२ ॥

abhojyānāṃ tu bhuktvā'nnaṃ strīśūdrocchiṣṭameva ca |
jagdhvā māṃsamabhakṣyaṃ ca saptarātraṃ yavān pibet || 152 ||

If one has eaten the food of persons of unfit food, or food left by a woman or a Śūdra,—or forbidden flesh,—he shall drink barley for seven days.—(152)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Those persons are said to be ‘of unfit food’ whose food people do not eat; i.e., those ignorant of the Veda, those who make a living by their wife, those who live upon war, those who sacrifice for persons not entitled to sacrifice, and so forth.

Since the term ‘Śūdra’ itself, which stands for both sexes, would include the Śūdra woman also,—the term ‘woman’ should be understood to stand for a woman of the same caste as the person concerned.

‘Left’—means touched by the mouth.

As for the assertion that ‘the mouth of women is always pure’ (5.130), the exact scope of that has been already explained.

In connection with the drinking of water left by a Śūdra, a previous text (149) has laid down the ‘drinking of Kuśa-water,’ while the present text prescribes the drinking of ‘barley’ for seven days. And since the matter is a purely scriptural one, what is said in the present verse should be taken as referring to the eating of such food as cooked rice and the like.

‘Forbidden flesh’— of such birds, for instance, as the Plava, the Haṃsa, the Cakravāka and the like.

What is here prescribed should be understood as referring to cases where the act is repeatedly and intentionally done. For other cases, the expiation would be the general one that—‘in the case of the rest, one should fast for the day.’

This same expiation also applies to the case of the drinking of all kinds of forbidden milk, with the exception of the milk of the sow, the camel and such other animals,—in connection with which special expiations have been directly prescribed.

When one drinks the ‘gruel’ (of barley), it becomes the drinking of ‘barley.’—(152)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Cf. 4.222.

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 1167);—in Mitākṣarā (3.291), which adds that this refers to intentional and repeated acts;—and in Prāyaścittaviveka (pp. 269 and 281), which says that this refers to unintentional eating.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

See above under 4.222.

Vaśiṣṭha (14. 33).—‘For eating garlic, onions, mushrooms, turnips, śleṣmātaka, exudations from trees, the red sap flowing from incisions in trees, food peeked at by crows or carried by dogs, or the leavings of a Śūdra, an Atikṛcchra penance must be performed.’

Viṣṇu (51.50, 54, 56).—‘If a Brāhmaṇa eats the leavings of a Śūdra, he should subsist on milk for seven days. If a Kṣatriya eats the leavings of a Śūdra, he should subsist on milk for five days. If a Vaiśya eats the leavings of a Śūdra, he should subsist on milk for three days.’