Sacred Texts Hinduism Index Previous Next
1. Now the following vows are (to be kept by an ascetic):
2. Abstention from injuring living beings, truthfulness, abstention from appropriating the property of others, continence, (and) liberality. 2
3. There are five minor vows, (viz.) abstention from anger, obedience towards the Guru, avoidance of rashness, cleanliness and purity in eating. 3
4. Now (follows the rule for) begging. Let him 4
ask Brâhmanas, both those who have houses (sâlîna) and those who lead a wandering life (yâyâvara), for alms, when the Vaisvadeva offering has been finished.
5. Let him ask (for it), prefacing (his request with the word) Bhavat.
6. Let him stand begging no longer than the time required for milking a cow.
7. When he returns from begging, he lays (the alms) down in a pure place, washes his hands and feet, and announces (what he obtained) to the sun, (reciting the text), 'Ud u tyam kitram,' &c. He (also) announces it to Brahman (with the text), 'The first-born Brahman,' &c. 7
8. It is declared in the Veda, 'After the Brahmâdhâna the sacrificer himself (contains) the sacrificial fires. His respiration (prâna, represents) the Gârhapatya fire, the air that goes downwards (apâna, represents) the Anvâhâryapakana (or Dakshina) fire, the circulation in the body (vyâna, represents) the Âhavanîya fire, the cerebral circulation (udâna) and the abdominal circulation (samâna, represent) the Sabhya and Âvasathya fires. These five fires are abiding in 'the soul. He (therefore) offers (the oblations) in the soul alone.' 8
9. 'This sacrifice, offered in the soul, which is located in and based on the soul, leads the soul to happiness.'
10. Giving, compassionately, portions (of his food) to the living beings, and sprinkling the remainder
with water, he shall eat it as if it were a medicine.
11. After he has eaten and sipped water, he mutters (the texts), 'Out of darkness we,' &c., (and), My speech resides in the mouth,' &c., and worships the sun with the (verse called) Gyotishmatî. 11
12. Let him eat food, given without asking, regarding which nothing has been settled before-hand and which has reached him accidentally, so much only as is sufficient to sustain life. 12
13. Now they quote also (the following verses): 'Eight mouthfuls (make) the meal of an ascetic, sixteen (that) of a hermit in the woods, thirty-two (that) of a householder, an unlimited (quantity that) of a student.' 13
14. 'Alms (may) either (be obtained) from (men
of) the three castes, or the food (given) by a single Brâhmana (may be eaten); or (he may obtain food) from (men of) all castes, and not (eat) that given by a single Brâhmana.'
15. Now they quote (the following special rules) for the case that the teachers explain (the doctrine) of the Upanishads: 'Diligently standing (in the day-time), keeping silence, sitting (at night) with crossed legs, bathing three times a day, and eating
at the fourth, sixth, or eighth (meal-time only), he shall subsist entirely on (rice) grains, oil-cake, food prepared from barley, sour milk, (and) milk.'
16. It is declared in the Veda, On that (occasion) he shall rigidly keep silence; pressing the teeth together he may converse, without opening his mouth, as much as is necessary with teachers deeply versed in the three Vedas (and) with ascetics possessing a great knowledge of the scriptures, not with women, nor when he would break (his vow).'
17. (Let him keep) only one of (the rules which enjoin) standing (in the day-time), rigid silence, and sitting (at night) with crossed legs; let him not keep all three together.
18. It is declared in the Veda, And he who has gone there may eat, in times of distress, a small quantity of the food prescribed by his vow after (having partaken of other dishes), provided he does not break (his vow).' 18
19. 'Eight (things) do not cause him who is intent on standing (in the day-time), keeping rigid silence, sitting (at night) with crossed legs, bathing three times a day, and (eating) at the fourth, sixth, or eighth meal-time only, to break his vow, (viz.) water, roots, clarified butter, milk, sacrificial food, the wish of a Brâhmana, an order of his teacher, and medicine.' 19
20. Let him mutter the (Mantras which must be
recited at the) Agnihotra, in the evening and in the morning,
21. After performing his evening devotions by (reciting the verses called) Vârunîs, and his morning devotions by (reciting the verses called) Maitrîs. 21
22. An ascetic shall keep no fire, have no house, no home, and no protector. He may enter a village in order to collect alms, and emit speech at the private recitation of the Veda.' 22
23. It is declared in the Veda,' Limited in number are the Rik-verses, limited in number are the Sâmans, limited is the answer (of the Adhvaryu priest): 23
24. 'Thus (an ascetic) shall not give up the Veda, (but live), until he is liberated from the body, at the root of the tree.' 24
25. 'The tree (is) the Veda; the syllable Om is its root; the syllable Om is the essence of the Veda.'
26. 'Meditating on the syllable Om, he becomes
fit (to be united with) Brahman.' Thus spake the lord of created beings.
27. Let him cleanse the vessel of Brahman with the seven Vyâhritis. 27
279:2 18. The five vows (vratas) named here are the principal ones. As to the vow of 'liberality' Govinda remarks that though the ascetic possesses no 'store' and no property in the ordinary sense of the word, still he can have books and give those away.
279:3 'Avoidance of rashness,' i.e. committing any act which might destroy life.
279:4 'When the Vaisvadeva offering has been finished,' i.e. when people. have had their dinner; see also Vasishtha X, 7.
280:7 The second text occurs repeatedly in the Taittirîya-veda, eg. Taittirîya Âranyaka X, 1, 10.
280:8 Regarding the Brahmâdhâna, see above, II, 10, 17, 19.
281:11 The first text occurs frequently in the Taittirîya-veda, e.g. Taittirîya Samhitâ IV, i, 7, 4; the second, Taittirîya Âranyaka X, 72. The Gyotishmatî is, according to Govinda, the first of the two Mantras quoted.
281:12 According to Govinda this verse gives the opinion of 'some' teachers, not the author's. Asamkliptam, 'regarding which nothing has been settled beforehand,' indicates, according to Govinda, that the ascetic must not even mentally determine what he is going to eat.
281:13 See above, II, 7, 13, 7.
282:18 'The meaning is, that in times of distress, having partaken at his pleasure (of other food), he may afterwards eat of one (of the substances mentioned above, viz.) rice-grains and the rest.'--Govinda.
282:19 All the MSS. except M. have snâna, 'bathing,' instead of sthâna, 'standing (in the day-time),' though the reading is clearly wrong.
283:21 The Maitrîs occur Taitt. Samhitâ III, 4, 11, 5, and the Vârunîs follow them immediately.
283:22 Âpastamba II, 9, 21, 10.
283:23 This and the next Sûtras are intended to teach that ascetics may limit their private recitation to the repetition of the, pranava, the syllable Om: According to Govinda the passage of the Veda quoted refers originally to the Katurhotârah, which the Taittirîya Brâhmana II, 2, I, 4, and III, 12, 5, I identifies with. the Brahman, and where the pratigara, the answer of the Adhvaryu priest, is 'Om hotah' (Aitareya Brâhmana V, 25).
283:24 I have taken vrikshamûlikovedasamnyâsî to stand for vrikshamûliko avedasamnyasî. For the vedasamnyâsa, 'giving up the Veda,' is not permitted to an ascetic; see e.g. Vasishtha X, 4. But even without the negative particle vedasamnyâsî may convey a sense not opposed to the general teaching of the Smritis. For it may be taken to mean 'abandoning (the recitation of other portions of) the Veda.'
284:27 Govinda is uncertain if the term brahmabhâgana, 'the vessel of Brahman,' refers to the alms-bowl or to the body of the ascetic. Probably both are meant, and the Sûtra is intended to prescribe the frequent recitation of the Vyâhritis in addition to the syllable Om.