The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2 Vol Set)

of impurity include essential bodily
functions, such as urination and evacu-
ation; sexual activity; contact with
impure things both inside and outside
one’s home; and even contact with cer-
tain groups of people deemed impure.
Thus, although purity is always easy to
regain, it is impossible to retain, since it
is breached by many of the actions of
everyday life. It is also important to real-
ize that impurity brings no moral stigma
to an individual—becoming impure
means simply that one has come into
contact with some contaminant, and
that this must be removed. The only
times when purity is particularly impor-
tant are in worshipand in eating—the
former to keep from contaminating
the deitiesand their environs, the latter
to protect oneself, since the circum-
stances surrounding what one eats
are considered to have long-term effects
on an individual.
Aside from its personal dimension,
purity has a social dimension as well.
Higher status groups, such as brah-
mins, are considered to have inherently
higher ritual purity. This social dimen-
sion of purity comes with birthand is
the religious basis determining the
hierarchical divisions in the traditional
social system. To some extent, a
group’s purity level corresponds to its
hereditary occupation. People who
had continual contact with substances
considered impure (such as latrine
cleaners, corpse burners, and scav-
engers) were seen as tainted by work,
and rendered impure. Brahmins, as
scholars and priests (the latter a task
that brought them in contact with the
gods), were the purest. Between these
extremes fell the other groups, whose
relative status in a specific locale was
determined by local factors. For theo-
retical consideration of the impor-
tance that purity plays in modern
Hindu life, see Louis Dumont, Homo
Hierarchicus, 1980; for another analy-
sis of social ordering, see McKim
Marriot, “Hindu Transactions:
Diversity Without Dualism,” in Bruce
Kapferer (ed.), Transaction and

Meaning, 1976; see also Pauline

Kolenda, “Purity and Pollution,” in T.

N. Madan (ed.), Religion in India,

1991. See also casteand jati.

Purochana

In the Mahabharata, the later of the two

great Hindu epics, Purochana is a minis-

ter of Duryodhana, the epic’s antago-

nist. He advises Duryodhana to build the

House of Lacas a means to kill the

Pandavas, the five brothers who are

Duryodhana’s cousins, and the epic’s

protagonists. After the Pandavas move

into the House of Lac, Purochana sets

fireto it. The Pandavas, whose uncle

Vidurahas alerted them to the danger,

are able to escape through a secret

underground passage, but Purochana

himself is killed in the fire.

Purohit

(“[one] placed in front”) The most

important of the priestly functionaries

in the cult of sacrifice found in

the Brahmanas. The purohit was

Purohit

Pilgrim bathing in the sacred Narmada River.

Bathing is believed to be purifying, especially

when it is done in sacred waters.