{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/sbe14/sbe1404.htm","path":"hin/sbe14/sbe1404.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe14/sbe1404.htm","text":"1. Now, therefore, the desire to know the sacred law for their welfare (should arise) in (initiated) men. 1\n2. He who knows and follows the (sacred law is called) a righteous man.\n3. He becomes most worthy of praise in this world and after death gains heaven. 3\n4. The sacred law has been settled by the revealed texts and by the tradition (of the sages).\n5. On failure of (rules given in) these (two sources) the practice of the Sishtas (has) authority.\n6. But he whose heart is free from desire (is called) a Sishta.\n7. (Acts sanctioned by) the sacred law (are those) for which no (worldly) cause is perceptible. 7\n8. The country of the \u00c2ryas (\u00c2ry\u00e2varta) lies to the east of the region where (the river Sarasvat\u00ee) disappears, to the west of the Black-forest, to the north of the P\u00e2rip\u00e2tra (mountains), to the south of the Him\u00e2laya. 8\n9. (According to others it lies to the south of the Him\u00e2laya) and to the north of the Vindhya range (being limited east and west by the two oceans). 9\n10. Acts productive of spiritual merit, and customs which (are approved of) in that country, must be everywhere acknowledged (as authoritative);\n11. But not different ones, (i.e. those) of (countries where) laws opposed (to those of \u00c2ry\u00e2varta prevail). 11\n12. Some (declare the country of the \u00c2ryas to be situated) between the (rivers) Ga\u1e45g\u00e2 and Yamun\u00e2. 12\n13. Others (state as) an alternative, that spiritual pre-eminence (is found) as far as the black antelope grazes. 13\n14. Now the Bh\u00e2llavins quote also (the following) verse in the Nid\u00e2na: 14\n15. 'In the west the boundary-river, in the east 15\nthe region where the sun rises,--as far as the black antelope wanders (between these two limits), so far spiritual pre-eminence (is found).\n16. 'Those religious acts which men, deeply versed in the knowledge of the three Vedas and acquainted with the sacred law, declare to be lawful, (are efficient) for purifying oneself and others.' 16\n17. Manu has declared that the (peculiar) laws of countries, castes, and families (may be followed) in the absence of (rules of) the revealed texts. 17\n18. Sinful men are, he who sleeps at sunrise or at sunset, he who has deformed nails or black teeth, he whose younger brother was married first, he who married before his elder brother, the husband of a younger sister married before the elder, the husband of an elder sister whose younger sister was married first, he who extinguishes the sacred fires, (and) he who forgets the Veda through neglect of the daily recitation. 18\n19. They state that there are five mortal sins. (mah\u00e2p\u00e2taka),\n20. (Viz. violating) a Guru's bed, drinking (the spirituous liquor called) sur\u00e2, slaying a learned Br\u00e2hmana, stealing the gold of a Br\u00e2hmana, and associating with outcasts, 20\n21. Either by (entering into) spiritual or matrimonial (connexion with them). 21\n22. Now they quote also (the following verse): 'He who during a year associates with an outcast becomes (likewise) an outcast; not by sacrificing for him, by teaching him or by (forming) a matrimonial (alliance with him), but by using the same carriage or seat.' 22\n23. A minor offence causing loss of caste (\u00fbpap\u00e2taka, is committed by him) who (after beginning an Agnihotra sacrifice) forsakes the sacred fires, and by him who offends a Guru, by an atheist, by him who takes his livelihood from atheists, and by him who sells the Soma (plant). 23\n24. Three wives (are permitted) to a Br\u00e2hmana according to the order of the castes, two to a Kshatriya, one to a Vaisya and to a S\u00fbdra. 24\n25. Some declare (that twice-born men may marry) even a female of the S\u00fbdra caste, like those (other wives), without (the recitation of) Vedic texts.\n26. Let him not act thus. 26\n27. For in consequence of such (a marriage) the degradation of the family certainly ensues, and after death the loss of heaven.\n28. There are six marriage-rites, 28\n29. (Viz.) that of Brahman (br\u00e2hma), that of the gods (daiva), that of the Rishis (\u00e2rsha), that of the Gandharvas (g\u00e2ndharva), that of the Kshatriyas (ksh\u00e2tra), and that of men (m\u00e2nusha).\n30. If the father, pouring out a libation of water, gives his (daughter) to a suitor, that (is called) the Brahma-rite 30\n31. If (the father) gives his daughter, decking her with ornaments, to an officiating priest, whilst a sacrifice is being performed, that is called the Daiva-rite. 31\n32. And (if the father gives his daughter) for a cow and a bull, (that is called) the \u00c2rsha-rite. 32\n33. If a lover takes a loving female of equal caste, that (is called) the G\u00e2ndharva-rite. 33\n34. If they forcibly abduct (a damsel), destroying (her relatives) by strength (of arms), that (is called) the Ksh\u00e2tra-rite. 34\n35. If, after making a bargain (with the father, a 35\nsuitor) marries (a damsel) purchased for money, that (is called) the M\u00e2nusha-rite.\n36. The purchase (of a wife) is mentioned in the following passage of the Veda, 'Therefore one hundred (cows) besides a chariot should be given to the father of the bride.' 36\n37. (It is stated) in (the following passage of) the K\u00e2turm\u00e2syas, 'She (forsooth) who has been bought by her husband (commits sin, as) afterwards she unites herself with strangers.' 37\n38. Now they quote also (the following verse): 'Lost learning comes back; when the family is lost all is lost. Even a horse becomes estimable on account of its pedigree; therefore men marry wives descended from an (unblemished) family.\n39. The three (lower) castes shall live according to the teaching of the Br\u00e2hmana. 39\n40. The Br\u00e2hmana shall declare their duties,\n41. And the king shall govern them accordingly.\n42. But a king who rules in accordance with the sacred law, may take the sixth part of the wealth (of his subjects), 42\n43. Except from Br\u00e2hmanas. 43\n44. It has been declared in the Veda, 'But he obtains the sixth part of (the merit which Br\u00e2hmanas gain by) sacrifices and charitable works.' 44\n45. (It is further stated in the Veda), 'The Br\u00e2hmana makes the Veda rich; the Br\u00e2hmana saves from misfortune; therefore the Br\u00e2hmana shall not be made a source of subsistence. Soma is his king.' 45\n46. Further (another passage says), 'After death bliss (awaits the king who does not oppress Br\u00e2hmanas).'\n1:1 1. The word 'now' serves, in this as in analogous cases, various purposes. It marks the beginning of the book, serves as an auspicious invocation (ma\u1e45gala), and indicates that something else, the initiation, must precede the study of the sacred law. 'Therefore' means 'because, after initiation, the neophyte is to be taught the prescribed rules regarding personal purification:--Krishnapandita. For the wording of the S\u00fbtra compare the be-ginning of Gaimini's M\u00eem\u00e2ms\u00e2-s\u00fbtras.\n1:3-6. Gautama I, 1-4; XXVIII, 48.\n1:7 The S\u00fbtra contains a limitation of S\u00fbtra 5. It indicates that the customs of the Sishtas, for which worldly motives are perceptible, have no authority, and are not to be followed. The principle enunciated is one inculcated by the M\u00eem\u00e2msakas (P: M. S. p. 2 I, 3, 3-4). See also \u00c2pastamba I, 1, 4, 5-10; I, 4, 12, 8; and Introduction, p. xxvii. Krishnapandita has misunderstood the S\u00fbtra. He reads, against the MSS., agrihyam\u00e2nak\u00e2rano \u2019dharmah, 'unlawful acts are those for which no motive, i.e. no sacred source such as the Vedas, is perceptible.'\n2:8 The region where the river Sarasvat\u00ee disappears is the Patti\u00e2l\u00e2 district in the Pa\u00f1g\u00e2b. The P\u00e2rip\u00e2tra mountains belong to the great Vindhya range, and are probably the hills in M\u00e2lv\u00e2. The position of the K\u00e2lakavana or Black-forest is not accurately known. But it must probably be sought in Bih\u00e2r. All the MSS. as well as Krishnapandita read in this S\u00fbtra pr\u00e2g\u00e2darsan\u00e2t instead of pr\u00e2gadarsan\u00e2t, 'to the east of the region where the river Sarasvat\u00ee disappears.' This circumstance gains some importance by the fact that the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2shya on P\u00e2nini II, 4, 10, quotes the same definition of the \u00c2ry\u00e2varta, giving, however, instead of adarsan\u00e2t pr\u00e2g\u00e2dars\u00e2t, 'to the east of \u00c2darsa, i.e. the \u00c2darsa mountains.' It seems to me not improbable that our S\u00fbtra, too, had originally pr\u00e2g\u00e2dars\u00e2t, and that some Pandit who knew nothing about the \u00c2darsa hills, but remembered Manu II, as, and Baudh\u00e2yana I, 1, 25, where the word vinasan\u00e2t, 'the disappearance of the Sarasvat\u00ee,' undoubtedly occurs, added the syllable na and forgot to correct the \u00e2, after pr\u00e2g.\n2:9 The translation follows Krishnapandita's commentary, which recommends itself on account of the analogous definition of \u00c2ry\u00e2varta given by Manu II, 22.\n2:11 My translation follows the text given by Krishnapandita and p. 3 B., and the explanation of the former, because it seems to me that the general sense which they give, is the correct one. I feel, however, not certain that the word. pratilomakadharm\u00e2n\u00e2m, 'of those countries where opposite laws prevail,' is more than a care less correction. The majority of the MSS. read pratilomakakshadharm\u00e2nah (kalpadharm\u00e2nah), which by itself is difficult of explanation. But, as the text of the next S\u00fbtra contains an apparently superfluous phrase, I fear, we shall have to admit that the text is here disfigured by corruptions, which with our present MSS. it is impossible to remove with certainty.\n3:12 Krishnapandita reads this Sutra 'etad \u00e2ry\u00e2vartam ity\u00e2kakshate ga\u1e45g\u00e2yamunayor antaretyeke,' and takes it as one sentence, the subject of which is 'eke.' I feel no doubt that this explanation is utterly untenable, and that the first four words have nothing to do with this Sutra, the second part of which occurs also in the Baudh\u00e2yana Dharma-s\u00fbtra I, 1, 27. My opinion is that they originally belonged to S\u00fbtra 11, though the state of the MSS. at my disposal does not allow me to say how S\u00fbtra 11 has to be corrected. The general sense of S\u00fbtra 12 is, however, perfectly certain.\n3:13 Manu II, 23; Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya I, 2. It deserves to be noted that the black antelope (black-buck), Oryx cervicapra, selects for its home the well-cultivated, rich plains of India only, and is entirely wanting in the sandy, mountainous or forest districts, which are now, just as in ancient times, the portion of the aboriginal tribes.\n3:14 Regarding the Bh\u00e2llavins, see Max M\u00fcller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, pp. 193, 364. Krishnapandita thinks that Nid\u00e2na means desanirnaya, 'the disquisition on the countries,' which is the title of a section which occurs in most modern compilations on law. But it will be safer to take it as the name of a Vedic work, identical with or similar to that quoted in Saunaka's Brihaddevat\u00e2, Weber, Hist. Ind. Lit., p. 81.\n3:15 Sindhur vidh\u00e2ran\u00ee or vidharan\u00ee, as B. reads, cannot be p. 4 taken with Krishnapandita, as 'the ocean,' because in the latter sense sindhu is a masculine. It must be a boundary-river, probably the Sarasvat\u00ee. By s\u00fbryasyodana, 'the region where the sun rises,' the udayagiri or 'mountain of the east' may possibly be meant.\n4:16 This verse, too, is marked as a quotation by the concluding word iti, though it is not necessary that it should be taken as a quotation from the Nid\u00e2na. Here, and in the sequel verses ending in iti are marked as quotations by hyphens.\n4:17 Manu VII, 203; VIII, 41; Gautama XI, 20. G\u00e2ti,' castes,' which sometimes, and perhaps as appropriately, has been translated by 'tribes,' denotes in my opinion those numerous subdivisions of the four great varnas, which we now find all over India, and which can be shown to have existed for a very long time. Usually the word 'caste' is also applied to them.\n4:18 Krishnapandita explains v\u00eerah\u00e2, 'he who extinguishes the sacred fires,' by 'the destroyer of his sons or of his spiritual clients' p. 5 (yagam\u00e2na); but the rules given below, XX, 11, and XXI, 27, in the section on penances, confirm the explanation given above.\n5:20 Vishnu XXXV, 1-2. Guru means here the father, see below, XX, 15.\n5:21 Vishnu XXXV, 3-5. Spiritual connexion, i.e. becoming the teacher or priest of an outcast, or his pupil or spiritual client (yagam\u00e2na).\n5:22 Identical with Manu XI, 181. It must be understood that spiritual or matrimonial connexion with an outcast causes immediate degradation, as Vishnu states expressly.\n5:23 Vishnu XXXVII, 6, 31; Gautama XXI, 11. Regarding the precise meaning of pratigahnuy\u00e2t, 'offends,' see below, XXI, 27.\n5:24-25. Manu III, 13; Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya I, 57; P\u00e2raskara Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 4, 8-11.\n6:26-27. Manu III, 14-19.\n6:28 \u00c2pastamba II, 5, II, 17-20.\n6:30 Vishnu XXIV, 19; \u00c2sval\u00e2yana Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 6, 1.\n6:31 Vishnu XXIV, 20; \u00c2sval\u00e2yana Grihya.-s\u00fbtra I, 6, 2,\n6:32 Vishnu XXIV, 21; \u00c2sval\u00e2yana Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 6, 3.\n6:33 Vishnu XXIV, 23; \u00c2sval\u00e2yana Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 6, 5.\n6:34 Vishnu XXIV, 25; \u00c2sval\u00e2yana Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 6, 8.\n6:35 Vishnu XXIV, 24; \u00c2sval\u00e2yana Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 6, 6.\n7:36 S\u00e2\u1e45kh\u00e2yana Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 14; P\u00e2raskara Grihya-s\u00fbtra I, 8, 18; \u00c2pastamba II, 6, 13, 12. Though Vasishtha's quotation is less complete than \u00c2pastamba's, still the following S\u00fbtras show that he knew the conclusion of the passage, and does not take it as an authority for the sale of a daughter.\n7:37 Krishnapandita makes a mistake by connecting the word 'k\u00e2turm\u00e2syeshu' with the next S\u00fbtra. He is right in saying that 'the K\u00e2turm\u00e2syas' is the name of a book. It is, however, not a separate work, but the k\u00e2nda or section of a Vedic work treating of the K\u00e2turm\u00e2sya sacrifices (see Max M\u00fcller, Hist. Anc. Sansk. Lit., p. 355). The particular work from which our quotation has been taken, is either the Maitr\u00e2y\u00e2n\u00eeya Samhit\u00e2, or the K\u00e2thaka. For, as Dr. von Schroeder informs me, Maitr\u00e2y\u00e2n\u00eeya Samhit\u00e2 I, 10, 11 reads 'anritam v\u00e2 esh\u00e2 karoti y\u00e2 patyuh kr\u00eet\u00e2 satyath\u00e2nyais karati,' and the title of the k\u00e2nda is K\u00e2turm\u00e2sy\u00e2ni. Professor Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 407, has found the same words in the K\u00e2turm\u00e2sya section of the K\u00e2thaka XXXVI, 5. In the translation I have added the beginning of the passage which Vasishtha omits, according to the Maitr\u00e2y\u00e2n\u00eeya Samhit\u00e2.\n7:39-41. Gautama XI, 25-27.\n8:42 Vishnu III, 22-25. Though the ambiguous word dhana, 'wealth,' is used in the text, it seems not doubtful that Vasishtha alludes to the land-tax, which generally consists of one sixth of the produce.\n8:43 Vishnu III, 26.\n8:44 Vishnu III, 27--28. P\u00fbrta, 'the merit gained by charitable works,' i.e. by planting trees, digging wells, and so forth. The words 'iti ha,' placed at the end of the S\u00fbtra, indicate that it is a quotation, and that vig\u00f1\u00e2yate, 'it is declared in the Veda,' has to be understood from S\u00fbtra 46. Gautama XI, 11, too, alleges that the rule is based on a Vedic passage.\n8:45 Satapatha-br\u00e2hmana V, 4, 2, 3. Krishnapandita's division of the quotation into several S\u00fbtras is unnecessary. His explanation of an\u00e2dya, which he takes to mean 'the first of all,' is wrong. He asserts that the Br\u00e2hmana is said 'to make the Veda rich,' because by sacrificing and so forth he fulfils its object and protects it. But the phrase is probably corrupt. If it is said that Soma is the king of the Br\u00e2hmanas, the object is to indicate that an earthly king is not their master, see Gautama XI, 1.","title":"SBE 14: Vasishtha: Chapter I","type":"page"}