Verse 11.159

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

बिडालकाकाखूच्छिष्टं जग्ध्वा श्वनकुलस्य च ।
केशकीटावपन्नं च पिबेद् ब्रह्मसुवर्चलाम् ॥ १५९ ॥

biḍālakākākhūcchiṣṭaṃ jagdhvā śvanakulasya ca |
keśakīṭāvapannaṃ ca pibed brahmasuvarcalām || 159 ||

He who eats what has been left by a cat, a crow, a rat, a dog, or an ichneumon,—or food defiled by a hair or an insect,—shall drink the Brahmasuvarcalā herb.—(159)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Ākhu’—rat.

‘Defiled’—rendered impure by the contact of the said things.

‘Brahmasuvarcalā’—Having pounded it and mixed it with water, he shall drink it for one day; since the text does not make any specific recommendation as to time, if the drinking is done once one day, the injunction will have been duly obeyed.—(159)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 932), to the effect that on eating the ucchiṣṭa of the cat and other animals one should drink the Brāhmīsuvarcalā for one day;—in Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 320), which explains ‘Brāhmasuvarcalā’ as the yellow sun-flower,—the offender should pass one day living on this;—and adds that this refers to cases where the act is unintentional; where it is done intentionally, the penance should he kept for three days;—and in Śuddhikaumudī (p. 316).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Vaśiṣṭha (23.11).—(See above, 158.)

Viṣṇu (51.46-47).—‘If any one eats the leavings of the food of a cat, of a crow, of an ichneumon, or of a rat, he must drink water in which Brahma-śūvarcalā has been boiled. For eating what has been left by a dog, he must fast for one day and then drink the five bovine products.’