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The Sacred Laws of the Âryas: Vasishtha - Chapter XXI
1. If a Sûdra approaches a female of the Brâhmana caste, (the king) shall cause the Sûdra to be tied up in Vîrana grass and shall throw him into a fire. He shall cause the head of the Brâhmanî to be shaved, and her body to be anointed with butter; placing her naked on a black donkey, he shall cause her to be conducted along the highroad. It is declared that she becomes pure (thereby).1
2. If a Vaisya approaches a female of the Brâhmana caste, (the king) shall cause the Vaisya to be tied up in Lohita grass and shall throw him into a fire. He shall cause the head of the Brâhmanî to be shaved, and her body to be anointed with butter; placing her naked on a yellowish donkey, he shall cause her to be conducted along the highroad. It is declared in the Veda that she becomes pure (thereby).
3. If a Kshatriya approaches a female of the Brâhmana caste, (the king) shall cause the Kshatriya to be tied up in leaves of Sara grass and shall throw him into a fire. He shall cause the head of the Brâhmanî to be shaved, and her body to be anointed with butter; placing her naked on a white donkey, he shall cause her to be conducted along the highroad. It is declared in the Veda that she becomes pure (thereby).
4. A Vaisya who offends) with a female of the Kshatriya class (shall be treated) in the same manner,
5. And a Sûdra (who offends) with females of the Kshatriya or Vaisya castes.
6. If (a wife) has been mentally unfaithful to her husband, she shall live on barley or rice boiled in milk during three days, and sleep on the bare ground. After the three days (have expired), the (husband) shall offer eight hundred burnt-oblations, (reciting) the Sâvitrî (and the Mantra called) Siras, while she is immersed in water. It is declared in the Veda that she becomes pure (thereby).2
7. If (a wife) has held an (improper) conversation (with another man), she must perform the same penance during a month. After (the expiration of) the month, (the husband) shall offer four times eight hundred burnt-oblations, (reciting) the Sâvitrî (and the Mantra called) Siras, while she is immersed in water. It is declared in the Veda that she becomes pure (thereby).
8. But if (a wife) has actually committed adultery, she shall wear during a year a garment smeared with clarified butter, and sleep on a mat of Kusa grass, or in a pit filled with cowdung. After (the expiration of) the year, (the husband) shall offer eight hundred burnt-oblations, (reciting) the Sâvitrî (and the Mantra called) Siras, while she is immersed in water. It is declared in the Veda that she becomes pure (thereby).
9. But if she commits adultery with a Guru, she is forbidden (to assist her husband) in (the fulfilment of) his sacred duties.3
10. But (these) four (wives) must be abandoned, (viz.) one who yields herself to (her husband's) pupil or to (his) Guru, and especially one who attempts4 the life of her lord, or who commits adultery with a man of a degraded caste.
11. That woman of the Brâhmana caste who drinks spirituous liquor, the gods will not admit (after death) to the same abode with her husband; losing all spiritual merit she wanders about in this world and is born again as a leech or a pearl-oyster.5
12. The wives of Brâhmanas, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas who commit adultery with a Sûdra may be purified by a penance in case no child is born (from their adulterous intercourse), not otherwise.
13. (Those who have committed adultery) with a man of lower caste shall perform a Krikkhra penance, succeeded by one, two, or three Kândrâyana.6
14. Faithful wives who are constantly pure and truthful (reside after death) in the same abodes with their husbands; those who are unfaithful are born as jackals.7
15. Half the body of the husband falls if his wife8 drinks spirituous liquor. No purification is prescribed for the half which has fallen.
16. If a Brâhmana unintentionally commits adultery with the wife of a Brâhmana, (he shall perform) a Krikkhra penance in case (the husband) fulfils the religious duties (of his caste), and an Atikrikkhra penance in case (the husband) does not fulfil his religious duties.9
17. The same (penances are prescribed) for Kshatriyas and Vaisyas (for adultery with women of their respective castes).
18. If he kills a cow, let him perform, during six months, a Krikkhra or a Taptakrikkhra, dressed in the raw hide of that (cow).10
19. The rule for these two (penances is as follows):
20. 'During three days he eats in the day-time (only), and during the (next) three days at night (only), he subsists during (another) period of three days on food offered without asking, and (finally) he fasts during three days.' That is a Krikkhra penance.11
21. 'Let him drink hot water during three days; let him drink hot milk during the (next) three days; after drinking during (another) period of three days hot clarified butter, he shall subsist on air during the (last) three days.' That is a Taptakrikkhra penance.12
22. And he shall give (to a Brâhmana) a bull and a cow.
23. Now they quote also (the following verse): 'Through killing a spotted deer, a he-goat, and13 a bird three maladies (befal men), viz. jealousy, hunger, and old age; (therefore) let him (who is guilty of such an offence) perform (a penance) during ninety-eight (days).'
24. Having slain a dog, a cat, an ichneumon, a snake, a frog, or a rat, let him perform a Krikkhra penance of twelve days' duration, and give something (to a Brâhmana).14
25. But having slain a quantity of boneless animals, equal to the weight of a cow, let him perform a Krikkhra penance of twelve days' duration, and give something (to a Brâhmana).15
26. But (the same penance must be performed) for each single (slain animal) that possesses bones.16
27. He who extinguishes the (sacred) fires shall perform a Krikkhra penance of twelve days, and cause them to be kindled again (by priests engaged for the occasion).17
28. He who falsely accuses a Guru shall bathe, dressed in his clothes, and ask his Guru's pardon. It is declared in the Veda that he becomes pure by the Guru's forgiving him.18
29. An atheist shall perform a Krikkhra penance of twelve days' duration, and give up his infidelity.19
30. But he who receives subsistence from infidels (shall perform) an Atikrikkhra penance (and not repeat his offence).
31. (The rule applicable to) a seller of Soma has been explained hereby.20
32. A hermit, on violating the rules of his order, shall perform a Krikkhra penance of twelve days' duration, and continue (the observances obligatory on him) in a great forest.
33. Ascetics, (offending in the same manner) as hermits, shall perform for a protracted period (the vow of regulating the quantity of their food according to) the growth of the moon, and shall again be initiated, in accordance with (the rules of) the Institutes applicable to them.21
Footnotes
1. Gautama XXIII, 15. Krishnapandita reads, instead of prâsyet, 'he shall throw,' prâsyet, and explains it by dâhayet, he shall cause to be burnt.' It must be understood that these extreme punishments are to be inflicted in particularly bad cases only.
2. 'Afterwards in order to purify her who is immersed in water, i.e. has plunged into water, he shall offer eight hundred, i.e. (such) a number of burnt-oblations with the Siras, i.e. (the words) "Om, ye waters, who are splendour, juice, and ambrosia," &c., which are joined to the Gâyatrî.'--Krishnapandita. The Siras, or 'head,' is again mentioned below, XXV, 13; see also Vishnu LV, 9. This and the following two rules refer to offences committed with males of equal caste.
3. Yâgñavalkya I, 70. Colebrooke IV, Dig. LXXVI, where a different reading, vyavâyatîrthagamanadharmebhyah; has been adopted, and the Sûtra has been combined with the neat. The first clause may also be translated, 'If she actually commits adultery, (and especially) if she converses with a Guru.'
4. Colebrooke loc. cit.; Manu IX, 80; Yâgñavalkya 1, 72.
5. Colebrooke IV, Dig. CXIII, where sûkarî, 'a sow,' is read instead of suktikâ, 'a pearl-oyster.'
6. Manu XI, 178. Krishnapandita states correctly that kândrayanottaram, 'succeeded by one, two, or three Kândrâyanas,' may also mean 'following one, two, or three Kândrâyanas,' and that the number of Kândrâyanas to be performed depends on the caste of the person with whom the adultery was committed. Thus a Brahmanî must perform one Krikkhra and one Kândrâyana for adultery with a Kshatriya, one Krikkhra and two Kândrâyanas for adultery with a Vaisya, and one Krikkhra and three Kândrâyanas for adultery with a Sûdra. His view that the rule refers to wives who commit the sin without intent or against their will, is open to doubt. It is probably an alternative, to be adopted in lighter cases, for the public punishment prescribed above, XXI, 1-3. Regarding the Kândrâyana, see below, XXIV, 44,
7. Colebrooke IV, Dig. CVIII; Manu V, 164-165.
8. Manu IX, 80; Yâgñavalkya I, 73.
9. 'Vishnu LIII, 2.
10. Vishnu L, 16-24; Gautama XXII, 18.
11. Vishnu XLVI, 10.
12. Vishnu XLVI, 11.
13. The above translation follows the commentary of Krishnapandita, who further states that the penance to be performed shall consist of a diet of barley gruel. I feel by no means certain that his interpretation, especially that of the last clause, is correct. Possibly ashtânavatim âharet may mean 'he shall offer ninety-eight oblations.'
14. Vishnu L, 30, 31.
15. Gautama XXII, 21. 'Something' means eight handfuls of grain.
16. Gautama XXII, 22.
17. Vishnu LIV, 13; Gautama XXII, 34.
18. Vishnu LIV, 14; Yâgñavalkya III, 283.
19. Vishnu LIV, 15.
20. Vishnu LIV, 17.
21. The penance prescribed appears to be similar to the Kândrâyana. The offender must eat one mouthful on the first lunar day, two on the second, and so forth. But it is not clear for how long a period the rule is to be observed. The Sûtra is interesting as it furnishes corroborative evidence for Pânini's statement (IV, 3, 110) that Bhikshu-sûtras which contained the, rules applicable to Bhikshus formerly existed.
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