Devala-smriti (critical study)
by Mukund Lalji Wadekar | 1982 | 67,394 words
This essay represents an English study of the Devala-smriti—an ancient text attributed to sage Devala classified as belonging to the Dharma-Shastra branch of Indian literature which encompasses jurisprudence and religious law. This study deals with the reconstructed text of the Devalasmriti based on surviving references, emphasizing Devala’s unique...
16.5. Rules regarding Pancagavya (five ingredients)
[Full title: (H) The distinctive expiatory features; (4) Tirthayatra (pilgrimage)].
1) MEANS OF PURIFICATION: The pancagavya is the most important purifying or sactifying article, indispensible in all forms of expiations. It can purify the sinner from the minor lapses. The author has given great importance to it, while prescribing the expiations, for the purification of a person, troubled by the mleccha. 2) ALLOWED. EVEN FOR SUDRAS AND PATITAS : 11 The smrtis like Atri (297) & visnu (54/7) mention that the sudra, drinking pancagavya & the brahmana, drinking sura are equally sinful & both reside in hell for ever. While Devala maintains that pancagavya is prohibited to be given to the 1 ladies, sudras & patitas, but optionally allows it to be given, without the recitation of Mantras. (1870). :
821 3) INGREDIANTS (1871-1874): The five deities, namely varuna, agni, soma, vayu & surya reside respectively in the five ingredients namely cows urine, dung, milk, curds & ghee. These ingradiants should be taken of cows of different colours. The urine, dung, milk, curd & ghee, should be used of cows of red, white, yellow, blue, & black colours respectively. The colours of cows, whose above ingrediants are to be used, are differently mentioned in the Parasarasmrti (11.28-29) 12. They should be of cows of black, white, dark red (tamra), red (rakta), brown (kapila) respectively or all the ingrediants may be taken of kapila cow. The quantity of each ingrediants of pancagavya, is also mentioned differently in the smrtis. The cow's urine, dung & kusa-water of six Matras (a standard measure), ghee & milk of three matra's, the curd of ten Matras this is the proportion of each ingrediant, according to Devala. (1874). While Paras ara (11.29 & 30) states that the cow's urine of one pala, curd of three palas, ghee of one pala, cow-dung of half of the thumb, the milk of 7 palas & kusa-water of one pala should be taken 14 Paras ara 13 for it. Atri (296) maintains that cow's urine, ghee, milk & curds should be two, four, eight and eight times more than the proportion of cow-dung in the pancagavya. I