The old customs of purity were considerably extended by the ordinances of food, the rules about clean eating, laid down by the Brahmans. According to their belief the whole world of animals was peopled with the souls of the dead. In every tiger, elephant, ox, antelope, locust, and ant, might be living the soul of a man, perhaps the soul of a friend, relation, or ancestor. It was with aversion that any one brought himself to make an attack on any creature, or any living animal. From this point of view the Brahmans had to forbid entirely the eating of flesh, whether of wild or domestic animals. They repressed hunting as strictly as they could: "The man who slew animals for his pleasure would not increase his happiness in life or death. He who slew an animal had a share in its death no less than the man who dismembered it, or sold it, or ate it." Above all, a Brahman himself was not to slay any animal except for the purpose of sacrifice; and the sacrifice of animals never prevailed to any great extent among the Indians. The Brahman who offended against this law would in his regenerations die by a violent death as many times as there were hairs on the skin of the slain animal. But the Brahmans could not carry out the prohibition either of hunting or eating flesh. They contented themselves with laying stress on the advantages of nourishment by milk and vegetables; they limited themselves to insisting that no ox-flesh should be eaten; birds of prey, some kinds of the fish and the animals already mentioned, could be used. The flesh of the rhinoceros also and the crocodile was not forbidden. But even the flesh of the permitted kinds could only be eaten after it had been offered to the gods or the ancestors, and the man who ate no flesh at all would acquire a merit equal to a hundred festival sacrifices.[200] Here, again, we see that the book of the law seeks to bring the new doctrine into force, without having the courage entirely to remove the old ways of life. At a later time the prohibition of flesh was more strict. Of vegetables, leeks, garlic, and onions were forbidden, and also all plants which had grown up among impure matter. Drink of any kind must be purified before use by being cleared with the stalks of kuça grass. Food could only be eaten at morning and evening; always in moderation and with complete repose of mind. The sight of food must give pleasure, and man must regard it with veneration; then it will give muscular power and manly energy. Before each meal grains of rice are to be sprinkled by the Dvija before the door, with the words: "I greet you, ye Maruts;" and other grains must be thrown into the water with the words: "I greet you, ye water-gods." On the pestle and mortar grains of rice must be strewn with the words: "I greet you, ye deities of the great trees." Grains of rice are also to be thrown into the air for all the gods; into the middle of the house for the protecting deity