Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 1. And now we shall explain the accepted customary Laws, 2. the authority for which rests on their acceptance by those who know the Law 3. and on the Vedas. There are 4 classes: 1. Brahmin, 2. Kṣatriya, 3. Vaiśya, and 4. Śūdra. 5. Among these, each preceding class is superior by birth to each subsequent. Śūdras are to serve other classes

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 2. A STUDENT WHO HAS RETURNED HOME 1. Conduct towards the Teacher 31. Even after he has returned home, the accepted practice is that he should behave towards these individuals exactly the same way as he behaved when he was a student. 2. He may wear a necklace; and wear a turban, a lungi, a jacket, sandals, and shoes.

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 3. Private Vedic recitation is austerity’––so states a Brāhmaṇa. 2. In the same Vedic text we hear: ‘When a man does his private Vedic recitation, whether he does it standing, seated, or lying down, he is in reality performing an act of austerity, for private Vedic recitation is austerity’. Private Vedic recitation is indeed a sacrifice offered

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 4. Unfit Food. Meat that has been cut with a knife used for slaughtering is not fit to be eaten. He should not break off a piece of cake with his teeth. When a death has occurred in a house, he should not eat there for 10 days, as also after a birth before the mother comes

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 5. Acts Making a Man an Outcaste or Sordid Social interaction with outcastes is not permitted, 6. as also with degraded people. These are the actions causing loss of caste: theft; acts causing infamy; homicide; neglect of the Vedas; abortion; sex with siblings of one’s mother or father or with their children; drinking liquor; sex with those

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 6. The Bath at the End of Studentship ‘He should bathe after learning the Veda’––that is the view of some; likewise after completing the 48- year vow. ‘He should bathe after learning the Veda and completing the vow,’ contend others. One should behave towards all of these as towards a bath-graduate; the specific reward depends on his

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 7. THE HOUSEHOLDER After marriage, the special observances of the couple living the household life come into force. The man should eat at the 2 appointed times, but not so much that he is overly sated. On new- and full- moon days, moreover, both should fast. Eating at every other mealtime is a genuine fast, then they

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 8. The Teacher and the Annual Course of Study Tradition says that only a Brahmin can be a teacher. In times of adversity a Brahmin may study under a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya and walk behind him. But after that time the Brahmin shall walk ahead. After commencing the annual study of all the Vedas and the

Āpastamba Dharmasūtras part 9. So long as his wife participates in religious rites and bears children, a man may not take another wife. If she is wanting in either of these, he may take another prior to establishing his sacred fires, for a wife who participates in the ritual establishment of his sacred fires becomes associated with the rites establishment