The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s3.6

c19.s3.6

6. "The evil (*pāpman*) of the dīkṣita is divided in three ways. he who eats his food (takes) a third part; he who mentions his evil (*aślīla*) a third part; he who mentions his name a third part" (*KS* 23. 6). We are reminded here of the inauspicious "voice" (*aślīlā vāc*) that pursues Indra after his killing of Viśvarūpa. Indra—with whom the sacrificer is often identified—also disposes of his guilt, the impurity of death, in three ways (*TS* 2. 5. 1. 2–5). Eating the food of the dīkṣita is also forbidden by Manu, who brackets the dīkṣita with different kinds of impure people (*Manu* 4. 210).