2018-01-08
418
1301.
1. Now follow the hells. (They are called:)
2. Tâmisra (darkness); 3. Andhatâmisra (complete darkness);
4. Raurava (place of howling); 5. Mahâraurava (place of much howling);
6. Kâlasûtra (thread of time or death);
7. Mahânaraka (great hell);
8. Sañ g îvana (restoring to life);
9. Avî k i (waveless);
10. Tâpana (burning);
11. Sa m pratâpana (parching);
12. Sa m ghâtaka, (pressing together)
13. Kâkola (ravens);
14, Ku d mala (bud); [?]
15. Pûtim ri ttika (stinking clay);
16. Loha s a n kti (iron-spiked);
17. R ik îsha (frying-pan);
18. Vishamapanthâna (rough or uneven roads);
19. Ka nt aka s âlmali (thorny S âlmali trees);
20. Dîpanadî (flame river);
21. Asipattravana (sword-leaved forest);
22. Loha k âraka (iron fetters);
23. In each of those (hells) successively criminals in the highest degree, who have not performed the penance (prescribed for their crime), are tormented for the time of a Kalpa. ()
24. Mortal sinners (who have not done penance) for a Manvantara; ()
25. Minor offenders, for the same period; criminals in the fourth degree, for the period of a K aturyuga; ()
27. Those who have committed a crime effecting loss of caste, for a thousand years;
28. Those who have committed a crime degrading to a mixed caste, for the same period;
29. Those likewise who have committed a crime rendering unworthy to receive alms and the like.
30. And those who have committed a crime causing defilement;
31. Those who have committed one of the miscellaneous crimes, for a great number of years;
32. All sinners who have committed (one of those nine kinds of) crimes have to suffer terrible pangs, when they have departed life and entered upon the path of Yama.
|
|
|
33. Being dragged hither and thither (upon even and uneven roads), by the dire ministers of Yama, they are conducted (to hell by them), with menacing
34. (There) they are devoured by dogs and jackals, by hawks, crows, herons, cranes, and other (carnivorous animals), by (bears and other) animals having fire in their mouth, and by serpents and scorpions.
35. They are scorched by blazing fire, pierced by thorns, divided into parts by saws, and tormented by thirst.
36. They are agitated by hunger and by fearful troops of tigers, and faint away. at every step on account of the foul stenches proceeding from pus and from blood.
37. Casting wistful glances upon the food and drink of others, they receive blows from ministers (of Yama), whose faces are similar to those of crows, herons, cranes, and other horrid animals.
38. Here they are boiled in oil, and there pounded with pestles, or ground in iron or stone vessels.
39. In one place they (are made to) eat what has been vomited, or pus, or blood, or excrements, and in another place, meat of a hideous kind, smelling like pus.
40. Here, enveloped in terrible darkness, they are devoured by worms and (jackals and other) horrible animals having flames in their mouth.
41. There again they are tormented by frost, or have to step through unclean things (such as excrements), or the departed spirits eat one another, driven to distraction (by hunger).
42. In one place they are beaten with their deeds in a former existence, in another they are suspended (by trees and the like, with a rope), or shot with heaps of arrows, or cut in pieces.
43. In another place again, walking upon thorns, and their bodies being encircled by snakes, they are tormented with (grinding) machines, and dragged on by their knees.
44. Their backs, heads, and shoulders are fractured, the necks of these poor beings are not stouter than a needle, and their bodies, of a size fit for a hut only, are unable to bear torments.
45. Having thus been tormented (in the hells) and suffered most acute pain, the sinners have to endure further pangs in their migration through animal bodies.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY
Divisions 1336-1360
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 44
1336.
1. Now after having suffered the torments inflicted in the hells, the evil-doers pass into animal bodies.
2. Criminals in the highest degree enter the bodies of all plants successively.
3. Mortal sinners enter the bodies of worms or insects.
4. Minor offenders enter the bodies of birds.
5. Criminals in the fourth degree enter the bodies of aquatic animals.
6. Those who have committed a crime effecting loss of caste, enter the bodies of amphibious animals.
7. Those who have committed a crime degrading to a mixed caste, enter the bodies of deer.
|
|
|
8. Those who have committed a crime rendering them unworthy to receive alms, enter the bodies of cattle.
9. Those who have committed a crime causing defilement, enter the bodies of (low-caste) men (such as K andâlas), who may not be touched.
10. Those who have committed one of the miscellaneous crimes, enter the bodies of miscellaneous wild carnivorous animals (such as tigers).
11. One who has eaten the food of one whose food may not be eaten, or forbidden food, becomes a worm or insect.
12. A thief (of other property than gold), becomes a falcon.
13. One who has appropriated a broad passage, becomes a (serpent or other) animal living in holes.
14. One who has stolen grain, becomes a rat.
15. One who has stolen white copper, becomes a Ha m sa.
16. One who has stolen water, becomes a waterfowl.
17. One who has stolen honey, becomes a gad-fly.
18. One who has stolen milk, becomes a crow.
19. One who has stolen juice (of the sugar-cane or other plants), becomes a dog.
20. One who has stolen clarified butter, becomes an ichneumon.
21. One who has stolen meat, becomes a vulture.
22. One who has stolen fat, becomes a cormorant.
23. One who has stolen oil, becomes a cockroach.
24. One who has stolen salt, becomes a cricket.
25. One who has stolen sour milk, becomes a crane.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
Divisions 1361-1380
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 44
1361.
26. One who has stolen silk, becomes a partridge.
27. One who has stolen linen, becomes a frog.
28. One who has stolen cotton cloth, becomes a curlew.
29. One who has stolen a cow, becomes an iguana.
30. One who has stolen sugar, becomes a Vâlguda.
31. One who has stolen perfumes, becomes a musk-rat.
32. One who has stolen vegetables, consisting of leaves, becomes a peacock.
33. One who has stolen prepared grain, becomes a (boar called) S vâvidh (or Sedhâ).
34. One who has stolen undressed grain, becomes a porcupine.
35. One who has stolen fire, becomes a crane.
36. One who has stolen household utensils, becomes a wasp (usually called Kara t a).
37. One who has stolen dyed cloth, becomes a K akor partridge.
38. One who has stolen an elephant, becomes a tortoise.
39. One who has stolen a horse, becomes a tiger
40. One who has stolen fruits or blossoms, becomes an ape.
41. One who has stolen a woman, becomes a bear.
42. One who has stolen a vehicle, becomes a camel.
43. One who has stolen cattle, becomes a vulture.
44. He who has taken by force any property belonging to another, or eaten food not first presented to the gods (at the Vai s vadeva offering), inevitably enters the body of some beast
45. Women, who have committed similar thefts, receive the same ignominious punishment: they become females to those male animals.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY TWO
Divisions 1381-1415
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 45
1381.
1. Now after having undergone the torments inflicted in the hells, and having passed through the animal bodies, the sinners are born as human beings with (the following) marks (indicating their crime):
2. A criminal in the highest degree shall have leprosy;
3. A killer of a Brâhma n a, pulmonary consumption;
4. A drinker of spirits, black teeth;
5. A stealer of gold (belonging to a Brâhma n a), deformed nails;
6. A violator of his spiritual teacher's bed, a disease of the skin;
7. A calumniator, a stinking nose;
8. A malignant informer, stinking breath;
9. A stealer of grain, a limb too little;
10. One who steals by mixing (i. e. by taking good grain and replacing the same amount of bad grain in its stead), a limb too much;
11. A stealer of food, dyspepsia;
12. A stealer of words[1], dumbness;
13. A stealer of clothes, white leprosy;
14. A stealer of horses, lameness;
15. One who pronounces an execration against a god or a Brâhma n a, dumbness;
16. A poisoner, a stammering tongue;
17. An incendiary, madness;
18. One disobedient to a Guru (father), the falling sickness;
19. The killer of a cow, blindness;
20. The stealer of a lamp, the same;
21. One who has extinguished a lamp, blindness with one eye;
22. A seller of tin, chowries, or lead, is born a dyer of cloth;
23. A seller of (horses or other) animals whose foot is not cloven, is born a hunter;
24. One who eats the food of a person born from adulterous intercourse, is born as a man who suffers his mouth to be abused;
25. A thief (of other property than gold), is born a bard;
26. A usurer becomes epileptic;
27. One who eats dainties alone, shall have rheumatics;
28. The breaker of a convention, a bald head;
29. The breaker of a vow of chastity, swelled legs;
30. One who deprives another of his subsistence, shall be poor;
31. One who injures another (without provocation), shall have an incurable illness.
32. Thus, according to their particular acts, are men born, marked by evil signs, sick, blind, humpbacked, halting, one-eyed;
33. Others as dwarfs, or deaf, or dumb, feeble-bodied (eunuchs, whitlows, and others). Therefore must penances be performed by all means.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
Divisions 1416-1440
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 46
1416.
1. Now follow the penances.
2. Let a man fast for three days;
3. And let him perform each day the three ablutions (at dawn, noon, and sunset);
4. And let him, at every ablution, plunge into the water three times;
5. And let him mutter the Aghamarsha n a three times, after having plunged into the water;
6. During day-time let him be standing;
7. At night let him continue in a sitting position;
8. At the close of the ceremony let him give a milch cow (to a Brâhma n a).
9. Thus has the penance Aghamarsha n a been described.
10. Let a man for three days eat in the evening only; for other three days, in the morning only; for further three days, food (given to him) unsolicited; (and let him fast entirely for three days): that is the Prâ g âpatya (the penance invented by Pra g âpati).
11. Let him drink for three days hot water; for other three days, hot clarified butter; and for further three days, hot milk; and let him fast for three days: that is the Taptak rikkh ra (hot penance).
12. Taking the same (liquids) cold is called the S îtak rikkh ra (cold penance).
13. The K rikkh râtik rikkh ra (the most difficult penance) consists in subsisting on milk only for twenty-one days.
14. Eating (nothing but) ground barley mixed with water for a whole month is called the Udakak rikkh ra (water penance).
|
|
|
15. Eating nothing but lotus-fibres (for a whole month) is called the Mûlak rikkh ra (root penance).
16. Eating nothing but Bèl fruit (for a whole month) is called the S rîphalak rikkh ra (Bèl fruit penance).
17. Or (this penance is performed) by (eating) lotus-seeds.
18. A total fast for twelve days is called Parâka.
19. Subsisting for one day on the urine and fæces of a cow, milk, sour milk, butter, and water in which Ku s a grass has been boiled, and fasting the next day, is called Sântapana (the tormenting penance).
20. Swallowing (the same six things, viz.) cow-urine and the rest, each for one day, is called Mahâsântapana (the particularly tormenting penance).
21. Swallowing each for three days is called Atisântapana (the extremely tormenting penance).
22. Swallowing oil-cakes, foam of boiled rice, buttermilk, water, and ground barley (each for one day), with a fasting day between (every, two days), is called Tulâpurusha (a man's weight).
23. Drinking water boiled with Kusa grass, leaves of the Palâsa and Udumbara trees, of lotuses, of the S a n khapushpî plant, of the banyan tree, and of the Brahmasuvar k alâ plant, each (for one day), is called Par n ak rikkh ra (leaves penance).
24. Let a man perform all those penances after having shorn his hair and his beard, and let him bathe at morning, noon, and evening every day, lying on a low couch, and restraining his passions,
25. And let him (while engaged in performing them) avoid to converse with women, S ûdras, or outcasts, and let him constantly, to the best of his ability, mutter purifying Ma n tras and make oblations in the fire.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR
Divisions 1441-1475
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 47-48
1441.
1. Now follows the K ândrâya n a (lunar penance).
2. Let a man eat single mouthfuls (of food) unchanged in size;
3. And let him during the moon's increase add (successively) one mouthful (every day, so as to eat one mouthful on the first day of the moon's increase, two mouthfuls on the second day, and so on; fifteen mouthfuls on the day of full moon), and during the wane of the moon let him take off one mouthful (every day, so as to eat fourteen mouthfuls on the first day of the moon's wane, thirteen mouthfuls on the second, and one mouthful on the fourteenth day of the moon's wane), and on the day of new moon let him fast entirely: thus has the barley-shaped K ândrâya n a been described.
4. Or the ant-shaped K ândrâya n a (may be performed).
5. That K ândrâya n a is called 'ant-shaped' in which the day of new moon is placed in the middle.
6. That one is, called 'barley-shaped' in which the day of full moon is placed in the middle.
7. If a man eats for a month eight mouthfuls a day, it is (the penance called) Yati k ândrâya n a (an hermit's K ândrâya n a).
8. Eating (for a month) four mouthfuls each morning and evening is (the penance called) S î s u k ândrâya n a (a child's K ândrâya n a).
9. Eating anyhow three hundred minus sixty mouthfuls a month is the penance called Sâmânya k ândrâyâ n a (general K ândrâya n a).
10. After having performed this penance, in a former age, the seven holy Ri shis, Brahman, and Rudra acquired a splendid abode, O Earth.
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 48
1453.
1. Now if a man feels his conscience charged with some guilty act (such as performing a sacrifice for, or accepting a gift from, unworthy persons, or eating excrements) committed by himself (or if his conscience tells him that he has done more evil than good, or if he thinks himself less pure than others), let him boil a handful of barley-gruel for the sake of his own spiritual welfare.
|
|
|
2. Let him not make the (customary) Vai s vadeva offering after that.
3. Neither must he make the Bali offerings.
4. Let him consecrate with Mantras the barley, before it has been put to the fire, while it is being boiled, and after it has been boiled.
5. Let him watch the barley, while it is being boiled (muttering at the same time the following Mantra):
6. 'Soma, who is the highest priest among priests (gods), leader among the wise, Ri shi among bards, the falcon among rapacious birds, the Svadhiti tree among trees, trickles murmuring through the filter.'With these words he must fasten blades of Ku s a grass (round the neck of the kettle).
7. The pulse having been boiled, he must pour it into another vessel and eat it.
8. Let him help himself to it, while muttering the Mantra, 'The gods, who have sprung up in the mind and satisfy the mind, who are gifted with great energy, and whose father is Daksha, shall protect and help us. To them be Nama h (adoration), to them be Svâhâ (hail).'
9. Then, after having sipped water, let him seize the centre (of the vessel) and mutter the Mantra:
10. 'Be satisfied in our stomach, O ye waters, and ye barley-corns, after having been bathed; they shall be salubrious to us, conferring bliss, causing health, divine, causing immortality, and increasers of Ri ta (truth and justice).'
11. One desirous of wisdom (must perform this rite) for three days;
12. A sinner, for six days.
13. Any of the mortal sinners (killers of a Brâhma n a, stealers of gold, and the rest) becomes purified by swallowing it for seven days.
14. Swallowing it for twelve nights effaces even sins committed by an ancestor;
15. Swallowing it for a month, every sin (whether light or heavy, and whether committed by himself or by an ancestor).
16. And so does swallowing barley-corns dissolved in the excrements of a cow for twenty-one days (efface every sin).
17. 'Thou art barley, thou the king of grains, thou water mixed with honey; the Ri shis have proclaimed thee an expeller of every kind of guilt and an instrument of purification.
18. 'You are clarified butter and honey, O ye barley-corns; you are water and ambrosia, O ye barley-corns. May you efface whatever sinful acts I have committed:
19. 'Sins committed by words, by acts, and by evil thoughts. Avert distress and ill-fortune from me, O ye barley-corns.
20. 'Purify food licked at by dogs or pigs, or defiled by leavings (of food), and (purify me from the stain) of disobedience towards mother and father, O ye barley-corns.
21. 'Purify for me food given by a multitude of persons, the food of a harlot, or of a Sûdra, food offered at a S râddha, food rendered impure by the birth of a child in the house, the food of a thief, and food offered at a Nava s râddha (or new S râddha, which takes place on the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh day after a person's demise).
22. 'Purify me, O ye barley-corns, from the sin of injuring a child or of causing (a punishment) to be inflicted on some one by the king, from theft of gold (or other high crimes), from the violation of a religious duty, from performing a sacrifice for an unworthy person, and from abusing a Brâhma n a.'
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE
Divisions 1476-1505
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 49-50
1476.
1. After having fasted during the eleventh day of the bright half of the month Mârga s îrsha, let a man worship, on the twelfth day, the venerable Vâsudeva (Vish n u).
2. (He shall worship him) with flowers, incense, unguents, lamps, eatables (such as milk), and repasts given to Brâhma n as.
3. By performing this rite (on the twelfth day of the bright half of every month, from the month Mârga s îrsha to the month Kârttika) for one year, he is purified from every sin.
4. By performing it till he dies, he attains S vetadvîpa ('the white island,' the abode of Bhagavat).
5. By performing it for a year on each twelfth day of both halves of a month, he attains heaven.
6. By performing it (within the same intervals), till he dies, (he attains) the world of Vish n u.
7. The same (heavenly rewards are gained by him who performs this rite) on each fifteenth day (after having fasted during the fourteenth).
8. If he worships (according to the latter rite) Ke s ava (Vish n u) who has become one with Brahman, on the day of full moon, and Ke s ava absorbed in meditation, on the day of new moon, he will obtain a great reward.
9. If in a year on a day of full moon the moon and the planet Jupiter are seen together in the sky, it is called a great full moon.
10. Gifts, fasts, and the like are declared to be imperishable on that day. The same is the case if a conjunction with the asterism. S rava n â falls on the twelfth day of the bright half (of any month).
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 50
1488.
1. Let a man make a hut of leaves in a forest and dwell in it;
2. And let him bathe (and perform his prayers) three times a day;
3. And let him collect alms, going from one village to another, and proclaiming his own deed;
4. And let him sleep upon grass:
5. This is called a Mahâvrata (great observance).
6. He who has killed a Brâhma n a (unintentionally) must perform it for twelve years.
7. (He who has unintentionally killed) a Kshatriya or a Vai s ya engaged in a sacrifice, for the same period.
8. Likewise, he who has killed (unintentionally) a pregnant woman, or a woman in her courses.
9. Or a woman who has bathed after temporary uncleanness;
10. Or a friend.
11. He who has (unintentionally) killed a king, must perform the Mahâvrata for twice the same number of years (or twenty-four years);
12. He who has (unintentionally) killed. a Kshatriya (not engaged in a sacrifice, nor a king), for one quarter of that time less (or for nine years);
13. He who has (unintentionally) killed a Vai s ya (not engaged in a sacrifice), for half of that time (or for six years).
14. He who has (unintentionally) killed a (virtuous) S ûdra, for half of that time again (or for three years).
15. He who is performing any of those penances, must carry (on his stick) the skull of the person slain, like a flag.
16. Let a man serve cows for a month, his hair and beard having been shorn.
17. And let him sit down to rest when they rest;
18. And let him stand still when they stand still;
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY SIX
Divisions 1506-1530
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 51
1506.
1. A drinker of spirituous liquor must abstain from all religious rites and subsist on grains separated from the husk for a year. [or, a month]
2. If a man has (knowingly) tasted any of the (twelve) unclean excretions of the body, or of the (twelve) intoxicating drinks, he must perform the K ândrâya n a penance.
3. Likewise, if he has (knowingly) eaten garlic, or onions, or red garlic, or any plant which has a similar flavour (to that of garlic or onions), or the meat of village pigs, of tame cocks (and other tame birds), of apes, and of cows.
4. In all those cases men belonging to a twice-born caste have to be initiated a second time, after the penance is over.
5. On their second initiation, the tonsure, the girding with the sacred string, the wearing of the staff, and the begging of alms shall be omitted.
6. If a man has (unawares) eaten meat of a fivetoed animal, with the exception of the hare, the porcupine, the iguana, the rhinoceros, and the tortoise, he must fast for seven days.
7. If he has eaten the food of a multitude of persons, of a harlot, of a thief, or of a singer, he must subsist upon milk for seven days.
8. And (if he has eaten) the food of a carpenter or of a leather manufacturer;
9. Or of a usurer, of a miser, of one who has performed the initiatory ceremony of a Soma-sacrifice, of a jailer, of an Abhi s asta, or of a eunuch;
10. Or of a dissolute woman, of a hypocrite, of a physician, of a hunter, of a hard-hearted or cruel person, and of one who eats the leavings of food;
11. Or of a woman who has neither husband nor son, of a goldsmith, of an enemy, or of an outcast:
12. Or of a malignant informer, of a liar, of one who has transgressed the law, and of one who sells himself, or who sells (molasses or other) liquids and condiments;
13. Or of a public dancer, of a weaver, of an ungrateful man, or of a dyer of clothes;
14. Or (the food) of a blacksmith, of a man of the Nishâda tribe (who subsist by fishing), of a stage-player, of a worker in cane, or of a seller of weapons;
15. Or of a trainer of dogs, of a distiller of spirituous liquor, of an oil manufacturer, or of a washerman;
16. Or (the food) of a woman in her courses (whether belonging to her, or dressed for her), or of one who lives under one roof with the paramour of his wife;
17. Or (food) which has been looked at by the killer of an embryo (of a Brâhma n a), or which has been touched by a woman in her courses, or nibbled by a bird, or touched by a dog, or smelt at by a cow;
18. Or that which has been designedly touched with the foot, or that which has been sneezed at;
19. Or the food of insane, or wrathful, or sick persons;
20. Or (food that is given) in a disrespectful manner, or the meat (of animals killed) for no sacred purpose.
21. After having (unawares) eaten the flesh of any sort of fish, excepting the Pâ th îna, Rohita, Râ g îva, Si m hatu nd a, and S akula fishes, he must fast for three days.
22. Likewise, after having (unawares) eaten the flesh of (any other) aquatic animal (such as the alligator, or the Gangetic porpose).
23. After having (knowingly) drunk water from a vessel in which spirituous liquor had been kept, he must drink for seven days milk boiled together with the S a n khapushpî plant.
24. After having (knowingly drunk water) from a vessel in which an intoxicating beverage had been kept, (he must drink the same) for five days.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN
Divisions 1531-1555
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 51
1531.
25. A Soma-sacrificer, who has (unawares) smelt the breath of a man who had been drinking spirituous liquor, must plunge into water, (suppress his breath) and mutter the Aghamarsha n a three times, and eat clarified butter afterwards.
26. For eating (designedly) the flesh of a donkey, of a camel, or of a crow, he must perform the K ândrâya n a penance.
27. Likewise, for eating (knowingly) the flesh of an unknown (beast or bird), meat kept in a slaughterhouse, and dried meat.
28. For eating (unawares) the flesh of carnivorous beasts; (tigers- and others), or birds (hawks and others), he must perform the Taptak rikkh ra.
29. For (knowingly) eating a sparrow, or (the heron called) Plava, or a Brâhma n î duck, or a Ha m sa, or the (wild cock called) Ra gg udâla, or a Sârasa crane, or a Dâtyûha, or a male or female parrot, or a crane, or a heron, or a cuckoo, or a wagtail, he must fast for three days.
30. Likewise, for eating (unawares the flesh of) animals whose hoof is not cloven (such as horses), or of animals having a double row of teeth (such as the Rohita deer).
31. For eating (unawares) the flesh of any bird, excepting the francoline partridge, the Kâpiñ g ala, the (quail called) Lâvaka, the peahen, and the peacock, (he must fast) for a day and a night.
32. For eating (knowingly) insects (ants and others), he must drink for one day (water in which the plant) Brahmasuvar k alâ (has been boiled).
33. For eating (unawares) the flesh of dogs, he must perform the same penance.
34. For eating (unawares the mushroom called) Kh attrâka, or (the mushroom called) Kavaka, he must perform the Sântapana penance.
35. For eating (unawares) stale food, other than a mess prepared with barley (such as cakes), or with wheat (such as, gruel), or with milk (boiled with rice, or mixed with coagulated milk, or otherwise dressed), and dishes sprinkled with fat (such as clarified butter), sour gruel, and sweetmeats, he must fast (for one day).
36. Likewise, (for eating unawares) the juice flowing from an incision in a tree, (plants raised in) unclean substances (such as excrements and the like), and the red exudation of trees.
37. Also, (for eating unawares) the root of the water-lily; (and for eating) rice boiled with sesamum. or with beans, Sa m yâva, rice boiled in milk with sugar, pastry, S ashkulî (cakes), or food destined for the gods, if those dishes have not been announced to the gods first; and (for eating) food destined for burnt-oblations.
38. Also, for tasting the milk of any animal, save the milk of cows, goats, and buffalos (and for tasting any eatables made of such milk).
39. Also, (for tasting the milk) of those animals (cows and the rest) within ten days after their giving birth to a young one.
40. And (for tasting) the milk of a cow whose milk flows of itself, of one that has just taken the bull, or of one whose calf is dead.
41. And (for tasting the milk of a cow) that has been feeding upon ordures.
42. And (for tasting) any such food as has turned sour (but not that which is sour by nature, like sorrel), except sour milk (and what is made with it).
43. A student, who partakes (unawares) of a S râddha repast, must fast for three days.
44. And he must remain in water for a whole day (afterwards).
45. If he eats honey or meat (at any time), he must perform the Prâ g âpatya penance.
46. If any one eats (unawares) the leavings of the food of a cat, of a crow, of an ichneumon, or of a rat, he must drink water in which the Brahmasuvar k alâ plant has been boiled.
47. For eating (unawares) what has been left by a dog, he must fast for one day, and drink Pañ k agavya (afterwards).
48. For tasting (knowingly) the excrements of five-toed animals (excepting human excrements), he must (fast) for seven days (and drink Pañ k agavya on the eighth).
49. If one (not a student) eats (unawares) of a S râddha repast consisting of raw food, he must subsist on milk for seven days.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
Divisions 1556-1585
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 51
1556.
50. If a Brâhma n a eats what has been left by a S ûdra, (he must also subsist on milk) for seven days.
51. If he eats what has been left by a Vai s ya, (he must subsist upon milk) for five days.
52. If he eats what has been left by a Kshatriya, (he must subsist upon milk) for three days.
53. If he eats what has been left by another Brâhma n a, (he must subsist upon milk) for one day.
54. If a Kshatriya eats what has been left by a S ûdra, (he must undergo the same penance) for five days.
55. If he eats what has been left by a Vai s ya, (he must undergo it) for three days;
56. And so must a Vai s ya, if he eats what has been left by a S ûdra.
57. For (knowingly) eating (undressed) food, which has been left by a K a nd âla (or Svapa k a or other member of the seven lowest castes), he must fast for three days.
58. For (unawares) eating dressed food (left by such), the Parâka penance is ordained.
59. Let no Brâhma n a ever eat (the flesh of) beasts which has not been consecrated with Mantras; but if it has been consecrated with Mantras, he may eat it, following the eternal rule (laid down in the Veda).
60. As many hairs as the beast has, which he has slain in this world, for so many days will the killer of a beast for other purposes than a (S rauta or Smârta) sacrifice, suffer terrible pangs in this world and in the next.
61. It is for sacrifices that beasts have been created by the Self-existent (Brahman) himself. Sacrificing causes the whole universe to prosper; therefore is the slaughter (of beasts) for a sacrifice no slaughter.
62. The sin of him who kills deer for the sake of gain, is not so great (and visited less heavily) in the world to come, than the sin of him who eats meat which has not been offered to the gods.
63. Plants, cattle, trees, amphibious animals, and birds, which have been destroyed for the purposes of sacrifice, obtain exaltation in another existence (in which they are born as Gandharvas, or other beings of a high rank).
64. When honouring a guest, at a sacrifice, or when worshipping the manes, or the gods, a man may slay cattle, but not otherwise on any account.
65. That twice-born man who, knowing the exact truth (promulgated) in the Veda, slays cattle for the sacrifices (ordained in the Veda), will convey himself and the cattle (slain by him) to a blissful abode.
66. A self-controlled man of a twice-born caste, whether he be a householder, or be dwelling with his spiritual teacher, or in the forest, must never slay an animal in opposition to the precepts of the Veda, even in cases of distress.
67. That slaughter which is in accordance with the precepts of the Veda, and has been fixed for this world of movable and immovable creatures, should be considered as no slaughter at all; because it is from the Veda that law shines forth.
68. He who hurts animals that do not hurt any one, merely in order to afford pleasure to himself, will never obtain happiness, whether living or dead.
69. He who gives no living creature intentionally the pain of confining or killing (or hurting) it, from benevolence towards all (creatures), will enjoy everlasting happiness.
70. Whatever he thinks of, whatever he strives for, and whatever he desires in his heart, all that is easily obtained by him who does not injure any created being.
71. Meat cannot be obtained without injuring an animal, and the murder of animals excludes the murderer from heaven, therefore must meat be avoided.
72. Reflecting upon the origin of flesh and upon the (sin of) hurting or confining animated creatures, he must abstain from animal food of any kind.
73. He who transgresses not the law and eats not flesh like a Pisâ k a, is beloved by men and remains free from disease.
74. He who gives his consent to the killing of an animal, he who cuts it up, he who kills it, the purchaser and the seller, he who prepares it, he who serves it up, and he who eats it, all these are denominated slaughterers of an animal.
75. There is no greater sinner than he who, without giving their share to the manes and to the gods, wants to increase his own flesh with the flesh of another creature.
76. Those two, he who performs a horse-sacrifice annually for a hundred years and he who does not eat meat, shall both obtain the same recompense for their virtue.
77. By eating (wild rice or other) sacred fruits or roots, and by living upon such grains as are the food of hermits, a man does not reap so high a reward as by avoiding meat
78. (An eater of flesh must say within himself), Me he (mâ m sa) will eat in the next world, whose flesh I am tasting here. This, say the learned, is the derivation of the word flesh (mâ m sa).
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
Divisions 1586-1610
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 52-53
1586.
1. He who has stolen the gold (of a Brâhmana), must bring a club to the king, proclaiming his deed.
2. Whether the king kills him with it, or dismisses him unhurt, he is purified.
3. Or (in case he committed the theft unawares), he must perform the Mahâvrata for twelve years.
4. He who appropriates (knowingly) a deposit, (must perform the same penance.)
5. He who steals (knowingly) grain or valuable objects, (or prepared food belonging to a Brâhma n a,) (must perform) the K rikkh ra for a year.
6. For stealing male or female slaves (not belonging to a Brâhma n a, and for seizing) a well or pool (actually containing water), or a field, the K ândrâya n a (penance must be performed).
7. (For stealing) articles of small value (such as tin or lead, not exceeding twenty-five Pa n as in value), the Sântapana (penance must be performed).
8. (For stealing) sweetmeats, (rice or other) food, (milk or other) drinks, a bed, a seat, flowers, roots, or fruit, drinking Pañ k agavya (is ordained as penance).
9. (For stealing) grass, firewood, trees, rice in the husk, sugar, clothes, skins, or flesh, the thief must fast for three days.
10. (For stealing knowingly) precious stones, pearls or coral, copper, silver, iron, or white copper. he must eat grain separated from the husk for twelve days.
11. For stealing (unawares) cotton, silk, wool or other (stuffs), he must subsist for three days upon milk.
12. For stealing two-hoofed or one-hoofed animals, he must fast for three days.
13. For stealing birds, or perfumes, or medicinal herbs, or cords, or basket-work, he must fast for one day.
14. Though a thief may have restored to the owner the stolen property (either openly or) in some indirect manner, he must still perform a penance, in order to purify himself from guilt.
15. Whatever a man takes from others, unchecked (by the dictates of religion), of that will he be bereft in every future birth.
16. Because life, religious merit, and pleasure depend upon wealth, therefore let a man take care not to injure the wealth (of others by robbing them) by any means.
17. Among those two, he who injures animal life, and be who injures wealth, the one who injures wealth shall incur the heavier penalty.
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 53
1602.
1. One who has (unawares) had illicit sexual intercourse, must perform the Prâ g âpatya penance for a year, according to the rule of the Mahâvrata, clad in a garment of bark, and living in a forest.
2. The same (penance is ordained) for sexual intercourse with the wife of another man (who belongs to his own caste, but is no Guru of his).
3. For intercourse with a cow, the Govrata (must be performed).
4. For intercourse with a man, for unnatural crimes with a woman, (for wasting his manhood) in the air, (for intercourse with a woman) in water, by day, or in a go-cart, he must bathe dressed in his clothes.
5. By intercourse (knowingly) with a K a nd âla woman, he becomes her equal in caste.
6. For intercourse unawares with such, he must perform the K ândrâya n a twice.
7. For intercourse (knowingly) with cattle (other) than cows) or with a public prostitute, (he must perform) the Prâ g âpatya penance.
8. A woman who has committed adultery once, must perform that penance which has been prescribed for an adulterer.
9. That guilt which a Brâhma n a incurs by intercourse with a K a nd âla woman one night, he can only remove by subsisting upon alms, and constantly repeating (the Gâyatrî) for three years.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER SIXTY
Divisions 1611-1645
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 54
1611.
1. If a man associates with one guilty of a crime, he must perform the same penance as he.
2. A Brâhma n a who has drunk water from a well in which a five-toed animal has perished, or which has been defiled in the highest degree, must fast for three days.
3. A Kshatriya (must fast) for two days (in the same case).
4. A Vai s ya (must fast) for one day (and one night).
5. A S ûdra (must fast) for a night only.
6. And all (the former, but not a Sûdra) must drink Pañ k agavya, when their penance has been completed.
7. If a S ûdra drinks Pañ k agavya, or if a Brâhma n a drinks spirituous liquor, they both go to the hell called Mahâraurava.
8. If a man has not connection with his wife in the natural season, unless it be on the days of the full and new moon, or because she is ill, he must fast for three days.
9. A false witness must perform the penance ordained for killing a Brâhma n a.
10. He who has (unawares) voided excrements without water (being near), must bathe in his clothes, pronounce the 'great words,' and offer a burnt-oblation.
11. One who has been surprised asleep by the sun rising or setting, must bathe in his clothes and mutter the Gâyatrî one hundred -and eight times.
12. He who has been bitten by a dog, a jackal, a tame pig, an ass, an ape, a crow, or a public prostitute, shall approach a river and (standing in it, shall) stop his breath sixteen times.
13. One who forgets the Vedic texts which he has studied, or who forsakes the sacred fires, must subsist upon alms for a year, bathing at the tree Savanas (morning, noon, and evening, sleeping upon the ground, and eating one meal a day.
14. For setting one's self up by false statements, and for falsely accusing or abusing a Guru, he must subsist upon milk for a month.
15. An atheist, one who leads the life of a member of the K a nd âla or of other low castes that dwell outside the village (Bâhyas) an ungrateful man, one who buys or sells with false weights, and one who deprives Brâhma n as of their livelihood (by robbing them of a grant made to them by the king or private persons, or by other bad practices), all those persons must subsist upon alms for a year.
16. An unmarried elder brother whose younger brother is married, a younger brother married before the elder, an unmarried elder sister whose younger sister is married, the relative who gives such a damsel in marriage, and the priest who officiates at such a marriage, must perform the K ândrâya n a.
17, He who sells living beings, land, religious merit (obtained by a sacrifice or otherwise), or Soma, must perform the Taptak rikkh ra.
18. He who sells fresh ginger, (edible) plants (such as rice or barley), perfumes, flowers, fruits, roots, skins, canes, (winnowing baskets or fans and the like) made of split bamboo, chaff, potsherds, hair, ashes, bone, cow-milk or curds, oil-cakes, sesamum, or oil, must perform the Prâ g âpatya.
19. He who sells the fruit of the S leshmâtaka tree, lac, bees-wax, shells, mother-of-pearl, tin, lead, iron, copper, or, (sacrificial) vessels made of the horn of the rhinoceros, must perform the K ândrâya n a.
20. He who sells dyed cloth, tin, precious stones, perfumes, sugar, honey, liquids or condiments (other than sugar, salt, and the like), or wool, must fast for three days.
21. He who sells meat, salt, lac, or milk, must perform the K ândrâya n a.
22. And all those persons (mentioned in Sûtras 17-21) must be initiated a second time.
23. He who has been riding (voluntarily) upon a camel, or upon an ass, and he who has (purposely) bathed, or slept, or eaten, quite naked, must stop his breath three times.
24. By muttering attentively the Gâyatrî three thousand times, (by dwelling) upon the pasture of cows, (and) by subsisting on milk for a month, he becomes free from the sin of accepting unlawful presents.
25. He who has (knowingly) offered a sacrifice for an unworthy person (such as a low-caste person, or an outcast), he who has performed the funeral rites for a stranger, he who has practised magic rites (in order to destroy an enemy), and he who has performed a sacrifice of the kind called Ahîna, (all those persons) may rid themselves of their sins by performing three K rikkh ra (Prâ g âpatya) penances.
26. Those twice-born men, by whom the Gâyatrî has not been repeated (and the other initiatory ceremonies performed), as the law directs, must be made to perform three (Prâ g âpatya) penances and must be initiated according to custom.
27. Those twice-born men who are anxious to make an atonement for having committed an illegal act, or for having neglected the study of the Veda, must be made to perform the same penance.
28. Those Brâhma n as who have acquired property by base acts (such as living by the occupations of a lower caste, or accepting unlawful presents) become free from sin by relinquishing it, and by muttering (Veda texts) and practising austerities.
29. For omitting one of the regular acts enjoined in the revealed (and traditional) law, and for a breach of the rules laid down for a Snâtaka, a fast is ordained as atonement.
30. For attacking a Brâhma n a (by raising a stick or a weapon against him), the K rikkh ra (Prâ g âpatya) penance must be performed; for striking him, the Atik rikkh ra; and for fetching blood from him, the K rikkh râtik rikkh ra.
31. With sinners, who have not expiated their crime, let a man not transact business of any kind. But a man who knows the law must not blame (or shun) those who have expiated it.
32. Let him not, however, live (or have any intercourse) with those who have killed children, or with ungrateful persons, or with those who have slain one come for protection, or a woman, even though such sinners may have obtained their absolution, as directed by the law.
33. (An old man) who has passed his eightieth year, a youth under the age of sixteen, women, and sick persons have only to perform half of every penance.
34. In order to remove those sins for which no particular mode of expiation has been mentioned, penances must be prescribed, which shall be in accordance with the ability of the offender, and with the heaviness of his offence.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER SIXTY ONE
Divisions 1646-1670
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 55
1646.
1. Now follow the penances for secret sins.
2. The killer of a Brâhma n a is purified, if, having approached a river (and bathed in it), he restrains his breath sixteen times, and takes only one meal, consisting of food fit for offerings, each day, for a month.
3. At the end of this rite he must give a milch cow.
4. By performing the same rite and by muttering (while standing in the water) the Aghamarsha n a (instead of stopping his breath), a drinker of spirituous liquor becomes free from sin.
5. (By performing the same rite and) muttering the Gâyatrî one thousand and ten times (each day), a stealer of gold becomes free from guilt.
6. One who has connection with a Guru's wife (becomes free from sin) by fasting for three days and muttering the Purushasûkta and (at the same time) offering a burnt-oblation.
7. Even as the horse-sacrifice, the king of sacrifices, removes all sin, the hymn of Aghamarsha n a likewise removes all sin.
8. Let a twice-born man stop his breath, in order to rid himself of all sin; all sins committed by a twice-born man may be removed by repeated Prâ n âyâmas.
9. It is called a Prâ n âyâma, if a man, stopping the breath (which comes from the mouth and from the nostrils), recites the Gâyatrî three times, together with the Vyâh ri tis ('words'), with the sacred syllable Om, and with the (text called) S iras.
10. The lord of creatures (Brahman) has milked out from the three Vedas the letter A, the letter U, and the letter M (of which the sacred syllable Om is composed), and (the three sacred words) Bhû h, Bhuva h, Sva h (earth, the atmosphere, and heaven).
11. The lord of creatures, the supreme deity, has also milked out from the three Vedas successively the three verses of the sacred stanza which begins with the word 'tad,' and is called Sâvitrî (or Gâyatrî).
12. By muttering, every morning and evening, that syllable and that stanza, preceded by the three 'words,' a Brâhma n a will obtain that religious merit which the (study of the) Veda confers, just as if he had actually studied the Veda.
13. By repeating those three (Om, the 'words,' and the Gâyatrî every day) for a month out of the village, a thousand times, a twice-born man is purified even from a mortal sin, as a snake (is freed) from its withered skin.
14. Any member of the Brâhma n a, Kshatriya, or Vai s ya castes, who does not know those three texts, or fails to recite them in the proper season, meets with reproach among the virtuous.
15. The three imperishable 'great words,' preceded by the syllable Om, and the Gâyatrî consisting of three divisions, have to be recognised as the mouth (or beginning) of the Veda.
16. He who repeats that stanza (preceded by the syllable Om and the three 'words') carefully every day for three years, will be absorbed in the highest Brahman after death, move as freely as air, and become as pure as air.
17. The monosyllable (Om) is the highest Brahman, the stoppings of the breath are the best of austerities, but nothing is more exalted than the Gâyatrî; (declaring the) truth is better than silence.
18. All religious acts ordained in the Veda, (whether) consisting in burnt-oblations or sacrifices (or alms-giving or other pious observances), perish (after the merit obtained by them has been exhausted); but the syllable Om (akshara) must be known to be imperishable (akshara), as it is identical with Brahman, the lord of creatures.
19. The act of reciting (the syllable Om, the 'words,' and the Gâyatrî) is ten times better than the (Gyotish t oma or other) sacrifices prescribed (by the Veda); it is a hundred times better when muttered in a low voice; it is a thousand times better when repeated mentally only.
20. The four Pâkaya g ñas (small or domestic offerings), together with the sacrifices prescribed (in the Veda), though all united, are not equal to a sixteenth part of the sacrifice performed by reciting (those sacred prayers).
21. A Brâhmana may beyond doubt obtain final emancipation by solely repeating (those prayers), whether he perform any other religious observance or no; one who is benevolent towards all creatures (and does not slay them for sacrifices) is justly, called a Brâhma n a (or one united to Brahman).
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER SIXTY TWO
Divisions 1671-1700
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 56
1671.
1. Now then follow the purifying Mantras from all the Vedas.
2. By muttering them, or reciting them at a burnt-oblation, the twice-born are purified from their sins. (They are as follows:) [and their translation is hence]
3. The Aghamarsha n a; [ ]
4. The Devak ri ta; [ ]
5. The Suddhavatîs;
6. The Taratsamandîya;
7. The Kûshmâ nd îs;
8. The Pâvamânîs;
9. The Durgâsâvitrî;
10. The Atisha n gas;
11. The Padastobhas;
12. The Vyâh ri ti Sâmans.;
13. The Bhâru nd as;
14. The K andrasâman;
15. The two Sâmans called Purushavrata;
16. The Abli n ga;
17. The Bârhaspatya;
18. The Gosûkta;
19. The  s vasûkta;
20. The two Sâmans called K andrasûkta;
21. The S atarudriya;
22. The Atharva s iras;
23. The Trisupar n a;
24. The Mahâvrata;
25. The Nârâya n îya;
26. And the Purushasûkta;
27. The three  g yadohas, the Rathantara, the Agnivrata, the Vâmadevya, and the B ri hatsâman, properly chanted, purify man from sin; and if he wishes he may obtain through them recollection of his existence in a former life.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER SIXTY THREE
Divisions 1701-1730
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 57-58
1701.
1. Now (the following persons) must be avoided:
2. Vrâtyas (i. e. those for whom the ceremony of initiation has not been performed)
3. Outcasts;
4. Descendants within the third degree' of an outcast mother or father, if they (or their outcast ancestors) have not been purified (by a penance).
5. (As a rule) the food of all such persons must not be eaten, nor gifts be accepted from them.
6. He must avoid accepting repeated gifts from those whose presents must not be accepted.
7. By accepting such gifts, Brâhma n as lose their divine lustre.
8. And he who, not knowing the law regarding acceptance of gifts, accepts (illicit) gifts, sinks, to hell together with the giver.
9. He who, being worthy to receive gifts, does not accept them, obtains that world which is destined for the liberal-minded (after death).
10. Firewood, water, roots, fruits, protection, meat, honey, a bed, a seat, a house, flowers, sour milk, and vegetables he must not disdain to accept when they are offered to him.
11. Even if an offender (but not a mortal sinner) has beckoned and offered alms to him, which had been brought previously for the purpose, the lord of creatures has declared that they may be accepted from him.
12. Neither will the manes eat (his funeral oblations offered to them) for fifteen years, nor will the fire convey his burnt-offerings (to the gods) if he rejects such alms.
13. If he wishes to provide for his (parents or other) Gurus or for (his wife or other) such persons as he is bound to maintain, or if he wants to worship the manes or the gods, he may accept gifts from any one; but he must not satisfy himself with them.
14. But even in those cases, and though he be worthy to receive presents, let him not accept them from a dissolute woman, from a eunuch, from an outcast, or from an enemy.
15. And if his parents are dead, or if he is living apart from them in a house of his own, he must never, while seeking to obtain food for himself, accept alms from any other persons but those who are of respectable descent (and belong to a twice-born caste).
16. One who ploughs the ground for half the crop (and gives the other half to the king or a private person, who is the owner), a friend of the family, a (house-)slave, a herdsman, a barber, and one who announces himself (with the words 'I am your slave'): the food of all such may be eaten, although they are S ûdras.
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 58
17.
1. The property of householders is of three kinds:
2. White, mottled, and black.
3. By those obsequies which a man performs with white property, he causes (his departed ancestor) to be born again as a god.
4. By performing them with mottled property, he causes him to be born as a man.
5. By performing them with black property, he causes him to be born as an animal.
6. What has been acquired by the mode of livelihood of their own caste, by members of any caste, is called 'white.'
7. What has been acquired by the mode of livelihood of the caste next below in order to their own, is called 'mottled.'
8. What has been acquired by the mode of livelihood of a caste by two or more degrees lower than their own, is called 'black.'
9. What has been inherited, friendly gifts, and the dowry of a wife, that is called white property, for members of any caste indiscriminately.
10. What has been acquired as a bribe, as a fee (for crossing a river and the like, or for a bride, etc.), or by the sale of forbidden articles (such as lac, or salt), or as a return for a benefit conferred, is denoted 'mottled wealth.'
11. What has been acquired by servile attendance, by gambling, by thieving, by begging, by deceit (as if a man says that he wants a present for another and takes it himself, or by forging gold or other metals), by robbery, or by fraud (as if a man shows one thing to a purchaser and delivers another to him instead), is called 'black property.'
12. Whatever a man may do (in this world) with anything (he has, whether white, mottled, or black property) he will get his reward accordingly; both in the next world and in this.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR
Divisions 1731-1760
I
INSTITUTES OF VISHNU 59
1731.
1. A householder must perform the Pâkaya g ñas (small or domestic offerings) in the fire kindled at the time of marriage.
2. He must offer the Agnihotra (or daily oblations of clarified butter) every morning and evening (in the Tretâ fires).
3. He must offer burnt-oblations to the gods (in case the Agnihotra cannot be performed).
4. Let him offer the two Dar s apur n amâsas on the days of conjunction and opposition of the sun
and moon.
5. Once in each half of the year, (at the two solstices, let him offer) the Pa s ubandha (animal sacrifice).
6. In autumn and summer let him offer the Âgraya n a (oblation of first-fruits);
7. Or when rice and barley are ripening (in winter and spring).
8. He who has a sufficient supply of food for more than three years (shall perform the Soma-sacrifice).
9. (He shall perform) the Soma-sacrifice once a year (in spring).
10. If he has not wealth (sufficient to defray the expenses of the Pa s ubandha, Soma, K âturmâsya, and other S rauta sacrifices), he shall perform the Ish t i Vaisvânarî.
11. Let him not make an offering of food obtained as alms from a S ûdra.
12. If he has begged articles for a sacrifice (and obtained them), let him employ them all for that purpose (and never for himself).
13. Every evening and morning let him offer up the Vai s vadeva;
14. And let him give alms to an Ascetic (afterwards).
15. For giving alms and showing due honour to the recipient (by pouring water on his hands both before and afterwards) he obtains the same reward as for giving a cow.
16. If there is no ascetic (or other person worthy to receive alms), he must give a mouthful to cows;
17. Or he must cast it into fire.
18. If there is food in the house, he must not reject a mendicant, (who arrives) after he has taken his meal himself.
19. A householder has five places where animals are liable to be destroyed: his wooden mortar, his slab to grind wheat or condiments upon, his fireplace, his water-pot, and his broom.
20. For the sake of expiating offences committed (by ignorantly destroying life) in those places, he must perform the (five) sacrifices addressed to the Veda, to the gods, to all created beings (or 'to the goblins'), to the manes, and to men.
21. Privately reciting (and teaching) the Veda is the sacrifice addressed to the Veda.
22. The regular burnt-oblation (Vaisvadeva) is the sacrifice addressed to the gods.
23. The Pit ri tarpana (refreshing the manes with food and water) is the sacrifice addressed to the manes.
24. The Bali-offering is the sacrifice addressed to all creatures (or 'to the goblins').
25. The sacrifice addressed to men consists in honouring a guest.
26. He who does not give their share to these five, the gods, his guests, (his wife and children and others,) whom he is bound to maintain, his manes, and himself, is not alive, though he breathes.
27. These (three), the student, the hermit, and the ascetic, derive their existence from the order of householders; therefore must a householder not treat them with disdain, when they have arrived (at his house at the proper time for begging alms).
28. The householder offers sacrifices, the householder practises austerities, the householder distributes gifts; therefore is the order of householders, the first of all.
29. The Ri shis, the manes, the gods, all creatures (dogs, &c.), and guests beg householders for support; therefore is the order of householders the best of all.
30. If a householder is intent upon pursuing the three objects of life (virtue, love, and wealth), upon constantly distributing presents of food, upon worshipping the gods, upon honouring the Brâhma n as, upon discharging his duty of privately reciting (and teaching) the Veda, and upon refreshing the manes (with oblations of balls of rice, water, and the like), he will attain the world of Indra.
The Insitutes of Vishnu CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE
Divisions 1761-1785
