Shloka 3
अस्मत्पुरीषस्नानेन जन: पूर्येत सर्वदा । शकृता च पतवित्रार्थ कुर्वीरन् देवमानुषा:
asmatpurīṣasnānēna janaḥ pūryeta sarvadā | śakṛtā ca patavitrārtha kurvīran devamānuṣāḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “By bathing in our excrement, people would always become purified; and for the sake of purification, gods and humans would perform rites using dung.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Purity is not achieved merely by external contact or ritual acts; Vasiṣṭha uses a deliberately shocking example to question superficial notions of purification and to redirect attention toward true dharmic purity grounded in right conduct and understanding.
Vasiṣṭha is speaking in an instructive context, employing reductio-style reasoning: if such impure substances could purify by mere use, then everyone—including gods—would adopt them for purification. The statement functions as a critique of misguided ritualism.