The purity and daily duties which the Brahmans imposed on themselves, partly from custom, partly as a part of their new doctrine, were more strict than those required from the other orders. The Brahman must rise before the dawn, and repeat the Gayatri; _i.e._ the following words of the Veda: "We have received the glorious splendour from the divine Savitar (p. 46); may he strengthen our understanding;"[208] and purify himself by a bath. Long prayers in the morning and the evening ensure long life. He must never omit to perform the five daily duties--the offering to the saints, the gods, the spirits, the ancestors, and the strange guests. Each day he must bring gifts to Agni, the sun, Prajapati, Dyaus, and Prithivi (the spirits of the heaven and the earth), the fire of the good sacrifice, Indra, Yama, Varuna, and Soma.[209] Each day he must repeat the mystical name of Brahman, _Om_ (in the older form _am_, _i.e._ "yes," "certainly"), and the other three sacred words, _Bhar_, _Bhuva_, and _Svar_, which, according to the commentators, are to be regarded as the spirits of the earth, the air, and the heaven.[210] Fire he must always consider as sacred. He may not fan it with his breath, or step over it. He may not warm his feet at it, or place it in a brazier under his bed or under his feet. He must not throw any refuse into it. Offal, the remains of food, and water which has been used for a bath or the feet, must be removed far away from the fire. Nor was the Brahman allowed to throw refuse into water, or pour blood or any drink into it, still less to vomit into it; he might not look at the reflection of his body in water, or drink water in the hollow of his hand. The clothes of a Brahman must be always clean and white, and never worn by another. His hair, nails, beard, must be cut; but he may not cut them himself (for so he would be defiled), nor gnaw his nails with his teeth. In his ears he must wear very bright gold rings. He must wear a wreath on his head, and in one hand carry a staff of bamboo, in the other kuça-grass and a pitcher for his ablutions. He may not play at dice, or dance or sing except at the sacrifice, when required to do so by the ritual: he may not grind his teeth, or scratch his head with his hands, or beat himself on the head, or take the wreath from his head with his own hands. He must always so place himself that on his right hand there may be an elevation of the earth, a cow, a jar of butter, a crossroad, or a sacred tree. He may not tread on ashes, hair, bones, cotton-stems, or sprouting corn. He may never step over a rope to which a cow is tethered, or disturb a cow when drinking. At morning, evening, and midday, he may not look at the sun. Before an altar of Agni, in a fold of cows, when with Brahmans, or reading the sacred scriptures, or eating, he must leave the right arm uncovered. He may not wash his feet in a brazen vessel, or bathe naked, or sleep naked on the earth, or run when it rains.