O King, hear now the sacred course of life as prescribed in the scriptures. At both dawn and dusk, a devoted student should worship the sun and the sacred fire with a concentrated mind. With reverence, he must also bow to his teacher, for the teacher is the gateway to wisdom. When the teacher rises, the student must rise; when the teacher departs, he should follow; and when the teacher sits, the student should seat himself below, never acting contrary to the teacher’s wishes. The student should recite the Veda only as instructed and only in the teacher’s presence, keeping his mind undistracted. He should partake of food obtained by alms only after the teacher has granted permission. After the teacher has bathed, the student should bathe, and it is his duty to fetch water, firewood, and other necessities for the teacher at the proper times. When he has learned and mastered the Veda, and with the teacher’s blessing, the student may enter household life, having fulfilled all obligations to his teacher. With a wife obtained through the prescribed rites and wealth earned by his own honest work, he should perform the duties of a householder to the best of his ability. He must honor his ancestors with offerings, the gods and guests with sacrifices, the sages with food, the Veda with study, and the Creator with offspring. He should offer oblations for the benefit of all beings and cherish the world with affection, for a man attains the worlds his own actions have earned. Even those who live on alms—wandering ascetics or students—find their sustenance through the householder; thus, householdership is considered the highest stage. For the sake of Vedic recitation and bathing at sacred fords, Brāhmaṇas wander the earth, and also to see its wonders. Those who have no fixed abode, who eat as fortune allows, and who dwell wherever night falls, all depend upon the householder for support. Therefore, O King, one should welcome such guests with sweet words and gifts, offering them a bed, a seat, and food. If a guest, disappointed in his hopes, leaves a house, the householder takes on the guest’s sin and loses his own merit. For a householder, disrespect, pride, hypocrisy, distress, harm, and harshness are to be avoided. But the householder who follows these supreme rules becomes free from all bonds and attains the highest worlds. When old age comes and the householder has fulfilled his duties, he should entrust his wife to his sons and retire to the forest, either alone or with her. There, living on leaves, roots, and fruits, wearing matted hair and beard, and sleeping on the ground, he should become a sage and receive all guests with honor. His garments should be of skin, bark, or grass, and he should bathe three times daily. He must worship the deities, offer oblations, honor all who come, and give alms and offerings. Anointing the body with forest oils, practicing asceticism, and enduring heat and cold are also proper for him. The forest-dweller who practices this regulated conduct burns away faults like fire and attains eternal worlds. The wise speak of a fourth stage—the renunciant—which you should understand, O King. Having abandoned all attachment to sons, relatives, and wife, and being free from envy, one should enter this fourth stage. He should renounce all undertakings related to desire, gain, and duty, and remain friendly and even-minded toward all beings. By right action in speech, mind, and body, towards all creatures—whether born from womb, egg, or otherwise—he should harm none and avoid all attachments. He should remain in a village for only one night, in a city for five, and live without developing attachment or aversion. To sustain life, he may eat food obtained without request, going for alms at the proper time among those of good conduct. He should abandon desire, anger, pride, delusion, greed, and all possessiveness. Such a sage, granting fearlessness to all beings, lives without fear himself. He establishes the sacred fire within his own body, offering oblations through his own mouth as the bodily fire. A Brahmin who lives thus on alms attains the same worlds as those who have kindled the funeral fire. He who follows this path to liberation, pure, content, and composed, becomes tranquil like a flame without fuel and attains the world of Brahma. At this point, King Sagara spoke: “The duties of the four stages of life and the actions of the four classes have been described. Now, O best of the twice-born, I wish to hear about the rites performed by men. Please explain fully the obligatory, occasional, and desire-motivated rites, for I consider you all-knowing.” Aurva responded: “What you have asked concerning the obligatory and occasional rites, I shall explain. Listen with focused mind. For a newborn, the father should perform all the birth and related rites, as well as the auspicious śrāddha ceremony. He should feed Brahmins in pairs, facing east, and perform offerings to the gods and ancestors for the twice-born to their satisfaction. With curd mixed with barley and other ingredients, he should joyfully offer balls of food with sacred water, to those facing the Nandi direction, as a divine offering. Or, using the prājāpatya rite, he should perform all ceremonies in a clockwise manner, and likewise at all auspicious occasions. Then, on the tenth day, the father should give the child a name, beginning with a divine prefix and ending with a human one, joined with ‘śarma’, ‘varma’, or similar. ‘Śarma’ is prescribed for a Brahmin, ‘Varma’ for a Kshatriya; for a Vaiśya or Śūdra, a name indicating protection or service is proper.