The Law Code of Devala 1: Śaucam ācāraś ca

1.1

prathamaṃ prāṅmukhaḥ sthitvā pādau prakṣālayec chanaiḥ | udaṅmukho vā daivatye paitṛke dakṣiṇāmukhaḥ || śikhāṃ baddhvā vasitvā dve nirṇikte vāsasī śubhe | tūṣṇīṃ bhūtvā samādhāya nodgacchan na vilokayan

Having approached Devala, best of sages, / who was seated comfortably on the bank of the Indus, all the sages spoke these words:

First, facing east, he should wash his feet slowly — facing north for a rite to the gods, south for one to the ancestors; having tied his top-knot and put on two clean washed garments, silent and composed, (he should sip water,) not rising and not looking about.

1.2

sadaivodaṅmukhaḥ prātaḥ sāyāhne dakṣiṇāmukhaḥ | viṇmūtram utsṛjen nityaṃ saṃdhyāsu parivarjayet

In the morning he should always void excrement and urine facing north, in the evening facing south; at the twilights he should avoid it.

1.3

vāpīkūpanadīgoṣṭhacaityāmbhaḥpathibhasmasu | agnau kāmye śmaśāne ca viṇmūtraṃ na samācaret

Not in a pond, well or river, a cow-pen, a shrine, water, a road or ashes, in fire, a pleasant place or a cremation ground should he void excrement or urine.

1.4

dharmavid dakṣiṇaṃ hastam adhaḥśauce na yojayet | tathā ca vāmahastena nābher ūrdhvaṃ na śodhayet

One who knows dharma should not use the right hand for cleaning below, nor clean above the navel with the left hand.

1.5

retomūtraśakṛnmokṣe bhojane 'dhvapariśrame | śaucam evaṃvidhaṃ proktam īṣac cānyatra dṛśyate

Such purification is prescribed after discharging semen, urine or excrement, after eating and after the fatigue of a journey; elsewhere a lighter one is found.

1.6

bhojane dantalagnāni nirhṛtyācamanaṃ caret | dantalagnam asaṃhāryaṃ lepaṃ manyeta dantavat || na tatra bahuśaḥ kuryād yatnam uddharaṇe punaḥ | bhavec cāśaucam atyantaṃ tṛṇavedhād vraṇe kṛte

After eating he should remove what sticks to the teeth and then sip water; what sticks to the teeth and cannot be removed he should regard like the teeth themselves. He should not try too often to remove it, for if a wound is made by pricking with a straw there is great impurity.

1.7

ūrṇākauśeyakutapapaṭṭakṣaumadukūlajāḥ | alpaśaucā bhavanty ete śoṣaṇaprokṣaṇādibhiḥ

Woollen, silk, goat-hair, patterned silk, linen and fine cloth need little purification: by drying, sprinkling and the like.

1.8

svayaṃ dhautena kartavyā kriyā dharmyā vipaścitā | na tu nejakadhautena nāhatena ca karhicit

A wise man should perform a religious rite in a garment washed by himself, never in one washed by a washerman, nor in an unwashed new one.

1.9

saṃspṛśyāśucisaṃspṛṣṭaṃ dvitīyaṃ vāpi mānavaḥ | hastau pādau ca toyena prakṣālyācamya śudhyati

A man who touches one who has touched an impure person, or a second (in the chain), is purified by washing hands and feet with water and sipping.

1.10

mānuṣāsthiṃ vasāṃ viṣṭhām ārtavaṃ mūtraretasī | majjānaṃ śoṇitaṃ vāpi parasya yadi saṃspṛśet || snātvā pramṛjya lepādīn ācamya sa śucir bhavet | tāny eva svāni saṃspṛśya pūtaḥ syāt parimārjanāt

If one touches another's human bone, fat, excrement, menstrual blood, urine, semen, marrow or blood, he becomes pure by bathing, wiping off the stains and sipping; touching his own, he is purified by wiping.

1.11

śvapākaṃ patitaṃ vyaṅgam unmattaṃ śavahārakam | sūtikāṃ sāvikāṃ nārīṃ rajasā ca pariplutām || śvakukkuṭavarāhāṃś ca grāmyān saṃspṛśya mānavaḥ | sacailaṃ saśiraḥ snātvā tadānīm eva śudhyati

Having touched a Śvapāka, an outcaste, a cripple, a madman, a corpse-bearer, a woman who has given birth, a midwife, a menstruating woman, or village dogs, cocks and pigs, a man is purified at once by bathing with his clothes and head.

1.12

avigandhā rasopetā nirmalāḥ pṛthivīgatāḥ | akṣīṇāś caiva goḥ pānād āpaḥ śuddhatarāḥ smṛtāḥ || uddhṛtā vā praśasyante śuddhaiḥ pātrair yathāvidhi | ekarātroṣitās tās tu tyajed āpaḥ samuddhṛtāḥ

Water on the ground that does not smell, has taste, is clear and is not exhausted by a cow's drinking is held the purest; or water drawn duly in pure vessels is praised; but water drawn and kept overnight one should throw away.

1.13

klinnaṃ bhinnaṃ śavaṃ caiva kūpasthaṃ yadi dṛśyate | payaḥ pibet trirātraṃ tu mānuṣe triguṇaṃ bhavet || caṇḍālakūpabhāṇḍasthaṃ yas tu kāmāj jalaṃ pibet | caret sāntapanaṃ vipraḥ śudhyen mohāt trirātrataḥ

If a putrid or burst corpse is seen in a well (after drinking from it), one should drink milk for three days; for a human corpse three times as much. A Brahmin who knowingly drinks water from a Caṇḍāla's well or vessel should perform the Sāntapana; if by mistake he is purified in three days.

1.14

pañcadhā vā caturdhā vā bhūr amedhyā viśudhyati | duṣṭā dvidhā tridhā vāpi śodhyate malinaikadhā || dahanaṃ khananaṃ bhūmer upalepanavāpanam | parjanyamārjanaṃ veti śaucaṃ pañcavidhaṃ smṛtam

Impure ground is purified in five or four ways, defiled ground in two or three, soiled ground in one. Burning, digging, smearing, sowing and washing by rain: these are the five kinds of purification of the ground.

1.15

yatra prasūyate nārī mriyate dahyate 'pi vā | caṇḍālādhyuṣitaṃ yatra yatra viṣṭhādisaṃgatiḥ || evaṃ kaśmalabhūyiṣṭhā bhūr amedhyā prakīrtitā

Where a woman gives birth, where someone dies or is burnt, where Caṇḍālas have lived, where there is excrement and the like: such ground, full of filth, is called impure.

1.16

ātmānaṃ na śaped roṣān nīrujo na svaped divā | na nakhair vilikhed bhūmiṃ gāṃś ca rātrau na saṃviśet || na nadīṣu nadīṃ brūyāt parvateṣu ca parvatam | nānyat praśaṃset tatrasthas tīrtheṣv āyataneṣu ca

He should not curse himself in anger, nor sleep by day when healthy, nor scratch the ground with his nails, nor lie down among cows at night; he should not speak of another river at a river, of another mountain on a mountain, nor praise another (place) when at a holy ford or shrine.

1.17

asteyam agnaye kāṣṭham asteyaṃ paśave tṛṇam | asteyaṃ phalam āraṇyam asteyaṃ pārthivaṃ jalam

Wood for the fire is not theft, grass for cattle is not theft, wild fruit is not theft, water from the ground is not theft.

1.18

anṛtaṃ dvividham asatyaṃ visaṃvādaś ceti | tantradṛṣṭaśrutakṛtānām anyathā vacanam asatyam | prāgabhyupagatānām asaṃkīrtanaṃ visaṃvādaḥ

Untruth is of two kinds, falsehood and breach of word: stating otherwise what one has learnt, seen, heard or done is falsehood; not acknowledging what one has earlier agreed to is breach of word.

1.19

pitaraṃ bhrātaraṃ putraṃ putrikāṃ bhaginīṃ snuṣām | na tyajed dveṣalobhābhyāṃ dārān apatitān api || mātṛtyāgo hi śāstreṣu nopadiṣṭaḥ kathaṃcana | patitā vābhiśastā vā mātā na tyāgam arhati

One should not, from hatred or greed, abandon father, brother, son, daughter, sister, daughter-in-law, or a wife who has not fallen. The abandonment of a mother is nowhere taught in the treatises: even fallen or accused, a mother does not deserve to be abandoned.

1.20

dvividho gṛhastho yāyāvaraḥ śālīnaś ca | tayor yāyāvaraḥ pravaro yājanādhyāpanapratigraharikthasaṃcayavarjanāt | ṣaṭkarmādhiṣṭhitaḥ preṣyacatuṣpadagṛhagrāmadhanadhānyayukto lokānuvartī śālīnaḥ

The householder is of two kinds, the wanderer and the settled; of these the wanderer is superior, because he avoids officiating, teaching, accepting gifts and hoarding wealth; the settled one keeps to the six works, has servants, cattle, a house, village, wealth and grain, and follows the world.

1.21

mātraś ca brāhmaṇaś caiva śrotriyaś ca tataḥ paraḥ | anūcānas tathā bhrūṇa ṛṣikalpa ṛṣir muniḥ || ity ete 'ṣṭau samuddiṣṭā brāhmaṇāḥ prathamaṃ śrutau | teṣāṃ paraḥ paraḥ śreṣṭho vidyāvṛttaviśeṣataḥ

The Brahmin by birth only, the Brahmin, the learned one, the expounder, the bhrūṇa, the one like a seer, the seer and the sage: these eight kinds of Brahmin are declared in the Veda; each later one is better than the former by distinction of learning and conduct.

1.22

cikitsāṃ jyotiṣaṃ rūpaṃ śakaṭaṃ tilapīḍanam | surāṃ tulāṃ ca nājīvet putrācāryatvam eva ca || lākṣāmāñjiṣṭhamāṃsāni madhulohaviṣāṇi ca | ajīvan vṛṣalo 'py āryaḥ karmaṇā tena varjitaḥ

He should not live by medicine, astrology, acting, carting, oil-pressing, liquor, scales, or by being his son's teacher; nor by lac, madder, meat, honey, metal or poison; by such work even an Ārya becomes a Vṛṣala.