Garudapurana 1.213

The venerable Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — 213 / Sūta said: / O Śaunaka, as Brahmā, having heard it from Hari, spoke to Vyāsa, / so I shall tell you the conduct of brāhmaṇas and the others, which bestows everything.

Having understood the Śruti and Smṛti, one should perform Vedic rites. / If a Vedic rite is not specified, one should then perform a Smṛti rite.

If incapable of doing even that, the wise man should follow the conduct of the virtuous. / For the Śruti and Smṛti are the two eyes of brāhmaṇas for perceiving religious duties.

Supreme dharma is that taught in the Śruti; that found in the Smṛti texts is another; / that obtained through the conduct of the virtuous is another: these are the three eternal dharmas.

Truth, charity, compassion, freedom from greed, learning, sacrifice, worship, and self-restraint: / these eight purifiers are the characteristic of the conduct of the virtuous.

The bodies and senses of the ancients were composed of light; / they are not tainted by sin, like a lotus leaf by water.

The duties and conduct of the castes, based primarily on their settlements, are proclaimed: / truth, sacrifice, austerity, and charity—this is the mark of dharma.

Not taking what is not given, charity, study, silent recitation, / learning, wealth, austerity, purity, birth in a good family, and freedom from disease;

And the cause of severance from transmigration proceeds solely from dharma. / From dharma comes happiness and knowledge, and through knowledge liberation is attained.

Sacrifice, study, and charity according to scripture are declared / to be the eternal, common dharma of the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, and vaiśya.

Officiating at sacrifices and teaching when pure, and receiving gifts from the pure: / the sages declared these three livelihoods for the highest caste.

Living by weapons and protecting beings are the livelihood of the king. / Cattle-rearing, agriculture, and trade are remembered as the livelihood of the vaiśya.

Service to the twice-born in descending order is for the śūdra. / Living with the guru, tending the sacred fire, and Vedic recitation are for the celibate student.

Bathing thrice, bathing [the teacher], begging food, remaining with the guru until the end of life, / wearing a girdle, matted hair, carrying a staff, or shaven-headed, taking refuge in the guru;

Tending the Agnihotra fire, earning a livelihood through one's own duties, / and engaging in sexual union with one's lawful wife except on forbidden days;

Arranging worship and the like for the gods, ancestors, and guests, / and remaining steadfast in the meaning of the Śruti and Smṛti—this is the duty of the householder.

Wearing matted hair, maintaining the Agnihotra fire, sleeping on the ground, wearing animal hides, / dwelling in the forest, and subsisting on milk, roots, wild grain, and fruits;

Abstaining from forbidden things, bathing thrice daily, observing religious vows, / and worshiping deities and guests—this is the duty of the forest-dweller.

Abandoning all undertakings, living on begged food, dwelling at the roots of trees, / freedom from possessions, harmlessness, and equanimity toward all creatures;

Impartiality amid the embrace of pleasant and unpleasant, and happiness and sorrow; / inner and outer purity, restraint of speech, and devotion to meditation;

Withdrawing all senses, constancy in concentration and meditation, / and purity of disposition—this is declared to be the duty of the wandering mendicant.

Harmlessness, truthful speech, truthfulness, purity, forgiveness, and compassion / are declared to be the common duty of members of the castes and religious orders alike.

Those who act as prescribed all reach the highest destination. / I shall now tell you the householder's duty from waking until sleeping.

One should wake in the hour of Brahman and reflect upon dharma and wealth, / the bodily afflictions arising from them, and the essential meaning of the Vedas.

Having risen at the end of night, purified oneself, and concentrated one's mind, / having bathed, one should attend to the twilight worship at all times without slackness.

One should perform the morning twilight worship after brushing the teeth. / By day, one should pass urine and feces facing north;

And at night one should do so facing south, and during both twilights as by day. / In shade, in darkness, at night, or by day, a twice-born,

may face whatever direction he must when there is danger to life or fear; / [never] on cow-dung, charcoal, an ant-hill, a ploughed field, or an auspicious place;

Nor should one pass urine and feces on a path or in shades used by others. / From within water, from a temple, from an ant-hill, from a mouse-hole,

from earth left over from another's purification, and from a cremation ground, one must avoid taking clay. / One should apply clay once to the penis, and twice to the left hand;

And two [applications] must be given to both hands: this is declared as the purification after urination. / One to the penis, three to the anus, and ten to the left hand;

Five to each foot, ten to one, and seven portions of clay to the hands. / The first portion of clay is remembered to be the measure of half a handful;

The second and third are declared to be half of that. / But one who is unable to pass stool and urine while sitting down,

he should always perform half the cleansing of his normal purification. / At night, half of the daytime purification is prescribed, or else one-quarter.

A healthy man should perform as prescribed; a sick man may do so according to his strength. / Muscle fat, semen, blood, marrow, saliva, feces, urine, and earwax:

Phlegm, tears, eye-rheum, and sweat: these are the twelve impurities of men. / One should perform purification until one considers oneself clean.

The measure of purification is not determined merely by prescribed numbers. / Purification is declared to be of two kinds: external as well as internal.

External [purification] is traditionally taught as performed with clay and water, and internal [purification] as purity of intent. / First one should sip water three times, and then wipe the mouth twice.

Having wiped [it] with the base of the thumb, one should touch the mouth with three [fingers]; / immediately afterward, the nose with the thumb and the forefinger;

the eyes and ears repeatedly with the thumb and ring finger; / the navel with the little finger and thumb; and the chest with the palm;

the head with all [fingers]; and afterward touch the two arms with the tips [of the fingers]. / Reciting the Ṛc, Yajus, and Sāman [mantras] thrice, one should gratify [the deities] in order.

First he wipes twice the Atharvan and Aṅgiras, then easily [gratifies] / the Itihāsas, Purāṇas, and Vedāṅgas in due order:

[gratifying] space in the mouth, wind in the two nostrils, the sun in the two eyes, the quarters in the two ears; / then one should touch the knot of the breath, the navel, and Brahmā at the heart;

touching Rudra on the head, one then pleases the sages at the topknot; / and on the arms: Yama, Indra, Varuṇa, Kubera, the Earth, and Fire.

Sprinkling the two feet, [one pleases] Viṣṇu; on the two hands, Indra and Viṣṇu; / on the joints of the fingers, Fire, Wind, the Sun, the Moon, and the Mountains;

and the Gaṅgā and other rivers upon the lines running across the palms. / When the dawn has arrived, having performed purification properly according to the rules,

one should then take a bath preceded by brushing the teeth. / When the mouth remains unwashed, a man is always impure;

therefore, with every effort, one should indeed brush the teeth. / Kadamba, bilva, khadira, karavīra, vaṭa, arjuna,

yūthī, bṛhatī, jātī, karañja, arka, atimuktaka, / jambū, madhūka, apāmārga, śirīṣa, udumbara, asana,

milky and thorny trees, and the like, are praised for tooth-brushing; / astringent, bitter, and pungent ones bestow wealth, health, and happiness.

Having washed [the tooth-stick], used it, and discarded it in a clean place, one should then sip water. / On the new moon, the sixth day, the ninth day, and the first day [of a lunar fortnight],

as well as on Sunday, one should avoid the tooth-stick. / In the absence of a tooth-stick, and likewise on a forbidden lunar day,

one should cleanse the mouth with twelve mouthfuls of water. / They praise the morning bath as producing visible and invisible benefits and being wholesome.

One who bathes in the morning, whose self is purified, is eligible for all [rites], recitation, and the like. / The body is extremely impure, endowed with nine openings;

it discharges [filth] day and night; the morning bath is its purifier. / It produces clarity of mind, increases beauty and good fortune,

and allays sorrow and grief; one should perform it like a bath in the Gaṅgā: / "Today, under the Hasta asterism, on the tenth day of the bright half of Jyeṣṭha,

which removes ten sins: the taint of not giving charity, / improper conduct, violence, resorting to another's wife,

harshness, falsehood, malicious gossip, incoherent chatter, / coveting another’s property, and harbouring ill intent in the mind—

to destroy these ten sins, I take a bath in the Gaṅgā." / The morning bath is brief for the forest hermit and the householder;

for the ascetic, bathing is at the three junctures of the day; for the celibate student, it is once. / Having sipped water and invoked the sacred ford, one should bathe while remembering the imperishable Hari.

Thirty million rākṣasas, known by the name Mandehas, / wicked in nature, desire to devour the rising sun.

He who does not perform worship at twilight slays the sun; / [the performers] burn them with water purified by mantras, which takes the form of fire.

The junction of day and night is indeed the twilight. / Twilight lasts two nāḍikās, as long as [the stars or sun] remain visible.

At the conclusion of the twilight rites, one should perform the fire offering oneself; / the fruit of an offering made by oneself is not produced through another.

An officiating priest, a son, a guru, a brother, a nephew, or a son-in-law: / whatever is offered by these is considered offered by oneself indeed.

Brahmā is the Gārhapatya fire; the Three-Eyed [Rudra] is the Dakṣiṇa fire; / Viṣṇu is the Āhavanīya fire; Kumāra is called the true [Sabhya fire].

Having performed the fire offering at the proper time, one should then recite the solar mantras; / with a concentrated mind, [one should recite] the Sāvitrī and the praṇava as prescribed.

For one constantly devoted to the praṇava, to the seven sacred utterances, / and to the three-footed Sāvitrī, there is no fear anywhere.

The man who, rising at dawn, constantly recites the Gāyatrī / is not stained by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not moistened by water.

She is described as white in complexion, dressed in silken garments, / holding a rosary, seated on a lotus, and auspicious.

Having invoked her according to the rule with the Yajus formula beginning "Thou art brilliance", / this Yajus was formerly [perceived] by the gods who sought a vision [of her].

Dwelling within the orb of the sun and also residing in the world of Brahmā, / having invoked her there and recited [the prayer], one should dismiss her with a salutation.

In the forenoon itself, one should perform the worship of the deities; / there is no deity higher than Viṣṇu, therefore one should always worship him.

The wise person should not view Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva as separate deities. / In this world there are eight auspicious things: a brāhmaṇa, a cow, fire,

gold, clarified butter, the sun, water, and the king as the eighth; / one should constantly look upon these, venerate them, and circumambulate them.

First studying the Veda, then reflecting upon it, repeatedly practising it, reciting it, / and imparting it to pupils: the study of the Veda is indeed fivefold.

He who, having had texts on the meaning of the Veda, sacrificial treatises, and treatises on dharma / transcribed for payment, donates them, attains the Vedic realm.

He who, having transcribed the Itihāsas and Purāṇas, gives them away, / obtains merit equal to the gift of the Veda, doubled.

And in the third part [of the day, one should engage in] the acquisition of wealth for the group of dependants: / mother, father, guru, brother, offspring, the destitute, those who rely on one,

a visitor, a guest, and the sacred fire are declared to be the group of dependants. / Maintaining the group of dependants is praised as the means to achieve heaven.

Therefore, one should maintain the group of dependants with effort. / That one excellent man lives, upon whom many depend for their livelihood;

other men who merely fill their own bellies are dead while still alive; / even a dog is capable of filling its own belly.

From wealth, moreover, grown large and collected here and there, / all undertakings proceed, just as rivers from mountains.

The earth, which is a mine of all jewels, grains, cattle, and women— / because of their suitability for purpose, each is designated as 'wealth' (artha).

Without harming living beings at all, or else with very little harm, / adopting that livelihood, a brahmin should live in times free from distress.

Wealth is to be known as threefold: white, speckled, / and black; its division is to be understood as separately sevenfold.

Acquired by succession, given out of love, and obtained along with a wife— / this is the threefold wealth common to all castes without distinction.

The specific wealth of a brahmin is seen to have three characteristics: / constantly [earned] by officiating at sacrifices and teaching, and gifts received from pure persons.

They declare a threefold specific wealth for the kṣatriya as well: / that which is gained through taxes for pure governance, that acquired through fines, and likewise that produced by victory.

The specific wealth of a vaiśya is also seen to be distinctive: / agriculture, cattle-rearing, and trade; while that of a śūdra is from the favour of these [three castes].

One may undertake usury, agriculture, and trade in person in an emergency; / in a time of distress, a twice-born performing [them] himself is not joined with sin.

Many means of livelihood have been proclaimed by the sages; / yet of all of them, they consider usury to be superior.

From drought, fear of the king, or calamities caused by mice and the like, / an obstruction may arise in agriculture and other pursuits, but it does not exist in usury.

During the bright fortnight as well as the dark, by night or by day, / in heat, rain, or cold, the increase [of interest] does not cease.

Whatever profit comes to those who have gone abroad, living by various wares, / that same [profit] arises for one who practises usury properly, merely while staying in place.

Having obtained gain, he should worship the ancestors, the gods, and brahmins; / they, being satisfied, quell the fault in it; there is no doubt.

A merchant who gives interest [or] clothing, cattle, gold, and the like, / and a farmer who gives food, drink, vehicles, beds, and seats,

Giving twenty [parts] to kings, [from] a hundred cattle, gold, and so on; / with a quarter of it, a self-controlled man should make provision for his subsistence.

With half, he should maintain himself, together with regular and occasional rites; / and with one quarter, constituting his capital, he should increase his wealth.

Knowledge, craft, wages, service, cattle-rearing, shopkeeping, farming, / a profession, begging alms, and usury are the ten means of livelihood.

One's wealth is acquired through accepting gifts for a brahmin, won by weapons for a kṣatriya, / acquired through lawful trade for a vaiśya, and acquired by service for a śūdra.

A river with abundant water, greens, clay, leaves, sacrificial kindling, and kuśa grass, / the sacred fire, and the chanting of the Veda are the supreme wealth of brahmins.

In accepting a gift that arrives unasked, there is no fault; / the gods know that to be nectar; therefore, one should never reject it.

Desiring to maintain the guru's family, or intending to honour deities and guests, / one may accept from everywhere, but one should not personally enjoy satisfaction from it.

Whether a twice-born receives [a gift] from a good person or from a bad person, / if endowed with virtue, the fault is slight; but one devoid of virtue sinks down.

Having thus maintained himself, even by an impermissible livelihood, / the best of the twice-born should afterwards perform purification and expiation.

And in the fourth part [of the day], he should collect earth for the purpose of bathing, / sesame, flowers, kuśa grass, and the like, and bathe in natural water.

Regular, occasional, optional, forming part of a ritual, removing dirt, / sprinkling, sipping water, and full immersion—an eightfold bath is proclaimed.

One who has not bathed is not entitled to recitation, oblations into the fire, and other rites; / the morning bath for that purpose is proclaimed as the regular bath.

Having touched a Cāṇḍāla, a corpse, excrement, and the like, or a menstruating woman, / when one who is fit to bathe takes a bath, that indeed is the occasional bath.

A bath such as the Puṣya-bath, prescribed according to the rules of an astrologer— / that is declared to be optional; one who does not desire [its fruit] should not perform it.

Desiring to recite purifying texts, intending to worship deities and guests, / the bath which one performs is proclaimed as forming part of a ritual.

The effort undertaken solely for the sake of removing dirt, and not otherwise, / in lakes, ponds made by the gods, pilgrimage sites, and rivers—

Since the bath itself is the religious action, it is known as a ritual bath beyond this; / the limbs are cleansed with water, and from a bath at a pilgrimage site one obtains the fruit.

Through sprinkling, immersions, and mantras, sin is swiftly destroyed; / [this applies to] the regular, the occasional, that forming part of a ritual, and that removing dirt.

In the absence of a sacred water-place, however, it should be done with warm water or other waters; / water drawn from the ground is meritorious; more so than that is water from a spring.

Even more meritorious than that is pond-water; river-water is said to be greater than that; / the water of a pilgrimage site is more meritorious than that, but Gaṅgā water is meritorious above all.

The water of the Gaṅgā quickly purifies sins up to the end of life; / and whatever water is present at Gayā and at Kurukṣetra,

Even compared to that, one should know the other water, that of the Gaṅgā, to be supreme. / At the birth of a son, during astronomical conjunctions, and likewise at the transit of the sun,

And at the sight of Rāhu, bathing at night is praised, but not otherwise. / The bath that is taken at every dawn, at twilight, or when the sun has risen,

Is equal to a Prājāpatya penance, destroying great sins. / The fruit that would arise when a Prājāpatya penance is performed for twelve years,

One who bathes in the morning, endowed with faith, obtains that in a single year. / He who desires extensive enjoyments comparable to the lunar and solar eclipse,

Should continually bathe in the morning during the two months of Māgha and Phālguna. / But he who, having reached the month of Māgha, bathes in the morning and eats sacrificial food,

Disperses even very terrible sin in just a month. / Intending a mother, a father, a brother, a friend, or a guru,

For whose sake one immerses oneself, that person obtains a twelfth part. / Viṣṇu is pleased by āmalaka fruits, especially on the eleventh lunar day.

A man desiring prosperity should always take a bath with āmalaka fruits. / Torment, fame, short life, wealth, and indeed death,

Health, and the attainment of all desires [result] from an oil-massage on days beginning with Sunday. / For one who has fasted, one observing a vow, and one whose hair has been cut by barbers,

Fortune remains pleased only as long as he does not touch oil. / Having bathed thus, a man should offer libations to the ancestors, gods, and mortals.

Standing in water up to the navel, with his mind focused on strength, he should reflect: / 'May my ancestors come; may they receive this handful of water.'

He should offer three handfuls of water [each] into the sky and to the south, / then put on dry clothing, standing on land upon strewed kuśa grass.

Those who know the ritual should perform the water-offering, but never in a vessel. / 'Whatever cruelty or raw meat adheres to the water, whatever is impure,

whatever is restless and stained, may all that go away.' / Having taken water in his left hand with this mantra,

he should throw it into the south-western direction to destroy the rakṣasas: / 'Whatever [evil comes] from forbidden food, from sin, or from accepting gifts,

and whatever bad deed of mine done by speech, mind, and bodily acts, / may Indra, Varuṇa, together with Bṛhaspati, purify me of that,

and Savitṛ, Bhaga, and the sages headed by Sanaka.' / Saying, 'May the universe, from Brahmā down to a clump of grass, be satisfied,'

he should cast three handfuls of water, performing the concise water-offering. / Free from envy, he should worship the gods headed by Brahmā,

with mantras dedicated to Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Savitṛ, Mitra, and Varuṇa, / using the mantras that name them, and bowing to all the gods.

He should deposit flowers separately with an obeisance. / Then he should worship the Sun, and Viṣṇu, who comprises all deities.

Whoever offers flowers or water with the Puruṣasūkta, / by him this entire universe, moving and unmoving, is worshiped.

He should also worship Janārdana with other tantric mantras. / First the water for honorific welcome should be offered, and after that the ointment;

then a handful of flowers, incense, offerings, and fruits; / also the bath while immersed in water, as well as the sprinkling and sipping of water.

As for consecrating the water of a sacred bathing place, he should perform it / three times daily with the Aghamarṣaṇa hymn.

This is declared by the great-souled ones as the conduct observed in bathing. / For Brahmins, Kṣatriyas, and Vaiśyas, the bath is prescribed with mantras;

for a Śūdra, it is traditionally said to be in silence, accompanied by an obeisance. / Teaching is the sacrifice to Brahman; the water-offering is the sacrifice to the ancestors;

the fire oblation is for the gods; the food offering is for living beings; honoring a guest is the sacrifice to humanity. / [The fruit] is tenfold in a cow-pen, a hundred times more in a sacrificial hall,

thousands, hundreds, and tens of millions in perfected places, sacred sites, and temples, / and endless in the presence of Viṣṇu.

And in the fifth part [of the day] a proper distribution [of food] / is prescribed for the hosts of ancestors, gods, and men.

Having given the first portion to Brahmins, he who eats together with friends, / practising the giving of food, attains heaven after death.

He should eat sweet food first, salty and sour in the middle, / and pungent, bitter, and astringent, as well as milk, at the end.

He should completely avoid vegetables and whatever is on the ground at night, / and he should never become addicted to enjoying a single taste.

Food of a Brahmin is regarded as ambrosia; food of a Kṣatriya is milk; / food of a Vaiśya is simply food; and food of a Śūdra is blood.

He should dwell here on the new moon day, or for a single year.

There fortune and wealth reside, no doubt in this. / The Gārhapatya fire is in the belly, and the Dakṣiṇa fire on the back;

the Āhavanīya fire is in the mouth; truth and the joint are on the crown of the head. / He who knows these five fires is called one who maintains the sacred fires.

The body, water, and soma are declared to be various foods; / the breath of life is fire, and likewise the Sun; there is only one consumer of the three.

'May the food bring strength to my earth, water, fire, and wind; / upon its digestion, may unbroken happiness come to me.'

Having wiped [his mouth] with his hand, he should chew betel leaf, / and attentive, he should listen to historical narrative.

He should spend the sixth and seventh [parts of the day] with narratives, Purāṇas, and the like; / then, having bathed, a man should attend to the evening twilight worship.

This daily ritual has been taught by me, O twice-born! / The wise man who recites or hears this conduct shall go to heaven; / for Keśava is traditionally remembered as the origin of conduct and the author of dharma, O twice-born!

Thus ends the two hundred and fifteenth chapter in the Ācārakāṇḍa, designated as the first section, in the Pūrvakhaṇḍa of the glorious Mahāpurāṇa called Garuḍa Purāṇa.