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The Sacred Laws of the Âryas: Baudhâyana - Prasna III, Adhyâya 2
1. As regards (the mode of subsistence called) Shannivartanî, (that) is (as follows):
2. He cultivates six Nivartanas (of) fallow (land); he gives a share to the owner (of the soil), or solicits his permission (to keep the whole produce).1
3. Let him plough before breakfast with two bulls whose noses have not been pierced, not striking (them) with the goad, (but) frequently coaxing (them).2
4. If he cultivates six Nivartanas in this manner (and subsists thereby), that is (the mode of living called) Shannivartanî (subsistence on six Nivartanas).
5. (As regards the mode of subsistence called) Kauddâlî, he digs up (the soil) near a water(-course or tank) with a spade, a ploughshare, or a pointed piece of wood, sows seed, (and) grows bulbs, roots, fruit, pot-herbs, and vegetables.
6. (If he thus) cultivates (land) with a spade (and lives on its produce), that is the (mode of life called) Kauddâlî (subsistence by the spade).3
7. He who lives by the (mode of subsistence called) Dhruvâ, wraps up his head in a white dress (saying), 'For the sake of welfare I wrap thee up, O head,' (and) takes the skin of a black antelope (with the words), '(Thou art) spiritual pre-eminence, (I take thee) for the sake of spiritual pre-eminence;' the Pavitra (reciting) the Abliṅga texts; the water-pot (saying), 'Thou art strength, (I take) thee for4 the sake of strength;' the yoke for carrying burdens (saying), 'Thou art grain, (I take) thee for the sake of prosperity;' the staff (saying), '(Thou art) a friend, protect me.'
8. On leaving (his hut), he mutters the Vyâhritis, and (afterwards the verse used for) hallowing the quarters of the horizon, 'May the earth, the middle sphere, the sky, the constellations, and all the quarters of the horizon, fire, air, and sun, (may all these) deities protect me on my road.'
9. Because, after muttering the Mânastokîya (text) and entering the village, he shows himself with the yoke (on his shoulder) at the door of each house, they call it 'showing oneself.'
10. Because, if every (other) livelihood fails, he persistently (dhruvam) supports himself by this (mode of living), it is called Dhruvâ (the unchangeable).5
11. (As regards the mode of life called) Samprakshâlanî, (if, in order to show that) there is no waste of the vegetable (substances) obtained nor6 any hoarding, he turns the dishes, after washing them, upside down, (that is the livelihood called) Samprakshâlanî (living by washing).
12. As to the (mode of subsistence called) Samûhâ, (if) he sweeps up (grain) with a broom in permitted places where (grain-bearing) plants are found, either on a road or in fields the access to which is not obstructed (by hedges), and lives on (what he has thus obtained), that (livelihood is called) Samûhâ (living by sweeping).
13. As to the (mode of life called) Pâlanî, it is also named Ahimsakâ (not hurting), and the following (definition) is given. (If) he tries to obtain from virtuous men husked rice or seeds, and maintains (himself) thereby, that (is the mode of subsistence called) Pâlanî.7
14. As to the (mode of life called) Siloñkhâ, (if) he gleans single ears in permitted places where (grain-bearing) plants grow, on a road or in fields the access to which is not obstructed, and supports himself by (these) gleanings, (collected) from time to time, that (is the mode of subsistence called) Siloñkhâ (gleaning).
15. As to the (livelihood called) Kapotâ, (if) he picks up with two fingers single grains in permitted places, where (grain-bearing) plants grow, either on the road or in fields the access to which is not obstructed, that (is called), because he acts like a pigeon, Kapotâ (pigeon-life).8
16. As to (the mode of life called) Siddhoñkhâ, (if) tired with the (other) ways of subsistence, he asks, because he has become old or diseased, virtuous men for cooked food, that (is the livelihood called) Siddhoñkhâ (gleaning cooked food).9
17. If (he adopts) the latter, he must reposit (the sacred fires) in his soul and behave like an ascetic, except (in using) the cloth for straining water and (wearing) a reddish-brown dress.
18. If he subsists on the produce of the forest, (the fruits) of trees, creepers. and lianas, and of grasses, such as wild millet (syâmâka) and wild sesamum, that (is called) forest-life.
19. Now they quote also (the following verse): 'Moving about with the beasts, dwelling together with them, and maintaining oneself in a manner similar to theirs, that is clearly the road to heaven.'
Footnotes
1. A Nivartana is a measure of 4000 square hastas, the ancient equivalent of the modern Bîghâ.
2. Identical with II, 2, 4, 21.
3. Govinda says that according to some the following ceremonies need only be performed when one goes out begging for the first time, while others insist on their being performed daily.
4. The Mânastokîya, i.e. the text beginning 'mâ nas toke,' occurs repeatedly in the Taittirîya-veda, e.g. Taitt. Samhitâ III, 4, 11, 2. Govinda adds that the beggar must remain silent, and rot stop longer at each door than the time required for milking a cow.
5. Both the text and the scanty commentary on this Sûtra are corrupt. K. reads, vritter vrittair avârtâyâm tayaiva tasya dhruvam varttayatîti dhruveti parikîrtitâ; D. vritte vrittair avârttâthâ, &c.; M. vritte vritter avrittâyâm avrittâyâm tathaiva tasyâh ddhrivam varttamânâd iti, &c.; C. I. vritter vritter âvartâyâm âvartâyâm tathaiva tasyâm dhruvam vartanâd iti, &c. The Telugu copy omits the text. From the commentary it is clear that Govinda read at the beginning of the Sûtra vritter vritter,' and the Telugu copy proves that 'tayaiva' is the correct reading. I restore the Sûtra conjecturally; as follows, vritter vritter avârttâyâm tayaiva tasya dhruvam vartanâd it dhruveti parikîrtitâ.
6. I read, samprakshâlanîti | utpannânâm oshadhînâm prakshepanam nâstîti nikayo vâ bhâganâni samprakshâlya nyubgayatîti samprakshâlanî || M. has nâsti nikayo vâ, and C. I. reads also nikayo and omits 'vâ' The Dekhan MSS. have nâstîti kayo vâ. The description is not very clear; but it seems that a person who lives by the Samprakshâlanî vritti must obtain grain and vegetables by begging in such quantities as will suffice for one meal, and prove by the way in which he treats his dishes that he has neither wasted his food nor any store remaining.
7. The translation of this Satin is merely tentative, as the two MSS. of the commentary omit the text, and contain only a fragment of Govinda's explanation. The latter seems to have differed from my interpretation. The text, as given by the other MSS., runs as follows: pâlanîty [pâli°, MSS.] ahimsakety evedam uktam bhavati [°tîti, M.] tushavihînâms tandulân ikkhati sagganebhyo bîgâni vâ [kâ, D.] pâlayatîti pâlanî [phâla°, phâlani, M.; pâlinô, K. D.]
8. Govinda mentions a varia lectio not found in our MSS., kapotavatsamdamsinî, 'because he pecks like a pigeon.'
9. Here as well as above, III, 1, 7, the Dekhan MSS. read siddhekkhâ,' begging cooked food,' instead of", siddhoñkhâ.
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