Reading section 17

"The duties of the Kshatriyas consist in making gifts to the Brahmins at pleasure, in worshipping Vishnu with various sacrifices and receiving instructions from the preceptor. His principal sources of maintenance are arms and protection of the earth. But his greatest duty consists in guarding the earth. By protecting the earth a king attains his objects; for he gets a share of the merit of all sacrifices. If a king, by maintaining the order of caste, represses the wicked, supports the pious he proceeds to whatever region he desires.

"O lord of men, the great Patriarch Brahmā has assigned to the Vaiçyas, for their maintenance, the feeding of the cattle, commerce and agriculture. Study, sacrifice and gift are also within the duties of the Vaiçyas: besides these they may also observe the other fixed and occasional rites.

"The Sudra must maintain himself by attending upon the three castes, or by the profits of trade, or the earnings of mechanical labour. He may also make gifts, offer the sacrifices in which food is presented and he may also make obsequial offerings.

"Besides these, the four castes have got other duties namely—the acquisition of wealth for the support of servants, co-habitation with their wives for the sake of children, kindness towards all creatures, patience, humility, truth, purity, contentment, decorum of manners, gentleness of speech, friendliness, freedom from envy or avarice and the habit of vilifying, these also constitute the duties of every condition of life.

"In cases of emergency a Brāhmin may follow the occupations of a Kshatriya or Vaiçya; the Kshatriya may adopt those of Vaiçyas and the Vaiçya those of Kshatriya: but the last two should never adopt the functions of the Sudra if they could avoid them. And if that be not possible they must at any rate avoid the functions of the mined caste. I will now describe to you, O king, the duties of the several Asramas".

SECTION IX.

Aurva said:—"O king, when a youth is invested with the sacred thread, he must reside in the house of his preceptor and study the Vedas with a concentrated mind, and leading a life of continence. He must, with pure practices, wait upon his spiritual preceptor and with the performance of religious rites acquire the Veda. He must, O king, with concentration, worship both in the morning and evening, the fire and the sun and after that he must bow to his spiritual guide. O King, he must stand when his preceptor is standing, he must move when he is walking and he must sit beneath him when he is seated; he must never sit nor walk, nor stand when his teacher does the otherwise. Whatever portion of the Vedas he shall be taught by his preceptor, he must read that with undivided mind before him. He must beg when permitted by his teacher and eat the food thus collected. He must bathe in the water which has been first used by his preceptor and every morning he must bring for him fuel, water or anything that he may require. Having thus completed his studies, he must receive dismissal from his preceptor and then enter into the order of the householder; and taking to himself with lawful ceremonies, house, wife and wealth, he must discharge to the best of his power the duties of his life. He must satisfy the manes with cakes, the celestials with sacrifices, the guests with hospitality, the Rishis with holy study, the Patriarch with progeny, the spirits with oblations and all the worlds with truthful words. By thus discharging duties a householder may attain to heaven. A householder is a refuge to those who depend upon alms for their maintenance and those who lead an itinerant life of self denial; thus the condition of the householder is the best of all. O lord, the Brāhmins travel all over the earth either for studying the Vedas or for beholding the holy places; many of them are houseless and without food and live for the night at the house at which they arrive in the evening. The householder is always a refuge to these people. O king, it is his duty to welcome them and address them kindly and to provide them, whenever they come to his house, with a bed, a seat and food. If a guest goes back disappointed from a house he leaves behind his iniquities and takes away the accumulated piety of the householder. In the house of a good man, contumely, arrogance, hypocrisy, repining, contradiction and violence are strictly prohibited: and the householder, who performs the principal duty of hospitality, is freed from all chains and attains to better stations after death.

"O king, having performed all these duties, when a householder is stricken in years, he must proceed to woods, either with his wife, or leaving her to the charge of his son. He must live there upon leaves, roots and fruits; allow his hair and beard to grow, and braid the former upon his brows and sleep upon the ground. His dress must be made of skin or of Kāsa and Kusā grasses. He must bathe thrice a day, offer oblations to the celestials and to fire and treat all his guests with hospitality. He must beg alms and give food to all creatures. He must annoint himself with such unguents as are found in the forest and while carrying on his devout practices he must endure heat and cold. He, who leading the life of a hermit, follows these rules, destroys like fire all imperfections, and attains to the region of Brahman.

"The fourth condition of life, O king, is called by the sages, that of a mendicant. I shall relate the characteristics thereof; do thou hear. O lord of men, having relinquished attachments for wife, children and other earthly objects, men leading the life of a hermit, must enter into the fourth stage of life. He must forego the three objects of life, namely pleasure, wealth and virtue either secular or religious. And regarding all with an equal eye, he must be friend to all living beings. And being devoted, he must not injure any living creature, human or brute, either in act, word, or thought and renounce all attachments. He must not live more than one night in a village and more than five nights in a city. He must live in all those places where good feeling and not animosity is created in mind. He must, for his maintenance, beg for alms at the houses of the three first castes at the time when fires have been put out and peoples have eaten. The itinerant beggar must not call anything his own and must suppress desire, anger, covetousness, pride and folly. The ascetic, who gives no cause of fear to any living creature, does not apprehend any danger from them. The Brāhmin, who, having placed the sacrificial fire in his own body, feeds that flame with the butter that is procured by alms, through the altar of his mouth, goes to his own proper abode. But the Brāhman who longs for final emancipation, who has got a pure heart, and whose mind is perfected by self-investigation, goes to the region of Brahman, which is quiet and is as bright as the flameless smoke".

SECTION X.

Sagara said:—"O foremost of twice-born ones, you have described to me the duties of the four orders and four castes. I wish to hear from you the religious observances of men. Methinks you know every thing, O foremost of Vrigus, tell me all about these observances, either invariable, occasional or voluntary". Whereto Aurva replied, "I shall describe to you all you have asked, the invariable and occasional ceremonies of men: do you hear, O king.

"As soon as a son is born his father should perform the ceremonies consequent upon the birth of a child and all other initiatory ceremonies as well as a Srādh which is the source of prosperity. He must feed two Brāhminis, seated with their faces to the east and according to his means must offer sacrifices to the celestials and the progenitors, O lord of earth. He must delightedly offer to the manes, balls of meat, mixed with curds, barley and jujubes with the four part of his finger. On every occasion of prosperity, he must perform this with all offerings and go through circumambulalations.

"Upon the tenth day after birth the father should give a name to the child, the first term of which shall be the name of a god and the second of a man as Sarman or Varman. The former is the proper designation of a Brāhmin, and the second of a Kshatriya. And the Vaiçyas and Sudras should have the designation of Gupta and Dāsha, A name should not be devoid of any meaning, should not be indecent, absurd, inauspicious nor dreadful. It should contain an even number of syllables; it should not be too long nor too short, nor too full of long vowels, but contain a due proportion of short vowels and be easily articulated.

"After going through these initiatory ceremonies and being purified the youth should acquire knowledge from his preceptor. And having acquired knowledge from the preceptor and given him presents, O king, he should, desirous of entering the order of householders, marry. If he desires to continue his life as a student, he should, taking that vow, engage in the service of his preceptor and his descendant or he may, according to his premeditated inclination, Q king, at once become a hermit or adopt the order of the religious mendicant.

"He must marry a maiden, who is of a third of his age, one who has not too much of hair, but is not without any, one who is not very black nor yellow complexioned and is nor from birth a cripple or deformed. He must not marry a girl, who is vicious or unhealthy, born of a low family, or suffering from any disease; one who may have been badly trained, one who talks improperly, one who inherited some disease from father or mother; one who has a beard and has got a masculine appearance; one who speaks thick or thin or croaks like a craven, who has got eyes without eye lashes, or sufficiently covered with them; one who has got legs covered with hairs, thick ankles; one who has dimples in her cheeks when laughing. The learned should not marry a girl who has not got a tender countenance, who has got white nails, and who has got red eyes. The wise and prudent should not marry one whose hands and legs are heavy, who is a dwarf, or who is very tall or one whose eyebrows meet, or whose teeth are far apart and resemble tusks. O king, a householder should marry a girl who is at least five degrees distant in descent from his mother and seven degrees from his father.

"There are eight forms of marriage—namely, Brāhma, Daiva, the Arsha, Prajāpatyā, Asura, Gāndharba, Rākshasa and Paisācha and the last is the worst. And every one should marry according to the mode enjoined to his caste by the sages and should never marry according to the Paisācha mode. Thus entering the order of householders, if a man takes a wife observing the same religious and civil obligations and perform all the ceremonies of his orders in her company, he derives great benefit from such a wife".

SECTION XI.

Sagara said—"O Muni, I wish to hear from you of such religious observances, performing which a householder does not meet with the wane of piety either in this world or in the next".

Aurva said—"Hear, O lord of earth, an account of all those religious observances celebrating which a man conquers both this and the next world. The term sat means Sādhu; and they are called Sādhus or saints who are freed from all blemishes. And their practices are called Sāddhachāras. O lord of earth, the seven Rishis, the Manus and the Patriarchs are those who have laid down and observed those practices. Let the wise, O king, get up at Brahmā Muhartta,[244] when the mind is at rest, meditate upon virtue and wealth not incompatible with the former. He should also meditate upon desire not conflicting with the other two. And he must equally meditate upon the three ends of life for the purpose of counteracting the unseen consequences of good or best acts. He should renounce, O king, such wealth and desire as stand in the way of virtue, and he should abstain from such religious acts as give uneasiness, and as are not compatible with the rules of society. O lord of men, having got up from bed early in the morning, he must offer adoration to the sun and then proceeding to the South-East quarter at a distance of a bow-shot or more, or somewhere remote from the village he must void the impurities of nature. A man should not void the impurities of nature either in the court yard of his house or in any place where is the print of a man's foot. The wise should not pass urine either on his own shadow, nor on the shadow of a tree, nor on a cow, nor against the sun nor on fire, nor against the wind, nor on spiritual preceptor, nor men of the first three castes. Nor he should pass excrement in a ploughed field, or a pasturage, or in the company of men, or on a high road, or in rivers and the like which are holy, or on the bank of a river or in a cremation ground. O king, the wise should pass urine with his face towards the north during the day and towards the south during the night. While passing excrement he should spread grass on the earth and cover his head with cloth and should not wait there long, and should not speak during that time. To clean his hand he should not take earth from an ant-hill, not a rat-hole, nor from water, nor from what has been left after being used for that purpose, nor from what has been used to plaster a cottage, nor that which has been thrown up by insects, or turned over by the plough. He must avoid all these kinds of earth for the purpose of cleanliness; he should use one handful after passing urine, three handfuls after passing excrement, ten handfuls are to be rubbed over the left hand and seven on both hands. He should then rinse his mouth with pure water which is neither fetid, nor frothy nor full of bubbles. After that, he should, being composed, use earth to cleanse his feet, washing them well with water.

"He must then drink water thrice and wash his face twice with it and then touch with his head, the cavities of the eyes, ears and nostrils, the forehead, navel and the heart. Having finally washed his mouth he must clean and arrange his hairs and must decorate his body, before a looking glass with unguents, garlands and perfumes. He, then according to the practice of his caste, should earn money for maintenance and should worship the deities with firm faith. Sacrifices with acid juice, those with clarified butter and those with offerings of food, may be performed with wealth; therefore men should endeavour much to acquire wealth.

"For performing daily devotional rites a man should bathe in the water of a river, a natural channel, or a mountain torrent or he should bathe on a dry ground with the water drawn from well or he should bring that water to his house if he had any objection to bathing on the spot. Bathed and clad in clean clothes, he should, with concentrated mind offer oblations to the manes and Rishis with that water. He should offer water thrice for the satisfaction of the celestials, thrice for the satisfaction of the Rishis and once for the patriarchs. He should make three libations for the satisfaction of the manes. He should, with the part of the hand sacred to the manes, offer wafer to his paternal grand father, great grand father, maternal grand father, great grand father and his father, and according to his pleasure to his own mother and his mother's mother and grand mother, to the wife of his preceptor, to his preceptor, his maternal uncle, and other relations, to a dear friend and to the king. He should then, O king, offer water to the celestials for the benefit of all animals, reciting the prayer. 'May the celestials, demons, Yakshas, Serpents, Rākshasas, Gandharvas, Pisāchas, Guhyakas, Siddas, Kushmandas, trees, birds, fish, all that inhabit the waters or the earth, or the air, be propitiated by the water I have offered to them. This water is presented by me for the mitigation of the sufferings of all those who have been put to hell. Let them be propitiated with this water who are my friends, who are not my friends, who were my friends in my former birth and all those who expect water from me. May this water and sesamum offered by me remove the hunger and thirst of all those who are suffering therefrom wherever they may live'. The offerings, of water, O king, in the manner I have described, give satisfaction to all the world. Having offered water duly and reverentially to all the sinless man obtains the piety that comes from satisfying the world.

"Having rinsed his mouth he must offer water to the sun touching his forehead with folded hands and reciting the following player—'Salutation to the radiant Vaivaswat—the effulgence of Vishnu; to the pure illuminator of the universe; to Sāvitri, the giver of fruits for all actions'. He must then go through the family worship, offering water, flowers, and incense to the tutelary deity. He must then offer oblations to fire, first invoking Brahmā then Prajāpati. He must then offer water to Guhya, Kāshyapa and Anumati in succession and then offer the remainder to the earth, to water and to rain in a pitcher at hand. O foremost of men, he must offer water to Dhātri Vidhātri at the doors of his house and to Brahmā in the middle of it. Hear from me how he should then worship the deities presiding over the various quarters.

"He should offer the Bali containing the remaining portions of the oblations to Indra, Yama, Varuna and Soma on the four sides of his house. And in the north-east quarter the wise should offer it to Dhanwantari; then he should offer the remaining portion to Viswadevas, then in the north-east to wind then in all directions to the cardinal points, to Brahmā, to the atmosphere, and to the sun, to all the celestials, to all beings, to the lords of beings, to the manes, and to Yakshas. Thereupon taking other rice the learned should cast it on a clean spot of ground as an offering to all beings and with a collected mind should repeat the following prayer—'May celestials, men, animals, birds, saints. Yakshas, serpents, demons, ghosts, goblins, trees and all those who desire food from me; may ants, worms, moths and other insects who are hungry and chained in acts, obtain satisfaction from food offered by me and enjoy bliss. I offer this food on the ground for them who have got no mother, no father, no friends, no food, nor the means for preparing it. May they be satisfied with the food offered for their satisfaction. All these animals, this food and myself are at one with Vishnu—for there exists nothing but Vishnu; I am not different from all beings, and therefore for their sustenance I offer this food. May all beings, that belong to the fourteen orders of existent things, be satisfied and delighted with the food offered by me'.

"Having repeated this prayer the householder should devoutly throw the food on the ground for the benefit of all beings; for the householder is thence the supporter of them all. He should also disperse food on the ground for dogs, outcasts, birds and all mean and degraded persons.

"Thereupon to receive guests the householder should wait in the courtyard of his house as long as it takes to milch a cow or for a longer period if he pleases. If a guest comes he must be received with all hospitality; he must be offered a seat, his feet are to be washed, food should be respectfully given to him, he must be spoken to with all kindness and civility and when he goes away, the friendly wishes of the host must accompany him. The householder should pay attention to that guest who comes from another place and whose lineage is not known. He should not make him a guest who is an inhabitant of the same village. He who feeds himself, neglecting a guest, who is poor, who is not his relation, who comes from another place and is desirous of eating, goes to hell. The householder should receive his guest regarding him as the golden embryo[245] without inquiring his studies, his schools, his practices or his race.

"A householder, O king, at the Srādha ceremony of his father, should feed another Brāhmin, who is of the same village, whose pedigree and practices are known and who performs the five sacramental rites. He should also present to a Brāhmin, who is well versed in the Vedas, four handfuls of food, set apart, with the exclamation Hanta. If he has got means left after making these three sorts of gifts, the learned should, according to his pleasure, make gifts to a mendicant and a religious student. These three, with the addition of the mendicant described before, are to be considered as guests; and he, who treats these four sorts of persons with hospitality, is freed of the debt due to his fellow beings. The guest, who goes elsewhere disappointed from any house, transfers his own sins to the owner of the house and takes away the house-holder's merits. Brahmā, Prajāpati, Indra, fire, the Vasus, the sun are present in the person of a guest and share the food that is offered to him. Therefore a man should assiduously satisfy the duties of hospitality; for a man, who eats his food without giving any to his guest, feeds only upon his own sin. Thereupon the householder must satisfy with well-seasoned food the damsel living in her father's house, those who are ill, the pregnant woman, the aged and the infants of the house and then he should eat himself. The householder, who eats his food without feeding these, feeds upon his own iniquity and after his death is condemned in hell to feed upon phlegm. He, who eats, without performing ablutions, feeds upon filth; he, who eats without repeating his prayers, feeds upon matter and blood; he, who eats unconsecrated food, drinks urine; and he, who eats before the infants and the aged are fed, is doomed in hell to live upon ordure. O foremost of kings, I shall now describe, do you hear, how a householder should eat and for which he would not be sullied with iniquity, his perpetual health and increased vigour would be secured and all evils and hostilities would be averted. Having bathed and offered duly libations to the celestials, Rishis, and manes and adorned his hand with precious jewels, having recited introductory prayers, offered oblations with fire, food to guests, to Brāhmans, to his elders and to his family, the householder should take his meal, wearing unsullied cloth, excellent garlands and sprinkled with perfumes. He must not eat, O lord, of men, with a single garment on, nor with wet hands and feet.

"He must not eat with his face directed to my intermediate point of horizon, but facing the east or the north; and with a smiling countenance, happy and attentive, let him take good and wholesome food boiled with clean water, procured from no mean person, nor by improper means nor improperly cooked. Having given a part to his hungry companions he should take food without reproach from a clean, handsome vessels which must not be placed upon a low stool or bed. He must not take his food in an unbecoming place or out of season or in an unsuitable mood, giving the first morsel to fire. His food, O king, must be consecrated with suitable texts, must be good and must not be stale except in the case of fruit or meat. Nor it should be made of dry vegetable substances other than jujubes or preparation of molasses. And a man should never eat that of which the juices have been extracted. Nor a man should so eat as nothing will be left of his meal except in the case of flour, cakes, honey, water, curds and butter. He should with a devoted mind first taste that which has good flavour; in the middle he should take salt and sour things and in the end he should take those which are pungent and bitter. The person, who begins his food with fluid things, takes solid food in the middle and finishes with fluid things, will ever be strong and healthy. In this wise he should take such food as is not prohibited, should be silent at the time of eating and should take five handfuls for the nutriment of the vital principle. After he has taken his food, he should, facing the east or the north, rinse his mouth, and having washed his hands up to the wrist he should again sip water. Then with a satisfied and calm mind he should take his seat, meditate upon his tutelary deity and pray 'May fire excited by air cause this food to digest in the space afforded by the etherial atmosphere, convert this into the earthly elements of this body and give me satisfaction. May this food, when assimilated, contribute to the vigour of the earth, water, fire, and air of my body and afford unmixed satisfaction. May Agasti, Agni and submarine fire bring about the digestion of the food I have taken and may I enjoy happiness consequent thereupon and may my body be freed from all ills. May Vishnu, who is the chief principle of all senses, of all bodies and souls, be propitiated with my faith and may cause such assimilation the food I have eaten as may invigorate my health. Verily Vishnu is the eater, the food and the nourishment, may the food I have taken, through this faith, be digested'.