The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s3.9

c19.s3.9

9. For instance, if the cow whose milk is destined for the agnihotra offering sits down at the time of milking, this means that she has become aware of the yajamāna's evil. Therefore he should give this cow to a brahmin whose food he will not eat afterward. In this way, he fastens the evil onto the brahmin(*TB* 1. 4. 3. 2). The heinous sin of killing a brahmin is transferred to him who eats the food of a brahmin-killer (*ĀpDhS* 1. 19. 16). For the giving of cows to free oneself from evil, cf. also *Mbh* 13. 71. 50–51, 53. In general, liberality is considered a means of freeing oneself from evil, cf. *Manu* 4. 228; 2. 228; also *Mbh* 13. 93. 12c: *dānaṃ dadat pavitrī syāt*.