nwisely
spoken, becomes the victim of wounds that fester and lead to death.[462]
Barbed arrows and Nalikas and broadheaded shafts are capable of being
extracted from the body. Wordy shafts, however, are incapable of being
extracted, for they lie embedded in the very heart. One should not taunt
a person that is defective of a limb or that has a limb in excess, or one
that is destitute of learning, or one that is miserable, or one that is
ugly or poor, or one that is destitute of strength. One should avoid
atheism, calumniating the Vedas, censuring the deities, malice, pride,
arrogance, and harshness. One should not, in wrath, take up the rod of
chastisement for laying it upon another. Only the son or the pupil, it
has been said, can be mildly chastised for purposes of instruction. One
should not speak ill of Brahmanas; nor should he point at the stars with
one's fingers. If asked, one should not say what the lunation is on a
particular day. By telling it, one's life becomes shortened. Having
answered calls of nature or having walked over a road, one should wash
one's feet. One should also wash one's feet before sitting to recite the
Vedas or to eat any food. These are the three things which are regarded
as pure and sacred by the deities and as such fit for the Brahmana's use,
viz., that whose impurity is unknown, that which has been washed in
water, and that which has been well-spoken of. Samyava, Krisara, meat,
Sashakuli and Payasa should never be cooked for one's own self. Whenever
cooked, these should be offered to the deities.[463] One should attend
every day to one's fire. One should every day give alms. One should,
restraining speech the while, clean one's teeth with the tooth-stick. One
should never be in bed when the sun is up. If one fails any day to be up
with the sun, one should then perform an expiation. Rising from bed, one
should first salute one's parents, and preceptors, or other seniors
deserving of respect. By so doing one attains to long life. The
tooth-stick should be cast off when done with, and a new one should be
used every day. One should eat only such food as is not forbidden in the
scriptures, abstaining from food of every kind on days of the new moon
and the full moon. One should, with senses restrained, answer calls of
nature, facing the north. One should not worship the deities without
having first washed one's teeth. Without also worshipping the deities
first, one should never repair to any pe