Verse 4.142

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

न स्पृशेत् पाणिनोच्छिष्टो विप्रो गोब्राह्मणानलाण् ।
न चापि पश्येदशुचिः सुस्थो ज्योतिर्गणान् दिवा ॥ १४२ ॥

na spṛśet pāṇinocchiṣṭo vipro gobrāhmaṇānalāṇ |
na cāpi paśyedaśuciḥ sustho jyotirgaṇān divā || 142 ||

A Brāhmaṇa, while unclean, shall hot touch, with his hand, a cow, a Brāhmaṇa or fire. Nor shall he, being in good health, look at the luminaries in the sky, while he is impure.—(142)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Unclean;’—i.e., not washed after having eaten; or, after having evacuated the bladder or the bowels. The term ‘ucchiṣṭa’ here stands simply for ‘impure;’ and it is in this sense that the ‘ucchiṣṭa’ person is forbidden to touch the cow, etc. The expiatory rite in connection with this forbidden touching is going to be prescribed in the next verse, where the term ‘ashuchi,’ ‘impure,’ is used.

No significance attaches to the term ‘hand’, as touching with any other part of the body also is not desirable. The prohibition, however, does not apply to the case where one interposes a piece of cloth.

‘He shall not look at the luminaries in the sky.’—‘Being in good health’—i.e., under normal conditions.—The addition of the pharse (phrase?), ‘in the sky,’ indicates that the prohibition does not apply to looking at the ‘luminary on the earth’—i.e., the fire.—(142)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Saṃskāra, p. 71b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.15.18).—‘He shall not touch fire, except with due care.’

Yājñavalkya (1.155).—‘He shall not touch with the foot, or while he is impure, a cow, a Brāhmaṇa, fire or food.’