After rising in the morning, if a twice-born person drinks water with his left hand, it is considered improper. One must also remember that food not first offered to Hari, or a habit of always eating leftovers, is forbidden. During the sacred month of Kārtika, speech, betel nut, and fruit, as well as beef, are to be avoided. White-colored palm fruit, tāla fruit, lentils, and fish are likewise prohibited in this time. If someone eats fish out of desire, it is prescribed that he should fast and reside apart for three days. On the lunar day of Pratipat, pumpkin should not be eaten, for it brings about loss of wealth, and patola gourd is also forbidden, as it is said to cause an increase of enemies. Consuming bilva fruit on the fifth lunar day brings blemish, and for men, eating tāla fruit increases disease. Eating coconut fruit on the eighth lunar day destroys intelligence. On the eleventh day, beans are prohibited; on the twelfth, putikā beans are likewise forbidden. On the fourteenth day, eating black gram is considered a great sin. For householders, meat that has been sprinkled with water is permitted on other days. Mustard oil and well-cooked oil are praised, O Nārada. However, on days of śrāddha, during vows, and on Sundays, oil pressed by women is considered impure. Sleeping is forbidden at certain times, as is turtle meat that has been consecrated with mantras. At night, curd should not be eaten, nor should one sleep during twilight. Food from a woman who draws water, or from a promiscuous woman, is unfit to eat, and so too is food that belongs to a woman of low caste. Food given first to a non-brāhmaṇa, or food from one who practices medicine, is also prohibited. In the month of Bhādrapada, meat at the root of the deer is considered equal to cow’s flesh. Whoever, after engaging in sexual union or after shaving, offers satisfaction to the gods and ancestors, is acting improperly. Thus, there are rules about what ought to be done and not done, and about what is fit to be eaten and what is not. At this point, Nārada, ever eager to learn, spoke: “Please describe to me, O Lord, the true nature of Brahman and its definition. Is Brahman with form or formless, O Master? Is it visible or invisible, attached to embodied beings or not? Is Prakṛti distinct from Brahman, or is she of the same nature as Brahman? Which of the two holds supremacy in creation, and which is the highest choice between them?” Hearing Nārada’s earnest questions, the five-faced Mahādeva smiled gently and replied, “O Nārada, such knowledge is extremely rare in the Vedas and Purāṇas. I, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śeṣa, Dharma, and the great Virāṭ—all that is endowed with attributes and is visible or perceptible—these too are encompassed in this inquiry. Long ago, in Vaikuṇṭha, Dharma asked Brahmā this very question. What I will tell you now is the essence of all principles, the eye for those blinded by ignorance. “It is the true form of the Supreme Self, the supreme, eternal Brahman. The five vital airs are Viṣṇu himself; the mind is Brahmā, the lord of creatures. We all depend on the Self; as long as that abides, we abide. The individual soul is its reflection, the enjoyer of all results of actions. Just as the reflection disappears from broken pots, so too do the forms of the moon and sun vanish when their vessels are gone. Only the supreme Brahman remains, dear one, at the end of the world.