SECTION XII.
Alurva said:—"The householder should venerate gods, king, Brāhmanas, saints, aged persons and holy preceptors. He should also observe duly the two Sandhyas and offer oblations to fire. He should use untorn garments, delicate herbs and flowers, wear emeralds and other precious stones, keep his hair neat and clean, perfume his body with delicious unguents and should always go out handsomely dressed and decorated with garlands and white flowers. He should not misappropriate another's property nor should treat him unkindly. He should always speak amiably and the truth and should not speak out publicly another's faults. O foremost of men, he should not envy another's prosperity—nor should he create enmity with another; he should not use a broken conveyance, nor should he sit under the shadow of a tree on the banks of a river. The wise should not make friends with, nor should they wend the same way with, one who is hated, who is a sinner or a drunkard, who has many enemies, or who is lousy, with a harlot or her gallant, with a pauper or a with a prodigal, a slanderer or a knave. A man should not bathe in river when it is ebb-tide, should not enter a house when it is on fire nor climb to the top of a tree; nor (when in the company of others) clean his teeth, nor blow his nose nor grape without covering his mouth, nor clean his throat, nor cough, nor laugh loudly, nor emit wind with noise, nor bite his nails, nor cut grass, nor scratch ground, nor put his beard into his mouth, nor crumble a clod of clay, nor look upon the planets when he is unclean. He should not see another's wife when she is naked nor see the sun at the time of its rising or setting. He should not express disgust at a dead body for the odour of it is the produce of the moon. He should avoid, during the night, the place where four roads meet, the village tree, the forest adjacent to a cremation ground and a loose woman. The wise should not pass across the shadow of a venerable person, of an image of a deity, of a flag and of a heavenly luminary. He should not travel alone in a forest nor sleep alone in an empty house. He should live at a distance from hair, bones, thorn, filth, remnants of offerings, ashes, chaff and earth wet with water in which another has bathed. He should not seek the shelter of a degraded wight and should renounce the company of wily persons. He should not approach voracious animals and should not lie down on bed long after sleep is broken. He should not, for a too long time, lie down on bed, sleep, keep up nights, sit and take exercise. The wise should avoid, even at a distance, animals with tusks and horns and exposure to frost, wind and sunshine. A man should neither bathe, nor sleep nor rinse his mouth when he is naked; he should not wash his mouth nor perform any sacred rite with his waistband loosened. Nor he should, with one piece of cloth on, offer oblations to fire, sacrifice to the celestials, wash his mouth, salute a Brāhman or utter a prayer. He should not associate with evil companions—the intercourse for half an instant, the pious is desirable. The wise should not quarrel men inferior or superior to them; dispute and marriage with equals are always desirable. The wise should never enter into dispute and should always avoid useless enmity. It is better to suffer a trifling loss but he should not acquire wealth by hostility.
"When bathed he should not wipe his limbs with the cloth he has put on nor with his hands; he should not shake his hair nor rinse his mouth before he has risen. He should not put one foot upon another nor spread out his foot before his elders but should modestly sit in a posture called Verāsana i.e., on his knees. He should not go round a temple upon his left hand nor circumambulate any venerable object in the reverse direction. The wise should not spit nor void impurities before the moon, fire, the sun, water, wind, or any respectable person. Nor should he pass urine standing or upon a public way; he should not pass over phlegm, ordure, urine or blood; nor should he spit forth the mucus of the throat at the time of eating, offering sacrifices or oblations or reciting prayers or before a respectable person.
"A man should not treat women disrespectfully nor should he place too much confidence in them. He should not deal with them impatiently nor should he give them supremacy in important matters. O king, wise persons, ever treading the path of morality, should not issue out of his house without saluting the chaplets, flowers, jewels, clarified butter and venerable persons. He should salute the places where four roads meet, perform sacrifices at proper seasons, relieve the poor and venerate the learned and good-natured. He who worships the celestials and saints, gives cakes and water to the manes, and performs hospitality, attains to exalted stations after death. He who speaks wisely, moderately and compassionately proceeds to the regions which are the perpetual sources of bliss. He who is intelligent, bashful, forgiving, god-fearing and humble, proceeds to the region which is attainable by the learned and those born in a pious race.
"The wise should not read the Vedas on the Parva days, on impure seasons, upon untimetely thunder and the occurrence of eclipses. The attainment of heaven is a trifling thing to him who allays the anger of the angry, who is friend to all and freed from malice, and who removes the fear of the pious. A man should use an umbrella to protect him against the sun and rain; he should carry a rod when he goes by night or through a forest and he should use shoes if he wishes to save his body from being hurt. As he proceeds he should not look up nor about him, nor afar off but keep his eyes upon the ground to the extent of a couple of yards.
"He, who, having controlled himself, puts a stop to the sources of all these imperfections, meets with no obstacle in the acquisition of piety, wealth and desire. Final emancipation is in his grasp, who is sinless towards them who commit mischief by him, who speaks amicably to them who use harsh words and whose soul melts with the benevolence. The earth is upheld by the truthfulness of those who have controlled their passions, and who, always following pious observances, are not sullied by desire, covetousness and anger. A man should therefore speak truth when it is agreeable and he should be silent when that truth would give pain. He should avoid agreeable words when they are detrimental and unreasonable, for it is always better to speak those disagreeable words which would produce salutary effect, although it would give offence. A prudent man should always cultivate that, in act, thought and speech, which conduces to the well-being of all living creatures both in this world and the next".
SECTION XIII.
Alurva said:—"A father, without changing his cloth, should bathe when a son is born; he should then go through the ceremonies consequent upon the birth and perform the Srāddha which should always be celebrated upon occasions of prosperity. With a composed mind and thinking on nothing else, he should worship both the celestials and the manes and reverentially go round keeping Brāhmans on his left hand and offer them food. And standing with his face directed to the east, he should, with the portions of the hand sacred to the celestials and Prajāpati, offer balls of food with curds, unbruised grain and jujubes. He should perform on every accession of prosperity the Srāddha ceremony, by which the manes called Nāndimukhas are propitiated. On the occasion of the marriage of a son or daughter, on entering a new house, on giving a name to a child on performing his tonsure and other purificatory rites, at the binding of the mother's hair during gestation, on first seeing the face of a son and on similar other occasions a householder should diligently worship the manes so named. I have described to you, O king, the mode of worshipping the manes, as laid down by ancient sages; hear, I shall now describe the rules for the performance of obsequial rites.
"Having washed the dead body with sacred water, adorned it with garlands and reduced it to ashes outside the village, the relatives having bathed with their clothes on, should stand with their faces to the south and offer libations to the dead, addressing him by name and saying, 'Whatever thou mayst be.' (And if it is burnt during the day,) they should return to the village along with the cattle coming from pasture, and when stars appear, should go to rest, sleeping on mats spread upon the earth. (And as long as the mourning lasts) every day a ball of food should be placed on the ground as an offering to the dead and they should take rice without flesh. And as long as the mourner wishes he should feed the Brāhmans for the soul of the dead derives pleasure in as much as his kinsmen are satisfied with their entertainment. (After the death of a person) on the first day, or the third, or seventh or ninth, his relatives should change their clothes and bathe out of doors and offer a libation of water with sesamum-seeds. On the fourth day the bones and ashes should be collected; after which the body, of one connected with the dead by offerings of funeral cakes, should be touched without thereby incurring impurity. And those who are related by presentation of water are qualified for any business. The former class of kinsmen are allowed to use beds but still they are prohibited from using arguments and flowers and must observe continence after ashes and bones have been collected. When a child is dead, or one who is abroad, or one who is degraded, or one who is a spiritual guide, or when one commits suicide, or when one destroys himself by water, fire or by hanging, the period of uncleanliness is over as soon as the news is received. The food of a family, in which a relation is dead, should not be taken for ten days. During the period of uncleanliness, gifts, acceptance, sacrifice and the study of sacred writings should be suspended. The term of uncleanliness for a Brāhmin is ten days; for a Kshatriya twelve days; for a Vaiçya fifteen days and for a Sudra a whole month. On the first day after the period of impurity is over, the nearest relative of the dead should feed Brāhmins at his pleasure, but in uneven number and should offer to the dead a ball of rice upon holy grass placed near the remaining portion of the food that has been consumed. After the Brāhmans have been fed, the mourner, according to his caste, should touch water, a weapon of goad or a staff—for he is purified by such contact. He should then resume the duties assigned to his caste and maintain his livelihood by the acquisition of wealth.
"He should then perform the Srāddha of his deceased relative on the day of his death in each month (for a year). And then feeding the Brāhmins in an uneven number he should offer balls to the deceased. The Brāhmins should then be accosted by the sacrificer if they are satisfied and after they have declared their satisfaction he should relate the prayer, 'May this ever satisfy such a one.'