III. THE HOLY SHIKSHAPATRI.

1 - Munivar really means ascetic. Here it appears as merely a conventional literary device, "wishful hyperbolism", as it may be called. As may be seen from the contents, these rules are intended for ordinary people who have not much to do with asceticism.

2 - As is already explained above, it is necessary to distinguish between ghat = jamat (jama'at) assembly for prayer, and ghat bathing place. The vessel containing the blessed water at the prayer assembly is eulogistically called ghat-Ganga i.e. religiously as efficacious as the Ganges.

3 - Vachan literally means word, promise, utterance. Here it surely means the word, or words, i.e. prayer. The sentence is apparently an assurance that prayer, though it appears at first difficult, presents in reality no difficulty once it is started, and offered regularly.

4 - Sutak in Hinduism is the term implying the state of ritual un-cleanliness caused by occurrences in the family life of the individual, such as birth of a child, or the death of a relative, and so forth. Such a state lasts seven days after which defilement is removed by the mukhi who, after the recitation of appropriate mantras, sprinkles the defiled with some drops of the sacred water.