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Translation of Vedavyasasmriti (Vedavyāsasmṛti)

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English
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249 passages, 6,383 words
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complete digital text
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pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.vedavyasasmrti · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

Contents

Text

1

First Chapter

2

Approaching Vedavyāsa, the treasure of asceticism seated comfortably in Vārāṇasī, / the sages asked about the dharmas established for the classes: // 1.1

3

Questioned, he who possessed remembrance, having recalled the smṛti filled with the meaning of the Veda, / said then with a serene mind: 'Hear, O sages! // 1.2

4

Wherever the blackbuck naturally roams at all times, / in that place the dharma declared in the Veda can exist. // 1.3

5

Where a conflict between śruti, smṛti, and the Purāṇas is seen, / there śruti is the authority; but between the [other] two in a conflict, smṛti is superior. // 1.4

6

Brahmins, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas are the three classes of twice-born; / they are eligible for the dharma taught by śruti, smṛti, and the Purāṇas, but not the others. // 1.5

7

Even the fourth class, the śūdra, is entitled to dharma because he is a class, / without Vedic mantras, the svadhā, the svāhā, the vaṣaṭ exclamation, and the like. // 1.6

8

On wives of brahmin status [he should perform] like a brahmin; on wives of kṣatriya status, like a brahmin; / he should perform birth rites, and then on śūdra women, like a śūdra. // 1.7

9

On vaiśya women by a brahmin and a kṣatriya; then on śūdra women, like a śūdra. / One born of a low [man] on a higher [woman] is considered lower than a śūdra. // 1.8

10

Born of a śūdra on a brahmin woman, a cāṇḍāla is devoid of dharma. / One is born of an unmarried girl; the second is born of a woman of the same gotra; // 1.9

11

born of a śūdra on a brahmin woman—a cāṇḍāla is declared to be of three kinds. / The carpenter, barber, cowherd, potter, // 1.10

12

merchant, hunter, kāyastha, garland-maker, oilman, / varaṭa, meda, caṇḍāla, servant, dog-cooker, and kolaka— // 1.11

13

these are declared to be outcastes, as well as any others who eat beef. / From talking with them [comes] ritual ablution; from seeing them, looking at the sun. // 1.12

14

The conception ritual, rite for quickening a male child, hair-parting ritual, and birth rite; / naming ceremony, first outing rite, first feeding rite, tonsure ceremony; // 1.13

15

ear-piercing ritual, investiture ceremony, ritual procedure for beginning the Veda; / first shaving ritual, ritual ablution, marriage, maintaining the domestic marriage fire, // 1.14

16

and maintaining the three sacred fires—these are known as the sixteen sacraments. / For a woman, these nine rites ending with the ear-piercing ritual are without mantras; // 1.15

17

her marriage is with mantras; for a śūdra, the ten are without mantras. / First is the conception ritual; in the third month, the rite for quickening a male child; // 1.16

18

the hair-parting ritual in the eighth month; when [the child] is born, the birth rite occurs. / On the eleventh day, the naming; viewing of the sun in the fourth month; // 1.17

19

in the sixth month he should eat food; the tonsure ritual is according to family custom; / when the boy has undergone tonsure, the ear-piercing ritual is prescribed. // 1.18

20

A brahmin in the eighth year from conception, a kṣatriya likewise in the eleventh, / and one of vaiśya birth in the twelfth is entitled to initiation with vows. // 1.19

21

For one who has reached [the time for] the vow, this period may be up to twice as long. / Deprived of the Vedic vow, he is a vrātya; that vrātya deserves the [Vrātya]stoma sacrifice. // 1.20

22

Twice-born persons have two births: the first of the two from the mother, / the second from taking the mother of the metres according to rule from the teacher. // 1.21

23

Having thus attained twice-born status, and freed from other defects, / he becomes capable of studying śruti, smṛti, and the Purāṇas. // 1.22

24

Initiated, he should always reside in the family of the teacher, collected in mind; / he should bear a staff, loincloth, sacred thread, blackbuck pelt, and girdle. // 1.23

25

On an auspicious day, permitted by the teacher, having performed the oblations with mantras, / having remembered the Oṅkāra and the Gāyatrī, he should begin the Veda from the start. // 1.24

26

For the purpose of investigating purification and conduct, a twice-born should also study / the Dharmaśāstra properly from the teacher, and practice the rite directed by it. // 1.25

27

Then, having saluted the elders and the teachers, he should attend on them; / he should then make effort for Vedic recitation, and always practice what is beneficial. // 1.26

28

Even if insulted, he should not talk back, nor should he walk away even if struck. / Enmity, slander, violence, and gazing at the sun; // 1.27

29

the triad of music, dancing, and singing; untruth, madness, censuring others, neglect of ornaments; / collyrium, unguents, mirrors, garlands, anointing, and women; // 1.28

30

aimless wandering and discontent—a chaste student should avoid these. / When midday has slightly passed, permitted by the teacher himself, // 1.29

31

free from greed, he should wander for alms among those who observe vows and pure livelihoods. / Having immediately received the begged food, he should sip water before it as if it were wealth. // 1.30

32

Having performed his midday duties, he should eat according to rule when permitted. / He should not eat food from a single house or leftovers, and having eaten he should rinse his mouth. // 1.31

33

Even when in distress, he should not accept other food, wealth, and the like. / When invited to an irreproachable ancestral rite for the ancestors, he may eat if directed by the teacher. // 1.32

34

Even food from a single house [is permitted] if it does not conflict with vows for one in the first stage of life. / Having eaten, he should attend upon the teacher after kindling [the fire] and the like. // 1.33

35

He should place kindling sticks into the fire, and then serve the teacher; / he should lie down to sleep when permitted by the teacher, bowing down first before the teacher. // 1.34

36

Practicing thus day after day, the chaste student should observe his vow: / speaking beneficial words, pleasant of speech, properly accomplishing the teacher's purpose. // 1.35

37

He should constantly worship him until completion, until the comprehension of śruti. / By this rule, a twice-born who has studied the Vedic mantras would attain // 1.36

38

the power of cursing and blessing, and dwelling in the same world as the sages. / The deities are pleased with milk, nectar, and honey accompanied by clarified butter; // 1.37

39

therefore, day after day, except on days unfit for study, he should recite the Veda. / On a day unfit for study, [he should recite] that which is an auxiliary limb, obeying the teacher's word. // 1.38

40

Free from pride, he should make up for any transgression that is incomplete. / In the next world and in this one, that sacred lore [protects] the twice-born even if unstudied. / But whoever observes this vow from initiation until death, // 1.39

41

he is a perpetual student and attains union with Brahman. / But a temporary student who is a twice-born, twenty-six years old, // 1.40

42

having observed the vow as prescribed, through the first shaving ritual at that time, / having completed the Vedas, or two Vedas, or one Veda with diligence, a twice-born / should bathe, permitted by the teacher, having offered the prescribed teacher's fee. // 1.41

43

Thus ends the first chapter in the Dharmaśāstra of Śrī Vedavyāsa. // 1

44

Second Chapter

45

Having thus attained the status of a snātaka, desiring the second stage of life, / he should look out for marriage for a woman born of an irreproachable family: // 2.1

46

free from disease, born of an upright lineage, not marred by the giving of a bride-price, / of the same caste, not of the same ṛṣi lineage, and not born of the patrilineage of his mother or father. // 2.2

47

[She must be] one not previously given to another, younger [than himself], endowed with auspicious marks, / wearing an undergarment, fair, and of a lineage renowned for ten ancestors.

48

Having obtained the daughter of a renowned, son-bearing, well-behaved, and virtuous man / who desires to give [her], he should marry her according to dharma.

49

According to the rule of the Brāhma marriage; in its absence, [by] another rule. / She should be given to one endowed with [qualities] such as age, learning, and lineage.

50

[The father should give her], like a father among the father's brothers, uncles, kinsmen, and mothers; / in the absence of the former, the latter should give; in the absence of all, she may go on her own.

51

If that maiden should see her menses because of the lack of a giver, / then the non-giver incurs as many feticides as [there are menstrual periods], and becomes fallen.

52

Whoever of the two, having made an agreement with each other, / 'I will give to you,' 'I will accept,' does not keep it, incurs punishment.

53

One who abandons an uncorrupted [maiden] should be punished, and also one who defames an uncorrupted [maiden].

54

Indeed, when a same-caste woman is married, he may marry another at will. / A son produced upon her is not deprived of the status of the same-caste [wife's son].

55

A brahmin may marry a kṣatriya woman, a kṣatriya a vaiśya woman, and a vaiśya a śūdra woman; / but a twice-born man may never marry a lowborn woman born of a higher class.

56

Among wives of various classes, the same-caste wife is the partner in duty, / rightful in dharmas, most dedicated to dharma, and senior among those of his own birth.

57

O twice-born, this single body was formerly split in two by the Self-born: / by one half became husbands, and by the other half wives—so says the śruti.

58

As long as a man does not obtain a wife, so long is he half. / A half does not reproduce; the whole reproduces—so also says the śruti.

59

The weighty burden of the three goals of life cannot be borne by anyone else. / Therefore, having controlled himself, he should sustain her day by day.

60

Having taken a wife, with the fire and the wife, having built a house, he should reside at home; / having obtained wealth suitable for his duties, he should not neglect the Vedic ritual fire.

61

He should perform the rite prescribed by smṛti in the marriage fire, / and the rite prescribed by śruti in the Vedic ritual fires, daily, according to rule and with affection.

62

Day and night, husband and wife should be of one mind / in dharma, wealth, and pleasure, through sharing identical vows and conduct.

63

For women, there is no separate means of accomplishing the rules of the three goals of life, / either in reality or through extension; this is the supreme rule of the scriptures.

64

Rising before her husband and performing bodily purification, / putting away the beds and other things, and cleaning the house,

65

Sweeping and smearing her courtyard along with the fire room, / she should clean the fire implements with oily warm water.

66

By sprinkling with water, she should arrange them in their proper place; / she should never separate paired vessels.

67

Having cleaned the vessels, she should keep them filled; / having washed the kitchen vessels outside completely,

68

And having cleansed the stove with clay, she should then place the fire there, / remembering the required utensils, tastes, and supplies.

69

Having finished the morning tasks, she should salute her elders, / and with the clothes, ornaments, and jewels given by them,

70

Or by the husband's parents, brothers, maternal uncles, or kinsmen, she should wear [them], / pure in mind, speech, and deed, following her husband’s instructions.

71

Like a shadow following him, transparent, like a friend in beneficial tasks, / like a maidservant in commanded duties—a wife should always be thus to her husband.

72

Then, having prepared food and offered it to her husband, / she should feed those deserving food with the remnants of the Vaiśvadeva offering.

73

And permitted by the husband, having herself eaten the remaining food, / she should spend the rest of the day considering income and expenditure.

74

Again in the evening and again in the morning, having purified the house / and prepared food, the virtuous wife should amply feed her husband.

75

Having eaten herself without overfilling, and having carried out domestic affairs, / having made the bed properly, she should then attend to her husband.

76

When the husband is asleep, she should sleep near him, with her mind fixed on him, / clothed, attentive, free from lust, and with subdued senses.

77

She should not speak loudly, nor harshly, nor much that is unpleasant to her husband, / and she should not quarrel with anyone, neither babbling nor lamenting.

78

She should not be wasteful, nor opposed to dharma and wealth. / Carelessness, madness, anger, jealousy, deceit, arrogance,

79

Malice, violence, hatred, great egotism, knavery, / atheism, recklessness, theft, and hypocrisy—a virtuous wife should avoid these.

80

Serving her husband, who is her supreme deity, in this manner, / she attains fame and peace in this world, and the same realm [as his] in the next.

81

The daily duty of a woman has been stated; now the occasional duty is described. / Because of the impurity of the onset of menses, she should abandon everything.

82

Unseen by everyone, she should quickly reside bashfully within the house, / wrapped in a single garment, humbled, without bathing or ornaments,

83

Silent, with downcast face, motionless in eyes, hands, and feet; / she should eat only boiled rice at night in an earthen bowl.

84

She should sleep on the ground, attentive, and pass three days thus; / and she should bathe at the end of the three nights with her clothes on, when the sun has risen.

85

Having looked upon the face of her husband, she becomes pure according to dharma; / having performed her purification, she should again perform her duties as before.

86

The sixteen nights from the appearance of the menses are the fertile season; / then the male seed grows without affliction in a pure field.

87

He should avoid the first four nights and the full/new moon days; / he should approach [her] on the even nights, [avoiding] the lunar mansions of Pauṣṇa, Pitṛ, and Rākṣasa.

88

When the sun's path is covered, a man should approach his good wife; / adorned in linen, he obtains a son endowed with praised marks.

89

Approaching her thus in the fertile season, he remains established in celibacy; / even approaching [her] according to desire, he is not tainted, doing so with no other woman.

90

He incurs feticide who turns away from his wife during the fertile period; / but she who conceives from another becomes sinful and must be abandoned.

91

And [a wife] defiled by a major sin, or one who destroys her husband's fetus [may be abandoned]; / but by abandoning a wife of virtuous conduct, one falls from dharma.

92

Even if defiled by a major sin, the husband is not to be neglected by her; / while he remains impure far away, she should wait, keeping him in her thoughts.

93

A husband should dwell elsewhere from [wives] who are defiled by infidelity, / except to look upon them, after censuring them, without speaking to them.

94

Once she has bathed after her menstrual period, he may treat her as before. / But a deceitful woman, one who ruins dharma and desire, one who is barren, one who is chronically ill,

95

one who is exceedingly wicked, addicted to vices, or hostile, he may supersede with another wife. / Even towards a superseded wife, the master should maintain equality among his wives.

96

Pale, with a dejected face, devoid of bodily adornments, / devoted to her husband, fasting—[such is the wife who] grieves when her husband is abroad.

97

Taking her dead husband, a brahmin woman should enter the fire; / if living, having shaved her head, she should purify her body through austerity.

98

In all stages of life, lack of protection for women is not proper; / that protection is to be provided in sequence by fathers, husbands, sons, and the rest.

99

Sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons who are born [from them] and well protected, / worship the ancestors with sacrifices that yield great fortune and the attainment of liberation.

100

He should cremate her without delay, and there the wife should follow.

101

Thus ends the second chapter in the dharmaśāstra composed by the venerable Vedavyāsa.

102

Third Chapter

103

Action is regarded as threefold: daily, occasional, and optional. / I shall explain that threefold [action] of the householder; let it be understood.

104

In the last watch of the night, having cast off sleep, he should remember Hari; / looking upon an auspicious object, he should perform the obligatory actions.

105

Having performed his purification, attended to the fire, cleansed his teeth with water, / bathed, and worshipped the sandhyā, the twice-born should offer water libations to the deities and other beings.

106

He should study the Vedas, Vedāṅgas, Śāstras, and Itihāsas; / and the best of the twice-born should teach worthy students and virtuous brahmins.

107

What is not yet attained he should strive to obtain; what is attained he should bring to completion in an instant; / for a capable man [should dwell] with a capable man, and he should never dwell anywhere unrecognized.

108

In a river, a lake, ponds, pits, springs, and the like, / he should bathe, lifting five lumps [of earth] with water.

109

In the absence of a sacred ford, or through inability, he may bathe with drawn water; / standing in the courtyard of his house, he should bathe until the wringing of his garment.

110

He should perform his ritual ablution with water hymns and purification with cleansing mantras; / restraining his breath three times with mantras, he should gaze at the sun with solar verses.

111

Standing and reciting the Gāyatrī, he should then begin his Vedic recitation / of the Ṛg verses, the Yajus formulas, the Sāmans, and the Atharvāṅgiras verses,

112

of the Itihāsas and Purāṇas, and of the Vedic Upaniṣads; / according to his ability, a twice-born should read properly every day, even a little, until completion.

113

He obtains the complete fruit of sacrifices, gifts, and austerities; / therefore, day after day, the twice-born should study the Veda with restrained speech.

114

He should read according to his ability the treatises on dharma, Itihāsas, and all such texts. / Having performed Vedic recitation, he should first offer water libations to the deities,

115

bending the right knee, with darbha grasses pointing east, accompanied by barley and sesame, / offering a single handful of water [for each], with his sacred thread in its natural position.

116

[Sitting] with both knees level, wearing the sacred thread around the neck, facing north, / [using] crosswise darbhas with tips pointing left, mixed with barley and sesame,

117

with waters poured toward the north, flowing out from the base of the little finger, / he should then offer water libations to human sages with two handfuls each.

118

Facing south, bending the left knee, with doubled kuśa grasses, / and with sesame seeds and water flowing out from the darbhas at the base of the index finger,

119

with his sacred thread over his right shoulder, he should satisfy in order with three handfuls of water / the divine ancestors and, beyond them, his own ancestors,

120

likewise the maternal ancestors, three [generations], with two or three handfuls each; / and whatever other maternal relatives of the patrilineage died without cremation,

121

he should satisfy each one individually by offering a single handful of water. / Those who died without receiving the sacraments and are deprived of funeral rites,

122

their satisfaction comes from the water of wringing out the garment. / But whoever wrings out his garment before offering water libations to the ancestors,

123

his ancestors become hopeless, along with gods and men. / [Water libation] should be made with milk, darbha, the utterance svadhā, cow [products], names, and sesame seeds;

124

that is well given to them, but without even one of these it is in vain. / Whatever is given with an unfocused mind, whatever is given devoid of the prescribed rule,

125

and [what is offered] while not seated on a seat, that water turns to blood. / Thus satisfied with desires, [the ancestors] in turn satisfy those who offer water libations.

126

With the names of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, the Sun, Mitra, and Varuṇa, / he should worship, using designated mantras, the deities mentioned in the water mantras.

127

Having faced the direction of the sun and worshipped the deities / whose sins are destroyed by the names of Brahmā, Agni, Indra, the herbs, life, and Viṣṇu,

128

[and having recited] 'Whatever of the waters...', having paid homage with reverent greetings and names, / and having touched his mouth, he should thus complete his ritual ablution.

129

Then, having entered the house, into the domestic hearth fire / the twice-born should duly offer the four domestic sacrifices according to rule.

130

One who has not established the domestic hearth fire, taking food drenched with clarified butter, / should sacrifice into the common fire according to the ritual of the Śākala school,

131

with the vyāhṛtis separately, and then with them combined, / and with the six mantras beginning with 'Devakṛtasya', in proper order;

132

having thus offered twelve oblations, including that to Prajāpati and the Sviṣṭakṛt oblation, / the offering according to the Sviṣṭakṛt rule begins with 'Om' and ends with 'svāhā'.

133

Having spread darbhas on the ground, he should perform the bali offering: / to the Viśvedevas, and to all beings,

134

and to the Lord of beings, with an utterance of homage, one who knows the scriptures / should offer the three bali offerings in front, and [one] to the ancestors saying 'svadhā namaḥ'.

135

He should cast the water used for washing the vessels toward the northwest direction. / Having set aside food consisting of sixteen mouthfuls smeared with clarified butter,

136

saying 'Hanta! This food is for human beings,' he should offer it; / and to the ancestors according to his ability, with their patrilineage, name, and the utterance svadhā.

137

He should offer food daily to six [ancestors] according to the rule of the ancestor-sacrifice. / Then, to attain the Brahman, he should recite a little of the Veda day by day.

138

Taking other food after that and stepping outside the house, / he should also toss a morsel for crows and dog-cookers.

139

Sitting down at the house door, he should remain for about a muhūrta, / attentive, desiring to receive a guest, pure in heart, watchful.

140

Seeing [one] arrived from afar, tranquil, wishing to eat, destitute, / he should approach to meet him, honoring him with respectful homage and worship,

141

honored with foot-washing, respect, ointments, and the like. / Greater than a sacrifice, a guest can immediately bring one to heaven.

142

A guest arrived at the proper time, or one arrived at the house who has mastered the Veda— / these two, when honored, lead to heaven; but unhonored, they drag down.

143

A son-in-law, a snātaka, a king, a teacher, a friend, and an officiating priest / are rightfully worthy of the guest-offering each year when they arrive at the house.

144

Having duly honored a learned brahmin who has arrived at the house, / he should prepare a single meal [for him] and send off that fortunate one.

145

Having accompanied them, he should send off the well-satisfied learned brahmin guests, / as well as a friend, a maternal uncle, and relatives who have arrived.

146

He should feed the householder's alms [to a beggar]; an honored mendicant is worthy [of them]. / Eating delicious food while giving bad food, he goes to a degraded state.

147

While pregnant women, the sick, servants, children, the elderly, and the ailing / remain hungry, the householder who eats consumes sin.

148

Uninvited, he should never eat or covet another's cooking and the like; / even when invited, a twice-born should not disparage it, nor should he refuse it.

149

A śūdra, an accused sinner, a usurer, one foul-mouthed, a cruel person, a thief, / an obstructed, abandoned, or bound person, and those who make a living by violent killing or binding,

150

an actor, a vintner, an arrogant man, a madman, a vrātya, one fallen from vows, / a naked man, an atheist, a shameless person, a slanderer, and those gripped by vice,

151

a miser, a henpecked man, an un-Aryan person, men who speak ill of others, / those devoid of authority though renowned, and thieves of the king's or gods' property,

152

those defiled through contact with bed or seat, conduct, deeds, and the like, / the faithless, the fallen, and those of ruined conduct—

153

these are ones whose food is inedible; whoever eats their food becomes equal to them. / A barber, a family friend, a sharecropper, a slave, and a cowherd—

154

even among śūdras, one who eats the food of these is not defiled at all. / But twice-born whose lineage is known may rightfully eat each other's food.

155

Earned by one's own livelihood, pure, situated at the mine, free of flies, / unlicked in the threshing-floor, not sniffed by cows, untouched by a śūdra or crows,

156

not leftover, not contaminated, not stale overnight, / capable of measuring [health], well-prepared food is always to be eaten.

157

Kṛśarā, apūpa cakes, milk-rice porridge, and pastries— / a brahmin should never eat meat unless enjoined [by rite].

158

In a sacrifice or an ancestral rite, when enjoined, a twice-born who does not eat falls. / Having honored the ancestors and deities with meat acquired through hunting,

159

a kṣatriya [may eat it], and a vaiśya too having lawfully purchased it at a lesser fraction. / A twice-born who eats meat in vain, without honoring the ancestors and deities,

160

obtains endless dwelling in hells as long as the moon and stars endure. / Attaining all desires and the fruit of a horse-sacrifice,

161

even a householder, the best of the twice-born, attains equality with a sage. / Cow's milk and buffalo's milk are fit to be consumed by the twice-born,

162

[provided] they are beyond ten days [after calving], related to the joining [of day and night], and flowing for a calf. / Onion, white eggplant, red radish,

163

garlic, the red sap of trees, fruits containing lac, / unseasonal flowers, and the like: having eaten these, a twice-born should observe the lunar penance.

164

Food spoiled by words, unknown, or prepared under distress, / and food not given to messengers—that burns up the householder.

165

The householder should always eat in gold, silver, or bronze vessels; / in their absence, on sweet-smelling lodhra wood or creepers.

166

A householder may eat on palāśa or lotus leaves; / a chaste student and an ascetic may eat whatever is auspicious.

167

Sprinkling the food, he should place three bali offerings on the ground with reverences: / to the Lord of the earth, the Lord of the atmosphere, and likewise to the Lord of beings.

168

Sipping water and then afterwards, in the sequence of five breath-oblations, / he should offer with the word svāhā, and eat the remainder at his pleasure.

169

Undistracted in mind, he should eat restraining his speech, not reviling the food. / He should eat the food to his satisfaction and leave the vessel unharmed.

170

Taking up a morsel from the leftover food, he should cast it on the ground. / Having sipped water, [he should spend the rest of the day] in company of the virtuous, reading good knowledge,

171

and through stories of the aged in good conduct, he should pass the remainder of the day. / Together with his servants, having made oblations into the fire, he should perform the evening twilight worship.

172

A twice-born should eat daily preceded by the water-sipping ritual. / In the evening too, a guest arrived at the time of the fire-oblation must constantly be honored.

173

With faith, according to his capacity, he should always [honor him]; unhonored, [the guest] destroys his sacred learning. / Not overly full, having sipped water, washed his feet, and pure,

174

not resting with head to the west or north, he should lie down on an auspicious bed. / When capable, at sunrise, he should not neglect ritual ablution and the twilight worship.

175

Rising during the brāhma-muhūrta, he should contemplate his own welfare. / Capable and wise, he should constantly observe this standard of conduct.

176

Thus ends the third chapter in the Dharma Treatise of holy Vedavyāsa.

177

Fourth Chapter

178

Thus is the treatise composed by Vyāsa, a compendium of the essence of dharma, / concerning the merits in the stages of life and those based on the dharma of liberation.

179

There is no higher dharma than the householder stage of life—truly there is not! / For him who observes it as declared, the fruit of all sacred fords is his.

180

Devoted to his teacher, supporting his servants, compassionate, free from malice, / constantly murmuring prayers, offering into the fire, truthful, and self-restrained,

181

he who finds satisfaction in his own wife, turns away from another's wife, / and incurs no reproach—the fruit of sacred fords is right in his house.

182

He who day after day seizes the wives of others or the wealth of others— / his sin is not destroyed even by bathing in all the sacred fords.

183

In homes where sacrifices are performed, there is the fruit of all pilgrimage sites.
Three shares belong to the giver of food; the cook is touched by one share.

184

Shelter, foot-washing, and water libation for brahmins—
sin does not touch him who gives bali offerings and alms.

185

Water for the feet, oil for the feet, a lamp, food, and shelter—
Yama does not approach him who gives these to brahmins.

186

As long as the earth remains moist with the water from a brahmin's feet,
so long do the ancestors drink nectar from lotus leaves.

187

Whatever fruit is gained by the gift of a brown cow on the full moon of Kārttika at Jyeṣṭha Puṣkara,
that fruit, O excellent sages, is gained by washing the feet of brahmins.

188

The fires are pleased by a welcome, Śatakratu by a seat,
the ancestors by foot-washing, and Prajāpati by food and drink.

189

The greatest pilgrimage site is mother and father, and Gaṅgā and cows especially;
there is not, nor will there be, a pilgrimage site greater than a brahmin.

190

Controlling his senses, a man may dwell right in his house;
for him, Kurukṣetra, Naimiṣa, and the Puṣkaras are right there,

191

as well as Gaṅgādvāra, Kedāra, and Sannihityā likewise.
Having performed [pilgrimages to] all these sacred places, he is freed from sins.

192

O twice-born, I shall explain the dharma of giving for the classes
and the stages of life, for the four classes, as spoken by Vyāsa.

193

What one gives to distinguished people and what one eats day by day,
that I consider to be wealth; for whom is the rest guarded?

194

What he gives and what he eats, that alone is the wealth of the wealthy man;
others sport with the wife and wealth of a dead man.

195

What will embodied beings whose life is gone do with wealth,
wishing as they do to nourish that impermanent body?

196

The limbs are impermanent, and wealth is not permanent at all;
death is ever at hand: an accumulation of dharma must be made.

197

If it is indeed neither for dharma, nor for pleasure, nor for fame,
why is that wealth not given away, which must be left behind upon departing?

198

O brahmin, he by whose life friends and relatives live,
his life is fruitful; who does not live for his own sake?

199

Even beasts live merely filling their own bellies;
what is the use of a body well-protected, strong, and long-lived?

200

Why is even half a mouthful of food not given to suppliants?
When, and to whom, will wealth ever match one's desires?

First 200 of 249 passages. Read on