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the duties that have been laid down for them. The religion which these virtuous men are to follow is the religion that has been |
laid down and followed by the Rishis. With their eyes set upon the acquisition of righteousness, they should never pursue any |
other object of desire from a sense of unrestrained caprice. That man who makes the gift unto all creatures of an assurance of |
perfect harmlessness or innocence, freed as his soul becomes from the stain of malice or harmfulness, becomes endued with |
righteousness. Verily, that person who shows compassion to all creatures, who adopts as a vow a behaviour of perfect sincerity |
towards al creatures, and who constitutes himself the soul of all creatures, becomes endued with righteousness. A bath in all the |
Vedas, and a behaviour of sincerity towards all creatures, are looked upon as equal in point of merit; or, perhaps, the latter is a |
little distinguished above the other in point of merit. Sincerity, it has been said, is Righteousness; while insincerity or |
crookedness is the reverse. That man who conducts himself with sincerity becomes endued with Righteousness. The man who |
is always devoted to sincerity of behaviour, succeeds in attaining to a residence among the deities. Hence, he who wishes to |
achieve the merit of righteousness should become endued with sincerity. Possessed of a forgiving disposition and of self- |
restraint, and with wrath under complete subjection, one should transform oneself into an embodiment of Righteousness and |
become freed from malice. Such a man, who becomes devoted, besides, to the discharge of all the duties Religion, becomes |
endued with the merit of Righteousness. Freed from drowsiness and procrastination, the pious person, who adheres to the path |
of Righteousness to the best of his power, and becomes possessed of pure conduct, and who is venerable in years, comes to be |
regarded as equal to Brahma himself.' |
"Uma said. By what course of duties, O god, do those ascetics who are attached to their respective retreats and possessed of |
wealth of penances, succeed in becoming endued with great splendour? By what acts again, do kings and princes who are |
possessed of great wealth, and others who are destitute of wealth, succeed in obtaining high rewards? By what acts, O god, do |
denizens of the forest succeed in attaining to that place which is eternal and in adorning their persons with celestial sandal- |
paste? O illustrious god of three eyes, O destroyer of the triple city, do thou dispel this doubt of mine connected with the |
auspicious subject of the observance of penances by telling everything in detail.' |
"The illustrious deity said, 'Those who observe the vows relating to fasts and restrain their senses, who abstain from injury of |
any kind to any creature, and who practise truthfulness of speech, attain to success and ascending to Heaven sport in felicity |
with the Gandharvas as their companions, freed from every kind of evil. The righteous souled man who lies down in the |
attitude which appertains to Manduka-Yoga, and who properly and according to the ordinance performs meritorious acts after |
having taken the Diksha, sports in felicity in the next world in the company of the Nagas. That man who lives in the company |
of deer and subsists upon such grass and vegetables as fall off from their mouths, and who has undergone the Diksha and |
attends to the duties attached to it, succeeds in attaining to Amaravati (the mansions of Indra). That man who subsists upon the |
moss he gathers and the fallen leaves of trees that he picks up, and endures all the severities of cold, attains to very high place. |
That man who subsists upon either air or water, or fruits and roots, attains in after life to the affluence that belongs to the |
Yakshas and sports in felicity in the company of diverse tribes of Apsaras. Having practised for two and ten years, according to |
the rites laid down in the ordinances, the vow relating to the endurance of the five fires in the summer season, one becomes in |
one's next life a king. That man who, having observed vows with respect to food, practises penances for two and twelve years, |
carefully abstaining from all interdicted food, taken at forbidden hours, during the periods becomes in his next life a ruler of |
earth.[567] That man who sits and lies on the bare ground with the cope of the firmament alone for his shelter, observes the |
course of duties that attach to Diksha, and then casts off his body by abstaining from all food, attains to great felicity in |
Heaven. The rewards of one who sits and lies down upon the bare ground (with the welkin alone for his shelter) are said to be |
excellent vehicles and beds, and costly mansions possessed of the resplendence of the moon, O lady! That man who, having |
subsisted upon abstemious diet and observed diverse excellent vows, lives depending upon his own self and then casts off his |
body by abstaining from all food, succeeds in ascending to heaven and enjoying all its felicity. That man who, having lived in |
entire dependence upon his own self, observes for two and ten years the duties that appertain to Diksha, and at last casts off his |
body on the great ocean, succeeds in attaining to the regions of Varuna after death. That man who, living in entire dependence |
upon his own self observes the duties that attach to Diksha for two and ten years, and pierces his own feet with a sharp stone, |
attains to the felicity of the region that belongs to the Guhyakas. He who cultivates self with the aid of self, who frees himself |
from the influence of all pairs of opposites (such as heat and cold, joy and sorrow, etc), who is freed from every kind of |
attachment, and who mentally observes for two and ten years such a course of conduct after Diksha, attains to Heaven and |
enjoys every happiness with the deities as his companions. He who lives in entire dependence upon his own self and observes |
for two and ten years the duties that attach to Diksha and finally casts off his body on the fire as an oblation to the deities, |
attains to the regions of Brahman and is held in high respect there. That regenerate man, O goddess, who having properly gone |
through the Diksha keeps his senses under subjugation, and placing his Self on Self frees himself from the sense of meum, |
desirous of achieving righteousness, and sets out, without a covering for his body, after the due observance of the duties of |
Diksha for two and ten years and after having placed his sacred fire on a tree, and walks along the path that belongs to heroes |
and lies down (when need for lying down comes) in the attitude of heroes, and conducts himself always after the manner of |
heroes, certainly attains to the end that is reserved for heroes.[568] Such a man repairs to the eternal region of Sakra where he |
becomes crowned with the fruition of all his wishes and where he sports in joy, his person decked with garlands of celestial |
flowers and celestial perfumes. Indeed, that righteous souled person lives happily in Heaven, with the deities as his |
companions. The hero, observant of the practices of heroes and devoted to that Yoga which belongs to heroes, living in the |
practice of Goodness, having renounced everything, having undergone the Diksha and subjugated his senses, and observing |
purity of both body and mind, is sure to attain to that path which is reserved for heroes. Eternal regions of happiness are his. |
Riding on a car that moves at the will of the rider, he roves through all those happy regions as he likes. Indeed, dwelling in the |
region of Sakra, that blessed person always sports in joy, freed from every calamity." |
SECTION CXLIII |
"Uma said, 'O holy one, O thou that didst tear off the eyes of Bhaga and the teeth of Pushan, O destroyer of the sacrifice of |
Daksha, O three-eyed deity, I have a great doubt. In days of yore, the Self-born One created the four orders. Through the evil |
consequence of what acts cloth a Vaisya become a Sudra? Through what acts doth a Kshatriya become a Vaisya and a |
regenerate person (Brahmana) becomes a Kshatriya? By what means may such degradation of castes be prevented? Through |
what acts does a Brahmana take birth in his next life, in the Sudra order? Through what acts, O puissant deity, does a Kshatriya |
also descend to the status of Sudra? O sinless one, O lord of all created beings, do thou, O illustrious one, dispel this doubt of |
mine. How, again, can the three other orders naturally succeed in attaining to the status of Brahmanhood?' |
"The illustrious one said, 'The status of a Brahmana, O goddess, is exceedingly difficult to attain. O auspicious lady, one |
becomes a Brahmana through original creation or birth. After the same manner the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra, all |
become so through original creation. Even this is my opinion[569]. He, however, that is born a Brahmana falls away from his |
status through his own evil acts. Hence, the Brahmana, after having attained to the status of the first order, should always |
protect it (by his acts). If one, who is a Kshatriya or Vaisya, lives in the practice of those duties that are assigned to the |
Brahmana, after the manner of a Brahmana he becomes (in his next life) a Brahmana. That Brahmana who casts off the duties |
of his order for following those assigned for the Kshatriya, is regarded as one that has fallen away from the status of a |
Brahmana and that has become a Kshatriya. That Brahmana of little understanding, who, impelled by cupidity and folly, |
follows the practices assigned to Vaisyas forgetful of his status as a Brahmana that is exceedingly difficult to attain, comes to |
be regarded as one that has become a Vaisya. Similarly, one that is a Vaisya by birth may, by following the practices of a |
Sudra, become a Sudra. Indeed, a Brahmana, falling away from the duties of his own order, may descend to the status of even a |
Sudra, Such a Brahmana, falling away from the order of his birth and turned out of it, without attaining to the region of |
Brahmana (which is his goal if he duly observes his own duties), sinks into Hell and in his next birth becomes born as a Sudra. |
A highly blessed Kshatriya or a Vaisya, that abandons those practices of his that are consistent with the duties laid down for his |
order, and follows the practices laid down for the Sudra, falls away from his own order and becomes a person of mixed caste. It |
is in this way that a Brahmana. or a Kshatriya, or a Vaisya, sinks into the status of a Sudra. That man who has attained to |
clearness of vision through practice of the duties of his own order, who is endued with knowledge and science, who is pure (in |
body and mind), who is conversant with every duty and devoted to the practice of all his duties, is sure to enjoy the rewards of |
righteousness. I shall now recite to thee, O goddess, a saying uttered by Brahma (the Self-born) on this subject. Those that are |
righteous and desirous of acquiring merit always pursue with firmness the culture of the soul. The food that comes from cruel |
and fierce persons is censurable. So also is the food that has been cooked for serving a large number of persons. The same is |
said of the food that is cooked in view of the first Sraddha of a deceased person. So also is the food that is stained in |
consequence of the usual faults and the food that is supplied by a Sudra. These should never be taken by a Brahmana at any |
time[570]. The food of a Sudra, O goddess, is always disapproved of by the high-souled deities. Even this, I think, is the |
authority enunciated by the Grandsire with his own mouth. If a Brahmana, who has set up the sacred fire and who performs |
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