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XII, 52.
52. In consequence of attachment to (the objects of) the senses, and in consequence of the non-performance of their duties, fools, the lowest of men, reach the vilest births.
LAWS OF MANU.
53. What wombs this individual soul enters in this world and in consequence of what actions, learn the particulars of that at large and in due order.
54. Those who committed mortal sins (mahâpâtaka), having passed during large numbers of years through dreadful hells, obtain, after the expiration of (that term of punishment), the following births.
55. The slayer of a Brahmana enters the womb of a dog, a pig, an ass, a camel, a cow, a goat, a sheep, a deer, a bird, a Kandâla, and a Pukkasa.
56. A Brahmana who drinks (the spirituous liquor called) Surâ shall enter (the bodies) of small and large insects, of moths, of birds, feeding on ordure, and of destructive beasts.
57. A Brahmana who steals (the gold of a Brâhmana shall pass) a thousand times (through the bodies) of spiders, snakes and lizards, of aquatic animals and of destructive Pisâkas.
58. The violator of a Guru's bed (enters) a hundred times (the forms) of grasses, shrubs, and creepers, likewise of carnivorous (animals) and of (beasts) with fangs and of those doing cruel deeds.
52. Yâgñ. III, 219. 'Fools,' i. e. 'those who do not perform penances' (Gov., Kull.).
55. Yâgñ. III, 207. Nand. reads Pulkasa, Medh. and Gov. Pukhkasa with a Gihvâmûlîya which looks like sh.
56. Yâgñ. III, 207.
57. Yâgn. III, 208. 'Aquatic animals,' i. e. 'crocodiles and so forth' (Gov.). Gov. explains lûta, 'spider,' by 'scorpion.' K. omits
this verse.
58. Yâgn. III, 208. The commentators explain 'carnivorous
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