[144] (The teacher) who fills (the pupil’s) two ears with the Veda not in vain is to be known as his mother and his father, and he must not act with malice against him. [145] The teacher is more important than ten instructors, and the father more than a hundred teachers, but the mother more than a thousand fathers. [146] Between the one who gives him birth and the one who gives him the Veda, the one who gives the Veda is the more important father; for a priest’s birth through the Veda is everlasting, both here on earth and after death. [147] That his mother and father produced him through mutual desire, and he was born in the womb, he should regard as his mere coming into existence. [148] But the birth that a teacher who has crossed to the far shore of the Veda produces for him through the verse to the sun-god, in accordance with the rules, is real, free from old age and free from death. [149] And the man who gives him the benefit of the revealed canon, a little or a lot, he too should be known as his guru here, because of that benefit of the revealed canon. [150] The priest who brings about the Vedic birth of an older person and who teaches him his own duties becomes his father, according to law, even if he is himself a child.
[151] When the poet who was born in the family of the Angirases was still a little child he instructed his ancestors and called them ‘My little sons’, because he excelled them in knowledge. [152] Full of indignation, they asked the gods about the matter, and the gods assembled and said to them, ‘The little child spoke to you correctly.’ [153] For an ignorant man is really a child and the one who gives him the Vedic verses is his father; people call an ignorant man, ‘Child’, and a person who gives Vedic verses, ‘Father’.
[154] (Seniority comes) not through years or grey hair or wealth or relatives; the sages established this law: ‘The man who has learned the Veda with all of its subsidiary texts is great among us.’ [155] The seniority of priests comes from knowledge; of rulers, from manly power; of commoners, from wealth in grain; and of servants alone, from birth. [156] A man does not become old by virtue of his grey hair; the gods regard as an elder the man who, though young, has learned (the Veda). [157] A priest who has not learned (the Veda) is like an elephant made of wood, like a deer made of leather: these three bear nothing but the name. [158] As an impotent man produces no fruit in women, as a cow produces no fruit in a cow, and as a gift made to an ignorant man is fruitless, so a priest who does not know the ṛg Veda is fruitless.
[159] Living beings must be taught what is best for them without violence, and a man who wants to uphold the law should use sweet, smooth speech. [160] A man whose speech and mind-and-heart are clean and always properly guarded receives all the fruit of reaching the end of the Veda. [161] Even a person in physical distress should not strike where there is a wound, or be malicious to others in thought or action; nor should he use unusual speech that will cause alarm. [162] A priest should always be alarmed by adulation as if it were poison and always desire scorn as if it were ambrosia. [163] For the man who is scorned sleeps happily, awakes happily, and goes about happily in this world; but the man who scorns perishes.
[164] A twice-born man whose soul has been perfected by the transformative rituals in the proper order should, while living with his guru, gradually accumulate the inner heat for the study of the Veda. [165] A twice-born man should study the whole Veda, together with the secret texts, while generating particular forms of inner heat and performing various vows enjoined by the rules. [166] If a priest wishes to generate inner heat he should constantly recite just the Veda, for the recitation of the Veda is said to be the supreme form of generation of inner heat for a priest here on earth. [167] The twice-born man who recites the Veda privately every day, as well as he can, even while he is wearing a garland, is generating the supreme inner heat, right up to the very tips of his nails.
[168] A twice-born man who does not study the Veda but exerts himself doing something else quickly turns into a servant, even while he is alive, and his descendants too. [169] According to the command of the revealed canon, the first birth of a twice-born man is from his mother, the second is in the tying of his belt of rushes, and the third is in his consecration for a sacrifice. [170] Of these, the birth marked by the tying of the belt of rushes is his Vedic birth, and in it the verse to the sun-god is said to be his mother and the teacher his father. [171] They call the teacher the father because he gives the Veda, for one cannot engage in any ritual until the belt of rushes is tied. [172] (Until then,) a man should not pronounce any Vedic text except when pouring out the refreshment for the dead, for he is the equal of a servant as long as he has not been born in the Veda.
[173] When he has been initiated he should seek instruction in the vows and grasp the Veda in the proper order and following the rules. [174] Whatever animal skin, thread, belt, staff, and garment were prescribed (in the initiation) are for his vows, too. [175] The chaste student of the Veda who lives with his guru should obey these restraints, completely restraining the cluster of his sensory powers to increase his own inner heat. [176] When he has bathed and is unpolluted, he should always make a refreshing libation to the gods, sages, and ancestors, worship the deities, and put fuel on (the sacrificial fire). [177] He should avoid honey, meat, perfume, garlands, spices, women, anything that has gone sour, and violence to creatures that have the breath of life; [178] anointing (his body with oil), putting make-up on his eyes, wearing shoes, and carrying an umbrella; desire, anger, and greed; dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments; [179] gambling, group arguments, gossip, telling lies, looking at women or touching them, and striking another person. [180] He should always sleep alone and never shed his semen, for by shedding his semen out of lust he breaks his vow. [181] A twice-born chaste student of the Veda who has spilled his semen in his sleep, not out of lust, should bathe, worship the sun, and chant, three times, the Vedic verse that begins, ‘Let my sensory power return to me again.’
[182] He should fetch a pot of water, flowers, cowdung, clay, and sacrificial grass, as much as are needed, and go begging every day. [183] A chaste student of the Veda, purified, should beg every day from the houses of people who do not fail to perform Vedic sacrifices and who are approved of for carrying out their own innate activities. [184] He should not beg from his guru’s family nor from the relatives of his mother or father, but if he cannot get to the houses of others he should avoid each of these more than the one that precedes it. [185] And if there are none of the people mentioned above, he should beg from the whole village, purified and restrained in his speech, but he should avoid those who have been indicted. [186] When he has brought fuel from a distance, he should set it down in the open air, not on the ground, and tirelessly make oblations into the fire with it, morning and evening. [187] If he fails to go begging or to put fuel on the fire for seven nights when he is not ill, he should carry out the vow for one who has shed his semen unchastely.
[188] When he is under the vow (of a chaste student) he should make his living by begging, nor should he eat the food of just one person; when begging is the livelihood of a person under a vow it is traditionally regarded as equal to fasting. [189] If he is invited to a ceremony dedicated to the gods or a ritual for the ancestors, he may eat if he wishes, but like a man under a vow or like a sage, and he must not break his vow. [190] Wise men have ordained this ritual activity just for a priest; this ritual activity is not prescribed for a king or a commoner. [191] When he is commanded by his guru, or even when he is not commanded, he should constantly harness his energies to study (the Veda) and to do what is good for his teacher. [192] Restraining his body, his speech, and his mind-and-heart and senses, he should stand with his hands cupped, looking at his guru’s face. [193] His hand should always be bare, his conduct virtuous, and (his body) well covered; and when he is told, ‘Sit down’, he should sit down facing his guru.
[194] He should always have worse food, clothing, and ornaments than his guru when he is in his presence, and he should get up earlier and go to rest later. [195] He should not listen to or talk with (
his guru) while lying on a bed, sitting, eating, or standing with his face turned away. [196] He should (listen or talk) standing when (the guru) is seated, walking towards him when he is standing, rising to meet him when he comes towards him, and running after him when he runs, [197] facing him when his face is turned away, going closer to him when he stands far away, bending down before him when he lies on a bed or is standing on a lower spot. [198] His bed and seat should always be lower than his guru’s in his presence, and he should not sit any which way he likes when he is within his guru’s range of vision. [199] He should not utter his (guru’s) mere name alone even when he is out of sight, nor imitate his gait, speech, and movements.
[200] Wherever people speak ill of or even reproach his guru, he should cover up both ears or go somewhere else. [201] As a result of speaking ill of him, he becomes a donkey, and if he reproaches him he becomes a dog; if he lives off him he becomes a worm, and if he is grudging towards him he becomes a bug. [202] He should not honour him while remaining far away from him, nor when (the guru) is angry or in the presence of a woman. If he is in a carriage or on a seat, he should get down and then greet him. [203] He should not sit with his guru to the windward or the leeward, and he should not say anything that his guru cannot hear. [204] He may sit with his guru in a carriage drawn by an ox, horse, or camel, on a terrace, a bed of leaves or flowers, or a mat, or on a rock, a wooden bench, or a boat. [205] When his guru’s guru is present, he should treat him like his guru; but he should not greet venerable people in his own family without his guru’s permission. [206] This is also how he should always treat those who are his gurus because of their learning, who are born of the same womb, who prevent him from acting wrongly, or who give him advice for his own good.
[207] He should always treat his betters like his guru, and so too his guru’s son when he is a teacher, and his guru’s own relatives. [208] A guru’s son who teaches (the Veda) should receive honour like the guru, whether he is a child or the same age, or (even still) a pupil in the sacrificial ritual. [209] (A student) should not massage the limbs of the guru’s son, nor bathe him or eat his leftovers, nor wash his feet.
[210] The guru’s wives who belong to the same class should be revered like the guru, but those who do not belong to the same class should be revered by rising to greet them. [211] (The student) should not rub oil on his guru’s wife, or bathe her, or massage her limbs, or do her hair. [212] When he is fully twenty years old and understands virtues and vices here on earth, he should not greet his guru’s young wife by (touching) her feet. [213] It is the very nature of women to corrupt men here on earth; for that reason, circumspect men do not get careless and wanton among wanton women. [214] It is not just an ignorant man, but even a learned man of the world, too, that a wanton woman can lead astray when he is in the control of lust and anger. [215] No one should sit in a deserted place with his mother, sister, or daughter; for the strong cluster of the sensory powers drags away even a learned man. [216] But a young man may, if he wishes, prostrate himself on the ground in front of his guru’s young wives in accordance with the rules, saying, ‘I am (his name)’. [217] When he returns from a journey he should embrace the feet of his guru’s wives and greet them every day, remembering the duties of good people.
[218] Just as a man who digs with a spade discovers water, even so the obedient (pupil) discovers the learning that is in his guru. [219] He may shave his head or keep his hair matted or in a matted crest, but the sun should never close its eyes or rise on him in a village. [220] If the sun rises on him or closes its eyes on him when he is lying in bed for pleasure or even unknowingly, he should fast for a day while chanting (the verse to the sun). [221] For a man who lies in bed when the sun closes its eyes on him or rises on him, and who does not carry out the restoration, incurs great guilt. [222] With a concentrated mind, he should always purify himself by rinsing his mouth and worship the two twilights in an unpolluted place, chanting the prayer that should be chanted in accordance with the rules.
[223] If a woman or a man lower born does anything that is better, he should do all of that diligently, and whatever his mind-and-heart delights in. [224] Religion and profit are said to be better, or pleasure and profit, or religion alone, or profit alone here on earth; but the fixed rule is that the triple path is best.
[225] A teacher, father, mother, and older brother should not be treated with contempt, especially by a priest, not even by someone who has been provoked. [226] The teacher is the physical form of ultimate reality, the father the physical form of the Lord of Creatures, the mother the physical form of the earth, and one’s own brother the physical form of one’s own self. [227] The trouble that a mother and father endure in giving birth to human beings cannot be redeemed even in a hundred years. [228] He should constantly do what pleases the two of them, and always what pleases his teacher; when those three are satisfied, all inner heat is achieved. [229] Obedience to these three is said to be the supreme generation of inner heat; he should not assume any other duties without their permission.
[230] For they alone are the three worlds, they alone are the three stages of life, they alone are the three Vedas, and they alone are said to be the three sacrificial fires. [231] The father is the householder’s fire, and the mother is traditionally regarded as the southern fire; but the guru is the fire for the oblations to the gods; and this is the most important triad of fires. [232] The householder who does not neglect these three conquers the three worlds; illuminated by his own body, like a god, he rejoices in heaven. [233] By loving devotion to his mother he wins this world; by loving devotion to his father, the middle world; and by obedience to his guru, the world of ultimate reality.
[234] A man who has deeply respected these has deeply respected all duties; but all rites are fruitless for the man who has not deeply respected these. [235] As long as these three live, he should not undertake any other (duties); he should constantly give them his obedience, taking pleasure in what pleases them and is good for them. [236] He should inform them about whatever he undertakes, in mind-and-heart, speech, or action, for the sake of the world beyond and without inconvenience to them. [237] For by treating these three in this way a man accomplishes what ought to be done; this is the ultimate duty right before one’s eyes, and any other is said to be a subordinate duty.
[238] A man who has faith may receive good learning even from a man who is lower, the ultimate law even from a man of the lowest (castes), and a jewel of a woman even from a bad family. [239] Ambrosia may be extracted even from poison, and good advice even from a child, good behaviour even from an enemy, and gold even from something impure. [240] Women, jewels, learning, law, purification, good advice, and various crafts may be acquired from anybody. [241] In extremity, it is permissible to learn (the Veda) from someone who is not a priest and to walk behind him and obey him like a guru as long as the instruction lasts. [242] If a pupil longs for the ultimate level of existence, he should not live endlessly with a guru who is not a priest or with a priest who does not know the Veda with all of its subsidiary texts.
[243] But if he wishes to live endlessly with the guru’s family, he should obey him diligently until he (himself) is freed from his body. [224] A priest who obeys his guru until the body is finished goes straight to the eternal abode of ultimate reality. [245] A man who knows the law should not offer anything to his guru ahead of time, but when he has received his guru’s permission (to leave) and is about to take his (graduation) bath he should bring a present for his guru, to the best of his ability: [246] a field, gold, a cow, a horse, or, finally, an umbrella and shoes, grain, clothing, or vegetables, presenting it to please his guru. [247] But if his teacher dies, he should treat his guru’s son like a guru, if he has good qualities, or his guru’s wife, or a co-feeding relative. [248] If none of these can be found, he should assume (his guru’s) place, seat, and business, diligently serving the sacrificial fires, and thus perfect his own body. [249] A priest who behaves like this and does not break his vow
as a chaste student of the Veda attains the supreme condition and is not born again here on earth.
End of Chapter 2
[7] The final phrase may also mean, ‘for he (Manu) knew everything’.
[11] The atheist is literally a nāstika or one who says, ‘It is not’, ‘it’ being the world of the gods or heaven.
[13] The text here refers to the three human goals or triple path (trivarga or puruṣārthas): religion (dharma), profit (artha), and pleasure (kāma).
[15] The sacrifice described here is the agnihotra or daily fire sacrifice, which consists of two offerings, one in the morning and one in the evening. The ‘juncture of daybreak’ (samayādhyuṣite) is variously glossed by the commentators as the time when neither sun nor stars are visible, the time of dawn, or the time when the night disappears.
[16] The ceremony of the infusion of semen is the garbhādhāna or ‘conception of the embryo’. These ceremonies belong to men of the first three classes; similar ceremonies are performed for women and servants, but without Vedic verses.
[17] The Land of the Veda (Brahmāvarta) is the traditonal holy land of ancient India.
[19] Brahmarṣideśa (‘The Country of Priestly Sages’) is the area of the Doab (‘two waters’, that is, the land between the two rivers, Ganges and Yamuna) between Delhi and Mathura.
[21] The Himālayas and the Vindhyas are the two great mountain ranges in Northern and Central India. Prayāga is the modern Allahabad; Vinaśana (the ‘Disappearance’) is the place where the river Sarasvatī disappears.
[22] This is Āryāvarta, the cultural centre of traditional Hinduism. An Aryan is a twice-born man, a member of one of the three upper classes; the term is sometimes translated as ‘noble’.
The Laws of Manu Page 11
