Vasistha Dharmasutra
by Georg Bühler | 1882 | 44,713 words
The Dharmasutra of Vasistha forms an independent treatise and has no relationship with the Kalpasutra. The chapters of this text are divided in a way that resemble the practice of later Smritis. This Dharmasutra has a unique characteristic, it cites the opinions of Manu at many places. This led scholars like Bühler among others to form a hypothesis...
Chapter VII
1. There are four orders,[1]
2. Viz. (that of) the student, (that of) the house-holder, (that of) the hermit, and (that of) the ascetic.
3. A man who has studied one, two, or three Vedas without violating the rules of studentship, may enter any of these (orders), whichsoever he pleases.[2]
4. A (professed) student shall serve his teacher until death;[3]
5. And in case the teacher dies, he shall serve the sacred fire.[4]
6. For it has been declared in the Veda, 'The fire is thy teacher:'[5]
7. (A student, whether professed or temporary), shall bridle his tongue;[6]
8. He shall eat in the fourth, sixth, or eighth hour of the day.[7]
9. He shall go out in order to beg.[8]
10. He shall obey his teacher.[9]
11. He either (may wear all his hair) tied in a knot or (keep merely) a lock on the crown of his head tied in a knot, (shaving the other parts of the head.)[10]
12. If the teacher walks, he shall attend him walking after him; if the teacher is seated, standing; if the teacher lies down, seated.[11]
13. He shall study after having been called (by the teacher, and not request the latter to begin the lesson).[12]
14. Let him announce (to the teacher) all that he has received (when begging), and eat after permission (has been given to him).[13]
15. Let him avoid to sleep on a cot, to clean his teeth, to wash (his body for pleasure), to apply collyrium (to his eyes),. to anoint (his body), and to wear shoes or a parasol.[14]
16. (While reciting his prayers) he shall stand in the day-time and sit down at night.[15]
17. Let him bathe three times a day.[16]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
-2. VII. Gautama III, 2.
[2]:
Gautama III, 1.
[3]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 43.
[4]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 46. I agree with Kṛṣṇapaṇḍita in thinking that the apparently purposeless particle 'and,' which is used in p. 41 this Sūtra, indicates Vasiṣṭha's approval of the rules given in other Smṛtis, according to which the student, on the death of the teacher, shall serve the teacher's son, a fellow-student, or the teacher's wife, and the service of the sacred fire is the last resource only. See Viṣṇu XXVIII, 44-45; Gautama III, 7-8.
[5]:
These words form part of one of the Mantras which the teacher recites at the initiation of the student; see e.g. Sāṅkhāyana Gṛhya-sūtra.
[6]:
Gautama II, 13, 22.
[7]:
According to Kṛṣṇapaṇḍita to a kāla, 'hour,' is the eighth part of a day.
[8]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 9.
[9]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 7.
[10]:
Gautama I, 27; Viṣṇu XXVIII, 41.
[11]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 18-22.
[12]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 6.
[13]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 10; Āpastamba I, 1, 3, 25.
[14]:
Gautama II, 13.
[15]:
Viṣṇu XXVIII, 2-3. The prayers intended are, the so walled Sandhyās, which are recited at daybreak and in the evening.
[16]:
Gautama II, 8. 'Three times a day,' i.e. morning, noon, and evening. Kṛṣṇapaṇḍita thinks that he shall perform three ablutions at midday.