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.
should make a fire.  He should make his round of mendicancy in a place whence smoke has ceased to curl up and where all the inhabitants have already eaten.[139] The person who is conversant with the conduct that leads to Emancipation should seek for alms after the vessels (used in cooking) have been washed.  He should never rejoice when he obtains anything, and never be depressed if he obtains nothing.  Seeking just what is needed for supporting life, he should, with concentrated mind, go about his round of mendicancy, waiting for the proper time.  He should not wish for earnings in common with others, nor eat when honoured.  The man who leads the life of mendicancy should conceal himself for avoiding gifts with honour.  While eating, he should not eat such food as forms the remains of another’s dish, nor such as is bitter, or astringent, or pungent.  He should not also eat such kinds of food as have a sweet taste.  He should eat only so much as is needed to keep him alive.  The person conversant with Emancipation should obtain his subsistence without obstructing any creature.  In his rounds of mendicancy he should never follow another (bent on the same purpose).  He should never parade his piety; he should move about in a secluded place, freed from passion.  Either an empty house, or a forest, or the foot of some tree, or a river, or a mountain-cave, he should have recourse to for shelter.  In summer he should pass only one night in an inhabited place; in the season of rains he may live in one place.  He should move about the world like a worm, his path pointed out by the Sun.  From compassion for creatures, he should walk on the Earth with his eyes directed towards it.  He should never make any accumulations and should avoid residence with friends.  The man conversant with Emancipation should every day do all his acts with pure water.  Such a man should always perform his ablutions with water that has been fetched up (from the river or the tank).[140] Abstention from harm, Brahmacharyya, truth, simplicity, freedom from wrath, freedom from decrying others, self-restraint, and habitual freedom from backbiting:  these eight vows, with senses restrained, he should steadily pursue.  He should always practise a sinless mode of conduct, that is not deceptive and not crooked.  Freed from attachment, he should always make one who comes as a guest eat (at least) a morsel of food.  He should eat just enough for livelihood, for the support of life.  He should eat only such food as has been obtained by righteous means, and should not pursue the dictates of desire.  He should never accept any other thing than food and clothing only.  He should, again, accept only as much as he can eat and nothing more.  He should not be induced to accept gifts from others, nor should he make gifts to others.  Owing to the helplessness of creatures, the man of wisdom should always share with others.  He should not appropriate what belongs to others, nor should he take anything without being asked. 
Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.