The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,582 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4.

The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,582 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4.
and curds and ghee and the sacred day of the new moon, and the meat of wild animals such as deer and others.[222] Upon the completion of a Sraddha performed by a Brahmana the word Swadha should be uttered.  If performed by a Kshatriya the words that should be uttered are—­Let thy Pitris be gratified.—­Upon the completion of a Sraddha performed by a Vaisya, O Bharata, the words that should be uttered are—­Let everything become inexhaustible.—­Similarly, upon the conclusion of a Sraddha performed by a Sudra, the word that should be uttered is Swasti,—­In respect of a Brahmana, the declaration regarding Punyaham should be accompanied with the utterance of the syllable Om.  In the case of a Kshatriya, such declaration should be without the utterance of syllable Om.  In the rites performed by a Vaisya, the words that should be uttered, instead of beings the syllable Om, are,—­Let the deities be gratified.[223]—­Listen now to me as I tell thee the rites that should be performed, one after another, conformably to the ordinances, (in respect of all the orders).  All the rites that go by the name of Jatakarma, O Bharata, are indispensable in the case of all the three orders (that are regenerate).  All these rites, O Yudhishthira, in the case of both Brahmanas and Kshatriyas as also in that of Vaisyas are to be performed with the aid of mantras.  The girdle of a Brahmana should be made of Munja grass.  That for one belonging to the royal order should be a bowstring.  The Vaisya’s girdle should be made of the Valwaji grass.  Even this is what has been laid down in the scriptures.  Listen now to me as I expound to thee what constitutes the merits and faults of both givers and recipients of gifts.  A Brahmana becomes guilty of a dereliction of duty by uttering a falsehood.  Such an act on his part is sinful.  A Kshatriya incurs four times and a Vaisya eight times the sin that a Brahmana incurs by uttering a falsehood.  A Brahmana should not eat elsewhere, having been previously invited by a Brahmana.  By eating at the house of the person whose invitation has been posterior in point of time, he becomes inferior and even incurs the sin that attaches to the slaughter of an animal on occasions other than those of sacrifices.[224] So also, if he eats elsewhere after having been invited by a person of the royal order or a Vaisya, he falls away from his position and incurs half the sin that attaches to the slaughter of an animal on occasions other than those of sacrifices.  That Brahmana, O king, who eats on occasions of such rites as are performed in honour of the deities or the Pitris by Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, without having performed his ablutions, incurs the sin of uttering an untruth for a cow.  That Brahmana, O king, who eats on occasions of similar rites performed by persons belonging to the three higher orders, at a time when he is impure in consequence either of a birth or a death among his cognates, through temptation, knowing well that he is impure incurs the same sin.[225]
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The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.