When a student, ritual performer, teacher, or relative passes away, the study of sacred texts must be suspended for three days. There are also certain times and circumstances when study is to be paused: during twilight, when thunder rumbles, when earthquakes shake the earth, or when meteors fall from the sky. On the fifteenth, fourteenth, and eighth days of the lunar month, and during solar or lunar eclipses, study is strictly forbidden. Study should also be avoided when certain animals are present, such as cattle, frogs, mongooses, horses, snakes, cats, or boars. The same applies when the air is filled with the sounds of dogs, jackals, donkeys, owls, or the wailing of arrows. One must not study in impure places, when one feels impure within, or during violent storms of lightning and thunder. It is also forbidden during the burning of the quarters, in dust storms, at twilight, and in times of great fear. Furthermore, study should not be undertaken while mounting donkeys, camels, vehicles, elephants, horses, boats, trees, or mountains. The instructions laid down in the Vedas, by one’s teacher, the shadow of the king, or another’s wife must never be disregarded. The selves of Brahmins, beggars, and Kshatriyas are always to be respected. Conduct should always follow what is stated in the Śruti and Smṛti, and one should never touch another’s vital spots. One must act according to dharma, never against it. Without removing the five lumps of food, one should not bathe in another’s water. Another’s bed and similar things should be avoided and only used in times of distress. Food and gifts should not be accepted from those condemned by the king, the aged, prostitutes, or those initiated into heretical groups. Likewise, one must avoid accepting from the cruel, fierce, fallen, outcaste, hypocritical, or those who eat leftovers. Food should also not be accepted from murderers, slayers of kings, those who kill women, or those who live by killing, nor from bards or goldsmiths. Food that is stale, defiled, touched by a dog, or fallen on the ground is impure. Food smelled by a cow, left over by a bird, or intentionally touched by the foot must be avoided. One should also avoid food to be eaten by a barber, or food offered by one who offers himself. Even when oil is not available, wheat, barley, cow’s milk, and their products are to be avoided. The flesh of carnivorous animals, birds, the dātyūha bird, and parrots is to be shunned, as is food that is wasted, or preparations such as krisara, rasa, samyāva, pāyasa, apūpa, and śaṣkulī. If a person eats cāṣa birds, fish, or animals with red feet out of desire, or consumes onions, garlic, and similar foods, he must perform the Cāndrāyaṇa penance. The sages declare that such a person dwells in a terrible hell for many days; but by giving up meat and earnestly seeking higher desires, he attains Hari. Thus concludes the ninety-sixth chapter, entitled “The Description of Śrāddha as Taught by Yājñavalkya,” in the Ācārakāṇḍa of the First Section of the Purva-khaṇḍa of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa. Now, listen as the purification of substances is explained. Vessels and seats are purified by washing with water. Sacrificial vessels made of wood, horn, or similar materials are cleansed by scraping. If, while begging, one sees a woman’s mouth, or if food is cooked again on the ground, purification is achieved by sprinkling with ashes; the ground itself is purified by washing and similar methods. Vessels of iron, bronze, or unknown materials are always purified by ashes. Water that is naturally pure, that has touched the earth, is clean and satisfies the ancestors. Sun rays, fire, dust, shadow, a white horse, earth, and wind are also purifying. After bathing, drinking, sneezing, sleeping, eating, or walking on the road, one should remember that, during sneezing, spitting, sleeping, putting on clothes, or shedding tears, the gods beginning with Agni remain at the right ear of a Brāhmaṇa. Thus ends the ninety-seventh chapter, “The Description of Purification of Substances as Taught by Yājñavalkya,” in the Ācārakāṇḍa of the First Section of the Purva-khaṇḍa of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa. Now, O virtuous ones, the procedure for giving gifts will be explained. Listen attentively.