Manusmriti — Chapter on Expiations and Ritual-Juridical Remedies, Shloka 179
एषा पापकृताम् उक्ता चतुर्णाम् अपि निष्कृतिः पतितैः संप्रयुक्तानाम् इमाः शृणुत निष्कृतीः //
eṣā pāpakṛtām uktā caturṇām api niṣkṛtiḥ | patitaiḥ samprayuktānām imāḥ śṛṇuta niṣkṛtīḥ ||
This expiation for four kinds of wrongdoers has been stated; now hear, according to the textual tradition, these acts of expiation for those who have come into association with the “fallen” (patita).
एषा: this; पापकृताम्: of wrongdoers/sinners; उक्ता: has been declared/stated; चतुर्णाम्: of four; अपि: also/even; निष्कृतिः: expiation/atonement; पतितैः: with the fallen/outcasted persons; संप्रयुक्तानाम्: of those associated/connected; इमाः: these; शृणुत: hear (plural imperative, used here as a discourse marker); निष्कृतीः: expiations
FAQs
Within Adhyaya 11, the text compiles prāyaścitta (expiations) as a legal-ritual technology for addressing transgressions and their perceived social-ritual consequences. This verse functions as a transition: after presenting expiations for four classes of wrongdoers, it introduces expiations for those whose fault is defined as association with a person categorized as patita.
The verse frames culpability not only in terms of direct acts (pāpakṛt) but also relational proximity: “patitaiḥ samprayuktānām” indicates that the tradition treated certain forms of contact or linkage with a patita as generating a condition requiring niṣkṛti. This reflects a broader Dharmaśāstra concern with status, purity, and boundary-maintenance through prescribed remedial rites.
The construction uses a deictic and discourse-organizing style typical of śāstric narration: “eṣā … uktā” (“this has been stated”) closes a prior unit, and “imāḥ śṛṇuta” (“hear these”) introduces the next. The plural imperative “śṛṇuta” operates less as a personal command and more as a conventional marker guiding the listener/reader through sequential legal-ritual topics.
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