Āpad-dharma in the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa
Āpad-dharma · āpad-dharma, “dharma in times of distress”
Āpad means distress or emergency. Āpad-dharma is the dharma for hard times: the rules for how a person may earn a living when the work normally laid down for them is no longer possible. Chapter 82 of the second part (Dvitīya Khaṇḍa) of the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa is called the Āpad-dharma-nirūpaṇa, the explanation of āpad-dharma.
In it, the teacher Pushkara explains how a brāhmaṇa or a kshatriya should support himself when his proper means of living becomes impossible. He says which kinds of work are allowed in such need, gives the rules for trade and interest, and sets out the ritual method for beginning farming. The chapter is a detailed teaching within the larger talk on rājadharma (the dharma of kings).
The Agni Purāṇa, in its rules of dāna (Chapter 209), gives the brāhmaṇa’s rule for āpad as well: in a time of distress he may accept gifts from all.
The Idea behind Āpad-dharma
The Dharmaśāstra tradition (the texts on right living) accepts that the world is not perfect. Sometimes a person’s svadharma (their own duty and way of life) cannot support them. In such cases, taking up a lower kind of work is not a moral failure. It is a practical way of holding on to the spirit of dharma when its exact rules cannot be followed.
Pushkara says this clearly. A brāhmaṇa who cannot support himself by teaching, leading yajñas (fire offerings) and receiving gifts may take up the work of a kshatriya (warrior). If that too is impossible, he may take up the work of a vaiśya, such as trade and farming.
The way down is orderly. One may move only one step down at a time, and must go back to one’s svadharma as soon as things allow. Brāhmaṇas, kshatriyas and vaiśyas are all told plainly to avoid the work of a śūdra, paricaryā (service for wages). Śūdras, for their part, should not take up the work of a brāhmaṇa, though they may take up vaiśya work in great need. The ban on śvavṛtti, “a dog’s life”, meaning working as a paid servant, is very strong for all the dvija (twice-born) varṇas.
What May and May Not Be Sold
When a brāhmaṇa or kshatriya is forced to trade, Pushkara gives a careful list of goods.
May be sold: iron, weapons, poison, meat, soma, perfumes, milk, honey, curd, ghee, oil, bone-fat (majjā), sugar (bellaṃ), kuśa grass, liquor (surā), blue dye (nīla), lac (lākshā), salt and living beings.
Must never be sold, in any case: tila (sesame) in small amounts, cooked food (kṛtānnam in exchange for raw grain), and raw grain for grain of the same kind.
The rules for fair exchange are exact. Plants may be exchanged for plants, cooked food for cooked food, and sesame for grain of equal weight. Trade must stay fair and honest.
What happens after forbidden trade. These results show how serious each wrong is:
- Selling meat, lac or salt makes a brāhmaṇa fall from his standing at once (patita-tva).
- Selling milk makes a brāhmaṇa a śūdra within three days.
- Selling other forbidden goods makes him a vaiśya within seven nights.
These steps show that the protective line around brāhmaṇa-dharma is real. Āpad-dharma gives some room to bend, but not unlimited freedom.
Rules of Trade and Interest
For trade in general:
- Blameless goods: Pushkara names four kinds of goods as praśasta (blameless): śiva (goods that move quickly), rūksha (hard, lasting goods), cara (goods that are carried from place to place) and mṛdula (soft goods). Trade in these is not restricted.
- Unlucky days: The rikta-tithis, the fourth, ninth and fourteenth days of each fortnight, are to be avoided for trade.
- Interest (kusīda): The highest rate allowed for lending is two per cent a month (two paṇas on every hundred). Charging more is the same as theft and brings the same pāpa (wrongdoing).
- Good days for lending: Pratipad, Dvādaśī, Shashṭhī, the dhruva-nakshatras (the “fixed” lunar mansions) and Saturday are named as good days for money matters.
How to Begin Farming
Pushkara treats kṛshi (farming) as the most dharmic of the vaiśya ways of living. He gives a complete ritual method for starting it properly.
Arrangement with the landowner: The farmer gives the bhūsvāmin (landowner) his share of the harvest. This is the basic arrangement. Farming the land without paying the landowner’s share is against dharma.
Good timing: Farming should begin under favourable nakshatras (lunar mansions). The recommended dhruva-nakshatras are Rohiṇī (Soma), Anurādhā (Maitram), the Vāyavya and Paushṇa nakshatras, Aśvinī, Dhanishṭhā (Vāsavam), Śravaṇa, Citrā, Viśākhā, Punarvasu, Pushya and Mūla. Rikta-tithis, Tuesday and Saturday are to be avoided. Brahma-muhūrta (the time just before dawn) is good for every activity.
The pūjā before ploughing: Before the first furrow is cut, the farmer offers gandha (fragrance), mālya (garlands) and anna (food) to:
- Varāha, the boar avatāra who lifted the earth
- Śesha, the great serpent on whom the earth rests
- Pṛthivī Devī, the earth
- Parjanya, the deva of rain
- Bhāskara, the sun
- Vāyu, the wind
- Indra, deva of the rains and of kingship
- Candra, the moon
- Balarāma, the presiding deva of ploughing, whose sign is the plough
- The pair of cow and ox
A proper homa (fire offering) is done for each of these, brāhmaṇas are fed, and dakshiṇā (gifts) is given, all before any ploughing begins.
The ploughing mantras: The plough is yoked with the “Gāvo bhaga” mantra (two ṛks, or verses, of the Ṛg Veda). The plough itself is consecrated with the “Phālaṃ śunāṃ suphāla” mantra, and a homa is done. The field is ploughed in the direction in which it slopes toward the east or north. While ploughing, the three ṛks beginning “Sirāyuṃ canta” are recited.
Blessing the seed: The seeds are blessed with the mantra “yā oshadhayaḥ” and wetted with water in which gold has been placed. At the moment of sowing, the farmer says: “Prajāpate Kaśyapāya devatāyai… sadā me buddhitān devī bījeshu dhaneshu ca.”
The harvest: The same good time used for ploughing is recommended for the harvest (saṃgraha). The farmer wears new clothes, puts on a white garland, applies sandal paste, sits facing east, and eats the first meal from a gold or silver vessel. Brāhmaṇas and farm workers are fed.
The Valaya-yajña: A special yajña is done in the middle of the field. A post (yūpa) is set up in the centre of the field and anna-dāna (gift of food) is given. Grain and money are given as dakshiṇā. This yajña removes the pāpa of killing the worms, insects and small creatures that always die during ploughing.
Making Amends for the Harm Done in Farming
Farming cannot avoid some harm. Worms and small creatures are killed when the soil is turned. Pushkara says so openly and gives the way to make amends.
The pāpa of killing living beings (plants included) during farming is removed by the yajñas done at the beginning, middle and end of the farming cycle. After the hard times have passed and prosperity returns, the farmer should also give dāna (gifts):
- Eight cows for those who follow dharma-hala, “the righteous plough”
- Four cows for ordinary farmers working for a living
- Four cows for those with pāpa of an unnamed kind
- Two cows for those guilty of brahma-hatyā (killing a brāhmaṇa)
Ways of Living, from Highest to Lowest
Pushkara ends Chapter 82 with a teaching that ranks the ways a brāhmaṇa may live, from most to least honourable:
- Ṛtam, the uñcha-śila-vṛtti: gathering the grain left behind in fields after the harvest. It is the most dharmic because it involves no asking and no trade.
- Amṛtam, the ayācita-vṛtti: living on gifts one did not ask for. One does not ask, but accepts what comes.
- Mṛtam, the yācita-vṛtti: asking for gifts. It is allowed but lower.
- Pramṛtam, kṛshi (farming): it harms living beings in the soil, but is still dharmic when the proper yajñas are done.
- Satyānṛtam, vāṇijya (trade): it is mixed by nature, because it involves profit and some deception in bargaining. So it is called “truth and untruth” together.
- Śvavṛtti, service for wages: wholly forbidden. It is called “a dog’s life” because it makes a person dependent on the will of an employer.
The last teaching of the chapter echoes the Bhagavad Gītā. Dying in one’s own svadharma is better than doing another’s dharma well. Paradharma (another’s duty) brings bhaya (fear). Svadharma, even when done imperfectly, brings śreya (true good).
Per Agni Purāṇa
In the Agni Purāṇa, Agni Deva teaches Vasishṭha Maharshi the rules of dāna (giving), which give bhukti and mukti. In them he gives the rule for receiving gifts in a time of distress (āpat).
- For the support of mother, father and servants, and for the pūjā of the devatās and the pitṛs, one may accept gifts from anyone, but must not use them for oneself.
- A śūdra’s wealth must not be used in a yajña; if it is, the fruit of that yajña goes to the śūdra.
- A brāhmaṇa without a livelihood may accept from a śūdra jaggery, buttermilk, juice and similar things. A brāhmaṇa whose living has failed may accept everything.
- “For a brāhmaṇa is by nature pure like the Sun and Agni.” So in a time of distress, teaching the censured, officiating at their yajñas and accepting their gifts bring him no pāpa.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 209
Sources
- Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Uttarārdha (Dvitīya Khaṇḍa), Chapter 82
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 209