History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.38

v5.c71.s1.38

The enumeration of sinful acts and the classifications of sins into several degrees or grades has gone on from very ancient times In the Ṛg X 5 6 it is said²¹ 'the wise made (lit chiselled) seven limits, the man who goes against even one of them becomes sinful' The Nirukta (VI. 27) explains that the seven sins indicated in this verse are 'theft, violating the bed (of the guru), murder of a brāhmaṇa, murder of a bhrūṇa, drinking of liquor, continual performance of the same sinful act, telling a lie as to a sinful matter'. Ṛg VII. 86 6 quoted above (in n 17) makes it clear that drinking *surā* and playing with dice were regarded as sinful. From the Tai. S. II. 5 1. 2, V 3 12 1-2, Śat Br XIII. 3 1 1 and other Brāhmaṇa texts it appears that the murder of a brāhmaṇa was generally regarded in early vedic times as the gravest of all sins, though in the Kāṭhaka saṃhitā (31. 7) it is stated that there is no sin as heinous as·killing a bhrūṇa which is even worse than brāhmaṇa murder )²². The Tai. Br. in detailing the story of Ekata, Dvita and Trita who was made a scapegoat for .keeping off sins, enumerates the following sinners, viz. sūryābhyudita ( one who sleeps on when the sun rises ), sūryābhinimrukta ( one who slept when the sun set ), one who has black nails or teeth, *agredidhusu* ( one who married a younger sister while the elder sister was yet unmarried ), the elder brother remaining unmarried even though a younger brother has married, one who allows his sacred sacrificial fires to be extinguished, the killer of a brāhmaṇa.²³. It may be noticed that most of these occur almost in the same order in Āp. Dh. S. II. 5. 12. 22 where it is²⁴ said that though these actions are not to be styled *patanīyas* according to Āp. yet they cause impurity which being greater and greater in each succeeding one requires higher and higher penances. Āp adds a few more sinners to those in the Tai. Br viz *didhiṣūpati* (husband of an elder sister whose younger sister was married before her), *paryāhita* (an elder brother before whom a younger brother kindled fires), *parivividāna* (a younger brother who takes his share of the ancestral property before his elder brother), *parivinna* (an elder brother before whom a younger brother takes away his share of the ancestral property). The Chāndogya Upaniṣad²⁵ (V. 10. 9.) quotes a verse that declares that the five great sinners are the thief of gold, the drinker of *surā*, the violator of the *guru’s* bed, the murderer of a brāhmaṇa, and one who associates with any of the preceding four. The Br. Up. (IV. 3. 22) mentions as great sinners the thief and the murderer of a *bhrūṇa*.