Verse 11.194

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

जपित्वा त्रीणि सावित्र्याः सहस्राणि समाहितः ।
मासं गोष्ठे पयः पीत्वा मुच्यतेऽसत्प्रतिग्रहात् ॥ १९४ ॥

japitvā trīṇi sāvitryāḥ sahasrāṇi samāhitaḥ |
māsaṃ goṣṭhe payaḥ pītvā mucyate'satpratigrahāt || 194 ||

Having, with concentrated mind, repeated the Sāvitrī three thousand times, and drinking milk in a cow-pen for one month, he becomes absolved from the sin of accepting an improper gift.—(194)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘The Sāvitrī three thousand times’— Some people take this to mean that this should be done everyday; while others construe ‘trīṇi’ with ‘māsam’ [the meaning being, that the whole is to run for three months]; so that the mantra would have to be repeated one hundred times everyday.

‘Cow-pen’—the place where cows are kept.—(194)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Prāyaścitta, p. 430), as referring to cases where both the giver and the gift are unfit, and improper;—in Aparārka (p. 1150), to the effect that ‘residence in the cow-pen’ is an essential factor in the expiation;—in Mitākṣarā (3.290), which adds the following notes:—The repetition of the Sāvitrī here prescribed is to be done daily, as is clear from the Accusative ending in ‘māsam’ which denotes duration;—and in Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 403).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (54.24).—‘By repeating attentively the Gāyatrī three thousand times, by dwelling in the pasture of cows, by subsisting on milk for a month, one becomes free from the sin of receiving unlawful presents.’

Yājñavalkya (3.288).—‘One becomes free from the sin of receiving improper presents if one dwells in the cow-pen for one month, subsisting on milk and devoted to the repeating of the Gāyatrī.’