Vyasasmriti 3
English (machine translation) 3
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- English
Contents
3.1
Now begins the description of morning duties, including the rules of bathing and so forth: / Action is held to be threefold: regular, occasional, and optional. / I shall declare that threefold action; let it be comprehended by the householder.
3.2
In the last watch of the night, having abandoned sleep, he should remember Hari. / Having looked upon an auspicious object, he should perform the obligatory morning duties.
3.3
Having purified himself, attending to the fire, and cleansing his teeth with water, / having bathed and performed the twilight worship, the twice-born should offer libations to the gods and ancestors.
3.3.p1
Some say he sacrifices before the sun rises, others say when the sun has risen; / knowing the application of the mantras, he should whisper the mantras sacred to Āditya.
3.4
He should study the Vedas, the auxiliary limbs of the Veda, the treatises, and the Itihāsas; / and the excellent twice-born should teach worthy pupils and virtuous brahmins.
3.5
What is unacquired he should acquire; having acquired it, he should finish [the task] in an instant. / For a capable person should dwell with a capable person, never remaining unrecognized anywhere.
3.6
In a river, a lake, ponds, pits, springs, and so forth, / he should bathe, having taken up five balls of clay with water.
3.7
In the absence of a sacred ford, or in case of inability, he may bathe with drawn water / standing in the courtyard of his house, up to the wringing of his clothes.
3.8
He should perform the bath with mantras addressed to the waters, and also the wiping with purifying [mantras]; / having restrained his breaths three times with mantras, he should look upon the sun with solar mantras.
3.9
Standing, he should recite the gāyatrī, and then begin his Vedic recitation / of the Ṛgveda verses, the Yajurveda formulas, the Sāmaveda chants, and the Atharvāṅgiras formulas,
3.10
and of the Itihāsas, Purāṇas, and the Vedic Upaniṣads, the twice-born / should properly read daily according to his ability, even a small portion, until completion.
3.11
He obtains the entire fruit of sacrifices, gifts, and austerities. / A brahmin who takes delight elsewhere than in the Vedas falls to the status of a Śūdra; / therefore, with restrained speech, the twice-born should study the Veda every single day.
3.12
He should read treatises on socio-religious duty, histories, and the like, according to his capacity, for everyone. / Having completed the Vedic recitation, he should then first gratify the deities:
3.13
Bending his right knee, with blades of darbha grass pointing eastwards, along with barley and sesamum, / thrown forward from the fingertips, facing east, the twice-born / with his sacred thread in the normal position, by offering single handfuls of water,
3.14
With both knees level, wearing the sacred cord around his neck, facing north, / with darbha blades placed crosswise and pointing west, with barley mixed with sesamum,
3.15
With waters thrown to the north, flowing out from the base of the little finger, / with two handfuls each, he should then gratify the humans.
3.16
Facing south, bending his left knee, with double-folded kuśa grass, / with sesamum and water flowing from the forefinger over the root of the darbha grass,
3.17
Having his sacred thread over his right shoulder, he should successively, with three handfuls, / gratify the divine ancestors, and then his own ancestors after them.
3.17.p1
Some desire the gratification to be performed in this manner without the exclamation 'svadhā'.
3.17.p2
A twice-born whose father is alive should pass over them and gratify others:
3.17.p3
He should gratify the divine ancestors, and his own ancestors preceding his father.
3.18
Likewise, he should gratify maternal grandmothers and maternal grandfathers, three [generations] each with three [handfuls]. / And maternal grandfathers and whatever other members of the lineage died without cremation,
3.19
He should gratify them each separately by offering a single handful of water. / Those who died without life-cycle rites and were deprived of funeral rites—
3.20
Their refreshment takes place through the water squeezed from one's garment. / But he who squeezes his garment before the ancestors are gratified,
3.21
His ancestors, along with gods and humans, are left hopeless. / It should be [given] with water, darbha, the utterance 'svadhā', lineage, name, and sesamum;
3.22
It is well-given to them again, but without even one of these it is in vain. / What is given with a distracted mind, what is given devoid of the prescribed rule,
3.23
Or [what is given] by one not seated on a seat—that water turns into blood. / Thus gratified, they gratify their gratifiers with desires.
3.24
With the names of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Āditya, Mitra, and Varuṇa, / he should worship, with appropriate mantras, the deities mentioned in the water-mantras.
3.25
Having stood facing the sun's quarter and worshipped the deities, / [and recited the mantras for] destroying sins with the names of Brahmā, Agni, Indra, plants, the living, and Viṣṇu,
3.26
And reciting 'Whatever [form] of water...' with homages by their respective names, / touching his face, he should thus complete his bath.
3.27
Then, having entered the house, into the domestic fire / the twice-born should duly perform the four cooked sacrifices according to rule.
3.28
One who has not established the domestic fire should take food smeared with ghee / and, following the Śākala procedure, sacrifice into the ordinary fire,
3.29
With the sacred utterances separately, and thereafter together, / and with the six mantras beginning with 'Of what is done by gods...' in proper order.
3.30
Offering [the oblation] to Prajāpati and the Sviṣṭakṛt, having thus offered twelve oblations / preceded by 'Om' and ending in 'svāhā', according to the rule of the sviṣṭa offering;
3.31
Having spread darbha grass on the ground, he should perform the food-offering rite: / 'To the Viśvedevas', and 'To all beings',
3.32
And 'To the lord of beings', with an obeisance. The knower of the scriptures / should first give three food offerings, and [then]: 'To the ancestors, svadhā, homage!'
3.32.p1
He should throw out the vessel-washing water in the north-western direction. / Having scooped out food measuring sixteen mouthfuls, moistened with ghee,
3.33
Saying, 'Here is food for human beings, hanta!', he should cast it out. / And to the ancestors, with the utterance of lineage, name, and 'svadhā', according to his capacity,
3.34
He should daily give food to six [generations], according to the rule of the ancestral sacrifice. / He should recite a little of the Veda and the like to achieve the Vedic sacrifice.
3.35
Then, taking other food and going out of the house, / he should throw a morsel for the crows and the dog-cookers.
3.36
Sitting down at the door of the house, he should remain for about a muhūrta, / unremitting, desiring a guest, waiting with pure intention.
3.37
Seeing one arrived from afar, calm, desiring to eat, and destitute, / going forward to meet him, honoring him with respectful reception and worship,
3.38
Honored with washing of the feet, respect, anointing, and the like, / a guest quickly leads one to heaven; he is greater than a sacrifice.
3.39
A guest arrived at the proper time, and one who has reached the end of the Veda arrived at the house— / these two, when honored, lead to heaven; but when unhonored, to the depths below. / One who is to be married, a graduated householder, a king, a teacher, a friend, and an officiating priest—
3.40
These are worthy of the guest-offering by socio-religious duty when they come to the house each year. / Having duly honored a learned Vedic brahmin arrived at the house,
3.41
He should devoutly provide for this single distinguished man and send him off. / Following them, he should send off the well-satisfied learned Vedic brahmin guests, / and friends, maternal uncles, relatives, and kinsmen who have arrived.
3.42
He should feed them. A beggar is entitled to respectful alms from the householder. / Eating tasty food while giving tasteless food, he goes to a degraded state.
3.43
While pregnant women, sick people, servants, children, the elderly, and the afflicted / are hungry, the householder who eats, eats sin.
3.44
He should not eat greedily, nor ever eat cooked food uninvited. / Even when invited by a censurable person, a twice-born ought to refuse.
3.45
Mean persons, the accused, usurers, those of foul speech, the cruel, thieves, / the wrathful, outcasts, prisoners, fierce men, those living by killing and binding,
3.46
Actors, distillers, arrogant men, the insane, fallen twice-born, those who have broken their vows, / the naked, atheists, the shameless, slanderers, those addicted to vices,
3.47
Misers, men conquered by women, the un-Aryan, tale-bearers, / men without restraint though renowned, thieves of royal or divine property,
3.48
Those corrupted by contact in bed or seat, conduct, occupation, and the like, / the faithless, the fallen, those deviated from proper conduct, and others—
3.49
Their food is not to be eaten; he who eats someone's food becomes equal to him. / A barber, a family friend, a sharecropper, a slave, and a cowherd—
3.50
Even among Śūdras, by eating the food of these one is not corrupted. / Twice-born whose lineages are known may eat one another's food in accordance with duty.
3.51
Earned by one's own livelihood, pure, free from hair, worms, and flies, / not licked by a dog, smelled by a cow beforehand, untouched by Śūdras and crows,
3.52
Not leftover, not spoiled, and not stale, / with steam not faded—he should always eat food that is well-prepared.
3.53
A rice-and-pulse dish, barley cakes, wheat cakes, milk rice, and pastries— / a brahmin should never eat meat unless enjoined [by ritual].
3.54
Whether enjoined in a sacrifice or in an ancestral offering, a twice-born who does not eat falls. / Having worshipped the ancestors and deities with meat acquired by hunting,
3.55
A Kṣatriya [may eat it], or a Vaiśya having bought that which is lacking by twelve [parts], in accordance with duty. / A twice-born, having eaten meat in vain or having killed animals unlawfully,
3.56
Attains endless dwelling in the hells for as long as the moon and stars endure. / Attaining all desires and the fruit of a horse-sacrifice,
3.57
Even a householder, the best of the twice-born, attains equality with the sages. / The milk of cows and buffaloes is fit to be consumed by the twice-born.
3.58
Milk from a cow within ten days of calving, milk from a cow in heat, and milk from a cow whose calf has died, / bottle gourd, drumstick, mushrooms, parasol-fungi, and garlic, / onions, white eggplants, and red radishes,
3.59
carrots, red tree sap, fruits containing insects, / and out-of-season flowers and the like—a twice-born who eats [any of these] should observe the Cāndrāyaṇa penance.
3.60
Food ruined by speech, food of unknown origin, and food prepared through oppressing others— / also food not offered to living beings—that food will burn the householder.
3.61
A householder should always eat from gold, silver, or bell-metal vessels; / in their absence, from sweet-scented lodhra wood or creepers.
3.62
A householder may eat from palāśa and lotus leaves; / a celibate student and an ascetic should eat from what is beneficial.
3.63
Having sprinkled the food with water, he should offer three food offerings on the ground with reverent bows: / to the Lord of the earth (bhūpati), to the Lord of the atmosphere (bhuvaspati), and likewise to the Lord of beings (bhūtapati).
3.64
Having sipped water, he should thereafter sequentially make the five offerings to the vital breaths / with the utterance of svāhā; he may then eat the remainder at his pleasure.
3.65
With an undivided mind, restrained in speech, not disparaging the food, he should eat; / he should eat food until satisfied, and leave the vessel unsoiled [by trampling].
3.66
Taking a single mouthful from the food remnant, he should cast it on the ground. / Having sipped water, [he should spend the rest of the day] in the company of good men and in studying good knowledge,
3.67
and through stories of elders distinguished by good conduct, he should pass the remainder of the day. / Accompanied by his servants, he should attend to the evening twilight devotion after offering into the fire.
3.68
Preceded by the water-sipping rite (āpośāna), a twice-born should eat daily. / In the evening too, a guest who arrives at the time of the fire offering is constantly worthy of honour.
3.69
Always according to faith and capacity [he should honour him]; unhonoured, [the guest] destroys his sacred learning. / Not excessively full, having touched water, purified, having washed his feet,
3.70
he should lie down on a proper bed, without his head toward the west or the north. / A capable man should not neglect bathing and twilight devotion at the proper time;
3.71
and having risen in the brāhma-muhūrta, he should contemplate his own welfare. / Capable and intelligent, he should daily follow this conduct.
3.71.p1
Thus ends the third chapter, named 'The Householder's Daily Practice,' in the Treatise on Socio-Religious Duty composed by Veda-Vyāsa.
Linked texts (1)
- Vyāsasmṛti — Vyāsa, Sanskrit