________________
II, 10, 18.
RULES FOR AN ASCETIC.
283
recited at the) Agnihotra, in the evening and in the morning,
21. After performing his evening devotions by (reciting the verses called) Vârunis, and his morning devotions by (reciting the verses called) Maitris.
22. 'An ascetic shall keep no fire, have no house, no home, and no protector. He may enter a village in order to collect alms, and emit speech at the private recitation of the Veda.'
23. It is declared in the Veda, 'Limited in number are the Rik-verses, limited in number are the Sâmans, limited is the answer (of the Adhvaryu priest).'
24. 'Thus (an ascetic) shall not give up the Veda, (but live), until he is liberated from the body, at the root of the tree.'
25. “The tree (is) the Veda; the syllable Om is its root; the syllable Om is the essence of the Veda.'
26. 'Meditating on the syllable Om, he becomes
21. The Maitrîs occur Taitt. Samhitâ III, 4, 11, 5, and the Vârunis follow them immediately.
22. Apastamba II, 9, 21, 10.
23. This and the next Sûtras are intended to teach that ascetics may limit their private recitation to the repetition of the pranava, 'the syllable Om. According to Govinda the passage of the Veda quoted refers originally to the Katurhotarah, which the Taittirîya Brâhmana II, 2, 1, 4, and III, 12, 5, 1 identifies with the Brahman, and where the pratigara, the answer of the Adhvaryu priest, is 'Om hotah' (Aitareya Brâhmana V, 25).
24. I have taken vrikshamûlikovedasamnyâsî to stand for vrikshamaliko avedasamnyasî. For the vedasamnyâsa, giving up the Veda,' is not permitted to an ascetic; see e. g. Vasishtha X, 4. But even without the negative particle vedasamnyâsî may convey a sense not opposed to the general teaching of the Smritis. For it may be taken to mean abandoning (the recitation of other portions of) the Veda.'
Digitized by Google
