CHAP, whole night; nor the food of a servile man, nor the orts of another; IV. 212. Nor the food of a physician, or of a hunter, or of a dishonest man, or of an eater of orts; nor 'that of any cruel person; nor of a woman in child'bed; nor of him, who rises prematurely from table 'to make an ablution; nor of her, whose ten days of 'purification have not elapsed; 213. Nor that, which is given without due ho'nour to honourable men; nor any flesh, which has not been sacrificed; nor the food of a woman, who has neither a busband nor a son; nor that of a foe, 6 nor that of the whole town, nor that of an outcast, nor that on which any person has sneezed; 214. Nor that of a backbiter, or of a false wit ness; nor of one, who sells the reward of his sacri'fice; nor of a publick dancer, or a tailor; nor of him who has returned evil for good; 215. Nor that of a blacksmith, or a man of the 'tribe called Nisháda, nor of a stage-player, nor of a worker in gold or in cane, nor of him who sells. weapons; 6 216. Nor of those, who train hunting-dogs, or sell fermented liquor; nor of him who washes clothes, or who dyes them; nor of any malevolent person; nor of one, who ignorantly suffers an adulterer to 'dwell under his roof; 217. Nor 217. Nor of those, who knowingly bear with the CHAP. paramours of their own wives, or are constantly in subjection to women; nor food given for the dead 'before ten days of purification have passed; nor any 'food whatever, but that which satisfies him. 218. Food given by a king, impairs his manly vigour; by one of the servile class, his divine light; by goldsmiths, his life; by leathercutters, his good name: 219. Given by cooks and the like mean artizans, 'it destroys his offspring; by a washerman, his mus'cular strength; but the food of knavish associates and harlots excludes him from heaven: 6 220. The food of a physician is purulent; that of a libidinous woman, seminal; that of an usurer, fe'culent; that of a weapon-seller, filthy: 221. That of all others, mentioned in order, whose food must never be tasted, is held equal by the wise to the skin, bones, and hair of the dead. 222. Having unknowingly swallowed the food of 6 any such persons, he must fast during three days; 'but, having eaten it knowingly, he must perform the "same harsh penance, as if he had tasted any semi'nal impurity, ordure, or urine. 223. Let no learned priest eat the dressed grain ' of a servile man, who performs no parental obsequies; but, having no other means to live, he may take from him raw grain enough for a single night. IV. CHAP. IV. 224. The deities, having well considered the food of a niggard, who has read the scripture, and that of an usurer, who bestows gifts liberally, declared the food of both to be equal in quality; 225. But BRAHMA', advancing towards the gods, 'thus addressed them: "Make not that equal, which in truth is unequal; since the food of a liberal man is purified by faith, while that of a learned miser is ' defiled by his want of faith in what he has read." 226. ́LET each wealthy man continually and sedulously perform sacred rites, and consecrate pools or gardens with faith; since those two acts, accomplished with faith and with riches honestly gained, procure an unperishable reward: 227. If he meet with fit objects of benevolence, 'let him constantly bestow gifts on them, both at 'sacrifices and consecrations, to the best of his power and with a chearful heart ; 6 228. Such a gift, how small soever, bestowed on request without grudging, passes to a worthy object, 'who will secure the giver from all evil. food, extreme bliss; a giver of tila, desired offspring; a giver of a lamp, unblemished eyesight; 230. A giver of land obtains landed property; a giver of gems or gold, long life; a giver of a house, the most exalted mansion; a giver of silver, exqui⚫ site beauty; 231. A giver IV. 231. A giver of clothes, the same station with CHAP. 'CHANDRA; a giver of a horse, the same station with Aswi; a giver of a bull, eminent fortune; a giver of a cow, the mansion of SURYA; 6 232. A giver of a carriage or a bed, an excellent consort; a giver of safety, supreme dominion; a giver of grain, perpetual delight; a giver of scriptu'ral knowledge, union with GOD: 233. Among all those gifts, of water, food, kine, land, clothes, tila, gold, clarified butter, and the rest, a gift of spiritual knowledge is consequently the most important; 234. And for whatever purpose a man bestows any gift, for a similar purpose he shall receive, with due honour, a similar reward. 235. Both he, who respectfully bestows a present, and he who respectfully accepts it, shall go to a seat of bliss; but, if they act otherwise, to a region of horrour. 236. 6 LET not a man be proud of his rigorous devotion; let him not, having sacrificed, utter a falsehood; let him not, though injured, insult a priest; having made a donation, let him never proclaim it: 237. By falsehood, the sacrifice becomes vain; by pride, the merit of devotion is lost; by insulting ' priests, life is diminished; and by proclaiming a largess, its fruit is destroyed. CHAP. IV. 238. GIVING no pain to any creature, let him col'lect virtue by degrees, for the sake of acquiring a companion to the next world, as the white ant by degrees builds his nest; 239. For, in his passage to the next world, neither his father, nor his mother, nor his wife, nor his son, nor his kinsmen, will remain in his company his virtue alone will adhere to him. 240. 6 Single is each man born; single he dies; sin'gle he receives the reward of his good, and single 'the punishment of his evil, deeds: 241. When he leaves his corse, like a log or a lump of clay, on the ground, his kindred retire with ' averted faces; but his virtue accompanies his soul. 242. Continually, therefore, by degrees, let him 'collect virtue, for the sake of securing an insepara'ble companion; since with virtue for his guide, he 'will traverse a gloom, how hard to be traversed! 6 243. A man, habitually virtuous, whose offences have been expiated by devotion, is instantly con'veyed after death to the higher world, with a radiant 'form and a body of ethereal substance. 6 244. Hɛ, who seeks to preserve an exalted rank, must constantly form connexions with the highest and best families, but avoid the worst and the ' meanest ; 245. Since a priest, who connects himself with the • best |
