History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.688

v5.c71.s1.688

The Mit. (on Yāj. III. 216), the Smṛtyarthasāra, Par. M., Pr. Sāra and other works state that the disquisition on Karmavipāka⁴²⁰ is merely an *arthavāda*, that it is not to be taken literally, but is meant to induce sinners to undergo such prāyaścittas as Prājāpatya which entail great worry and trouble and which no one might willingly undertake. The Mit points out that the description of the diseases (like phthisis) is not intended for requiring those who suffer from them to undergo the penances for twelve years or the like nor for inducing people to avoid contact with such persons, that śiṣṭas do not avoid contact with those who have bad nails, that in the case of such persons the disease or defect is the last result of what little sin remained attached to them and that by the very fact of their having the disease or defect mentioned in the texts they become free from the last remnants of their sins and therefore they do not stand in need of any further penance and as their sin is finally removed by suffering the disease or defect their fitness for being allowed to mix among people is established