"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.