29 - Duties of an Ascetic 

Vyāsa said: 

1. In this way the sustenance of ascetics of restrained soul (mind) who strictly adhere to the stage of their life, has been declared to be on begging alms or on fruits, roots etc. 

2. He should beg for alms only for once. He should not indulge in it for long. Since, if an ascetic is attached to alms, he becomes involved in worldly affairs. 

3. He should beg for alms only at seven houses.¹ If nothing is received he should begin begging for alms once again. He should wash the vessel and take food in it. Then once again, he should wash it with water.

1. Vasishtha Dh. S. X. 7, Shankha Smru. VII. 3.

4. Or he should take another vessel for collecting the alms and another for taking food every day. After taking food he should wipe off that vessel and take food only to facilitate the journey of life. He should not be covetous. 

5. The ascetic should go to collect alms when there is no smoke or burning coal, at a house where all the people have taken food and where the threshing rod is kept resting and the potsherds are disposed off.²

2. Manu VI. 56, Shankha VII. 2.

6. After saying "Bhikshă" (alms) once, the mendicant ascetic should stand with the head bent (facing down) for a period of a Godoha (i.e., the time taken to milk a cow). (After receiving the alms) he should eat it silently. He should be pure and restrained in speech. 

7. He should wash his hands and feet and perform the Achamana rites in accordance with the injunctions. He should show food to the sun god and partake of it facing the east. He should remain pure. 

8. He should take in the five Prānāhutis (i.e., take the five particles of food while uttering Prāņāya svaha etc.). With concentration he should take in only eight mouthfuls of food. After performing the Achamana rite he should meditate on Lord Brahma, the great Ishvara. 

9. Manu, the Prajapati, says that the following four types of vessels may be used (for begging alms) by ascetics viz.: a gourd, a wooden vessel, a mud-pot or a bamboo pot.¹

1. Manu VI. 54 but there it is attributed to Svayambhuva Manu.

10. He should think of Ishvara always early in the night, in the middle of the night, at the close of the night and during the Sandhyas (i.e., dawn and dusk). During the Sandhyas, he should particularly make use of sacrificial fires. *

*v.l. Sandhyāsvahni (especially) in the dawn, the dusk and at day' is better.

11-13. He should keep within the abode of the lotus of his heart, the deity named Vishva who is the cause of the birth of the Universe. He should remember the Atman of all living beings—that which is stationed beyond darkness, the Atman that is the support of all the brilliance, the unchanging bliss, that which is beyond Pradhana and Purusha, Shiva (stationed in the) cavity of the sky, Ishvara of the form of Brahman, present within all beings. He should meditate on the lord devoid of beginning, middle and the end, the abode of the qualities such as bliss, etc. 

14-15. He should meditate on the great Purusha, the Brahman, Brahma, the unchanging truth, the universal formed Mahesha resembling the mid-day sun. He should stabilise the Atman in the Supreme Atman through Omkara. He should meditate on Lord Ishana present in the middle of the Akasha (firmament). 

16. One meditating on the ancient pure Purusha, the cause of all beings, the only receptacle of bliss, shall be released from bondage. 

17-18. Or he should ponder over the great firmament, the sole cause of all living beings, that which is present in the cavity of the heart, the abode of illusion for the universe; he should meditate on the enlivening force of all living beings, where the world gets dissolved; which, those desirous of liberation, see as the subtle bliss of Brahman.

19. After pondering over the infinite real, Ishana, the Brahman that is lying hidden in its middle, the Brahman characterised by perfect knowledge, he should sit with perfect self-control. 

20. This is the greatest secret of all secrets imparted to ascetics by Mahesha. He who brings into practice the perfect knowledge, shall experience Yoga pertaining to Ishvara. 

21. Hence, he should always be devoted to meditation; he should be devoted to the Atmavidyā (knowledge of the soul). He should resort to the perfect knowledge of Brahman, whereby he shall be released from bondage. 

22. Realising the non-identity of the self from all other things, and that the self is pure bliss, devoid of old age, one should meditate again on that Supreme knowledge. 

23. He is, therefore, the Supreme Lord as from him all beings originate, by attaining him one is not born again. He is the God who transcends and rules over all. 

24. That Lord is Maheshvara, the journey unto whom is mentioned to be perpetual and auspicious, and whom they call as the greatest. 

25. Whatever holy main vows and subsidiary vows of the mendicant ascetics have been mentioned, if any of these are transgressed, expiatory rites are enjoined.¹

1. VV. 25-36 enumerate the atonements or expiations for transgression of rules by a Sannyasin.

26. After approaching a woman carnally, he should make amends as follows: He should control his mind, remain pure and perform Pranayama. He should then perform the expiatory rites called Krucchra* and Santapana.

*a better v.l. is prayashchittam samahitah with concentrated mind take the Prayashchitta, as this avoids the duplication of Krucchra Prayashchitta in the next verse.

27. Thereafter he should remain with perfect mental control and regularly perform the Krucchra (expiatory) rite according to injunctions. The mendicant should come to the hermitage again and perform his regular duties with alertness. 

28. Learned men say that a falsehood uttered for fun does not affect one adversely. Still, it should not be pursued, as this is a serious incident.

29. (If one speaks a lie even in joke) an ascetic desirous of piety should fast for one night and perform one hundred Pranayamas. 

30. One should not commit theft even if one loses one's interest* (?). The Smruti states that there is no other act of irreligion than theft.

*A better v.l. is param ápadgatenapi na karyam steyam anyatah One should not perform theft from others even if he is in extreme difficulty'.

31. It is spoken of as another kind of violence. It deprives one of the knowledge of the self. What is called wealth is the externally wandering life of man. 

32. He who deprives a man of his wealth, deprives him of his life. If one commits it, that extremely wicked person, fallen from his pious way of life, gets his sacred vow violated. (Repenting again if) he feels despondent, he should perform Chandrayana vow. 

33. Shruti says that he should perform (the Chandrayana rite) for a year in accordance with the injunctions in the scriptures. If the mendicant ascetic should repent again, he should perform his vow alert fully. 

34. If the mendicant ascetic commits violence accidentally he should perform the expiatory rite of Krucchrātikrucchra or Chandrayana. 

35. If, on seeing a woman, an ascetic involuntarily discharges his semen virile due to his weakness, he should perform sixteen Pranayamas. 

36. If the involuntary emission of the semen takes place during the day time, he should perform hundred Pranayamas, every day for three days. If one takes to wine and flesh in secret, or takes salt openly during Navashraddha (first Shraddha after a person's death) Prajapatya vow is the expiatory rite. 

37. All the sins of a person engaged always in meditation perish. Hence, one should be engrossed in meditation on Maheshvara after realising him. 

38. That which is the greatest Brahman, the brilliant most light, the imperishable and unchanging support of all and is immanent in everything, should be known as Maheshvara.

39. This lord Mahadeva is the pure and the greatest Shiva. He alone is the non-dualistic imperishable deity within the orb of the sun. 

40.* (Defective verse) Since the lord is very great and is stationed in the principle called Ātmayoga and termed Svadha, Agni (fire) and (knowledge) Jnana, he is known as Mahadeva.

*Venkt. Press text is full of misprints: The Crt, edition roads: yasmān mahiyate devah svadhămni jnāna-sanjnini ätma-yogáhvaye tattve Mahādevas tataḥ smrutah ‘Inasmuch as the lord enjoys in his abode called (spiritual) know ledge and the reality called the Yoga of Atman, he is said to be "great God".

41. He who does not see any other lord than Mahadeva, he who realises him as the Atman, attains the greatest region. 

42. Those who consider their own Atman different from Parameshvara do not realise the lord. Their effort is futile. 

43. The only Brahman is the supreme Brahman. That should be known as the unchanging principle. That lord is Mahadeva. By not realising this, one is fettered. 

44. Hence, an ascetic of controlled mind should worship invariably. He should be quiescent, devoted to Mahadeva and engaged in the path of knowledge. 

45. O Brahmanas, thus the auspicious stage of life of the ascetics has been detailed to you. This has been formerly expounded to the sages by lord Pitamaha (god Brahma). 

46. This excellent knowledge, the auspicious thing based on the duties of the ascetics, imparted by the self-born deity, shall not be given to anyone else except to sons, disciples and Yogins. 

47. Thus the rules governing the rites of the ascetics have been described. It shall be the sole cause of the propitiation of Pashupati. Those who practise this every day with concentration of the mind are not reborn nor shall they face destruction.