Hear now the sacred instructions on purity and the proper conduct surrounding offerings and rites. In cases of defilement, it is prescribed that one must apply clay fifteen times to the hands and other limbs; if the precise spot of impurity is unknown, clay should be used generally, and finally, water should be employed to ensure cleanliness. If one covers the neck or head, or walks in the street with soiled feet, and does not cleanse them—even if the mouth has been rinsed—impurity remains. After rinsing any vessel and setting it aside, one should sip water and sprinkle again; this practice of sprinkling is to be repeated for any other substance as well. Flowers, grasses, and all offerings must be sprinkled before use. When substances are brought from elsewhere, they too should be sprinkled after being placed down. During śrāddha ceremonies or offerings to the gods, only what has been properly sprinkled should be taken up. On the altar, offerings should be taken from the north and what is discarded should be placed to the south. If there is any interruption or reversal in the rites for the gods or ancestors, one should trace the southern altar with the right hand to restore order. All auspicious acts for the gods and ancestors, as well as those addressing disturbed sleep or following acts like urination or defecation, should be performed with both hands. After clearly spitting, after eating, donning an upper garment, touching leftovers, or washing the feet, one should purify oneself accordingly. The same care is required after discarding water, speaking harshly, when impure, in moments of doubt, or when the topknot is untied. If, out of confusion, one sips water without wearing the sacred thread, or upon touching the lips or teeth, or upon encountering those who dwell at the edge of the village, one must purify oneself as prescribed. Similarly, if the tongue touches the teeth, something is stuck to the teeth, a sound is made with the fingers, or after bowing down and looking up, one should act accordingly. Anyone who, through confusion, remains impure should sit in a clean place, bowing and facing east or north. After washing the feet and hands, one should touch the knees with the hands, and with a clear mind, sip water three times, remaining attentive and composed. One should wash twice, sprinkle water once, then cleanse the orifices, head, body, hands, and feet in the same manner. If there is any doubt about the sprinkling, it should be repeated, for only then do water-sipping, Vedic study, sacrifice, and austerity become effective. Likewise, charity and celibacy yield their fruits only when performed in purity. If, out of confusion or disbelief, a rite is performed without sipping water, it is rendered fruitless; such acts bear no result. Only those performed with purity of speech and mind, free from fault or reproach, are truly effective. These are the acts that are to be known as pure; their opposite is impure. A Brahmin should never utter, “I am hungry, I have nothing.” If someone gives respectfully to such a one, that is true sacrifice. Food that has not been sprinkled with water, or food begged by one of poor conduct, is not considered a proper offering. At śrāddha, one should always feed a person of steady character and modesty. To give to the unworthy at the end of the rite is a grave sin, making one a slayer of Brahmins and of evil nature. Even after a hundred births, one does not become free from sin if he feeds Brahmins in an improper line or with a mixed group. Whether appointed or not, anyone who arranges such a line for food incurs sin; he is quickly overtaken by evil, and all his accumulated merit from sacrifices and charity is destroyed. Amid all Brahmins, the foremost at a festival is the one who recites the Vedas, along with the Itihasas and the fifth Veda. Next in order is the one who knows the three Vedas, then the one who knows two, and then the one who knows one Veda. After them comes the student of logic, followed by others in their proper sequence. There are also those who purify the line: the one versed in the six limbs of learning, the disciplined, the yogi, the one skilled in all rituals, and the wandering mendicant; anyone who has mastered even one of the eighteen branches of knowledge is also a purifier of the line. All who conduct themselves properly are purifiers—the one who knows the three Naciketas fires, the one who knows the three Vedas, and the twice-born who recites the Dharmas. The Brahmin who has mastered the Barhaspatya Shastra is also among the purifiers. Indeed, all these Brahmins are to be known as purifiers of the line. If a twice-born, invited to a śrāddha, has intercourse with a woman, his ancestors remain in his semen for that month. Likewise, he who, after giving and eating at a śrāddha, engages in sexual union, keeps his ancestors in his semen for that month—of this there is no doubt. Therefore, one should give to a guest, feed a celibate student, and offer to one devoted to meditation, to the compassionate and the righteous. One may feed an ascetic or the Vālakhilyas at a śrāddha; the forest-dweller, if present, is satisfied with mere honor. Feeding a householder causes the Viśvedevas to be worshipped; the forest-dweller satisfies the sages, and the Vālakhilyas please Indra. In the worship of ascetics, Brahma himself is worshipped. The five āśramas are purifying, but those outside the āśramas, with false marks, are not. The four āśramas should be honored at śrāddhas and divine rites; one should not have śrāddha performed by those outside the four āśramas. If someone, though hungry, remains outside the four āśramas, or is an undisciplined or false renouncer, both are defilers of the line. One should avoid all those who are shaven-headed in vain, those with matted hair, those who wear rags, the cruel, those of deviant conduct, and those who eat anything and everything. In offerings to gods and ancestors, one should avoid singers, dancers, actors, those excluded from all the Vedas, and those who recite divine stories. Even if they are twice-born, those who perform such acts must always be excluded from the śrāddha rite. Thus, the proper conduct, the ways of purification, and the qualifications for those who partake in sacred rites are set forth, to preserve the sanctity of offerings to the gods and ancestors.