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Mahānirvāṇa Tantra 11.141

Traditional

Ullāsas
14
Verses
2517
Minutes
1258
Level
advanced

Ullāsa 11 · Verse 141

गवादिहननप्रायश्चित्तम्Expiation for killing a cow and other animals

Verse 141

निहत्य सास्थिजन्तूंश्च नक्तमद्यात् निरामिषम् । निरस्थिजीविनो हत्वा मनस्तापेन शुद्ध्यति ॥ १४१ ॥

nihatya sāsthijantūṁśca naktamadyāt nirāmiṣam | nirasthijīvinō hatvā manastāpēna śuddhyati || 141 ||

Translation

Killing small creatures with bones, he should eat at night food without meat; killing boneless creatures, he is purified by remorse.

Word by word

nihatya
killing
sāsthi
with bones
jantūṁś
(jantūn) creatures
ca
and
naktam
(naktam) at night
adyāt
(adyāt) should eat
nirāmiṣam
(nirāmiṣam) without meat
nirasthi
boneless
jīvinaḥ
(jīvinaḥ) creatures
hatvā
killing
manastāpēna
by remorse
śuddhyati
(śudhyati) is purified

Meaning

Even the smallest life counts.

Commentary

Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated

Now he tells the expiation of a man who kills small creatures with bones, the lizard and the like, and creatures without bones, with "nihatya" and the rest. Having killed creatures with bones, from the pairing with "without bones", small boned creatures, the lizard (kṛkalāsa) and the like, he should eat at night (naktam) food without meat. Compared with the killing of peacocks and the rest, the inclination to kill lizards and the like is greater, so the punishment for killing lizards and the like is to be understood as heavier. Having killed creatures without bones, one is purified by remorse (manastāpa).