Brāhmaṇas

of those rites the brahman is lord of the shaving, and no other.

Give the sacrificial fee to the brāhmaṇas;

From where you stand, O Odana, on the back of heaven, in the wide expanse above — the Brāhmaṇas who hold the eternal law followed you along together with their generous bounty.

When the sound of the Samaveda is heard, one should never study the Rigveda or the Yajurveda;

208[198M] // Having seated those unexceptionable Brāhmaṇas on their seats, one should honor them with fragrant perfumes and garlands, beginning with the rite for the gods.

therefore, its sound is impure.

That city was surrounded by the foremost of the twice-born — maintainers of the sacred fire, men of virtuous excellence, masters of the six auxiliary sciences of the Veda, givers of thousands in gifts, devoted to truth, great souls equal to great seers, and by seers who were pure ascetics alone.

In Ayodhyā there was no brāhmaṇa who had not established the sacred fires, none who had not performed sacrifice, none who had not given thousands in gifts — and none who had allowed inter-caste confusion.

The kṣatriyas were guided by the brāhmaṇas;

Brāhmaṇas, fathers, Soma-drinkers — may Heaven and Earth be auspicious and unharming to us;

The Brāhmaṇas, Soma-drinkers, have raised their voice, performing the annual prayer.

Like Brāhmaṇas at the all-night Soma-feast, speaking all around like a full lake — that day of the year has come round on which the frogs have entered the rainy season.

In the presence of gods and Brāhmaṇas, he should question the twice-born for true testimony, having them face north or east, in the forenoon, being himself pure and they being pure.

The established custom of learned Brāhmaṇas, cities, guilds, assemblies, and citizens—a document made to validate this would be a document of convention.

When a document is thus challenged in the king's court where it is being adjudicated, he should determine the defects of the document after deliberating with Brāhmaṇas.

He shall avoid slander of deities, Brāhmaṇas, the scriptures, and great souls.

> These are declared to be the dregs of Brāhmaṇas, the *paṅktidūṣakas* (पङ्क्तिदूषकs) (defilers of the row);

Now, one who wishes to perform a *śrāddha* shall invite Brāhmaṇas on the preceding day.

Those devoted to ritual action, those devoted to austerity, one who maintains the five fires, celibate students, and those devoted to their father and mother—these Brāhmaṇas are the treasures of a `*śrāddha*`.

what is bestowed upon Brāhmaṇas is an inexhaustible treasure for kings.

A self-controlled and pure man should invite the Brāhmaṇas on the preceding day;

Those of Śūdra origin who bring false accusations against twice-born men, the king should have their tongues cut out and have them impaled on a stake.

They declare the specific wealth of a Kṣatriya also to be of three kinds:

A Brāhmaṇa who sells what is forbidden for sale has fallen from the path.

Brāhmaṇas become pure in three days from the *sūtaka* (ritual impurity following a birth or death) of a deceased relative.

Twilight prayers and bathing, recitation of sacred texts (*japa*), fire offerings (*homa*), worship of deities and guests, hospitality to an *atithi* (a guest, who must be honored), and the *Vaiśvadeva* (the daily ritual offering to all deities) — these are the six duties to be performed day by day.

A Brāhmaṇa who has fallen from his birthright duties and abandoned his twilight prayers, a Brāhmaṇa in name only, remains in *sūtaka* for ten days.

The practice of the Brāhmaṇa, of the priests of the Śaiva and Sogata traditions, which they must hold to always, is as follows.

If one gives a gift to an ordinary person, not a relative of a Brāhmaṇa, not a learned one, who has no ascetic vows, when a meritorious gift is given, that one returns as one from the Lord.

if a Brāhmaṇa, a sage, a Śaiva or Sogata priest does so, their lineage is lost in the eyes of their peers.

] And the human is of one kind, [ranging] from the brāhmaṇa down to the caṇḍāla.

There is what is called *svaliṅga* (one's own *liṅga*) and *paraliṅga* (another's *liṅga*).

The class of *brāhmaṇas* says the Lord's authority is in holy water.

The twice-born is absorbed in his own liṅga.