CHAP. 6 II. 6 as he has occasion for, and having presented it without guile to his preceptor, let him eat some ' of it, being duly purified, with his face to the east: 6 52. If he seek long life, he should eat with his face to the east; if exalted fame, to the south; if prosperity, to the west; if truth and its reward, to the north. 53. Let the student, having performed his ablution, always eat his food without distraction of mind; and, having eaten, let him thrice wash his mouth completely, sprinkling with water the six hollow parts of his head, or his eyes, ears, and nostrils. 54. Let him honour all his food, and eat it with' out contempt; when he sees it, let him rejoice and be calm, and pray that he may always obtain it. 55. Food, eaten constantly with respect, gives muscular force and generative power; but, eaten irreverently, destroys them both. 56. He must beware of giving any man what he 'leaves; and of eating any thing between morning and evening: he must also beware of eating too much, and of going any whither with a remnant of his food 'unswallowed. 57 • Excessive eating is prejudicial to health, to fame, and to future bliss in Heaven; it is injurious to 'virtue, and odious among men: he must, for these reasons, by all means avoid it. 58. Let II. 58. Let a Bráhmen at all times perform the ablu- CHAP. tion with the pure part of his hand denominated from the Veda, or with the part sacred to the Lord ' of creatures, or with that dedicated to the Gods; but never with the part named from the Pitris: 6 6 6 6 59. The pure part under the root of the thumb is called Brahma, that at the root of the little finger, Caya; that at the tips of the fingers, Daiva; and the part between the thumb and index Pitrya. 60. 'Let him first sip water thrice; then twice wipe his mouth; and lastly touch with water the six beIfore mentioned cavities, his breast, and his head. 61. He who knows the law and seeks purity will ever perform his ablution with the pure part of his hand, and with water neither hot nor frothy, standing in a lonely place, and turning to the east or the • north. 6 6 6 62. A Bráhmen is purified by water that reaches 63. A youth of the three highest classes is named • called CHAP. II. called práchínívítí; and nivítí, when it is fastened on ' his neck. 64. His girdle, his leathern mantle, his staff, his sacrificial cord, and his ewer, he must throw into the water, when they are worn out or broken, and re'ceive others hallowed by mystical texts. 6 65. The ceremony of césánta, or cutting off the hair, is ordained for a priest in the sixteenth year from conception; for a soldier, in the twenty-second; for a merchant, two years later than that. 66. The same ceremonies, except that of the sacrificial thread, must be duly performed for women at 'the same age and in the same order, that the body may be made perfect; but without any text from the • Veda: 67. The nuptial ceremony is considered as the complete institution of women, ordained for them in the Véda, together with reverence to their husbands, dwelling first in their father's family, the business of the house, and attention to sacred fire. 68. Such is the revealed law of institution for the twice born; an institution in which their second birth clearly consists, and which causes their advancement in holiness: now learn to what duties they must afterwards apply themselves. 69. THE venerable preceptor, having girt his pupil with the thread, must first instruct him in purifica tion, in good customs, in the management of the CHAP. 'consecrated fire, and in the holy rites of morning, 70. When the student is going to read the Véda, he must perform an ablution, as the law ordains, ' with his face to the north, and, having paid scriptural homage, he must receive instruction, wearing a clean vest, his members being duly composed : 71. At the beginning and end of the lecture, he 'must always clasp both the feet of his preceptor; and he must read with both his hands closed: (this is 'called scriptural homage.) 6 6 72. With crossed hands let him clasp the feet of his tutor, touching the left foot with his left, and the right, with his right hand. 73. When he is prepared for the lecture, the pre- : 74. A Bráhmen, beginning and ending a lecture on the Veda, must always pronounce to himself the syllable óm; for, unless the syllable om precede, his learning will slip away from him; and, unless it follow, nothing will be long retained. 75. If he have sitten on culms of cusa with their points toward the east, and be purified by rubbing • that II. II. CHAP. that holy grass on both his hands, and be further prepared by three suppressions of breath each equal in time to five short vowels, he then may fitly prc6 nounce óm. 76. BRAHMA' milked out, as it were, from the 'three Vedas, the letter A, the letter U, and the letter M, which form by their coalition the triliteral monosyllable, together with three mysterious words, bhur, bhuvah, swer, or earth, sky, heaven: 6 6 6 77. From the three Vedas, also, the Lord of creatures, incomprehensibly exalted, successively milked out the three measures of that ineffable text, beginning with the word tad, and entitled savitri or gayatri. 78. A priest who shall know the Veda, and shall pronounce to himself, both morning and evening, that syllable, and that holy text preceded by the 'three words, shall attain the sanctity which the Veda 'confers; 79. And a twice born man, who shall a thousand times repeat those three (or óm, the vyáhritis, and the gayatri,) apart from the multitude, shall be released in a month even from a great offence, as a snake from his slough. 80. The priest, the soldier, and the merchant, who 'shall neglect this mysterious text, and fail to perform ' in due season his peculiar acts of piety, shall meet 'with contempt among the virtuous. 81. The |