Brahma Sutras (Shankaracharya)
by George Thibaut | 1890 | 203,611 words
English translation of the Brahma sutras (aka. Vedanta Sutras) with commentary by Shankaracharya (Shankara Bhashya): One of the three canonical texts of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. The Brahma sutra is the exposition of the philosophy of the Upanishads. It is an attempt to systematise the various strands of the Upanishads which form the ...
III, 4, 43
43. But (they are to be kept outside) in either case, on account of Smṛti and custom.
But whether lapses from the duties of one's order, committed by those who are bound to chastity, be mortal sins or minor sins, in either case such persons are to be excluded by honourable men (śiṣṭas). For Smṛti refers to them in terms of the highest reproach; cp. passages such as the one quoted under Sūtra 41; and the following one, 'He who touches a Brāhmaṇa that has broken his vow and fallen from his order, or a hanged man or one gnawed by worms must undergo the Cāndrāyaṇa penance.' And good custom also condemns them; for good men do not sacrifice, study, or attend weddings with such persons.