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does not discharge the duties of hospitality towards the guest arrived at his abode, comes to be regarded as equally sinful with |
those that are slayers of women or of kine, that are ungrateful towards benefactors, that are slayers of Brahmanas, or that are |
violators of the beds of their preceptors.' |
"Agni said, 'Listen ye with concentrated attention. I shall recite the demerits of that man of wicked understanding who lifts up |
his feet for striking therewith a cow or a highly blessed Brahmana or a blazing fire. The infamy of such a man spreads |
throughout the world and touches the confines of heaven itself. His Pitris become filled with fear. The deities also become |
highly dissatisfied on his account. Endued with great energy, Fire refuses to accept the libations poured by him. For a hundred |
lives he has to rot in hell. He is never rescued at any time. One should, therefore, never touch a cow with one's feet, or a |
Brahmana of high energy, or a blazing fire, if one is endued with faith and desires one's own good. These are the demerits |
declared by me of one who lifts up one's feet towards these three.' |
"Viswamitra said, 'Listen to a high mystery that is unknown to the generality of men and that is connected with religion. He |
who offers the Pitris rice boiled in sugared milk, sitting with face directed to the south at noontide in the shade caused by an |
elephant's body, in the month of Bhadrapada, under the constellation Magha, acquires great merits. Listen to what those merits |
are. The man who makes such an offering to the Pitris under such circumstances, is regarded as performing a great Sraddha |
each year for thirteen years in succession.'[552] |
"The kine said, 'That man becomes cleansed of all his sins who adores a cow with these Mantras, viz., 'O Vahula, O Samanga, |
O thou that art fearless everywhere, O thou that art forgiving and full of auspiciousness, O friend, O source of all plenty, in the |
region of Brahman, in days of yore, thou wert present with thy calf in the sacrifice of Indra, the wielder of the thunderbolt. |
Thou tookest thy station in the firmament and in the path of Agni. The deities with Narada among them adored thee on that |
occasion by calling thee Sarvamsaha. Such man attains to the region of Purandara. He acquires, besides, the merits that attach |
to kine, and the splendour of Chandramas also. Such a man becomes freed from every sin, every fear, every grief. At the end, |
he obtains residence in the happy region of the Thousand-eyed Indra!' |
"Bhishma continued, 'After this, the highly blessed and celebrated seven Rishis, with Vasishtha at their head, rose and |
circumambulating the Lotus-born Brahman, stood around him with hands joined in reverence. Vasishtha, that foremost of all |
persons conversant with Brahma, became their spokesman and asked this question that is beneficial to every creature, but |
especially so to Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, 'By doing what acts may men of righteous conduct who are, however, destitute of |
the good of this world, succeed in acquiring merits attaching to sacrifices?' Hearing this question of theirs, the Grandsire |
Brahman began to say what follows.' |
"Brahman said, 'Excellent is this question, ye highly blessed ones! It is at once auspicious and high and fraught with a mystery. |
This question that ye have put is subtil and is fraught with high benefit to mankind. Ye Rishis possessed of wealth of penances, |
I shall recite everything to you in detail. Do ye listen with attention to what I say as to how men acquire the merits attaching to |
sacrifices (even when they are unable to perform them through poverty.) In the lighted fortnight of the month of Pausha, when |
the constellation Rohini is in conjunction, if one, purifying oneself by a bath, lies under the cope of heaven, clad in a single |
piece of raiment, with faith and concentrated attention, and drinks the rays of the moon, one acquires the merits that attach to |
the performance of great sacrifices. Ye foremost of regenerate persons, this is a high mystery that I declare unto you in reply to |
your questions, ye that are possessed of insight into the subtil truths of all topics of enquiry.'" |
SECTION CXXVII |
"Vibhavasu (otherwise called Surya) said, 'There are two offerings. One of those consists of a palmful of water and the other |
called Akshata consists of rice-grains with ghee. One should, on the day of the full moon, stand facing that bright orb and make |
unto him the two offerings mentioned, viz., a palmful of water and the rice-grains with ghee called Akshata. The man who |
presents these offerings is said to adore his sacred fire. Verily, he is regarded as one that has poured libations on the three |
(principal) fires. That man of little understanding who cutteth down a large tree on the day of the new moon, becomes stained |
with the sin of Brahmanicide. By killing even a single leaf one incurs that sin. That foolish man who chews a tooth-brush on |
the day of the new moon is regarded as injuring the deity of the moon by such an act. The Pitris of such a person become |
annoyed with him.[553] The deities do not accept the libations poured by such a man on days of the full moon and the new |
moon. His Pitris become enraged with him, and his race and the family become extinct.' |
"Sree said, 'That sinful house, in which eating and drinking vessels and seats and beds lie scattered, and in which women are |
beaten, the deities and Pitris leave in disgust. Verily, without accepting the offerings made unto them by the owners of such |
houses, the deities and the Pitris fly away from such a sinful habitation.' |
"Angiras said, 'The offspring of that man increase who stands every night for a full year under a Karanjaka tree with a lamp for |
lighting it, and holds besides in his hand the roots of the Suvarchala plant.'[554] |
"Gargya said, 'One should always do the duties of hospitality to one's guests. One should give lamps in the hall or shed where |
sacrifices are performed. One should avoid sleep during the day, and abstain from all kinds of flesh or food. One should never |
injure kine and Brahmanas. One should always recite names of the Pushkara lakes and the other sacred waters. Such a course |
of duty, is the foremost. Even this constitutes a high religion with its mysteries. If observed in practice, it is sure to produce |
great consequences. If a person performs even a hundred sacrifices, he is doomed to see the exhaustion of the merits attaching |
to the libations poured therein. The duties, however, which I have mentioned are such that when observed by a person endued |
with faith, their merit becomes inexhaustible. Listen now to another high mystery concealed from the view of many. The |
deities do not accept the libations (poured upon the fire) on the occasion of Sraddhas and rites in their honour or on the |
occasion of those rites that are performable on ordinary lunar days or on the especially sacred days of the full moon and the |
new moon, if they behold a woman in her season of impurity or one that is the daughter of a mother afflicted with leprosy. The |
Pitris of the man who allows such a woman to come near the place where the Sraddha is being performed by him, do not |
become gratified with him for thirteen years. Robed in raiment of white, and becoming pure in body and mind, one should |
invite Brahmanas and cause them to utter their benedictions (when one performs the Sraddha). On such occasions one should |
also recite the Bharata. It is by observing all these that the offerings made at Sraddhas become inexhaustible.' |
"Dhaumya said, 'Broken utensils, broken bedsteads, cocks and, dogs, as also such trees as have grown within the dwelling |
houses, are all inauspicious objects. In a broken utensil is Kali himself, while in a broken bedstead is loss of wealth. When a |
cock or a dog is in sight, the deities do not eat the offerings made to them. Under the roots of a tree scorpions and snakes |
undoubtedly find shelter. Hence, one should never plant a tree within one's abode.'[555] |
"Jamadagni said, 'That man whose heart is not pure is sure to go to Hell even if he adores the deities in a Horse-sacrifice or in a |
hundred Vajapeya sacrifices, or if he undergoes the severest austerities with head downmost. Purity of heart is regarded as |
equal to sacrifices and Truth. A very poor Brahmana, by giving only a Prastha of powdered barley with a pure heart unto a |
Brahmana, attained to the region of Brahman himself. This is a sufficient proof (of the importance of purity of heart).'" |
SECTION CXXVIII |
"Vayu said, 'I shall recite some duties the observance of which is fraught with happiness to mankind. Do ye listen also with |
concentrated attention to certain transgressions with the secret causes upon which they depend. That man who offers for the |
four months of the rainy season sesame and water (unto the Pitris), and food, according to the best of his power, unto a |
Brahmana well-conversant with the duties, who duly pours libations on the sacred fire, and makes offerings of rice boiled in |
sugared milk, who gives lamps in honour of the Pitris, with sesame and water,--verily he who does all this with faith and |
concentrated attention acquires all the merits that attach to a hundred sacrifices in which animals are offered to the deities. |
Listen to this other high mystery that is unknown to all. That man who thinks it all right when a Sudra ignites the fire upon |
which he is to pour libations or who does not see any fault when women who are incompetent to assist at Sraddhas and other |
rites are allowed to assist at them, really becomes stained with sin[556]. The three sacrificial fires become enraged with such a |
person. In his next life he has to take birth as a Sudra. His Pitris, together with the deities are never gratified with him. I shall |
now recite what the expiations are which one must go through for cleansing oneself from such sins. Listen to me with attention. |
By performing those expiatory acts, one becomes happy and free from fever. Fasting all the while, one should, for three days, |
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