The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4: Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18
General
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4: Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18
Epic literature, Sanskrit
"'"I have told thee what the portions are of the Rakshasas. Listen now to
me as I lay down the rules for ascertaining who the Brahmana is that is
deserving of gift.[213] All Brahmanas that have been outcasted (on
account of the commission of heinous sins), as also Brahmanas that are
idiots and out of mind, do not deserve to be invited to Sraddhas in which
offerings are made to either the deities or the Pitris. That Brahmana who
is afflicted with leucoderma, or he that is destitute of virility, or he
that has got leprosy, or he that has got phthisis or he that is labouring
under epilepsy (with delusions of the sensorium), or he that is blind,
should not, O king, be invited.[214] Those Brahmanas that practise the
calling of physicians, those that receive regular pay for worshipping the
images of deities established by the rich, or live upon the service of
the deities, those that are observant of vows from pride or other false
motives, and those that sell Soma, do not deserve to be invited. Those
Brahmanas that are, by profession, vocalists, or dancers or players or
instrumental musicians, or reciters of sacred books, or warriors and
athletes, do not, O king, deserve to be invited. Those Brahmanas who pour
libations on the sacred fire for Sudras, or who are preceptors of Sudras,
or who are servants of Sudra masters, do not deserve to be invited. That
Brahmana who is paid for his services as preceptor, or who attends as
pupil upon the lectures of some preceptor because of some allowance that
is granted to him, does not deserve to be invited, for both of them are
regarded as sellers of Vedic lore. That Brahmana who has been once
induced to accept the gift of food in a Sraddha at the very outset, as
also he who has married a Sudra wife, even if possessed of every kind of
knowledge do not deserve to be invited.[215] Those Brahmanas that are
destitute of their domestic fire, and they that attend upon corpses, they
that are thieves, and they that have otherwise fallen away do not, O
king, deserve to be invited.[216] Those Brahmanas whose antecedents are
not known or are vile, and they that are Putrika-putras, do not, O king,
deserve to be invited on occasions of Sraddhas.[217] That Brahmana who
gives loans of money, or he who subsists upon the interest of the loans
given by him, or he who lives by sale of living creatures, does not
deserve, O king, to be invited. Persons who have been subjugated by their
wives, or they who live by becoming the paramours of unchaste women, or
they who abstain from their morning and evening prayers do not deserve, O
king, to be invited to Sraddhas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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