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CHAP.
II.

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hapatya, or nuptial fire; the mother as the dacshina, or ceremonial; the spiritual guide, as the ahavaniya, or sacrificial: this triad of fires is most venerable.

232. He, who neglects not those three, when he 'becomes a house-keeper, will ultimately obtain dominion over the three worlds; and his body being irradiated like a God, he will enjoy supreme bliss in

' heaven.

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233. By honouring his mother he gains this ter' restrial world; by honouring his father, the intermediate, or etherial; and, by assiduous attention to his preceptor, even the celestial world of BRAHMA': 234. All duties are completely performed by that man, by whom those three are completely honoured; but to him by whom they are dishonoured, all other acts of duty are fruitless.

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235. As long as those three live, so long he must perform no other duty for his own sake: but delighting in what may conciliate their affections and gratify their wishes, he must from day to day assiduously wait on them:

236 Whatever duty he may perform in thought, word, or deed, with a view to the next world, ' without derogation from his respect to them; he 'must declare to them his entire performance of it. 237. By honouring those three, without more, 'man effectually does whatever ought to be done : this is the highest duty, appearing before us like • DHERMA

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DHERMA himself, and every other act is an upa- CHAP.

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238. A believer in scripture may receive pure knowledge even from a Súdra; lesson of the highest virtue, even from a Chandála; and a woman, bright as a gem, even from the basest family:

239. Even from poison may nectar be taken; even from a child, gentleness of speech; even from a foe, prudent conduct; and even from an impure substance, gold.

240. From every quarter, therefore, must be se'lected women bright as gems, knowledge, virtue, purity, gentle speech, and various liberal arts.

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241. In case of necessity, a student is required to

learn the Véda from one who is not a Bráhmen, and, as long as that instruction continues, to honour his instructor with obsequious assiduity;

242. But a pupil who seeks the incomparable path to heaven, should not live to the end of his days. in the dwelling of a preceptor who is no Bráhmen, or who has not read all the Védas with their Angas. 243. If he anxiously desire to pass his whole life in the house of a sacerdotal teacher, he must serve him with assiduous care, till he be released from his mortal frame:

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244. That Bráhmen, who has dutifully attended his preceptor, till the dissolution of his body, passes directly to the eternal mansion of GOD,

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II.

CHAP.

II.

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245. LET not a student, who knows his duty, present any gift to his preceptor before his return home; but when, by his tutor's permission, he is going to perform the ceremony on his return, let him give the venerable man some valuable thing to the best of his power;

246. ‹ A field, or gold, a jewel, a cow, or a horse, an umbrella, a pair of sandals, a stool, corn, cloths, or even any very excellent vegetable: thus will he gain the affectionate remembrance of his instructor. 247. The student for life must, if his teacher die, attend on his virtuous son, or his widow, or on one of his paternal kinsmen, with the same respect which he showed to the living:

248. Should none of those be alive, he must oc

cupy the station of his preceptor, the seat, and the

place of religious exercises; must continually pay due

' attention to the fires, which he had consecrated; and must prepare his own soul for heaven.

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249. The twice-born man, who shall thus without 'intermission have passed the time of his studentship, shall ascend, after death, to the most exalted ' of regions, and no more again spring to birth in this lower world.

CHAP.

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CHAP. III.

On Marriage; or on the Second Order.

1. THE discipline of a student in the three Védas CHAP.

may be continued for thirty-six years, in the house

of his preceptor; or for half that time, or for a quar

ter of it, or until he perfectly comprehend them:

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2. A student, whose rules have not been violated, may assume the order of a married man, after he has read in succession a sáchá, or branch from each of the three, or from two, or from any one of them. 3. Being justly applauded for the strict performance of his duty, and having received from his natural or spiritual father the sacred gift of the Véda, let him 'sit on an elegant bed, decked with a garland of flowers, and let his father honour him, before his nuptials, with a present of a cow.

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4. Let the twice-born man, having obtained the consent of his venerable guide, and having performed his ablution with stated ceremonies, on his return home, as the law directs, espouse a wife of the same class with himself and endued with the marks of 'excellence.

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5. She, who is not descended from his paternal or ' maternal ancestors, within the sixth degree, and who

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is not known by her family name to be of the same primitive

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III.

CHAP.

III.

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primitive stock with his father or mother, is eligible by a twice-born man for nuptials and holy union:

6. In connecting himself with a wife, let him stu'diously avoid the ten following families, be they ever 'so great, or ever so rich in kine, goats, sheep, gold ⚫ and grain :

7. The family which has omitted prescribed acts of religion; that which has produced no male children ; that, in which the Véda has not been read; that, which ' has thick hair on the body; and those, which have 'been subject to hemorrhoids, to phthisis, to dyspepsia, to epilepsy, to leprosy, and to elephantiasis.

8. Let him not marry a girl with reddish hair, nor ' with any deformed limb; nor one troubled with habi'tual sickness; nor one either with no hair or with too 'much; nor one immoderately talkative; nor one with 'inflamed eyes;

9. Nor one with the name of a constellation, or of a tree, or of a river, of a barbarous nation, or of a 'mountain, of a winged creature, a snake, or a slave; nor with any name raising an image of terrour.

10. Let him chuse for his wife a girl, whose form has no defect; who has an agreeable name; who walks gracefully like a phenicopteros, or like a young elephant; whose hair and teeth are moderate respectively in quantity and in size; whose body has ex'quisite softness.

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11.

Her, who has no brother, or whose father is

not

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