Manava Dharmashastra 3.231

3.231

pakṣakṛtena vāyunā kukkuṭo hanti | vyākhyātametat| tāvati deśe nivāraṇīyameṣāṃ saṃnidhānaṃ yāvati sthitāḥ paśyanti | pravaravarṇajaścāṇḍālaḥ prakṛtatvāt | sparśādayaśca prakṛtakriyāparāḥ, na vivakṣitasvarūpā iti vyākhyātam | ato'vādyametat- “cāṇḍālasya sāmānyataḥ sparśapratiṣedhādasatyāṃ prāptau pratiṣedhānarthakyam | ataḥ śūdro'varavarṇajaḥ tasya ca dvijātiśrāddhasparśapratiṣedho nātmīye iti |” vivakṣite'pi-nānnapānādisparśadoṣo'yamucyate, kiṃrttāhaṃ yo deśaḥ parigṛhīto nadīpulinādirapariśritastasya sparśaḥ| tasya hi vāyuvādityādinā śuddhiruktā | ataḥ satyāṃ prāptau yuktaḥ pratiṣedhaḥ |

The pig defiles by sniffing, the cock by wind raised by its wings, the dog by casting his eye, and the man born of the low caste by touch.—(241).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The cock defiles by the wind raised by its wings.

The meaning of this verse has already been explained above (under 239); the sense is that the proximity of these should be avoided up to such distance that they may not be able to see the performance.

‘The man born of the low caste’—here meant is the Cāṇḍāla; as it is this that has been spoken of above.

It has been already explained above that the actions of touching and the rest stand here for the action that has been mentioned above (in 239), and not for these actions themselves. For this reason, there is no room for the following criticism.—“The touch of the Cāṇḍāla being already prohibited generally, there could be no possibility of such touching, and hence the prohibition here contained becomes superfluous; hence the ‘man born of the low caste’ must be taken as the Śūdra; and what is prohibited is the Śūdra touching the Śrāddha, etc., offered by twice-born men, but not those performed by himself.”

Even if the actions of touching, etc., stand for themselves,—what is meant is not that evil results from the Cāṇḍāla touching the articles of food and drink, but that he should not touch the unsheltered spot on the river-bank and such other places that has been selected for the performance; as the impurity caused by such contact has been described as removed by wind and fire. And thus, inasmuch as the touch of such persons would be quite possible (under the circumstances just described), it is only right that it should be prohibited.—(241)