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Chap.II.] thou shalt be guided by my directions. Thou shalt do what is pleasant and beneficial to me, otherwise thou shalt incur sin and all thy study and knowledge shall fail to bear their wished for fruit, and thou shalt gain no fame. If I, on the other hand, treat thee unjustly even with thy perfect obedience and in full conformity to the terms agreed upon, may I incur equal sin with thee, and may all my knowledge prove futile, and never have any scope of work or display. Thou shalt help with thy professional skill and knowledge, the Brahmanas, thy elders, preceptors and friends, the indigent, the honest, the anchorites, the helpless and those who shall come to thee (from a distance, or those who shall live close by, as well as thy relations and kinsmen [to the best of thy knowledge and ability], and thou shalt give them medicine [without charging for it any remuneration whatever], and God will bless thee for that. Thou shalt not treat medicinally a professional hunter, a fowler, a habitual sinner, or him who has been degraded in life; and even by so doing thou shalt acquire friends, fame, piety, wealth and all wished for objects in life and thy knowledge shall gain publicity."

Prohibited periods of the study of the Ayurveda:—The day of the new moon, the eighth day of the moon's wane, the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, as well as the corresponding days in