Chapter 96

Vishnu Smriti 96

Then, having been purified of his passions in the three stages of life, having performed the Prājāpatya sacrifice and given his entire wealth as a sacrificial fee, he shall become a renunciant (pravrajyāśramī (प्रव्रज्याश्रमी)). // Vi_96.1 // Having placed the sacred fires within himself, he shall go to a village to beg for alms. // Vi_96.2 // He shall beg for alms from seven houses. // Vi_96.3 // If he does not obtain any, he shall not be distressed. // Vi_96.4 // He shall not beg from another beggar. // Vi_96.5 // He shall take alms after the people have eaten and the vessels have been put away. // Vi_96.6 // In an earthenware, wooden, or gourd vessel. // Vi_96.7 // And their purification shall be by water. // Vi_96.8 // He shall shrink from a gain that is accompanied by honor. // Vi_96.9 // He shall have a deserted house as his dwelling. // Vi_96.10 // Or the root of a tree as his dwelling. // Vi_96.11 // He shall not stay a second night in a village. // Vi_96.12 // He shall take only enough clothing to cover his loins (kaupīnācchādanamātram (कौपीनाच्छादनमात्रम्)). // Vi_96.13 // He shall place his foot where it has been purified by sight. // Vi_96.14 // He shall take water that has been purified by a cloth. // Vi_96.15 // He shall speak what has been purified by truth. // Vi_96.16 // He shall act as has been purified by his mind. // Vi_96.17 // He shall not desire death, nor life. // Vi_96.18 // He shall endure harsh words. // Vi_96.19 // He shall not despise anyone. // Vi_96.20 // He shall be without desire. // Vi_96.21 // He shall be without salutation. // Vi_96.22 //

For one who is cutting one of his arms, and for one who is anointing the other with sandalwood, / He shall think neither ill nor well of them. || Vi_96.23 ||

He shall be devoted to breath-control (prāṇāyāma (प्राणायाम)), concentration (dhāraṇā (धारणा)), and meditation (dhyāna (ध्यान)). // Vi_96.24 // He should see the impermanence of the world. // Vi_96.25 // The impure nature of the body. // Vi_96.26 // The distortion of form by old age. // Vi_96.27 // And the affliction by bodily, mental, and external diseases. // Vi_96.28 // And by congenital ones. // Vi_96.29 // The dwelling in the eternal darkness of the womb. // Vi_96.30 // And in the midst of urine and feces. // Vi_96.31 // And there, the experience of the pain of cold and heat. // Vi_96.32 // At the time of birth, the experience of great pain from emerging through the narrow passage of the womb. // Vi_96.33 // In childhood, delusion and dependence on elders. // Vi_96.34 // From study, many afflictions. // Vi_96.35 // And in youth, when objects of desire are not obtained, or when they are obtained by a wrong path, the falling into hell from the enjoyment of those objects. // Vi_96.36 // Dwelling with the unloved and separation from the loved. // Vi_96.37 // And in hell, very great pain. // Vi_96.38 // And in the cycle of worldly existence, in the wombs of animals. // Vi_96.39 // Thus, in this ever-flowing world, there is no happiness whatsoever. // Vi_96.40 // And whatever is called happiness in relation to the absence of pain, that too is impermanent. // Vi_96.41 // In the inability to enjoy it, or in its non-attainment, there is great pain. // Vi_96.42 // And he should see this body as composed of seven constituents. // Vi_96.43 // Composed of fat (vasā (वसा)), blood (rudhira (रुधिर)), flesh (māṃsa (मांस)), adipose tissue (medas (मेदस्)), bone (asthi (अस्थि)), marrow (majjā (मज्जा)), and semen (śukra (शुक्र)). // Vi_96.44 // Covered with skin. // Vi_96.45 // And foul-smelling. // Vi_96.46 // An abode of filth. // Vi_96.47 // Even when surrounded by a hundred pleasures, it is subject to change. // Vi_96.48 // Even when maintained with effort, it is perishable. // Vi_96.49 // An abode of lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride, and envy. // Vi_96.50 // Composed of earth, water, fire, wind, and ether. // Vi_96.51 // Joined with bones, veins (sirā (सिरा)), arteries (dhamanī (धमनी)), and sinews (snāyu (स्नायु)). // Vi_96.52 // Subject to menstruation. // Vi_96.53 // Having six layers of skin. // Vi_96.54 // Supported by three hundred and sixty bones. // Vi_96.55 // Their division is as follows: // Vi_96.56 // Sixty-four teeth, including the small ones. // Vi_96.57 // Twenty nails. // Vi_96.58 // And the bones of the hands and feet. // Vi_96.59 // Sixty joints of the fingers. // Vi_96.60 // Two in the heels. // Vi_96.61 // Four in the ankles. // Vi_96.62 // Four in the forearms. // Vi_96.63 // Four in the shanks. // Vi_96.64 // Two each in the knees and cheeks. // Vi_96.65 // In the thighs and shoulders. // Vi_96.66 // In the collarbones, eye-sockets, and hip-blades. // Vi_96.67 // One pubic bone. // Vi_96.68 // The backbone has forty-five parts. // Vi_96.69 // Fifteen bones in the neck. // Vi_96.70 // One collarbone. // Vi_96.71 // Likewise the jaw. // Vi_96.72 // And two at its root. // Vi_96.73 // Two in the forehead, eyes, and cheeks. // Vi_96.74 // The nose is a dense bone. // Vi_96.75 // Seventy-two ribs, together with their protuberances and sockets. // Vi_96.76 // Seventeen in the chest. // Vi_96.77 // Two temples. // Vi_96.78 // And four skull-bones of the head. // Vi_96.79 // In this body, there are seven hundred veins (sirās (सिराs)). // Vi_96.80 // Nine hundred sinews (snāyus (स्नायुs)). // Vi_96.81 // Two hundred arteries (dhamanīs (धमनीs)). // Vi_96.82 // Five hundred muscles. // Vi_96.83 // Twenty-nine lakhs and nine hundred and fifty-six minute arteries. // Vi_96.84 // Three lakhs of pores for the beard and hair. // Vi_96.85 // One hundred and seven vital spots (marmas (मर्मs)). // Vi_96.86 // Two hundred joints. // Vi_96.87 // Fifty-four crores and sixty-seven lakhs of body hairs. // Vi_96.88 // The navel, vitality (ojas (ओजस्))[^3], the anus, semen, blood, the two temples, the head, the throat, and the heart—these are the seats of life (prāṇāyatanāṇi (प्राणायतनाणि)). // Vi_96.89 // The two arms, the two shanks, the trunk, and the head—these are the six limbs. // Vi_96.90 // Fat (vasā (वसा)), the omentum (vapā (वपा)), the membrane around the heart (avahananaṃ (अवहवनं)), the navel, the lungs (klomā (क्लोमा)), the liver (yakṛt (यकृत्)), the spleen (plīhā (प्लीहा)), the small intestine (kṣudrāntraṃ (क्षुद्रान्त्रं)), the two kidneys (vṛkkakau (वृक्ककौ)), the bladder (bastiḥ (बस्तिः)), the rectum (purīṣādhānaṃ (पुरीषाधानं)), the stomach (āmāśayaḥ (आमाशयः)), the heart, the large intestine (sthūlāntraṃ (स्थूलान्त्रं)), the anus (gudam (गुदम्)), the belly (udaram (उदरम्)), and the abdominal cavity (gudakoṣṭham (गुदकोष्ठम्)). // Vi_96.91 // The pupils (kanīnike (कनीनिके)), the eye-sockets (akṣikūṭe (अक्षिकूटे)), the eyeballs (śaṣkulī (शष्कुली)), the ears, the outer ears (karṇapatrakau (कर्णपत्रकौ)), the cheeks, the eyebrows, the temples, the gums (dantaveṣṭau (दन्तवेष्टौ)), the lips, the two hollows above the collarbone (kakundare (ककुन्दरे)), the groins (vaṅkṣaṇau (वङ्क्षणौ)), the testicles (vṛṣaṇau (वृषणौ)), the kidneys (vṛkkau (वृक्कौ)), the phlegm-producing passages (śleṣmasaṃghātikau (श्लेष्मसंघाटिकौ)), the breasts, the uvula (upajihvā (उपजिह्वा)), the buttocks (sphicau (स्फिचौ)), the arms, the shanks, the thighs, the calves (piṇḍike (पिण्डिके)), the palate, the belly, the top of the bladder (bastiśīrṣau (बस्तिशीर्षौ)), the chin, the tonsils (galaśuṇḍike (गलशुण्डिके)), and the Adam's apple (avaṭuś (अवटुश्))—these are the locations in this body. // Vi_96.92 // And sound, touch, form, taste, and smell are the objects of the senses. // Vi_96.93 // The nose, eye, skin, tongue, and ear are the organs of perception. // Vi_96.94 // The hands, feet, anus, generative organ, and tongue are the organs of action. // Vi_96.95 // The mind, intellect, self, and the unmanifest are beyond the senses. // Vi_96.96 //

This body, O Vasudhā, is called the field (kṣetra (क्षेत्र)); / He who knows this, they who know that call him the knower of the field (kṣetrajña (क्षेत्रज्ञ)). || Vi_96.97 ||

And know me also as the knower of the field (kṣetrajña (क्षेत्रज्ञ)) in all fields, O fair one; / The knowledge of the field and the knower of the field is to be known always by one who desires liberation. || Vi_96.98 ||