Vaisheshika-sutra with Commentary
by Nandalal Sinha | 1923 | 149,770 words | ISBN-13: 9789332869165
The Vaisheshika-sutra 6.1.6, English translation, including commentaries such as the Upaskara of Shankara Mishra, the Vivriti of Jayanarayana-Tarkapanchanana and the Bhashya of Chandrakanta. The Vaisheshika Sutras teaches the science freedom (moksha-shastra) and the various aspects of the soul (eg., it's nature, suffering and rebirth under the law of karma). This is sutra 6 (‘entertainment of impure brahmanas at a shraddha is useless’) contained in Chapter 1—Of Vedic Duties—of Book VI (of the investigation of dharma and a-dharma.).
Sūtra 6.1.6 (Entertainment of impure Brāhmanas at a Śrāddha is useless)
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Vaiśeṣika sūtra 6.1.6:
तद्दुष्टभोजने न विद्यते ॥ ६.१.६ ॥
tadduṣṭabhojane na vidyate || 6.1.6 ||
tat—that, i.e., the fruit of benediction; duṣṭa-bhojane—(Śrāddha) in which impure (Brāhmaṇas) are entertained; na—not; vidyate—exists, accrues.
6. That does not exist where the impure are entertained.—230.
Commentary: The Upaskāra of Śaṅkara Miśra:
(English rendering of Śaṅkara Miśra’s commentary called Upaskāra from the 15th century)
Those fruits accrue from the benediction of Brāhmaṇas who have been satisfied with the entertainment, and who are not wicked, in other words, whose conduct is in accordance with the Śāstra, but not from the benediction of the wicked who have been excluded from the category of recipients, e.g., an illegitimate son born during wedlock, an illegitimate son born after the death of the husband, etc. This is what he says here:
[Read sūtra 6.1.6 above]
‘Tat’ alludes to the fruit of benediction. The meaning is that where at a Śrāddha (i.e., the observance of obsequial rites) evil or impure Brāhmaṇas are entertained there the fruit of benediction does not accrue to the departed ancestor, or the meaning is this that the fruit of the Śrāddha itself does not accrue to the departed ancestor.—6.