Skandapurana 3.2.6

Vyāsa said:

For the benefit of good people residing in the householder stage of life,

I shall tell you properly how dharma is performed.

Child, relying on the householder stage of life, a man [sustains] this entire world;

he nourishes the worlds, and thereby he wins the desired realms.

The ancestors, sages, gods, elemental spirits, and likewise men,

worms, insects, moths, birds, ancestors, and asuras

depend upon the householder, and from him they attain satisfaction.

They look to his face, thinking: 'He will give us water!'

Child, the cow consisting of the three Vedas is the support of all;

the universe is established in her, and she is considered the cause of the universe.

The Ṛgveda is her back, the Yajurveda her twilight, the Sāmaveda her belly and udders;

sacrifices and public works are her horns, and virtuous hymns her bodily hairs.

Peace and prosperity are her dung and urine; she stands firm on the feet of the four classes;

she is sustained for all worlds by the dense recitation methods of pada, krama, and jaṭā.

The exclamation 'svāhā', the exclamation 'svadhā', and the exclamation 'vaṣaṭ', dear son,

and likewise 'hanta' as the other: these are her four teats.

The gods drink from the teat of 'svāhā', and the ancestors from that consisting of 'svadhā';

the sages, spirits, and lords of the gods drink from 'vaṣaṭ';

and human beings continually drink from the teat of 'hanta'.

Thus should one daily study and teach the triad of the Vedas.

That man who destroys them commits endless sin;

he sinks indeed into the blinding darkness of the hell of Andhatāmisra.

But that mortal who worships this cow at the proper time,

accompanied by its heavenly calves such as the immortals, is destined for heaven.

Therefore, son, a man must nurture the gods, seers, ancestors, men,

and all creatures day by day, just as his own body.

Therefore, having bathed and become pure, one should perform the offering of water to gods, seers, and ancestors

at the end of a sacrifice, attentively, with water at the proper time.

Having worshipped the gods with jasmine, fragrant powders, and flowers, a man

should then make an offering of water to the fire and also offer food portions (bali).

He should scatter the food offering into the open air for the night-roaming spirits;

facing south, he should likewise offer libations to the ancestors.

The householder, devoted and composed in mind,

should then take water and, performing the hospitable rite of offering,

the wise man should place it in the appropriate spots, dedicating it by name to the deities.

Having thus offered the bali at home, the master of the house, being pure,

and having sipped water, the wise man should then gaze at the doorway.

He should wait for a guest for the duration of the eighth part of a muhūrta.

When a guest has arrived there, [he should welcome him] with water for respect and for washing the feet,

one who is hungry, fatigued, begging, and destitute.

They declare a brahmin guest should be honoured by the wise according to their ability;

a wise person should not inquire about his conduct or his Vedic recitation.

Whether handsome or unhandsome in appearance, one should regard him as Prajāpati;

because he stays non-permanently, he is therefore called an atithi (guest).

A man who eats only after giving to him eats ambrosia;

he from whose house a guest turns away with hopes shattered,

gives his own bad deeds to him and departs carrying away his merit.

Even if only by giving vegetables, or else by giving water,

a man should honour him with devotion; by that alone he is liberated from this.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

The marriages are the Brāhma, Daiva, Ārṣa, Prājāpatya, and Āsura,

and the Gāndharva, Rākṣasa, and Paiśāca is spoken of as the eighth.

Tell me the rule for these and the proper practice according to truth;

and tell me especially the duties of householders.

Parāśara said:

That is the Brāhma [marriage], where a maiden, well adorned, is given

after inviting the bridegroom; the son born of that purifies twenty-one generations.

The Daiva is [given] to an officiating priest engaged in a sacrifice; the son born of it protects fourteen [generations].

The Ārṣa is [given] having received a pair of cattle from the groom; the son born of it purifies six.

That is declared the Prājāpatya where [it is said]: 'May both of you practice dharma together.'

The Gāndharva is by the voluntary wish of the bride and groom through mutual affection.

The Rākṣasa is through the forceful abduction of the maiden, condemned by good men.

Because it involves abducting a maiden by deceit, the Paiśāca [marriage], the eighth, is condemned.

The Gāndharva, Āsura, and Rākṣasa [marriages] are said to be generally for the Kṣatriya and Vaiśya.

This eighth [form] is indeed the most sinful, and is the origin of the most sinful.

The hand should be grasped by a woman of the same class; an arrow should be held by a Kṣatriya woman;

a goad should be held by a Vaiśya woman, and the hem of a garment by a Śūdra woman.

This rule is seen in the Smṛti regarding marriage with women not of the same class.

With all women of the same class, however, the hand is to be taken; this is the rule.

From a righteous marriage are born righteous sons who live for a hundred years;

from an unrighteous one [are born sons] devoid of righteousness, with poor fortune, wealth, and lifespan.

Approaching [one's wife] at the proper time is the highest duty of a householder.

Or, bearing in mind the boon given to women, he may act according to desire.

Sexual union by day is considered by men to be highly destructive of life.

Days fit for śrāddha and all sacred festival days must not be approached [for intercourse] by a wise man.

Approaching a woman at that time out of delusion, he falls away from the highest duty.

He who approaches [his wife] at the fertile season and is devoted to his own wife,

is to be known as ever a celibate student, even though living in the stage of a householder.

What is spoken of in the Ārṣa marriage as a pair of cattle is praised there;

[otherwise,] even the smallest bride-price for a maiden makes one guilty of the sin of selling a maiden.

Because of selling his offspring, he would dwell for a kalpa [in a hell] where one eats feces and worms.

Therefore, not even the smallest amount of a maiden's wealth is to be lived upon by men.

There Mahālakṣmī, delighted by the water of gift, will abide.

Commerce, serving the base, not studying the Vedas,

a bad marriage, and the abandonment of rites—these are the causes of the downfall of a lineage.

And in the marital fire the householder should perform the domestic rites every day,

as well as the performance of the five sacrifices and the daily cooking.

For one in the stage of a householder, there is the work of five slaughterhouses day after day:

the mortar, the grindstone, the fireplace, the water-jar, and the broom.

And for the sake of expiating these five slaughterhouses,

five sacrifices are prescribed, which increase the welfare of the householder.

Recitation is the sacrifice to Brahman, and libation is the sacrifice to the ancestors;

the burnt offering is for the gods, the bali offering is for the creatures, and hospitality is the sacrifice to humans, in that order.

One who arrives during the Vaiśvadeva rite or who arrives at sunset is known as a guest (atithi).

These [guests] are to be fed even before oneself; there is no doubt about this.

Having given to the ancestors, the gods, and humans, the householder eats nectar;

whereas he who eats without having given food merely fills his own belly.

Those who are devoid of the Vaiśvadeva rite and neglect hospitality—

all of them are to be known as outcasts, even if they are twice-born who have attained the Vedas.

The vile twice-born who eat without having performed the Vaiśvadeva rite

shall be deprived of food in this world and then enter the womb of a crow.

He should constantly perform the prescribed rites taught in the Veda without indolence;

if he acts according to his capacity, he will attain the supreme good destination.

Sin always resides in oil and meat on the sixth and eighth lunar days,

and likewise in the razor and in women on the fourteenth and fifteenth.

He should not look at the sun rising, nor setting, nor overhead [at noon],

nor touched by Rāhu, nor reflected in water.

He should not look at his own reflection in water, nor should he run in mud;

he should not look at a naked woman, nor should he enter water naked.

A temple of a deity, a brahmin, a milch cow, honey, clay,

one senior by birth, one advanced in years, and likewise one eminent in learning,

an aśvattha tree, a sacred tree, a guru, a jar filled with water,

cooked food, curds, and white mustard—one should circumambulate [these] clockwise as one walks.

He should not have intercourse with a menstruating woman, nor eat together with his wife;

he should not eat wearing a single garment, nor eat sitting on an elevated seat.

Desiring spiritual luster, the best of the twice-born should not look upon an impure woman;

nor should he eat food anywhere without having gratified the ancestors and the gods.

One who desires to live a long time should not [eat] cooked food or meat [that is stale];

he should not urinate on a road, nor on an ant-hill, nor on ashes,

nor into holes containing living beings, nor standing, nor walking.

Facing a brahmin, the sun, fire, the moon, the constellations, or gurus,

he should not discharge feces or urine.

One should not blow upon a fire with one's mouth, nor look at a naked woman.

One should not warm one's feet in a fire, nor cast an impure thing [into it].

One should not commit violence against living beings, nor should one eat at the two twilights.

A wise man should never lie down to sleep at twilight, in morning or evening.

One should not point out a cow that is suckling, nor point out a rainbow.

One should not sleep alone in an empty place, nor awaken one who is asleep.

One should not travel a road alone, nor drink water with folded hands.

And one should not eat curds from which the cream has been removed by day, nor [eat curds] at night.

One should not converse with a menstruating woman, nor eat to full satiety at night.

One should not be fond of the triple symphony [of song, dance, and instrumental music], nor wash one's feet in a bell-metal vessel.

One who, devoid of knowledge, having performed a śrāddha, eats at another's śrāddha,

For that giver there is no fruit of the śrāddha, and the eater partakes of sin.

One should not wear a garment or sandals that have been used by another.

One should not eat from a broken vessel, nor sit [where it is] defiled by fire and the like.

Mounting the back of cattle, the smoke of a corpse, a riverbank,

Morning sunlight, and sleeping by day: one who wishes to live long should avoid [these].

Having bathed, one should not wipe one's limbs [with the hands], nor untie one's topknot on the road.

One should not shake one's hands or head, nor pull a seat with one's foot.

One should not wipe one's body with the hand, or again with the bath-cloth.

The body becomes defiled like a dog's leavings; it is purified by bathing again.

One should never tear out hair or nails with one's teeth.

For good fortune, one should avoid paring nails with the fingernails.

That which one must abandon in the future, that deed one should diligently not do.

One should never enter even one's own house by a way other than the doorway.

One should not play or sit with the ignorant, nor with destroyers of dharma, nor with the diseased.

One should never sleep naked, nor eat from one's bare hand.

Eating while one's feet, hands, and mouth are wet, one does not live for a long time.

One should lie down to rest with wet feet, but one should never go anywhere while impure with food-remnants.

A twice-born should not eat while lying in bed, nor drink water [there].

Wearing shoes, one should not sit down, nor drink water while standing up.

Desiring health, one should not eat anything that consists wholly of sour food.

One should not gaze at feces or urine, nor touch one's head while impure with food-remnants.

One should not stand upon chaff, charcoal, ashes, hair, or potsherds.

Dwelling together with fallen men leads only to falling.

One should never offer a high seat or a couch to a śūdra.

The brahmin falls from brahminhood, and the śūdra falls from dharma.

Instruction in dharma given to śūdras destroys one's own welfare.

For service to the twice-born is considered the supreme dharma of śūdras.

Scratching the head with both hands is not considered auspicious.

One should never impart a Vedic mantra to a śūdra.

The brahmin falls from brahminhood, and the śūdra falls from dharma.

Beating oneself with both hands, shrieking, tearing one's hair,

Conduct unprescribed by the scriptures, and repeatedly accepting gifts from a greedy person:

That brahmin indeed goes to the twenty-one hells.

During thunder from unseasonable clouds, during a shower of dust in the rainy season,

And at night during the loud crying of children, times of non-recitation are declared;

And during the fall of a meteor, an earthquake, a conflagration of the quarters, at midnights,

Between [the twilights], near a śūdra, during a coup in the realm, during birth-impurity,

On the ten Aṣṭakās, on the fourteenth day, on the day of a śrāddha, and on the first lunar day,

On the full moon, likewise on the eighth, in an obstruction by defecation, in a rebellion in the realm,

At the Upākarma and the Utsarga, on the beginnings of Kalpas and the beginnings of Yugas,

Even when studying the Āraṇyaka, and at the sound of the Bāṇa and Sāman chants:

On these occasions of non-recitation, one should never recite at all.

One should always remain celibate on the fourteenth, the eighth, and the two fifteenth lunar days.

Approaching another's wife in this world causes loss of lifespan;

Therefore it is to be abandoned from afar, as is attendance upon enemies.

One who is abandoned by former prosperity should not despise oneself;

For fortune and learning are not difficult to obtain for those who are ever energetic.

One should speak the truth, one should speak what is agreeable, one should not speak an disagreeable truth;

And one should not speak an agreeable falsehood: this is prescribed as dharma.

One should avoid the impulse of speech, the impulse of the mind, and the impulse of the tongue.

Even by the touch of pubic hairs, one becomes impure. 89

Water used for washing feet, urine, impure remnant water,

and spittle and phlegm one should cast far, far away. 3.2.6.90

Through day and night repetition of the Veda, observance of purity and good conduct,

and an intellect free from malice, a twice-born remembers his previous birth. 91

One should respectfully salute elders and offer them one's own seat;

with a bowed neck, one should then follow behind them. 92

Of the Vedas, earth-gods [brahmins], gods, kings, virtuous persons, ascetics,

and devoted wives, one should never utter censure. 93

Taking out five lumps of clay, one may bathe in another's body of water.

Having found a worthy recipient with faith, whatever wealth is given,

in the proper place and time according to rule, leads to infinity.

The giver of land becomes a sovereign ruler; the giver of food is happy everywhere. 95

The giver of water becomes handsome, and the giver of food becomes robust.

The giver of a lamp gains clear vision; the giver of a cow attains the realm of Aryaman. 96

The giver of gold attains long life, and the giver of sesame seeds gains excellent offspring.