* The code of conduct for a forest dweller.
The code of conduct for a forest dweller.
Sage Narayana said:-
O Brahmin! Now I shall tell you about the code of conduct to be followed in Vanaprasth-ashrama:- but, being difficult to follow in this Kali age, it is excluded from the code by code- makers which is called Kali-Varja. 1.
Having gone through the second stage of householder’s life, bidding goodbye to it, a Brahmin should enter the next - third stage of life i.e. of hermit’s life. 2.
After having a grandchild, he should give up the cultivated, tasty food, entrust the maintenance of his wife to his son and leave for the forest. 3.
If his wife agrees and is capable to undergo the hardship of penance (expected in Vanaprasth-ashrama) then only that wise man should take her with him. Otherwise, he will have to regret for the same. 4.
An avowed celibate and one who is not interested in the mundane matters of life, who is courageous (in observing austerity), a householder or a widower may also take to the hermit’s life i.e. Vanaprasth-ashrama. 5.
First, a householder should take permission of his teacher, then of a king who is religious and his relatives, and then change over to next stage of Vanaprastha - ashrama. 6.
In the morning of any auspicious day of the bright fortnight during Uttarayana, one should leave for the forest and there, that disciplined fellow should start penance with tranquil mind. 7.
In the hermit’s life, penance, suitable to the health of that person (Brahmin) is important thing. So with full firmness in following rules, that strong minded person should observe penance. 8.
The Muni should continue the rituals like Agnihotra, Darsha - Poornima Ishti, etc. if he is maintaining sacred fire, except animal sacrifice. 9.
He should prepare the sacrificial cake from the grains brought by himself, and then give oblation. He should build a hut for the sacred fire but he himself should live out of that hut. 10.
He should never eat twice, and have control over his anger. He should sleep on a stone or a hard sandy surface with peace (happily) and be absorbed in meditating on the Supreme spirit. 11.
He should not drink intoxicant, eat meat, and should always observe celibacy; should not sleep with his wife. 12.
He should carry on the five sacrifices with food, fruits or vegetables prescribed for a Muni; should honour the guests and those who ask for alms, with water, roots, fruits, etc. 13.
He should wear cloth made of bark or dry grass or leaves or a deer skin. That hermit of controlled senses should hold Kamandalu - a water pot made for ascetics and a staff. 14.
He should not cut the hairs on his body, also should not shave beard and cut nails; should not rub or wash the dirt on the limbs. He should take bath thrice a day but not rub body; should sleep on floor; should not brush the teeth regularly; should not change his sitting pose repeatedly; That resident of the forest should avoid the company of a strange woman in all eight ways, and should speak with his wife, only that is required for sacrificial matters. 15-17.
The sage should eat grains like barley, wood apple, jojoba fruit, fig- fruit etc. and such other items available in forest; and should eat once a day only. 18.
To subsist himself he should take food like barley, or roots and tubers of plant, and oil that could be availed from the fruits etc.; He should control senses and mind, be peaceful, soft and firm. 19.
He himself should bring the food for his subsistence, chew it with his teeth or pound it with stone or mortar. 20.
He should not eat the grains cultivated in a tilled land nor even from an untilled land, the grains cut untimely; he should eat the food baked in fire or raw i.e. ripened by time. 21.
Such a Vanaprasthi can store grains needed for one year or for six months or for one month or even may gather that much to fulfil his need (and could be finished) at a time only. 22.
He should give away all the grains whatever he has stored in the month of Ashwin. Then again he should store the grains and other required material for an ascetic for himself (in the same month). 23.
He should augment his penance step by step. If he leaves everything (food etc) suddenly this jewel like precious body will be destroyed. 24.
He should always contemplate Lord Shri Hari (in his heart) and wither his body by penance (gradually); In the beginning he should eat the wild rice (Muni-anna) and then the fruits and the roots. Then, he should eat at night only, then on alternate day and then on the fourth day, afterwards on fifth or sixth day he should eat fruits and roots. 25-26.
then, he should observe chandrayana vow or eat fortnightly or monthly; then drink only milk or foam of the milk or only water or smoke; he should drink only the moonlight or the rays of the sun and then gradually eat only air. Thus he should engage himself only in penance, and should never fail to observe the same. 27-28.
He should never trust his senses and be always subdued in every way with great effort; He should not foolishly give up his austerity for fulfilling any of his mean desire. If he hears gossip about women, etc he should fast for a day, and always be very careful to observe the vow of celibacy. 29-30.
One who, after going to the forest, keeps sexual relation with his wife at his will, falls from his vow. The only atonement is death for it. A son or progeny born from such relation is untouchable by a Brahmins – and is not qualified for learning Vedas. So, one who is living in the forest, as a hermit should win over his passion. 31-32.
In summer, a hermit should observe a Panchagni vow, i.e. to stand in the midst of the five fires (four from the four directions and one from the Son), In rainy season he should stand directly under the heavy showers of rain, and in winter season, in water up to his neck. A forest dwelling hermit should be honest to himself and have courage. He should undergo hardship of penance as much as his body cooperates, so that he has not to face death on that account.33-34.
That wise sage should practice penance in the forest for one, two, four, eight or twelve years-as per his capacity and should not give up the austere way of life, due to hardship. 35.
He should not get angry with one who hurts him with thrones, etc and be pleased with one who adores him with sandal paste, etc. He should be equanimous (indifferent) to both of them. 36.
A forest dweller who is weak may close the sacred fire in himself and move place to place to support himself on holy alms received from other hermits Or, that weak hermit should have it from the house of a pious Brahmin, from a nearby village and eat eight mouthfuls and if it is not enough may eat sixteen mouthfuls of the alms. 37-38.
He should all the time keep himself engaged in a self-study and chanting Gayatri mantra; should win over sloth and sleep; and keep meditating at night. 39.
He who follows these rules of conduct (for a hermit) laid down by the great sages, burns his sins like fire (burns the wood) and attains the higher worlds which are difficult to win. 40.
A hermit who has become feeble due to old age and diseases and thus is unable to perform his duties should only meditate upon the Lord Shri Hari by heart and observe fast and such vows, whatever possible. 41.
Thus, a forest dweller who has conquered his mind, practises penance in this manner, after his death attains to Mahar-loka (the upper world) desired by ascetics. 42.
O Sage! A hermit who thus practises penance in the forest in the third stage of life, with deep devotion to Lord Vishnu surely attains the abode of Vaishnavas. 43.
The forest dwellers are classified into four types according to their way of life - they are Vaikhanasa, Valakhilya, Audumbara and Fenapa. 44.
Among those hermits –the first ones Vaikhamasas are those who live on the grains obtained from untilled, unploughed land; the second (ones) are those who give away the grains previously stored, after getting the fresh or new grains, the third ones (called Audumbaras) are those who subsist on fruits and roots collected from that direction only towards which they look first after awaking in the morning. 45-46.
The ascetics who survive on the fruits, leaves or flowers that have fallen naturally from the trees are called fenapas-the fourth type. 47.
Thus, by observing these rules of penance if the hermit becomes firm and dispassionate in all respects, then alone he becomes fit for the fourth stage of life that is Sanyasa (renunciation). 48.
O eminent among Brahmins! I have told you the code of conduct for the Brahmins in third stage of life, in brief. Now I shall tell you about the code stated in religious texts regarding the fourth stage of life. 49.
Thus ends the thirty-eighth chapter entitled, ‘narration of the code of conduct for Vanaprastha Ashram,’ in the fifth Prakaran of Satsangi jivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as Dharmashastra. (the rules of the code of conduct). 38