History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.184

v7.c95.184

An interesting passage of the Taittirīya-saṁhitā²⁵⁰⁷ may be cited here. "Whoever threatens a brāhmaṇa, he shall atone for it with a hundred years; he who strikes him (shall atone) with a thousand years; he who sheds the blood of a brāhmaṇa would not know the world of the Fathers for as many years as the number of the particles of dust that would be moistened into a ball by the stream of blood. Therefore a person should not threaten a brāhmaṇa or strike him or draw blood from his body, since (in doing so) so much (sin) is involved." This does not mean that only the world of Fathers had been conceived at the time of this passage (as Deussen supposes on p. 325 of his Ph. Up.). It will be shown below that even the Ṛgveda was well aware of both Devayāna and Pitṛyāna. Most men would go to pitṛloka presided over by Yama according to the Ṛg. and only the blessed would go by the Devayāna to the world of gods. This passage is important as conveying that for a very mortal sin the offender would have to suffer for a thousand years or even several thousand years and, therefore, would have to be born for several lives, since one human life was held to extend to one hundred years only (Ṛg. X. 161. 4 = Atharva III. 11. 4, Ṛg. I. 89. 9 = Vāj. S. 25. 22). Following the above Tai. S. passage, the Gautama Dh. S. provided that threatening a brāhmaṇa in anger would bar going to heaven for a hundred years (or lead to hell for &c), striking him would bar for a thousand years and on drawing blood there would be bar for as many years as the number of the particles of dust that would be made into a ball by the stream of blood. Manu (XI. 206-7) understands that the several acts against a brāhmaṇa mentioned therein would lead to the offender being consigned to hell for 100, for 1000 or for thousands of years. Jaimini (III. 4. 17) discusses this passage and holds that the prohibition is not restricted only to Darśapū-rṇamāsa, but it applies to all brāhmaṇas in all conditions. It is possible to understand by the words 'śatena' and 'sahasreṇa' as a hundred or a thousand cows (or money). The Tantravār-tika refers to this meaning but seems to prefer the idea of connecting the two words with years. Vide H of Dh. Vol. II. pp. 151-152 where the first meaning was put forward and also A. B. Keith's tr. of the Tai. S. in the H. O. S. vol. I pp. 216-217 'him who reviles him (a brāhmaṇa) he shall fine with a hundred' &c.