CHAP. X. burning the dead, contemned even by the contemptible. 40. These, among various mixed classes, have been 'described by their several fathers and mothers; and, whether concealed or open, they may be known by 'their occupations. 6 41. Six sons, three begotten on · women of the same class, and three on women of lower classes, 'must perform the duties of twice-born men; but those, who are born in an inverse order, and called 'low-born, are equal, in respect of duty, to mere Súdras. 42. By the force of extreme devotion and of 'exalted fathers, all of them may rise in time to high birth, as by the reverse they may sink to a 'lower state, in every age among mortals in this inferiour world. 43. THE following races of Cshatriyas, by their 'omission of holy rites and by seeing no Bráhmens, ' have gradually sunk among men, to the lowest of the four classes: 44. Paund'racas, Odras, and Draviras; Cámbójas, Yavanas, and Sacas; Páradas, Pahlavas, Chínas, Cirátas, Deradas, and C'hasas; 45. All those tribes of men, who sprang from the mouth, the arm, the thigh, and the foot of BRAHMA', but who became outcasts by having neglected 6 their duties, are called Dasyus, or plunderers, whether CHAP. they speak the language of Mléchch' has, or that of Aryas. X. 46. THOSE sons of the twice-born, who are said 'to be degraded, and who are considered as low-born, 'shall subsist only by such employments, as the twice• born despise. 47. Sútas must live by managing horses and by driving cars; Ambasht' has, by curing disorders; Vaidéhas, by waiting on women; Mágadhas, by tra'velling with merchandize; 6 48. Nishádas, by catching fish; an Ayogava, by 'the work of a carpenter; a Méda, an Andhra, and (the sons of a Bráhmen by wives of the Vaidéha and Ugra-classes, respectively called) a Chunchu and a Madgu, by slaying beasts of the forest; 49. A Cshattri, an Ugra, and a Puccasa, by kil'ling or confining such animals as live in holes : Dhiguanas, by selling leather; Vénas, by striking ' musical instruments: 6 50. Near large publick trees, in places for burning the dead, on mountains, and in and in groves, let those 'tribes dwell, generally known, and engaged in their several works. 51. THE abode of a Chandála and a Swapáca must be out of the town; they must not ' of entire vessels; their sole wealth and asses: 2Y 2 have the use must be dogs 52. Their CHAP. 52. Their clothes must be the mantles of the de'ceased; their dishes for food, broken pots; their ornaments, rusty iron; continually must they roam from place to place: 53. Let no man, who regards his duty religious and civil, hold any intercourse with them; let their 'transactions be confined to themselves, and their 'marriages only between equals: 54. Let food be given to them in potsherds, but not by the hands of the giver; and let them not ' walk by night in cities or towns: 55. By day they may walk about for the purpose ' of work, distinguished by the king's badges; and they shall carry out the corpse of every one, 'dies without kindred: such is the fixed rule. who 56. 6 They shall always kill those, who are to be 'slain by the sentence of the law, and by the royal warrant ; and let them take the clothes of the slain, their beds, and their ornaments. 57. HIM, who was born of a sinful mother, and consequently in a low class, but is not openly known, 'who, though worthless in truth, bears the semblance ' of a worthy man, let people discover by his acts: 58. Want of virtuous dignity, harshness of speech, cruelty, and habitual neglect of prescribed duties, betray in this world the son of a criminal mother. 59. Whether a man of debased birth assume the 'character 'character of his father or of his mother, he can at CHAP. 60. He, whose family had been exalted, but whose parents were criminal in marrying, has a base nature, according as the offence of his mother was great or ' small. 6 61. In whatever country such men are born, as destroy the purity of the four classes, that country soon perishes, together with the natives of it. 62. Desertion of life, without reward, for the sake of preserving a priest or a cow, a woman or a child, may cause the beatitude of those base-born • tribes. 63. Avoiding all injury to animated beings, veracity, abstaining from theft, and from unjust seizure of property, cleanliness, and command over the bodily organs, form the compendious system of duty, which MENU has ordained for the four classes. . 64. SHOULD the tribe sprung from a Bráhmen, by a Súdrà-woman, produce a succession of children by the marriages of its women with other Bráhmens, the low tribe shall be raised to the highest in the 'seventh generation. 6 65. As the son of a Súdra may thus attain the ' rank of a Bráhmen, and as the son of a Bráhmen may sink to a level with Súdras, even so must it be with him, who springs from a Cshatriya; even so with him, who was born of a Vaisya. X. X. CHAP. 66. IF there be a doubt, as to the preference 'between him, who was begotten by a Bráhmen for his pleasure, but not in wedlock, ona Súdrà-woman, ' and him who was begotten by a Súdra on a Bráhmenì, an 67. Thus is it removed: he, who was begotten by exalted man on a base woman, may by his good acts become respectable; but he, who begotten on an exalted woman by a base man, 'must himself continue base: 6 68. Neither of the two (as the law is fixed) shall be girt with a sacred string; not the former, because his mother was low; nor the second, because 'the order of the classes was inverted. 69. As good grain, springing from good soil, is ' in all respects excellent, thus a man, springing from a respectable father by a respectable mother, has 6 a claim to the whole institution of the twice-born. 70. Some sages give a preference to the grain; ' others to the field; and others consider both field and grain; on this point the decision follows: 71. Grain, cast into bad ground, wholly perishes, • and a good field, with no grain sown in it, is a mere heap of clods; 72. But since, by the virtue of eminent fathers, 6 even the sons of wild animals, as Rishyasringa, and others, have been transformed into holy men revered and extolled, the paternal side, therefore, ' prevails. " 73. BRAHMA' |
