Manava Dharmashastra 4.80.2

4.80.2

nocchiṣṭamiti | ucchiṣṭaśabdo'yaṃ bhujinimitte'prāśastye vartate | kṛtamūtrapurīṣo'pyanācānta 'ucchiṣṭa' ucyate | yathā vakṣyāmo "na spṛśetpāṇinoccchiṣṭhaḥ"| bāhulyenocchiṣṭaprayogo bhujisambandhena | bhuñjānasya hyantarā''syasaṃsparśana bahirantaḥ sthitasyocchiṣṭatvaṃ bhavati | tathā ca "na śmaśrūṇi gatānyāsyamiti" śmaśrubhyo'nyadvāsyānupraviṣṭamucchiṣṭaṃ karotīti jñāpayati | ataśca bhokturbhujyamānasya pātrāderadhikaraṇasya cocchiṣṭavyavahāraḥ | kvaciccāyaṃ upayuktaitaravacano'pi, 'havirucchiṣṭaṃ dakṣiṇeti' | tatra samācārātpātragṛhītamucchiṣṭapuruṣasambaddhamīṣadvuktamucchiṣṭamucyate | yadapi viśadamodanādi pātrasthamaspṛṣṭamapi bhoktrā tadapi sambaddhasambandhātsamācārataḥ parihriyate | tatra 'ucchiṣṭamannaṃ dātavyam', 'nocchiṣṭamiti' vidhipratiṣedhāvekaviṣayāvṛtānṛtaśūdradravyavasthayā haviḥśeṣabhedena vā vikalpayeta | athavā sthālīsthamatithyādibhuktaśiṣṭaṃ paryuṣitaprāyaṃ ucchiṣṭaṃ--tanna śūdrāya dātavyam | tatrocyate | jīrṇavasanasāhacaryāccaitadeva pratipattuṃ yuktam | upayuktataravacanatvācca śiṣerupasargasya tadarthānuguṇyena vartanāddhavirucchiṣṭaṃ dattithetivatprayogo'pyaviruddhaḥ | evamanayoḥ smṛtyoravirodho bhaviṣyati | yadyapi rucyā''camanārhāḥ prāyo'tra vacane dṛśyante | yattu "vaiśyavacchaucakalpaśceti" tadāsaśūdraviṣayam bhuktojjhitameva pratīyata iti darśayiṣyāmaḥ |

‘Nor the leavings’—The term ‘ucchiṣṭa’ denotes impurity, specially in relation to food. One who has paid calls of nature, is also called ‘ucchiṣṭa,’ ‘impure,’ till he has washed; as we shall explain under the text—‘One who is impure, ucchiṣṭa, shall not touch with his hand, &c.’ (142). But, as a rule, the term is used in connection with food. So that, while one is eating, the food that comes into contact with his mouth, whether within the mouth or outside, becomes known as ‘impure.’ It is in this sense that under 5.141—where it is said—‘nor the hairs of the moustache entering the mouth,’—everything, with the exception of the hairs of the moustache, is said to become ‘impure.’ It is in this sense also that the eater, the thing eaten and the dish containing the food, all come to be called ‘impure’; ‘ucchiṣṭa.’

In some cases, the word is also used in the sense of ‘what has been left unused,’ ‘remnant,’ ‘leaving;’; e.g., in the passage—‘The leavings of the substance offered are to be given as the fee.’ Thus, it is on the basis of usage that the term ‘ucchiṣṭa’ is applied to the food that has been served in the dish for a particular person,. and out of which a little has been eaten by him; and the clean food that is simply placed in the dish and not even touched by the eater,—this also is rejected, on the strength of usage, as ‘impure,’ on the ground of its being in contact with the dish which is in contact with that food out of which the person has eaten (and which therefore has become a ‘leaving’). It is in accordance with this that each passages as—(a) ‘the leavings of food should be given’ (10.125), and (b) ‘leavings shall not be given, etc.’—which contain an injunction and a prohibition, respectively—are taken as pertaining to the same thing, and as applying to the ‘true’ and the ‘untrue’ Śūdra, respectively, and also as referring to the remnants of different kinds of materials offered (and hence not being mutually contradictory). Or, the meaning (of the prohibition) may be that what has been left in the pot, after the guests and others have eaten, and which is as good as ‘stale’ and ‘leavings,’ should not be given to the Śūdra. It is argued that, since the term is found to be used (in 10.125) along with ‘torn clothes,’ this latter explanation is the right one to be accepted. Further, since the root ‘śiṣ’ (from which ‘ucchiṣṭa’ has been derived) denotes ‘other than what has been used,’ and the preposition (‘ut’) has to be construed in accordance with that signification,—there need be nothing incongruous in construing this passage also in the same sense as the passage ‘the leavings of the substance offered are to be given as the fee.’ In this manner, there is no incompatibility between these two Smṛti- texts (‘the leavings of the food shall be given’ and ‘the leavings should not be given’); though in most passages the term is restricted, by convention, to people who stand in need of washing. As for the declaration that ‘the method of purification is like that of the Vaiśya, etc.’ (5.139)—this refers to the Slave-Śūdra; and the term ‘ucchiṣṭa’ in this passage is understood to mean ‘the leavings of food,’ as we shall show under this passage.