of the house to see the sun in the sixth month, he should be fed with rice; or that may be done, which, by the custom of the family, is thought most propitious.

35. By the command of the Véda, the ceremony of tonsure should be legally performed by the three first classes in the first or third year after birth.

36. In the eighth year from the conception of a Bráhmen, in the eleventh from that of a Cshatriya, and in the twelfth from that of a Vaisya, let the father invest the child with the mark of his class:

37. Should a Bráhmen, or his father for him, be desirous of his advancement in sacred knowledge; a Cshatriya, of extending his power; or a Vaisya of engaging in mercantile business; the investiture may be made in the fifth, sixth, or eighth years respectively.

38. The ceremony of investiture hallowed by the gayatri must not be delayed, in the case of a priest, beyond the sixteenth year; nor in that of a soldier, beyond the twentysecond; nor in that of a merchant, beyond the twentyfourth.

39. After that, all youths of these three classes, who have not been invested at the proper time, become vrátyas, or outcasts, degraded from the gáyatri, and contemned by the virtuous:

40. With such impure men, let no Bráhmen, even in distress for subsistence, ever form a connexion in law, either by the study of the Véda, or by affinity.

41. Let students in theology wear for their mantles, the hides of black antelopes, of common deer, or of goats, with lower vests of woven sana,* of cshumà, and of wool, in the direct order of their classes.

42. The girdle of a priest must be made of munja,† in a triple cord, smooth and soft; that of a warriour must be a

*Sana is both hemp (Cannabis sativa), and Bengal san, a plant from which a kind of hemp is prepared, viz. crotolaria juncea, and other kinds.

Cshuma, is the linum usitatissimum.

† Munja is a sort of grass (saccharum munja).

Múrvá is a sort of creeper, from the fibres of which bowstrings are made, (Sanseviera zeylanica).

bow string of múrvá; that of a merchant, a triple thread of

sana.

43. If the munja be not procurable, their zones must be formed respectively of the grasses cusa * asmántaca, valvaja, in triple strings, with one, three, or five knots, according to the family custom.

44. The sacrificial thread of a Bráhmen must be made of cotton, so as to be put on over his head, in three strings; that of a Cshatriya, of sana thread only; that of a Vaisya, of woollen thread.

45. A priest ought by law to carry a staff of Vilvat or Palása; a soldier, of Vata or C'hadira; a merchant of Vénu or Udumbara:

46. The staff of a priest must be of such a length as to reach his hair; that of a soldier, to reach his forehead; and that of a merchant, to reach his nose.

47. Let all the staves be straight, without fracture, of a handsome appearance, not likely to terrify men, with their bark perfect, unhurt by fire.

48. Having taken a legal staff to his liking, and standing opposite to the sun, let the student thrice walk round the fire from left to right, and perform, according to law, the ceremony of asking food:

49. The most excellent of the three classes, being girt with the sacrificial thread, must ask food with the respectful word bhavati, at the beginning of the phrase; those of the second class, with that word in the middle; and those of the third, with that word at the end.

* Cusa is a species of grass used in many solemn and religious observances, hence called sacrificial grass (Poa cynosuroides). The Asmántaca does not occur in the dictionaries.

The Valvaja is a sort of grass (saccharum cylindricum).

The Vilva is a fruit-tree, commonly named Bél (Egle marmelos). The Palása is the Butea frondosa.

The Vata is the Ficus Indica.

C'hadira is a tree, the resin of which is used in medicine, khayar or catechu (Mimosa catechu).

The Vénu is the bamboo, but the text says the Pilu, which is either the Careya arborea or the Salvadora Persica. It likewise implies the stem of the palm-tree.

The Udumbara is the glomerous fig-tree (Ficus glomerata).

50. Let him first beg food of his mother, or of his sister, or of his mother's whole sister; then of some other female who will not disgrace him.

51. Having collected as much of the desired food as he has occasion for, and having presented it without guile to his preceptor, let him eat some of it, being duly purified, with his face to the east:

52. If he seek long life, he should eat with his face to the east; if exalted fame, to the south; if prosperity, to the west; if truth and its reward, to the north.

53. Let the student, having performed his ablution, always eat his food without distraction of mind; and, having eaten, let him thrice wash his mouth completely, sprinkling with water the six hollow parts of his head, or his eyes, ears, and nostrils.

54. Let him honour all his food, and eat it without contempt; when he sees it, let him rejoice and be calm, and pray that he may always obtain it.

55. Food, eaten constantly with respect, gives muscular force and generative power; but, eaten irreverently, destroys them both.

56. He must beware of giving any man what he leaves; and of eating anything between morning and evening: he must also beware of eating too much, and of going any whither with a remnant of his food unswallowed.

57. Excessive eating is prejudicial to health, to fame, and to future bliss in Heaven; it is injurious to virtue, and odious among men: he must, for these reasons, by all means avoid it.

58. Let a Bráhmen at all times perform the ablution with the pure part of his hand denominated from the Véda, or with the part sacred to the Lord of creatures, or with that dedicated to the Gods; but never with the part named from the Pitris:

59. The pure part under the root of the thumb is called Brahma, that at the root of the little finger, Cáya; that at the tips of the fingers, Daiva; and the part between the thumb and index Pitrya.

60. Let him first sip water thrice; then twice wipe his

mouth; and lastly touch with water the six before mentioned cavities, his breast, and his head.

61. He who knows the law and seeks purity will ever perform his ablution with the pure part of his hand, and with water neither hot nor frothy, standing in a lonely place, and turning to the east or the north.

62. A Bráhmen is purified by water that reaches his bosom; a Cshatriya, by water descending to his throat; a Vaisya, by water barely taken into his mouth; a Súdra, by water touched with the extremity of his lips.

63. A youth of the three highest classes is named upavítí, when his right hand is extended for the cord to pass over his head and be fixed on his left shoulder; when his left hand is extended, that the thread may be placed on his right shoulder, he is called práchínávítí; and nivítí when it is fastened on his neck.

64. His girdle, his leathern mantle, his staff, his sacrificial cord, and his ewer, he must throw into the water, when they are worn out or broken, and receive others hallowed by mystical texts.

65. The ceremony of césánta, or cutting off the hair, is ordained for a priest in the sixteenth year from conception; for a soldier, in the twenty-second; for a merchant, two years later than that.

66. The same ceremonies, except that of the sacrificial thread, must be duly performed for women at the same age and in the same order, that the body may be made perfect; but without any text from the Véda:

67. The nuptial ceremony is considered as the complete institution of women, ordained for them in the Véda, together with reverence to their husbands, dwelling first in their father's family, the business of the house, and attention to sacred fire.

68. Such is the revealed law of institution for the twice born; an institution in which their second birth clearly consists, and which causes their advancement in holiness: now learn to what duties they must afterwards apply themselves.

69. THE venerable preceptor, having girt his pupil with the thread, must first instruct him in purification, in good

customs, in the management of the consecrated fire, and in the holy rites of morning, noon, and evening.

70. When the student is going to read the Véda, he must perform an ablution, as the law ordains, with his face to the north, and, having paid scriptural homage, he must receive instruction, wearing a clean vest, his members being duly composed :

71. At the beginning and end of the lecture, he must always clasp both the feet of his preceptor; and he must read with both his hands closed: (this is called scriptural homage.)

72. With crossed hands let him clasp the feet of his tutor, touching the left foot with his left, and the right, with his right hand.

73. When he is prepared for the lecture, the preceptor, constantly attentive, must say: "hoa! read;" and at the close of the lesson he must say: "take rest."

74. A Bráhmen, beginning and ending a lecture on the Véda, must always pronounce to himself the syllable óm; for, unless the syllable óm precede, his learning will slip away from him; and, unless it follow, nothing will be long retained.

75. If he have sitten on culms of cúsa with their points towards the east, and be purified by rubbing that holy grass on both his hands, and be further prepared by three suppressions of breath each equal in time to five short vowels, he then may fitly pronounce óm.

76. BRAHMA' milked out, as it were, from the three Védas, the letter A, the letter U, and the letter M, which form by their coalition the triliteral monosyllable, together with three mysterious words, bhur, bhuvah, swer, or earth, sky, heaven:

77. From the three Védas, also, the Lord of creatures, incomprehensibly exalted, successively milked out the three measures of that ineffable text, beginning with the word tad, and entitled sávitrì or gáyatrì.

78. A priest who shall know the Véda, and shall pronounce to himself, both morning and evening, that syllable, and that holy text preceded by the three words, shall attain the sanctity which the Véda confers;