e as also one's
fame and prosperity. One should never censure the old, nor send them on
any business[623]. One should never be seated when any one that is old is
standing. By acting in this way one protects the duration of one's life.
One should never cast one's eyes on a naked woman, nor a naked man. One
should never indulge in sexual congress except in privacy. One should eat
also without being seen by others. Preceptors are the foremost of
Tirthas; the heart is the foremost of all sacred objects; knowledge is
the foremost of all objects of search; and contentment is the foremost of
all happiness. Morning and evening one should listen to the grave
counsels of those that are aged. One attains to wisdom by constant
waiting upon those that are venerable for years. While reading the Vedas
or employed in eating, one should use one's right hand. One should always
keep one's speech and mind under thorough control, as also one's senses.
With well-cooked frumenty, Yavaka, Krisara, and Havi (clarified butter),
one should worship the Pitris and the deities in the Sraddha called
Ashtaka. The same should be used in worshipping the Planets. One should
not undergo a shave without calling down a blessing upon oneself. If one
sneezes, one should be blessed by those present. All that are ill or
afflicted with disease, should be blessed. The extension of their lives
should be prayed for.[624] One should never address an eminent person
familiarly (by using the word Twam). Under even the great difficulties
one should never do this. To address such a person as Twam and to slay
him are equal, persons of learning are degraded by such a style of
address. Unto those that are inferior, or equal, or unto disciples, such
a word can be used. The heart of the sinful man always proclaims the sins
he has committed. Those men who have deliberately committed sins meet
with destruction by seeking to conceal them from the good. Indeed, they
that are confirmed sinners seek to conceal their sinful acts from
others.[625] Such persons think that their sins are witnessed by neither
men nor the deities. The sinful man, overwhelmed by his sins, takes birth
in a miserable order of being. The sins of such a man continually grow,
even as the interest the usurer charge (on the loans he grants) increase
from day to day. If, having committed a sin, one seeks to have it covered
by righteousness, that sin becomes destroyed and leads to righteousness
instead of other sins