English (machine translation)

Translation of Dakshasmriti (Dakṣasmṛti)

Language: English
Extent: 219 passages, 5,407 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-06 – 2026-10-21) of in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.daksa · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

0 Front matter — 1 part
1 — 16 parts
2 — 56 parts
3 — 31 parts
4 — 21 parts
5 — 13 parts
6 — 18 parts
7 — 54 parts

Text

1.p2

Now, at the beginning, the description of the stages of life.

1.1

Knowing the essential truth of all dharma and ends of life, best among all knowers of the Veda, / master of all branches of knowledge, was the Prajāpati named Dakṣa.

1.2

Creation and dissolution, maintenance and withdrawal— / the Self should abide in the Self; the Self is established in Brahman.

1.3

For the benefit of the chaste student, the householder, / the forest hermit, and the renunciant, Dakṣa formulated this treatise.

1.4

From birth until eight years of age, a child is known / to be equal to an embryo, showing only bodily manifestation.

1.5

In what may or may not be eaten, in what may or may not be drunk, in what should or should not be spoken, and in falsehood, / there is no fault at that time, as long as he is not initiated.

1.6

Once initiated, there is fault through censured deeds performed [by him]; / but he is not subject to legal proceedings as long as he is under sixteen years of age.

1.7

When he undertakes the Veda and observes the vows of the Veda, / he remains a chaste student; thereafter, having bathed, he becomes a householder.

1.8

Two kinds of chaste student are recorded in the treatise by the wise: / the first is the transitional student, and the second is recorded as the lifelong student.

1.9

One who, having entered the householder stage of life, would become a chaste student again / is neither a renunciant nor a forest hermit; he is excluded from all stages of life.

1.10

A twice-born should not remain even for a single day as one without an āśrama; / for remaining without an stage of life, he becomes in need of expiation.

One who is devoted to muttered recitation, fire offering, gift, and Vedic self-recitation, / fallen from his stage of life, does not attain its fruit even while performing it. / Indeed, progression for the three is in direct order, never in reverse order.

1.12

He who proceeds in reverse order—none is a worse sinner than he. / The chaste student is characterized by the girdle, antelope skin, and staff;

1.13

the householder by sacrifices to the gods and the like; the forest hermit by [uncut] nails and body hair; / and the renunciant by the triple staff: these are their distinct characteristics.

1.14

He who lacks this characteristic is in need of expiation and has no stage of life. / The sequence of rituals had not been spoken, nor the time recorded by the sages; / Dakṣa himself spoke it for the benefit of the twice-born.

1.14.p1

Thus ends the first chapter in the treatise on dharma by Dakṣa.

2.1

Rising at dawn, what must be done by the twice-born day by day— / all that I shall explain fully, for the benefit of the twice-born.

2.2

From sunrise to sunset, a brāhmaṇa should not be idle, / free [from idleness] through obligatory regular, occasional, and desire-prompted rites, and other blameless duties.

2.3

A twice-born who abandons his own duty and performs another, / whether through ignorance or delusion, becomes fallen on that account.

2.4

In the first part of the day, his duty is prescribed; / and in the second, third, fourth, and fifth,

2.5

and in the sixth, seventh, and eighth separately— / whatever rite belongs to these divisions, I will expound completely.

2.6

When dawn arrives, having properly performed purification, / he should then bathe, preceded by brushing his teeth.

2.7

Extremely dirty is the body, endowed with nine openings; / it exudes secretions day and night; the morning bath is its purifier.

2.8

For when one is asleep, the senses become foul and exude fluids; / the upper limbs become equal with the lower.

2.9

Covered with various sweats, a man who has risen from bed / must not perform any rite, such as muttered recitation or fire offering, without having bathed.

2.10

Rising at dawn, a brāhmaṇa who regularly bathes in the morning / removes the sin born of all his lifetimes within three years.

2.11

The bath taken dawn after dawn, at the morning twilight devotion as the sun rises, / is equal to a Prājāpatya penance, destroying cardinal sins.

2.12

They praise the morning bath, for it produces visible and unseen spiritual effects; / with a purified self, one who bathes in the morning is worthy of all [rites], such as muttered recitation.

2.13

Immediately after bathing, sipping water for purification is prescribed; / purified by sipping water according to this rule, one attains purity.

2.14

Having washed both feet and hands, he should thrice drink inspected water; / covering [it], he should then wipe his mouth twice with the root of the thumb.

2.15

Bringing together three fingers, he should first touch his mouth in this manner; / then, having sprinkled both feet, he should touch the limbs.

2.16

With the thumb and forefinger, the nose immediately thereafter; / with the thumb and ring finger, the eyes and ears repeatedly;

2.17

with the little finger and thumb, the navel; the heart with the palm; / with all fingers, the head thereafter; and the two arms with the tips [of the fingers].

2.18

At twilight, both at dawn and again at midday, / whoever does not perform the twilight devotion, especially a brāhmaṇa,

2.19

becomes a śūdra while still alive, and when dead is born as a dog. / Lacking the twilight devotion, he is always impure and unfit for all rites.

2.20

Whatever other rite he performs, he does not enjoy its fruit. / At the conclusion of the twilight devotion rite, offering into the fire is prescribed to be done by oneself; / the fruit that comes from making the fire offering oneself does not arise through another.

2.21

The officiating priest, a son, a guru, a brother, a nephew, or a son-in-law— / what is offered by these alone is indeed offered by oneself.

2.22

Having then performed the rite for the gods, one should look upon one's guru and auspicious objects. / Rites for the gods are to be performed in the forenoon, and those for humans at midday;

2.23

and rites for ancestors in the afternoon—these must be performed with effort. / If one performs in the evening a rite that belongs to the forenoon,

2.24

he does not obtain its fruit, just like intercourse with a barren woman. / All this is prescribed for the first part of the day.

2.25

And in the second part, study of the Veda is prescribed; / for study of the Veda is called the supreme austerity of brāhmaṇas.

2.26

That is to be known as the Vedic sacrifice, accompanied by the six auxiliary disciplines: / first acquisition of the Veda, then reflection, repeated recitation, muttered recitation,

2.27

and then imparting to disciples; for study of the Veda is fivefold. / That time is declared [also] for firewood, flowers, kuśa grass, and the like.

2.28

And in the third part, securing the means of sustenance for the group of dependents: / father, mother, guru, wife, offspring, and the destitute who depend on one,

2.29

a visitor and another guest are declared to be the group of dependents; / an impoverished kinsman and relative, and likewise a helpless person who has sought shelter,

2.30

and others who lack wealth are declared to be the group of dependents. / Supporting the group of dependents is praised as the means of attaining heaven;

2.31

and tormenting them leads to hell; therefore one should support them with effort. / Food and the like should be provided for all living beings, especially / bestowed upon those who possess knowledge; otherwise, one goes to hell.

2.32

He alone truly lives upon whom many depend for life; / other men who feed only themselves are alive yet dead. / One person lives for the sake of many, others for the sake of family,

2.33

while another, miserable on account of his own belly, cannot live even for himself. / One desiring prosperity should give to the poor, the helpless, and the distinguished.

2.34

Those who do not give gifts are born depending upon others' fortunes. / What one gives to distinguished persons, what one offers daily into the fire,

2.35

that alone I consider wealth; the rest one preserves for someone else. / And likewise in the fourth portion [of the day], one should fetch earth for bathing,

2.36

sesame seeds, flowers, kuśa grass, and the like, and [perform] bathing in natural water. / Bathing is stated to be threefold: obligatory regular duty, occasional duty, and desire-prompted rite.

2.37

Among these, that which is the obligatory regular duty is again divided into three: / the removal of dirt, and then [the bath] in water accompanied by mantras, it is remembered,

2.38

and the twilight devotion bath—by these two kinds, the divisions of bathing are proclaimed. / Sprinkling is done in the midst of water, and breath control wherever appropriate;

2.39

thereafter, worship of the sun; then the muttered recitation of the Sāvitrī is prescribed. / She whose deity is Savitṛ, whose mouth is fire, abiding threefold,

2.40

whose seer is Viśvāmitra, whose metre is the Gāyatrī—she is supreme. / And likewise in the fifth portion, distribution according to merit

2.41

is taught for ancestors, gods, humans, and insects. / Indeed, by gods, humans, and animals alike is [the householder] lived upon;

2.42

because of this every day, the householder is the eldest stage of life. / The householder is declared to be the source of the three stages of life.

2.43

If he languishes, the other three languish here as well. / The root is the life of the trunk; from the trunk come the branches with their sprouts.

2.44

When the root is destroyed, all of this is destroyed. / Therefore, with every effort, the one in the householder stage of life must be protected

2.45

by the king and honored by the other three [stages], and always revered. / Even a householder is so by engaging in rites, not a householder merely by possessing a house,

2.46

nor indeed by sons and wife, if he has abandoned his own duties. / Without having bathed, offered into fire, muttered recitations, and given gifts, a man,

2.47

becoming indebted to the gods and others, enters hell. / One man eats food alone, while another is eaten by food.

2.48

He alone is not eaten who eats food with witnesses [at his table]. / He who is given to sharing, who is constantly endowed with patience, intent on compassion,

2.49

devoted to the gods and guests—that householder is righteous. / Compassion, modesty, patience, faith, wisdom, yoga, gratitude—

2.50

the householder who possesses these virtues is called foremost. / Then, having made the distribution, the householder should eat what remains.

2.51

Having eaten, remaining at ease, he should digest that food. / He should spend the sixth and seventh [portions of the day] with the Epics, Purāṇas, and the like.

2.52

In the eighth, worldly affairs; then again, the twilight devotion outdoors, / the fire offering, eating, and whatever other household duties there are.

2.53

Having done this, he should then undertake a little Vedic self-recitation. / The early night watch and the last watch, he should spend those two in Vedic study.

2.54

Sleeping for two watches, he becomes fit for becoming one with Brahman. / As occasional and desire-prompted duties present themselves,

2.55

so in that very manner are they to be performed; no fixed time is ordained [beforehand]. / Absorbed in this [dharma], one is indeed dissolved into this [supreme reality].

2.56

Therefore, by one desiring happiness, it must be performed with all effort. / Everywhere, [sleeping] during the two middle watches, and eating the sacrificial residue and offering, / a brāhmaṇa does not decline.

2.56.p1

Thus ends the second chapter in the Dharmaśāstra of Dakṣa.

3.1

Description of the householder stage of life. / I shall pronounce the nine nectars of the householder, nine indeed; / likewise nine proper actions, and nine wrongful actions;

3.2

nine other things to be concealed, likewise nine to be made public; / nine other things that bear fruit, and nine indeed that are fruitless;

3.3

nine kinds of things that are never to be given away. / Nine groups of nine have been taught, which bring about the elevation of the householder.

3.4

I shall declare the nectarous things when a distinguished guest has arrived at the house: / one should offer four gentle things—mind, eye, face, and speech;

3.5

rising to meet him, saying 'Come here', accompanied by affectionate inquiries, / waiting upon him, and accompanying him on departure—these are to be done with effort.

3.6

And other small gifts: a place to sit, water, grass [mats], / washing of the feet, also anointing with oil, shelter, and bedding;

3.7

and some food according to one's ability, so that he does not dwell fasting in the house; / earth and water are also to be given to a petitioner—these too are always in the house.

3.8

Twilight devotion, bathing, muttered recitation, fire offering, Vedic self-recitation, worship of the deity, / the Vaiśvadeva rite, hospitality to guests, and food set aside according to ability,

3.9

and distribution according to merit to ancestors, gods, humans, the poor, the helpless, ascetics, / and parents and teachers—

3.10

these are the nine actions. And next, the wrongful actions: / falsehood, adultery, and eating what is uneatable,

3.11

sexual approach to forbidden women, drinking what must not be drunk, theft, injury, / performing rites contrary to the Veda, and conduct devoid of duty to friends—

3.12

these are the nine wrongful actions; one must avoid all of them. / Lifespan, wealth, household defect, sacred mantra, sexual intercourse, medicine,

3.13

austerity, gift-giving, and humiliation—these nine must be concealed with care. / Suitability, clearance of debts, gifts, study, selling,

3.14

giving of a maiden in marriage, setting free a bull, a secret sin without reviling others— / these nine are likewise to be made public by one in the householder stage of life.

3.15

What is given to parents, a teacher, a friend, a modest person, a benefactor, / the poor, the helpless, and distinguished persons, bears fruit.

3.16

What is given to a rogue, a flatterer, a fool, a bad physician, a gambler, a deceitful person, / flatterers, minstrels, and thieves, becomes fruitless.

3.17

Common property, what is borrowed, a bailment, a pledge, a wife and her wealth, / ancestral property, a deposit, and one's entire estate when progeny exists—

3.18

these nine things are never to be given away, even in times of distress. / A foolish man who gives them away must perform expiation.

3.19

A man who knows these nine groups of nine and is devoted to their practice, / prosperity does not abandon in this world, in the other world, and while residing in heaven.

3.20

Just as oneself, so another is to be viewed by one desiring happiness; / pleasure and pain are equal in another as in oneself.

3.21

Whether pleasure or pain, whatever little is done to another, / all that subsequently rebounds upon oneself.

3.22

Wealth is not obtained without exertion; for one lacking wealth, how can there be religious action? / For one lacking religious action, there can be no dharma; for one lacking dharma, whence happiness?

3.23

All beings desire happiness, and that arises from dharma; / therefore, dharma must always be performed with effort by all social classes.

3.24

With wealth acquired by righteous means, rites pertaining to the other world must be performed, / and gifts must be given according to rule, at the proper time, to a worthy recipient endowed with virtues.

3.25

Equal, twofold, thousandfold, and infinite in progressive order / is the specific fruit in giving; and just as much in doing harm.

3.26

A gift to a non-brāhmaṇa yields equal fruit; twofold to one who is a brāhmaṇa in name only; / a thousandfold to a teacher; but infinite to one who has crossed over the Veda.

3.27

He who offers an accepted gift contrary to rule and to an unworthy recipient, / not only does that [gift] perish, but the rest of his [merit] perishes as well.

3.28

To remedy distress and for the sake of his household, he begs; / having thus investigated, it should be given, otherwise there would be no fruit.

3.30

One who establishes [a brāhmaṇa] deprived of mother and father / by means of rites of passage, marriage, and so forth, in this world there is no reckoning of his merit.

3.31

That welfare is not obtained by the agnihotra, nor is it obtained by the agniṣṭoma, / which welfare is attained by a man through a brāhmaṇa who has been established.

3.32

Whatever is most dear in the world, and whatever is cherished in the house, / all that should be given to a virtuous person by one desiring it to be imperishable.

3.32.p1

Thus ends the third chapter in the Dharmaśāstra of Dakṣa.

4.1

The home of men is rooted in the wife, if she conforms to his will; / there is nothing equal to the householder stage of life, if the wife is obedient.

4.2

Through her, he enjoys the fruit of the three aims: dharma, wealth, and desire; / but if she indulges in self-will and is not restrained out of fondness,

4.3

she will later become uncontrollable, like a neglected disease. / She who is compliant, not harsh in speech, capable, a virtuous woman, speaking kindly,

4.4

self-controlled, devoted to her husband—she is a goddess, not a mortal.

4.5

For him whose wife is compliant, heaven is right here [on earth]; / for him whose wife is hostile, there is hell, without a doubt.

4.6

Mutual affection is difficult to find even in heaven; / when one is loving and the other is indifferent, what indeed is more painful than that?

4.7

Living in a house is for the sake of happiness; happiness in the house is rooted in the wife. / She is a true wife who is modest, understands the mind, and is obedient.

4.8

Another is sorrowful, always miserable, causing discord between minds, / for one with a hostile wife, and especially for one with two wives.

4.9

Every woman is like a leech; by ornaments, clothing, and food, / even when provided with prosperity constantly, she surely drags a man down.

4.10

The poor leech takes only blood; / but the other takes wealth, property, flesh, semen, strength, and happiness.

4.11

Full of fear in girlhood, in youth she turns away, / and later in old age she considers her own husband like a blade of grass.

4.12

Compliant, not harsh in speech, capable, a virtuous woman, a devoted wife— / endowed with these very virtues, a woman is Śrī herself, without a doubt.

4.13

She who is always joyful in mind, discerning of occasion and respect, / always pleasing to her husband, she is a true wife; any other is mere affliction.

4.14

A student, a wife, a child, a brother, a son, a servant, and a dependent— / one whose dependents are well-disciplined enjoys respect in the world.

4.15

The first is the lawful wife, and the second is the enhancer of pleasure; / there, only a visible effect arises, not an unseen spiritual effect.

4.16

She is declared to be the lawful wife if she is without fault; / if there is a fault, there is no fault [in marrying] another wife endowed with virtues.

4.17

He who abandons in her youth a wife who is not seen to have fallen, / at the end of his life he shall attain womanhood and barrenness.

4.18

She who scorns a husband who is poor or afflicted by disease / is born again and again as a bitch, a female vulture, and a crocodile.

4.19

The woman who ascends the fire when her husband has died / becomes one of auspicious conduct and is honored in the heavenly realm.

4.20

Just as a snake-catcher draws out a snake from a hole by force, / in the same way, having delivered her husband, she rejoices with him.

4.21

Those who have relapsed into the state of a cāṇḍāla, wandering ascetics, and ascetics— / one should make the children born of them live with the cāṇḍālas.

4.21.p1

Thus ends the fourth chapter in the Dharmaśāstra of Dakṣa.

5.1

Purification and impurity, what is to be done and what is to be abandoned, have been declared by the wise; / for specific clarification of both, I will speak a little out of a desire to benefit.

5.2

Effort should always be made toward purification; the twice-born is said to have purification as his root. / For one devoid of purification and proper conduct, all rituals are fruitless.

5.3

And purification is declared to be of two kinds: external and internal; / external is said to be by earth and water, and internal is purity of disposition.

5.4

Indeed, external [purity] is better than impurity, and internal is better than that; / he who is pure by both, he is pure, not any other.

5.5

One application of earth on the penis, three on the anus, ten on the left hand, / seven on both hands, and three on the feet should be applied.

5.6

The purification for a householder has been stated; in the other three [stages], in due order, / double, triple, and for the fourth, quadruple.

5.7

The first lump of earth is said to be the measure of half a handful; / the second and third are declared to be half of that.

5.8

On the penis also, it is declared here as much as fills three finger-joints; / this is the purification for householders, double for chaste students,

5.9

triple for forest hermits, and quadruple for renunciants. / Water should be applied so long until there is an absence of earth.

5.10

Purity is effected by earth and water; there is no hardship and no expense of wealth; / he who is lax even in purification, his mind is tested.

5.11

One purification is prescribed by day, and another by night; / one in times of distress for brāhmaṇas, and another in the absence of distress.

5.12

Half of the purification declared for the day is prescribed at night; / they say half of that is for the sick, half in haste, [and half] on a journey.

5.13

Neither less nor more should be done in purification by one desiring purity; / he would incur an expiation if a violation of what is prescribed is committed.

5.13.p1

Thus ends the fifth chapter in the Dharmaśāstra of Dakṣa.

6.1

I shall explain birth-and-death impurity arising from birth and death; / and a third lasting for the duration of life, duly in regular sequence:

6.2

Immediate purification, one day, two, three, and four days, / ten days, twelve days, a fortnight, and a month,

6.3

and another ending at death; these ten alternatives in birth-and-death impurity / I shall explain completely in the sequence stated.

6.4

He who knows the meaning of the text, the Veda along with its auxiliary sciences, / along with the ritual manuals and secret lore, and is devoted to ritual, does not incur birth-and-death impurity.

6.5

For kings, officiating priests, consecrated persons, in the case of an infant, in another country, / and for those keeping a vow or performing a sacrificial session, immediate purification is prescribed.

6.6

One day is declared for him who is endowed with the fires and the Veda; / for one lesser and far lesser, two, three, and four days.

6.7

A brāhmaṇa by birth is purified in ten days, a ruler of the earth in twelve days, / a vaiśya in fifteen days, and a śūdra is purified in a month.

6.7.p1

Moreover, whoever eats without having bathed, without having offered into the fire, / and without having given [a gift], for every such person, birth-and-death impurity is declared.

6.8

For the diseased, the miserly, the one always overwhelmed with debt, / the one devoid of rites, the fool, and especially the one subjugated by women,

6.9

for the one whose mind is attached to vices, the one constantly dependent on others, / and the one devoid of faith and renunciation, birth-and-death impurity ends only in ashes.

6.10

There may never be birth-and-death impurity, or birth-and-death impurity may last for the duration of life; / thus, according to distinction of qualities, birth-and-death impurity has been declared.

6.11

When birth impurity and death impurity coincide, and likewise in the case of death impurity following birth impurity, / for those whose impurities are combined, purification is attained through death impurity.

6.12

Giving a gift, receiving a gift, fire offering, and Vedic self-recitation cease. / After ten days, a duty-knowing brāhmaṇa is entitled to purification.

6.13

And a gift should be given according to rule, for it is indeed a savior from misfortune. / If a death occurs at the end of a death impurity, or a birth at the end of a birth impurity,

6.14

for those with combined purifications, it is purified by the earlier impurity. / In both cases, the food of the family is not eaten for ten days.

6.15

On the fourth day, the collection of bones must be performed by twice-born men; / then, after the collection, the touching of limbs is prescribed.

6.16

When a single husband has wives in the regular order of the castes, / the birth-and-death impurity at childbirth is ten, six, three days, or one day [respectively].

6.17

At the time of a sacrifice, in marriage, during the ruin of a realm, / and likewise while oblations are being offered in the fire, there is no impurity in a death or birth impurity.

6.18

This entire impurity has been declared for normal times; / in a birth-and-death impurity, there is no birth-and-death impurity for anyone who has fallen into distress.

6.18.p1

Thus ends the sixth chapter in the legal treatise of Dakṣa.

7.1

I shall expound that yoga by which the world is subdued, / by which the self is subdued, and by which the sense-object is conquered.

7.2

Breath control, meditation, withdrawal of the senses, concentration, / discernment, and absorption: this is called the six-limbed yoga.

7.3

Yoga does not arise from resorting to the forest, nor from contemplating numerous texts; / yoga does not come to anyone through vows, sacrifices, or austerities.

7.4

Nor does yoga arise from wholesome eating, nor from gazing at the tip of the nose, / nor does it ever come from purification beyond what is prescribed in the scriptures.

7.5

Not by vows of silence, mantras, deceptions, or numerous good deeds / does yoga come to anyone who is detached from the course of worldly life.

7.6

Through perseverance, through practice, and through determination in that alone, / and through repeated detachment: yoga is attained, and not otherwise.

7.7

Through the joy of contemplation on the self, through the sport of purification, / and through equanimity toward all beings, yoga is attained, and not otherwise.

7.8

He who is constantly devoted to the self, who plays with the self, / and who is ever grounded in the self, naturally in the self alone,

7.9

delighting and pleased in himself, content, with his mind on nothing else, / fully satisfied in the self alone: his yoga is accomplished.

7.10

Even when asleep he would be united with yoga, and all the more so when awake; / one of such conduct is remembered as best, the most venerable among knowers of Brahman.

7.11

He who sees no second apart from the self, / having thus become Brahman, is declared to be of Dakṣa's view.

7.12

A renunciant whose mind is attached to sense-objects does not find liberation; / therefore, a yogin must diligently avoid attachment to sense-objects.

7.13

Some indeed call the contact of the sense-organs with sense-objects 'yoga'; / unrighteousness has been grasped in the form of righteousness by those unlearned men.

7.14

And others [call it] the union of the mind and the self; / these are even more foolish than those mentioned; they are merely cheated of yoga.

7.15

Having made the mind free of mental modifications, uniting the knower of the field / with the Supreme Self, one is liberated: this is called the principal yoga.

7.16

Impurity, delusion, distraction, shame, apprehension, and so forth / are declared to be activities of the mind; having conquered them, one must bring them under control.

7.17

Among the five rustic family members, the sixth is greater; / he cannot be conquered even by gods, demons, and humans.

7.18

One who captures foreign realms by force is not called a hero; / he by whom the host of sense-organs has been conquered is called a hero by the wise.

7.19

Having turned all the outwardly directed [senses] inward, / one should unite the entire host of senses and the mind with the self.

7.20

Freed from all emotional attachments, one should deposit the knower of the field in Brahman; / this is meditation and yoga; the rest are mere expansions of books.

7.21

Having abandoned the pleasures of sense-objects, the mind reaches motionless stability; / absorption is proclaimed to be the natural state of the power of the self.

7.22

The state that arises from the contact of four is unenduring; / but that which arises from the contact of two is eternal, constant, and imperishable.

7.23

That which does not exist for the whole world is said to exist, which contradicts [ordinary experience]; / when it is spoken of, it does not settle in the heart of another.

7.24

For that Brahman is to be known by oneself, like the sexual union of a virgin; / a non-yogin does not know it at all, just as one born blind does not know a pot.

7.25

It is easily known indeed by one who possesses the habit of constant practice; / because of its subtlety, the supreme, eternal Brahman is indescribable.

7.26

The wise person considers an ornament as a mere mental notion, / whereas a woman and a fool value that very thing highly.

7.27

Even the gods, abundant in sattva, have been subdued by sense-objects; / what to say here of human beings, negligent and of meager strength?

7.28

Therefore, the bearing of the staff must be done by one who has abandoned impurity; / another is not capable and is overcome by sense-objects.

7.29

Just as water is not still even for a single moment due to waves, / so is the mind struck by the wind [of desire]; therefore, one must not trust it.

7.30

Many men make a living under the pretext of the triple staff; / he who does not know Brahman is truly not worthy of the triple staff.

7.31

One must always preserve celibacy, [avoiding] the eightfold sexual indulgence individually: / remembering, talking about it, flirting, gazing, whispering in private,

7.32

resolving, determination, and the actual performance of the act; / wise men declare this to be sexual indulgence with its eight limbs.

7.33

It must never be contemplated, never spoken of, and never done; / richly endowed with all these [virtues], one becomes a renunciant, not otherwise.

7.34

And having taken up renunciation, he who does not stand firm in righteousness, / the king should quickly banish him after branding him with the footprint of a dog.

7.35

One mendicant is prescribed as described; two are remembered as a pair; / three are known as a village, and above that it becomes a city.

7.36

Indeed, he should not make a city, or a village, or a pair; / a renunciant forming this triad falls from his own duty.

7.37

Among them, talk about kings and so on, and mutually about alms, / affection, malicious gossip, and envy undoubtedly arise from close association.

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