Shloka 51
Rules of Purity (Shauca) — Rules of Purity (Śauca), Permissible Foods, and the Duties of the Householder and Forest-Dweller
सदैव जर्ज्यं शयनमुदक्शिरास् तथा प्रतीच्यां रजनीचरेश भुञ्जीत नैवेह च दक्षिणामुखो न च प्रतीच्यामभिभोजनीयम्
sadaiva jarjyaṃ śayanamudakśirās tathā pratīcyāṃ rajanīcareśa bhuñjīta naiveha ca dakṣiṇāmukho na ca pratīcyāmabhibhojanīyam
Il faut toujours éviter de dormir la tête tournée vers le nord; de même, dormir la tête tournée vers l’ouest, ô seigneur des errants nocturnes. On ne doit pas manger en faisant face au sud, et manger en faisant face à l’ouest ne doit pas non plus se faire.
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FAQs
Ācāra extends dharma into the smallest habits. Directional discipline trains attentiveness and reverence for order (ṛta), turning routine acts into regulated, sattva-supporting conduct.
Ancillary ācāra instruction; not part of sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita. It exemplifies Purāṇas as living manuals of dharma alongside mythic history.
Directions are ritually charged: south is associated with Yama and funerary symbolism in many dharma traditions, hence avoidance for eating; north and west carry other auspiciousness constraints in certain ācāra streams. The rules encode a sacralized orientation to space.