Vishnupurana 3.12.p1

3.12.p1

Alurva said:—"The householder should venerate gods, king, Brāhmanas, saints, aged persons and holy preceptors. He should also observe duly the two Sandhyas and offer oblations to fire. He should use untorn garments, delicate herbs and flowers, wear emeralds and other precious stones, keep his hair neat and clean, perfume his body with delicious unguents and should always go out handsomely dressed and decorated with garlands and white flowers. He should not misappropriate another's property nor should treat him unkindly. He should always speak amiably and the truth and should not speak out publicly another's faults. O foremost of men, he should not envy another's prosperity—nor should he create enmity with another; he should not use a broken conveyance, nor should he sit under the shadow of a tree on the banks of a river. The wise should not make friends with, nor should they wend the same way with, one who is hated, who is a sinner or a drunkard, who has many enemies, or who is lousy, with a harlot or her gallant, with a pauper or a with a prodigal, a slanderer or a knave. A man should not bathe in river when it is ebb-tide, should not enter a house when it is on fire nor climb to the top of a tree; nor (when in the company of others) clean his teeth, nor blow his nose nor grape without covering his mouth, nor clean his throat, nor cough, nor laugh loudly, nor emit wind with noise, nor bite his nails, nor cut grass, nor scratch ground, nor put his beard into his mouth, nor crumble a clod of clay, nor look upon the planets when he is unclean. He should not see another's wife when she is naked nor see the sun at the time of its rising or setting. He should not express disgust at a dead body for the odour of it is the produce of the moon. He should avoid, during the night, the place where four roads meet, the village tree, the forest adjacent to a cremation ground and a loose woman. The wise should not pass across the shadow of a venerable person, of an image of a deity, of a flag and of a heavenly luminary. He should not travel alone in a forest nor sleep alone in an empty house. He should live at a distance from hair, bones, thorn, filth, remnants of offerings, ashes, chaff and earth wet with water in which another has bathed. He should not seek the shelter of a degraded wight and should renounce the company of wily persons. He should not approach voracious animals and should not lie down on bed long after sleep is broken. He should not, for a too long time, lie down on bed, sleep, keep up nights, sit and take exercise. The wise should avoid, even at a distance, animals with tusks and horns and exposure to frost, wind and sunshine. A man should neither bathe, nor sleep nor rinse his mouth when he is naked; he should not wash his mouth nor perform any sacred rite with his waistband loosened. Nor he should, with one piece of cloth on, offer oblations to fire, sacrifice to the celestials, wash his mouth, salute a Brāhman or utter a prayer. He should not associate with evil companions—the intercourse for half an instant, the pious is desirable. The wise should not quarrel men inferior or superior to them; dispute and marriage with equals are always desirable. The wise should never enter into dispute and should always avoid useless enmity. It is better to suffer a trifling loss but he should not acquire wealth by hostility.