Verse 1.188

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by J. R. Gharpure:

भूशुद्धिर् मार्जनाद् दाहात् कालाद् गोक्रमणात् तथा ।
सेकाद् उल्लेखनाल् लेपाद् गृहं मार्जनलेपनात् ॥ १८८ ॥

bhūśuddhir mārjanād dāhāt kālād gokramaṇāt tathā |
sekād ullekhanāl lepād gṛhaṃ mārjanalepanāt || 188 ||

Purification of land is by sweeping, by burning, by time, by cows passing over it, by sprinkling, by scraping, and by smearing; the house by sweeping and by smearing.—(188).

 

The Mitākṣarā commentary of Vijñāneśvara Bhikṣu:

Mārjanam,—sweeping, is clearing away of dust, straw, &c., with the broom;

Dāhaḥ,—burning, with straw, fuel &c.;

Kālo,—time, i.e. such period of time by which the besmearement &c. would vanish;

Gokramaṇam,—cows passing ever, i.e. being trodden by the feet of the cows;

Sekaḥ,—springing, pouring of milk, cow’s urine, cow-dung and water;

Ullekhanam,—scraping, i.e. paring or digging;

Leho,—smearing, with cow-dung &c.

By means of these methods i.e. by sweeping &c. either severally or jointly, land which is impure, defiled, and even unclean, becomes purified. Moreover, Devala “Where a woman parturates, or dies, or where one is burnt, or where Chandalas &c. have dwelt, or where fæces &c., are collected; and thus land which has much of impurity is said to be an ‘impure’ amedhyā land.” “The land which has had the contact of dogs, hogs, asses, camels, and the like becomes ‘defiled’ duṣṭā; by charcoal, straw, hair, horns &c. it becomes unclean malinā;” having thus stated the three kinds of land viz., impure, defiled or unclean, which require purification, further declares the several methods of purification:—“By five times, or by four times, land which is even impure becomes pure; that which is defiled by contact with the bad, by three times or two times; and by one process, the unclean land”.

Where human bodies are burnt and where Chandalas have dwelt, these two kinds become pure by burning, time, passing of the cows, sprinkling, and scraping. Where men are born, and where also they die, or where also there is excessive accumulation of fæces, &c., such places are purified by the same four methods, exclusive of burning. Of the land on which dogs, hogs, and asses have stayed for a long time the purification is by the three methods, viz., passing of a cow, sprinkling, and scraping. And o£ that on which the camels, village cocks &c. have dwelt long, the purification is by sprinkling and scraping. That land on which charcoal, straw &c. have been kept for a long time becomes pure by scraping. Sweeping and smearing are always to be taken in conjunction with the above processes.

(Similarly,)

Gṛham,—a house, is purified,

Mārjanalepanāt,—by sweeping and smearing. The separate mention of the house is for the purpose of indicating that sweeping and smearing must be daily performed.

The Vīramitrodaya commentary of Mitramiśra:

Mārjanam,—‘sweeping’ removing the dust;

Dāhaḥ,—burning, immersion into the fire all round;

Kālo,—‘time’ so much time by as much as the vanishing of the stain the cause of impurity takes;

Gokramaṇam—‘passing of the cows’, the constant treading of the foot of cows;

Seka,—‘sprinkling’, washing with sprinkling water;

Ullekhanam—‘scraping’ i.e. paring;

Lepa,—‘besmearing’, i.e. besmearing with cowdung. With these i.e. sweeping &c. either by each separately, or by all combined, is the purification of land. For, (defiled) land is of three kinds,

Amedhyā—‘impure’,

Duṣṭā,—‘defiled’, and

Malinā,—‘unclean’. There, of the impure, by burning and other, in all five or four, methods; of defiled land by three, such as burning &c, or by digging and smearing; and of the impure land, however, by besmearing alone is the purification. That has been stated by Devala: “In five ways, or in four ways, an impure land becomes pure; land which has been defiled is purified by two or three methods; and the unclean by one process. Burning, digging, besmearing, or furrowing, and the rain showered is the five-fold purification of land laid down.”

The characteristics of ‘impure’ &c. have been stated by him also: “Where a pregnant woman delivers of a child, or where a human being dies, what has been dwelt into by the Chandalas, and where a dead body is thrown, where ordure and urine have been accumulated, where a corpse is seen, thus land which is full of impurities, is characterised as ‘impure’ amedhyā. Where land is defiled by worms, insects, or by the treading of the feet, by the decomposed phlegmatic discharges, scattered, or vomits, becomes defiled duṣṭā.

When covered by the impurities from nails, teeth, hair, skin, husk, sand, and dust, or by ashes, mud, or straw, the land becomes ‘unclean’ Malinā.”

Drapsam,—phlegm, i.e., concentrated phlegm;

Tanujam,—‘hair’. Here, moreover, according as the defilement may be great or small, five times, or four times &c. There is an option. Here of the unclean land, by once besmearing is the purification. The sprinkling and besmearing are to be taken as applicable in all cases; so holds the Mitākṣarā.

A house, however, is purified by sprinkling and smearing. The mention of the house separately is with a view to include the sprinkling and besmearing.

In regard to the purification of a house defiled by a corpse, Saṃvarta states a special rule; “I shall describe the purification of a house defiled by a corpse lying within: having cast off the earthen pots as also cooked food, all that having thrown out from the house, one should besmear it with cow-dung. After having besmeared with cow-dung, the wise man should have it smelt by a goat. And purified with the (recital of) holy hymns by the Brāhmaṇas and with water mixed with gold and Kuśa, the entire house should be sprinkled over, and then undoubtedly it becomes pure.” The corpse here is of the cow, or a man, or the like, so it appears from the usage of the good. (188).