The Fourth Stage of Life:
The Wandering Ascetic (Sannyasin, Sadhu)
33. But having thus passed the third part of a man's natural term of life in the forest, he may live as an ascetic during the fourth part of his existence, after abandoning all attachments to worldly objects.
34. He who after passing from order to order, and after offering sacrifices and subduing his senses, becomes tired with giving alms and offerings of food, [is] an ascetic [who] gains bliss after death.
36. Having studied the Vedas in accordance with the rule, having begat sons according to the sacred law, and having offered sacrifices according to his ability, he may direct his mind to the attainment of final liberation.
37. A twice-born man who seeks final liberation without having studied the Vedas, without having begotten sons, and without having offered sacrifices, sinks downwards.
38. Having performed the Ishti, sacred to the Lord of creatures (Prajapati), where he gives all his property as the sacrificial fee, having reposited the sacred fires in himself, a Brahmin may depart from his house as an ascetic.
40. For that twice-born man, by whom not the smallest danger even is caused to created beings, there will be no danger from any quarter after he is freed from his body.
41. Departing from his house fully provided with the means of purification (Pavitra), let him wander about absolutely silent, caring nothing for enjoyments that may be offered to him.
42. Let him always wander alone, without any companion, in order to attain final liberation, fully understanding that the solitary man, who neither forsakes nor is forsaken, gains his end.
43. He shall neither possess a fire nor a dwelling; he may go to a village for his food, [but] he shall be indifferent to everything, firm of purpose, meditating and concentrating his mind on Brahman.
44. A piece of broken pottery instead of an alms-bowl, the roots of trees for a dwelling, coarse worn-out garments, life in solitude, and indifference towards everything – these are the marks of one who has attained liberation.
45. Let him not desire to die; let him not desire to live; let him wait for his appointed time as a servant waits for the payment of his wages.
47. Let him patiently bear hard words; let him not insult anybody; and let him not become anybody's enemy for the sake of this perishable body.
48. Against an angry man let him not in return show anger; let him bless when he is cursed; and let him not utter speech devoid of truth . . . .
49. Delighting in what refers to the Soul [Atman = True Self], sitting in the postures prescribed by Yoga, independent of external help, entirely abstaining from sensual enjoyments, with himself for his only companion, he shall live in this world, desiring the bliss of final liberation.
50. Let him seek to obtain alms without explaining prodigies and omens, without using his skill in astrology and palmistry, without giving advice, and without offering exposition of the Shastras.
51. Let him not in order to beg go near a house filled with hermits, Brahmins, birds, dogs, or other mendicants.
52. His hair, nails, and beard being clipped, carrying a broken pot, a staff, and a water-pot, let him continually wander about, controlling himself and not hurting any creature.
55. Let him go to beg once a day; let him not be eager to obtain a large quantity of alms. An ascetic who eagerly seeks alms attaches himself also to sensual enjoyments.
56. When no smoke ascends from the kitchen, when the pestle lies motionless, when the embers have been extinguished, when the people have finished their meal, when the remnants in the dishes have been removed, then let the ascetic go to beg.
57. Let him not be sorry when he obtains nothing nor rejoice when he obtains something; let him accept so much only as will sustain life; let him not care about the quality of his utensils.
59. By eating little, and by standing and sitting in solitude, let him restrain his senses, if they are attracted by sensual objects.
60. By the restraint of his senses, by the destruction of love and hatred, and by the abstention from injuring creatures, he becomes fit for immortality.
61-64. Let him reflect on the transmigrations of men, caused by their sinful deeds, on their falling into hell, and on the torments in the world of Yama [the God of Death]; on the separation from their dear ones, on their union with hated men, on their being overpowered by age and being tormented with diseases; on the departure of the individual soul from this body and its new birth in another womb, and on its wanderings through ten thousand millions of existences; on the infliction of pain on embodied spirits, which is caused by demerit, and the gain of eternal bliss, which is caused by the attainment of their highest aim, gained through spiritual merit.
65. By deep meditation let him recognize the subtle nature of the supreme Soul [Atman = Supreme Self], and its presence in all organisms, both the highest and the lowest.
68. In order to preserve living creatures, let him always by day and by night, even with pain to his body, walk, carefully scanning the ground.
69. In order to expiate the death of those creatures which he unintentionally injures by day or by night, an ascetic shall bathe and perform six suppressions of his breath.
73. Let him recognize by the practice of meditation the progress of the individual soul through beings of various kinds, a progress hard to understand for unregenerate men.
74. He who possesses true insight into the nature of the world is not fettered by his deeds; but he who is destitute of that insight, is drawn into the circle of births and deaths.
75. By not injuring any creatures, by detaching the senses from objects of enjoyment, by the rites prescribed in the Veda, and by rigorously practicing austerities, men gain that state even in this world.
76-77. Let him quit this dwelling [his body], composed of the five elements, where the bones are the beams, which is held together by tendons instead of cords, where the flesh and the blood are the mortar, which is thatched with the skin, which is foul-smelling, filled with urine and ordure, infested by old age and sorrow, the seat of disease, harassed by pain, gloomy with passion, and perishable.
78. He who leaves this body, be it by necessity as a tree that is torn from the river-bank or freely like a bird that quits a tree, is freed from the misery of this world, which is dreadful like a shark.
79. Making over the merit of his own good actions to his friends and the guilt of his evil deeds to his enemies, he attains the eternal Brahman by the practice of meditation.
80. When by the disposition of his heart he becomes indifferent to all objects, he obtains eternal happiness both in this world and after death.
81. He who has in this manner gradually given up all attachments and is freed from all the pairs of opposites reposes in Brahman alone.
82. All that has been declared above depends on meditation; for he who is not proficient in the knowledge of that which refers to the Soul [Atman = Supreme Self] reaps not the full reward of the performance of rites.
83. Let him constantly recite those texts of the Veda which refer to the sacrifice, those referring to the deities, and those which treat of the Soul [Atman = True Self] and are contained in the concluding portions of the Veda (Vedanta, Upanishads).
85. A twice-born man who becomes an ascetic after the successive performance of the above-mentioned acts shakes off sin here below and reaches the highest Brahman.
