Those who wander without a fixed home, who do not eat at regular times, and who rest wherever night overtakes them—all such travelers and ascetics find their support and origin in the householder. It is the householder who sustains them, providing the foundation for their lives. Therefore, O King, when these guests arrive, one should greet them with kind words, welcome them warmly, and offer them gifts. To all who come to the home, the householder should provide a bed, a seat, and nourishing food. If a guest, filled with hope, departs from a house disappointed, the householder incurs the guest’s misfortune and loses his own merit. Thus, for a householder, qualities such as disrespect, pride, hypocrisy, distress, harm, and harshness are never to be approved. But the householder who follows this supreme rule faithfully—serving guests and maintaining virtue—becomes free from all bonds and attains the highest realms. When old age approaches and the householder has fulfilled his duties, he should, O King, entrust his wife to the care of his sons and depart for the forest, going either alone or with his wife. In the forest, he lives simply—sustaining himself on leaves, roots, and fruits, letting his hair and beard grow matted, and sleeping on the ground. He becomes a sage, ready to receive all guests, O King. His garments are made from skins, bark, or grass, and it is proper for him to bathe three times a day, O lord of men. He continues his worship of the deities, offers oblations, honors all who approach, and gives alms and offerings, as befits his stage of life. He anoints himself with forest oils, embraces asceticism, and endures heat, cold, and the other hardships of the wilderness, O king of kings. By practicing this disciplined way of life, the forest-dweller burns away his faults like fire consuming fuel, and he attains the eternal worlds. The wise declare a fourth stage—the life of renunciation. Hear now, O King, the nature of this highest state. One entering this stage should abandon all attachment to sons, relatives, and wife, and, free from envy, proceed on the path of renunciation, O ruler of men. He renounces all undertakings related to the three aims of life—dharma, artha, and kama—and treats friends and others alike, maintaining friendliness toward all beings. He acts rightly by speech, mind, and body toward all creatures, whether born from womb, egg, or otherwise. He harms none and avoids all attachment. He stays in a village for a single night, and in a city for five nights, always remaining unattached and free from aversion. For sustenance, he eats only food obtained without asking, and at the proper time, he goes from house to house for alms among those of good conduct. Desire, anger, pride, delusion, greed—all these he abandons, becoming free from possessiveness. He grants fearlessness to all beings, and, living thus, he himself has nothing to fear from any creature, anywhere. Having established the sacred fire within his own body, he offers oblations into his own mouth as the bodily fire; and a Brahmin, sustaining himself on alms, attains the worlds of those who have maintained the funeral fire. Whoever follows this prescribed path to liberation—pure, content, and with a composed mind—becomes tranquil, like a flame without fuel, and that twice-born one attains the world of Brahma. At this point, King Sagara addressed the sage: “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 a man. Please explain in full the obligatory, occasional, and desire-motivated rites of men, O best of Bhrigus, for I consider you all-knowing.” Aurva replied: “O King, you have asked about the obligatory and occasional rites, and I shall explain them to you. Listen with a focused mind. For one who is born, the father should perform all the birth and related rites for his son, as well as the auspicious śrāddha ceremony. He should feed Brahmins in pairs, facing east, and make offerings to the gods and ancestors for the twice-born, ensuring their satisfaction. With curd mixed with barley and other ingredients, he should joyfully offer balls of food, using sacred water, to those facing the Nandi direction as a divine offering, O King. Or, following the prājāpatya rite, he should perform all the ceremonies in a clockwise manner, and do so at all times of increase. 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 suffixes. ‘Śarma’ is prescribed for a Brahmin, ‘Varma’ for a Kshatriya, and a name indicating protection or service is proper for a Vaiśya or Śūdra. The name should not be meaningless, inauspicious, harsh-sounding, or unwholesome. It should be complete, free from reproach, neither too long nor too short, not composed of excessively heavy syllables, and easy to pronounce. It should also include a syllable from the sacred ‘praṇava’. After these sacraments, he should, following the prescribed rule, undertake the acquisition of knowledge in the teacher’s house. Having completed his studies and given the teacher his due fee, if he desires householdership, he should take a wife. Or, if he chooses, he may remain a celibate for a time, serving his teacher or the teacher’s son and others. Or, by his own resolve, he may become a forest-dweller or a renunciant; whatever was previously resolved, that he should do. When seeking a wife, a man should marry one who is younger by one third of his own age. She should not have hair that is too scanty or too abundant, nor should she be too dark or tawny in complexion. He should not marry a woman whose limbs are naturally excessive or deficient, nor one who is impure, excessively hairy, born from a mixed caste, or afflicted with disease. He should not marry a wicked woman, one who speaks harshly, one who is deformed from birth, one who is already the mother of a son, one with a beard or masculine features, nor one with a manly appearance. He should not marry a woman with a harsh or hoarse voice, nor one with a thin or crow-like voice; likewise, he should not marry one whose eyes are set too close or are too round. Thus, the duties and rites for each stage of life, and the manner of choosing a wife, are to be followed, ensuring a life of righteousness, harmony, and spiritual progress.