"'Yudhishthira said, "I think, O grandsire, that thou art acquainted with
everything, O thou that art conversant with duties. I desire to hear thee
discourse to me, O sinless one, of the ordinances about conduct."
"'Bhishma said, "They that are of bad conduct, of bad acts, of wicked
understanding, and excessive rashness, are called evil or wicked men.
They, however, that are called good are distinguished by purity of
conduct and practices. They are good men who never answer calls of nature
on the high roads, in cow-pens, or in fields overgrown with paddy. Having
finished the necessary acts one should perform his ablutions in
river-water and gratify the deities with oblations of water. This is said
to be the duty of all men. Surya should be always worshipped. One should
not sleep after sunrise. Morning and evening the prayers (ordained in the
scriptures) should be said, sitting with face turned towards the east and
towards the west respectively. Washing the five limbs,[589] one should
eat silently with face turned towards the east. One should never
disparage the food which one is to eat. One should eat food that is good
to the taste. After eating one should wash one's hands and rise.[590] One
should never go to sleep at night with wet feet. The celestial Rishi
Narada said that these are indications of good conduct. One should every
day circumambulate a sacred spot, a bull, a sacred image, a cow-pen, a
place where four roads meet, a pious Brahmana, and sacred tree. One
should not make distinctions between one's guests and attendants and
kinsmen in matters of food. Equality (in this respect) with servants is
applauded. Eating (twice a day) in the morning and evening is an
ordinance of the gods. It is not laid down that one should eat (once
more) at any intermediate period. He who eats according to this rule
acquires the merit of a fast.[591] At the hours ordained for Homa one
should pour libations on the sacred fire. Without seeking the
companionship of other people's wives, the man of wisdom who seeks his
own wife in her season acquires the merit of Brahmacharyya. The remnants
of a Brahmana's dish are like ambrosia. They are like the lacteal
sustenance that is yielded by the mother's breast. People highly prize
those remnants. The good, by eating them attain to Brahma. He who pounds
turf to clay (for making sacrificial altars), or he who cuts grass (for
making sacrificial fuel), or he who uses his nails only (and not weapons
of any kind) for eating (sanctified meat), or he who always subsists on
the remnants of Brahmana's dishes, or he who acts, induced by desire for
reward, has not to live long in the world.[592] One who has abstained
from meat (under any vow) should not take meat even if it be sanctified
with mantras from the Yajurveda. One should also avoid the flesh about
the vertebral column (of any animal) and the flesh of animals not slain
in sacrifices.[593] Whether at one's own place or in a strange land, one
should never cause one's guest to fast. Having obtained alms and other
fruits of optional acts, one should offer them to one's seniors. One
should offer seats to one's seniors and salute them with respect. By
worshipping one's seniors, one obtains long life, fame, and prosperity.
One should never behold the Sun at the moment of rising, nor should one
turn one's gaze towards a naked woman that is another man's spouse.
Congress with one's wife (in her season) is not sinful but it is an act
that should always be done in privacy. The heart of all sacred spots and
shrines is the Preceptor. The heart of all pure and cleansing things is
Fire. All acts done by a good and pious person are good and laudable,
including even the touching of the hair of a cow's tail. Every time one
meets with another, one should make polite enquiries. The saluting of
Brahmanas every morning and evening is ordained. In temples of gods, amid
cows, in performing the rites of religion laid down for Brahmanas, in
reading the Vedas, and in eating, the right hand should be raised.[594]
The worship of Brahmanas, morning and evening, according to due rites,
produces great merit. In consequence of such worship the stock-in-trade
of the merchant, become abundant and the produce of the agriculturist.
Great also becomes the yield of all kinds of corn and the supply of all
articles that the senses can enjoy becomes copious. When giving eatables
to another (seated at his dish), one should say, 'Is it sufficient?' When
presenting drink, one should ask, 'Will it gratify,' and when giving
sweetened milk and rice, or sugared gruel of barley, or milk with sesame
or pease, one should ask 'Has it fallen?'[595] After shaving, after
spitting, after bathing, and after eating, people should worship
Brahmanas with reverence. Such worship is sure to bestow longevity on
sickly men. One should not pass urine with face turned towards the sun,
nor should one see one's own excreta. One should not lie on the same bed
with a woman, nor eat with her. In addressing seniors one should never
apply the pronoun you to them or take their names. Thouing or the taking
of names is not censurable in addressing inferiors or equals in age.[596]
The hearts of sinful men betray the sins committed by them. Those sinful
men that conceal their conscious sins from good men meet with
destruction. Only ignorant fools seek to conceal the sins which they
commit consciously. It is true that human beings do not see those sins
but the gods see them. A sin concealed by another sin leads to fresh
sins. An act of merit, again, if concealed by an act of merit, increases
the merit. The acts of a virtuous man always follow in the wake of
virtue. A man destitute of understanding never thinks of the sins
committed by him. Those sins, however, overtake the doer that has fallen
away from the scriptures. As Rahu comes to Chandra (at his proper time),
those sinful acts come to the foolish man.[597] The objects that are
stored with expectation are scarcely enjoyed. Such storing is never
applauded by the wise, for death waits for no one (but snatches his prey
whether the latter be ready or unready). The wise have said that the
righteousness of all creatures is an attribute of the mind. For this
reason, one should, in one's mind, do good to all.[598] One should
practise virtue singly. In the practice of virtue one has no need for the
help of others. If one obtains only the ordinances of the scriptures,
what can an associate do?[599] Righteousness is the origin of mankind.
Righteousness is the ambrosia of the gods. After death, men enjoy,
through Righteousness, eternal happiness."'"