History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.132.4

v7.c92.132.4

therefore a brāhmaṇa does not drink surā with the thought that 'otherwise (if I drink it) I may be tainted by sin'; therefore this is for kṣatriya; one should say to a brāhmaṇa that surā, if drunk by a kṣatriya, does not harm the latter." These passages show that not only the priests did not drink surā even in Sautrāmaṇī but that it had become difficult to hire a brāhmaṇa for drinking it by the time of the Kāṭhaka-saṁhitā. The passage of the Vājasaneya Saṁhitā 19. 5 relied on at p. VII (of Intro. to 'Principles of Tantra' part II) also refers to Sautrāmaṇī and to no other sacrifice. The mantra is "Brahma kṣatram pavate teja indriyaṁ surayā somaḥ suta āsuto madāya" and means that "Soma when mixed with surā becomes a strong drink and leads to intoxication." The Chāndogya V. 10. 9 (q above p 1578 n. 943) counts the drinker of surā among the five grave sinners. Therefore, there is hardly any analogy between the offering of wine in Sautrāmaṇī and the teaching about offering wine to Devī as provided in the Tantras. Similarly, the reference to the Atharvaveda as containing magical rites does not help at all. Society had advanced far beyond that stage and Manu XI. 63 looked upon abhicāra (i. e. performance of a magic rite like Śyenayāga for killing a person) and mūlakarma (i e. bringing under one's control a person or a woman by herbs and mantras) as a sin, though a lesser one (an upapātaka). The reference to the Mahābhārata (Udyogaparva, 59. 5 ff) is again misleading.