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The Sacred Laws of the Âryas: Baudhâyana - Prasna I, Adhyâya 4
Kandikâ 6
1. Now (those who know the law) prescribe the carrying of a waterpot.1
2. It is declared (in the Vedas) that fire (resides) in the right ear of a goat, in the right hand of a Brâhmana, likewise in water (and) in a bundle of Kusa grass. Therefore after personal purification let him wipe (his water-vessel) on all sides with his (right) hand, (reciting the mantra), 'Blaze up, O fire;' for that (is called) encircling it with fire and is preferable to heating (the pot on the fire).2
3. With reference to this matter they prescribe also (the following rules): 'If he thinks in his heart that (the pot) has been slightly defiled, let him light Kusa or (other) grass and heat (the pot) on all sides, keeping his right hand turned towards it.'3
4. 'If (pots) have been touched by crows, dogs, or4 other (unclean animals, they shall be heated, until they are of) the colour of fire, after the (paryagnikarana has been performed).'
5. (Pots) which have been defiled by urine, ordure, blood, semen, and the like must be thrown away.5
6. If his waterpot has been broken, let him offer one hundred (oblations) reciting the Vyâhritis, or mutter (the Vyâhritis as often).6
7. (Reciting the text), 'Earth went to earth, the mother joined the mother; may we have sons and cattle; may he who hates us be destroyed,' he shall collect the fragments, throw them into water, repeat the Gâyatrî at least ten times and take again another (pot).7
8. Taking refuge with Varuna, (he shall recite the mantra), 'That (belongs) to thee, Varuna; again to me, Om,' (and) meditate on the indestructible.8
9. 'If he has received (the new vessel) from a Sûdra, let him recite (the Gâyatrî) one hundred (times). (If he has received it) from a Vaisya, fifty (repetitions of the Gâyatrî) are prescribed, but (on receiving it) from a Kshatriya twenty-five, (and on taking it) from a Brâhmana ten.'9
10. Those who recite the Veda are doubtful whether he shall fetch water after the sun has, set or shall not fetch it.
11. The most excellent (opinion is) that he may fetch it.
12. Let him restrain his breath, while he fetches water.
13. Fire, forsooth, takes up water.10
14. It is declared (in the Veda), 'When he has washed his hands and feet with water from his water-vessel, he is impure for others, as long as the moisture (remains). He purifies himself only. Let him not perform other religious rites (with water from his pot).'11
15. Baudhâyana (says), 'Or if on the occasion of each personal purification (he washes himself with other water) up to the wrist, (he will become) pure.'12
16. Now they quote also (the following verses):
Kandikâ 7
1. 'Formerly (the use of) a waterpot has been prescribed by Brahman and the chief sages for the purification of twice-born men. Therefore he shall always carry one.'13
'He who desires his own welfare, shall use it without hesitation, for purifying (his person), for drinking, and for performing his twilight devotions.'
2. Let him do it with a believing heart; a wise man must not corrupt his mind. The self-existent14 (Brahman) came into existence with a water-vessel. Therefore let him perform (his rites) with a water-vessel.
3. Let him hold it in his right hand when he voids urine and excrements, in the left when he sips water. That is (a) settled (rule) for all good men.
4. For as the sacrificial cusp (kamasa) is declared to be pure on account of its contact with the Soma-juice, even so the water-vessel is constantly pure through its contact with water.
5. Therefore let him avoid (to use) it for the worship of the manes, the gods, and the fire.15
6. Therefore let him not go on a journey without a waterpot, nor to the boundary of the village, nor from one house to the other.
7. Some (declare that he must not go without it) a step further than the length of an arrow.
8. Baudhâyana (says that he shall not go without it) if he wishes to fulfil his duties constantly.
9. (The divine) Word declares that (this is con-firmed) by a Rik-shaped (passage).16
Footnotes
1. As Govinda observes, the rules regarding the waterpot (kamandalu) are introduced here in connexion with I, 3, 5, 4.
2. Vasishtha XII, 15-16. The mantra is found, Taittirîya Âranyaka X, 1, 4.
3. The word upadisanti, 'they prescribe,' stands at the end of Sûtra 4, as it refers to both rules.
4. Vasishtha III, 59. The paryagnikarana is the rite prescribed in Sûtra 2.
5. Vasishtha III, 59.
6. Regarding the Vyâhritis, see Gautama I, 51.
7. Govinda says that Vâmadeva is the Rishi of the mantra. The fragments of the pot are to be thrown into a river or tank, in order to preserve them from defilement. See also Journ. Bo. Br. Roy. As. Soc., No. XXXIV A, p. 55 note.
8. 'Taking refuge with Varuna, i.e. saying, "I flee for safety to Varuna." (The words), "That for thee, Varuna, again to me, Om," (are) the mantras (to be recited) on taking (a new vessel). Its meaning is this: "Those fragments which I have thrown into the water shall belong to thee, Varuna," (Saying), "Come, thou (who art) a lord of water-vessels, again to me, Om," he shall meditate on another visible pot as indestructible, i.e. at the end of the Vedic (word) "Om," let him meditate, (i.e.) recollect, that not everything will be turned topsy-turvy, (but that some things are) also indestructible, i.e. that that is not destroyed, does not perish.'--Govinda. The explanation of the last clause of our Sûtra seems to be that, on pronouncing the syllable (akshara) Om, the reciter is to recollect the etymological import of the word akshara, 'indestructible,' and thus to guard the new vessel against the mishap which befell the old one.
9. According to Govinda, either the pranava, the syllable Om, or the Gâyatrî are the mantras to be recited, and the recitation is a penance to be performed when the vessel is received. The MSS. of the text mark the verse as quotation by adding the word 'iti,' which the commentary omits.
10. According to Govinda, a Brâhmana who goes to fetch water at night, which he may want for personal purification, is ordered to restrain his breath, because thereby the air in the body becomes strong, and fire or heat (agni) is produced. Now as at night the sun is stated to enter the fire and to become subject to it, a Brâhmana, who by restraining his breath has produced fire, has secured the presence of the sun, when he goes to fetch water.
11. Govinda expressly states that the word vie, vigñâyate, 'it is declared,' literally, 'it is distinctly known,' always indicates that the passage quoted is taken from the Veda. The rites for which water from the waterpot is not to be used, are libations to the manes, the gods, and the fire. See also below, I, 4, 7, 5.
12. The words enclosed between parentheses are Govinda's.
13. The division of this chapter into two sections occurs in the M. manuscript only. The Dekhan MSS., which give the division into Kandikâs, do not note it, and have at the end of the Prasna the figure 20, while M. has 21 and in words ekavimsatih after the enumeration of the Pratîkas.
14. 'A wise man must not corrupt his mind,' i.e. must not doubt or adopt erroneous views regarding the teaching of the Sâstras with respect to the waterpot. It seems to me that this passage indicates the existence of an opposition to the constant carrying of the waterpot in Baudhâyana's times. This is so much more probable, as the custom is now obsolete, and is mentioned in some Purânas and versified Smritis as one of the practices forbidden in the Kali age; see eg. the general note appended to Sir W. Jones' translation of Manu.
15. According to Govinda the word 'therefore' refers back to Sûtra I, 4, 6, 14.
16. 'Rigvidham, "a Rik-shaped (passage)," means Rigvidhânam, "a prescription consisting of a Rik." The Brâhmana is indicated by (the word) vâk, ("the goddess of) speech." The meaning is, "The Brâhmana says that there is also a Rik-verse to this effect. That is as follows, tasyaishâ bhavati yat te silpam ityâdi' (Taittirîya-Âranyaka I, 7, a).--Govinda.
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