SECTION CXXXVI
"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou hast told me in full of those from whom food
may be accepted and of those from whom it should not be taken. But I have
grave doubts on one point. Do thou, O sire, enlighten me, do thou tell me
what expiation a Brahmana should make (for the sin he incurs) upon
accepting the different kinds of food, those especially offered in honour
of the gods and the oblations made to the manes.'
"Bhishma said, 'I shall tell thee, O prince, how high-souled Brahmanas
may be absolved from all sin incurred by accepting food from others. In
accepting clarified butter, the expiation is made by pouring oblations on
the fire, reciting the Savitri hymn. In accepting sesamum, O
Yudhishthira, the same expiation has to be made. In accepting meat, or
honey, or salt, a Brahmana becomes purified by standing till the rising
of the sun. If a Brahmana accepts gold from any one, he becomes cleansed
of all sins by silently reciting the great Vedic prayer (Gayatri) and by
holding a piece of iron in his hand in the presence of the public. In
accepting money or clothes or women or gold, the purification is the same
as before. In accepting food, or rice boiled in milk and sugar, or
sugarcane juice, or sugar-cane, or oil, or any sacred thing, one becomes
purified by bathing thrice in the course of the day, viz., at morn, noon
and eve. If one accepts, paddy, flowers, fruits, water, half-ripe barley,
milk, or curdled milk, or anything made of meal or flour, the expiation
is made by reciting the Gayatri prayer a hundred times. In accepting
shoes or clothes at obsequial ceremonies, the sin is destroyed by
reciting devoutly the same hymn a hundred times. The acceptance of the
gift of land at the time of an eclipse or during the period of impurity,
is expiated by observing a fast during three successive nights. The
Brahmana who partakes of oblations offered to deceased ancestors, in
course of the dark fortnight, is purified by fasting for a whole day and
night. Without performing his ablutions a Brahmana should not say his
evening prayers, nor betake himself to religious meditation, nor take his
food a second time. By so doing he is purified. For this reason, the
Sraddha of deceased ancestors has been ordained to be performed in the
afternoon and then the Brahmana who has been invited beforehand should be
feasted, The Brahmana who partakes of food at the house of a dead person
on the third day after the death, is purified by bathing three times
daily for twelve days. After the expiration of twelve days, and going
through the purification ceremonies duly, the sin is destroyed by giving
clarified butter to Brahmanas. If a man takes any food in the house of a
dead person, within ten days after the death, he should go through all
the expiations before mentioned, and should recite the Savitri hymn and
do the sin-destroying Ishti and Kushmanda penances. The Brahmana who
takes his food in the house of a dead person for three nights, becomes
purified by performing his ablutions thrice daily for seven days, and
thus attains all the objects of his desire, and is never troubled by
misfortunes. The Brahmana who takes his food in the company of Sudras is
purged from all impurity by duly observing the ceremonies of
purification. The Brahmana who takes his food in the company of Vaisyas
is absolved from sin by living on alms for three successive nights. If a
Brahmana takes his food with Kshatriyas, he should make expiation by
bathing with his clothes on. By eating with a Sudra from off the same
plate the Sudra loses his family respectability; the Vaisya by eating
from off the same plate with a Vaisya, loses his cattle and friends. The
Kshatriya loses his prosperity, and the Brahmana his splendour and
energy. In such cases, expiations should be made, and propitiatory rites
should be observed, and oblations offered to the gods. The Savitri hymn
should be recited and the Revati rites and Kushmanda penances should be
observed with the view of destroying the sin. If any of the above four
classes partake of food partly eaten by a person of any other class, the
expiation is undoubtedly made by smearing the body with auspicious
substances like Rochana, Durva grass, and turmeric.'"
