Adhyaya 171

Verse 1

ति ख शवन्तत्स्पृष्टिनं श्वानमिति घ , ज च मूत्रोच्चारं द्विजः कृत्वेत्यादिः, पूयन्ते पापिनो ऽखिला इत्य् अन्तः पाठः ज , झ पुस्तके नास्ति अथ एकसप्तत्यधिकशततमो ऽध्यायः प्रायश्चित्तानि पुष्कर उवाच प्रायश्चित्तं रहस्यादि वक्ष्ये शुद्धिकरं पर पौरुषेण तु सूक्तेन मासं जप्यादिनाघहा

Variant readings are noted in the manuscripts: “the dog touched by a corpse” (in one recension), and elsewhere “after a twice-born has urinated…”; another recension ends with “all sinners are purified,” while one manuscript lacks this passage. Now begins the 171st chapter, “Expiations.” Puṣkara said: “I shall teach the secret and other expiations, supreme and purifying. By reciting the Pauruṣa Sūkta for a month, a person becomes free from sin.”

Verse 2

मुच्यते पातकैः सर्वैर् जप्त्वा त्रिरघमर्षणं वेदजप्याद्वायुयमाद् गायत्र्या व्रततो ऽद्यहा

Having recited the Aghamarṣaṇa hymn three times, one is released from all sins; likewise, by Vedic recitation, by the disciplines of Vāyu and Yama, and by observing the Gāyatrī vow—thus is taught for the destruction of sin today.

Verse 3

मुण्डनं सर्वकृच्छ्रेषु स्नानं होमो हरेर्यजिः उत्थितस्तु दिवा तिष्ठेदुपविष्टस् तथा निशि

In all forms of Kṛcchra penance, shaving the head (tonsure), bathing, offering oblations in the fire (homa), and worship of Hari (Viṣṇu) are prescribed. One should remain standing during the daytime, and likewise remain seated during the night.

Verse 4

एतद्वीरासनं प्रोक्तं कृच्छ्रकृत्तेन पापहा अष्टभिः प्रत्यहं ग्रासैर् यतिचान्द्रायणं स्मृतं

This is declared to be the ‘vīrāsana’ observance—an expiation that destroys sin when performed as a kṛcchra. And the ‘yati-cāndrāyaṇa’ is remembered as the discipline in which one takes eight mouthfuls of food each day.

Verse 5

प्रातश् चतुर्भिः सायञ्च शिशुचान्द्रायणं स्मृतं यथाकथञ्चित् पिण्डानाम् चत्वारिंशच्छतद्वयं

The “infant (light) Cāndrāyaṇa” is declared as follows: four food-balls (piṇḍas) in the morning and four in the evening; thus, however one manages it, the total amounts to two hundred and forty piṇḍas.

Verse 6

मासेन भक्षयेदेतत् सुरचान्द्रायणं चरेत् त्र्यहमुष्णं पिवेदापस्त्यहमुष्णं पयः पिवेत्

He should take this regulated intake over the course of a month and perform the Sura-Cāndrāyaṇa observance. For three days he should drink warm water, and for three days he should drink warm milk.

Verse 7

त्र्याहमुष्णं घृतं पीत्वा वायुभक्षो भवेत् त्र्यहं तप्तकृच्छ्रमिदं प्रोक्तं शीतैः शीतं प्रकीर्तितं

For three days, having drunk warm ghee (ghṛta), one should thereafter live for three days on air alone. This is declared to be the Taptakṛcchra, the “heated” kṛcchra expiation; when performed with cold (ghee, etc.), it is known as the Śīta, the “cold” [kṛcchra].

Verse 8

कृच्छ्रातिकृच्छ्रं पयसा दिवसानेकविंशतिं गोमूत्रं गोमयं क्षीरं दधि सर्पिः कुशोदकं

The Atikṛcchra, a severe expiatory observance, is to be performed with milk for twenty-one days; its regimen employs cow’s urine, cow-dung, milk, curd, ghee, and kuśa-grass water (kuśodaka).

Verse 9

जपतो ऽवधहेति ख , घ , ज च एकरात्रोपवासश् चकृच्छ्रं शान्तपनं स्मृतं एतच्च प्रत्याभ्यस्तं महाशान्तपनं स्मृतं

For one who performs japa of the mantric syllables “avadha”—namely kha, gha, and ja—and also undertakes a fast for a single night, the kṛcchra-penance called Śāntapana is declared. When this very observance is repeatedly practised, it is declared to be the Mahā-Śāntapana, the “Great Śāntapana”.

Verse 10

त्र्यहाभ्यस्तमथैकैकमतिशान्तपनं स्मृतं कृच्छ्रं पराकसञ्ज्ञं स्याद्द्वादशाहमभोजनं

When the three-day discipline is repeated and then continued with single meals, it is taught as the exceedingly severe Śāntapana-type kṛcchra; and the observance called Parāka consists of twelve days of complete fasting, with no food at all.

Verse 11

एकभक्तं त्र्यहाभ्यस्तं क्रमान्नक्तमयाचितं प्राजापत्यमुपोष्यान्ते पादः स्यात् कृच्छ्रपादकः

When the one-meal regimen (ekabhakta) is practiced for three days, then in due sequence one eats only at night and thereafter subsists on unsolicited food (ayācita); having thus observed the Prājāpatya fast, at its conclusion one quarter (pāda) is termed the “Kṛcchra-pādaka,” a quarter-unit of the kṛcchra penance.

Verse 12

फलैर् मासं फलं कृच्छ्रं बिल्वैः श्रीक्च्छ्र ईरितः पद्माक्षैः स्यादामलकैः पुष्पकृच्छ्रं तु पुष्पकैः

Subsisting for a month on fruits is called “Phala-kṛcchra.” When performed with bilva fruits, it is declared to be “Śrī-kṛcchra.” When done with padmākṣa seeds or with āmalaka fruits, it becomes “Puṣpa-kṛcchra”; likewise, when performed with flowers, it too is termed “Puṣpa-kṛcchra.”

Verse 13

पत्रकृच्छ्रन्तथा पत्रैस्तोयकृच्छ्रं जलेन तु मूलकृच्छ्रन्तथा मूलैर् दृध्न क्षीरेण तक्रतः

Likewise, the “Patra-kṛcchra” is performed with leaves alone; the “Toya-kṛcchra” with water alone; the “Mūla-kṛcchra” with roots; and the remaining forms are observed, respectively, with curd, with milk, and with buttermilk.

Verse 14

मासं वायव्यकृच्छ्रं स्यात्पाणिपूरान्नभोजनात् तिलैर् द्वादशरात्रेण कृच्छ्रमाग्नेयमार्तिनुत्

For one month, the Vāyavya-kṛcchra is to be observed by taking food only in the measure of a palmful (pāṇipūra). By subsisting on sesame seeds for twelve nights, one performs the Āgneya-kṛcchra, which removes affliction.

Verse 15

पाक्षं प्रसृत्या लाजानां ब्रह्मकूर्चं तथा भवेत् उपोषितश् चतुर्दृश्यां पञ्चदश्यामनन्तरं

By measuring out parched grains (lājā) by the ‘prasṛti’ measure for a fortnight, one thereby performs the Brahma-kūrca observance; and one should fast on the fourteenth lunar day, followed immediately by (fasting/observance on) the fifteenth.

Verse 16

पञ्चगव्यं समश्नीयाद्धविष्याशीत्यनन्तरं मासेन द्विर् नरः कृत्वा सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते

One should consume pañcagavya, and thereafter subsist on haviṣya-food; a man who performs this twice within a month is released from all sins.

Verse 17

श्रीकामः पुष्टिकामश् च स्वर्गकामो ऽघनष्टये देवताराधनपरः कृच्छ्रकारी स सर्वभाक्

He who desires prosperity, he who desires nourishment and strength, and he who desires heaven—seeking the destruction of sin—should be devoted to the worship of the deities; performing the kṛcchra austerity, he becomes a partaker of all (desired results/merits).