crossed, nor having lately swallowed meat, or the CHAP. ' rice and other food given on the birth or death of 6 a relation ; 6 113. Nor in a cloud of dust, nor while arrows whiz, or a lute sounds, nor in either of the twilights, nor at the conjunction, nor on the fourteenth day, nor at the opposition, nor on the eighth day, of the moon : 114. The dark lunar day destroys the spiritual 'teacher; the fourteenth destroys the learner; the 'eighth and the day of the full moon destroy all re'membrance of scripture; for which reasons he must ' avoid reading on those lunar days. 6 115. Let no Bráhmen read, while dust falls like 116. He must not read near a cemetery, near a town, or in a pasture for kine; nor in a mantle worn before at a time of dalliance; nor having just received the present usual at obsequies: 117. Be it an animal, or a thing inanimate, or whatever be the gift at a sráddha, let him not, < having lately accepted it, read the Veda; for such a · Bráhmen is said to have his mouth in his hand. 118. When the town is beset by robbers, or an alarm has been raised by fire, and in all terrours 'from R IV. CHAP. from strange phenomena, let him know, that his lec ture must be suspended till the due time after the cause of terrour be ceased. 119, The suspension of reading scripture, after a 'performance of the upácarma and utserga, must be for three whole nights, by the man who seeks virtue more than knowledge; also for one day and night, on the eighth lunar days which follow those ceremo'nies, and on the nights at the close of the seasons. 120. Never let him read on horseback, nor on a tree, nor on an elephant, nor in a boat, nor on an ass, nor on a camel, nor standing on barren ground, nor borne in a carriage; 121. Nor during a verbal altercation, nor during a mutual assault, nor with an army, nor in battle, nor after food, while his hand is moist from washing, nor with an indigestion, nor after vomiting, nor with sour eructations; 122. Nor without notice to a guest just arrived, nor while the wind vehemently blows, nor when blood gushes from his body, nor when it is wounded by a weapon. 123. While the strain of the Sáman meets his ear, he shall not read the Rich, or the Yajush; nor any 'part of the Veda, when he has just concluded the whole; nor any other part, when he has just finished the book entitled A'ranyaca : 124. The Rigvéda is held sacred to the gods; the Yajurvéda 6 6 Yajurvéda relates to mankind; the Sámavéda con- CHAP. cerns the manes of ancestors, and the sound of it, when chanted, raises therefore a notion of something impure. 125. Knowing this collection of rules, let the learned read the Véda on every lawful day, having first repeated in order the pure essence of the three Védas, namely, the pranava, the vyáhritis, and the gáyatrì. 126. If a beast used in agriculture, a frog, a cat, a dog, a snake, an ichneumon, or a rat, pass between 'the lecturer and his pupil, let him know, that the lecture must be intermitted for a day and a night. 6 127. Two occasions, when the Veda must not be read, let a Bráhmen constantly observe with great care; namely, when the place for reading it is impure, and when he is himself unpurified. 128. On the dark night of the moon, and on the eighth, on the night of the full moon, and on the fourteenth, let a Bráhmen, who keeps house, be continually chaste as a student in theology, even in 'the season of nuptial embraces. 129. Let him not bathe, having just eaten; nor while he is afflicted with disease; nor in the middle ' of the night; nor with many clothes; nor in a pool of water imperfectly known. 130. Let him not intentionally pass over the shadow ' of sacred images, of a natural or spiritual father, of ' a king, R 2 IV. CHAP. IV. a king, of a Bráhmen, who keeps house, or of any reverend personage; nor of a red-haired or coppercoloured man; nor of one who has just performed a 'sacrifice. 6 131. At noon or at midnight, or having eaten flesh ' at a sráddha, or in either of the twilights, let him not long tarry, where four ways meet. 6 132. He must not stand knowingly near oil and ' other things, with which a man has rubbed his body, or water, in which he has washed himself, or feces and urine, or blood, or mucus, or any thing chewed and spitten out, or any thing vomited. 6 133. Let him show no particular attention to his enemy, or his enemy's friend, to an unjust person, to a thief, or to the wife of another man; 134. Since nothing is known in this world so obstructive to length of days, as the culpable attention of a man to the wife of another. 135. Never let him, who desires an increase of 'wealth, despise a warriour, a serpent, or a priest versed in scripture, how mean soever they may appear; 136. Since those three, when contemned, may de stroy a man; let a wise man therefore always beware ' of treating those three with contempt: 137. Nor should he despise even himself on account 'of 6 of previous miscarriages: let him pursue fortune till CHAP. death, nor ever think her hard to be attained. 138. Let him say what is true, but let him say what is pleasing; let him speak no disagreeable truth, nor let him speak agreeable falsehood: this is a primeval rule. 139. Let him say "well and good," or let him say "well" only; but let him not maintain fruitless enmity and altercation with any man. 140. Let him not journey too early in the morning or too late in the evening, nor too near the mid-day, nor with an unknown companion, nor alone, nor with men of the servile class. 141. Let him not insult those, who want a limb, or have a limb redundant, who are unlearned, who are 'advanced in age, who have no beauty, who have no wealth, or who are of an ignoble race. 142. Let no priest, unwashed after food, touch with his hand a cow, a Bráhmen, or fire; nor being ' in good health and unpurified, let him even look at the luminaries in the firmament: 6 143. But, having accidentally touched them before his purification, let him ever sprinkle, with water in the palm of his hand, his organs of sensation, all his limbs, and his navel. 144. Not being in pain from disease, let him never ' without cause touch the cavities of his body; and carefully let him avoid his concealed hair. " |