Skandapurana 3.2.6
English (machine translation) 3.2.6
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3.2.6.1
Vyāsa said:
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For the benefit of good people residing in the householder stage of life,
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I shall tell you properly how dharma is performed.
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Child, relying on the householder stage of life, a man [sustains] this entire world;
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he nourishes the worlds, and thereby he wins the desired realms.
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The ancestors, sages, gods, elemental spirits, and likewise men,
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worms, insects, moths, birds, ancestors, and asuras
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depend upon the householder, and from him they attain satisfaction.
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They look to his face, thinking: 'He will give us water!'
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Child, the cow consisting of the three Vedas is the support of all;
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the universe is established in her, and she is considered the cause of the universe.
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The Ṛgveda is her back, the Yajurveda her twilight, the Sāmaveda her belly and udders;
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sacrifices and public works are her horns, and virtuous hymns her bodily hairs.
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Peace and prosperity are her dung and urine; she stands firm on the feet of the four classes;
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she is sustained for all worlds by the dense recitation methods of pada, krama, and jaṭā.
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The exclamation 'svāhā', the exclamation 'svadhā', and the exclamation 'vaṣaṭ', dear son,
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and likewise 'hanta' as the other: these are her four teats.
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The gods drink from the teat of 'svāhā', and the ancestors from that consisting of 'svadhā';
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the sages, spirits, and lords of the gods drink from 'vaṣaṭ';
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and human beings continually drink from the teat of 'hanta'.
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Thus should one daily study and teach the triad of the Vedas.
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That man who destroys them commits endless sin;
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he sinks indeed into the blinding darkness of the hell of Andhatāmisra.
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But that mortal who worships this cow at the proper time,
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accompanied by its heavenly calves such as the immortals, is destined for heaven.
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Therefore, son, a man must nurture the gods, seers, ancestors, men,
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and all creatures day by day, just as his own body.
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Therefore, having bathed and become pure, one should perform the offering of water to gods, seers, and ancestors
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at the end of a sacrifice, attentively, with water at the proper time.
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Having worshipped the gods with jasmine, fragrant powders, and flowers, a man
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should then make an offering of water to the fire and also offer food portions (bali).
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He should scatter the food offering into the open air for the night-roaming spirits;
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facing south, he should likewise offer libations to the ancestors.
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The householder, devoted and composed in mind,
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should then take water and, performing the hospitable rite of offering,
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the wise man should place it in the appropriate spots, dedicating it by name to the deities.
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Having thus offered the bali at home, the master of the house, being pure,
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and having sipped water, the wise man should then gaze at the doorway.
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He should wait for a guest for the duration of the eighth part of a muhūrta.
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When a guest has arrived there, [he should welcome him] with water for respect and for washing the feet,
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one who is hungry, fatigued, begging, and destitute.
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They declare a brahmin guest should be honoured by the wise according to their ability;
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a wise person should not inquire about his conduct or his Vedic recitation.
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Whether handsome or unhandsome in appearance, one should regard him as Prajāpati;
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because he stays non-permanently, he is therefore called an atithi (guest).
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A man who eats only after giving to him eats ambrosia;
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he from whose house a guest turns away with hopes shattered,
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gives his own bad deeds to him and departs carrying away his merit.
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Even if only by giving vegetables, or else by giving water,
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a man should honour him with devotion; by that alone he is liberated from this.
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Yudhiṣṭhira said:
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The marriages are the Brāhma, Daiva, Ārṣa, Prājāpatya, and Āsura,
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and the Gāndharva, Rākṣasa, and Paiśāca is spoken of as the eighth.
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Tell me the rule for these and the proper practice according to truth;
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and tell me especially the duties of householders.
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Parāśara said:
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That is the Brāhma [marriage], where a maiden, well adorned, is given
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after inviting the bridegroom; the son born of that purifies twenty-one generations.
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The Daiva is [given] to an officiating priest engaged in a sacrifice; the son born of it protects fourteen [generations].
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The Ārṣa is [given] having received a pair of cattle from the groom; the son born of it purifies six.
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That is declared the Prājāpatya where [it is said]: 'May both of you practice dharma together.'
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The Gāndharva is by the voluntary wish of the bride and groom through mutual affection.
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The Rākṣasa is through the forceful abduction of the maiden, condemned by good men.
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Because it involves abducting a maiden by deceit, the Paiśāca [marriage], the eighth, is condemned.
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The Gāndharva, Āsura, and Rākṣasa [marriages] are said to be generally for the Kṣatriya and Vaiśya.
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This eighth [form] is indeed the most sinful, and is the origin of the most sinful.
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The hand should be grasped by a woman of the same class; an arrow should be held by a Kṣatriya woman;
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a goad should be held by a Vaiśya woman, and the hem of a garment by a Śūdra woman.
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This rule is seen in the Smṛti regarding marriage with women not of the same class.
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With all women of the same class, however, the hand is to be taken; this is the rule.
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From a righteous marriage are born righteous sons who live for a hundred years;
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from an unrighteous one [are born sons] devoid of righteousness, with poor fortune, wealth, and lifespan.
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Approaching [one's wife] at the proper time is the highest duty of a householder.
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Or, bearing in mind the boon given to women, he may act according to desire.
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Sexual union by day is considered by men to be highly destructive of life.
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Days fit for śrāddha and all sacred festival days must not be approached [for intercourse] by a wise man.
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Approaching a woman at that time out of delusion, he falls away from the highest duty.
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He who approaches [his wife] at the fertile season and is devoted to his own wife,
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is to be known as ever a celibate student, even though living in the stage of a householder.
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What is spoken of in the Ārṣa marriage as a pair of cattle is praised there;
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[otherwise,] even the smallest bride-price for a maiden makes one guilty of the sin of selling a maiden.
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Because of selling his offspring, he would dwell for a kalpa [in a hell] where one eats feces and worms.
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Therefore, not even the smallest amount of a maiden's wealth is to be lived upon by men.
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There Mahālakṣmī, delighted by the water of gift, will abide.
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Commerce, serving the base, not studying the Vedas,
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a bad marriage, and the abandonment of rites—these are the causes of the downfall of a lineage.
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And in the marital fire the householder should perform the domestic rites every day,
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as well as the performance of the five sacrifices and the daily cooking.
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For one in the stage of a householder, there is the work of five slaughterhouses day after day:
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the mortar, the grindstone, the fireplace, the water-jar, and the broom.
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And for the sake of expiating these five slaughterhouses,
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five sacrifices are prescribed, which increase the welfare of the householder.
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Recitation is the sacrifice to Brahman, and libation is the sacrifice to the ancestors;
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the burnt offering is for the gods, the bali offering is for the creatures, and hospitality is the sacrifice to humans, in that order.
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One who arrives during the Vaiśvadeva rite or who arrives at sunset is known as a guest (atithi).
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These [guests] are to be fed even before oneself; there is no doubt about this.
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Having given to the ancestors, the gods, and humans, the householder eats nectar;
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whereas he who eats without having given food merely fills his own belly.
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Those who are devoid of the Vaiśvadeva rite and neglect hospitality—
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all of them are to be known as outcasts, even if they are twice-born who have attained the Vedas.
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The vile twice-born who eat without having performed the Vaiśvadeva rite
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shall be deprived of food in this world and then enter the womb of a crow.
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He should constantly perform the prescribed rites taught in the Veda without indolence;
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if he acts according to his capacity, he will attain the supreme good destination.
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Sin always resides in oil and meat on the sixth and eighth lunar days,
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and likewise in the razor and in women on the fourteenth and fifteenth.
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He should not look at the sun rising, nor setting, nor overhead [at noon],
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nor touched by Rāhu, nor reflected in water.
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He should not look at his own reflection in water, nor should he run in mud;
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he should not look at a naked woman, nor should he enter water naked.
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A temple of a deity, a brahmin, a milch cow, honey, clay,
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one senior by birth, one advanced in years, and likewise one eminent in learning,
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an aśvattha tree, a sacred tree, a guru, a jar filled with water,
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cooked food, curds, and white mustard—one should circumambulate [these] clockwise as one walks.
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He should not have intercourse with a menstruating woman, nor eat together with his wife;
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he should not eat wearing a single garment, nor eat sitting on an elevated seat.
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Desiring spiritual luster, the best of the twice-born should not look upon an impure woman;
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nor should he eat food anywhere without having gratified the ancestors and the gods.
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One who desires to live a long time should not [eat] cooked food or meat [that is stale];
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he should not urinate on a road, nor on an ant-hill, nor on ashes,
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nor into holes containing living beings, nor standing, nor walking.
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Facing a brahmin, the sun, fire, the moon, the constellations, or gurus,
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he should not discharge feces or urine.
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One should not blow upon a fire with one's mouth, nor look at a naked woman.
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One should not warm one's feet in a fire, nor cast an impure thing [into it].
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One should not commit violence against living beings, nor should one eat at the two twilights.
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A wise man should never lie down to sleep at twilight, in morning or evening.
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One should not point out a cow that is suckling, nor point out a rainbow.
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One should not sleep alone in an empty place, nor awaken one who is asleep.
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One should not travel a road alone, nor drink water with folded hands.
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And one should not eat curds from which the cream has been removed by day, nor [eat curds] at night.
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One should not converse with a menstruating woman, nor eat to full satiety at night.
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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.
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One who, devoid of knowledge, having performed a śrāddha, eats at another's śrāddha,
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For that giver there is no fruit of the śrāddha, and the eater partakes of sin.
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One should not wear a garment or sandals that have been used by another.
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One should not eat from a broken vessel, nor sit [where it is] defiled by fire and the like.
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Mounting the back of cattle, the smoke of a corpse, a riverbank,
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Morning sunlight, and sleeping by day: one who wishes to live long should avoid [these].
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Having bathed, one should not wipe one's limbs [with the hands], nor untie one's topknot on the road.
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One should not shake one's hands or head, nor pull a seat with one's foot.
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One should not wipe one's body with the hand, or again with the bath-cloth.
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The body becomes defiled like a dog's leavings; it is purified by bathing again.
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One should never tear out hair or nails with one's teeth.
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For good fortune, one should avoid paring nails with the fingernails.
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That which one must abandon in the future, that deed one should diligently not do.
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One should never enter even one's own house by a way other than the doorway.
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One should not play or sit with the ignorant, nor with destroyers of dharma, nor with the diseased.
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One should never sleep naked, nor eat from one's bare hand.
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Eating while one's feet, hands, and mouth are wet, one does not live for a long time.
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One should lie down to rest with wet feet, but one should never go anywhere while impure with food-remnants.
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A twice-born should not eat while lying in bed, nor drink water [there].
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Wearing shoes, one should not sit down, nor drink water while standing up.
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Desiring health, one should not eat anything that consists wholly of sour food.
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One should not gaze at feces or urine, nor touch one's head while impure with food-remnants.
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One should not stand upon chaff, charcoal, ashes, hair, or potsherds.
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Dwelling together with fallen men leads only to falling.
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One should never offer a high seat or a couch to a śūdra.
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The brahmin falls from brahminhood, and the śūdra falls from dharma.
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Instruction in dharma given to śūdras destroys one's own welfare.
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For service to the twice-born is considered the supreme dharma of śūdras.
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Scratching the head with both hands is not considered auspicious.
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One should never impart a Vedic mantra to a śūdra.
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The brahmin falls from brahminhood, and the śūdra falls from dharma.
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Beating oneself with both hands, shrieking, tearing one's hair,
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Conduct unprescribed by the scriptures, and repeatedly accepting gifts from a greedy person:
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That brahmin indeed goes to the twenty-one hells.
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During thunder from unseasonable clouds, during a shower of dust in the rainy season,
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And at night during the loud crying of children, times of non-recitation are declared;
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And during the fall of a meteor, an earthquake, a conflagration of the quarters, at midnights,
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Between [the twilights], near a śūdra, during a coup in the realm, during birth-impurity,
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On the ten Aṣṭakās, on the fourteenth day, on the day of a śrāddha, and on the first lunar day,
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On the full moon, likewise on the eighth, in an obstruction by defecation, in a rebellion in the realm,
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At the Upākarma and the Utsarga, on the beginnings of Kalpas and the beginnings of Yugas,
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Even when studying the Āraṇyaka, and at the sound of the Bāṇa and Sāman chants:
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On these occasions of non-recitation, one should never recite at all.
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One should always remain celibate on the fourteenth, the eighth, and the two fifteenth lunar days.
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Approaching another's wife in this world causes loss of lifespan;
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Therefore it is to be abandoned from afar, as is attendance upon enemies.
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One who is abandoned by former prosperity should not despise oneself;
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For fortune and learning are not difficult to obtain for those who are ever energetic.
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One should speak the truth, one should speak what is agreeable, one should not speak an disagreeable truth;
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And one should not speak an agreeable falsehood: this is prescribed as dharma.
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One should avoid the impulse of speech, the impulse of the mind, and the impulse of the tongue.
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Even by the touch of pubic hairs, one becomes impure. 89
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Water used for washing feet, urine, impure remnant water,
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and spittle and phlegm one should cast far, far away. 3.2.6.90
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Through day and night repetition of the Veda, observance of purity and good conduct,
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and an intellect free from malice, a twice-born remembers his previous birth. 91
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One should respectfully salute elders and offer them one's own seat;
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with a bowed neck, one should then follow behind them. 92
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Of the Vedas, earth-gods [brahmins], gods, kings, virtuous persons, ascetics,
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and devoted wives, one should never utter censure. 93
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Taking out five lumps of clay, one may bathe in another's body of water.
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Having found a worthy recipient with faith, whatever wealth is given,
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in the proper place and time according to rule, leads to infinity.
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The giver of land becomes a sovereign ruler; the giver of food is happy everywhere. 95
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The giver of water becomes handsome, and the giver of food becomes robust.
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The giver of a lamp gains clear vision; the giver of a cow attains the realm of Aryaman. 96
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The giver of gold attains long life, and the giver of sesame seeds gains excellent offspring.
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Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit