THE MORALS OF THE HOUSE 345
III. 69. For the sake of expiating offences committed ignorantly in those places mentioned in order, the five great sacraments were appointed by eminent sages to be performed each day by such as keep house.
III. 70. Teaching and studying the scripture is the sacrament of the Veda; offering cakes and water, the sacrament of the Manes, an oblation to fire, the sacrament of the Deities; giving rice or other food to living creatures, the sacrament of spirits; receiving guests with honour, the sacrament of men.
III. 71. Whoever omits not those five great ceremonies, if he have ability to perform them, is untainted by the sons of the five slaughtering places, even though he constantly reside at home;
III. 84. In his domestic Are for dressing the food of all the Gods, after the prescribed ceremony, let a Brahmen make an oblation each day to these following divinities.
After it is offered to the deities Manu directs:—
III. 92. The share of dogs, of outcasts, of dog-feeders, of sinful men, punished with elephantiasis or consumption, of crows, and of reptiles, let him drop on the ground by little and little.
With regard to the rules of hospitality Manu directs the householder:
III. 102. A Brahmen, staying but one night as a guest, is called an atithi, since continuing so short a time, he is not even a sojourner for a whole tithi, or day of the moon.
III. 98. But an offering in the fire of a sacerdotal mouth, which richly blazes with true knowledge and piety, will release the giver from distress and even from deadly sin.
III. 107. To the highest guests in the best form, to the lowest in the worst, to the equal equally, let him offer seats, resting places, couches; giving them proportionable attendance when they depart; and honour, as long as they stay.
III. 110. A military man is not denominated a guest in the house of a Brahman; nor a man of the commercial or servile class; nor his familiar friend, nor his paternal kinsmen; nor his preceptor.
III. 111. But if a warrior come to his house in the form of a guest, let food be prepared for him, according to his desire, after the beforementioned Brahmens have eaten.
III. 112. Even to a merchant or a labourer, approaching his house in the manner of guests, let him give food, showing marks of benevolence at the same time with his domestics.
On social bearing of one class towards another Manu has laid down some very interesting ordinances. He has an equation for social status: