ir acts. Verily, the acts these men do are regarded as the
indications of that course of conduct which is called good. They that are
good or righteous, O monarch, never answer the two calls of nature on the
public road, or in the midst of a cow-pen, or on a field of paddy. After
feeding the five they take their own food.[622] They never talk while
eating, and never go to sleep with wet hands (i.e., without rubbing them
dry with towels or napkins). Whenever they see any of the following, they
circumambulate them for showing them reverence, viz., a blazing fire, a
bull, the image of a deity, a cow-pen, a place where four roads meet, and
an old and virtuous Brahmana. They give the way, themselves standing
aside, unto those that are old, those that are afflicted with burdens,
ladies, those that hold high appointments in the village or town
administration, Brahmanas, kine, and kings. The righteous or good man is
he that protects his guests, servants and other dependents, his own
relatives, and all those that seek his protection. Such a man always
welcomes these with the usual enquiries of politeness. Two times have
been appointed by the deities for human beings to take their food, viz.,
morning and evening. During the interval one should not eat anything. By
following this rule about eating, one is said to observe a fast. As the
sacred fire waits for libations to be poured upon it when the hour for
Homa arrives, even so a woman, when her functional period is over,
expects an act of congress with her husband. One that never approaches
one's spouses at any other time save after the functional period, is said
to observe the vow of Brahmacharya. Amrita (nectar), Brahmanas, and
kine,--these three are regarded as equal. Hence, one should always
worship, with due rites, Brahmanas and kine. One does not incur any fault
or stain by eating the meat of animals slain in sacrifices with the aid
of Tantras from the Yajur Veda. The flesh of the back-bone, or that of
animals not slain in sacrifice, should be avoided even as one avoids the
flesh of one's own son. One should never cause one's guest to go without
food whether when one resides in one's own country or in a foreign land.
After completing one's study one should present the Dakshina unto one's
preceptor. When one sees one's preceptor, one should congratulate him
with reverence and worshipping him present him a seat. By worshipping
one's preceptor, one increases the period of one's lif