16 - The Duties of the House Holder Rules of Good Conduct

The 'duties' of householders are described in numerous works on Dharma-Shastra-Dharma Sutras (e.g., Apastamba II. 1-11, Vasishtha VIII. 1-17, XI. 1-48), Smrutis (e.g., Manu IV, Yajnavalkya I.96-127), Mbh-Anu-šhāsana ch. 97, Purāṇas (e.g., Bh. P. VII. Ch. 11, XI. Ch. 17, NP. I. Ch. 43) and digests (e.g., SMC-I. pp. 88-282, Smrutyarthasāra, pp. 18-48). A number of these verses prescribing 'Do's' and 'Don'ts' are actually subhashitas current among the ancient Indians as a number of these are common to Pali and Prakrits. These verses shed light on the customs, manners, prejudices etc. of the people of those times.

The Daily duties (Āhnika) of a householder are described in Ch. XVIII.

Vyāsa said:

1. One should not injure any living being. On no occasion should he speak falsehood. One shall not speak unpalatable and unwholesome things. One should by no means be a thief. 

2. The person who steals properties of others even if they be a blade of grass, a lump of clay, a plant or water, falls into the hell. 

3. One should not accept monetary gifts from a fallen king, Shudra or any other person. A learned man should avoid being a suppliant in front of a blameworthy person. 

4. One should never be a beggar; (if one has to beg) one should not beg the same person twice. This evil-minded beggar will deprive him of his life there-by. 

5. O excellent Brahmaņas, he should not be one who misappropriates especially the properties of the deity. Even in emergency, he should never take away the wealth of Brāhmaṇa. 

6. They say that poison is not dangerous but the property of a Brāhmaṇa or that of the deity is the real poison. Hence one should scrupulously avoid these assets. 

7. Manu, the Prajāpati, has said that the taking of any of these things, though not handed over to one (by the owner). is not stealing viz. flowers, greens, water, firewood, roots, fruits and grass. 

8-9. Flowers can be taken by Brāhmaṇas at the time of the worship of the Lord. If they are taken without permission, they should not be taken from one single person. A sensible man should take away grass, firewood, fruits and flowers openly. They must be taken only for the purpose of a religious rite. Otherwise, he will face downfall. 

10. O Brahmanas, if deeply afflicted by hunger on the way while travelling, a handful of gingelly seeds, green gram, barley and other articles may be taken (even without the permission of the owner) by persons knowing Dharma. They should not do so otherwise. This is the established conventional practice. 

11-12. Under the pretext of a holy vow, one should not commit sins and perform holy rites. A Brahmana who conceals his sins by means of holy rites and depends on womenfolk and Shudras, is despised here and hereafter by the expounders of the Brahman. A Vrata (holy rite) performed under a false pretext goes to the Rakshasas. 

13. If a non-lingin (a person who is not a Sannyāsin or Brahmacharin) maintains himself in the guise of a lingin (ascetic) he shall incur the sins of those persons and shall be born as a lower animal. 

14. The religious hypocrites and impostors are the worst sinners in the world. They are the destroyers of Dharma. The fruit of their action is that they sink into sins immediately. 

15. One should not even verbally revere and honour the heretics, those who indulge in wrong actions, those who perform black magic, the Pancharatras and the Pashupatas. 

16. One should not even mentally think of those people who censure the Vedas, Devas and the Brahmanas. 

17. The creature (person) who officiates in their sacrifice, has matrimonial alliance with them, who talks to them and who stays along with them faces downfall. Hence, he should avoid it scrupulously. 

18. Incurring the displeasure of the preceptor is a crore of times worse than incurring the displeasure of Devas. Censuring of perfect knowledge and atheism is a crore of times worse than that. 

19. Those families which become devoid of Dharma through (sale-purchase of) cows, (paid service of) deities, and priesthood, agriculture, king's service sink to a lower status. 

20. Families decline in prosperity through these evil activities viz.-contracting despicable marriages, non-performance of holy rites, non-study of the Vedas as well as by slighting the Brahmanas. 

21. A family perishes immediately due to uttering false hoods, committing adultery, eating forbidden foodstuffs and by not performing the holy rites enjoined by the Shrutis. 

22. Indeed, a family perishes quickly by making charitable gifts to those who are not well-read (in the Vedas) as well as to Vrushalas (Shudras), who do not strictly follow the regulations of the conduct of life. 

23. One shall never stay in a village surrounded by unrighteous persons or afflicted by many pestilences. One shall never stay in the kingdom of a Shudra, or in a place inhabited by heretics. 

24. A Brahmana should not stay in any other place except in the land between the mountains Himavan and the Vindhya and between the Eastern and Western oceans. 

25. A Brahmana may reside in a land naturally frequented by black-antelope or inundated by holy and well-known rivers. 

26. An excellent Brahmana shall not stay anywhere else except within half a Krosha of the holy river (1 Krosha = 3 Km). He shall not stay near the village of the Shudras. 

27. He should not live in the same place with that of fallen castes, Chandālas, Pukkasas, foolish fellows, arrogant persons, Shūdras and the people of the lowliest castes called Antyāvasāyins. 

28-29. The following eleven defects caused by mingling of the castes are called sins of intermixture (Saṁkarya Doshas viz.-sharing the same bed, sharing a common seat, sitting in the same row, sharing of the same vessel, partaking of the cooked food together, presiding over the sacrifices, teaching marriage alliance, taking of food together, studying together and jointly presiding over the sacrifices. 

30. Even by staying near-by the sin is transmitted from one man to another. Hence a sensible man shall scrupulously avoid intermingling of the castes. 

31. If the people sitting in the same row do not touch one another and if ashes mark their boundary, there is no Samkara defect. 

32. The row can be separated by means of these six: fire, ashes, water, door, pillar and a pathway. 

33. One should not pursue enmity that ends in sorrow, nor indulge in argument, nor in back-biting. Nor should one communicate to others if a cow is grazing in another man's field (!) 

34. One shall not have social intercourse with a person having the impurity due to birth. One shall not touch the vulnerable points of others. One shall not indicate and mention to others the eclipse of the sun nor the rainbow nor the fire (consuming) the dead body. 

35. A learned man shall never indicate and mention the moon. No man should ever incur the antagonism of the majority at the same time. 

36. One should not do unto others what is unfavourable (or displeasing) to himself. He should not mention the Tithi (the serial number of that day in a lunar fortnight) of the fortnight nor should he point out the constellations (?) 

37. An excellent Brahmana should not speak to a woman in her monthly course or to an unclean person. No one should prevent anything from being given to Devas, preceptors or Brahmanas. 

38. No one should praise himself. One should avoid censuring others. One should scrupulously avoid blaspheming Devas and the Vedas. 

39. O great sages, no atonement is seen ordained in the scriptures in the case of a Brahmana who censures Devas, sages, Brahmanas or the Vedas. 

40. If a man loudly decries or censures the preceptors, Devas or the Vedas, he shall be cooked in the hell Raurava for hundreds of crores of Kalpas and even more. 

41. If anyone rebukes or censures, it is better that one keeps quiet without saying anything by way of reply (and still better) he should close his ears and go away. He should not stop even to glance at them. 

42. A sensible man should guard the secrets of others and refrain from divulging them. He should never enter into argument with his own kinsmen. 

43. O excellent Brahmanas, no one should call a sinner either a sinner or a sinless person. (In either case) he will be equally guilty of sins such as that of uttering falsehood. 

44. The tears shed by those innocent) persons who are falsely accused and so cry, destroy the sons and animals of those false accusers. 

45. A way of expiation is mentioned by good men in the cases of Brahmana slaughter, addiction to wine, stealing and committing adultery with the preceptor's wife. But there is no atonement for false accusation. 

46. One should not see the rising sun or the moon without cause. He should not see them setting, reflected in the water, stationed in the middle of the sky or under eclipse.

47. He should not see (the sun or the moon) covered with a cloth (i.e., screened by a cloth), nor reflected in a mirror. No one should even see a naked woman or a man. 

48. No one should see anyone passing urine or discharging faeces or a couple in the act of copulation. No sensible man shall glance at the planets, the sun, the moon etc. while he is unclean. 

49. One should not glance at a fallen person (outcaste) a maimed person, a Chandala or a Person defiled by Ucchishta. If one is defiled by Ucchishta (or veiled) one should not glance at others arrogantly. * 

*v.l. avagunthitah 'veiled'. 

50. One should not touch a person who has touched a dead body. One should not look at the face of the angry preceptor. One should not see one's reflection in oil or water one should not touch one's wife during dinner or while her limbs are exposed due to untying of knot; one should not look at a mad and elated person. 

51. One should not take food along with one's wife. Nor should one look at one's own wife urinating, sneezing or yawning, nor shall one see her cosily seated at ease. 

52. One should not look out one's own reflection in water: one should not jump from one bank to another; one should not jump across a deep pit; one should never tread over urine or stand on it. 

53. One should not impart intellect (i.e., topics of lore) to a Shudra. Nor shall these things be given to him viz.-The Krushara (rice cooked with gingelly seeds), the milk-pudding, curds; nor the leavings Ucchishta), ghee, honey, black-antelope hide or Havis (sacrificial offerings). 

54. Instructions regarding observance of holy vows should not be given to a Shudra: a learned man should not expound Dharma unto him. No one should submit to anger and avoid hatred and passion. 

55. Covetousness and arrogance should be avoided. One should avoid ridiculing religious travels and scorning perfect knowledge. One should desist from haughtiness and delusion, fury and hatred. 

56. One should not inflict pain on anyone: one may however beat his son and disciple. One should never serve the mean and the base nor should he serve sharp-witted persons. 

57. One should not dishonour oneself (the Atman); one should scrupulously avoid dejectedness, (or should try to conceal one's miserable condition), one should not fail to honour one who is not one's disciple (?), a learned man should not praise himself. 

58. One should not scribble on the ground with the nails; one shall not cohabit (or lie) with a cow (?); one should not speak of (another river while bathing in one) river nor should he speak (in praise of) other mountains while resting on one mountain (?) 

59. One should not abandon a fellow traveller whether one stays with him overnight or not; one should not enter water in the nude state; nor should he walk over fire. 

60. One should not anoint the limbs with the oil left over after applying it over the head; one should not play with weapons or serpents; one should not touch (i.e., scrape) the private parts of one's body (with a weapon). 

61-62. (One shall not touch) the hairs on the private parts; one should not travel in the company of an uncultured fellow; one should not (warm) hands and feet in the fire, one should not indulge in unsteady act of the penis, belly and ears. One should not scratch oneself with nails. One should not drink water with palms joined together. 

63. One should not keep water (in tanks or rivers) with the leg or strike it with the hand; one should not fell down fruits by hurling bricks or other fruits at them. 

64-65. One should not learn the language (mode of speech) of the alien tribe; one should not drag a seat by means of the leg; one should not create dissension (among friends). One should not crack the finger joints or snap the fingers; one should not cut or scrape aimlessly. The sensible man should not thrash suddenly or aimlessly. One should not keep food on the lap while eating; one should not indulge in purposeless movements of the limbs. 

66. One should neither dance, nor sing, nor play on musical instruments. One should not scratch one's head with all the fingers joined together. 

67. One should not try to propitiate the deities with worldly hymns or medicine; one should not play with dice; one should not rush against others for assaulting them(?); one should not urinate or discharge faeces into water. 

68. One should not cohabit when defiled by Ucchishta; one should not bathe in the nude: one should not read or touch one's head, while walking. 

69. One should not cut the hairs or nails by means of the teeth; one should not waken the sleeper. One should not bask in the early morning sun; one should avoid smoke arising from the dead body. 

70. One should not sleep alone in an empty abode: on should not bring shoes by oneself (with the hands?). One should not spit without reason; one should not cross the river by means of the arms. 

71. A learned man should not wash legs with the legs; one should not warm legs in the fire; one should not wash (his feet) in a bellmetal vessel. 

72. One should not extend his feet towards the idols of gods, the Brahmanas or the cow, the wind, the fire, the preceptor, the Brahmins, the sun or the moon. 

73. By no means should an unclean person go to bed, travel, study the Vedas, take food without bathing or set out from the house. 

74. One should avoid the following during the two Sandhyas (dawn and dusk) as well as at midday: sleeping, study of the Vedas, travelling, excrement, taking food and walking. 

75. A Brahmana defiled by Ucchishta shall not touch cows, Brahmanas and the fire, with the hand, nor should he touch cooked rice or the divine idol with the foot. 

76. No unclean person should circumambulate the fire: nor should he glorify the gods or the sages; one should not enter deep waters; one shall not hold fire on one side (?) 

77. One should not drink water by lifting it up with the left hand and nor shall he drink with the mouth directly; one shall not reply (when impure) without performing the Achamana rite; nor should one discharge semen virile into the water. 

78. One should not cast into water any other thing smeared with Amedhya (filth, rubbish), blood or poisons. One should not cross a river; one should not indulge in sexual intercourse in water. 

79. One should not chop off the trees in a monastery; one should not spit into water; one should not tread on bone, ashes, skulls, hair, thorn, burning charcoal or dry balls of cowdung. 

80. No sensible man should cross the burning fire, nor should he keep it anywhere beneath; No sensible man should kick it with the leg nor blow it with the mouth. 

81. One should not descend into the well; an unclean person should never look into a well; one should not throw fire into fire, nor extinguish it with water. 

82. No one should himself tell others about the distress or death of a friend; one should not utilise for sale any article or merchandise which is unsaleable (due to its quality). 

83. No sensible man, if unclean, should kindle fire by means of windblown from the mouth; He should plough (i.e., transgress*) a land in a holy centre, near water or on the border (of a village?).

*Ft. note 7 in the Venk. Text. 

84. One shall not break an earlier agreement accompanied by a promise; no one should rouse up animals, serpents or birds (?) 

85. One should not inconvenience others through watersheds etc., one should not cause the artisans etc. to do great jobs and then forsake them. One should keep the doors of the house shut in the morning and in the evening to prevent the beggars. 

86. One should avoid outside (over his dress) garland, alien scents, dining in the company of one's wife, argument with quarrels and entry by the bad way? 

87. A Brahmana should not stand up while eating. A sensible man should not spend much time prattling and laughing. One should not touch the fire with the hand; one should not stay too long under water. 

88. One should not kindle the fire by generating the wind with a wing, a winnowing basket or the hand. He should blow the air with his mouth and kindle the fire. (It is said in the Vedas) that Agni was born of his mouth. 

89. One shall not speak to another man's wife. No Brahmana should perform the Yajna on behalf of one not worthy of it. One should not enter an assembly singly. One should avoid a crowd of Brahmanas; one should never go to the shrine of a deity in an anti-clockwise direction. 

90. One should not fan with the cloth; one should not sleep in a temple; one should not undertake a journey alone; no should he travel with unrighteous people. 

91. One should not undertake a journey in the company of persons defiled by sickness, or of Shudras or of fallen men (outcaste). One should never travel without shoes or without taking water and other requisites. 

92. At night one should not travel in the company of one's enemy. One should not travel without a waterpot. One should not go between fires, Brahmanas, cows etc. 

93. O excellent Brahmanas, one should not transgress a woman longing for sexual intercourse. One should not censure Siddhas, Yogins and ascetics of good qualities. 

94. In the temple and in the presence of devas, one should not wantonly tread on the shadow of the Brahmanas and the cows. 

95. One should not let one's own shadow to be tread on by sick persons, fallen people or others. One should never stand on burning coal or ashes or hair or similar things. 

96. O Brahmanas, one should avoid the dust particles rising from the broom and the water that remains in a pot after washing clothes or taking bath. Forbidden foodstuffs should not be eaten nor should one drink impotable water.