mes out of a number for the object of seeing him. On one of these
occasions, the Sudra, O king, addressing the Rishi said,--'I desire to
perform the rites that are ordained for the Pitris. Do thou instruct me
kindly in this matter.'--'Very well,'--the Brahmana said in reply unto him,
O monarch. The Sudra then, purifying himself by a bath, brought water for
the Rishi to wash his feet, and he also brought some Kusa grass, and wild
herbs and fruits, and a sacred seat, and the seat called Vrishi. The
Vrishi, however, was placed by the Sudra towards the south, with his head
turned to the west. Beholding this and knowing that it was against the
ordinance, the Rishi addressed the Sudra, saying,--'Place the Vrishi with
its head turned towards the East, and having purified thyself, do thou
sit with thy face turned towards the north'--The Sudra did everything as
the Rishi directed. Possessed of great intelligence, and observant of
righteousness, the Sudra received every direction, about the Sraddha, as
laid down in the ordinance, from that Rishi endued with penances
regarding the manner of spreading the Kusa grass, and placing the
Arghyas, and as regards the rites to be observed in the matter of the
libations to be poured and the food to be offered. After the rites in
honour of the Pitris had been accomplished, the Rishi, was dismissed by
the Sudra, whereupon he returned to his own abode.[22] After a long time,
the whole of which he passed in the practice of such penances and vows,
the Sudra ascetic met with his death in those woods. In consequence of
the merit he acquired by those practices, the Sudra in the next life,
took birth in the family of a great king, and in course of time became
possessed of great splendour. The regenerate Rishi also, when the time
came, paid his debt in Nature. In his next life, O chief of Bharata's
race, he took birth in the family of a priest. It was in this way that
those two, viz., that Sudra who had passed a life of penances and that
regenerate Rishi who had in kindness given the former some instructions
in the matter of the rites performed in honour of the Pitris, became
reborn, the one as scion of a royal race and the other as the member of a
priestly family. Both of them began to grow and both acquired great
knowledge in the usual branches of study. The Brahmana became well versed
in the Vedas as also in the Atharvans.[23] In the matter, again of all
sacrifices ordained in the Sutras, of that Ved