Chapter 36 - The Rites and Duties of a Religious Student

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Skanda said:

1. O Pot-born One, I shall again mention a special type of good conduct on hearing which an intelligent man never enters the darkness of ignorance.

2. The three Varṇas, Brāhmaṇas, Kratriyas and Vaiśyas, are known as twice-born; they are born of their mothers first and then for a second time when Upanayana (investing with the sacred thread) is performed.

3. The holy rites beginning with Niṣeka (impregnation) and ending with Śmaśāna (Funeral rites) are prescribed by Vedic injunctions. A wise man should perform the nte of impregnation at the menstrual period avoiding the stars Maghā and Mūla.

4. The rite of Puṃsavana is performed before the quickening of the child in the womb and thereafter the rite of Sīmantonnayana (parting of the hair) which is performed in the sixth or the eighth month. The rite of Jātakarma is performed after birth.

5. On the eleventh day the rite of naming is to be performed. The rite of Niṣkrama (‘coming out’) from the lying-in-chamber is performed in the fourth month. The rite of Annaprāśana (‘feeding with food’) is in the sixth month. The Cūḍā rite is performed when a year is completed or as is the practice in the family.

6. In this manner the sin born of the seed or the womb is subdued. In regard to women, these rites are silent (i.e., without Mantra) ones, but the rite of Pāṇigraha (marriage) is with Mantras.

7. A Brāhmaṇa (child) deserves (imparting of) Sāvitri (the Gāyatrī Mantra) in the seventh or eighth year, a royal (i.e., Kṣatriya) child in the eleventh year and a Vaiśya child in the twelfth year or as is the practice in the family.

8. In order to get the spiritual lustre (Brahmatejas) increased, a Brāhmaṇa deserves (this rite) in the fifth year, a king (Kṣatriya) desirous of power should get it performed in the sixth year and a Vaiśya should wear the Mauñjī (girdle made of Muñja grass) in the sixth year.

9. The preceptor should teach Veda along with the Mahāvyāhṛti. After performing the rite of Upanayana, he should initiate him in the practice of Śauca (purity—external and internal) and Ācāra (Rules of good conduct).

10-12. The rites of Śauca and Ācamana should be performed in accordance with the injunctions mentioned before. After defecation, the tongue and the teeth should be cleansed. Uttering the Mantras with water as the deity, he should perform the rite of Snāna; he should then duly perform Prāṇāyāma rite and he should perform the Upasthāna (adoration) of the Sun in both the Sadhyās (dawn and dusk). After performing the rite of Fire-worship, he should make obeisance unto the Brāhmaṇa saying, “I belong to such and such a Gotra. I bow down (to you).

13. Day-by-day longevity, fame, strength and intellect of one who habitually makes obeisance and who is engaged in serving elderly people get increased.

14. He engages in the study of the Vedas. On being summoned by the Guru he should recount to him what has been acquired (learnt). He shall always perform mentally, verbally and physically what is conducive to his benefit.

15. They should be taught righteously and not for monetary consideration. Those who have acquired knowledge perfectly should give money if they are competent. Those should be grateful, pure, non-harassing and free from malice.

16. They should wear girdles, staff, sacred thread and Ajina (deer-skin). For their sustenance they should take alms from non-censurable Brāhmaṇas.

17. The mode of begging for alms among the Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas and the Vaiśyas is by using the word Bhavatī in this order: at the beginning, in the middle or in the end. Thus a Brāhmaṇa should say: “bhavatī, bhikṣām dehi”; a Kṣatriya should say: “bhikṣām, bhavatī, dehi”; a Vaiśya should say: “bhikṣām dehi, bhavatī.”

18. On being permitted by the Guru, he should take food silently without depreciating the food. During Śrāddha he should not take food at the place of the same man (twice); but in exceptional cases, e.g. of emergency, he may take food.

19. Excessive intake of food is against one’s health and longevity. It is not meritorious or conducive to heavenly pleasure. It is hated by people. Hence it should be avoided.

20. An excellent Brāhmaṇa should not take food twice on the same day (during day-time) on any account. A Brāhmaṇa conversant with the injunctions of Agnihotra rite should take food in the morning and in the evening

21. (A Brāhmaṇa) should avoid liquor, meat, injuring living beings, looking at the Sun, applying collyrium, women, stale food, leavings of other’s food and slandering.

22. The maximum limit of age for the rite of Upanayana in the cases of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas is respectively sixteenth, twenty-second and twenty-fourth.

23. Beyond these years, they are not worthy of consecration. They are devoid of piety; they are fallen. But their fallen state shall be eradicated by means of the Yajña named Vrātyastoma.

24. No one should have any social intercourse with people fallen from the Sāvitrī Mantra (i.e., whose thread ceremony is not performed). The skin to be used by the three Varṇas should be respectively from Eṇa deer, Ruru deer and goat.

25. They shall wear respectively garments made of jute, silk and wool. The girdle of a Brāhmaṇa is made of Muñja grass; Maurvī in the case of a Kṣatriya and that of a Vaiśya is made of jute fibres. The girdle shall have three strands equal in length and very glossy.

26. In the absence of Muñja grass, the girdle should be made of Kuśa grass, Aśmantaka and Balva. There shall be one, three or five knots as is the practice in the family.

27. The sacred thread should be made of cotton, jute or wool. It should be with three strands and shall be twisted rightwards for the purpose of longevity.

28. The staff of a Brāhmaṇa should be made of Bilva or Palāśa; in the case of a Kṣatriya, of Nyagrodha or Khadira; and in that of a Vaiśya, of Pīlu or Udumbara.

29. The staffs shall respectively come up to the head, forehead and nose of a Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya and Vaiśya. The bark shall be intact and shall not be defiled by fire.

30. A Baṭu (i.e., boy whose Upanayana is performed) should circumambulate the Fire and adore the Sun and should be equipped with a staff, deerskin and the sacred thread. He should beg for alms in the manner mentioned before.

31. The mother, mother’s sister, sister and father’s sister—these are to be approached at the outset for begging for alms. Those should not say “No” to him.

32. As long as he performs the Vedic rites and studies the Vedas, he will be called Brahmacārin. Afterwards, on taking the requisite concluding ablution he would become a householder.

33. A Brāhmaṇa in the state of pupilage is called Upakurvāṇa. Another one is called Naiṣṭhika who continues to stay in the hermitage of his Guru till the end of his life.

34. A Brāhmaṇa who enters the stage of a householder and takes up the stage of celibacy once again is neither a Yati nor a Vanastha. He shall not belong to any of the Āśramas (stages of life).

35. No Brāhmaṇa shall remain devoid of any Āśrama even for a day, because, remaining without an Āśrama makes him subject to expiatory rites.

36. A person who has fallen off the Āśrama but performs any of these rites: Japa, Homa, Vrata, Dāna, Svādhyāya or Pitṛtarpaṇa, shall not derive the benefit thereof.

37-38. The girdle, deerskin and staff shall be the characteristic marks of a religious student; the Vedas, Yajñas etc. are the characteristic marks of a householder; long hairs and nails are those of a Vānaprastha; Tridaṇḍa etc. are the characteristic marks of an ascetic. One who has none of these marks is subject to expiatory rites everyday.

39. If the Kamaṇḍalu (water-pot), staff, sacred thread or deerskin becomes spoiled or broken, it has to be cast off into water and fresh one taken like a new Mantra.

40. The Keśānta (Samāvartana) rite should be duly performed in the sixteenth year so that the stage of a householder can be entered into in the twenty-second or twenty-fourth year.

41. In the case of (twice-born ones) Śruti alone is the means of acquiring the glory of liberation (Mokṣa) rather than doing auspicious Karmas (actions) like penance, performance of sacrifices or pious observances.

42. The Praṇava should be uttered when the recitation of the Veda begins or is concluded. What is not attended with Om is fruitless. What is read so (without Om) is not conducive to fulfilment (of the fruit thereof).

43. The great Gāyatrī consisting of three metrical feet is spoken of as the face of the Vedas. (It is recited) with the three Mahāvyāhrṭis with Praṇava in the beginning.

44. A man with restraint repeating these three a thousand times or a little more everyday for a month outside (on a river bank etc.) becomes rid of great sins.

45. With the mind not turned towards anything else, a man should practice repeating thus everyday for a period of a little more than a year. He shall become Vyomamūrti (pure in body or perfect in form) and pure in soul. He attains the great Brahman.

46. The set of three, viz. Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, and Svaḥ, Oṃkāra consisting of three syllables and the three feet of Sāvitrī—these have been milked by the three Vedas.

47. This imperishable Oṃkāra, the Gāyatrī should be uttered along with the Vyāhṛtis at the time of dawn and dusk by a Brāhmaṇa conversant with the Vedas. He becomes possessed of the Vedic merit

48. He attains the fruit of Japa which is ten times more than Vidhikratu (like Darśa and Paurṇamāsa sacrifices). Japakratu is spoken of as ten times more effective than Vidhikratu.

49. Upāṃśu (a Japa done in low voice) is hundred times more effective and Mānasa (mental one) is a thousand times more effective.

50. By studying all the Vedas, two Vedas or one, in accordance with one’s competence, a Brāhmaṇa attains the benefit of gifting away the earth filled with gold.

51. In order to perform penance, an excellent Brāhmaṇa should always study the Śruti. The study of Śruti alone is praised as the greatest penance of a Brāhmaṇa.

52. One who abandons the study of Śruti and wishes to study something else is (no better than) one who sends away a milch cow and desires to milk a rural pig.

53. A Brāhmaṇa should perform the Upanayana rite of his disciple and teach him the Vedas along with all its esoteric secrets and the Kalpa. Scholars consider such a Brāhmaṇa an Ācārya.

54. A person who teaches a part of the Śruti or the Aṅgas (ancillary subjects) for the sake of maintenance of his livelihood is considered an Upādhyāya by scholars.

55. A Brāhmaṇa who duly performs the rites of Niṣeka etc. and maintains (disciples) with cooked food is glorified as a Guru.

56. On being invited (by a householder), if any learned Paṇḍita performs the rite of Agnyādheya (the rite of kindling holy fires), Pākayajñas (Aṣṭaka etc.) and the sacrifices of Agniṣṭoma etc., he is called his Ṛtivk.

57. From the point of venerability, an Ācārya is ten times greater than an Upādhyāya; father is a hundred times venerable than an Ācārya and mother a thousand times more venerable than father.

58. Superiority among Brāhmaṇas is based on knowledge, that among Kṣatriyas is based on valour, that among Vaiśyas on wealth and grain storage and that among Śūdras on priority of birth.

59. A Brāhmaṇa who has not studied the Vedas is like a wooden elephant or stuffed deer. These three are merely bearers of the names like ‘Brāhmaṇa’ etc.

60. A religious student of the three Vanias who, without lust, gets the emission of semen during sleep, shall take bath, worship the Sun and repeat the Ṛk beginning with punar mām aitvindriyam (AV 7.67.1).

61. A religious student should go for alms everyday to the house of persons regularly performing the rites of Vedic Yajñas, strictly adhering to their own religious obligations. He should be pure (in word, mind and deed).

62. If a religious student (even if) being well, fails to beg for alms and to kindle the holy fire, he should perform expiatory rites for seven nights.

63. When he is within the sight of his Guru, a religious student should not indulge in wilful movements of the limbs as he pleases. He should not mention his (Guru’s) name without appellations even in his absence.

64. Where the Guru is being censured, where there is slandering (of his Guru), he will dose both his ears if he stays there, or shall go elsewhere.

65. One who reproves the Guru will become a mule (or an ass) and one who censures the Guru will be born as a dog. One who is jealous of the Guru shall be born as a worm of no worth and one who takes food before the Guru shall become an insect.

66. If a religious student is of twenty years and so is able to discriminate between good and bad, he should not pay respects to the youthful wife of the Guru by touching her feet.

67. The nature of women is fickle-mindedness. Hence (if anything goes wrong), the fault is that of men. Learned men never err in regard to youthful maidens.

68. They make learned or illiterate ones agitated or bring them under control, like a bird tied with a string.

69. One should not stay isolated alone with his mother, daughter or sister. The sense-organs are powerful and they delude even the learned ones.

70. Just as a person who assiduously digs the ground obtains water, so also by the service of the Guru, the disciple obtains learning.

71. If the Sun rises or sets even as a Brahmacārin is asleep, he should fast for a day (performing the Japa of Gāyatrī).

72-73. Since parents undergo various pains and distress ever since the son’s birth, that (indebtedness) cannot be adequately repaid even in a hundred years. Hence, a son should always do what is pleasing to them and to the Guru. When those three are fully pleased, all the (fruit of) penance is obtained.

74. Service rendered to those three is called the greatest penance. If anyone does anything transgressing them, he will never be successful in any venture.

75. By propitiating these three, the sensible one conquers all the three worlds. By increasing their satisfaction and pleasure, he shines in heaven like the Devas.

76. One who fulfils one’s duties, wins over Bhūloka through devotion to mother, Bhuvarloka through service unto father, and Svarloka through service to Guru.

77. If their satisfaction is brought about, it is the accomplishment of the four great aims of life by men.

(Another Upadharma is being described:)

78. After studying all the Vedas, two Vedas or one Veda duly, a Brāhmaṇa who has not swerved from celibacy, should resort to Gṛhāśrama (the stage of a householder).

79. One should be a person of undefiled celibacy through the blessing of Viśveśa. The blessing of Viśveśa is also one that brings about the attainment of Kāśī.

80. Knowledge is derived by reaching Kāśī. From knowledge one obtains salvation. Indeed the effort for practising good conduct maintained by sensible ones, leads to salvation.

81. Abidance by (the prescribed canons of) good conduct in the other stages of life is not as important as it is in Gṛhāśrama. After acquiring all the lores, one should resort to Gṛhasthāśrama.

82. If wife is favourable, there is nothing greater than Gṛhāśrama. Harmonious relation between husband and wife is conducive to the accomplishment of Trivarga (the three Puruṣārthas).

83. If there is concordance of wife, of what value is heaven? If there is discord of the wife, of what avail is hell?

84. The householder’s life is for the achievement of happiness. That happiness has its source in wife. She who is modest, is the real wife. Trivarga is humility and modesty certainly.

85. Young women are compared to leeches only by those who are slow-witted. If we ponder, there is great difference between the fawn-eyed ladies and leeches.

86. The poor, scorched leech takes up only the blood. But a young woman always takes away the mind, wealth, strength and happiness.

87. A woman endowed with following qualities is Goddess Lakṣmī herself who has assumed the form of a woman. She is clever and efficient. She has children. She is chaste. She speaks pleasing words. She is under one’s control.

88. With the permission of the preceptor, the religious student should take the customary bath and conclude the Vrata (of celibacy) and formal Vedic study. Then he should take unto him a wife having all excellent characteristics and belonging to his own Varṇa.

89. A girl who is not of the Gotra of his father and not a Sapiṇḍaka of his mother is worthy of being the bride of a Brāhmaṇa. She is conducive to the increase of piety.

90. In contracting a marital alliance, one should leave out a family of epileptics, consumptives and lepers. He should also leave off one who is exorcised and one who is likely to give birth only to a girl.

91. A Brāhmaṇa should take unto him a wife of gentle facial features, gentle in speech, free from illness, having a brother and slightly younger to him.

92. A sensible man does not marry a girl having the name of a mountain, star, tree, river, serpent or bird or one whose name smacks of slavery. Her name shall be gentle.

93. There shall not be any extra limb nor should there be deficiency in limbs. She should not be too tall or too lean. She should neither be hairy nor hairless. The hairs on the head should not be rough or thick.

94. Out of delusion, he should not marry a girl of low family. By marrying a low and base girl, one makes the progeny too very lowly and base.

95. After carefully examining the characteristics at the outset, a girl should be taken as bride. A girl of excellent characteristics and good conduct enhances the longevity of her husband.

96. O Pot-born One, the activities and characteristics of a religious student have been mentioned to you. Incidentally, I shall now recount the characteristics of women.