Chapter 2

102. Such precepts should be regarded as taking precedence over all others. Their essential doctrine is that devotion to K.rish.na should be joined with the performance of duty.

103. Duty (_dharma_) is that good practice which is enjoined both by the Veda (Šruti) and by the law (Sm.riti) founded on the Veda. Devotion (_bhakti_) is intense love for K.rish.na, accompanied with a due sense of his glory.

104. Indifference to worldly objects means absence of satisfaction in any object except K.rish.na. True knowledge consists in discriminating rightly between the nature of the personal soul (jiva), of the external world (Mâyâ), and of the Supreme Being (Κa).

105. The personal soul dwells in the heart. It is as subtle as an atom; it is all thought; it has the faculty of knowledge; it is ascertained to be constantly pervading the whole body (_i.e._ the three corporeal envelopes kâra.na, sûkshma, and sthûla) by its power of perception; it is characterized by indivisibility and the like.

106. The external world (Mâyâ) is identical with the energizing power of K.rish.na. It is composed of the three Gu.nas; it is darkness; it is to be understood as the cause of the soul's having such ideas in regard to the body, and the things relating to the body, as are conveyed by the expressions I, mine, and the like.

107. He who abides in the living personal soul in the character of an internal monitor, as the personal soul dwells in the heart, he is to be considered as the Self-existent Supreme Being, the Rewarder of all actions.

108. That Being, known by various names--such as the glorious K.rish.na, Param Brahma, Bhagavân, Purushottama.h--the cause of all manifestations, is to be adored by us as our one chosen deity.

109. He, together with Râdhâ, should be regarded as the Supreme Lord, under the name of Râdhâ-K.rish.na. With Rukmi.nî and Ramâ he is known as Lakshmî-Nârâya.na.

110. When joined with Arjuna, he is known by the name of Nara-Nârâya.na; when associated with Bala-bhadra ( = Bala-râma), or any other divine personage, he is called Ramâ-K.rish.na and so on.

111. Those devoted (female companions of the god) Râdhâ and his other (consorts) are in some places represented at his side. In other places (their images do not appear, because) they are supposed to be one with his body and he with theirs.

112. On no account let it be supposed that difference in forms makes any difference in the identity of the deity. For the two-armed K.rish.na may exhibit himself with four arms (or eight, or a thousand, or any number of arms).

113. Towards him alone ought all faith and worship (bhakti) to be directed by every human being on earth in every possible manner. Nothing else, except such (faith), is able to procure salvation.

114. The best result of the virtues of those who possess good qualities is faith in K.rish.na and association with holy men; without these, even persons who know (the Šâstras) go downwards (towards a lower state).

115. Meditation should be directed towards K.rish.na, his incarnations and their images, but not towards living men, nor (inferior) gods, etc., nor devotees, nor (even) those who (merely) have knowledge of Brahma.

116. Having perceived, by abstract meditation, that the Spirit or Self is distinct from its three bodies (viz. the gross, subtle and causal bodies), and that it is a portion of the one Spirit of the Universe (Brahma), every man ought to worship K.rish.na by means of that (self) at all times.

117. The tenth book of the Bhâgavata-Purâ.na should be listened to reverentially, and learned men should read it daily or (if frequent reading is impossible, at least) once a year.

118. The repetition (of the Bhâgavata), as well as of the thousand names of Vish.nu, etc., should be performed as far as possible in a pure place (such as the precincts of a temple); for (such repetition) causes the accomplishment of desired objects.

119. On the occurrence of any disaster caused by the elements (such as a flood or fire), or when any human calamity or sickness takes place, a man should be wholly occupied in striving to preserve himself and other people and in nothing else.

120. Religious usages, business transactions and penances, should be adapted to country, time, age, property, rank and ability.

121. The (philosophical) doctrine approved by me is the Višish.tâdvaita (of Râmânuja) [Footnote: This verse proves that in their philosophical ideas the Svâmi-Nârâya.na sect are followers of the Râmânuja sect. Compare verse 100.], and the desired heavenly abode is Goloka. There to worship K.rish.na, and be united with him as the Supreme Soul of the Universe, is to be considered salvation (Mukti).

122. These that have been specified are the general duties, applicable to all my followers, whether male or female. Now I am about to enumerate the special duties.

123. The two sons of my elder and younger brothers (viz. Ayodhyâ-prasâda and Raghu-vîra) ought never to impart instruction to any women except their nearest relations.

124. They ought never to touch or converse with any women in any place whatever. Cruelty should never be shown towards any person. A deposit belonging to another should never be taken charge of.

125. In business matters no one should stand security for any other person. In passing through a time of distress it is right to ask for alms, but debts should not be contracted.

126. One should not sell corn bestowed by one's own disciples; having given away old corn, new corn is to be bought. That is not called a sale.

127. On the fourth day of the light-half of the month Bhâdra, the worship of Ga.neša should be performed, and on the fourteenth of the dark-half of švina, Hanumân should be worshipped.

128. Those two sons (of my brothers, viz. Ayodhyâ-prasâda and Raghu-vîra), who have been appointed as spiritual guides to guard the religious interests of my followers, should initiate all desirous of obtaining salvation (in the use of the mantra of K.rish.na).

129. They should cause each of their disciples to continue steadfast in his own appointed duty. Honour should be paid to holy men, and the sacred Šâstras should be reverently repeated.

130. Worship of Lakshmî-Nârâya.na, and other forms of K.rish.na that have been set up and consecrated by me in the great temples, should be performed with the proper ceremonies.

131. Any one who may come to the temple of K.rish.na to ask for a gift of food (cooked or uncooked) should be received with respect, and food given to him according to ability.

132. Having established a school for giving instruction, some learned Brâhman should be appointed over it. True knowledge should be promoted throughout the world, for that is an act of great merit.

133. The two wives of these (sons of my brothers), with the permission of their respective husbands, should initiate females only (eva) in the Mantra of K.rish.na.

134. They should never touch or speak to other males than their nearest relations; nor should they ever show their faces to them.

135. My male followers who are householders should never touch widows unless they are their own near relatives.

136. They should not remain alone in any private place with a youthful mother, sister or daughter, except in a time of distress. Nor should a wife be given away (to another man).

137. No attachment should on any account be formed with a woman who in any transactions has been brought into connexion with the king of the country.

138. When a guest has arrived at a house, he should be honoured by those (who live in it) with food and other things according to ability. Offerings to the Gods and the Pit.ris (at the Devatâ-tarpa.na and Pit.ri-tarpa.na and Šrâddha ceremonies) should be made according to right usage and according to one's means.

139. It is the duty of my disciples, as long as they live and according to their ability, to honour with faithful attention their father, mother, spiritual preceptor, and any one affected with sickness.

140. Every person should, according to his ability, carry on some occupation suitable to his caste and religious order. Those that live by agriculture should not allow a bull to be gelded.

141. Provisions and money should be laid by according to circumstances and time; and those that keep cattle should store up as much hay as these animals may need for their consumption.

142. If a man can himself attend to the proper feeding of cows and other animals with hay and water, then only he may keep them, otherwise he must not do so.

143. No business in regard to giving or receiving land or property should ever be transacted even with a son or friend, without a written deed attested by witnesses.

144. When any pecuniary transactions connected with giving away a girl in marriage have to be transacted for one's self or another person, the money to be delivered over should not be settled by verbal agreement, but only by a written contract attested by witnesses.

145. A man's expenditure ought always to be in proportion to his income. Otherwise it is certain that great misery will arise.

146. Every day one should take note of one's income and expenditure in the regular business of life, and write them down with one's own hand.

147. My followers should assign a tithe of the grain, money, etc., acquired by their own occupation or exertions, to K.rish.na, and the poor should give a twentieth part.

148. The due performance of fasts, of which the eleventh-day fasts are the principal, should be effected according to the Šâstras and one's ability; for this will lead to the attainment of desired objects.

149. Every year in the month Šrâva.na one should perform, or cause others to perform, cheerfully the worship of Šiva with the leaves of the Bilva-tree, etc.

150. Neither money, nor utensils, nor ornaments, nor clothes should be borrowed for use (on festive occasions) from one's own spiritual preceptor, or from the temple of K.rish.na.

151. While going to do homage to great K.rish.na, to a spiritual preceptor, or to a holy man, food should not be accepted from others on the road, or at the places of pilgrimage; for such food takes away religious merit.

152. The full amount of promised wages should be paid to a workman. Payment of a debt is never to be kept secret. Let no one have any dealings with wicked men.

153. If through great distress caused by a famine, by enemies, or by (the oppression of) a king, any danger of destruction arises anywhere to character, wealth or life,

154. The wise among my followers should at once quit even their own native country, and having gone to another, let them reside there happily.

155. Wealthy householders should perform those sacrifices in honour of Vish.nu which entail no killing of animals. Brâhmans and holy men (Sâdhus) should be fed on festival days at sacred places of pilgrimage.

156. They should observe the great festivals in honour of the Deity in the temples, and should distribute various gifts among Brâhmans who are deserving objects (of generosity).

157. Kings who are my followers should govern all their subjects in accordance with the law (laid down in the Dharma-šâstras), and should protect them as if they were their children, and should establish the observance of proper duties throughout the whole land.

158. They should be well acquainted with the circumstances of their kingdom; as, for example, with the seven Angas (viz. the duties of the sovereign, minister, ally, treasury, territory, fortresses and army); the four Upâyas (viz. conciliation, sowing dissension, bribing, and punishing); the six Gu.nas (viz. peace, war, marching, sitting encamped, dividing the forces, having recourse to an ally for protection); and the places of resort to which spies should be sent. They should also make themselves acquainted with the men who are skilled in legal procedure, and with all the court functionaries, observing by the right signs whether any ought to be punished or not. [Footnote: With reference to this verse compare Manu's directions to Kings (Books vii. and viii.), and the precepts in the Vigraha chapter of the Hitopadeša.]

159. Wives should honour their husbands as if they were gods, and never offend them with improper language, though they be diseased, indigent, or imbecile. [Footnote: Compare Manu, v. 154.]

160. No communication, even though arising naturally (_sâhajika_), should be held with any other man who may be possessed of beauty, youth and good qualities.

161. A chaste woman should not allow her navel, thighs, or breasts to be seen by males; nor should she remain without an upper garment (anuttarîyâ), nor should she look at (the antics of) buffoons, nor associate with an immodest woman.

162. A wife while her husband is absent in a foreign country should wear neither ornaments nor fine clothes; she ought not to frequent other people's houses, and should abstain from laughing and talking with other women.

163. Widows should serve the God K.rish.na with minds intent on him as their only husband; they should live under the control of their father, or other male members of the family, and never in independence.

164. They must never at any time touch any men except their nearest relations, and when young they should never without necessity engage in conversation with youthful men.

165. If an infant male-child touch them, no blame attaches to them, any more than from contact with a dumb animal; nor if they are compelled from necessity to talk with or touch an old man.

166. Instruction in any science should not be received by them from any man except from their nearest relations. They should frequently emaciate their bodies by vows and fasts.

167. They should never give away to others the money which is required for their own support. That only must be given away which they have in excess.

168. They should eat only one meal a day, and should sleep on the ground; they should never look at (animals) engaged in sexual acts.

169. They must never wear the dress of a married woman, nor of a female ascetic, nor of a mendicant, nor any unbecoming attire.

170. They should neither associate with nor touch a woman who has been guilty of procuring abortion; nor should they either converse about, or hear stories of the loves of the male sex.

171. Except in times of distress widows who are young should never remain alone in secret places along with men, even with their own relatives, if youthful.

172. They should never join in the frolics practised at the Holî festival, nor should they put on ornaments or finely woven clothes composed of cotton or metal threads.

173. Neither wives nor widows ought ever to bathe without wearing clothes. No woman should ever conceal the first appearance of her monthly periods.

174. A woman at that season should not for an interval of three days touch any human being, clothes, etc.; nor ought she to do so till she has bathed on the fourth day.

175. Those of my followers who have taken the vow of Naish.thika Brahmaçârîs (that is, of perpetual celibacy and chastity) must not knowingly either touch or converse with or look at women.

176. They should never talk or listen to conversations about women, and they should not perform their ablutions or other religious rites at places where women pass backwards and forwards.

177. They should never knowingly touch or look at even the pictures or wooden images of women, unless they be the representations of goddesses.

178. They should neither draw any likeness of a woman, nor touch her clothes. They must never knowingly look even at animals engaged in sexual acts.

179. They should neither touch nor look at a male dressed up as a woman; nor should they sing the praises of the Deity with a view to being heard by women.

180. They should pay no attention to the command of even their spiritual preceptor if likely to lead them to a breach of their vow of chastity. They should continue steadfast, contented, and humble-minded.

181. When a woman insists on forcing herself near them, they should immediately try to keep her off by expostulating with her, and (if she still approaches) by reproaching her.

182. In cases where their own lives, or those of women, are in jeopardy, they may be allowed contact or conversation with women, such contact being necessary for the saving of life.

183. They should not anoint their lips with oil. They should not carry weapons. They should not dress themselves in unbecoming costume. They should subdue the sense of taste.

184. If in the house of any Brâhman the meals are cooked and served up by a woman, they should not go there to ask for food, but should ask for it at some other house.

185. They should constantly repeat the Vedas and Šâstras, and serve their spiritual preceptor. They must shun the society of women, and of men who are fond of women.

186. He who is by birth a Brâhman should on no account drink water from a leathern vessel; nor should he ever eat garlic, onions, etc.

187. Nor must he eat food without having first performed his ablutions, the Sandhyâ service, repetition of the Gâyatri, the worship of Vish.nu, and the Vaišvadeva ceremony. [Footnote: This ceremony, which partly consists in throwing portions of food into the fire, before dinner, as an offering to all the deities, will be fully described in my new work on "Religious Thought and Life in India," to be published by Mr. Murray.]

188. All who are Sâdhus are bound, just like those who have made a vow of perpetual celibacy, to avoid associating with women, or with men who are fond of women, and should subdue their (six) internal enemies (lust, anger, avarice, infatuation, pride, and envy).

189. They should subjugate all the senses, more especially the sense of taste; they should neither lay by a store of property themselves, nor make others do so for them.

190. They must not take charge of any one's deposit, they should never relax their firmness, nor allow a woman to enter their abodes at any time. [Footnote: We may notice that there is no little repetition in this Book of instructions, especially in enforcing the duty of keeping clear of all feminine seductions.]

191. Except at a time of distress, they should never go anywhere by night without a companion, nor should they travel to any place singly.

192. They should not use a costly variegated cloth, or one dyed with kusumbha, or dyed in any other way; or any expensive cloth, though freely presented to them by another.

193. They should not go to the houses of householders unless for the purpose of asking alms, or for being present at an assembly. They should not spend time uselessly without devoting any of it to the worship of the Deity.

194. To the abode of a householder in which only males are employed for serving up the cooked food, and where no woman is to be seen--

195. To the house of such a householder only should my Sâdhus resort for participation in a meal, otherwise they should ask for uncooked food, and prepare it themselves.

196. All my holiest sages should conduct themselves in the same manner as Bharata, son of .Rishabha, the idiot Brâhman (Ja.da-vipra), did in ancient times. [Footnote: The story is told in Vish.nu-purâ.na, ii. 13. He feigned idiocy, that he might not be troubled with worldly society and might so give his undivided attention to devotional exercises.]

197. Those holy men (Sâdhus) who are Brahmaçârîs should diligently abstain from eating or using betel-leaves, opium, tobacco (tamâla), etc.

198. They should never accept a meal given on the performance of the Sa_n_skâra ceremonies, beginning with that of conception; [Footnote: See note to verse 91.] nor on performing the Šrâddha ceremony at death, nor at that performed on the 12th day after decease.

199. They should never sleep during the day, unless afflicted with sickness, etc. They should never gossip about local matters, nor intentionally listen to such gossip.

200. They should not lie down on a bedstead except when suffering from illness or other affliction, and should be guileless and straightforward in their behaviour towards other Sâdhus.

201. They should patiently bear abusive language, or even blows from evil-minded persons, and wish good to (them in return).

202. They should not undertake the work of a go-between or informer, or spy; they should never show selfishness or partiality towards their relations.

203. Thus I have specified in a summary manner the general duties of all. Those who desire more particular instructions must refer to the sacred books handed down by tradition.

204. Having myself extracted the essence of an the sacred Šâstrâs, I have written this Directory, which leads men to the attainment of desired objects.

205. Hence it is incumbent on my followers, having their minds well controlled, to conduct themselves in conformity with its precepts, and not according to their own wills.

206. Those males and females of my disciples who will act according to these directions shall certainly obtain the four great objects of human desires (viz. _Dharma_, religious merit; _Artha_, wealth; _Kâma_, pleasure; and _Moksha_, final beatitude).

207. Those who will not act according to these (directions) shall be considered by my male and female followers as excluded from communion with my sect.

208. My followers should daily read this Book of directions, and those who do not know how to read should listen to others reading it.

209. But in the absence of a reader (vaktrabhâve), worship should be paid to it every day, and it should be honoured with the greatest reverence as my word and my representative.

210. This Directory should only be given to those persons who are endowed with a nature of the divine type; never to a man possessing a nature of the demoniacal type. [Footnote: The Purâ.nas divide all men into two classes: those whose nature is divine, and those whose nature is demoniacal.]

211. This Book of directions, bringing welfare (to all who study it), was completed on the first day of the season of spring in the year 1882 of the era of Vikramâditya. ( = A.D. 1826).

212. May K.rish.na, the remover of the sufferings of his worshippers, the maintainer of devotion, accompanied with the performance of proper duties, the bestower of the desires of the heart, grant us blessings of all kinds!