The forms of purification underwent further change and important extension. The new system, unlike the old custom, was not contented to remove defilement, when incurred, by the use of rules of purification, in which, in certain cases, traditional prayers and formulæ had to be pronounced in order to obviate the evil consequences, or drive away the bad spirits. In a large number of defilements the Brahmans saw something more than mere impurity; they were sins which must be removed by expiation. Their desire was not to expel the black spirits, but to eradicated and quench the false and sinful feelings in men, which gave rise to impurity. From the same point of view, and following the same path, they required that a man who had committed an offence, should not wait for the penalty of the court, but should punish himself, do penance of his own will, and by this voluntary punishment and expiation remove the consequences of his offence, not in this world only but in the next. The forms of expiation instituted by the Brahmans for the removal of impurity and offences consist of prayers, which at times have to be repeated a thousand times daily, of fasts more or less severe, and occupying more or less time, of corporal punishments, and in the case of grievous offences, of voluntary death or suicide. Any one who by misadventure has eaten forbidden food must perform the expiation of the moon, or the Santapana. The expiation of the moon consists in eating nothing but rice for a whole month; on the first day of the waning moon fifteen mouthfuls are to be taken, and a mouthful less each day till the sixteenth, when a total fast is to be kept; from this time for each day of the increase of the moon a mouthful more is to be taken till the fifteenth day.[203] The Santapana requires that the penitent should live for a day on the urine and dung of cows mingled with milk, and drink water boiled with kuça-grass; the day following he is to fast.[204] To atone for the forbidden food eaten unintentionally by an Arya in the course of a year, it was necessary to perform the penance of Prajapatya for twelve days.[205] On the first three days he eats in the morning only; on the next three, in the evening only; on the seventh, eighth, and ninth day he eats only what strangers give him, without asking; on the last three days he keeps a strict fast. Any one who intentionally eats what is forbidden is expelled by the members of his family from the family and caste. The Brahmans punished indulgence in intoxicating drinks with severe penalties; we saw how much inclined the Aryas were to excess in this respect. The excited and passionate state, induced by such liquors, was diametrically opposed to the quiet, patient existence, which was now the ideal of the Brahmans. Any one who wilfully became intoxicated was to go on drinking boiling rice-water till his body was entirely consumed; then only was he free from his sin. This offence could also be expiated by drinking the boiling urine of a cow, or boiling liquid of cow-dung, till death ensued. Drunkenness was not the only sin on which the Brahmans imposed a penalty of voluntary death. Any one who unintentionally killed a cow, was to shave his head, put on as a garment the skin of the dead cow, repair to the pasture, salute the cows and wait upon them, and then perform his ablutions with the urine of cows instead of water. He must follow the cows step by step, swallow the dust which they raise, bring them into shelter in bad weather and guard them. If a cow is attacked by a beast of prey he must defend it with his life. If he does not perish in the service, cow-keeping of this nature continued for three months atones for his offence.[206] If a Vaiçya or a Kshatriya unintentionally kills a Brahman, he must wander over a hundred yodhanas, constantly reciting one of the three Vedas. If a Kshatriya intentionally slays a Brahman, he must allow himself to be shot down by arrows, or throw himself head-foremost three times into the fire till death ensues. Any one who has defiled the bed of his father or teacher must lie on a red-hot bed of iron, or expiate his offence by self-mutilation, and death.[207]