Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c16.s9.7

v2.c16.s9.7

it clear for the Ārya to go by. Thus should he spend twelve years only to absolve himself from the sin and no more; from the day he committed the murder he ceases to be fit for the society of the Āryas; by this course of conduct alone, he wipes off the sin and prepares himself for a better birth in the future. If, however, the life prescribed above in the Dharmaśāstra is unendurable, he may end it in one or other of the following ways. In those days, there were cattle-raids committed often for political reasons.[*] He may fight against the raiders and suffer death in their hands; or, if he is unfortunately successful in his attempt at driving away the raiders, he may still attempt on future occasions with a view to die in the same cause. If thrice he comes out successful in repelling the cattle-raiders, he is absolved from the sin. Or, he might get into the thick of a battle seeking to be shot dead; it then becomes, the Dharma-śāstra says, incumbent on the soldiers to kill this murderer of a bhrūṇa. Such, in short, is the punishment meted out to the brāhmaṇa murderer of a learned brāhmaṇa.*