Institutes of Vishnu — XIX.

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# XIX.

1. 1.He must not cause a member of a twice-born caste to be carried out by a Sûdra (even though he be a kinsman of the deceased);

1. 1.Nor a Sûdra by a member of a twice-born caste.

1. 1.A father and a mother shall be carried out by their sons (who are equal in caste to their parents).

1. 1.But Sûdras must never carry out a member of a twice-born caste, even though he be their father.

1. 1.Those Brâhmanas who carry out (or follow the corpse of) a (deceased) Brâhmana who has no relatives shall attain a mansion in heaven.

1. 1.Those who have carried out a dead relative and burnt his corpse, shall walk round the pile from left to right, and then plunge into water, dressed in their clothes.

1. 1.After having offered a libation of water to the deceased, they must place one ball of rice on blades of Kusa grass, (and this ceremony has to be repeated on each subsequent day, while the period of impurity lasts.)

1. 1.Then, having changed their dress, they must

[XIX. 1. M. V, 104.--2. V. III, 26.--6 M.V, 103; Y. III, 26.--7, 8. Y. III, 7, 12, 13.--14-17. M. V, 73; Y. III, 16. 'Chapters XIX-XXXII contain the section on Âkâra, "Holy Usage." (Nand.)]

bite Nimba leaves between their teeth, and having stepped upon the stone threshold, they must enter the house.

1. 1.Then they must throw unbroken grains into the fire.

1. 1.On the fourth day they must collect the bones that have been left.

1. 1.And they must throw them into water from the Ganges.

1. 1.As many bones of a man are contained in the water of the Ganges, so many thousands of years will he reside in heaven.

1. 1.While the term of impurity lasts, they must continually offer a libation of water and a ball of rice to the deceased.

1. 1.And they must eat food which has been bought, or which they have received unsolicited.

1. 1.And they, must eat no meat.

1. 1.And they must sleep on the ground.

1. 1.And they must sleep apart.

1. 1.When the impurity is over, they must walk forth from the village, have their beards shaved, and having cleansed themselves with a paste of sesamum, or with a paste of mustard-seed, they must change their dress and re-enter the house.

1. 1.There, after reciting a propitiatory prayer, they must honour the Brâhmanas.

[13. The duration of the impurity varies according, to the caste &c. of the deceased. See XXII.

1. 1.The particle ka, according to Nand., indicates that factitious salt must also not be used by them, as stated in a Smriti.

1. 1.Nand. refers the particle ka to an implied prohibition to eat fish, which he quotes from a text of Gautama (not found in his Institutes).]

1. 1.The gods are invisible deities, the Brâhmanas are visible deities.

1. 1.The Brâhmanas sustain the world.

1. 1.It is by the favour of the Brâhmanas that the gods reside in heaven; a speech uttered by Brâhmanas (whether a curse or a benediction) never fails to come true.

1. 1.What the Brâhmanas pronounce, when highly pleased (as, if they promise sons, cattle, wealth, or some other boon to a man), the gods will ratify; when the visible gods are pleased, the invisible gods are surely pleased as well.

1. 1.The mourners, who lament the loss of a relative, shall be addressed by men gifted with a tranquil frame of mind with such consolatory speeches as I shall now recite to thee, O Earth, who art cherished to my, mind.

Next: XX.