Manava Dharmashastra 2.69

2.69

śikṣayedgurupādyecchaucamāditaḥ | ādita itivacanenācārādibhyaḥ prāgupadeśaḥ śaucasya neṣyate, kiṃ tarhyaniyatakramakāḥ parasparamete | kevalamupanayanānantaraṃ vratādeśanaṃ vakṣyati | ādiṣṭavedavratasya ca vedādhyayanam | ato'gnīndhanasandhyopāsanayoḥ samantrakatvādakṛte vratādeśe mantroccāraṇamaprāptaṃ vidhīyeta | śaucaṃ cāniyatakālaṃ, tadavaśyaṃ tadaharevopadeṣṭavyam | evamācāro'pi | ata idamādita iti vacanamādarārthaṃ na prathamopadeśyatāṃ śaucasya vidhatte | śaucam—‘ekā liṅge’ (a. 5 ślo. 136) ityādyācamanāntam | ācāro gurvādīnāṃ pratyutthānāsanadānābhivādanādi | agnikāryamagnyādhānakāryaṃ samitsamindhanam | sandhyāyāmādityasyopāsanaṃ tatsvarūpabhāvanaṃ sandhyāyā upāsanam | evaṃ vā ‘pūrvāṃ sandhyāmityādi’ (agre 101 ślo.) | eṣa vratadharmaḥ |
adhyayanadharmānidānīmāha—

Having initiated the pupil, the Teacher should, first of all, teach him cleanliness, right behaviour, firetending and also the twilight-devotions.—(69)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Should teach’—should make him learn.

‘First of all’;—this does not mean that Cleanliness should be taught before Right Behaviour and the rest; in fact, there is no order of sequence intended among those mentioned here; all that the text is going to lay down is that after the Initiation there should he the teaching of the observances; and after the pupil has been instructed regarding the observances, he should proceed with the study of the Veda. Hence if the text meant that the boy should be taught Fire-kindling and the Twilight-Devotions before being taught the observances, it would be laying down for him the reciting of mantras not prescribed anywhere else,—because each of the two acts mentioned is performed with mantras. As for ‘cleanliness,’ there can be no fixed time for it; and it must be taught on the very day on which the boy has been initiated. So also ‘Right Behaviour.’ For these reasons it is clear that the phrase ‘first of all’ is meant to denote importance, and it does not mean that it is to be taught before everything else.

‘Cleanliness’—stands for all those acts that begin with the washing of the private parts, once, &c., &c. (5. 136) and ending with the sipping of water.

‘Right Behaviour’—rising to receive the Teacher and other superiors, offering them seat and saluting them.

‘Fire-tending’—the kindling of fire, and supplying of fuel.

The devotion offered at twiligh, to the Sun, consists in meditating upon the form of the Sun. This is what is meant by the ‘Twilight-Devotions.’ Or, it may refer to what is going to be prescribed below, in verse 101.

This is what constitutes the ‘Duty relating to Observances.’—(69)