Vishnupurana 3.9.p1

3.9.p1

Aurva said:—"O king, when a youth is invested with the sacred thread, he must reside in the house of his preceptor and study the Vedas with a concentrated mind, and leading a life of continence. He must, with pure practices, wait upon his spiritual preceptor and with the performance of religious rites acquire the Veda. He must, O king, with concentration, worship both in the morning and evening, the fire and the sun and after that he must bow to his spiritual guide. O King, he must stand when his preceptor is standing, he must move when he is walking and he must sit beneath him when he is seated; he must never sit nor walk, nor stand when his teacher does the otherwise. Whatever portion of the Vedas he shall be taught by his preceptor, he must read that with undivided mind before him. He must beg when permitted by his teacher and eat the food thus collected. He must bathe in the water which has been first used by his preceptor and every morning he must bring for him fuel, water or anything that he may require. Having thus completed his studies, he must receive dismissal from his preceptor and then enter into the order of the householder; and taking to himself with lawful ceremonies, house, wife and wealth, he must discharge to the best of his power the duties of his life. He must satisfy the manes with cakes, the celestials with sacrifices, the guests with hospitality, the Rishis with holy study, the Patriarch with progeny, the spirits with oblations and all the worlds with truthful words. By thus discharging duties a householder may attain to heaven. A householder is a refuge to those who depend upon alms for their maintenance and those who lead an itinerant life of self denial; thus the condition of the householder is the best of all. O lord, the Brāhmins travel all over the earth either for studying the Vedas or for beholding the holy places; many of them are houseless and without food and live for the night at the house at which they arrive in the evening. The householder is always a refuge to these people. O king, it is his duty to welcome them and address them kindly and to provide them, whenever they come to his house, with a bed, a seat and food. If a guest goes back disappointed from a house he leaves behind his iniquities and takes away the accumulated piety of the householder. In the house of a good man, contumely, arrogance, hypocrisy, repining, contradiction and violence are strictly prohibited: and the householder, who performs the principal duty of hospitality, is freed from all chains and attains to better stations after death.