Markandeyapurana 29
English (machine translation) 29
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Contents
29.1
Alarka said: / "What must be done by men who follow the householder life, / non-performance of which brings bondage, and the performance of which brings exaltation?"
29.2
Tell me truly, as I ask, what is for the welfare of men
and what is to be avoided in the home by the virtuous, and how it is to be performed.
29.2.p1
Madālasā said:
29.3
Child! Having taken up the householder's life, a man sustains this entire world;
thereby he wins the worlds he longs for.
29.4
The ancestors, sages, gods, beings, and likewise humans,
worms, insects, moths, birds, beasts, and asuras,
29.5
depend upon the householder and thence attain satisfaction;
they look toward his face, wondering: 'Will he give to us?'
29.6
This cow consisting of the three Vedas, child, is the support of everything;
upon her the universe is established, and she is considered the cause of the universe.
29.7
She has the Ṛgveda as her back, the Yajurveda as her middle, the Sāmaveda as her mouth and neck;
she has sacrifices and pious works as her horns, and beautiful hymns as her hair.
29.8
Her dung and urine are peace and nourishment; she is established on the feet of the four classes;
providing livelihood to the worlds, she is imperishable and never diminishes.
29.9
The syllable svāhā, the syllable svadhā, and the syllable vaṣaṭ, my son,
and likewise the syllable hanta as the other, are her four udders.
29.10
The gods drink from the udder of svāhā, the ancestors from that of svadhā,
and the sages, god-beings, and the enemies of the gods [drink] from vaṣaṭ.
29.11
Human beings continually drink from the udder of hanta;
thus this cow consisting of the three Vedas nourishes [all], my child!
29.12
And whatever man cuts them off, committing the worst sin,
he sinks into the hells of Andhatāmisra and Tāmisra.
29.13
And that mortal who milks this cow for her calves—the immortals and the rest—
at the proper time, attains heaven.
29.14
Therefore, son, every day a man must nourish gods, ṛṣis, ancestors, humans,
and creatures, just as he does his own body.
29.15
Therefore, having bathed and become pure, one should, collected in mind, at the proper time
perform the libation to gods, ṛṣis, and ancestors, and likewise to Prajāpati and others.
29.16
Having worshipped the gods with fragrant flowers and blossoms, a man
should then offer libations to the fire, and offerings of food are also to be made.
29.17
He should cast an offering to Brahman and the Viśvedevas in the middle of the house,
and toward the northeast he should cast an offering dedicated to Dhanvantari.
29.18
In the east he should present an offering to Śakra, in the south to Yama,
in the west to Varuṇa, and in the north an offering to Soma.
29.19
He should give an offering to Dhātṛ and Vidhātṛ at the door of the house,
and outside, all around the house, he should give to Aryaman.
29.20
He should cast an offering into the air for the night-roaming spirits,
and facing south, he should make an offering to the ancestors.
29.21
Devoted and with a well-composed mind, the householder
should then take water and, for sipping,
29.22
the wise man should cast it in those very places, designating each respective deity.
Having thus made the house-offering in his home, the pure master of the house
29.23
should respectfully make an apportionment for the nourishment of all beings;
and on the ground he should scatter food for dogs, outcasts, and birds.
29.23.p1
For this is declared to be the Vaiśvadeva rite, [performed] morning and evening.
29.24
Having sipped water, the wise man should then look out at the door.
29.25
A guest is to be waited for even for the eighth part of a muhūrta;
a guest who has arrived then, with food, water,
29.26
fragrances, flowers, and the like, he should honor to the best of his ability.
One should not make a friend a guest, nor a fellow resident of the same village.
29.27
A brahmin whose family and name are unknown, who has arrived at that moment,
hungry, exhausted, begging, and destitute—
29.28
they call [such a one] a guest; he is to be honored by the wise according to their ability.
The learned man should not ask his lineage, Vedic school, or private study.
29.29
Whether his appearance be handsome or uncomely, one should consider him Prajāpati;
because he stays non-permanently, he is called a guest (atithi).
29.30
When he is satisfied, the householder is freed from the debt arising from the sacrifice to men.
Therefore, a man who eats himself without giving eats sin.
29.31
He eats mere sin, and feces in another birth,
from whose house a guest turns away with his hopes broken.
29.32
Having transferred his own bad deeds to him, he departs carrying away his merit.
Even by giving water and vegetables, or whatever he himself eats,
29.33
a man should respectfully honor the guest according to his ability with that very thing.
And every day he should perform a śrāddha with food and water.
29.34
He should feed brahmins, or even a single brahmin, dedicated to the ancestors;
then, setting aside the prime portion of the food, he should present it to a brahmin.
29.35
And he should give alms to mendicants and brahmacārins who ask.
Alms should be the size of a mouthful; the prime portion is four mouthfuls.
29.36
The best among the twice-born say that the hantakāra is four times the prime portion;
the meal, or the hantakāra, or the prime portion, or indeed alms—
29.37
one should not eat without having given [these] according to one's wealth.
Having honored cherished guests, kinsmen, relatives, and petitioners,
29.38
he should feed the disabled, children, the elderly, and the sick;
and whatever other destitute person, seized by hunger, longs for food,
29.39
is to be fed by the householder, if his wealth allows.
When a kinsman suffers distress while having a wealthy kinsman,
29.40
whatever sin is committed by the suffering one, that [wealthy kinsman] incurs.
In the evening the same rite is to be performed; and there, a guest who arrives at sunset
29.41
he should honor to the best of his ability with lodging, a seat, and food.
Thus, dear child, for him who bears the burden of the householder's life placed
29.42
upon his shoulder, the Creator, the gods, the ancestors, the great ṛṣis,
and likewise guests and relatives, all shower down welfare.
29.43
Flocks of beasts and birds, and whatever other tiny insects there are, are satisfied.
And on this subject, fortunate one, Atri himself sang these verses:
29.44
Hear them, fortunate one, as they pertain to the householder stage of life:
Having honored the gods, ancestors, guests, and likewise relatives,
29.45
unmarried women of the family, and the guru, the householder, if wealth allows,
should scatter [food] on the ground for dogs, outcasts, and birds.
29.46
This rite called Vaiśvadeva he should perform in the evening and by day.
Whatever meat, cooked grain, or vegetable has been prepared in the house,
he should not eat it himself without first offering it according to rule.
29.46.p1
Thus ends the twenty-ninth chapter in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, entitled 'The Instruction of Madālasā'.
29.46.p2
Chapter Thirty
29.46.p3
Madālasā said:
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit