Suppose, a Brahmin accidentally kills a cat.
What is the prayaschitta for this act?
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Sign up to join this communitySuppose, a Brahmin accidentally kills a cat.
What is the prayaschitta for this act?
Here is what this chapter of the Manu Smriti says:
He who has slain a Sudra, shall perform that whole penance during six months, or he may also give ten white cows and one bull to a Brahmana.
Having killed a cat, an ichneumon, a blue jay, a frog, a dog, an iguana, an owl, or a crow, he shall perform the penance for the murder of a Sudra;
Or he may drink milk during three days, or walk one hundred yoganas, or bathe in a river, or mutter the hymn addressed to the Waters.
That is a reference to this hymn of the Rig Veda. In any case, here is what this chapter of the Vishnu Smriti says:
- If he has (unintentionally) killed a mouse, or a cat, or an ichneumon, or a frog, or a Dundubha snake, or a large serpent (a boa constrictor), he must fast one day, and on the next day he must give a dish of milk, sesamum, and rice mixed together to a Brâhmana, and give him an iron hoe as his 'fee.'