History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.483

v5.c72.483

Gaut. Dh. S. (I. 28-33) briefly deals 710a with the purification of things as follows: Purification of metallic substances (like bell-metal), earthenware, substances manufactured from wood, cloth made of threads or yarn is brought about respectively by rubbing (or scouring) them, by baking in fire, by chiselling or planing, by washing in water; objects made of stones, jewels, shells and pearls are purified by the same means as metallic substances; bones (ivory and the like) and mud (floor of houses) are purified in the same way as wooden substances; and earth (when polluted) is also purified by adding to it earth (brought from another pure spot); ropes, chips of bamboos and reeds, leather are purified by the same means as cloth or they may be abandoned when they are extremely polluted (as by the spilling of wine or urine or ordure). Vas (III. 49-53) has almost the same words, employing the word ‘bhasmaparimārjana’ (scouring with ashes and washing) for ‘parimārjana’. The Āp. Dh. S. (I. 5. 17. 10-13)⁷¹¹ provides: ‘If one gets a used vessel only, he shall eat from it after having heated it thoroughly; a vessel made of metal is purified by being scoured with ashes and the like; a wooden vessel becomes pure by being scraped; at a sacrifice, vessels must be cleaned according to the precepts of the Veda.’ Yāj. (III. 31-34) states; time (lapse of ten days or a year as to āśauca), fire, religious rites (like Aśvamedha or performing of sandhyā), clay, wind, mind, spiritual knowledge, austerities (such as kṛcchra), water, repentance (in the case of sins), fasting—all these are the causes of purification. Gifts are the (main) cause of purification for those who do what is forbidden, flow of water in the case of a river, clay and water are means of *śuddhi* in the case of substances that are not clean, sannyāsa (order of asceticism) in the case of the twice-born, austerities in the case of those that have studied the Veda when they commit a sin (through ignorance), forbearance in the case of those who know the Self, water in the case of dirty limbs, silent recital of Vedic mantras (*japa*) is the means of purification for those guilty of secret sins, truth in the case of the mind (that is full of or is polluted by sinful thoughts), austerities and esoteric knowledge in the case of the man who identifies his soul with the body, correct knowledge in the case of intelligence, knowledge of God is the pre-eminent purifier of the soul. Manu V. 107-109 (= Viṣṇu 22. 90-92) contain almost the same idea in almost the same words.