The Dhaarmik Traditions - Indic Studies Foundation

householder should acquire wealth by righteous means. The wealth thus acquired
should be carefully divided into three portions, keeping the requirements of
righteousness in view. With one of those portions he should accomplish all acts of
righteousness. With another he should seek to gratify his cravings for pleasure. The
third portion he should lay out for increasing. Of all the modes of life, that of the
householder is the first. Of this there is no doubt.
Abstention from injury, truthfulness of speech, compassion towards all beings,
tranquility of soul, and the making of gifts to the best of one’s power, are the foremost
duties of the householder. Abstention from sexual congress with the spouses of other
men, protection of the wealth and the woman committed to one’s charge,
unwillingness to appropriate what is not given to one, and avoidance of honey and
meat, - these are the five chief duties. Indeed, Religion or Duty has many branches all
of which are fraught with happiness. Even these are the duties which these embodied
creatures who regard duty as superior should observe and practice. Even these are
the sources of merit.
The conduct of husband and wife should be equal
The conduct of husband and wife, in the case of householder, should be equal. He
should every day make offerings of flowers and other articles unto those deities that
preside over domesticity. Well cleaned and well rubbed, his house should also be
every day fumigated with the smoke of Homa (ghee or clarified butter poured on his
sacred fire in honor of the deities and the Pitris or ancestors). Related articles
"Mantras–Sacred " See column on the left]. Even these are the duties appertaining to
the householder’s mode of life as observable by a regenerate person. Those duties
really uphold the world.
Householders of pure mind are capable of earning very great merit. Indeed, he who
cleanses his soul by the performance of the five sacrifices (yajnas; the five yajnas or
sacrifices are Deva yajna, Rishi yajna, Manushya yajna, Pitri yajna, and Bhuta yajna).
He who is truthful in speech, who is free from malice, who makes gifts, who treats with
hospitality and honor all regenerate [Note: Regenerate is twice-born (Dvija):mother
gives physical or genetic birth; teacher gives spiritual birth] guests, who lives in well
cleansed abodes, who is free from pride, who is always sincere in his dealings, who
uses sweet and assuring words towards others, who takes pleasure in serving guests
and others arrived at his abode, and who eats the food that remains after the
requirements have been gratified of all the members of his family and dependants,
wins great merit.
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