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'poreal frame, their formation again in the womb, and CHAP. the glidings of this vital spirit through ten thousand 'millions of uterine passages;

64. On the misery attached to embodied spirits from a violation of their duties, and the unperishable bliss attached to them from their abundant performance of all duties, religious and civil.

65.

Let him reflect also, with exclusive application

of mind, on the subtil, indivisable essence of the Supreme Spirit, and its complete existence in all beings, whether extremely high or extremely low.

66. Equal-minded towards all creatures, in what < order soever he may have been placed, let him fully discharge his duty, though he bear not the visible marks of his order: the visible mark, or mere name, ' of his order, is by no means an effective discharge of his duty;

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67.. As, although the fruit of the tree cataca purify water, yet a man cannot purify water by merely pronouncing the name of that fruit: he must throw it, when pounded, into the jar.

68. For the sake of preserving minute animals by night and by day, let him walk, though with pain 'to his own body, perpetually looking on the ground. 69. Let a Sannyásí, by way of expiation for the ' death of those creatures, which he may have de

stroyed unknowingly by day or by night, make six suppressions of his breath, having duly bathed:

70. Even

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70. Even three suppressions of breath, made according to the divine rule, accompanied with the 'triverbal phrase (bhur bhuvah swah) and the triliteral syllable (óm), may be considered as the highest devotion of a Bráhmen;

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71. For as the dross and impurities of metallick ores are consumed by fire, thus are the sinful acts ' of the human organs consumed by suppressions of the breath, while the mystick words, and the measures of the gayatrì are revolved in the mind.

72. Let him thus, by such suppressions of breath, 'burn away his offences; by reflecting intensely on the steps of ascent to beatitude, let him destroy sin; by coercing his members, let him restrain all sensual attachments; by meditating on the intimate union of his own soul and the divine essence, let him extinguish all qualities repugnant to the na6 ture of GOD.

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73. Let him observe, with extreme application of mind, the progress of this internal spirit through ' various bodies, high and low; a progress hard to 'be discerned by men with unimproved intellects.

74. He, who fully understands the perpetual omnipresence of GOD, can be led no more captive by 'criminal acts; but he, who possesses not that sublime knowledge, knowledge, shall wander again through the

' world.

75. By injuring nothing animated, by subduing all • sensual

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'sensual habits, by devout rites ordained in the Véda, CHAP. and by rigorous mortifications, men obtain, even in 'this life, the state of beatitude.

76. A mansion with bones for its rafters and beams; with nerves and tendons, for cords; with 'muscles and blood, for mortar; with skin, for its ' outward covering; filled with no sweet perfume, but loaded with feces and urine;

77. A mansion infested by age and by sorrow, 'the seat of malady, harassed with pains, haunted ' with the quality of darkness, and incapable of standing long; such a mansion of the vital soul let its occupier always cheerfully quit:

78. As a tree leaves the bank of a river, when it

falls in, or as a bird leaves the branch of a tree at

his pleasure, thus he, who leaves his body by neces

sity or by legal choice, is delivered from the raven

ing shark, or crocodile, of the world.

79. Letting his good acts descend (by the law of 'the Veda,) to those, who love him, and his evil

deeds, to those, who hate him, he may attain, through devout meditation, the eternal spirit.

80. When, having well considered the nature and consequence of sin, he becomes averse from all sensual delights, he then attains bliss in this world; bliss, which shall endure after death.

81. Thus having gradually abandoned all earthly attachments, and indifferent to all pairs of opposite

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things, as honour and dishonour, and the like, he ' remains absorbed in the divine essence.

82.

All, that has now been declared, is obtained by pious meditation; but no man, who is ignorant of the Supreme Spirit, can gather the fruit of mere 'ceremonial acts.

83. Let him constantly study that part of the Veda, which relates to sacrifice; that, which treats ' of subordinate deities; that, which reveals the nature of the Supreme GOD; and whatever is declared in the Upanishads.

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84. This holy scripture is a sure refuge even for those, who understand not its meaning, and of course for those, who understand it; this Véda is a sure resource for those, who seek bliss above; this is a sure resource for those, who seek bliss eternal.

85.' That Bráhmen, who becomes a Sannyásí by this discipline, announced in due order, shakes off sin ' here below, and reaches the Most High.

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86. THIS general law has been revealed to you for anchorites with subdued minds: now learn the particular discipline of those who become recluses according to the Véda, that is, of anchorites in the first of the four degrees.

87. The student, the married man, the hermit, and the anchorite, are the offspring, though in four ' orders, of married men keeping house;

88. And all, or even any, of those orders, assumed

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' in their turn, according to the sacred ordinances, CHAP. lead the Brahmen, who acts by the preceding rules, to the highest mansion:

89. But of all those, the house-keeper, observing the regulations of the Sruti and Smriti, may be called the chief; since he supports the three other ' orders.

90. As all rivers, female and male, run to their ' determined place in the sea, thus men of all other ' orders, repair to their fixed place in the mansion of 'the house-keeper.

91. By Bráhmens, placed in these four orders, a ten-fold system of duties must ever be sedulously ' practised:

92. Content, returning good for evil, resistance to 'sensual appetites, abstinence from illicit gain, purification, coercion of the organs, knowledge of scripture, knowledge of the Supreme Spirit, veracity, and freedom from wrath, form their tenfold system ' of duties.

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Such Bráhmens, as attentively read the ten from bots of duty, and after reading, carefully pracpasses em, attain the most exalted condition.

I command, this ten-fold system of duty, having heard 'the Upanishads explained, as the law directs, and 'who has discharged his three debts, may become an anchorite,

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