The discipline of Veda-study (brahmacarya ) into which Brahmins—and, in theory if not in practice, all male members of the three highly ranked classes (varṇa s)—were supposed to be initiated in youth was intended not just as a system of education but also of ethical formation and social solidarity. The initiate was thereby transformed into a proper Ārya, “twice-born” (dvija ) through the initiation rite, imbued with the habitus of dharma . 1 In the epics and other literature, the brahmacārin became one of the exemplary figures of the holy Brahmin: the chaste, dutiful apprentice of a pious householder Brahmin master, firewood in hand, with staff and deerskin. The period of studentship was meant to last until one had memorized the core texts of the Veda transmitted within one’s lineage. Because the regimen of studentship concluded with a ritual bath (snāna ), the graduate was called a snātaka (“one who has bathed”).
The graduate is an object of particular adulation in the ritual and dharma codes. Subject to an array of restrictions and taboos, kitted out with turban, bamboo staff, and water pot, the graduate is put forward as one of the appropriate recipients the guest-reception rite (argha ), in which a worthy person is offered scented water, a “honey mixture” (madhuparka ), and (preferably) beef or goat-meat. 2 In fact, after bathing and taking leave of his teacher (and giving the requisite parting gifts), he should stop to receive his first argha on the way back to return home (ŚāṅkhGṛ 3.1.14). Even a king is supposed to show deference to a snātaka .
Beginning with certain domestic ritual codes (Gṛhyasūtras) and repeated by many later dharma authorities, 3 three grades of graduate are distinguished: the “graduate of the Veda” (vidyā-snātaka or veda-snātaka ), the “graduate of the rule” (vrata-snātaka ), and the “graduate of the Veda and the rule” (vidyā-vrata-snātaka or veda-vrata-snātaka ; e.g., BGṛPariś 1.15.1 and also ĀpDh 1.30.1–1.30.5). GobhGṛ 3.5.23 adds that, “of these, the last is best, while the former two are equal.” These categories reflect the fact that brahmacarya involves two independent criteria: ritual injunctions and the learning of texts. A student may succeed or fail by either measure, but can still be deemed a snātaka of a sort once he has taken the final bath. The third sort represents the ideal: full adherence to the student’s rule, culminating in a full command of at least one Vedic corpus. The Āpastamba Dharmasūtra argues that any of the three types qualifies to receive the honor of a guest-reception or to receive the remnants of offerings, even if the merit earned by the donor may vary according to the degree of learning (śruti ) and discipline (samādhi ) of the recipient (ĀpDh 1.30.4–1.30.5). On the other hand, Manu includes only “graduates of the Veda and the rule” (vedavidyā-vrata-snātān ) as deserving the guest-reception (MDh 4.31).
Although the graduate receives extensive attention in the domestic ritual codes, there is some ambiguity about where this status fits in relation to the new system of “religious professions” or “modes of life” (the āśramas ) introduced in the Dharmasūtras. Those works were the earliest Brahmanical texts to speak of religious life as the pursuit of dharma , and to broaden the priestly perspective from ritual to personal conduct, social relations, and royal policy. According to the Dharmasūtras, the graduate was supposed to choose an āśrama as his way of life: pious householder, permanent student, hermit, or mendicant ascetic (although having listed all four, the Gautama and the older core of the Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra affirm the householder profession as the only valid one). Later Dharmaśāstras, beginning with the Mānava , rearrange these as a sequence of life-stages. Either way, it is not clear where the snātaka was supposed to fit. Was “graduate” merely a temporary state that naturally gave way at some point to an āśrama status? No fixed duration of snātaka status is ever mentioned, and the special features of it are striking and distinctive enough that it seems to stand apart from the āśramas . Since the householder path was the norm in most cases, studentship would normally be followed by marriage, which is the prerequisite for fulfilling the ritual obligations of the adult Ārya male. 4 Later Dharmaśāstra authors would warn that one should avoid remaining anāśramin (i.e., in a state of not adhering to one of the four āśramas ), and it might seem that the snātaka was at risk in this regard. 5 Yet in fact, the classical authors of the Mānava and Yājñavalkya Dharmaśāstras seem in fact to have regarded the snātaka as a special type of Brahmin householder, although this seems never to be stated explicitly. The snātaka retains his separate character and his title, which points back to the bath signifying graduation from studies. This circumstance ensures that his position relative to the āśramas would remain an unsettled matter.
The term snātaka refers to the ritual bath (snāna ) that marks the completion of studies (or of the rule of brahmacarya ). After fully immersing himself in the water, the graduating student takes up water in his cupped hands and pours it out as tarpaṇa offerings to a sequence of deities, elements of Veda and Vedic ritual, and a variety of spirits and other beings. Switching his upper garment (or thread) from the left shoulder to the right, he makes a further series of tarpaṇa offerings to the ancient sages of his Vedic lineage, and to his agnatic ancestors (ŚāṅkhGṛ 4.9–4.10). Before taking leave of his teacher, he should seek his permission, offering various gifts.
Henceforth he will be bound by a special set of rules: the snātaka-vratāni or snātaka-dharmāḥ . The snātaka ’s equipment includes a turban, a water pot, sandals, and parasol; he should wear a double sacred thread, and his staff should be of bamboo. The turban however is also a distinctive attribute of the dīkṣita (consecrated sacrificer), who like the student undergoes an initiation (dīkṣā-upāyana ) similar in many ways to the upanayana/upāyana rite, and who adheres to a strict regimen. 6 Unlike the brahmacārin , the snātaka is allowed to anoint and adorn himself, except in public. He should not wear black clothing, or any cloth that has been dyed.
He should not extend his feet toward, or urinate or defecate in the presence of, any auspicious things (fire, sun, water, a Brahmin, a cow, or a divine image). When answering the call of nature, he should cover his head, and spread something on the ground as well. He may not clean himself with stones, clods of earth, or green leaves (ĀpDh 1.30.15–1.30.21). He should avoid using sacred grass or wood for profane purposes such as covering his feces or picking his teeth. He should eat silently and neatly while facing east (VaDh 12.18–12.20).
He should perform the domestic version of the Vedic rites in his single ritual fire (aupāsana agni ). It is better for him not to attend someone else’s offering rites unless he has been invited to perform them (VaDh 12.42).
The graduate’s words and actions are strictly circumscribed to avoid anything that might pose a threat to his bodily integrity, his ritual purity, or his social status. To ensure his safety, he must not climb onto a cart or into a tree, climb up to or down from precarious spots, cross a river by swimming or in an unsafe boat, submerge his head in water, climb down into wells, use dangerous roads, or even crack his knuckles. 7
The restrictions also encompass rules of social decorum: he should not boast in his teacher’s presence, make noise with his mouth while eating, or appear in public garlanded or anointed. He must avoid impure, vulgar, or disreputable people, gambling houses, fairs, markets, and cities. He must always behave like an Ārya, pure, self-controlled, and harming no creature.
Elaborate restrictions apply to the snātaka ’s speech. He should not mention a divine name while impure; even speaking of “Indra’s bow” (the common name of the rainbow) is to be avoided. He should not speak ill of gods, the king, or cows—even to report a cow causing damage (ĀpDh 1.31.4–1.31.10). He should not spread gossip (GDh 9.53; VaDh 12.8). He must not even settle a dispute, 8 since if he resolves it wrongly (durvivaktṛ ), it may bring trouble on his own family or property (ĀpDh 1.32.22–1.32.24). This detail shows that the author expected that learned Brahmins were likely to be called upon to provide legal services.
The snātaka is assigned a list of preferred synonyms, mostly for reasons of euphemism (e.g., dhenubhavyā , “cow that will soon produce milk,” instead of adhenu , “non-milk-producing cow”), though many seem to be examples of higher-register words (e.g., puṇya , “auspicious,” or praśāsta “propitious,” instead of bhadra, “lucky”; sraj , “garland, chaplet,” instead of mālā , “necklace”). He should avoid calling someone his rival (sapatna ) lest he thereby create real enmity (ĀpDh 1.31.11–1.31.17).
Another way in which the snātaka is set apart is the fact that almost all the ritual and dharma codes include the snātaka as a worthy recipient of the madhuparka (a mixture of honey with milk, curd, or water) and arghya (scented water), to be offered to worthy guests, e.g., “There are six individuals worthy of the arghya : a teacher, a priest, a king, a father-in-law, a friend, a snātaka ” (KGṛ 24.1). 9 The argha ritual is the paradigmatic way of fulfilling the daily duty of making an “offering to men.” Similarly, after śrāddha rites, which are performed for one’s ancestors, one should feed the remnants to learned and virtuous Brahmins, preferably unrelated to the offeror; 10 such guests are said to purify those beside whom they eat during the rite. The codes identify the snātaka as a candidate for this honor, along with other religious virtuosi such as those who maintain five fires, who recite the various sets of mystical verses, who perform a “head regimen” (śiro-vrata ), 11 who have studied the six subjects ancillary to the Veda, or in the absence of those, who have studied the “secret texts.” All such persons, including the snātaka , have the distinction of having undertaken higher-level study regimens or other supererogatory ritual obligations. The principle is that “the verses, formulas, and songs [i.e., the texts of the three Vedas] are what makes the śrāddha great; therefore, one should feed a man who knows these, even if he is a relative.”
In the earliest references, snātaka status was simply intermediate between those of student and married man. This is stated explicitly in BGṛPariś 1.15.10–1.15.11, a text probably contemporary with the Dharmasūtras: “Until being united with a wife, they are ‘graduates’ (snātaka s); after that, ‘householders’ (gṛhastha s).” The distinctions between them, and the notion that the snātaka is an intermediate or even liminal status between student and householder, is suggested by the different modes of worship in the three states:
The fire in which the initiation rite is performed is the fire in which the student’s regimen-duties, the going-home rite, the wedding, and all the householder rites are performed…It is this in which, beginning with the initiation, offerings are made with the Utterances (viz., oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ ) and with kindling sticks, up until the rite of returning home from studies (samāvartana ). Beginning with the samāvartana , offerings are made with ghee and with the Utterances, up until the wedding. Beginning with the wedding, [offerings are made] with rice or barley. (BGṛPariś 1.16.4–1.16.7)
In other words, while the Veda-student’s fire-offerings consist of nothing but firewood laid on the fire with mantras, the snātaka makes offerings of ghee, while the householder is responsible for offering grain, the full form of the domestic offering material. Vaikhānasa Smārtasūtra 5.9 includes “a snātaka who makes offerings for himself, not yet having reached the householder state” (ātmayājī snātako ’prāptagṛhavṛttaḥ ) among those ineligible for normal cremation but worthy of a “cremation in distress” (āpad-dāhya ).
Āpastamba Dharmasūtra , the oldest work on Brahmanical dharma and probably first to mention the āśramas , 12 presents the rules on the snātaka (1.30–1.32) after the rules of Vedic studentship and immediately preceding the marriage rules. The close connection with the student’s state is reflected in the fact that “even after he has returned home, the accepted practice is that [the graduate] should behave toward these individuals [viz., the teacher, the teacher’s family, and senior students] in exactly the same manner as a student” (ĀpDh 1.7.31–1.8.1). The mention of sandals and turban make it clear that the subject here is a snātaka (1.8.2). The main rules prescribed for the snātaka though close the first half of that work, coming just before the rules on marriage and family life.
Baudhāyana (1.5–1.7) likewise describes the basic attributes of the snātaka right after the section on the Vedic student (giving particular attention to his water pot), followed by general purity rules. In Vasiṣṭha , too, the Vedic graduate is described (12–13) right after the passage on the student.
However, whatever idea one may harbor that the snātaka state can exist only until marriage and the assuming of gṛhastha duties must be abandoned. Even in the Dharmasūtras, that picture goes blurry. The Baudhāyana , after first describing the snātaka in the context of the graduation from studentship, gives a fuller treatment in a section headed “snātaka-vratāni ” in the midst of section on householder duties (2.5.10–2.6.42). The passage comes just after a few lines on libations offered while bathing—lines that begin by asserting: “immersion in water promotes austerity” (tapasyam apovagāhanam , 2.5.1). We may surmise that this seemed the right occasion to return to the theme of the snātaka ’s special discipline. But we see now the snātaka performing householder duties such as performing the five daily sacrifices, including the reception of guests.
Gautama Dharmasūtra explicitly treats the snātaka -rules as subsidiary to those of the householder:
Such a man, after he has completed his studies, should bathe according to the rules, marry a wife, and, as he continues to observe the Laws proper to a householder (gṛhastha-dharmān ) described above, subject himself to the following vows: a snātaka , 13 constantly pure, sweet-smelling, regularly bathed (snāna-śīlaḥ )… (GDh 9.1–9.2, Olivelle’s translation)
The usual rules for the snātaka follow. The fact that these rules are introduced after the rules of the householder was, perhaps, perceived as potentially confusing. The intention in so ordering them may indeed be reflected in the transition sentence, which situated the snātaka rules in relation to the marriage and householder rules.
The commentators differ on the implications of this passage. Maskarin explains that “the householder who should perform the observances that are about to be discussed is called ‘snātaka ,’” but Haradatta inserts the word “and” and explains that the following rules apply to two distinct classes of individual. Olivelle judges Maskarin correct, and observes that “a Snātaka is not always different from a householder but is a very specific type of householder” (2000: 543 n. 9.2).
In any case, the rules applying to snātakas take it for granted not only that they may have licit sexual relations (implicit in the specific prohibition of sex with particular types of women), but that he will be married and begetting children: 14
He should engage in sexual intercourse with his wife during her season, avoiding the days of the moon’s change. Let him not have intercourse in a place other than the vagina. Now, they also quote:
“If a man performs the sex act in the mouth of a woman he has married, during that month his ancestors will feed on his semen. Intercourse performed without going beyond (the vagina) is in conformity with Dharma.”
It is, moreover, stated in the Kāṭhaka : “May we lie with our husbands even when we are going to give birth the following day.” This is the wish granted to women by Indra. (VaDh 12.21–12.24, Olivelle’s translation)
In the context of describing the graduate’s return from studies, Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.13.18–1.13.20) quotes Śvetaketu, famed student of the Upaniṣads, recommending that even after marriage, one may continue to spend two months of the year the teacher’s home for further study. “For by that means I managed to study more of the Veda than during the time I was a student.” “But,” the Sūtra goes on to point out, “that is forbidden by authoritative texts.” For the Āpastamba , the duties of the householder, even though he be a snātaka , are restricted to offering fire sacrifices and hospitality. Elsewhere, however, Āpastamba (2.3.13–2.3.14) does provide for a married man to learn the mantras needed to perform domestic offerings (homa and bali ) as a gṛhamedhin , “one performing sacrifices at home,” albeit while remaining in the marital home: “While the householder is learning the ritual formulas to be used in them, he should sleep on the floor, abstain from sex, and avoid spices and salt for twelve days. While he is learning the ritual formula to be used in the final offering, he should fast for one day.” Gautama Dharmasūtra (18.17) even envisages the situation in which a man leaves his wife behind to study the Veda; she must wait up to twelve years before she is allowed to remarry.
The Mānava Dharmaśāstra completes the absorption of the snātaka into the householder sphere by embedding the snātaka rules within a chapter dealing specifically with the ideal conduct of a Brahmin householder (MDh 4), following both Chapter 2 on the student (from v. 36 onward) and Chapter 3 on marriage and the general rules of householder life. Chapter 3 begins by describing the transition from the graduation bath to selection of a bride and the marriage, emphasizing the importance of the “twice-born” having completed his studies without violating the rule of brahmacarya , and having returned home with the teacher’s permission (3.1–3.4). The rest of Chapter 3 deals with the parameters and duties of the householder profession (gṛhastha-āśrama ), framed in terms of the five “great offerings” (mahāyajña ), with special attention to the feeding of learned Brahmins as part of ancestor worship (the latter topic in fact filling 106 stanzas, more than a third of the chapter), 15 and concludes with the author’s transitional verse (3.286): “I have explained to you all the rules relating to the five sacrifices. Listen now to the rules relating to the livelihood of Brahmins.” 16
Chapter 4 , ostensibly about snātaka-dharma , actually begins by announcing the duty for a “twice-born,” after finishing Vedic studies, to “marry a wife and spend the second quarter of his life at home” (4.1), and the transitional verse that concludes that chapter makes explicit how the author has cast the topic of snātaka-dharma as part and parcel of the Brahmin householder āśrama : “I have explained above the invariable means of livelihood for a Brahmin householder, as also the splendid set of observances for a bath-graduate (snātaka-vrata-kalpa ), which enhances his spirit. When a Brahmin, knowing the vedic teachings, 17 follows this mode of life, he frees himself always from sins and is exalted in heaven” (4.259–4.260). 18
The outcome of this shift is reflected in the commentators’ remarks on the snātaka-dharma sections. The Yājñavalkya begins this section by observing (Mitākṣarā on YDh 1.129):
After thus setting forth the śrauta and śmārta rites, [Yājñavalkya] now presents the observances (vratas ) of the snātaka , which consist of injunctions and prohibitions and are the outward form of a mental intention, and are indispensable duties of a Brahmin, beginning with the bath of a householder.
Harihara (before 1250), explaining the special three-night vrata to follow the graduation bath (on PGS 2.8.1), says of the preceding general rules governing the snātaka : “Thus, beginning with the returning-home of the snātaka , such things as dancing and singing are indicated by prescriptions and prohibitions, as long as householdership continues.” Some later authorities generalize the snātaka ’s virtues even more broadly. Gopīnātha Dīkṣita, in discussing the rules for the clothing and accoutrements of the snātaka , remarks, “where there is no impediment, these should be considered the general duties of students, householders, etc.” 19
Looking beyond the ritual and dharma rulebooks, it becomes still clearer that the term snātaka designates something other than merely the graduate immediately after the conclusion of studies. Rather, it denotes a special variety of Brahmin householder who observes supererogatory vrata s.
The snātaka appears always to be a Brahmin. Traditional lexicons include the word snātaka in the grouping of terms for Brahmins (brahmavarga ), glossing it as “one who has performed an ablution and follows a regimen” (āpluta vratin ). 20 The Mahābhārata gives us an idea of what non-scholastic authors meant by the label snātaka . Snātakas in the epic are often said to be gṛhastha (“home-dwelling”) and gṛhamedhin (“performing the domestic offerings”). 21 The Śāntiparvan begins with many Brahmin sages (ṛṣi ) coming to see king Yudhiṣṭḥira, along with “other Veda-knowing, wise twice-born who are home-dwelling snātakas ” (MBh 12.1.5). When Drupada arrives at the hermitage of the Brahmins Yaja and Upayaja, the narrator observes (MBh 1.155.6): “In that place, there was no one who had not performed ablution (asnātaka ) and no Brahmin who did not observe a regimen (avratin ), and who was not greatly blessed. He saw those two who strictly followed their regimen (saṃśitavrata ).”
The fullest illustration of snātaka status occurs in the episode of the “killing of Jarāsandha” in Mahābhārata 2.18–2.22. 22 The heroes Arjuna and Bhīma, along with Kṛṣṇa, disguise themselves themselves as “resplendent snātaka Brahmins” (2.18.22), and in this form come before King Jarāsandha, who duly welcomes them with foot-washing water and madhuparka (2.19.29). In stanzas that follow in the southern recension, it is noted that Arjuna and Bhīma are observing a vrata of not speaking before midnight, perhaps reflecting the rule of not giving instruction until that time. 23
Alf Hiltebeitel hypothesizes that Aśvaghoṣa may have consciously modeled Buddhacarita 10–11 on the Jarāsandhavadha episode. 24 In each case, Kṣatriyas impersonate Brahmin holy men, enter the capital of Magadha, and approach the king. In Aśvaghoṣa’s poem, it is the Bodhisattva, in the attire of a monk, who is confronted by King Śreṇya-Bimbisāra. Aśvaghoṣa seems to have made a “close and critical reading” of the Jarāsandha passage, and evidently regards the snātaka as a Brahmanical analogue of the Buddhist monk. Both of these figures embody an ideal of dharma and for this reason are fitting recipients of deference and offering.
The Jarāsandhavadha episode provides vivid evidence that snātakas were generally presumed to be Brahmins, even in Sanskrit narrative. This assumption is reflected in the many places where snātaka s are called Brahmins. 25 It is true that the ritual and dharma codes envision Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas becoming brahmacārins and thus, by implication, snātakas by performing the bath-rite at the time of graduation and returning home. But Jarāsandha certainly assumes that snātakas must be Brahmins, and is perplexed (MBh 2.19.37–2.19.40) by the appearance of these. Displaying his own familiarity with the prescriptions found in the ritual codes, he points out that they have deviated from the norms in that they are wearing colorful clothes, are adorned with sandal paste and garlands, 26 and entered the city through the wrong gate. 27 He reproaches them for adopting this disguise (veṣagrahaṇa ), saying:
I know that everywhere in this world of men Brahmins (vipra ) observing the snātaka- regimen do not wear garlands and ointment outside.
And here you are, beflowered, your arms marked by the bow-string, and though you display the vigor of Kṣatriyas, you pretend to Brahminhood (bibhrataḥ kṣātram ojaś ca brāhmaṇyaṃ pratijānatha ). (MBh 2.19.38–2.19.39)
Kṛṣṇa replies with his own display of erudition in ritual protocol. Admitting that they are indeed Kṣatriyas, he affirms that Kṣatriyas are eligible to follow the snātaka regimen, suggests in quasi-scholastic terms that “special rules” (viśeṣaniyamāḥ ) apply for each class, and he proceeds to taunt the king with threats posing as the special requirements of their “perpetual vow” (śāśvataṃ vratam )—such as entering an enemy’s city by an improper access point (2.19.45–2.19.50). We come away with the impression that the Kṣatriya snātaka was even to the episode’s author a purely theoretical status—an obscure rule “on the books,” but susceptible to ad hoc elaboration.
There are even hints that snātaka status straddled the āśramas of householder and forest-dwelling hermit. Brāhma Purāṇa 65.10 mentions four types of worshippers who may bathe a Kṛṣṇa-image: householders, snātaka s, ascetics (yati ), and Veda-students (brahmacārin ). This classification seems to echo the list of four holy modes of life (āśrama ) in early Dharmaśāstra: gṛhastha, brahmacārin, vānaprastha (forest dweller), and yati . Is the Brāhmapurāṇa treating “snātaka ” to be synonymous with “vānaprastha ”? The Mānava Dharmaśāstra (6.1) introduces the topic of the vānaprastha as follows: “After remaining thus in the domestic profession (gṛhāśrame ) according to the rules, a snātaka twice-born should live with restraint in the forest, his senses under control.” The implication seems to be that the vānaprastha status is the natural further development of the snātaka discipline. 28
Van Buitenen actually considers the possibility that “the meaning of snātaka might be extended to anyone under a studious vow of life, and to include the new mendicants who followed the Buddha or Jina, but that cannot be made out” (1975: 17). Looking beyond the Mahābhārata , though, we find snātaka s in such a range of contexts that we must conclude that the status was not limited to a temporary period immediately following graduation from Veda-study in youth. Rather, the term applied to any Brahmin adhering to a vow of special discipline commencing with a ritual bath.
The Dharmasūtras canonized the model of four āśramas , religious professions chosen at the conclusion the childhood period of Vedic study, and the Mānava Dharmaśāstra turned these into a sequence that could be followed in a single lifetime. The snātaka had no clear position in this structure, but the Dharmaśāstra authors saw snātaka status as something that began when the graduate returned home from the teacher’s house, and could continue in the married state, even into the hermit’s state. For this reason, it can be misleading to translate the term routinely as “Vedic graduate.” Certainly all snātakas must be graduates of Vedic study, but the title applies to those who persist in observing the strict rules and taboos of that status as a long-term special vow.
Furthermore, unlike householders in general, snātaka s are usually assumed to be Brahmins. In the Mahābhārata , the Purāṇas, and literary sources, this is true also of those called “twice-born” (dvija ) or Vedic student (brahmacārin ), but in the case of the snātaka , even the ritual and law codes say as much. Snātakas were thus considered to be learned and disciplined Brahmins worthy of the highest respect and wielding the highest authority in matters of ritual. For this reason, in prescribing the time for consecrating a king (the ghṛtakambala ), Atharvaveda Pariśiṣṭa 33.4.2 suggests, “a discerning man should perform it at the conclusion of a taptakṛcchra regimen, or at the end of any kṛcchra regimen, or at whenever snātaka s specify.”
Perhaps we should even understand MDh 6.1 to say that the householders who may be expected to become vānaprastha s are those who are already snātaka s. The snātaka s of literature populate the world of the hermitage: disciplined, austere, ever reciting the Veda and making offerings. 29 Snātaka- dharma may even look beyond the worldly fruits of householder piety: the knowledge of the ātman and the way to seek it is sometimes described as “this doctrine of the snātaka s” (snātakānām idaṃ śāstraṃ, MBh 12.238.15a, Brāhma Purāṇa 237.36a).