"Bhishma said, 'For enabling such pious and impoverished Brahmanas as
have been robbed of their wealth (by thieves), as are engaged in the
performance of sacrifices, as are well conversant with all the Vedas, and
as are desirous of acquiring the merit of righteousness, to discharge
their obligations to preceptors and the Pitris, and pass their days in
reciting and studying the scriptures, wealth and knowledge, O Bharata,
should be given. Unto those Brahmanas that are not poor, only the
Dakshina, O best of the Bharatas, should be given. As regards those
that have fallen away (in consequence of their sinful deeds) from the
status of Brahman, uncooked food should be given to them outside the
limits of the sacrificial altar. The Brahmanas are the Vedas
themselves and all the Sacrifices with large presents. Desirous of
excelling one another, they always perform sacrifices, impelled by their
virtuous inclinations. The king should, therefore, make presents of
diverse kinds of valuable wealth unto them. That Brahmana who hath a
sufficiency of stores for feeding his family for three or more years,
deserves to drink the Soma. If not withstanding the presence of a
virtuous king on the throne, the sacrifice begun by anybody, especially
by a Brahmana, cannot be completed for want of only a fourth part of the
estimated expenses, then the king should, for the completion of that
sacrifice, take away from his kinsmen the wealth of a Vaisya that is
possessed of a large flock of cattle but that is averse from sacrifices
and abstains from quaffing Soma. The Sudra has no competence for
performing a sacrifice. The king should, therefore, take away (wealth for
such a purpose) from a Sudra house of ours. The king should also,
without any scruple, take away from the kinsmen the wealth of him who
does not perform sacrifices though possessed of a hundred kine and also
of him who abstains from sacrifices though possessed of a thousand kine.
The king should always publicly take away the wealth of such a person as
does not practise charity, by acting in this way the king earns great
merit. Listen again to me. That Brahmana who has been forced by want to
go without six meals, may take away without permission, according to
the rule of a person that cares only for today without any thought of the
morrow, only what is necessary for a single meal, from the husking tub or
the field or the garden or any other place of even a man of low pursuits.
He should, however, whether asked or unasked, inform the king of his
act. If the king be conversant with duty he should not inflict any
punishment upon such a Brahmana. He should remember that a Brahmana
becomes afflicted with hunger only through the fault of the
Kshatriya. Having ascertained a Brahmana's learning and behaviour,
the king should make a provision for him, and protect him as a father
protects the son of his own loins. On the expiry of every year, one
should perform the Vaisvanara sacrifice (if he is unable to perform any
animal or Soma sacrifice). They who are conversant with religion say that
the practice of an act laid down in the alternative, is not destructive
of virtue. The Viswedevas, the Sadhyas, the Brahmanas, and great Rishis,
fearing death in seasons of distress, do not scruple to have recourse to
such provisions in the scriptures as have been laid down in the
alternative. That man, however, who while able to live according to the
primary provision, betakes himself to the alternative, comes to be
regarded as a wicked person and never succeeds in winning any felicity in
heaven. A Brahmana conversant with the Vedas should never speak of his
energy and knowledge to the king. (It is the duty of the king to
ascertain it himself.) Comparing again the energy of a Brahmana with that
of the king, the former will always be found to be superior to the
latter. For this reason the energy of the Brahmanas can scarcely be borne
or resisted by a king. The Brahmana is said to be creator, ruler,
ordainer, and god. No word of abuse, no dry speeches, should be addressed
to a Brahmana. The Kshatriya should cross all his difficulties by the aid
of the might of his arms. The Vaisya and the Sudra should conquer their
difficulties by wealth; the Brahmana should do so by Mantras and homa.
None of these, viz., a maiden, a youthful woman, a person unacquainted
with mantras, an ignorant guy, or one that is impure, is competent to
pour libations on the sacrificial fire. If any of these do so, he or she
is sure to fall into hell, with him for whom they act. For this reason,
none but a Brahmana, conversant with the Vedas and skilled in all
sacrifices should become the pourer of sacrificial libations. They who
are conversant with the scriptures say that the man who, having kindled
the sacrificial fire, does not give away the dedicated food as Dakshina,
is not the kindler of a sacrificial fire. A person should, with his
senses under control, and with proper devotion, do all the acts of merit
(indicated in the scriptures). One should never worship the deities in
sacrifices in which no Dakshina is given. A sacrifice not completed with
Dakshina, (instead of producing merit) brings about the destruction of
one's children, animals, and heaven. Such a sacrifice destroys also the
senses, the fame, the achievements and the very span of life, that one
has. Those Brahmanas that lie with women in their season, or who never
perform sacrifices, or whose families have no members conversant with the
Vedas, are regarded as Sudras in act. That Brahmana who, having married a
Sudra girl, resides for twelve continuous years in a village has only a
well for its water supply, becomes a Sudra in act. That Brahmana who
summons to his bed an unmarried maiden, or suffers a Sudra, thinking him
worthy of respect, to sit upon the same carpet with him, should sit on a
bed of dry grass behind some Kshatriya or Vaisya and give him respect in
that fashion. It is in this manner that he can be cleansed. Listen,
O king, to my words on this subject. The sin that a Brahmana commits in a
single night by respectfully serving a member of a lower order or by
sporting with him in the same spot or on the same bed, is cleansed by
observing the practice of sitting behind a Kshatriya or a Vaisya on a bed
of dry grass for three continuous years. A falsehood spoken in jest is
not sinful; nor one that is spoken to a woman. O king, nor one that is
spoken on an occasion of marriage; nor one spoken for benefiting one's
preceptor; nor one spoken for saving one's own life. These five kinds of
falsehood in speech, it has been said, are not sinful. One may acquire
useful knowledge from even a person of low pursuits, with devotion and
reverence. One may take up gold, without any scruple, from even an
unclean place. A woman that is the ornament of her sex may be taken (for
wife) from even a vile race. Amrita, if extracted from poison, may be
quaffed; women, jewels and other valuables, and water, can never,
according to the scriptures, be impure or unclean. For the benefit of
Brahmanas and kine, and on occasions of transfusion of castes, even a
Vaisya may take up weapons for his own safety. Drinking alcoholic
liquors, killing a Brahmana, and the violation of the preceptor's bed,
are sins that, if committed consciously, have no expiation. The only
expiation laid down for them is death. The same may be said of stealing
gold and the theft of a Brahmana's property. By drinking alcoholic
liquors, by having congress with one with whom congress is prohibited, by
mingling with a fallen person, and (a person of any of the other three
orders) by having congress with a Brahmani, one becomes inevitably
fallen. By mixing with a fallen person for one whole year in such matters
as officiation in sacrifices and teaching sexual congress, one becomes
fallen. One, however, does not become so by mixing with a fallen person
in such matters as riding on the same vehicle, sitting on the same seat,
and eating in the same line. Excluding the five grave sins that have been
mentioned above, all other sins have expiations, provided for them.
Expiating those sins according to the ordinances laid down for them, one
should not again indulge in them. In the case of those who have been
guilty of the first three of these five sins, (viz., drinking alcoholic
liquors, killing a Brahmana, and violation of the preceptor's bed), there
is no restriction for their (surviving) kinsmen about taking food and
wearing ornaments, even if their funeral rites remain unperformed when
they die. The surviving kinsmen should make no scruple about such things
on such occasions. A virtuous man should, in the observance of his
duties, discard his very friends and reverend seniors. In fact, until
they perform expiation, they that are virtuous should not even talk with
those sinners. A man that has acted sinfully destroys his sin by acting
virtuously afterwards and by penances. By calling a thief a thief, one
incurs the sin of theft. By calling a person a thief who, however, is not
a thief one incurs a sin just double the sin of theft. The maiden who
suffers her virginity to be deflowered incurs three-fourths of the sin of
Brahmanicide, while the man that deflowers her incurs a sin equal to a
fourth part of that of Brahmanicide. By slandering Brahmanas or by
striking them, one sinks in infamy for a hundred years. By killing a
Brahmana one sinks into hell for a thousand years. No one, therefore,
should speak ill of a Brahmana or slay him. If a person strikes a
Brahmana with a weapon, he will have to live in hell for as many years as
the grains of dust that are soaked by the blood flowing from the wounded.
One guilty of foeticide becomes cleansed if he dies of wounds received in
battle fought for the sake of kine and Brahmanas. He may also be cleansed
by casting his person on a blazing fire. A drinker of alcoholic
liquors becomes cleansed by drinking hot alcohol. His body being burnt
with that hot drink, he is cleansed through death in the other
world. A Brahmana stained by such a sin obtains regions of felicity
by such a course and not by any other. For violating the bed of a
preceptor, the wicked-souled and sinful wretch becomes cleansed by the
death that results from embracing a heated female figure of iron. Or,
cutting off his organ and testicles and bearing them in his hands, he
should go on in a straight course towards the south-west and then cast
off his life. Or, by meeting with death for the sake of benefiting a
Brahmana, he may wash off his sin. Or, after performing a horse-sacrifice
or a cow-sacrifice or an Agnishtoma, he may regain esteem both here and
hereafter. The slayer of a Brahmana should practise the vow of
Brahmacharya for twelve years and devoting himself to penances, wander,
holding in his hands the skull of the slain all the time and proclaiming
his sin unto all. He should even adopt such a course, devoted to penance
and leading the life of an ascetic. Even such is the expiation provided
for one who slays a woman quick with child, knowing her condition. The
man who knowingly slays such a woman incurs double the sin that follows
from Brahmanicide. A drinker of alcoholic liquor should live on frugal
fare, practising Brahmacharya vows, and sleep on the bare ground, and
perform, for more than three years the sacrifice next to the Agnishtoma.
He should then make a present of a thousand kine with one bull (unto a
good Brahmana). Doing all this, he would regain his purity. Having slain
a Vaisya one should perform such a sacrifice for two years and make a
present of a hundred kine with one bull. Having slain a Sudra, one should
perform such a sacrifice for one year and make a present of a hundred
kine with one bull. Having slain a dog or bear or camel, one should
perform the same penance that is laid down for the slaughter of a Sudra.
For slaying a cat, a chasa, a frog, a crow, a reptile, or a rat, it has
been said, one incurs the sin of animal slaughter, O king! I shall now
tell thee of other kinds of expiations in their order. For all minor sins
one should repent or practise some vow for one year. For congress with
the wife of a Brahmana conversant with the Vedas, one should for three
years practise the vow of Brahmacharya, taking a little food at the
fourth part of the day. For congress with any other woman (who is not
one's wife), one should practise similar penance for two years. For
taking delight in a woman's company by sitting with her on the same spot
or on the same seat, one should live only on water for three days. By
doing this he may cleanse himself of his sin. The same is laid down for
one who befouls a blazing fire (by throwing impure things on it). He who
without adequate cause, casts off his sire or mother or preceptor, surely
becomes fallen, O thou of Kuru's race, as the conclusion is of the
scriptures. Only food and clothes should be given, as the injunction is,
unto a wife guilty of adultery or one confined in a prison. Indeed, the
vows that are laid down for a male person guilty of adultery should be
caused to be observed by also a woman who is guilty of the same. That
woman who abandoning a husband of a superior caste, has congress with a
vile person (of a lower order), should be caused by the king to be
devoured by dogs in a public place in the midst of a large concourse of
spectators. A wise king should cause the male person committing
adultery under such circumstances to be placed upon a heated bed of iron
and then, placing faggots underneath, burn the sinner thereon. The same
punishment, O king, is provided for the woman that is guilty of adultery.
The wicked sinner who does not perform expiation within a year of the
commission of the sin incurs demerit that is double of what attaches to
the original sin. One who associates with such a person for two years
must wander over the earth, devoting himself to penances and living upon
eleemosynary charity. One associating with a sinner for four years should
adopt such a mode of life for five years. If a younger brother weds
before his elder brother, then the younger brother, the elder brother and
the woman that is married, all three, in consequence of such wedding,
become fallen. All of them should observe the vows prescribed for a
person who has neglected his sacrificial fire, or practise the vow of
Chandrayana for a month, or some other painful vow, for cleansing
themselves of their sin. The younger brother, wedding, should give his
wife unto his unmarried elder brother. Afterwards, having obtained the
permission of the elder brother, the younger brother may take back his
wife. By such means may all three be cleansed of their sin. By slaying
animals save a cow, the slayer is not stained. The learned know that man
has dominion over all the lower animals. A sinner, holding in his hand a
yak-tail and an earthen pot, should go about, proclaiming his sin. He
should every day beg of only seven families, and live upon what may be
thus obtained. By doing this for twelve days he may be cleansed of his
sin. He who becomes unable to bear in his hand the yak-tail while
practising this vow, should observe the vow of mendicancy (as stated
above) for one whole year. Amongst men such expiation is the best. For
those that are able to practise charity, the practice of charity has been
laid down in all such cases. Those who have faith and virtue may cleanse
themselves by giving away only one cow. One who eats or drinks the flesh,
ordure, or urine, of a dog, a boar, a man, a cock, or a camel must have
his investiture of the sacred thread re-performed. If a Soma-drinking
Brahmana inhales the scent of alcohol from the mouth of one that has
drunk it, he should drink warm water for three days or warm milk for the
same period. Or, drinking warm water for three days he should live for
that period upon air alone. These are the eternal injunctions laid down
for the expiation of sin, especially for a Brahmana who has committed
these sins through ignorance and want of judgment.'"
