have forsaken me! I shall seek salvation now.
The great impediments to salvation are the desire
to beget children, and other concerns of the world.
I shall now adopt the Brahmacharya mode of life and
follow in the imperishable wake of my father.
I shall certainly bring my passions under complete
control by severe ascetic penances. Forsaking
my wives and other relatives and shaving my head,
alone shall I wander over the earth, begging for my
subsistence from each of these trees standing here.
Forsaking every object of affection and aversion, and
covering my body with dust, I shall make the shelter
of trees or deserted houses my home. I shall
never yield to influence of sorrow or joy, and I shall
regard slander and eulogy in the same light.
I shall not seek benedictions or bows. I shall
be at peace with all, and shall not accept gifts.
I shall not mock anybody, nor shall I knit my brows
at any one, but shall be ever cheerful and devoted
to the good of all creatures. I shall not harm
any of the four orders of life gifted with power of
locomotion or otherwise, viz., oviparous and
viviparous creatures and worms and vegetables.
But on the contrary, preserve an equality of behaviour
towards all, as if they were, my own children.
Once a day shall I beg of five or ten families at
the most, and if I do not succeed in obtaining alms,
I shall then go without food. I shall rather
stint myself than beg more than once of the same person.
If I do not obtain anything after completing my round
of seven or ten houses, moved by covetousness, I shall
not enlarge my round. Whether I obtain or fail
to obtain alms. I shall be equally unmoved like
a great ascetic. One lopping off an arm of mine
with a hatchet, and one smearing another arm with
sandal-paste, shall be regarded by me equally.
I shall not wish prosperity to the one or misery to
the other. I shall not be pleased with life or
displeased with death. I shall neither desire
to live nor to die. Washing my heart of all sins,
I shall certainly transcend those sacred rites productive
of happiness, that men perform in auspicious moments,
days, and periods. I shall also abstain from all
acts of religion and profit and also those that lead
to the gratification of the senses. Freed from
all sins and snares of the world, I shall be like
the wind subject to none. Following the path of
fearlessness and bearing myself in this way I shall
at last lay down my life. Destitute of the power
of begetting children, firmly adhering to the line
of duty I shall not certainly deviate therefrom in
order to tread in the vile path of the world that
is so full of misery. Whether respected or disrespected
in the world that man who from covetousness casteth
on others a begging look, certainly behaveth like
a dog. (Destitute as I am of the power of procreation,
I should not certainly, from desire of offspring, solicit
others to give me children).’