Page:The Land of the Veda.djvu/46

36 intent upon the Supreme Being; he should slide backward and forward, or stand a whole day on tiptoe, or continue in motion by rising and sitting alternately; but every day, at sunrise, at noon, and at sunset, he should go to the waters and bathe. In the hot season he should sit exposed to five fires, namely: four blazing around him, while the sun is burning above him. In the rainy season he should stand uncovered, without even a mantle, while the clouds pour down their heaviest showers. In the cold season he should wear damp vesture. He should increase the austerity of his devotion by degrees, until by enduring harsher and harsher mortifications he has dried up his bodily frame.”—Code, VI, 22 ; Vishnu Purana, III, 9, etc.

As regards the life to be pursued by a Sannyasi, Menu lays down the following directions:

“When a Brahmin has thus lived in the forest during the third portion of his life as a Vanaprastha, he should for the fourth portion of it become a Sannyasi, and abandon all sensual affections, and repose wholly in the Supreme Spirit. The glory of that Brahmin who passes from the order of Grihastha to that of Sannyasi illuminates the higher worlds. He should take an earthen water-pot, dwell at the roots of large trees, wear coarse vesture, abide in total solitude, and exhibit a perfect equanimity toward all creatures. He should wish neither for death nor for life, but expect his appointed time, as a hired servant expects his wages. He should look down as he advances his foot, lest he should touch any thing impure. He should drink water that has been purified by straining through a cloth, lest he hurt an insect. He should bear a reproachful speech with patience, and speak reproachfully to no man; and he should never utter a word relating to vain, illusory things. He should delight in meditating upon the Supreme Spirit, and sit fixed in such meditation, without needing any thing earthly, without one sensual desire, and without any companion but his own soul.

“He should only ask for food once a day, and that should be in the evening, when the smoke of the kitchen fires has ceased, when