f their acts, with the remnant of their (merit) obtain
re-birth, having an excellent country, caste, and family; having long
life, learning, good conduct, wealth, happiness, and wisdom. They of
different sort are destroyed in various ways." Here, heavenly joys
(such as are implied by _ni[h.]creyasam_ in 26) are to be enjoyed
first, and a good birth afterwards, and by implication one probably
has to interpret the next sentence to mean 'they are sent to hell and
then re-born in various low births.' This, too, is Manu's rule
(below). At this time the sacred places which purify are in great
vogue, and in Gautama a list of them is given (19. 14), viz.: "all
mountains, all rivers, holy pools, places of pilgrimage (_i.e_.,
river-fords, _tirth[=a]ni_), homes of saints, cow-pens, and altars."
Of these the _tirthas_ are particularly interesting, as they later
become of great importance, thousands of verses in the epic being
devoted to their enumeration and praise.

Gautama says also that ascetics, according to some teachers, need not
be householders first (3. 1), and that the Brahman ascetic stays at
home during the rainy season, like the heretic monks (_ib_. 13). If
one examine the relative importance of the forms and spirit of
religion as taught in this, the oldest _dharma-s[=u]tra_,[19] he will
be impressed at first with the tremendous weight laid on the former as
compared with the latter. But, as was said apropos of the Brahmanic
literature, one errs who fails to appreciate the fact that these works
are intended not to give a summary of religious conduct, but to
inculcate ceremonial rules. Of the more importance, therefore, is the
occasional pause which is made to insist, beyond peradventure, on the
superiority of moral rules. A very good instance of this is found in
Gautama. He has a list of venial sins. Since lying is one of the most
heinous offences to a Hindu lawgiver, and the penances are severe, all
the treatises state formally that an untruth uttered in fun, or when
one is in danger, or an oath of the sort implied by Plato: [Greek:
_aphrodision orkon ou phasin einai_],--all these are venial, and so
are lies told to benefit a (holy) cow, or to aid a priest; or told
from religious motives of any sort without self-interest. This is
almost the only example of looseness in morals as taught in the law.
But the following case shows most plainly the importance of morality
as opposed to formal righteousness. After all the forty