Verse 11.178

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

यत् करोत्येकरात्रेण वृषलीसेवनाद् द्विजः ।
तद् भैक्षभुज्जपन्नित्यं त्रिभिर्वर्षैर्व्यपोहति ॥ १७८ ॥

yat karotyekarātreṇa vṛṣalīsevanād dvijaḥ |
tad bhaikṣabhujjapannityaṃ tribhirvarṣairvyapohati || 178 ||

What a twice-born man commits by dallying with a Caṇḍālī for one night,—that he wipes off in three years, living on alms and constantly repeating (sacred texts).—(178)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The term ‘vṛṣalī’ here stands for the Caṇḍālī.

Since the expiation prescribed is a heavy one, it should be understood as meant, for the act done intentionally and repeated twice. In other cases the expiation would consist in the performance of the Kṛcchra for one year.

Since the text contains the term ‘for one night,’ what is said here must ho taken as referring to a man who sleeps with the woman and spends the whole night with her.

‘Dallying’ means enjoyment.

The term ‘vṛṣalī’ has been used here as a deprecatory word, and not in the sense of the particular caste (Caṇḍāla).

‘What he commits’—The sin that he brings on.

‘That he wipes off in three years’—destroys it.

‘Lining on alms and constantly repeating sacred texts.’—As no particular texts have been specified, they say that the words repeated should he expressive of his deed (?). Others, however, have held that the words repeated shall bo, not ordinary ones, but those occurring in the Mantra and Brāhmaṇa texts, to be selected according to the man’s own predilections. That this is so follows from the fact that, where the repeating of the sacred texts of the Ṛg-Veda has been prescribed (in 11.262) as a general moans of purification, no particular texts have been specified.

Some people explain the term ‘vṛṣalī’ as standing for the Śūdra woman, and declare that dallying with her for three months is what is meant.

But this cannot be right. Because marrying a Śūdra woman is not permitted; and as for a wanton woman, the expiation in her case is a light one; and intercourse with other kinds of Śūdra women would fall under the category of ‘Minor Offences,’ for which the expiation laid down in the present verse would be too heavy.—(178)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Vṛṣalī’—‘Cāṇḍālī’ (Medhātithi and Kullūka);—‘a Śūdra woman’ (Govindarāja and Nārāyaṇa).

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (3.260), which explains ‘vṛṣalī’ as Cāṇḍālī;—and in Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 363), which says that this lays down the expiation for the marrying of a Śūdra girl, in a manner not sanctioned by the scriptures.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (53.9).—(See under 175.)

Āpastamba (1.27.11).—‘A Brāhmaṇa removes the sin which he committed by serving one day and night a man of the black race, if he bathes for three years, eating at every fourth meal-time.’

Baudhāyana (2.2.11).—‘A Brāhmaṇa removes the sin which he committed by serving the black race one day and one night, if he bathes during three years at every fourth meal-time.’

Parāśara (7.9).—‘If a twice-born man commits the sin of attending upon a Vṛṣalī for one night, he becomes pure by living on alms and repeating the sacred texts during three years.’