9. 'Those (Brahmawas in) whose (houses) men- struating women sit, those who keep no sacred fire,
8. Taitt. Sawh. II, 5, i, 6. I read the text of this Sutra as follows: 'Taddhu^ — a«grana'bhyangranam eva'sya' na pratigr&hyaw* taddhi striya" annam iti — tasmat tasyai fa tatra fa bibhatsante me- yam up&g&d iti.' The MSS. give the following readings in the second clause : tasmat tasmai fa (B. Bh. E. F.), tatra na (F.), me- dhamupaga'd (Bh. F.), medha updgdd (E.), seyamupdgSd (B.) Kr*sh»apa«dita follows as usually MS. B. His explanation of the whole Sutra is erroneous. ' That is the food of women/ i. e. that is as necessary to women as their food, because to beautify themselves is one of their duties.
9. The meaning of the Sutra is that a Br&hmanical beggar must not accept any alms from Brahma;;as whose wives are in their
34 VASISHTWA. VI, I.
and those in whose family there is no .Srotriya, — all these are equal to
CHAPTER VI.
1. (To live according to) the rule of conduct is
doubtlessly the highest duty of all men. He whose
soul is defiled by vile conduct perishes in this world
and in the next.
2. Neither austerities, nor (the study of) the Veda,
nor (the performance of) the Agnihotra, nor lavish
liberality can ever save him whose conduct is vile
and who has strayed from this (path of duty).
3. The Vedas do not purify him who is deficient
in good conduct, though he may have learnt them
all together with the six Angas ; the sacred texts de-
part from such a man at death, even as birds, when
full-fledged, leave their nest.
4. As the beauty of a wife causes no joy to a
blind man, even so all the four Vedas together with
the six Arigas and sacrifices give no happiness to
him who is deficient in good conduct.
courses, who keep no sacred fire, and do not attend to the duty of Veda-study. Regarding sinners of the latter two kinds, see also Apastamba I, 6, 18, 32-33.
VI. i. Manu IV, 155. The word &Hra, which has been vari- ously translated by ' conduct,' ' rule of conduct,' and ' good con- duct,' includes the observance of all the various rules for every-day life, taught in the Smn'tis, and the performance of the prescribed ceremonies and rites.
4. I read with MSS. Bh. and E., sha</ahgastvakhila^ saya^naA. The reading of MS. B., which KrzsrmapawdTita adopts, shadahgaA sakhila/fc means, 'together with the six Angas, (and) the Khila (spurious) portions of the Veda.'
Vi, 8. Rule of Conduct. 35
5. The sacred texts do not save from sin the
deceitful man who behaves deceitfully. But that
Veda, two syllables of which are studied in the
right manner, purifies, just as the clouds (give be-
neficent rain) in the month of Isha.
6. A man of bad conduct is blamed among men,
evils befal him constantly, he is afflicted with disease
and short-lived.
7. Through good conduct man gains spiritual merit,
through good conduct he gains wealth, through good
conduct he obtains beauty, good conduct obviates the
effect of evil marks.
8. A man who follows the rule of conduct esta-
blished among the virtuous, who has faith and is
free from envy, lives a hundred years, though he
be destitute of all auspicious marks.
5. Isha is another name for A.rvina, the month September- October. Though the rainy season, properly so called, is over in September, still heavy rain falls in many parts of India, chiefly under the influence of the beginning north-east monsoon, and is particularly important for the Rabi or winter crops. I think, therefore, that it is not advisable to take, as Knsh«apa«<fita does, yatha ishe 'bda£ both with the first and the second halres of the verse, and to translate, ' As the clouds (in general remain barren) in the month of Isha, even so the texts of the Veda do not save from evil the deceitful man who behaves deceitfully. But that Veda, two syllables of which have been studied in the right manner, sanctifies, just as the clouds in the month of Isha, (which shed a few drops of rain on the day of the Svati conjunction, produce pearls).' ' In the right manner,' i. e. with the due observance of the rules of studentship.
6. Identical with Manu IV, 157.
7. Manu IV, 156. By the 'inauspicious marks' mentioned in this verse, and the ' auspicious marks ' occurring in the next, the various lines on the hands and feet &c. are meant, the explanation of which forms the subject of the S^mudrika .Sastra.
8. Identical with Manu IV, 158; Vishmi LXXI, 92.
$6 VASISHTFA. VI, 9.
9. But a man who knows the sacred law shall
perform in secret all acts connected with eating, the
natural evacuations and dalliance with (his wife) ;
business to be accomplished by speech or intellect,
likewise austerities, wealth, and age, must be most
carefully concealed.
10. And a man shall void both urine and faeces,
facing the north, in the day-time, but at night he
shall do it turning towards the south ; for (if he
acts) thus, his life will not be injured.
11. The intellect of that man perishes who voids
urine against a fire, the sun, a cow, a Brahmawa, the
moon, water, and the morning or evening twilights.
12. Let him not void urine in a river, nor on
a path, nor on ashes, nor on cowdung, nor on a
ploughed field, nor on one which has been sown,
nor on a grass-plot, nor in the shade (of trees) that
afford protection (to travellers).
1 3. Standing in the shade (of houses, clouds, and
so forth), when it is quite dark, and when he fears
for his life, a Brahmawa may void urine, by day and
by night, in any position he pleases.
14. (Afterwards) he shall perform the necessary
(purification) with water fetched for the purpose
(from a tank or river, and with earth).
15. For a bath water not fetched for the purpose (may also be used).
1 6. (For the purpose of purification) a Brdhmawa
10. Vishwi LX, 2. I read with the majority of the MSS., na rishyati.
it. Identical with Manu IV, 32.
13. Vishnu LX, 3-22.
13. Identical with Manu IV, 51. 14. Vishnu LX, 24.
15. I. e. one may bathe also in a tank or river.
Vi, 23. Rule of Conduct. 37
shall take earth that is mixed with gravel, from the bank (of a river).
17. Fiye kinds of earth must not be used, viz.
such as is covered by water, such as lies in a temple,
on an ant-hill, on a hillock thrown up by rats, and that
which has been left by one who cleaned himself.
i&. The organ (must be cleaned by) one (appli-
cation of) earth, the (right) hand by three, but
both (feet) by two, the anus by five, the one (i. e. the
left hand) by ten, and both (hands and feet) by seven
(applications of earth).
19. Such is the purification ordained for house-
holders ; it is double for students, treble for hermits,
but quadruple for ascetics.
20. Eight mouthfuls are the meal of an ascetic,
sixteen that of a hermit, but thirty-two that of a
householder, and an unlimited quantity that of a
student.
21. An Agnihotrin, a draught-ox, and a student,
those three can do their work only if they eat (well);
without eating (much), they cannot do it.
22. (The above rule regarding limited allowances
of food holds good) in the case of penances, of self-
imposed restraint, of sacrifices, of the recitation of
the Veda, and of (the performance of other) sacred
duties.
1 8. Vishmi LX, 25.
19. Identical with Vishmi LX, 26, and Manu V, 137.
20-21. Identical with Apastamba II, 5, 9, 13, and S. 21, with .Ssihkhayana Gr /hya-sutra II, 1 6, 5.
22. 'Penances (vrata), i.e. the K>/&^ras and the rest; self- imposed restraint (niyama), i. e. eating certain food in accordance with a vow, and so forth, during a month or any other fixed period . . . . sacred duties (dharma), i. e. giving gifts and the like.' —
38 VASISHTHA. VI, 23.
23. The qualities by which a (true) Brahmawa
may be recognised are, the concentration of the
mind, austerities, the subjugation of the sejises, libe-
rality, truthfulness, purity, sacred learning, compas-
sion, worldly learning, intelligence, and the belief (in
the existence of the deity and of a future life).
24. One may know that bearing grudges, envy,
speaking untruths, speaking evil of Brihmawas,
backbiting, and cruelty are the characteristics of a
•Sttdra.
25. Those Brahmawas can save (from evil) who
are free from passion, and patient of austerities,
whose ears have been filled with the texts of the
Veda, who have subdued the organs of sensation
and action, who have ceased to injure animated
beings, and who close their hands when gifts are
offered.
26. Some become worthy receptacles of gifts
through sacred learning, and some through the
practice of austerities. But that Brihmarca whose
stomach does not contain the food of a .Sudra, is even
the worthiest receptacle of all.
27. If a Brahma^a dies with the food of a .Sudra
in his stomach, he will become a village pig (in his
next life) or be born in the family of that (,5Yklra).
28. For though a (Brdhmawa) whose body is nourished by the essence of a ^udra's food may
24. Kr/sh»apa«d^ita connects brahmawadusha«am, translated above by ' speaking evil of Brahmawas/ with .yfcdralaksha»am, and renders the two words thus, ' the characteristics of a <Sudra which degrade a Brahma»a.'
25. ' Close their hands/ i. e. are reluctant to accept
26. Krz'sh»apa»<fita takes ki0z£it, translated by 'some,' to mean 4 somewhat/ ' to a certain degree/ i..e. neither very distinguished nor very despicable.
Vi, 40. Rule of Conduct. 39
daily recite the Veda, though he may offer (an
Agnihotra) or mutter (prayers, nevertheless) he will
not find the path that leads upwards.
29. But if, after eating the food of a .Sudra, he
has conjugal intercourse, his sons will belong to the
giver of the food, and he shall not ascend to heaven.
30. They declare that he is worthy to receive
gifts, who (daily) rises to recite the Veda, who is
of good family, and perfectly free from passion, who
constantly offers sacrifices in the three sacred fires,
who fears sin, and knows much, who is beloved among
the females (of his family), who is righteous, protects
cows, and reduces himself by austerities.
31. Just as milk, sour milk, clarified butter, and
honey poured into an unburnt earthen vessel, perish,
owing to the weakness of the vessel, and neither the
vessel nor those liquids (remain),
32. Even so a man destitute of sacred learning,
who accepts cows or gold, clothes, a horse, land, (or)
sesamum, becomes ashes, as (if he were dry) wood.
33. He shall not make his joints or his nails crack,
34. Nor shall he make a vessel ring with his nails.
35. Let him not drink water out of his joined hands.
36. Let him not strike the water with his foot or his hand,
37. Nor (pour) water into (other) water;
38. Let him not gather fruit by throwing brick- bats,
39. Nor by throwing another fruit at it.
40. He shall not become a hypocrite or deceitful.
32. Manu IV, 188. Read in the text 'evaw ga v£' instead of 'evaw givo.'
33. Gautama IX, 51.- 35. Gautama IX, 9. 40. Manu IV, 177.
4O VASISHFFA. VI, 41.
41. Let him not learn a language spoken by bar- barians.
42. Now they quote also (the following verses):
' The opinion of the 61sh/as is, that a man shall
not be uselessly active, neither with his hands and
his feet, nor with his eyes, nor with his tongue and
his body.'
43. 'Those Brahma«as, in whose families the
study of the Veda and of its supplements is heredi-
tary, and who are able to adduce proofs perceptible
by the senses from the revealed texts, must be known
to be 6"ish/as.'
44. ' He is a (true) Brdhmawa regarding whom no
one knows if he be good or bad, if he be ignorant
or deeply learned, if he be of good or of bad conduct'
CHAPTER VII.
1. There are four orders,
2. Viz. (that of) the student, (that of) the house- holder, (that of) the hermit, and (that of) the ascetic.
3. A man who has studied one, two, or three
Vedas without violating the rules of studentship,
may enter any of these (orders), whichsoever he
pleases.
4. A (professed) student shall serve his teacher until death ;
5. And in case the teacher dies, he shall serve the sacred fire.
42. Mann IV, 177 ; Gautama IX, 50-51.
43. Manu XII, 109.
VII. 1-2. Gautama III, a. 3. Gautama III, i.
4. Vishau XXVIII, 43.
