manusmriti

LAWS OF MANU
106. But when lightning and the roar of thunder (are observed) after the sacred
fires have been made to blaze, the stoppage shall last as long as the light (of the sun
or of the stars is visible); if the remaining (above-named phenomenon, rain, occurs,
the reading shall cease), both in the day-time and at night.
107. For those who wish to acquire exceedingiy great merit, a continual
interruption of the Veda-study (is prescribed) in villages and in towns, and (the Vedastudy
must) always (cease) when any kind of foul smell (is perceptible).
108. In a village where a corpse lies, in the presence of a (man who lives as
unrighteously as a) Sudra, while (the sound of) weeping (is heard), and in a crowd of
men the (recitation of the Veda must be) stopped.
109. In water, during the middle part of the night, while he voids excrements, or is
impure, and after he has partaken of a funeral dinner, a man must not even think in
his heart (of the sacred texts).
110. A learned Brahmana shall not recite the Veda during three days, when he
has accepted an invitation to a (funeral rite) in honour of one ancestor (ekoddishta),
or when the king has become impure through a birth or death in his family (sutaka), or
when Rahu by an eclipse makes the moon impure.
111. As long as the smell and the stains of the (food given) in honour of one
ancestor remain on the body of a learned Brahmana, so long he must not recite the
Veda.
112. While lying on a bed, while his feet are raised (on a bench), while he sits on
his hams with a cloth tied round his knees, let him not study, nor when he has eaten
meat or food given by a person impure on account of a birth or a death,
113. Nor during a fog, nor while the sound of arrows is audible, nor during both
the twilights, nor on the new-moon day, nor on the fourteenth and the eighth (days of
each half-month), nor on the full-moon day.
114. The new-moon day destroys the teacher, the fourteenth (day) the pupil, the
eighth and the full-moon days (destroy all remembrance of) the Veda; let him
therefore avoid (reading on) those (days).
115. A Brahmana shall not recite (the Veda) during a dust-storm, nor while the
sky is preternaturally red, nor while jackals howl, nor while the barking of dogs, the
braying of donkeys, or the grunting of camels (is heard), nor while (he is seated) in a
company.
116. Let him not study near a burial-ground, nor near a village, nor in a cow-pen,
nor dressed in a garment which he wore during conjugal intercourse, nor after
receiving a present at a funeral sacrifice.
117. Be it an animal or a thing inanimate, whatever be the (gift) at a Sraddha, let
him not, having just accepted it, recite the Veda; for the hand of a Brahmana is his
mouth.
118. When the village has been beset by robbers, and when an alarm has been
raised by fire, let him know that (the Veda-study must be) interrupted until the same
hour (on the next day), and on (the occurrence of) all portents.
119. On (the occasion of) the Upakarman and (of) the Vedotsarga an omission
(of the Veda-study) for three days has been prescribed, but on the Ashtakas and on
the last nights of the seasons for a day and a night.
120. Let him not recite the Veda on horseback, nor on a tree, nor on an elephant,
nor in a boat (or ship), nor on a donkey, nor on camel, nor standing on barren ground,
nor riding in a carriage,
121. Nor during a verbal altercation, nor during a mutual assault, nor in a camp,
nor during a battle, nor when he has just eaten, nor during an indigestion, nor after
vomiting, nor with sour eructations,
122. Nor without receiving permission from a guest (who stays in his house), nor
while the wind blows vehemently, nor while blood flows from his body, nor when he is
wounded by a weapon.
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