India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c11.s3.20

c11.s3.20

The idea that certain days (*puṇyāha*, V.4.90) and nights are auspicious (*puṇyarātra*, V.4.87) was also prevalent. The idea that good actions lead to merit is also referred to (*Saptamyāḥ puṇyam*, VI.2.152), *e.g.* *veda-puṇyam*, *adhyayana-puṇyam*. Good and bad actions originated from their doers called *puṇyakṛit*, *sukarmakṛit*, or *pāpakṛit* (III.2.89). Transgression of moral conduct was *kshiyā* (=*dharma-vyatikrama*, *āchāra-bheda*), expressed by a special linguistic form, using the exclamatory particle *ha* (VIII.¹.60), and pronouncing the verb with *pluta* accent, *e.g.* स्वयं ह रथेन याति ३ उपाध्यायं पदातिं गमयति 'Fie on the pupil himself riding in a chariot and making the teacher drag on foot!'; स्वयं होदनं भुंक्ते ३ उपाध्यायं सक्तून् पाययति 'Fie on the pupil himself feasting on rice and suffering the teacher to live on groats!' (VIII.2.104).