Vishnupurana 3.11.7

The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition 3.11.7

Language: English

3.11.7.1

"In the next place the householder must provide food for a married damsel, remaining in her father's dwelling; for any one who is ill; for a pregnant woman; for the aged and the infants of his house; and then he may eat himself. He who eats whilst these are yet unfed is guilty of sin in this life, and when he dies is condemned in hell to feed upon phlegm. So he who eats without performing ablutions is fed in hell with filth; and he who repeats not his prayers, with matter and blood: he who eats unconsecrated food, with urine; and he who eats before the children and the rest are fed is stuffed in Tartarus with ordure. Hear therefore, oh king of kings, how a householder should feed, so that in eating no sin may be incurred, that invariable health and increased vigour may be secured, and all evils and hostile machinations may be averted. Let the householder, having bathed, and offered libations to the gods and manes, and decorated his hand with jewels, proceed to take his meal, after having repeated the introductory prayers, and offered oblations with fire, and having given food to guests, to Brahmans, to his elders, and to his family.

3.11.7.2

He must not eat with a single garment on, nor with wet hands and feet, but dressed in clean clothes, perfumed, and wearing garlands of flowers: he must not eat with his face to any intermediate point of the horizon, but fronting the east or the north: and thus, with a smiling countenance, happy and attentive, let him partake of food, of good quality, wholesome, boiled with clean water, procured from no vile person nor by improper means, nor improperly cooked. Having given a portion to his hungry companions, let him take his food without reproach out of a clean handsome vessel, which must not be placed upon a low stool or bed. He must not eat in an unfit place or out of season, nor in an incommodious attitude; nor must he first cast any of his meal into the fire. Let his food be made holy with suitable texts; let it be good of its kind; and it must not be stale, except in the case of fruit or meat; nor must it be of dry vegetable substances, other than jujubes or preparations of molasses; but never must a man eat of that of which the juices have been extracted. Nor must a man eat so as to leave no residue of his meal, except in the case of flour, cakes, honey, water, curds, and butter. Let him, with an attentive mind, first taste that which has a sweet flavour: he may take salt and sour things in the middle course, and finish with those which are pungent and bitter.

3.11.7.3

The man who commences his meal with fluids, then partakes of solid food, and finishes with fluids again, will ever be strong and healthy. In this manner let him feed without fault, silent, and contented with his food; taking, without uttering a word, to the extent of five handfulls, for the nutriment of the vital principle. Having eaten sufficiently, the householder is then to rinse his mouth, with his face turned towards the east or the north; and having again sipped water, he is to wash his hands from the wrist downwards. With a pleased and tranquil spirit he is then to take a seat, and call to memory his tutelary deity; and then he is thus to pray: 'May fire, excited by air, convert this food into the earthly elements of this frame, and in the space afforded by the etherial atmosphere cause it to digest, and yield me satisfaction! May this food, in its assimilation, contribute to the vigour of the earth, water, fire, and air of my body, and afford unmixed gratification! May Agasti, Agni, and submarine fire effect the digestion of the food of which I have eaten; may they grant me the happiness which its conversion into nutriment engenders; and may health ever animate my form! May Vishńu, who is the chief principle of all invested with bodily structure and the organs of sense, be propitiated by my faith in him, and influence the assimilation of the invigorating food which I have eaten!

3.11.7.4

For verily Vishńu is the eater and the food and the nutriment: and through this belief may that which I have eaten be digested.'

3.11.7.n1

By stale, as applied to meat, is intended in this place probably meat which has been previously dressed as part of an offering to the gods or manes: meat which is dressed in the first instance for an individual being prohibited; as by Yájnawalkya: 'Let him avoid flesh killed in vain;' or that which is not the residue of an offering to the gods, &c. So also Manu, V. 7.

3.11.7.n2

By dried vegetables, &c. is to be understood unboiled vegetables, or potherbs dressed without being sprinkled with water: Instead of 'jujubes,' the reading is sometimes 'myrobalans:' the other term, ###, is explained 'sweet-meats.' The construction here, however, is somewhat obscure.

3.11.7.n3

As oil-cake, or the sediment of any thing after expression.

Linked texts (1)

Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit