Written by London Swaminathan
Post No.7641
Date uploaded in London – 2 March 2020
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge; this is a non- commercial blog.
We have covered ten out of 12 chapters of Manava Dharma Shastra so far. Today let us investigate chapter 11. Manu, as usual, gives very interesting rules regarding Brahmins in this chapter.
I am covering up to 100 slokas in chapter 11 of Manu Smriti (Popular Hindu Law Book).
MOST OF THE RULES APPLY TO BRAHMINS ONLY.
The rule about River Sarasvati shows original Manu Smriti is Pre Indus Valley Civilization work . It was updated up to Sunga period (2nd century BCE) who were fanatically pro Brahmin.
The rule against cutting trees shows that ancient Hindus were concerned with environmental issues.
The rules against killing animals show that the ancient Hindus were friends of animals
The strict punishments for brahmins for drinking and other offences show brahmins must be purer than aall others.
First let me give interesting/important bits in bullet points-
1.sloka 11-1,2- nine types of brahmins must be supported
2.sloka 11-33- Brahmin’s weapon is Atharva Veda.
3.sloka 11-36- who can officiate as priest
4.sloka 11-49- gold theft
5.sloka 11-55- killing a priest
6.sloka 11-60 killing a cow
7.sloka 11-65- cutting trees
8.sloka 11-69- killing donkey, camel etc.
9.sloka 11-73- skull flag/ pirate’s flag
10.sloka 11-78- Sarasvati river
11.sloka 91- 99 severe punishments for Drinking
12.Sloka 11-15- violence against misers
Tirukkural, the Tamil Veda, supports violence against misers – see Kural 1077, 1078
13.SLOKA 11-19- ROB THE RICH, GIVE IT TO THE GOOD PEOPLE- BECOME A ROBIN HOOD
14. slokas 11-49-54 – what diseases one gets for Gold theft, Drinking, Sex offence (Doctors wont agree!!)
15.sloka 55- Worst Five Sins
MANU SMRITI CHAPTER XI
MOST OF THE RULES APPLY TO BRAHMINS
SUPPORT NINE TYPES OF BRAHMINS
11-1. Him who wishes (to marry for the sake of having) offspring, him who wishes to perform a sacrifice, a traveller, him who has given away all his property, him who begs for the sake of his teacher, his father, or his mother, a student of the Veda, and a sick man,
2. These nine Brahmanas one should consider as Snatakas, begging in order to fulfil the sacred law; to such poor men gifts must be given in proportion to their learning.
3. To these most excellent among the twice-born, food and presents (of money) must be given; it is declared that food must be given to others outside the sacrificial enclosure.
4. But a king shall bestow, as is proper, jewels of all sorts, and presents for the sake of sacrifices on Brahmanas learned in the Vedas.
5. If a man who has a wife weds a second wife, having begged money (to defray the marriage expenses, he obtains) no advantage but sensual enjoyment; but the issue (of his second marriage belongs) to the giver of the money.
6. One should give, according to one’s ability, wealth to Brahmanas learned in the Veda and living alone; (thus) one obtains after death heavenly bliss.
SOMA JUICE
11-7. He who may possess (a supply of) food sufficient to maintain those dependant on him during three years or more than that, is worthy to drink the Soma-juice.
8. But a twice-born man, who, though possessing less than that amount of property, nevertheless drinks the Soma-juice, does not derive any benefit from that (act), though he may have formerly drunk the Soma-juice.
9. (If) an opulent man (is) liberal towards strangers, while his family lives in distress, that counterfeit virtue will first make him taste the sweets (of fame, but afterwards) make him swallow the poison (of punishment in hell).
11-10. If (a man) does anything for the sake of his happiness in another world, to the detriment of those whom he is bound to maintain, that produces evil results for him, both while he lives and when he is dead.
11. If a sacrifice, (offered) by (any twice-born) sacrificer, (and) especially by a Brahmana, must remain incomplete through (the want of) one requisite, while a righteous king rules,
12. That article (required) for the completion of the sacrifice, may be taken (forcibly) from the house of any Vaisya, who possesses a large number of cattle, (but) neither performs the (minor) sacrifices nor drinks the Soma-juice;
13. (Or) the (sacrificer) may take at his pleasure two or three (articles required for a sacrifice) from the house of a Sudra; for a Sudra has no business with sacrifices.
14. If (a man) possessing one hundred cows, kindles not the sacred fire, or one possessing a thousand cows, drinks not the Soma-juice, a (sacrificer) may unhesitatingly take (what he requires) from the houses of those two, even (though they be Brahmanas or Kshatriyas);
TAMIL VEDA ALSO SUPPORTS VIOLENCE AGAINST MISERS
11-15. (Or) he may take (it by force or fraud) from one who always takes and never gives, and who refuses to give it; thus the fame (of the taker) will spread and his merit increase.
16. Likewise he who has not eaten at (the time of) six meals, may take at (the time of) the seventh meal (food) from a man who neglects his sacred duties, without (however) making a provision for the morrow,
17. Either from the threshing-floor, or from a field, or out of the house, or wherever he finds it; but if (the owner) asks him, he must confess to him that (deed and its cause).
18. (On such occasions) a Kshatriya must never take the property of a (virtuous Brahmana; but he who is starving may appropriate the possessions of a Dasyu, or of one who neglects his sacred duties.
BECOME A ROBINHOOD – ROB THE RICH, GIVE IT TO THE POOR
11-19. He who takes property from the wicked and bestows it on the virtuous, transforms himself into a boat, and carries both (over the sea of misfortune).
20. The property of those who zealously offer sacrifices, the wise call the property of the gods; but the wealth of those who perform no sacrifices is called the property of the Asuras.
21. On him (who, for the reasons stated, appropriates another’s possessions), a righteous king shall not inflict punishment; for (in that case) a Brahmana pines with hunger through the Kshatriya’s want of care.
22. Having ascertained the number of those dependent on such a man, and having fully considered his learning and his conduct, the king shall allow him, out of his own property, a maintenance whereon he may live according to the law;
23. And after allotting to him a maintenance, the king must protect him in every way; for he obtains from such (a man) whom he protects, the part of his spiritual merit.
24. A Brahmana shall never beg from a Sudra property for a sacrifice; for a sacrificer, having begged (it from such a man), after death is born (again) as a Candala.
BRAHMIN BECOMES A VULTURE
11-25. A Brahmana who, having begged any property for a sacrifice, does not use the whole (for that purpose), becomes for a hundred years a (vulture of the kind called) Bhasa, or a crow.
26. That sinful man, who, through covetousness, seizes the property of the gods, or the property of Brahmanas, feeds in another world on the leavings of vultures.
27. In case the prescribed animal and Soma-sacrifices cannot be performed, let him always offer at the change of the year a Vaisvanari Ishti as a penance (for the omission).
28. But a twice-born, who, without being in distress, performs his duties according to the law for times of distress, obtains no reward for them in the next world; that is the opinion (of the sages).
29. By the Visve-devas, by the Sadhyas, and by the great sages (of the) Brahmana (caste), who were afraid of perishing in times of distress, a substitute was made for the (principal) rule.
30. That evil-minded man, who, being able (to fulfil) the original law, lives according to the secondary rule, reaps no reward for that after death.
31. A Brahmana who knows the law need not bring any (offence) to the notice of the king; by his own power alone be can punish those men who injure him.
32. His own power is greater than the power of the king; the Brahmana therefore, may punish his foes by his own power alone.
SPEECH IS THE WEAPON- USE BLACK MAGIC
11-33. Let him use without hesitation the sacred texts, revealed by Atharvan and by Angiras; speech, indeed, is the weapon of the Brahmana, with that he may slay his enemies.
34. A Kshatriya shall pass through misfortunes which have befallen him by the strength of his arms, a Vaisya and a Sudra by their wealth, the chief of the twice-born by muttered prayers and burnt-oblations.
35. The Brahmana is declared (to be) the creator (of the world), the punisher, the teacher, (and hence) a benefactor (of all created beings); to him let no man say anything unpropitious, nor use any harsh words.
AGNI HOTRA
36. Neither a girl, nor a (married) young woman, nor a man of little learning, nor a fool, nor a man in great suffering, nor one uninitiated, shall offer an Agnihotra.
37. For such (persons) offering a burnt-oblation sink into hell, as well as he to whom that (Agnihotra) belongs; hence the person who sacrifices (for another) must be skilled in (the performance of) Vaitana (rites), and know the whole Veda.
38. A Brahmana who, though wealthy, does not give, as fee for the performance of an Agnyadheya, a horse sacred to Prajapati, becomes (equal to one) who has not kindled the sacred fires.
39. Let him who has faith and controls his senses perform other meritorious acts, but let him on no account offer sacrifices at which he gives smaller fees (than those prescribed).
40. The organs (of sense and action), honour, (bliss in) heaven, longevity, fame, offspring, and cattle are destroyed by a sacrifice at which (too) small sacrificial fees are given; hence a man of small means should not offer a (Srauta) sacrifice.
ATONEMENT
11-41. A Brahmana who, being an Agnihotrin, voluntarily neglects the sacred fires, shall perform a lunar penance during one month; for that (offence) is equal to the slaughter of a son.
42. Those who, obtaining wealth from Sudras, (and using that) offer an Agnihotra, are priests officiating for Sudras, (and hence) censured among those who recite the Veda.
43. Treading with his foot on the heads of those fools who worship a fire (kindled at the expense) of a Sudra, the giver (of the wealth) shall always pass over his miseries (in the next world).
44. A man who omits a prescribed act, or performs a blamable act, or cleaves to sensual enjoyments, must perform a penance.
45. (All) sages prescribe a penance for a sin unintentionally committed; some declare, on the evidence of the revealed texts, (that it may be performed) even for an intentional (offence).
UNINTENTIONAL SIN
11-46. A sin unintentionally committed is expiated by the recitation of Vedic texts, but that which (men) in their folly commit intentionally, by various (special) penances.
47. A twice-born man, having become liable to perform a penance, be it by (the decree of) fate or by (an act) committed in a former life, must not, before the penance has been performed, have intercourse with virtuous men.
48. Some wicked men suffer a change of their (natural) appearance in consequence of crimes committed in this life, and some in consequence of those committed in a former (existence).
GOLD THEFT, DRINKING, KILLING AND DISEASES ONE GETS
11-49. He who steals the gold (of a Brahmana) has diseased nails; a drinker of (the spirituous liquor called) Sura, black teeth; the slayer of a Brahmana, consumption; the violator of a Guru’s bed, a diseased skin;
50. An informer, a foul-smelling nose; a calumniator, a stinking breath; a stealer of grain, deficiency in limbs; he who adulterates (grain), redundant limbs;
51. A stealer of (cooked) food, dyspepsia; a stealer of the words (of the Veda), dumbness a stealer of clothes, white leprosy; a horse-stealer, lameness.
52. The stealer of a lamp will become blind; he who extinguishes it will become one-eyed; injury (to sentient beings) is punished by general sickliness; an adulterer (will have) swellings (in his limbs).
53. Thus in consequence of a remnant of (the guilt of former) crimes, are born idiots, dumb, blind, deaf, and deformed men, who are (all) despised by the virtuous.
11–54. Penances, therefore, must always be performed for the sake of purification, because those whose sins have not been expiated, are born (again) with disgraceful marks.
WORST SINS/MAHA PATAKAS
11-55. Killing a Brahmana, drinking (the spirituous liquor called) Sura, stealing (the gold of a Brahmana), adultery with a Guru’s wife, and associating with such (offenders), they declare (to be) mortal sins (mahapataka).
56. Falsely attributing to oneself high birth, giving information to the king (regarding a crime), and falsely accusing one’s teacher, (are offences) equal to slaying a Brahmana.
57. Forgetting the Veda, reviling the Vedas, giving false evidence, slaying a friend, eating forbidden food, or (swallowing substances) unfit for food, are six (offences) equal to drinking Sura.
58. Stealing a deposit, or men, a horse, and silver, land, diamonds and (other) gems, is declared to be equal to stealing the gold (of a Brahmana).
59. Carnal intercourse with sisters by the same mother, with (unmarried) maidens, with females of the lowest castes, with the wives of a friend, or of a son, they declare to be equal to the violation of a Guru’s bed.
KILLING COWS AND OTHER PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES
11-60. Slaying kine, sacrificing for those who are unworthy to sacrifice, adultery, selling oneself, casting off one’s teacher, mother, father, or son, giving up the (daily) study of the Veda, and neglecting the (sacred domestic) fire,
61. Allowing one’s younger brother to marry first, marrying before one’s elder brother, giving a daughter to, or sacrificing for, (either brother),
62. Defiling a damsel, usury, breaking a vow, selling a tank, a garden, one’s wife, or child,
63. Living as a Vratya, casting off a relative, teaching (the Veda) for wages, learning (the Veda) from a paid teacher, and selling goods which one ought not to sell,
64. Superintending mines (or factories) of any sort, executing great mechanical works, injuring (living) plants, subsisting on (the earnings of) one’s wife, sorcery (by means of sacrifices), and working (magic by means of) roots, (and so forth),
DON’T CUT TREES
65. Cutting down green trees for firewood, doing acts for one’s own advantage only, eating prohibited food,
66. Neglecting to kindle the sacred fires, theft, non-payment of (the three) debts, studying bad books, and practising (the arts of) dancing and singing,
67. Stealing grain, base metals, or cattle, intercourse with women who drink spirituous liquor, slaying women, Sudras, Vaisyas, or Kshatriyas, and atheism, (are all) minor offences, causing loss of caste (Upapataka).
68. Giving pain to a Brahmana (by a blow), smelling at things which ought not to be smelt at, or at spirituous liquor, cheating, and an unnatural offence with a man, are declared to cause the loss of caste (Gatibhramsa)
KILLING DONKEYS, CAMELS – DON’T KILL ANIMALS
11-69. Killing a donkey, a horse, a camel, a deer, an elephant, a goat, a sheep, a fish, a snake, or a buffalo, must be known to degrade (the offender) to a mixed caste (Samkarikarana).
70. Accepting presents from blamed men, trading, serving Sudras, and speaking a falsehood, make (the offender) unworthy to receive gifts (Apatra).
71. Killing insects, small or large, or birds, eating anything kept close to spirituous liquors, stealing fruit, firewood, or flowers, (are offences) which make impure (Malavaha).
72. Learn (now) completely those penances, by means of which all the several offences mentioned (can) be expiated.
12 YEARS PUNISHMENT FOR BRAHMIN KILLERS
73. For his purification the slayer of a Brahmana shall make a hut in the forest and dwell (in it) during twelve years, subsisting on alms and making the skull of a dead man his flag.
74. Or let him, of his own free will, become (in a battle) the target of archers who know (his purpose); or he may thrice throw himself headlong into a blazing fire;
75. Or he may offer a horse-sacrifice, a Svargit, a Gosava, an Abhigit, a Visvagit, a Trivrit, or an Agnishtut;
1000 MILE WALK; AND WALK IN SARASVATI RIVER
11-76. Or, in order to remove (the guilt of) slaying a Brahmana, he may walk one hundred yoganas (Yojana= ten miles) , reciting one of the Vedas, eating little, and controlling his organs;
77. Or he may present to a Brahmana, learned in the Vedas, whole property, as much wealth as suffices for the maintenance (of the recipient), or a house together with the furniture;
78. Or, subsisting on sacrificial food, he may walk against the stream along (the whole course of the river) Sarasvati; or, restricting his food (very much), he may mutter thrice the Samhita of a Veda.
79. Having shaved off (all his hair), he may dwell at the extremity of the village, or in a cow-pen, or in a hermitage, or at the root of a tree, taking pleasure in doing good to cows and Brahmanas.
80. He who unhesitatingly abandons life for the sake of Brahmanas or of cows, is freed from (the guilt of) the murder of a Brahmana, and (so is he) who saves (the life of) a cow, or of a Brahmana.
81. If either he fights at least three times (against robbers in defence of) a Brahmana’s (property), or reconquers the whole property of a Brahmana, or if he loses his life for such a cause, he is freed (from his guilt).
82. He who thus (remains) always firm in his vow, chaste, and of concentrated mind, removes after the lapse of twelve years (the guilt of) slaying a Brahmana.
83. Or he who, after confessing his crime in an assembly of the gods of the earth (Brahnanas), and the gods of men (Kshatriyas), bathes (with the priests) at the close of a horse-sacrifice, is (also) freed (from guilt).
CONFESSION
11-84. The Brahmana is declared (to be) the root of the sacred law and the Kshatriya its top; hence he who has confessed his sin before an assembly of such men, becomes pure.
85. By his origin alone a Brahmana is a deity even for the gods, and (his teaching is) authoritative for men, because the Veda is the foundation for that.
86. (If) only three of them who are learned in the Veda proclaim the expiation for offences, that shall purify the (sinners); for the words of learned men are a means of purification.
87. A Brahmana who, with a concentrated mind, follows any of the (above-mentioned) rules, removes the sin committed by slaying a Brahmana through his self-control.
88. For destroying the embryo (of a Brahmana, the sex of which was) unknown, for slaying a Kshatriya or a Vaisya who are (engaged in or) have offered a (Vedic) sacrifice, or a (Brahmana) woman who has bathed after temporary uncleanness (Atreyi), he must perform the same penance,
89. Likewise for giving false evidence (in an important cause), for passionately abusing the teacher, for stealing a deposit, and for killing (his) wife or his friend:
90. This expiation has been prescribed for unintentionally killing a Brahmana; but for intentionally slaying a Brahmana no atonement is ordained.
FOR DRINKING – SEVERE PUNISHMENT
11-91. A twice-born man who has (intentionally) drunk, through delusion of mind, (the spirituous liquor called) Sura shall drink that liquor boiling-hot; when his body has been completely scalded by that, he is freed from his guilt;
92. Or he may drink cow’s urine, water, milk, clarified butter or (liquid) cowdung boiling-hot, until he dies;
93. Or, in order to remove (the guilt of) drinking Sura, he may eat during a year once (a day) at night grains (of rice) or oilcake, wearing clothes made of cowhair and his own hair in braids and carrying (a wine cup as) a flag.
94. Sura, indeed, is the dirty refuse (mala) of grain, sin also is called dirt (mala); hence a Brahmana, a Kshatriya, and a Vaisya shall not drink Sura.
95. Sura one must know to be of three kinds, that distilled from molasses (gaudi), that distilled from ground rice, and that distilled from Madhuka-flowers (madhvi); as the one (named above) even so are all (three sorts) forbidden to the chief of the twice-born.
96. Sura, (all other) intoxicating drinks and decoctions and flesh are the food of the Yakshas, Rakshasas, and Pisakas; a Brahmana who eats (the remnants of) the offerings consecrated to the gods, must not partake of such (substances).
97. A Brahmana, stupefied by drunkenness, might fall on something impure, or (improperly) pronounce Vedic (texts), or commit some other act which ought not to be committed.
98. When the Brahman (the Veda) which dwells in his body is (even) once (only) deluged with spirituous liquor, his Brahmanhood forsakes him and he becomes a Sudra.
11-99. The various expiations for drinking (the spirituous liquors called) Sura have thus been explained; I will next proclaim the atonement for stealing the gold (of a Brahmana).
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Tamil and Vedas 