Agnipurana 162

English (machine translation) 162

Language: English

162.8 — 2 parts
162.18 — 4 parts
162.19 — 3 parts

162.1

Puṣkara said: / Manu, Viṣṇu, Yājñavalkya, Hārīta, Atri, Yama, Aṅgiras, / Vasiṣṭha, Dakṣa, Saṃvarta, Śātātapa, Parāśara,

162.2

Āpastamba, Uśanas, Vyāsa, Kātyāyana, Bṛhaspati, / Gautama, Śaṅkha, and Likhita—as these declared dharma,

162.3

so I shall declare it in brief, bestowing worldly enjoyment and liberation; listen! / Vedic action is of two kinds: directed toward engagement and directed toward cessation.

162.4

Action done with desire is directed toward engagement, while that preceded by knowledge is directed toward cessation. / Study of the Veda, ascetic austerity, knowledge, and restraint of the senses,

162.5

non-violence, and service to the guru are the supreme cause of the highest good. / And of all these, knowledge of the Self is declared to be supreme.

162.6

For that is the foremost of all sciences; immortality is indeed attained from it. / Seeing the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self

162.7

equally, one who sacrifices to the Self attains autonomy. / One should be steadfast in knowledge of the Self and equanimity, and diligent in the study of the Veda.

162.8

This is the capability of the twice-born, especially of a brāhmaṇa,

162.8.p2

1 "etaddvijanmasāgryam" in kha, ṅa, jha, ña, and ṭa; "etaddvijanmasāmagrī" in gha. / [page 148]

162.8_2

knowing the true meaning of the Veda and the Śāstras, residing in whatever stage of life [he is in].

162.9

Abiding right here in this world, he is fit to become Brahman. / The commencement rite of Vedic studies [is performed] on the full moon day of Śrāvaṇa, under [the asterism] Śravaṇa,

162.10

or on [the asterism] Hasta, on the day of herbs, or on the fifth lunar day of Śrāvaṇa; / or on [the asterism] Rohiṇī in the month of Pauṣa, or on an aṣṭakā day,

he should perform the suspension rite of the metres outdoors near water according to the rule. / There is a suspension of study for three days when pupils, officiating priests, gurus, or relatives have died,

162.12

and at the commencement and suspension rites, and likewise [on the death of] a Vedic scholar of one's own branch; / when there is thunder at twilight, a thunderbolt, an earthquake, or the fall of a meteor;

162.13

and having completed the Veda, having studied the Āraṇyaka by night, / on the fifteenth, fourteenth, or eighth lunar day, during an eclipse of Rāhu,

162.14

or at the junctions of the seasons; having eaten food of an ancestral rite or accepted [a gift for it]; / when an interruption has been caused by an animal, a frog, a mongoose, a dog, a snake, a cat, or a boar,

162.15

[suspension lasts] for a day and a night; likewise at the fall or raising of Indra's banner; / when there is the sound of a dog, a jackal, a donkey, an owl, a wine-pipe, or a musical instrument;

162.16

near impure things, a corpse, a śūdra, an outcaste, a cremation ground, or a fallen person; / under inauspicious stars, during a confluence of lightning and thunder,

162.17

having eaten with wet hands, in water, at midnight, in a violent wind, / during a shower of dust, a burning of the directions, at twilight, in fog, or in times of fear,