Praśna I, Paṭala 6, Khaṇḍa 18

1. Honey, uncooked (grain), venison, land, roots, fruits, (a promise of) safety, a pasture for cattle, a house, and fodder for a draught-ox may be accepted (even) from an Ugra.^[1]

2. Hārita declares, that even these (presents) are to be accepted only if they have been obtained by a pupil.

3. Or they (Brāhmaṇa householders) may accept (from an Ugra) uncooked or (a little) unflavoured boiled food.

4. (Of such food) they shall not take a great quantity (but only so much as suffices to support life).^[2]

5. If (in times of distress) he is unable to keep himself, he may eat (food obtained from anybody),

6. After having touched it (once) with gold,

7. Or (having touched it with) fire.

8. He shall not be too eager after (such a way of living). He shall leave it when he has obtained a (lawful) livelihood.^[3]

9. (A student of the Brahmanic caste) who has returned home shall not eat (in the house) of people belonging to the three tribes, beginning with the Kṣatriya (i. e. of Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras).^[4]

10. He may (usually) eat (the food) of a Brāhmaṇa on account of (the giver's) character (as a Brāhmaṇa). It must be avoided for particular reasons only.

11. He shall not eat in a house where (the host) performs a rite which is not a rite of penance, whilst he ought to perform a penance.^[5]

12. But when the penance has been performed, he may eat (in that house).^[6]

13. According to some (food offered by people) of any caste, who follow the laws prescribed for them, except that of Śūdras, may be eaten.

14. (In times of distress) even the food of a Śūdra, who lives under one's protection for the sake of spiritual merit, (may be eaten).^[7]

15. He may eat it, after having touched it (once) with gold or with fire. He shall not be too eager after (such a way of living). He shall leave it when he obtains a (lawful) livelihood.^[8]

16. Food received from a multitude of givers must not be eaten,^[9]

17. Nor food offered by a general invitation (to all comers).^[10]

18. Food offered by an artisan must not be eaten,^[11]

19. Nor (that of men) who live by the use of arms (with the exception of Kṣatriyas),^[12]

20. Nor (that of men) who live by letting lodgings or land.

21. A (professional) physician is a person whose food must not be eaten,^[13]

22. (Also) a usurer,^[14]

23. (Also) a Brāhmaṇa who has performed the Dīkṣaṇīyeṣṭi (or initiatory ceremony of the Soma-sacrifice) before he has bought the king (Soma).^[15]

24. (The food given by a person who has performed the Dīkṣaṇīyeṣṭi may be eaten), when the victim sacred to Agni and Soma has been slain.

25. Or after that the omentum of the victim (sacred to Agni and Soma) has been offered.^[16]

26. For a Brāhmaṇa declares, 'Or they may eat of the remainder of the animal, after having set apart a portion for the offering.'

27. A eunuch (is a person whose food must not be eaten),^[17]

28. (Likewise) the (professional) messenger employed by a king (or others),^[18]

29. (Likewise a Brāhmaṇa) who offers substances that are not fit for a sacrifice,^[19]

30. (Likewise) a spy,^[20]

31. (Also) a person who has become an ascetic without (being authorized thereto by) the rules (of the law),^[21]

32. (Also) he who forsakes the sacred fires without performing the sacrifice necessary on that occasion),^[22]

33. Likewise a learned Brāhmaṇa who avoids everybody, or eats the food of anybody, or neglects the (daily) recitation of the Veda, (and) he whose (only living) wife is of the Śūdra caste.^[23]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

18. Manu IV, 247. 'Ugra denotes either a bad twice-born man. or the offspring of a Vaiśya and of a Śūdra-woman. Other persons of a similar character must be understood to be included by the term.'--Haradatta.

[2]:

Also this rule seems to belong to Hārita, on account of its close connection with the preceding two.

[3]:

Haradatta quotes, in support of the last Sūtras, a passage of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, I, 10, 1, and one from the .Ṛj-veda, IV, 18, 13, according to which it would be lawful to eat even impure food, as a dog's entrails, under such circumstances. Other commentators explain this and the preceding three Sūtras differently. According to them the translation would run thus: 'If he himself does not find any livelihood (in times of distress, he may dwell even with low-caste people who give him something to eat, and) he may eat (food given by them) paying for it with (some small gift in) gold or with animals.' This second explanation is perhaps preferable.

[4]:

Manu IV, 219, and 223.

[5]:

If a Brāhmaṇa who has been ordered to perform a penance, performs a Vaiśvadeva or other rite without heeding the order of his spiritual teacher, then a student who has returned home ought not to eat in his house, until the enjoined penance has been performed.'--Haradatta.

[6]:

'The use of the part. perf. pass. "performed" indicates that he must not eat there, whilst the penance is being performed.'--Haradatta.

[7]:

Yājñ. 1, 166.

[8]:

Manu IV, 223

[9]:

Manu IV, 209.

[10]:

Manu IV, 209; Yājñ. I, 168.

[11]:

Manu IV, 2 10, 215; Yājñ. I, 162-164.

[12]:

Yājñ. I, 164.

[13]:

Manu IV, 212; Yājñ. I, 162.

[14]:

Manu IV, 210; Yājñ. I, 161.

[15]:

'That is to say, one who has begun, but not finished a Soma-sacrifice.'--Haradatta. Manu IV, 210, and Gopatha-brāhmaṇa III, 19.

[16]:

Aitareya-brāhmaṇa II, 1, 9.

[17]:

Manu I V, 211; Yājñ. I, 161.

[18]:

The village or town messengers are always men of the lowest castes, such as the Mahārs of Mahārāṣṭhra.

[19]:

'For example, he who offers human blood in a magic rite.'--Haradatta.

[20]:

Haradatta explains cārī, translated by 'spy,' to mean 'a p. 69 secret adherent of the Śākta sect' (gūḍhacārī, śāktaḥ). The existence of this sect in early times has not hitherto been proved.

[21]:

Haradatta gives the Śākyas or Bauddhas as an instance. But it is doubtful, whether Āpastamba meant to refer to them, though it seems probable that heretics are intended.

[22]:

Yājñ. I, 160.

[23]:

'Who avoids everybody, i.e. who neither invites nor dines with anybody.'--Haradatta.