Chapter 3: On Marriage; or on the Second Order

1. The discipline of a student in the three V/das may be continued for thirty-six years, in the house of his preceptor; or for half that time, or for a quarter of it, or until he perfectly comprehends them :

2. student, whose rules have not been violated, may assume the order of a married man, after he has read in succession a sdchd , 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 Veda , let him sit on an elegant bed, decked with a garland of flowers ; and let his father honor him, before his nuptials, with a present of a cow.

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.

5. ‘ She, who is not descended from his paternal or maternal ancestors within the sixth degree, and who is not known by her family name to be of the same 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 studiously avoid the ten following families, be they ever so great, or ever so rich in kinc, 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 V t'da has not been read ; that, which has thick hair on .the body ; ^id those, which have been subject to hemorrhoids, to phthisis, to dyspepsia, to epilepsy, to leprosy, and to elephantiasis.

8. 1 Let him not marry a girl with roddish hair, nor with any deformed limb ; nor one troubled with habitual sickness ; nor one ON THE SECOND ORDER. either with no hair or with too much ; nor one immoderately talkative ; nor one with inflamed eyes ;

9. 1 Nor one with the name of a constellation, 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 terror.

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

11. ‘Hcr; who has no brother, or whose father i<? not well known, let no sensible man espouse, through fear left, in Ihc former case , her father should take her first son as his own to perform his. obsequies; or, in the second case, lest an illicit marriage should be contracted. 1 2. ‘ Lor the first marriage of the twice born classes a woman of the same class is recommended ; but for such, as arc impelled by inclination to marry again, women in the direct order of the classes are to be preferred :

13. ‘A Sudra woman only must be the wife of a Sudra ; she and a Vaisya, of a Vaisya ; they two and a Cshatriya, of a Cshatriya ; those two and a Brdhmanl of a Brdhmcn.

14. * A woman of the servile class is not mentioned, even in the recital of any ancient story, as the first wife of a Brdhmcn or of a Cshatriya , though in the greatest difficulty to find a suitable match.

15. ‘Men of the twice born classes, who, through weakness of intellect, irregularly marry women of the lowest class, very soon degrade their families and progeny to the state of Siulras : i£L ‘According to Atri and to (Go'tama) the son of Utat’h\a, he, who thus marries a woman of the servile class, if he be a priest, is degraded instantly ^ according to Saunaca, on the birth of a son, if he be a warrior ; and. if he be a merchant, on the birth of a son’s son, according to (me) Bhrigu.

17. ‘A Brdhmen , if he takes a Siidrd to his bed, as his first ON MARRIAGE ; OR wife , sinks to the regions of torment ; if he beget a child by her, he loses even his priestly rank : 1 8. ‘His sacrifices to the Gods, his oblations to the Manes, ' and his hospitable attentions to strangers, must be supplied principally by her ; but the Gods and Manes will not eat such offerings ; nor can heaven be attained by such hospitality.

19. ‘ For the crime of him, who thus illegally drinks the moisture of a Sudrd's lips, who is tainted by her breath, and who even begets a child on her body, the law declares no expiation.

20. ‘ Now learn compendiously the eight forms of the nuptial ceremony used by the four classes, some good and some bad in this world an/;l in the next :

21. ‘The ceremony of Brahma', of the Dcvas , of the Rtshis , of the Prajdpatis , of the Asuras , of the Gandharvas , and of the Rdcshasas ; the eighth and basest is that of the Pisdchas.

22. ‘ Which of them is permitted by law to each class, and what arc the good and bad’ properties of each ceremony, all this I will fully declare to you, together with the qualities, good and bad, of the offspring. ,

23. ‘ Let mankind know, that the six first in direct order are by some held valid in the case of a priest ; the four last in that of a warrior ; and the same four, except the Rdcshasa marriage, in the cases of a merchant and a man of the servile class :

24. ‘ Some consider the four first only as approved in the case of a priest ; one, that of Rdcshasas , as peculiar to a soldier ; and, that of A suras , to a mercantile and a servile man :

25. ‘ But in this code, three of the five last are held legal, and two illegal : the ceremonies of Pisdchas and Asuras must never be performed.

26. ‘ For a military man the beforementioned marriages of Gandharvas and Rdcshasas , whether separate, or mixed, as phen a girl is made captive by her lover, after a victory over her kinsmen, are permitted by law.

27. ‘The gift of a^ daughter, clothed onlytwith a single robe, to a man learned in Vdda, -whom her father voluntarily invites and respectfully receives, is the nuptial rite called Brdhma, ON THE SECOND ORDER. 4 728. ‘ The rite, which sages call Daiva> is the gift of a daughter, whom her father has decked in gay attire, when the sacrifice is already begun, to the officiating priest, who performs that act of religion.

29. ‘ When the father gives his daughter away, after having received from the bridegroom one pair of kine, or two pairs, for uses prescribed by law, that marriage is termed A'rsha .

30. ‘ The nuptial rite called Prdjdpatya is, when the father gives away his daughter with due honor, saying distinctly : “ May both of you perform together your civil and religious duties 1”

31. ‘ When the bridegroom, having given as much wealth as he can afford to the father and paternal kinsmen, and to the damsel herself, takes* her voluntarily as his bride, that marriage is named A sura.

32. ‘The reciprocal connection of a youth and a damsel, with mutual desire, is the marriage denominated Gdndharva , contracted for the purpose of amorous embraces, and proceeding from sensual inclination.

33. ‘ The seizure of a maiden by force from her house, while she weeps and calls for assistance, after her kinsmen and friends have been slain in battle, or wounded, and their houses broken open, is the marriage styled Kdcshasa.

34. ‘When the lover secretly embraces the damsel, either sleeping or flushed with strong liquor, or disordered in her intellect, that sinful marriage, called Paisdcha, is the eighth and the basest.

35. ‘ The gift of daughters in marriage by the sacerdotal class is most approved, when they previously have poured water into the hands of the bridegroom ; but the ceremonies of the other classes may be performed according to their several fancies.

36. ‘ Among these nuptial rites, what quality is ascribed by Memju to each, hear now, yc Brdhmens , hear it all from me, who fully decla^ it !

37. ‘ The son of a BrdAmi, or wife by the first ceremony, redeems from sin, if he perform virtuous acts, ancestors, ten descendants, and himself the twenty-first person.

38. ‘ A son, born of a wife by the Daiva nuptials, redeems ON MARRIAGE ; OR seven and seven in higher and lower degrees ; of a wife by the A ' rslia , three and three ; of a wife by the Prajdpatyay six and six.

39. 4 By four marriages, the Brdhma and so forth, in direct order, are born sons illumined by Veda, learned men, beloved by the learned.

40. ‘ Adorned with beauty, and with the quality of goodnes£, wealthy, famed, amply gratified with lawful enjoyments, performing all duties, and living a hundred years :

41. ‘ But in the other four base marriages, which remain, are produced sons acting cruelly, speaking falsely, abhorring the Vc(dat and the duties prescribed in it.

42. ^From the blameless nuptial rites of men springs a blameless progeny ; from the reprehensible a reprehensible offspring : let mankind, therefore, studiusly avoid the culpable forms of marriage.

43. ‘The ceremony of joining hands is appointed for those, who marry women of their own class ; but, with women of a different class, the following nuptial ceremonies are to be observed :

44. ‘ By a Cshatriyd , on her marriage with a Brahmen , an arrow must be held in her hand ; by a Vaisyd woman, with a bridegroom of the sacerdotal or military class , a whip ; and by a Sudrd bride, marrying a priest , a soldier , or a merchant , must be held the skirt of a mantle.

45. ‘ Let the husband approach his wife in due season, that is , at the time fit for pregnancy ; let him be constantly satisfied with her alone ; but, except on the forbidden days of the moon, he may approach her, being affectionately disposed, even out of due season , with a desire of conjugal intercourse.

46. ‘ Sixteen days and nights in each month, with four distinct days neglected by the virtuous, are called the natural season of women :

47. ‘ Of those sixteen, the four first, the eleventh, and the thirteenth, are reprehended : the ten remaining nights approval.

48. ‘ Some say, that on the even nights arc conccivcd^/sons ; on the odd nights, daughters : therefore let the man, who wishes for a son, approach his wife in due season on the even nights.

49. ‘ But a boy is in truth produced by the greater quantity of the male strength ; and a girl, by a greater quantity of the ON THE SECOND ORDER. female ; by equality, an hermaphrodite, or a boy and a girl ; by weakness or deficiency, is occasioned a failure of conception.

50. ‘ lie, who avoids conjugal embraces on the six reprehended nights and on eight others, is equal in chastity to a Brafonachan\ in whichever of the tivo next orders he may live.

51. 4 LET no father, who knows the law, receive a gratuity, however small, for giving his daughter in marriage ; since the man, who, through avarice, takes a gratuity for that purpose , is a seller of his offspring.

52. ‘ Whatever male relations, through delusion of mind, take possession of a woman’s property, be it only her carriages or her clothes, such offenders will sink to a region of torment.

0.

53. ‘Some say; that the bull and cow in the nuptial ceremony of the Rtshis , arc a bribe to the father pbut this is untrue : a bribe indeed , whether large or small, is an actual sale of the daughter.

54. ‘ When money or goods arc given to damsels, whose kinsmen receive them not for their own use, it is no sale : it is merely a token of courtesy and affection to the brides.

55. ‘Married women must be honored and adorned by their fathers and brethren, by their husbands, and by the brethren of their husbands, if they seek abundant prosperity :

56. ‘ where females are honored, there the deities arc pleased ; but wherg they arc dishonored, there all religious acts become fruitless.

57. ‘ Where female relations are made miserable, the family of him, who makes them so, very soon wholly perishes ; but, where they are not unhappy, the family always increases.

58. ‘On whatever houses the women of a family, not being duly honored, pronounce an imprecation, those houses, with all that belong to them, utterly perish, as if destroyed by a sacrifice for thAjlcath of an enemy.

59. ‘Let those women, therefore, be continually supplied with ornaments, apparel, and food, at 'festivals and at jubilees, by men desirous of wealth. •

60. ‘ In whatever family the husband is contented with his 5o ON MARRIAGE ; OR wife, and the wife with her husband, In that house will fortune be assuredly permanent. ,

61. ‘Certainly, if the wife be not elegantly attired, she will not exhilarate her husband, and, if her lord want hilarity, offspring will not be produced.

62. ‘ A wife being gaily adorned, her whole house is embellished ; but, if she be destitute of ornament, all will be deprived of decoration.

63. 4 By culpable marriages, by omission of prescribed ceremonies, by neglect of reading the Vcda> and by irreverence toward a Brdkmeti , great families are sunk to a low state :

64. “ So they arc by practising manual arts, by lending at interest and other pecuniary transactions, by begetting children on Sudras only, by traffic in kine, horses, and carriages, by agriculture, and by attendance on a king.

65. * By sacrificing for such, as have no right to sacrifice, and by denying a future compensation for good works, great families, being deprived of sacred knowledge, are quickly destroyed ;

66. ‘But families, enriched by a knowledge of the Vida, though possessing little temporal wealth, arc numbered among the great, and acquire exalted fame.

67. ‘ LET the house-keeper perform domestic religious rites, with the nuptial fire, according to law, and the ceremonies of the five great sacraments, and the several acts, which must day by day be performed.

68. ‘ A house-keeper has five places of slaughter, or where small living creatures may be slainy his kitchen-hearth, his grindstone, his broom, his pestle and mortar, his water-p.ot ; by using which, he becomes in bondage to sin :

69. 1 For the sake of expiating offences committed ignorantly in those places mentioned in order, the five great sacraments were appointed by. eminent sages to be performed each day by puch as keep house.

70. ‘Teaching and studying the scripture is the sacrament ©f the Vida ; offering cakes* and water, the sacrament of the Manes ; an oblation to fire, the sacrament of the Deities ; giving rice or other ON THE SECOND ORDER. 5i food to living creatures, the sacrament of spirits ; receiving guests with honor, the sacrament of men : 7 1- ‘ Whoever omits not those five great ceremonies, if he has ability to perform them , is untainted by the sins of the five slaughtering places, even though he constantly resides at home ;

72. 4 But whoever cherishes not five orders of beings, namely , the deities ; those, who demand hospitality ; those, whom he ought by law to maintain ; his departed fore-fathers ; and himsclF ; that man lives not, even though he breathe. 73- ‘Some call the five sacraments ahuta and Huta> prahuta , brdhmyahuta , and prdsita :

74. * A/iuta, or unoffered, is divine study; hnta , orv offered, is the oblation to fire; prahuta , or well offered, is the food given to spirits ; brdhmya-huta is respect shewn to twice born guests ; and prdsitay or well eaten, is the offering of rice or water to the manes of ancestors. 7 5* ‘Let every man in this second order employ himself daily in reading the scripture, and in performing the sacrament of the Gods ; for, being employed in the sacrament of deities, he supports this whole animal and vegetable world ;

76. 4 Since his oblation of clarified butter, duly cast into the flame, ascend in smoke to the sun ; from the sun it falls in rain ; from rain comes vegetable food ; and from such food animals derive their subsistence.

77. 4 As all creatures subsist by receiving support from air, thus all orders of men exist by receiving support from housekeepers ;

78. 4 And, since men of the thrice other orders are each day nourished by them with divine learning and with food, a housekeeper is for this reason of the most eminent order : 7<X ‘That order, therefore, must be constantly sustained with grqat care by the man, who seeks unpcrishable bliss in heaven, and in this world pleasurable sensations ; an order, which cannot be sustained by men with uncontrolled organs.

80. 4 The divine sages, the manes, the gods, the spirits, and guests, pray for benefits to masters of families ; let these honors, ON MARRIAGE ; OR 5* therefore, be done to them by the house-keeper, who knows his duty : 8 1. ‘Let him honor the sages by studying the VMa ; the gods, by oblations to fire ordained by law ; the manes, by pious obsequies ; men, by supplying them with food ; and spirits, by gifts to all animated creatures.

82. ‘ Each day let him perform a srdddha with boiled rice and the like, or with water, or with milk, roots, and fruit ; for thus he obtains favor from departed progenitors.

83. ‘ He may cn tertain one Brdhmcn in that sacrament among the five, which is performed for the Pitrts ; but, at the oblation to all the Gods, let him not invite even a single priest.

84. ‘ In his do mestic fire for dressing the food of all the Gods, after the prescribed ceremony, let a Brdhmcn make an oblation each day to these following divinities ;

85. 1 First to Agni, god of fire, and to the Lunar God, severally ; then, to both of them at once ; next, to the assembled Gods ; and afterward, to Diianwantari God of Medicine ;

86. ‘ To CUHU', goddess of the day, when the new moon is discernible ; to ANUMATI, goddess of the day after the opposition ; to PrajaTati, or the lord of Creatures ; to DyaVa' and PRITIUVI, goddesses of sky and earth ; and lastly, to the fire of the good sacrincc.

87. ‘ Having thus, with fixed attention, offered clarified butter in all quarters, proceeding from the cast in a southern direction, to Indra, Yama, Varuna, and the god So'ma, let him offer his gift to animated creatures :

88. ‘ Saying , “ I salute the Maruts ,” or Winds , let him throw dressed rice near the door ; saying, “ I salute the water gods,” in water ; and on his pestle and mortar, Saying , “ I salute the gods of large trees.”

89. ‘ Let him do the like in the 7iorth east , or near his pillow, to Sri', the goddess of abundance ; in the south west , or at the foot of his bed, to the propitious* goddess BllADRAO'Ll' ; in the centre of his mansion, to BRAHMA' arid his household God ;

00. 1 To all the gods assembled, let him throw up his oblation ON THE SECOND ORDER. in open air ; by day to the spirits, who walk in light ; and by night to those, who walk in darkness :

91. ‘ In the building on his housetop, or behind his back , let him cast his oblation for the welfare of all creatures ; and what remains let him give to the Pitrts with his face toward the south :

92. ‘The share of dogs, of outcasts, of dogfeeders, of sinful men punished with elephantiasis or consumption, of crows, and of reptiles, let him drop on the ground by little and little.

93. * A Brdhmen , who thus each day shall honor all beings, will go to the highest region in a straight path, with an irradiated form.

94. ‘ When he has performed this d uty of making oblations, let him cause his guest to take food before himself; and let him give a portion of rice, as the law ordains, to the mendicant, who studies the Veda.

95. ‘ Whatever fruit shall be obtained by that student, as the reward of his virtue, when he shall have given a cow to his preceptor, according to law, the like reward of virtue shall be obtained by the twice-born house-keeper, when he has given a mouthful of rice to the religious mendicant.

96. ‘ To a Brdhmen , who knows the true principle of the Veda , let him present a portion of rice, or a pot of water granished with fruit and flowers, due ceremonies having preceded :

97. ‘ Shares of oblations to the Gods, or to the manes, utterly perish, when presented, through delusion of mind, by men regardless of duty, to such ignorant Brahmens , as arc mere ashes ;

98. ‘ But an offering in the Are of a sacerdotal mouth, which richly blazes with true knowledge and piety, will release the giver from distress, and even from deadly sin.

99. ‘To the guest, who comes of his own accord, let him offer a seat and water, with such food as he is able to prepare, aftci the d&p rites of courtesy.

100. ‘A Brdhmen , coming as a guest, and not received with just honor, takes to himself all the reward of the house-keeper’s former virtue, ^ven though he hadr been so temperate as to live on the gleanings of harvests, and so pious as to make oblations in five distinct fires. ON MARRAIGE ; OR

101. ‘Grass and earth to sit on, water to wash the feet, and, fourthly, affectionate speech are at no time deficient in the mansions of the good, although they may be indigent,

102. ‘A Brdhmen , staying but one night as a guest, is called an atit'hi; since, continuing so short a time, he is not even a sojourner for a whole tit' hi y or day of the moon,

103. ‘The house-keeper must not consider as an at if hi a mere visitor of the same town, or a Brdhmen , who attends him on business, even though he come to the house, where his wife dwells, and where his fires are kindled.

104. ‘Should any house-keepers be so senseless, as to seek, on pretence of being guests, the food of others, they would fall after death, by reason of that baseness, to the condition of cattle belonging to the giver of such food.

105. ‘ No guest must be dismissed in the evening by a housekeeper : he is sent by the retiring sun ; and, whether he comes in fit season or unseasonably, he must not sojourn in the house without etertainment.

106. ‘ Let not himself eat any delicate food* without asking his guest to partake of it : the satisfaction of a guest will assuredly bring the house-keeper wealth, reputation, long life, and a place in heaven.

107. ‘To the highest guests in the best form, to the lowest in the worst, to the equal, equally, let him offer seats, resting places, couches ; giving them proportionable attendance, when they depart ; and honor, as long as they stay.

108. ‘ Should another guest arrive, when the oblation to all the Gods is concluded, for him also let the house-keeper prepare food, according to his ability ; but let him not repeat his offerings to animated beings.

109. ‘ Let no Brdhmen guest proclaim his family and ancestry for the sake of an entertainment ; since he, who thus proclaim s them, is called by the wise a vdntdsi , or foul feeding demon. f

110. ‘A military man is not denominated a guest in the house of a Brdhmen ; nor a man ofjdie^ commercial or servile class ; nor his familiar friend ; nor his paternal kinsman ; nor his preceptor : ‘But, if a warrior come to his house in the form of a ill. ON THE SECOND ORDER. guest, let food be prepared for him, according to his desire, after fetre beforementioned Brdhmens have eaten,

112. ‘ Even to a merchant or a laborer, approaching his house in the manner of guests, let him give food, showing marks of benevolence, at the same time with his domestics :

113. ‘Toothers, as familiar friends, and the rest before named, who come with affection to his place of abode, let him serve a repast at the same time with his wife and himself having amplyprovided it according to his best means.

114. ‘ To a bride, and to a damsel, to the sick, and to pregnant women, let him give food, even before his guests, without hesitation.

115. ‘ The idiot, who first eats his own mess, without having presented food to’ the persons just enumerated, knows not, while he crams, that he will himself be food after death for bandogs .and vultures.

116. ‘After the repast of the BrdJimen guest, of his kinsmen, and his domestics, the married couple may eat what remains untouched.

117. ‘ The house-keeper, having honored spirits, holy sages, men, progenitors, and household gods, may feed on what remains after those oblations.

118. ‘ He, who eats what has been dressed for himself only, eats nothing but sin : a repast on what remains, after the sacraments, is called the banquet of the good.

119. ‘After a year from the reception of a visitor, let the house-keeper again honor a king, a sacrificer, a student returned from his preceptor, a son-in-law, a father-in-law, and a maternal uncle, with a madhupercay or present of honey, curds, and fruit.

120. ‘A king or a Brdhmen^ arriving at the celebration of the sacrament, are to be honored with a madhuperca ; but not, if the sacrament be over : this is a settled rule. \i2i. * In the evening, let the wife make an offering of the dressed food, but without pronouncing any text of the Ve'da : one oblation to the assembled gotfs, thence named Vaiswaddva, is ordained both for evening and morning.

122. ‘ From month to month, on the dark day of the moon, let ON MARRIAGE ; OR a twice-born man having finished the daily sacrament of the Pitris , and his fire being still blazing, perform the solemn srdddha. called pinddmvdhdrya :

123. ‘ Sages have distinguished the monthly srdddha by the title of anwdhdrya, or after eaten , that is, eaten after the pinda, , or ball of rice ; and it must be performed with extreme care, and with flesh meat in the best condition.

124. ‘ What Brdhmens must be entertained at that ceremony, $nd who must be accepted, how many are to be fed, and with what sort of food, on all those articles without omission, I will fully discourse.

125. ‘At the srdddha of the gods he may entertain two Brdlunens ; at that of his father, paternal grandfather, and paternal great grandfather, three ; or one only at that of the gods, and one at that for his three paternal ancestors : though he abound in wealth, let him not be solicitous to entertain a large company.

126. ‘A large company destroys these five advantages; reverence to priests, propriety of time and place, purity, and the acquisition of virtuous Brdhmens: let him not, therefore, endeavor to feed a superfluous 'number.

127. ‘This act of due honor to departed souls, on the dark day of the moon, is famed by the appellation of pitrya , or ancestral : the legal ceremony, in honor of departed spirits, rewards with continual fruit a man engaged in such obsequies.

128. ‘Oblations to the gods and to ancestors should be given to a most reverend Brahmen , perfectly conversant with the Veda ; since what is given to him produces the greatest reward.

129. ‘ By entertaining one learned man at the oblation to the gods and at that to ancestors, he gains more exalted fruit, than by feeding a multitude, who know not the holy texts.

130. ‘Let him inquire into the ancestry, even in a remote degree, of a BrdJimen , who has advanced to the end of the Ve'/'a: such a man, if sprung from good men, is a fit partaker of oblations to gods and to ancestors ; such a man may justly be called an at it' hi, or guest. .. ' t

131. ‘Surely, though a ‘million of men, unlearned in holy texts, were to receive food, yet a single man, learned in scripture, ON THE SECOND ORDER. and fully satisfied with his entertainment, would be of more value tfcan all of them together.

132. 4 Food, consecrated to the gods and the manes, must be presented to a theologian of eminent learning ; for certainly, when hands arc smeared with blood, they cannot be cleaned with blood only, nor can sin be removed by the company of sinners .

133. ‘As many mouthfuls as an unlearned man shall swallow at an oblation to the gods and to ancestors, so many redhot iron balls must the giver of the srdddha swallow in the next world.

134. ‘ Some Brdhmens arc intent on scriptural knowledge ; others, on austere devotion ; some are intent both on religious austerity and on the study of the Veda ; others, on the performance of sacred rites :

133. ‘Oblations to the manes of ancestors ought to be placed with care before such as are intent on sacred learning : but offerings to the gods may be presented, with due ceremonies, to Brdhmens of all the four descriptions.

136. ‘There may be a Brahmen , whose father had not studied the scripture, though the son has advanced to the end of the Veda ; or there may be one, whose son has not read the Veda, though the father had travelled to the end of it :

137. ‘Of those two let mankind consider him as the superior, whose father had studied the scripture ; yet, for the sake of performing rites with holy texts, the other is worthy of honor.

138. ‘ Let no man, at the prescribed obsequies, give food to an intimate friend ; since advantage to a friend must be procured by gifts of different property : to that Brdhmen let the performer of a srdddha give food, whom he considers neither as a friend nor as a foe.

139. ‘For him, whose obsequies and offerings of clarified butter are provided chiefly through friendship, no fruit is reserved in tne next life, on account either of his obsequies or of his offerings.

140. ‘ The man, who, thr6ugh delusion of intellect, forms temporal connecfions by obsequies/ is* excluded from heavenly mansions, as a gitfer of the srdddha for the sake of friendship, and the meanest of twice-born men : ON MARRIAGE • OR

141. ‘ Such a convivial present, by men of the three highest classes, is called the gift of Pisdchas , and remains fixed hr.c below, like a blind cow in one stall.

142. ‘ As a husbandman, having sown seed in a barren soil, reaps no grain, thus a performer of holy rites, having given clarified butter to an unlearned Brdhmen, attains no reward in heaven ;

143. * Rut a present made, as the law ordains, to a learned theologian, renders both the giver and the receiver partakers of good fruits in this world and in the next.

144. ‘ If no learned Brdhmen be at hand, he may at his pleasure invite a friend to the srdddha , but not a foe, be he ever so learned ; since the oblation, being eaten by a foe, loses all fruit in the life to come.

145. ‘With great care let him give food at the srdddha to a priest, who has gone through the scripture, but has chiefly studied the Rigvcda ; to one, who has read all the branches, but principally those of the Yajush ; or ♦to one, who has finished the whole, with particular attention to the Sdman :

146. ‘Of that man, whose oblation has been eaten, after due honors, by any one of those three Brahmens , the ancestors are constantly satisfied as high as the seventh person, or to the sixth degree.

147. ‘This is the chief rule in offering the srdddha to the gods and to ancestors ; but the following may be considered subsidiary rule, where no such learned priests can be found , and is as ever observed by good men :

148. ‘Let him entertain his maternal grandfather, his maternal uncle, the son of his sister, the father of his wife, his spiritual guide, the son of his daughter, or her husband, his maternal cousin, his officiating priest, or the performer of his sacrifice.

149. ‘ For an oblation to the gods, let not the man, 4vho knows what is law, scrupulously inquire into the parentage of a Brdhmen / but for a prepared oblation to ancestors, let him examine it with strict care... N .

150. ‘ Those Brdhmen s, who have committed any inferior theft or any of the higher crimes, who are deprived . of virility, ON THE SECOND ORDER. or who profess a disbelief in a future state, Menu has pronounced unworthy of honor at a srdddha to the gods or to ancestors.

151. ‘ To a student in theology, who has not read the Veda , to a man punished for past crimes by being born without a prepuce, to a gamester, and to such, as perform many sacrifices for other men, let him never give food at the sacred obsequies.

152. 4 Physicians, imageworshippers for gain, sellers of meat, and such as live by low traffic, must be shunned in oblations both to the deities and to progenitors.

153. ‘ A public servant of the whole town, or of the prince, a man with whitlows on his nails, or with black yellow teeth, an opposcr of his preceptor, a deserter of the »acred fire, and an usurer, #

154. ‘A phthisical man, a feeder of cattle, one omitting the five great sacraments, a contemner of lh’dkmensy a youn^r brother married before the elder, an elder brother not married before the younger, and a man, who subsists by the wealth of many relations,

155. ‘A dancer, one who has violated the rule of chastity in the first or fourth order, the husband of df Sudra, the son of a twice-married woman, a man who has lost one eye, and a husband in whose house an adulterer dwells,

156. ‘ One who teaches the Veda for wages, and one who gives wages to such a teacher, the pupil of a Sudra , and the Sudra preceptor, a rude speaker, and the son of an adulteress, born cither before or after the death of the husband,

157. * A forsaker, without just cause, of his mother, father, or preceptor, and, a man who forms a connection, cither by scriptural or connubial affinity, with great sinners,

158. ‘A houseburner, a giver of poison, an eater of food offered by the son of an adulteress, a seller of the moonplant, a spXies of mountain rue , a navigator of the ocean, a poetical encomiast, an oilman, and a suborner of perjury,

159. ‘ A wrangler with his father, an employer of gamesters for his own benefit, a drinker of intoxicating spirits, a man punished for sin with elephantiasis, one of evil repute, a cheat, and a seller of liquids, 6o ON MARRIAGE ; OR

160. ‘A maker of bows and arrows, the husband of a younger sister married before the elder of the whole bloody an injurer of his friend, the keeper of a gaminghouse, and a father instructfecl in the Vtfda by his own son, j6i. 4 An epileptic person, one who has the erysipelas or the leprosy, a common informer, a lunatic, a blind man,. and a despiscr of scripture, must all be shunned.

162. 4 A tamer of elephants, bulls, horses, or camels, a man who subsists by astrology, a keeper of birds, and one who teaches the use of arms,

163. ‘ He, who diverts watercourses, and he, who is gratified by obstructing them, he, who builds houses for gain, a messenger, and a planter of trees for pay ,

164. 4 A breeder of sporting dogs, a falconer, a seducer of d'vnscls, a man delighting in mischief, a Brdhmcn living as a Sudra , a sacrificer to the inferior gods only,

165. 4 He, who observes not approved customs, and he, who regards not prescribed duties, a constant importunate asker of favors, he, who supports himself by tillage, a clubfooted man, and one despised by the'virtuous,

166. *A shephered, a keeper of buffalos, the husband of a twice-married woman, and the remover of dead bodies for payt arc to be avoided with great care.

167. ‘Those lowest of Brahmens , whose manners are contemptible, who are not admissible into company at a repast, an exalted and learned priest must avoid at both srdddhas.

168. ‘A Brdhmen, unlearned in holy writ, is extinguished in an instant, like a 'fire of dry grass : to him the oblation must not be given ; for the clarified butter must not be poured on ashes.

169. * WHAT retribution is prepared in the next life for the giver of food to men inadmissible into company, at the srddfha to the gods and to ancestors, I will now declare without omission.

170. * On that food which has, been given to Brdhmensy who have violated the rules of their erder, to the younger brother married before the elder, and to the rest, who are not admissible into company, the Rdcshases eagerly feast, ON THE SECOND ORDER. 6i

171. c He, who makes a marriage contract with the connubial fire, while his elder brother continues unmarried, is called a Perivtttri ; and the elder brother, a Perivitti:

172. ‘ The perivtttrf, the perivitti , the damsel thus wedded, the giver of her in wedlock, and, fifthly, the performer of the nuptial sacrifice, all sink to a region of torment

173. * He, who lasciviously dallies with the widow of his deceased brother, though she be legally married to him, is denominated the husband of a didhisku ,

174. ‘Two sons, named a cunda and a. gMaca, are born in adultery ; the cunda , while the husband is alive, and the golaca , when the husband is dead : •

175. ‘Those animals begotten by adulterers, destroy, both in this world and in the next, the food presented to them by such, as make oblations to the gods or to the manes.

176. ‘ The foolish giver of a srdddha loses, in a future life, the fruit of as many admissible guests, as a thief or the like person, inadmissible into company, might be able to see.

177. 1 A blind man, placed where one with «eyes might have seen, destroys the reward of ninety ; he, who has lost one eye, of sixty ; a leper, of a hundred ; one punished with elephantiasis, of a thousand.

178. ‘ Of the gift at a srdddha to as many Brdhmcns, as a sacrifice? for a Sudra might be able to touch on the body, the fruit is lost to the giver, if he invite such a wretch ;

179. ‘ And if a Brdhtnen , who knows the Vcfda> receive through covetousness a present from such a sacrificer, he speedily sinks to perdition, like a figure of unburnt clay in water.

180. ‘Food, given to a seller of the moonplant, becomes ordure in another world ; to a physician, purulent blood ; and the givcr\vill be a reptile bred in them : if offered to an imageworshipper, it is thrown away ; if to an usurer, infamous.

181. ‘ That, which is given ta a trader, endures neither in this life nor in the n^xt, and that bestdwed on a Brdhtnen , who has married a widow, resembles clarified butter poured on ashes as an oblation to fire. ON MARRIAGE ; OR

182. ‘That food, which is given to other base inadmissible men beforementioncd, the wife has pronounced to be no more than animal oil, blood, flesh, skin, and bones/

183. ‘Now learn comprehensively, by what Brdhmens a company may be purified, when it has been defiled by inadmissible persons ; Brdhmens , the chief of their class, the purifiers of every assembly.

184. ‘ Those priests must be considered as the purifiers of a company, who are most learned in all the Vedas and all their Angus, together with their 'descendants, who have read the whole scripture :

185. 4 ‘A priest learned in a principal part of the Yajnrvdda ; * one, who keeps the five fires constantly burning ; one skilled in a principal part of the Rfgveda ; one, who explains the six V eddngas ; the son of a Brdhmi , or woman married by the Brahma ceremony ; and one, who chants the principal Sdman ;

186. ‘One, who propounds the sense of the Vedas , which he learnt from his preceptor, a student, who has given a thousand cows for pious uses , and a Brdhmcn a hundred years old, must all be considered as the purifiers of a party at a srdddha.

187. ‘On the day before the sacred obsequies, or on the very day when they arc prepared, let the performer of them invite, with due honor, such Brdhmens as have been mentioned ; usually one superior, who has three inferior to him.

188. ‘ The Brdhmcn , who has been invited to a srdddha for departed ancestors, must be continually abstemious ; he must not even read the Vedas ; and he, who performs the ceremony, must act in the same manner.

189. ‘ Departed ancestors, no doubt, arc attendant on such invited Brdhmens ; hovering around them like pure spirits, and sitting by them, when they arc seated.

190. ‘ The priest, who having been duly invited to a srdddha, breaks the appointment, commits a grievous offence, and, in his next birth, becomes a hog.

191. ‘ He, who caresses a Sudra woman, after he has been invited to sacred obsequies,. takes on himself all the sin, that has been committed by the giver of the repast. ON THE SECOND ORDER.

192. ‘ The Pitris , or great progenitors , arc free from wrath, iiHent on purity, ever exempt from sensual passions, endued with exalted qualities : they are primeval divinities, who have laid arms aside.

193. * Hear now completely, from whom they sprang ; who they arc ; by whom, and by what ceremonies, they are to be honored.

194. ‘The sons of Mari'ctii and of all the other Rishis, who were the offspring of Memu, son of Brahma', are called the companies of Pitris , or forefathers .

195. ‘ The Soma sails, who sprang from Vira'j, are declared to be the ancestors of the Sddhyas; and the Agnishiodttas , who are famed amdng created beings as the children of Mari'cili, to be the progenitors of the Dcvas .

196. ‘ Of the Baity as, the Ddnavas , the Vacs has, the Candharvas, the Uragas, or Serpents , the lutes bases, the Gam das, and the Cinnaras, the ancestors arc Barhishads, descended from Atrt ;

197. ‘ Of Brdhmens, those named SSmapas; of Cshatriyas , the ITavishmats; of* Vaisyas, those called A'jyapas; of Sudras, the Su calms :

198. ‘The Sdmapas descended from Me, Bfirigu ; the Havishmats , from Anglras ; the A'jyapas, from PuLASTYA ; the A tied l ins' f rom V as is 1 1 t’ i i a.

199. ‘ Those who are, and those who are not, consumable by fire, called Agnidagdhas, and Anagnidagdhas, the Cdvyas , the Barhishads, the Agnishivdttas , and the Saumyas, let mankind consider as the chief progenitors of Brdhmens .

200. ‘Of those just enumerated, who arc generally reputed the principal tribes of Pitris, the sons and grandsons indefinitely, are al^o in this world considered as great progenitors. 20 r. ‘ From the Rishis come the Pitris , or patriarchs ; from the Pitris, both Divas and Ddnavas ; from the Dcvas, this whole world of animals and vegetables, in* due order. • ' •

202. ‘Mere water, offered with faith to the progenitors of men, in vessels of silver, or adorned with silver, proves the source of incorruption. ON MARRIAGE; OR

203. * An oblation by Brdhmens to their ancestors transcend an oblation to the deities ; because that to the deities is consider; e< as the opening and completion of that to ancestors.

204. * As a preservative of the oblation to the patriarchs, le the house-keeper begin with an offering to the gods ; for th< Rdcshases , rend in pieces an oblation which has no such preservative

205. * Let an offering to the gods be made at the beginning and end of the srdddha : it must not begin and end with ai offering to ancestors ; for he, who begins and ends it with ai oblation to the Pitris , quickly perishes with his progeny.

206. ‘ Let the Brdhmen smear with cowdung a purified anc sequestered piece of ground ; and let him with great care sclec a place with a declivity toward the south :

207. ‘ The divine manes are always pleased with an oblatior in empty glades, naturally clean, on the banks of rivers, and ir solitary spots.

208. ‘ Having duly made an ablution with water, let hiir place the invited Brdhmens , who have also performed theii ablutions, one by one, on allotted seats purified with cusa-grass.

209. ‘ When he *has placed them with reverence on theii scats, let him honor them (having first honored the gods) witf fragrant garlands and sweet odors.

210. * Having brought water for them with cusa-g rass and tila let the Brdhmen , with the Brdhmens , pour the oblation, as the law directs, on the holy fire.

211. i First, as it is ordained, having satisfied Agni, So'ma Yama, with clarified butter, let him proceed to satisfy the manes of his progenitors.

212. * If he has no consecrated fire, if he he yet unmarried, or his zvife be just deceased , let him drop the oblation into the hand of a Brdhmen ; since, what fire is, even such is a Brdhmen ; as priests, who know the Vdda declare :

213. ‘ Holy sages call the chief of the twice-born the gods of obsequies, free from wrath, with placid assets, of a primeval race, employed in the advancement of human creatures. ON THE SECOND ORDER. 65 thrown into the fire all the ingredients of his oblation, let him sprinkle water on the ground with his right hand.

215. ‘From the remainder of the clarified butter having formed three balls of rice, let him offer them, with fixed attention, in the same manner as the water, his face being turned to the south :

216. ‘ Then, having offered those balls, after due ceremonies and with an attentive mind, to the manes of his father, his paternal grandfather , and great grandfather , let him wipe the same hand with the roots of casa, which he had before used, for the sake of his paternal ancestors in the fourth , fifth , and sixth degrees , who are the partakers of the rice and clarified butter thus wiped off.

217. * Having made an ablution, returning toward the north, and thrice suppressing his breath slowly, let him saltftc the gods of the six seasons, and the Pitris also, being well acquainted with proper texts of the Vida,

218. ‘Whatever water remains in his ewer, let him carry back deliberately near the cakes of rice ; and, with fixed attention, let him smell those cakes, in order as they were offered :

219. * Then, taking a small portion of the cakes in order, let him first, as the law directs, cause the Brdhmens to eat of them, while they are seated.

220. ‘ If his father be alive, let him offer the srdddha to his ancestors in three higher degrees ; or let him cause his own father to eat, as a Brdhmen , at the obsequies :

221. ‘Should his father be dead, and his grandfather living, let him, in celebrating the name of his father, that is , in performing obsequies to him, , celebrate also his paternal great grandfather ;

222. ‘Either the paternal grandfather may partake of the srdddha (so has MENU declared) or the grandson, authorized by him, may perform the ceremony at his discretion.

223. ‘ Having poured water, with aisa-gr ass and tila, into theVands of the Brdhmens , let him give them the upper part of the cakes, saying, “ Swadhd to the manes !”

224. ‘ Next, having himself brought with both hands a vessel full of rice, let him, still meditating on the Pitris , place it before the Brdhmens without precipitation, ON MARRIAGE ; OR

225. * Rice taken up, but not supported with both hands, the malevolent A suras quickly rend in pieces.

226. ‘ Broths, potherbs, and other eatables accompanying the rice, together with milk and curds, clarified butter and honey, let him first place on the ground, after he has made an ablution ; and let his mind be intent on no other object :

227. ‘ Let him add spiced puddings, and milky messes of various sorts, roots of herbs and ripe fruits, savoury meats, and sweet smelling drinks.

228. ‘ Then being duly purified, and with perfect presence of mind, let him take up all the dishes one by one, and present them in order to the Brdhmens , proclaiming their qualities.

229. ‘Let him at no time drop a tear ; let him on no account be angry ; let him say nothing false ; let him not touch the -eatables with his foot ; let him not even shake the dishes :

230. ‘A tear sends the messes to restless ghosts ; anger, to foes ; falsehood, to dogs ; contact with his foot, to demons ; agitation, to sinners.

231. ‘ Whatever is agreeable to the Brdhmens , let him give without envy ; and" let him discourse on the attributes of god ; such discourse is expected by the manes.

232. ‘ At the obsequies to ancestors, he must let the Brdhmens hear passages from the Vdda, from the codes of law, from moral tales, from heroic poems, from the Purdnas , and from theological texts.

233. ‘ Himself being delighted, let him give delight to the Brdhmens , and invite them to eat of the provisions by little and, little ; attracting them often with the dressed rice and other eatables, and mentioning their good properties.

234. ‘To the son of his daughter, through a student in theology, let him carefully give food at the srdddha ; offering him a blanket from Nepal as his seat, and sprinkling the ground with ttta :

235. ‘Three things are held pure at such obsequies, the daughter’s son, the N/pdl blanket, and tila ; and three things are praised in it by the wife, cleanliness, freedom from wrath, and want of precipitate he^te. ON THE SECOND ORDER.

236. 'Let all the dressed food be very hot; and let the Brdhmens eat it in silence ; nor let them declare the qualities of the food, even though asked by the giver.

237. * As long as the messes continue warm, as long as they cat in silence, as long as the qualities of the food are not declared by them, so long the manes feast on it.

238. ‘ What a Brdhmen eats with his head covered, what he cats with his face to the south, what he eats with sandals on his feet, the demons assuredly devour.

239. * Let not a Chanddla , a townboar, a cock, a dog, a woman in her courses, or an eunuch, see the Brdhmens eating :

240. ‘ That, which any one of them sees at the oblation to fire, at a solemn donation of cows and gold, at a repast given to Brdhmens , at holy, rites to the gods, and at the obsequies to ances-* tors, produces not the intended fruit :

241. ‘ The boar destroys it by his smell ; the cock, by the air of his wings ; the dog, by the cast of a look ; the man of the lowest class, by the touch.

242. ‘ If a lame man, or a man with one eye, or a man with a limb defective or redundant, be even a servant of the giver, him also let his master remove from the place.

243. ‘ Should another Brdhmen, or a mendicant, come to his house for food, let him, having obtained permission from the invited Brdhmens , entertain the stranger to the best of his power.

244. * Having brought together all the sorts of food, as dressed rice and the like, and -sprinkling them with water, let him place them before the Brdhmens , who have eaten ; dropping some on the blades of ewi^-grass, which have been spread on the ground.

245. ‘ What remains in the dishes, and what has been dropped on the blades of cusa, must be considered as the portion of deceased Brdhmens , not girt with the sacrificial thread, and of such as have deserted unreasonably the women of their own tribe.

246. * The residue, that has fallen on the ground at the srdddha to the manes, the wife have decided to be the share of all the servants, who are not crooked in their ways, nor lazy and ill disposed.

247. ‘ Before the obsequies tc> ancestors as far as the sixth degree, they must be performed to, a Brdhmen recently deceased ; ON MARRIAGE ; OR but the performer of them must in that case give the srdddha without the ceremony to the Gods, and offer only one round cake ; and these obsequies for a single ancestor should be annually performed on the day of his death :

248. * When, afterwards , the obsequies to ancestors as far as the sixth degree, inclusively of him, are performed according to law, then must the offering of cakes be made by the descendants in the manner before ordained for the monthly ceremonies .

249. 4 That fool, who, having eaten of the srdddha , gives the residue of it to a man of the servile class, falls headlong down to the hell, named Cdlasiitra .

250. 4 Should the eater of a srdddha enter, on the same day, the bed of a seducing woman, his ancestors would sleep for that month on her excrement.

251. 4 Having, by the word swaditam, asked the Brdhmens if they have eaten well, let him give them, being satisfied, water for 3n ablution, and courteously say to them : 44 Rest either at home or here.”

252. 4 Then let the Brdhmens address him, saying szuadhd ; for, in all ceremonies relating to deceased ancestors, the word swadhd is the highest benison.

253. 4 After that, let him inform those, who have eaten, of the food which remains ; and, being instructed by the Brdhmens , let him dispose of it, as they may direct.

254. 4 At the close of the srdddha to his ancestors, he must ask, if the Brdhmens are satisfied, by the word swadita ; after that for his family, by the word susruta ; after that for his own advancement, by the word sampanna ; after that, which has been offered to the gods, by the word ruchita. t

255. 4 The afternoon, the r?/irt-grass, the cleansing of the ground, the tilas, the liberal gifts of food, the due preparation for the repast, and the company of most exalted Brdhmens , are true riches in the obsequies to ancestors.

256. 4 The blades of cusat the holy texts, the forenoon, all the oblations, which will presently be enumerated , and the purification before mentioned, are to be considered as wealth in the srdddha to the gods : ON THE SECOND ORDER.

257. ‘ Such wild grains as are eaten by hermits, milk, the juice of the moonplant, meat untainted, and salt unprepared by art, arc held things fit, in their own nature, for the last mentioned offerings.

258. ‘Having dismissed the invited Brdhmens, keeping his mind attentive, and his speech suppressed, let him, after an ablution, look toward the south, and ask these blessings of the Piiris :

259. ‘ May generous givers abound in our house 1 may the scriptures be studied, and progeny increase, in it ! may faith never depart from us ! and may we have much to' bestow on the needy !’

260. ‘ Thus having ended the sreiddha , let him cause a cow, a priest, a kid, or the fire, to devour what remains, of the cakes ; or let him cast them into the waters.

261. ‘Some make the offering of the round cakes after the repast of the Brdhmcns ; some cause the birds to eat what remains, or cast it into water or fire.

262. ‘ Let a lawful wife, ever dutiful to her lord, and constantly honoring his ancestors, eat the middlemost of the three cakes, or that offered to his paternal grandfather , with due ceremonies, praying for offspring :

263. ‘ So may she bring forth a son, who will be longlivcd, famed, and strongminded, wealthy, having numerous descendants, endued with the best of qualities, and performing all duties religious and civil.

264. ‘ Then, having washed both his hands and sipped water, let him ' prepare some rice for his paternal kinsmen ; and, having given it them with due reverence, let him prepare food also for his maternal relations.

265. ‘ Let the residue continue in its place, until the Brdhmens have been dismissed /and then let him perform the remaining domestic sacraments.

266. ‘ WHAT sort of oblations, given duly to the manes, are capable of satisfying them for a long time or for eternity, I will now declare without omission.

267. ‘ The ancestors of men are satisfied a whole month with tila} rice, barley, black lentils ot vetches, water, roots, and fruit, given with prescribed ceremonies ; ON MARRIAGE ; OR 1 o

268. ‘ Two months, with fish ; ■ three months, with venison ; four, with mutton ; five, with the flesh of such birds, as the twiceborn may eat ;

269. 4 Six months, with the flesh of kids ; seven, with that of spotted deer ; eight, with that of the deer, or antelope, called ena \ nine, with that of the ruru :

270. * Ten months arc they satisfied with the flesh of wild boars and wild buffaloes ; eleven, with that of rabbits or hares, and of tortoises ;

271. 4 A whole year with the milk of cows, and food made of that milk ; from the flesh of the long-eared white goat, their satisfaction endures twelve years.

272. * 4 The potherb cdlasdcay the fish mahd salcay or the diodony the flesh of a rhinoceros, or of an ironcoloured kid, honey, and all such forcstgrains as arc eaten by hermits, are formed for their satisfaction without end.

273. 4 Whatever pure food, mixed with honey, a man offerson the thirteenth day of the moon, in the season of rain, and under the lunar asterism Maghay has likewise a ceaseless duration.

274. 44 Oh ! ‘may that man, say the manes , be born in our line, who may give us milky food, with honey and pure butter, both on the thirteenth of the moon, and when the shadow of an elephant falls to the east !”

275. 4 Whatever a man, 'endued with strong faith, piously offers, as the law has directed, becomes a perpetual unpcrishable gratification to his ancestors in the other world :

276. 4 The tenth and so forth, except the fourteenth, in the dark half of the month, are the lunar days mo>:t approved for sacred obsequies : as they arey so are not the others.

277. 4 He, who does honor to the manes, on even lunar days, and under even lunar stations, enjoys all his desires ; on odd lunar days, and'ufiacf ©dd .lunar asterisms, he procures an illustrious race.

278. 4 As the latter, or dark , half of the month surpasses, for the celebration of obsequies, the' former, or bright half, so the latter half of the day surpasses, for \ the same purpose , the former half of it, ON THE SECOND ORDER. 7i

279. * The oblation to ancestors must be duly made, even to Vie conclusion of it with the distribution to the servants (or even to tflS^lose of life), in the form prescribed, by a Brdhmen wearing his thread^on his right shoulder, proceeding from left to right, without remissness, and with cusa-g rass in his hand.

280. ‘ Obsequies must not be performed by night ; since the night is called rdcshasl or infested by demons ; nor while the sun is rising or setting, nor when it has just risen.

281. ‘ A house-keeper, unable to give a monthly repast , may perform obsequies here below, according to the sacred ordinance, only thrice a year, in the seasons of lu! manta, grishmat and vershd ; but the five sacraments he must perform daily.

282. ‘The sacrificial oblation, at obsequies to ancestors, is ordained to be made in no vulgar fire ; nor should the monthly srdddha of that Brdhmen , who keeps a perpetual fire, be made on any day except on that of the conjunction.

283. ‘ When a twice-born man, having performed his ablution, offers a satisfaction to the manes with water only, being unable to give a repast) he gains by that offering all the fruit of a srdddha.

284. ‘The wife call our fathers, Vasits : our paternal grandfathers, Rudras ; our paternal great grandfathers, A'dityas (that is, all are to be revered as deities) ; and to this effect there is a primeval text in the Vida .

285. ‘ Let a man, who is able, continually feed on vighasa, and continually feed on amrtta : by vighasa is meant the residue of a repast at obsequies ; and by amrtta : the residue of a sacrifice to the gods.

286. ‘ This complete system of rules, for the .five sacraments and the like, has been declared to you : now hear the law for those means of subsistence, which the chief of the twice-born may seek.