History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.44
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.44
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v5.c71.s1.44.1
Coming to the sūtras there is great divergence as to the classification of sins and the enumeration of sins in each class. The Āp. Dh. S. divides sins into two classes viz. *patanīya* (those that cause loss of caste), *aśucikara* (those that cause impurity, though no loss of caste is caused). Āp. Dh. S (I. 7.21.7-11) states that *patanīya* sins are theft (of gold), crimes whereby one becomes an *abhiśasta*, complete loss (by neglect) of the Vedic learning that one secured by study, destruction of a foetus, incestuous connection with relations born of the same womb as one's father or mother and with the children of such persons, drinking of *surā*, intercourse with persons with whom intercourse is forbidden, intercourse with the female friend of one's female guru (mother &c ) or with the female friend of one's *guru* (father &c.) and with the wife of any stranger, constant commission of immoral acts (*adharma*) other than those already mentioned. Āp. Dh S. I. 7.21.10 notes that, according to some, intercourse with a woman who is not the wife of a *guru* is not a patanīya sin. Among acts which render a man impure are (Āp. Dh. S. I. 7. 21.
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12-18) the cohabitation of an Ārya woman with śūdras, eating the flesh of forbidden animals such as that of a dog or a human being or village cock or pig or other carnivorous animals, eating the excrement of human beings, partaking of food left by a śūdra, and cohabitation by Ārya men with apapātra women.²⁶ According to some, those acts that are declared to be *aśucikara* are also *patanīyas*. Āp. Dh. S. (I. 7.21.19) states that acts other than those enumerated are also aśucikara. Āp. Dh. S. (I. 9. 24.6-9) enumerates those who are *abhiśasta*, viz. one who slays a person belonging to the first two varṇas (viz. brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya) who had studied the Veda or who had been initiated for the performance of a soma sacrifice, one who kills a mere brāhmaṇa (though he may not have studied the Veda or be not initiated for a soma sacrifice), also one who destroys the embryo of a brāhmaṇa even though its sex be undistinguishable, or slays a woman who is an *ātreyī* (in her monthly course). The Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra divides²⁷ sinners into three classes, viz. those who are *enasvins*, those guilty of mahāpātakas and those guilty of upapātakas (I. 19-23). Among those who are styled *enasvinaḥ* are those mentioned in Āp. Dh. S. II. 5.12.22, with this difference that the 'brahmojjha', who is included among 'patanīyas' by Āp. Dh. S. I. 7. 21. 9 is put among 'enasvins' by Vasiṣṭha. In Vas. 20. 4-12 special prāyaścittas for each of these 'enasvinaḥ' (ordinary sinners) are prescribed.
v5.c71.s1.44.3
The Mahāpātakas (mortal sins) according to Vasiṣṭha are five, viz (violating) a *guru's* bed, drinking of spirituous liquor, murder of a bhrūṇa (a learned brāhmaṇa), stealing gold from a brāhmaṇa and associating with a *patita*. Those guilty of upapātakas (minor sins) are: He who forsakes sacred Vedic fires, he who offends a guru, an atheist, he who earns his livelihood from atheists, and he who sells the soma plant. The Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra²⁸ (II. 1) divides sins into *patanīya*, *upapātaka* and *aśucikara*. Among the first it cites making voyages by sea, stealing the property of a brāhmaṇa or misappropriating a deposit, giving false evidence regarding land (dispute), trading with merchandise of all descriptions, serving śūdras, begetting a son on a female of the śūdra caste and begetting a child (either male or female) from her²⁹. The upapātakas, acc. to Baud. Dh. S. (II. 1. 60–61), are: intercourse with females who must not be approached, cohabitation with the female friend of a female *guru* or with the female friend of a male *guru* or with an apapātra woman or with a female outcast, following the profession of medicine, officiating as a priest for a village, living by dramatic performances, following the profession of a teacher of dancing or singing or acting, tending cows and buffaloes³⁰ and similar (low occupations) and fornication. Among aśucīkara (causing impurity), Baud. Dh.
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S mentions gambling, black magic, subsisting by gleaning corn fallen in the field by one who has not consecrated sacred fires, subsisting by begging on the part of one who has returned to his home after finishing Vedic study, staying for more than four months at his teacher's seminary on the part of him who has finished his studies, teaching one who has finished his studies, gaining livelihood by astrology. Gautama (21. 1–3) appears to include among patanīyas the usual five mortal sins and also some of those that are mentioned by Āp. Dh. S. (I. 7. 21. 9–11) and Vasiṣṭha I. 23 (such as *nāstika*) and adds a few more (such as not casting off persons guilty of patanīyas, forsaking blameless relatives and instigating others to commit acts causing loss³¹ of caste.