History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s1.34

v7.c96.s1.34

IV. From very ancient Vedic times one of the fundamental conceptions of our Indian culture has been the idea of three spiritual and religious debts owed by a person to the sages, gods and *pitṛs*, which he paid off by the study of the ancient lore, by sacrifices, and by having a son or sons respectively. This subject has been dealt with at length in the H. of Dh. Vol. II pp. 270, 425, 560-61, 676, Vol. III p. 416 and above, p. 1318 note 2168. To these three debts the Mahābhārata added a fourth viz. the debt owed to all men paid off by goodness ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. III p. 416 n. 675 ). Śabara on Jaimini VI. 2.31 explains that this doctrine is not confined to brāhmaṇas but to all members of the three classes, the word 'brāhmaṇa' used in the Tai S. and other Vedic texts being only illustrative