Institutes of Vishnu — XCIV.
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# XCIV.
- A householder, when he sees his skin has become wrinkled and his hair turned grey, must go to live in a forest.
- Or (he must do so) when he sees the son of his son.
- Let him (before going into the forest) entrust the care of his wife to his sons, or let her accompany him.
- Let him keep the sacred fires in his new abode as before.
- He must not omit to perform the five sacrifices,
[XCIV. 1, 2. M. VI, 2.--3, 4. M. VI, 3, 4; Y. III, 4; Âpast. II, 9, 22, 8, 9.--5. M. VI, 5, 16; Y. III, 46; Gaut. III, 29.--6. M. VI. 8; Y. III, 48.--7. M. VI. 26; Y. III, 45; Âpast. II, 9, 21, 19.--8. M. VI, 6; Âpast. II, 9, 22, 1; Gaut. VI, 34.--9, 10. M. VI, 6; Y. III, 46, 48.--9, 11. Gaut III, 34, 35.--11. M. VI, 18; Y. III, 47.--12. M. VI, 15; Y. III, 47; Âpast. II, 9, 22, 24.--13. M. VI. 28; Y. III, 55. 'The duties of a householder having been declared, he now goes on to expound the duties of an hermit.' (Nand.)
- See LIX, 20 seq.]
but (he must perform them) with (fruits, herbs, or roots) growing wild.
- He must not relinquish the private recitation of the Veda.
- He must preserve his chastity.
- He must wear a dress made of skins or bark.
- He must suffer the hairs of his head, of his beard, and of his body, and his nails to grow.
- He must bathe at morning. noon, and evening.
- He must either collect provisions, after the manner of the pigeon, for a month, or he must collect them for a year.
- He who has collected provisions for a year, must throw away what he has collected on the day of full moon in the month Âsvina.
- Or an hermit may bring food from a village, placing it in a dish made of leaves, or in a single leaf, or in his hand, or in a potsherd, and eat eight mouthfuls of it.
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