History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.127

v5.c71.s1.127

In the Ṛgveda the first means of removing the consequences of sin appear to be prayers for mercy and for the remission of sin as in Ṛg. VII. 86. 4-5, VII. 88. 6-7, VII. 89. 1-4 (where 'mṛḷā sukṣatra mṛḷaya' is the refrain of all four verses). Even in the Ṛgveda water was supposed to remove sin, e g. I. 23. 22 says 'O water! carry away whatever sin (*durita*) may exist in me'. This shows that sin was supposed to have physical effects like a disease, which were removed by water. Sacrifices were offered to the gods in order to win their favour and in order that the sacrificer may be freed⁹⁰ from the consequences of even grave sins. The Tai S. V. 3. 12 1-2 and the Śat. Br. XIII. 3. 1. 1 (S. B. E. vol. 44 p. 328) state that the gods redeemed themselves from all sin by means of this (Aśvamedha sacrifice), they even redeemed themselves from the sin of brāhmaṇa murder. That a confession of sin was deemed to remove sin is illustrated in a striking way by what happened in the Varuṇapraghāsa (one of the *cāturmāsya* sacrifices). In that⁹¹ sacrifice the wife of the sacrificer had to confess whether she had any lovers and if she felt ashamed to reply in so many words she had only to raise up in her hand small pieces of grass blades to indicate the number of lovers, if any. If she confessed she had to recite the verse, Vāj. S. III 44 and was allowed to take further part in the sacrifice. If she concealed the truth, it was stated in the Tai. Br that evil would befall her near and dear relatives (her son or husband). It is said by many European scholars who have written on the religion of the Veda that sacrifice became a sort of magic rite to wrest from gods or independently of them what the worshipper desired (e. g. see Keith's Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads pp. 260-268).⁹² But this is an over-statement. When initiated for a sacrifice the sacrificer and his wife had to observe a fast or live on a low diet, both were called upon to observe many strict rules such as telling the truth, they had to make large preparations and spend wealth on the materials and the fees to the priests. These things were deemed to cleanse the mind and soul of the taint of sin. There is no reason to suppose that it was only the ritual that was thought to bring about the desired result (and not all the other matters referred to above).