The Institutes of Vishnu, translated by Julius Jolly

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XXXVII.

1. Setting one's self up by false statements (as by saying, 'I have done this,' or the like).

2. Making statements, which will reach the ears of the king, regarding a (minor) offence committed by some one;

3. Unjustly upbraiding a Guru (as by saying 'You have neglected such a household duty');

4. Reviling the Veda;

5. Forgetting the Veda texts, which one has studied;

6. (Abandoning) one's holy fire, or one's father, mother, son, or wife;

[XXXVII. 1-34. M. XI, 56, 57, 60-67; Y. III, 228-230, 234-242; Âpast. I, 7, 21, 12-17; Gaut. XXI, 11.--35. M. XI, 118; Y. III, 265.

1. 'But if a man who does not know all the four Vedas says, in order to procure a valuable present or some other advantage, 'I know the four Vedas,' or if he says of another, his superior in caste or sacred knowledge, in order too prevent his receiving a valuable present, 'This man is no Brâhmana,' or 'He does not know anything,' in all such cases his crime is equal to the killing of a Brâhmana.' (Nand.)

2. 'But giving information of a heavy crime constitutes a crime equal to the killing of a Brâhmana.' (Nand.)

3. Guru means 'father' here. Heavy reproaches, as e. g. if a son says to his father, 'You have made unequal shares in dividing the patrimony,' are equal to killing a Brâhmana. (Nand.)

4. 'But atheistical detracting from the authority of the Veda constitutes a crime equal to the drinking of spirituous liquor.' (Nand.)

6. The use of the particle ka indicates that distant relatives are also intended here, as Yâgñavalkya, III, 239, states.' (Nand.)]

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7. Eating the food of those whose food may not be eaten, or forbidden food;

8. Appropriating to one's self (grain, copper, or other) goods of another man (but not his gold);

9. Sexual intercourse with another man's wife;

10. Sacrificing for persons for whom it is forbidden to sacrifice (such as Sûdras, persons for whom the initiation has not been performed, and the like);

11. To live by a forbidden occupation (as, if a Brâhmana lives by the occupation of a Kshatriya, or of a Vaisya).

12. Receiving unlawful presents;

13. Killing a Kshatriya, or a Vaisya, or a Sûdra, or a cow;

14. Selling articles that ought not to be sold (such as salt, lac, or others);

15. For an elder brother to suffer his younger brother to marry before him;

16. For a younger brother to marry, though his elder brother is not yet married;

17. To give a girl in marriage to either of those two (categories of offenders);

18. Or to perform the nuptial ceremony for them;

19. To allow the proper time for the ceremony of initiation to pass without being initiated;

[10. 'But sacrificing for an outcast is a high crime.' (Nand.)

12. This rule refers to receiving presents from an outcast or other person, whose gifts must not be accepted, to receiving improper gifts, such as a ram, or a black antelope, and to receiving presents at an improper place, such as Kurukshetra, or at an improper time, such as during an eclipse of the sun. The particle ka further refers to giving instruction to those who are not entitled to receive it, as Yama mentions. (Nand.)]

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20. To teach the Veda for a reward (unless it be in an emergency);

21. To be taught by one who teaches the Veda for a reward (unless it be in an emergency);

22. To be employed (by the king's order) in the working of mines of any sort (whether gold mines, or silver mines, or others, or manufactories);

23. To make large (sharp) instruments (such as instruments for piercing an elephant's car);

24. Cutting trees, shrubs, creepers, long climbing plants (such as vines), or herbs;

25. Living by (prostituting) one's own wife;

26. Trying to overcome another by incantations (tending to kill him), or by forcible means;

27. Performing the act (of cooking) for one's own sole benefit;

28. Not to have kindled one's own sacred fire;

29. Omitting to pay one's debts to the gods, Rishis, and manes (or sacrificing, study of the Veda, and propagation of one's race);

30. Studying irreligious books;

31. Atheism;

32. Subsisting by a reprehensible art (such as dancing);

33. Intercourse with women who drink spirits;

34. Thus have the crimes in the fourth degree been enumerated.

[20. it is true that the above definition of an Upâdhyâya (XXIX, 2) implies that teaching the Veda for a fee is no reprehensible act; but that permission has reference to cases of distress only. (Nand.)

26. Nand. asserts that the particle ka is used here in order to include the performance of an Ahîna sacrifice and of the other sinful acts mentioned by Manu, XI, 198.

31. Atheism (nâstikatâ) consists in denying the existence of another life. (Nand.)]

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35. Such criminals in the fourth degree shall perform the Kândrâyana or Parâka penances, or shall sacrifice a cow (as the case may require).

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XXXVIII.

1. Causing (bodily) pain to a Brâhmana;

2. Smelling at things which ought not to be smelt (such as excrements), or at spirituous liquor;

3. Dishonest dealing;

4. Sexual connection with cattle;

5. And (sexual connection) with a man (or unnatural intercourse with a woman):

6. Such are the crimes effecting loss of caste.

7. He who has knowingly committed one of the acts effecting loss of caste shall perform the Sântapana[1] penance; he who has done so unawares shall perform the Prâgâpatya[1] penance.

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XXXIX.

1. Killing domestic or wild animals are crimes degrading to a mixed caste.

2. He who has committed a crime degrading to a mixed caste shall eat barley-gruel for a month (if he has committed it knowingly), or perform the penance Krikkhrâtikrikkhra (if he has committed it unawares).

[35. Regarding the penances called Kândrâyana and Parâka see below, XLVIII and XLVII, 18.

XXXVIII. 1-6, M. XI, 68.

7. 1 See XLVI, 19, 10.

XXXIX. 1. M. XI, 69.

2. Regarding the penance Krikkhrâtikrikkhra, see XLVI, 13. 'The use of the causative form kârayet indicates that he may {footnote p. 139} perform the penance mentioned here through a substitute, if unable to perform it himself. (Nand.)]

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XL.

1. Receiving anything from a (Mlekkha or other) despicable person (even though not as a present, but in the form of interest, &c.), traffic (even with articles that are not forbidden to sell), subsisting by money-lending (even without exceeding the legitimate rate of interest), telling lies (even though not in giving evidence), and serving a Sûdra (even though without doing servile acts for him) are crimes rendering unworthy to receive alms.

2. He who has committed a crime rendering unworthy to receive alms, is purified by the penance Taptakrikkhra (in case he committed it knowingly), or by the penance Sîtakrikkhra (in case he did it unawares), or by the penance Mahâsântapana (in case it was committed) repeatedly.

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XLI.

1. Killing birds, amphibious animals, and aquatic animals (such as fish);

2. And worms or insects;

3. Eating (nutmegs or other) plants similar to intoxicating drinks (in their effect upon the system):

[XL. 1. M. XI, 70.

2. Regarding the penances mentioned here, see XLVI, II, 12, 20.

XLI. 1-4. M. XI, 71.

3. 'Or the term madyânugata means hemp and the like.' (Nand.) Kullûka (on M. XI, 71) interprets it by 'what has been brought in the same basket or vessel with spirituous liquor;' by the same, by 'what has been defiled by spirituous liquor.' The rendering given in the text agrees with the first interpretation proposed by Nand.]

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4. Such are the crimes causing defilement.

5. The penance ordained for crimes causing defilement is the Taptakrikkhra penance (if they were committed unintentionally), or they shall be atoned for by the Krikkhrâtikrikkhra penance (if they were committed intentionally).

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XLII.

1. Miscellaneous crimes are those which have not been mentioned before.

2. Having committed one out of the number of miscellaneous crimes, a prudent man should always perform a penance, by the advice of a Brâhmana, after the higher or less degree of his guilt has been ascertained.

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XLIII.

1. Now follow the hells. (They are called:)

2. Tâmisra (darkness);

3. Andhatâmisra (complete darkness);

4. Raurava (place of howling);

5. Mahâraurava (place of much howling);

6. Kâlasûtra (thread of time or death);

7. Mahânaraka (great hell);

8. Sañgîvana (restoring to life);

9. Avîki (waveless);

[XLIII. 1-22. M. IV, 88-90; Y. III, 222-224.--34. M. XII, 76.

4. Nand. derives the term Raurava from 'ruru, a kind of serpent.' But it seems preferable to connect it with the root ru, 'to howl.'

6. This hell is defined by Nand. as a kind of threshing-place, made of copper, burning hot, and measuring ten thousand Yoganas.

8. In this hell those who have perished in consequence of the tortures which they had to undergo are restored to life and tortured anew. (Nand.)]

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10. Tâpana (burning);

11. Sampratâpana (parching);

12. Samghâtaka, (pressing together)

13. Kâkola (ravens);

14, Kudmala (bud);

15. Pûtimrittika (stinking clay);

16. Lohasankti (iron-spiked);

17. Rikîsha (frying-pan);

18. Vishamapanthâna (rough or uneven roads);

19. Kantakasâlmali (thorny Sâlmali trees);

20. Dîpanadî (flame river);

21. Asipattravana (sword-leaved forest);

22. Lohakâraka (iron fetters);

23. In each of those (hells) successively criminals in the highest degree, who have not performed the penance (prescribed for their crime), are tormented for the time of a Kalpa.

24. Mortal sinners (who have not done penance) for a Manvantara;

25. Minor offenders, for the same period;

[12. in this hell a large number of individuals is packed up closely in a very narrow space. (Nand.)

13. In this hell the sinners are devoured by ravens. (Nand.)

14. In this hell the sinners are put in sacks, which are tied up at the end. (Nand.)

17. In this hell the sinners are roasted. (Nand.)

20. This river, which contains hot water, is called Vaitaranî, as it is said, The river called Vaitaranî has a stinking odour, is full of blood, and is moving on swiftly a torrent of hot water, carrying bones and hair in its course.' (Nand.) A detailed description of the river Vaitaranî may be found in the Gâruda-purâna, p. 8 (Bombay ed., 1863).

22. 'The particle iti is added here, in order to include in the above enumeration the hells called Savisha, Mahâpatha, Kumbhîpâka, Taptabâluka, and the rest.' (Nand.) See Y. III, 223, 224; M. XII, 76.]

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26. Criminals in the fourth degree, for the period of a Katuryuga;

27. Those who have committed a crime effecting loss of caste, for a thousand years;

28. Those who have committed a crime degrading to a mixed caste, for the same period;

29. Those likewise who have committed a crime rendering unworthy to receive alms and the like.

30. And those who have committed a crime causing defilement;

31. Those who have committed one of the miscellaneous crimes, for a great number of years;

32. All sinners who have committed (one of those nine kinds of) crimes have to suffer terrible pangs, when they have departed life and entered upon the path of Yama.

33. Being dragged hither and thither (upon even and uneven roads), by the dire ministers of Yama, they are conducted (to hell by them), with menacing

34. (There) they are devoured by dogs and jackals, by hawks, crows, herons, cranes, and other (carnivorous animals), by (bears and other) animals having fire in their mouth, and by serpents and scorpions.

35. They are scorched by blazing fire, pierced by thorns, divided into parts by saws, and tormented by thirst.

36. They are agitated by hunger and by fearful troops of tigers, and faint away. at every step on account of the foul stenches proceeding from pus and from blood.

[31. 'A great number of years' means three hundred years. (Nand.)]

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37. Casting wistful glances upon the food and drink of others, they receive blows from ministers (of Yama), whose faces are similar to those of crows, herons, cranes, and other horrid animals.

38. Here they are boiled in oil, and there pounded with pestles, or ground in iron or stone vessels.

39. In one place they (are made to) eat what has been vomited, or pus, or blood, or excrements, and in another place, meat of a hideous kind, smelling like pus.

40. Here, enveloped in terrible darkness, they are devoured by worms and (jackals and other) horrible animals having flames in their mouth.

41. There again they are tormented by frost, or have to step through unclean things (such as excrements), or the departed spirits eat one another, driven to distraction (by hunger).

42. In one place they are beaten with their deeds in a former existence, in another they are suspended (by trees and the like, with a rope), or shot with heaps of arrows, or cut in pieces.

43. In another place again, walking upon thorns, and their bodies being encircled by snakes, they are tormented with (grinding) machines, and dragged on by their knees.

44. Their backs, heads, and shoulders are fractured, the necks of these poor beings are not stouter than a needle, and their bodies, of a size fit for a hut only, are unable to bear torments.

45. Having thus been tormented (in the hells) and suffered most acute pain, the sinners have to

[43. The Gâruda-purâna, (p. 17) also mentions that in one hell the sinners are thrown into machines like the sugar-cane.]

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endure further pangs in their migration through animal bodies.

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XLIV.

1. Now after having suffered the torments inflicted in the hells, the evil-doers pass into animal bodies.

2. Criminals in the highest degree enter the bodies of all plants successively.

3. Mortal sinners enter the bodies of worms or insects.

4. Minor offenders enter the bodies of birds.

5. Criminals in the fourth degree enter the bodies of aquatic animals.

6. Those who have committed a crime effecting loss of caste, enter the bodies of amphibious animals.

7. Those who have committed a crime degrading to a mixed caste, enter the bodies of deer.

8. Those who have committed a crime rendering them unworthy to receive alms, enter the bodies of cattle.

9. Those who have committed a crime causing defilement, enter the bodies of (low-caste) men (such as Kandâlas), who may not be touched.

10. Those who have committed one of the miscellaneous crimes, enter the bodies of miscellaneous wild carnivorous animals (such as tigers).

11. One who has eaten the food of one whose food may not be eaten, or forbidden food, becomes a worm or insect.

[XLIV. 1-43. M. XII. 54-67; Y. III, 207-215.--44, 45. M. XII, 68, 69.

11. See LI, 3 seq.]

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12. A thief (of other property than gold), becomes a falcon.

13. One who has appropriated a broad passage, becomes a (serpent or other) animal living in holes.

14. One who has stolen grain, becomes a rat.

15. One who has stolen white copper, becomes a Hamsa.

16. One who has stolen water, becomes a waterfowl.

17. One who has stolen honey, becomes a gad-fly.

18. One who has stolen milk, becomes a crow.

19. One who has stolen juice (of the sugar-cane or other plants), becomes a dog.

20. One who has stolen clarified butter, becomes an ichneumon.

21. One who has stolen meat, becomes a vulture.

22. One who has stolen fat, becomes a cormorant.

23. One who has stolen oil, becomes a cockroach.

24. One who has stolen salt, becomes a cricket.

25. One who has stolen sour milk, becomes a crane.

26. One who has stolen silk, becomes a partridge.

27. One who has stolen linen, becomes a frog.

28. One who has stolen cotton cloth, becomes a curlew.

29. One who has stolen a cow, becomes an iguana.

30. One who has stolen sugar, becomes a Vâlguda.

[30. 'The Vâlguda is a kind of bat.' (Nand.) The name Vâlguda is evidently related to valgulî, 'a kind of bat,' and identical with Vâgguda, (M. XII, 64) and Vâgvada (Haradatta on Gaut. XVII, 34), which, according to Dr. Bühler's plausible suggestion, {footnote p. 146} are names of large herbivorous bat, usually called the flying fox (in Gûgaratî vâgud or vâgul).' See Dr. Bühler's note on Gaut. loc. cit.]

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31. One who has stolen perfumes, becomes a musk-rat.

32. One who has stolen vegetables, consisting of leaves, becomes a peacock.

33. One who has stolen prepared grain, becomes a (boar called) Svâvidh (or Sedhâ).

34. One who has stolen undressed grain, becomes a porcupine.

35. One who has stolen fire, becomes a crane.

36. One who has stolen household utensils, becomes a wasp (usually called Karata).

37. One who has stolen dyed cloth, becomes a Kakor partridge.

38. One who has stolen an elephant, becomes a tortoise.

39. One who has stolen a horse, becomes a tiger

40. One who has stolen fruits or blossoms, becomes an ape.

41. One who has stolen a woman, becomes a bear.

42. One who has stolen a vehicle, becomes a camel.

43. One who has stolen cattle, becomes a vulture.

44. He who has taken by force any property belonging to another, or eaten food not first presented to the gods (at the Vaisvadeva offering), inevitably enters the body of some beast

45. Women, who have committed similar thefts, receive the same ignominious punishment: they become females to those male animals.

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XLV.

1. Now after having undergone the torments inflicted in the hells, and having passed through the animal bodies, the sinners are born as human beings with (the following) marks (indicating their crime):

2. A criminal in the highest degree shall have leprosy;

3. A killer of a Brâhmana, pulmonary consumption;

4. A drinker of spirits, black teeth;

5. A stealer of gold (belonging to a Brâhmana), deformed nails;

6. A violator of his spiritual teacher's bed, a disease of the skin;

7. A calumniator, a stinking nose;

8. A malignant informer, stinking breath;

9. A stealer of grain, a limb too little;

10. One who steals by mixing (i. e. by taking good grain and replacing the same amount of bad grain in its stead), a limb too much;

11. A stealer of food, dyspepsia;

12. A stealer of words[1], dumbness;

[XLV. 2-31. M. XI, 49-52; Y. III, 209-211,--32, 33. M. XI, 53, 54.

2. According to a text of Sâtâtapa, which Nand. quotes in explanation of this Sûtra, connection with the mother is punished with 'failing or incurable epilepsy,' when the organ falls of, connection with a daughter is punished with red epilepsy; connection with a daughter-in-law, with black leprosy; and connection with a sister, with yellow leprosy.

12. 1 I. e. according to Kullâka -and Nand., 'one who studies the Veda without permission to do so;' or it may denote, according to Nand., 'a stealer of a book,' or 'one who fails to communicate information which he is able to give.']

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13. A stealer of clothes, white leprosy;

14. A stealer of horses, lameness;

15. One who pronounces an execration against a god or a Brâhmana, dumbness;

16. A poisoner, a stammering tongue;

17. An incendiary, madness;

18. One disobedient to a Guru (father), the falling sickness;

19. The killer of a cow, blindness;

20. The stealer of a lamp, the same;

21. One who has extinguished a lamp, blindness with one eye;

22. A seller of tin, chowries, or lead, is born a dyer of cloth;

23. A seller of (horses or other) animals whose foot is not cloven, is born a hunter;

24. One who eats the food of a person born from adulterous intercourse[1], is born as a man who suffers his mouth to be abused;

25. A thief (of other property than gold), is born a bard;

26. A usurer becomes epileptic;

27. One who eats dainties alone, shall have rheumatics;

28. The breaker of a convention, a bald head;

[19. Nand. quotes a text of Sâtâtapa, from which he infers the use of the particle tu to indicate here, that a killer of his mother shall also be born blind.

21. The particle ka, according to Nand., indicates here, that such persons shall also be afflicted with the morbid affection of the eyes called Timira, as stated by Sâtâtapa.

24. 1 Nand. says that kundâsin may also mean 'one who eats food to the amount of a kunda.' See also Dr. Bühler's note on Gaut. XV, 18.]

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29. The breaker of a vow of chastity, swelled legs;

30. One who deprives another of his subsistence, shall be poor;

31. One who injures another (without provocation), shall have an incurable illness.

32. Thus, according to their particular acts, are men born, marked by evil signs, sick, blind, humpbacked, halting, one-eyed;

33. Others as dwarfs, or deaf, or dumb, feeble-bodied (eunuchs, whitlows, and others). Therefore must penances be performed by all means.

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XLVI.

1. Now follow the penances.

2. Let a man fast for three days;

3. And let him perform each day the three ablutions (at dawn, noon, and sunset);

4. And let him, at every ablution, plunge into the water three times;

5. And let him mutter the Aghamarshana three times, after having plunged into the water;

6. During day-time let him be standing;

7. At night let him continue in a sitting position;

8. At the close of the ceremony let him give a milch cow (to a Brâhmana).

9. Thus[1] has the penance Aghamarshana been described.

[XLVI. 10, 11, 18, 19. M. XI, 212, 213, 215, 216.--10, 11, 13, 18-20, 22, 23. Y. III, 315-323.--10. Âpast. I, 9, 27, 7.--10, 11, 13. Gaut. XXIII, 2; XXVI, 1-5, 20.--24, 25. M. XI, 224, 225.

9. 1 Nand. thinks that the word iti, 'thus,' has a double meaning {footnote p. 150} here, and refers to another kind of Aghamarshana penance at the same time, which is described by Sankha, and consists simply in fasting for three days and muttering the Aghamarshana hymn three times.]

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10. Let a man for three days eat in the evening only; for other three days, in the morning only; for further three days, food (given to him) unsolicited; (and let him fast entirely for three days): that is the Prâgâpatya (the penance invented by Pragâpati).

11. Let him drink for three days hot water; for other three days, hot clarified butter; and for further three days, hot milk; and let him fast for three days: that is the Taptakrikkhra (hot penance).

12. Taking the same (liquids) cold is called the Sîtakrikkhra (cold penance).

13. The Krikkhrâtikrikkhra (the most difficult penance) consists in subsisting on milk only for twenty-one days.

14. Eating (nothing but) ground barley mixed with water for a whole month is called the Udakakrikkhra (water penance).

15. Eating nothing but lotus-fibres (for a whole month) is called the Mûlakrikkhra (root penance).

16. Eating nothing but Bèl fruit (for a whole month) is called the Srîphalakrikkhra (Bèl fruit penance).

17. Or[1] (this penance is performed) by (eating) lotus-seeds.

18. A total fast for twelve days is called Parâka.

19. Subsisting for one day on the urine and fæces of a cow, milk, sour milk, butter, and water

[17. 1 According to Nand., the particle vâ, 'or,' here indicates another alternative, that of performing this penance with Âmalakas (Emblica Officinalis Gaertn.)]

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in which Kusa grass has been boiled, and fasting the next day, is called Sântapana (the tormenting penance).

20. Swallowing (the same six things, viz.) cow-urine and the rest, each for one day, is called Mahâsântapana (the particularly tormenting penance).

21. Swallowing each for three days is called Atisântapana (the extremely tormenting penance).

22. Swallowing oil-cakes, foam of boiled rice, buttermilk, water, and ground barley (each for one day), with a fasting day between (every, two days), is called Tulâpurusha (a man's weight).

23. Drinking water boiled with Kusa grass, leaves of the Palâsa and Udumbara trees, of lotuses, of the Sankhapushpî plant, of the banyan tree, and of the Brahmasuvarkalâ plant, each (for one day), is called Parnakrikkhra (leaves penance).

24. Let a man perform all those penances after having shorn his hair and his beard, and let him bathe at morning, noon, and evening every day, lying on a low couch, and restraining his passions,

25. And let him (while engaged in performing them) avoid to converse with women, Sûdras, or outcasts, and let him constantly, to the best of his ability, mutter purifying Mantras and make oblations in the fire.