Chapter 36

“Vyasa said, ‘By penances, religious rites, and gifts, O Bharata, a manmay wash off his sins if he does not commit them again. By subsistingupon only one meal a day, and that procured by mendicancy, by doing allhis acts himself (without relying on the aid of a servant), by making hisround of mendicancy with a human skull in one hand and a khattanga inanother, by becoming a Brahmacharin and always ready for exertion, bycasting off all malice, by sleeping on the bare ground, by publishing hisoffence to the world, by doing all this for full twelve years, a personcan cleanse himself from the sin of having slain a Brahmana. By perishingupon the weapon of a person living by the use of arms, of one’s own willand upon the advice of persons learned in the scriptures, or by throwingone’s self down, for three times, with head downwards, upon a blazingfire, or by walking a hundred Yojanas all the while reciting the Vedas,or by giving away one’s whole property to a Brahmana conversant with theVedas, or at least so much as would secure to him a competence for life,or a house properly furnished, and by protecting kine and Brahmanas, onemay be cleansed of the sin of having slain a Brahmana. By living upon thescantiest meal every day for a space of six years, a person may becleansed of that sin.[115] By observing a harder vow with regard to foodone may be cleansed in three years.[116] By living upon one meal a month,one may be cleansed in course of only a year. By observing, again, anabsolute fast, one may be cleansed within a very short time. There is nodoubt again that: one is cleansed by a Horse-sacrifice. Men that havebeen guilty of having slain a Brahmana and that have succeeded in takingthe final bath at the completion of the Horse-sacrifice, become cleansedof all their sins. This is an injunction of great authority in theSrutis. One again, by slaying down his life in a battle undertaken forthe sake of a Brahmana, becomes cleansed of the sin of having slain aBrahmana. By giving away a hundred thousand kine unto persons deservingof gifts, one becomes cleansed of the sin of having slain a Brahmana asalso, indeed, of all his sins. One that gives away five and twentythousand kine of the Kapila species and while all of them have calved,becomes cleansed of all his sins. One who, at the point of death, givesaway a thousand kine with calves unto poor but deserving persons, becomesfreed from sin. That man, O king, who gives away a hundred steeds of theKamvoja breed unto Brahmanas of regulated behaviour, becomes freed fromsin. That man. O Bharata, who gives unto even one person all that he asksfor, and who, having given it, does not speak of his act to any one,becomes freed from sin. If a person who has once taken alcohol drinks (asexpiation) hot liquor, he sanctifies himself both here and hereafter. Byfalling from the summit of a mountain or entering a blazing fire, or bygoing on an everlasting journey after renouncing the world, one is freedfrom all sins. By performing the sacrifice laid down by Vrihaspati, aBrahmana who drinks alcoholic liquors may succeed in attaining to theregion of Brahman. This has been said by Brahman himself. If a person,after having drunk alcoholic liquor, becomes humble and makes a gift ofland, and abstains from it ever afterwards, he becomes sanctified andcleansed. The person that has violated his preceptor’s bed, should liedown on a sheet of iron having heated it, and having cut off the emblemof his sex should leave the world for a life in the woods, with eyesalways turned upwards. By casting off one’s body, one becomes cleansed ofall his evil acts. Women, by leading a regulated life for one year,become cleansed of all their sins. The person who observes a very rigidvow, or gives away the whole of his wealth, or perishes in a battlefought for the sake of his preceptor, becomes cleansed of all his sins.One who uses falsehood before one’s preceptor or acts in opposition tohim, becomes cleansed of that sin by doing something agreeable to one’spreceptor. One who has fallen off from the vow (of Brahmacharya ), maybecome cleansed of that sin by wearing the hide of a cow for six monthsand observing the penances laid down in the case of the slaughter of aBrahmana. One who has been guilty of adultery, or of theft, may becomecleansed by observing rigid vows for a year. When one steals another’sproperty, one should, by every means in his power, return to that otherproperty of the value of what has been stolen. One may then be cleansedof the sin (of theft). The younger brother who has married before themarriage of the elder brother, as also the elder brother whose Youngerbrother has married before him, becomes cleansed by observing a rigidvow, with collected soul, for twelve nights. The younger brother,however, should wed again for rescuing his deceased ancestors. Upon suchsecond wedding, the first wife becomes cleansed and her husband himselfwould not incur sin by taking her. Men conversant with the scripturesdeclare that women may be cleansed of even the greatest sins by observingthe vow of chaturmasya, all the while living upon scanty and cleansingfood. Persons conversant with the scriptures do not take into account thesins that women may commit at heart. Whatever their sins (of thisdescription), they are cleansed by their menstrual course like a metallicplate that is scoured with ashes. Plates (made of the alloy of brass andcopper) stained by a Sudra eating off it, or a vessel of the same metalthat has been smelt by a cow, or stained by a Brahmana’s Gandusha, may becleansed by means of the ten purifying substances.[117] It has been laiddown that a Brahmana should acquire and practise the full measure ofvirtue. For a person at the kingly order it has been laid down that heshould acquire and practise a measure of virtue less by a fourth part.So, a Vaisya should acquire a measure less (than a Kshatriya’s) by afourth and a Sudra less (than a Vaisya’s) by a fourth. The heaviness orlightness of sins (for purposes of expiation) of each of the four orders,should be determined upon this principle. Having slain a bird or ananimal, or cut down living trees, a person should publish his sin andfast for three nights. By having intercourse with one with whomintercourse is prohibited, the expiation for one is wandering in wetclothes and sleeping on a bed of ashes. These, O king, are the expiationsfor sinful acts, according to precedent and reason and scriptures and theordinances. A Brahmana may be cleansed of all sins by reciting theGayatri in a sacred place, all the while living upon frugal fare, castingoff malice, abandoning wrath and hate, unmoved by praise and blame, andabstaining from speech. He should during the day-time be under shelter ofthe sky and should lie down at night even at such a place. Thrice duringthe day, and thrice during the night, he should also plunge with hisclothes into a stream or lake for performing his ablutions. Observant ofrigid vows, he should abstain from speech with women, Sudras, and fallenpersons. A Brahmana by observing such regulations may be cleansed of allsins unconsciously committed by him. A person obtains in the other worldthe fruits, good or bad, of his acts here which are all witnessed by theelements. Be it virtue or be it vice, according to the true measure thatone acquires of either, one enjoys or suffers the consequences (evenhere). By knowledge, by penances, and by righteous acts, therefore, oneenhances his weal (even here). One, therefore may similarly enhance hismisery by committing unrighteous acts. One should, therefore, alwaysachieve acts that are righteous and abstain altogether from those thatare unrighteous. I have now indicated what the expiations are of the sinsthat have been mentioned. There is expiation for every sin except thosethat are called Mahapatakas (highly heinous sins). As regards sins inrespect of unclean food and the like, and improper speeches, etc., theyare of two classes, viz., those committed consciously and those that arecommitted unconsciously. All sins that are committed consciously aregrave, while those that are committed unconsciously are trivial or light.There is expiation for both. Indeed sin is capable of being washed awayby (observance of) the ordinances spoken of. Those ordinances, however,have been laid down only for believers (in God) and those that havefaith. They are not for atheists or those that have no faith, or those inwhom pride and malice predominate. A person, O tiger among men, that isdesirous of weal both here and hereafter, should, O foremost of virtuousmen, have recourse to righteous behaviour, to (the counsels of) men thatare righteous, and to the duties that have been ordained for him.Therefore, for the reasons already advanced (by me), thou, O king, shaltbe cleansed of all thy sins for thou hast slain thy foes in the dischargeof thy duties as a king and for the protection of thy life-breath and thyinheritance. Or, if not withstanding this, thou still regardest thyselfto be sinful, perform expiation. Do not cast away thy life in consequenceof such grief that is not becoming a wise man.’

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Thus addressed by the holy Rishi, kingYudhishthira the just, having reflected for a short while, said thesewords unto the sage.'”