॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
॥ द्वादशोऽध्यायः - १२ ॥
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Discourse XII
An inquiry into right conduct (continued) (Preamble)
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नारद उवाच ।
ब्रह्मचारी गुरुकुले वसन् दान्तो गुरोर्हितम् ।
आचरन् दासवन्नीचो गुरौ सुदृढसौहृदः ॥ १॥
सायं प्रातरुपासीत गुर्वग्न्यर्कसुरोत्तमान् ।
उभे सन्ध्ये च यतवाग्जपन् ब्रह्म समाहितः ॥ २॥
छन्दांस्यधीयीत गुरोराहूतश्चेत्सुयन्त्रितः ।
उपक्रमेऽवसाने च चरणौ शिरसा नमेत् ॥ ३॥
मेखलाजिनवासांसि जटादण्डकमण्डलून् ।
बिभृयादुपवीतं च दर्भपाणिर्यथोदितम् ॥ ४॥
सायं प्रातश्चरेद्भैक्षं गुरवे तन्निवेदयेत् ।
भुञ्जीत यद्यनुज्ञातो नो चेदुपवसेत्क्वचित् ॥ ५॥
सुशीलो मितभुग्दक्षः श्रद्दधानो जितेन्द्रियः ।
यावदर्थं व्यवहरेत्स्त्रीषु स्त्रीनिर्जितेषु च ॥ ६॥
वर्जयेत्प्रमदागाथामगृहस्थो बृहद्व्रतः ।
इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्त्यपि यतेर्मनः ॥ ७॥
केशप्रसाधनोन्मर्दस्नपनाभ्यञ्जनादिकम् ।
गुरुस्त्रीभिर्युवतिभिः कारयेन्नात्मनो युवा ॥ ८॥
नन्वग्निः प्रमदा नाम घृतकुम्भसमः पुमान् ।
सुतामपि रहो जह्यादन्यदा यावदर्थकृत् ॥ ९॥
कल्पयित्वाऽऽत्मना यावदाभासमिदमीश्वरः ।
द्वैतं तावन्न विरमेत्ततो ह्यस्य विपर्ययः ॥ १०॥
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Nārada began again : Dwelling in the house of his teacher, humble as a servant, with his senses (fully) controlled, and doing him good offices and bearing the strongest affection for him, a Brahmacāri (a celibate student) should worship in the evenings and mornings his teacher, the sacred fire, the sun-god and Lord Viṣṇu (the Chief of the gods) as well as (the deities presiding over) both the twilights (and noontide), silently muttering the holy Gāyatri-Mantra with a concentrated mind. (1-2)
Well-regulated (in life), he should learn (take his lessons in) the Vedas from his teacher if (and when) called (by him) and should (invariably) bow (to him), touching the latter's feet with his head at the beginning as well as at the end (of his lessons). (3)
Carrying (blades of) the (sacred) Kuśa grass in his hands, he should wear a gridle (of a species of rush known by the name of Muñja), deerskin and (two pieces of) cloth, the sacred thread and unkempt hair, and should (also) carry a staff and a Kamaṇḍalu (a water-pot generally made of cocoanut-shell) as enjoined by the scriptures.*(4)
(Every) evening and morning he should go about begging for food and offer it to the teacher. He should partake of it, (only) if allowed; if not permitted on any day (e.g., on the Ekādaśī day, when everybody is expected to observe a fast or live only on fruits etc., or on any other day by way of penalty for some transgression or even as a test as to what effect it is likely to have on his mind), he should fast. (5)
Possessing a good moral character, moderate in (his) diet, active, reverent and exercising control over his senses, he should deal with women as well as with those enslaved by women only as much as it is (absolutely) necessary. (6)
Anyone other than a householder, who has undertaken the great vow of continence, should shun (all) talk of women; (for) the senses, which are very turbulent (by nature), forcibly carry away (with them) the mind (even of one who is fully controlled). (7)
An adult student should never have (such personal service as) the combing of his hair, massaging and washing his body and inunction etc., done by the young wives of his teachers (even if they offer their services out of pure motherly love, treating him as their own son). (8)
It is a truism indeed that a young woman is (like) fire and a man is (akin to) a jar full of ghee (clarified butter). One should avoid (the presence of) even one's daughter when (she is) all by herself; (nay,) at other times (too) one should remain with her (only) so long as it is (absolutely) necessary. (9)
Until one has mastered his self, having (clearly) apprehended through self-realization that (all) this (the body, the senses and so on) is (only) illusory, the sense of duality (the feeling that woman is an object of enjoyment and I am the enjoyer) does not cease. (And) from that (sense of duality) indeed follows the perversity of the embodied soul (through identification with the body and other material things). (10) (1-10)
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एतत्सर्वं गृहस्थस्य समाम्नातं यतेरपि ।
गुरुवृत्तिर्विकल्पेन गृहस्थस्यर्तुगामिनः ॥ ११॥
अञ्जनाभ्यञ्जनोन्मर्दस्त्र्यवलेखामिषं मधु ।
स्रग्गन्धलेपालङ्कारांस्त्यजेयुर्ये धृतव्रताः ॥ १२॥
उषित्वैवं गुरुकुले द्विजोऽधीत्यावबुध्य च ।
त्रयीं साङ्गोपनिषदं यावदर्थं यथाबलम् ॥ १३॥
दत्त्वा वरमनुज्ञातो गुरोः कामं यदीश्वरः ।
गृहं वनं वा प्रविशेत्प्रव्रजेत्तत्र वा वसेत् ॥ १४॥
अग्नौ गुरावात्मनि च सर्वभूतेष्वधोक्षजम् ।
भूतैः स्वधामभिः पश्येदप्रविष्टं प्रविष्टवत् ॥ १५॥
एवं विधो ब्रह्मचारी वानप्रस्थो यतिर्गृही ।
चरन् विदितविज्ञानः परं ब्रह्माधिगच्छति ॥ १६॥
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All this (whatever has been stated in verse 6 above) has been enjoined upon a householder (too), (nay,) even on a recluse (much more on an anchorite). Service to one's preceptor (also) is optionally laid down in the case of a householder, who is (ordinarily) expected to approach his wedded wife during the period favourable for procreation (sixteen days after menstruation). (11)
Those who have undertaken a vow of continence should give up (the use of) collyrium, inunction, massaging the body, (fellowship with) women, drawing, meat, spirituous liquor (in the case of those who are ordinarily allowed to drink it or honey in the case of others), garlands, perfumes, unguents and ornaments. (12)
Having thus lived in a teacher's house and studied and grasped the import of (all) the three Vedas (R̥gveda, Yajurveda and Sāmaveda) along with the (six) sciences auxiliary to them and the Upaniṣads (philosophical treatises forming part, nay, the quintessence of the Vedas) according to his eligibility and capacity, and having made available to the teacher, if capable of doing so, the object of his desire, and (duly) permitted by him, he should enter (according to his predilections and fitness) the life of a householder (marry and beget children) or retire to the woods (take to the life of an anchorite) or renounce the world and wander forth as an ascetic mendicant (recluse) or continue there (in the teacher's house as a lifelong celibate). (13-14)
He should visualize Lord Viṣṇu (who is above sense-perception) as having entered (taken up His abode in) the sacred fire, the teacher, his own self as well as all the (five) elements (viz., earth, water, fire, air and ether)—including the (diverse orders of) living beings dwelling in them—as their Inner Controller, even though He has not (really) entered them (having been already present in them by virtue of His pervading all as their very Cause). (15)
Following the rules of conduct laid down for his Āśrama, and having (thereby) come to know that which ought to be known, a Brahmacāri (religious student), anchorite, recluse or householder of this type (visualizing the Lord as present in all) realizes the transcendent Absolute. (16)
- For example, it is laid down in the scriptures that a Brāhmaṇa student should carry a staff of the Palāśa tree alone 'पालाशो दण्डो ब्राह्मणस्य' etc.
(11-16)
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वानप्रस्थस्य वक्ष्यामि नियमान् मुनिसम्मतान् ।
यानातिष्ठन् मुनिर्गच्छेदृषिलोकमिहाञ्जसा ॥ १७॥
न कृष्टपच्यमश्नीयादकृष्टं चाप्यकालतः ।
अग्निपक्वमथामं वा अर्कपक्वमुताहरेत् ॥ १८॥
वन्यैश्चरुपुरोडाशान् निर्वपेत्कालचोदितान् ।
लब्धे नवे नवेऽन्नाद्ये पुराणं तु परित्यजेत् ॥ १९॥
अग्न्यर्थमेव शरणमुटजं वाद्रिकन्दराम् ।
श्रयेत हिमवाय्वग्निवर्षार्कातपषाट् स्वयम् ॥ २०॥
केशरोमनखश्मश्रुमलानि जटिलो दधत् ।
कमण्डल्वजिने दण्डवल्कलाग्निपरिच्छदान् ॥ २१॥
चरेद्वने द्वादशाब्दानष्टौ वा चतुरो मुनिः ।
द्वावेकं वा यथा बुद्धिर्न विपद्येत कृच्छ्रतः ॥ २२॥
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I shall (now) tell (you) the rules of conduct prescribed for a Vānaprastha (anchorite) and approved of by sages, by following which in this life an ascetic bids fair to ascend easily (after death) to Maharloka (the realm of the Ṛṣis and then attain Mukti in due course). (17)
An anchorite must not eat anything which ripens on cultivated soil (viz., the products of agriculture) and not even the products of uncultivated land before time. He should neither eat food cooked on fire nor anything raw, but only that which has ripened under (the rays of) the sun (in season). (18)
He should prepare Caru (an oblation of rice, barley and pulse boiled with butter and milk) and Puroḍāsa (a mass of ground rice rounded into a kind of cake and usually divided into pieces placed on separate receptacles), enjoined at different times (for being offered to the gods through the sacred fire), with wild corns. Each time a fresh (natural) supply of cereals and other eatables is obtained, he should, however, reject the old stock. (19)
Himself enduring (remaining exposed to) snow, winds, fire, rain and the heat of the sun, he should betake himself to a shelter in the form of a hut of leaves or a mountain-cave only for the sake of (preserving) the sacred fire. (20)
Wearing matted locks (on his head), preserving the (other) hair (such as those in the arm-pits and other private parts), as well as the hair on his body, nails, moustaches and beard, and the dirt* (on his skin) and keeping (with him) a Kamaṇḍalu (a water-pot made of cocoanut-shell or gourd etc.), deerskin (to be wrapped about his loins), a staff, the bark of (the birth and other) trees (as a covering for his body) and the accessories of fire-worship (alone), a hermit should practise austerities in the woods for (a period of) twelve, eight, four or two years or (only) one year (as the case may be) lest his reason should get perverted through hardship. (21-22) (17-22)
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यदाकल्पः स्वक्रियायां व्याधिभिर्जरयाथवा ।
आन्वीक्षिक्यां वा विद्यायां कुर्यादनशनादिकम् ॥ २३॥
आत्मन्यग्नीन् समारोप्य सन्न्यस्याहम्ममात्मताम् ।
कारणेषु न्यसेत्सम्यक् सङ्घातं तु यथार्हतः ॥ २४॥
खे खानि वायौ निश्वासांस्तेजस्यूष्माणमात्मवान् ।
अप्स्वसृक्श्लेष्मपूयानि क्षितौ शेषं यथोद्भवम् ॥ २५॥
वाचमग्नौ सवक्तव्यामिन्द्रे शिल्पं करावपि ।
पदानि गत्या वयसि रत्योपस्थं प्रजापतौ ॥ २६॥
मृत्यौ पायुं विसर्गं च यथास्थानं विनिर्दिशेत् ।
दिक्षु श्रोत्रं सनादेन स्पर्शमध्यात्मनि त्वचम् ॥ २७॥
रूपाणि चक्षुषा राजन् ज्योतिष्यभिनिवेशयेत् ।
अप्सु प्रचेतसा जिह्वां घ्रेयैर्घ्राणं क्षितौ न्यसेत् ॥ २८॥
मनो मनोरथैश्चन्द्रे बुद्धिं बोध्यैः कवौ परे ।
कर्माण्यध्यात्मना रुद्रे यदहम्ममताक्रिया ।
सत्त्वेन चित्तं क्षेत्रज्ञे गुणैर्वैकारिकं परे ॥ २९॥
अप्सु क्षितिमपो ज्योतिष्यदो वायौ नभस्यमुम् ।
कूटस्थे तच्च महति तदव्यक्तेऽक्षरे च तत् ॥ ३०॥
इत्यक्षरतयाऽऽत्मानं चिन्मात्रमवशेषितम् ।
ज्ञात्वाद्वयोऽथ विरमेद्दग्धयोनिरिवानलः ॥ ३१॥
इति श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे पारमहंस्यां संहितायां सप्तमस्कन्धे
युधिष्ठिरसंवादे सदाचारनिर्णयो नाम द्वादशोऽध्यायः ॥ १२॥
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When incapable through ailments or old age of performing his (religious) duties and even of pursuing the knowledge of the Spirit, he should resort to fasting etc.* (23)
Withdrawing the sacred fires into himself and giving up the feeling of identification with the body as well as the feeling that the body etc., are 'mine', he should (mentally) merge his psychophysical organism in its causes, assigning each constituent to its proper place (as explained in the following verses). (24)
A wise man should merge the apertures of his body (viz., the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils, the mouth and the organs of urination and defecation) in ether, the (five) vital airs in the (cosmic) air, the heat (of his body) in (the element of) fire; the blood, phlegm and pus (etc.) into water and the rest (viz., solid matter such as bones, flesh and so on) in earth, everything being consigned to its origin. (25)
(Again,) he should merge his (organ of) speech along with the function of speaking in Agni (the god of fire), the two hands as well as the function of grasping and releasing things in Indra, the feet along with (the function of) locomotion in Lord Viṣṇu (conceived in the form of the Time-Spirit), the faculty of procreation along with sexual enjoyment in Prajāpati (the god presiding over procreation) and the organ of defecation as well as the act of voiding excrements in Mṛtyu (the god of death), directing each organ and its function to its proper place (the deity presiding over it). (Likewise) he should merge the sense of hearing along with sound (the object of hearing) in the (deities presiding over) the quarters, the tactile sense as well as touch in the wind-god and the (various) colours along with the faculty of vision in the sun-god (the source of light), O Yudhiṣṭhira. He should (further) merge the palate along with (the different) tastes (towards which the mind feels excessively drawn) in (the deity presiding over) water, the olfactory sense along with the various smells (the objects of the olfactory sense) into (the goddess presiding over) the earth, Manas (the mind) along with the (various) projects (indulged in by the mind) in the moon-god, Buddhi (understanding) along with the objects capable of being understood in Brahmā (the highest and the earliest seer,) (his) actions along with self-consciousness in Rudra, from whom proceeds (all) action prompted by egotism and self-interest, Citta (reason) along with Sattva (consciousness) in Lord Vāsudeva (the deity presiding over Citta) and the Jiva (who is tainted with the morbid feeling that I am the enjoyer and so on) along with the three Guṇas (modes of Prakṛti, which are responsible for the aforesaid morbid feeling) in the transcendent Brahma (the Absolute). (26—29)
(Then) he should merge earth in water, water in fire, the latter in the air, that (again) in ether, the last-named in Ahaṅkāra (the principle of self-consciousness), the latter in Mahattattva (the principle of cosmic intelligence), that in the Unmanifest (Prakṛti or primordial Matter) and the last-named in the Indestructible (Brahma). (30)
(And) recognizing the Self—left (as a residue) in the form of absolute Consciousness by this process (of eliminating all its vestures)—as (no other than) the Indestructible (Brahma) and thus remaining without a second, he should cease functioning even like fire that has consumed its own support (in the shape of wood). (31)
Thus ends the twelfth discourse, entitled "An inquiry into right conduct (continued)" forming part of the dialogue between Emperor Yudhiṣṭhira and the sage Nārada in Book Seven of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Sarhhitā.
* This should not be taken to mean that an anchorite is forbidden to take his bath or that he is asked to remain positively unclean or allow dirt to accumulate on his body. What is sought to be conveyed by all these restrictions is simply this that he should be unmindful of his exterior, that he should not devote particular attention to cleanliness etc., that his bodily needs should be reduced to the minimum and that he should completely subordinate his physical self to the higher self.
* It is laid down in Discourse XIII that even after completing the maximum period of twelve years an anchorite should continue to practise austerities in the woods if he is still able-bodied and fit to perform his religious duties, or that he should enter the fourth stage and lead the life of a recluse (Sannyāsi) if he is no longer fit for austerities but is intellectually fit and mentally alert enough to pursue the knowledge of the Spirit. When, however, he finds himself both physically and mentally unfit, he is advised to adopt the course suggested in this and the following verses. (23-31)
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