forbid.  Without doubt, that which they command should always be done.[332] They are the three worlds.  They are the three modes of life.  They are the three Vedas.  They are the three sacred fires.  The father is said to be the Garhapatya fire; the mother, the Dakshina fire, and the preceptor is that fire upon which libations are poured.  These three fires are, of course, the most eminent.  If thou attendest with heedfulness to these three fires, thou wilt succeed in conquering the three worlds.  By serving the father with regularity, one may cross this world.  By serving the mother in the same way, one may attain to regions of felicity in the next.  By serving the preceptor with regularity one may obtain the region of Brahma.  Behave properly towards these three, O Bharata, thou shalt then obtain great fame in the three worlds, and blessed be thou, great will be thy merit and reward.  Never transgress them in any act.  Never eat before they eat, nor eat anything that is better than what thy eat.  Never impute any fault to them.  One should always serve them with humility.  That is an act of high merit.  By acting in that way, O best of kings, thou mayst obtain fame, merit, honour, and regions of felicity hereafter.  He who honours these three is honoured in all the worlds.  He, on the other hand, who disregards these three, falls to obtain any merit from any of his acts.  Such a man, O scorcher of foes, acquires merit neither in this world nor in the next.  He who always disregards these three seniors never obtains fame either here or hereafter.  Such a man never earns any good in the next world.  All that I have given away in honour of those three has become a hundredfold or a thousandfold of its actual measure.  It is in consequence of that merit that even now, O Yudhishthira, the three worlds are clearly before my eyes.  One Acharya is superior to ten Brahmanas learned in the Vedas.  One Upadhyaya is again superior to ten Acharyas.  The father, again, is superior to ten Upadhyayas.  The mother again, is superior to ten fathers, or perhaps, the whole world, in importance.  There is no one that deserves such reverence as the mother.  In my opinion, however, the preceptor is worthy of greater reverence than the father or even the mother.  The father and the mother are authors of one’s being.  The father and the mother, O Bharata, only create the body.  The life, on the other hand, that one obtains from one’s preceptor, is heavenly.  That life is subject to no decay and is immortal.  The father and the mother, however much they may offend, should never be slain.  By not punishing a father and a mother, (even if they deserve punishment), one does not incur sin.  Indeed, such reverend persons, by enjoying impunity, do not stain the king.  The gods and the Rishis do not withhold their favours from such persons as strive to cherish even their sinful fathers with reverence.  He who favours a person by imparting to him true instruction, by communicating the Vedas, and giving knowledge which