12.236
Bhīṣma said.
The duties of a householder, which have been prescribed for the wise, have been explained to you. Now, O Yudhishthira, listen to what comes next.
But then, in due order, having given up this third excellent way of life, for those forest-dwelling hermitage dwellers who are wearied by union and vows.
Listen, O Pārtha, may you be blessed. This concerns those whose selves are the refuge of all worlds, who have gone before, and who dwell in holy places, having observed (the proper rites).
Vyāsa said.
When a householder perceives wrinkles and grey hair on himself, and sees his own child’s child, then he should retire to the forest.
For a third of his life, one should reside in the hermitage of forest-dwellers; the sacrificer should properly tend those sacred fires of the gods.
A person who is self-controlled, regulated in food, who eats the sixth meal and is vigilant—such a person is equivalent to Agnihotra, to cows, and to all the limbs of sacrifice in every respect.
One should offer uncultivated grains, rice and barley, wild rice, and leftover food as oblations in sacrifices, even here in these five (types of sacrifices).
In the hermitage of forest-dwellers, four modes of life are recognized: some cleanse immediately, while others accumulate (offerings or actions) monthly.
Some people make an annual collection, while others do so every twelve years, for the purpose of guest worship and to accomplish the aims of sacrificial ritual procedures.
During the rainy season, they dwell in the open; in winter, they resort to water; in summer, they practice the five-fire austerity; and always, they eat moderately.
They turn around on the ground, or may stand even with their feet; by means of standing and sitting postures, they move, and in the sacrifices, he anoints.
Some use their teeth as mortars, some pound with stones, and others likewise; during the bright fortnight, some drink barley gruel that has been boiled once.
During the dark fortnight, some drink, some eat, each in due order; some steadfast in their vows subsist on roots, some on fruits, and some on flowers.
They follow the Vaikhānasa doctrine as prescribed, and these and other various initiations belong to those sages.
The fourth, namely the Upaniṣads, is remembered as a common duty. From that, the forest-dweller and the householder, and then another, proceed.
O dear one, in this very age, Agastya, the seven sages, Madhucchandas, and Aghamarṣaṇa were recognized by the Brāhmaṇas who perceive all meanings.
Saṅkṛti, Sudivā, Taṇḍiryavān, and our accomplished one; then Ahovīrya, likewise Kāvya, Tāṇḍya, Medhātithi, and Budha.
Thus, the learned ones, having made effort in virtues, whether weak, eloquent, or silent, protectors of emptiness, then attained heaven.
O father, likewise, the groups of wandering ascetics—those whose dharma is evident, the sages, those of intense austerity, and those who perceive the subtleties of dharma.
There were Brāhmaṇas of unspeakable and immeasurable qualities who had taken refuge in the forest; among them were the Vaikhānasa, Vālkhilya, Sikatā sages, and others as well.
By their actions, those who are without joy, always righteous, and have conquered their senses, all those whose dharma is manifest have gone and taken refuge in the forest. Groups of luminaries, without stars and unassailable, are seen.
When one is afflicted by old age and oppressed by disease, in the fourth and remaining part of life, one should abandon the stage of the forest-dweller. Having performed the immediate rite, one should offer a sacrifice with gifts to all the Vedas.
He who offers sacrifice to the self, delights in the self, plays in the self, and takes refuge in the self, having established the sacrificial fires within himself and having renounced all possessions.
One should always perform sacrifices and oblations immediately here; for the sacrificers, the worship that is performed through sacrifice ultimately ceases in the self.
One should properly worship thirty fires within oneself for self-liberation; and, using the Yajus, one should partake of five or six offerings from the vital breaths, without any contempt.
The forest-dweller sage, even with hair, body hair, and nails, immediately becomes purified by his actions as he moves from one hermitage to another.
If a twice-born, having given fearlessness to all beings, renounces, he attains worlds full of brilliance and endlessness after death.
A man of good conduct, whose impurities are removed, who does not desire to act either here or hereafter, who is free from anger and delusion, who has transcended alliance and conflict, should remain like an indifferent person, as a knower of the self.
There is no disturbance in the Yamas and in those who have realized the Self; for one who follows his own scripture, aphorisms, offerings, mantras, and efforts, the self-sacrificer attains the desired goal; there is no doubt for one devoted to dharma and who has mastered his senses.
Thereafter, listen about the fourth, the supreme āśrama, which is established with excellent virtues, surpassing the other three, and is praised as the highest and ultimate goal.
