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The Duties of the Brahmacharin and the Householder
He who is not a householder should avoid seeing, touching, conversing or joking etc., with women and also seeing other animals in sexual intercourse.
Cleanliness, the sipping of water preparatory to religious functions (Achamana), bathing, offering prayers in the morning, noon and evening, straightforwardness, visiting of holy places, repetition of the Mantra, avoidance of things not to be touched or eaten, and of persons not to be talked to, devotion to Me present in all beings, and control of mind, speech and body - these, O Uddhava, are the observances or rules of discipline (Niyamas) which are common for all the orders of life.
Thus, the Brahmin who practises rigid celibacy shines like fire, and if he is unselfish, his desires are burnt by intense austerities and he attains devotion to Me.
Then, if he desires to enter the life of a householder after having properly studied the Vedas, he should offer his Dakshina (presents) to his preceptor and with his permission perform the usual ablution or bath i.e., perform the rite of concluding the student-life or Brahmacharya Ashram.
Next, he may enter the life of a householder, the hermit’s life in the forest, or the life of a Sannyasi. He may pass from one Ashram to another with his mind intent on Me. He should not give up the Ashrams altogether.
If he wishes to lead the life of a householder, he should marry an unblemished girl of the same caste free from defects of birth, habits and qualities, who must be younger in age, and if he desires to marry any other he should do so after the above marriage in the due or succeeding order i.e., a Brahmin could marry in the three other castes; a Kshatriya in the two lower; Vaishya in the Sudra caste; the Sudra in his own caste. It should not be done in the inverse order.
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