“The triliteral monosyllable is an emblem of the Supreme; the suppressions of breath, with a mind fixed on God, are the highest devotion; but nothing is more exalted than the gayatri; a declaration of truth is more excellent than silence.

“All rites ordained in the Veda, oblations to fire, and solemn sacrifices pass away; but that which passes not away is declared to be the syllable om, thence called acshara; since it is a symbol of God, the Lord of created beings.

   “The act of repeating his Holy Name is ten times better than the
   appointed sacrifice; an hundred times better when it is heard by no
   man; and a thousand times better when it is purely mental.

   “To a man contaminated by sensuality, neither the Vedas, nor
   liberality, nor sacrifices, nor strict observances, nor pious
   austerities, ever procure felicity.

   “As he who digs deep with a spade comes to a spring of water, so the
   student, who humbly serves his teacher, attains the knowledge which
   lies deep in his teacher’s mind.

   “If the sun should rise and set, while he sleeps through sensual
   indulgence, and knows it not, he must fast a whole day repeating the
   gayatri.

“Let him adore God both at sunrise and at sunset, as the law ordains, having made his ablution, and keeping his organs controlled; and with fixed attention let him repeat the text, which he ought to repeat in a place free from impurity.

   “The twice-born man who shall thus without intermission have passed the
   time of his studentship shall ascend after death to the most exalted of
   regions, and no more again spring to birth in this lower world.”

The following passages are from Book IV., “On Private Morals":—­

   “Let a Brahman, having dwelt with a preceptor during the first quarter
   of a man’s life, pass the second quarter of human life in his own
   house, when he has contracted a legal marriage.

   “He must live with no injury, or with the least possible injury, to
   animated beings, by pursuing those means of gaining subsistence, which
   are strictly prescribed by law, except in times of distress.

   “Let him say what is true, but let him say what is pleasing; let him
   speak no disagreeable truth, nor let him speak agreeable falsehood;
   this is a primeval rule.

   “Let him say ‘well and good,’ or let him say ‘well’ only; but let him
   not maintain fruitless enmity and altercation with any man.

   “All that depends on another gives pain; and all that depends on
   himself gives pleasure; let him know this to be in few words the
   definition of pleasure and pain.

   “And for whatever purpose a man bestows a gift, for a similar purpose
   he shall receive, with due honor, a similar reward.