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The Sacred Laws of the Âryas: Vasishtha - Chapter VII
1. There are four orders,1
2. Viz. (that of) the student, (that of) the house-holder, (that of) the hermit, and (that of) the ascetic.
3. A man who has studied one, two, or three Vedas without violating the rules of studentship, may enter any of these (orders), whichsoever he pleases.2
4. A (professed) student shall serve his teacher until death;3
5. And in case the teacher dies, he shall serve the sacred fire.4
6. For it has been declared in the Veda, 'The fire is thy teacher:'5
7. (A student, whether professed or temporary), shall bridle his tongue;6
8. He shall eat in the fourth, sixth, or eighth hour of the day.7
9. He shall go out in order to beg.8
10. He shall obey his teacher.9
11. He either (may wear all his hair) tied in a knot or (keep merely) a lock on the crown of his head tied in a knot, (shaving the other parts of the head.)10
12. If the teacher walks, he shall attend him walking after him; if the teacher is seated, standing; if the teacher lies down, seated.11
13. He shall study after having been called (by the teacher, and not request the latter to begin the lesson).12
14. Let him announce (to the teacher) all that he has received (when begging), and eat after permission (has been given to him).13
15. Let him avoid to sleep on a cot, to clean his teeth, to wash (his body for pleasure), to apply collyrium (to his eyes),. to anoint (his body), and to wear shoes or a parasol.14
16. (While reciting his prayers) he shall stand in the day-time and sit down at night.15
17. Let him bathe three times a day.16
Footnotes
1. Gautama III, 2.
2. Gautama III, 1.
3. Vishnu XXVIII, 43.
4. Vishnu XXVIII, 46. I agree with Krishnapandita in thinking that the apparently purposeless particle 'and,' which is used in this Sûtra, indicates Vasishtha's approval of the rules given in other Smritis, according to which the student, on the death of the teacher, shall serve the teacher's son, a fellow-student, or the teacher's wife, and the service of the sacred fire is the last resource only. See Vishnu XXVIII, 44-45; Gautama III, 7-8.
5. These words form part of one of the Mantras which the teacher recites at the initiation of the student; see e.g. Sâṅkhâyana Grihya-sûtra.
6. Gautama II, 13, 22.
7. According to Krishnapandita to a kâla, 'hour,' is the eighth part of a day.
8. Vishnu XXVIII, 9.
9. Vishnu XXVIII, 7.
10. Gautama I, 27; Vishnu XXVIII, 41.
11. Vishnu XXVIII, 18-22.
12. Vishnu XXVIII, 6.
13. Vishnu XXVIII, 10; Âpastamba I, 1, 3, 25.
14. Gautama II, 13.
15. Vishnu XXVIII, 2-3. The prayers intended are, the so walled Sandhyâs, which are recited at daybreak and in the evening.
16. Gautama II, 8. 'Three times a day,' i.e. morning, noon, and evening. Krishnapandita thinks that he shall perform three ablutions at midday.
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