In ancient times, the wise sages taught the rules of purity and impurity, guiding the twice-born and all people in their daily lives and sacred duties. For those born twice—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas—purification is attained simply by bathing, without the need for elaborate rites or accumulation of ritual objects. This same ease of purification applies to those who are present at a sacrifice and to those who have undergone initiation. When a person performs a one-day sacrifice, Svayambhu himself has declared that purification is achieved in this way. And for those who have mastered the four branches of learning, this rule extends to all embodied beings. Concerning the impurity that arises from birth or death, it is said that in the other world, such impurity does not last beyond three days. Here, in this world, O best of twice-born, it endures up to eleven days for relatives. At the time of death, purification may be achieved by bathing alone; and after three seasons have passed, a single day suffices for purification. If seven years have elapsed since the event, only three nights of impurity are observed; after this period, Brahmins observe ten days of impurity, or just the first day in the case of the father. For childbirth, ten days of impurity are prescribed for both the child and mother. However, after three years, the paternal relatives are purified simply by bathing. As more time passes, the rules become more lenient: after eight years, a relative is purified in one night; after twelve years, virtuous ones, a woman is purified in three nights. The relationship established by offering the same oblations ceases in the seventh year, and after ten days have passed, any remaining impurity endures only for three nights. For those who are present, the rule remains as before, but after a year, purification is achieved simply by bathing. Touching a corpse brings impurity, but righteousness is restored by bathing after three nights. For those who burn or carry the dead, if they are not relatives, mere bathing is sufficient. After following the deceased, one is purified by bathing and partaking of ghee. For the death of a teacher or a Vedic scholar, three nights of impurity are observed. For maternal uncles, brothers, twice-borns, kings and their retinues, and those living outside the territory, purification is immediate. For Kshatriyas, impurity lasts only twelve days, and for those not anointed, impurity applies only in cases of error or in battle. A Vaishya is purified in fifteen days, while a Shudra requires a month. Thus, the supreme rules for purification of substances are briefly laid out. For ascetics, there is no impurity upon succession. From the Treta age onward, women experience monthly impurity during menstruation. In the Krita age, men and women were born and departed together according to their yuga, with their wives, as the noble Kurus once did. The system of varna and ashrama has been established in Bharata, the southern land, since the Treta age, but not in other regions. Yet, in Mahavita, Suvita, Jambudvipa, and the eight regions such as Shakadvipa, the dharma is declared just as it is in Bharata. In the Krita age, sustenance arose from pure essence; in the Treta, it came from trees grown at home. But with the advent of unseasonal harvests and the rise of passion, hatred, and similar faults among people, this changed. From sexual union driven by desire and from harshness and similar acts, barley and other grains—both cultivated and wild, fourteen in number—came into being. Even plants became affected by impurity, and due to faults of passion in men and women, they are often harvested prematurely, destroyed, and then produced again in the same manner. Because of this, every effort must be made to avoid speaking to a menstruating woman. On the first day of her cycle, she is to be avoided as one would avoid an outcaste. On the second day, she is to be shunned as one who has slain a Brahmin; on the third day, by half as much, and on the fourth day, O virtuous ones, after bathing, she is purified in half a month, attaining full purity thereafter. From the sixteenth day onward, a woman’s cleanliness is considered as it is with urine. If her impurity lasts for five nights, she remains untouchable for that period; if it continues beyond twenty days, the impurity is as before. During her menstrual period, a woman should avoid bathing, cleaning, singing, weeping, laughing, traveling, anointing, gambling, and applying ointments. She should especially refrain from sleeping during the day, brushing her teeth, and engaging in sexual union—whether in thought, word, or deed—or worshipping the deities. She must also avoid salutations, and touching or conversing with a menstruating woman should be shunned. She should not discard her clothes carelessly, and after bathing, she should not touch another person. For self-purification, she should gaze at the sun, then drink water consecrated with Brahma grass, or partake only of the five products of the cow, or of milk. On the fourth day, a woman should not be approached for intercourse; if she is, she may give birth to a child who is short-lived, lacking in knowledge, fallen from vows, degraded, or adulterous—a child who may be plunged in the ocean of poverty. Only on the fifth day, following the proper rules, may one seeking a daughter approach her. If there is an excess of blood, a daughter is born; if of semen, a son; if both are equal, a neuter child is born. On the fifth day, a girl is likely to be conceived. On the sixth day, O highly fortunate ones, she may be approached and will become the mother of a noble son—a son who will be illustrious and fulfill the role of sonship. The word ‘pum’ means ‘hell,’ and hell is known as suffering; thus, a son endowed with manliness is born to save his ancestors from that fate. On the seventh day, one desiring a daughter may approach, and she will conceive accordingly. On the eighth day, she gives birth to a child blessed with all prosperity. On the ninth day, again a daughter is likely; on the tenth, a learned child is born; on the eleventh, another woman is conceived. On the twelfth day, she gives birth to one who knows the essence of dharma, a promoter of Vedic and Smriti rites; on the thirteenth, a dull woman, the cause of confusion. Therefore, a woman should never be approached on the thirteenth day; but if she is approached on the fourteenth, she will bear a son. On the fifteenth day, a virtuous woman is born; on the sixteenth, one accomplished in knowledge. At the time of intercourse, the wind prevails on the left side of women. Thus, the ancient sages carefully prescribed these rules, ensuring purity in body and mind, and guiding the people in all stages of life and all the ages of the world.