CHAP. 6 equal wife, be always attentive to his business of agriculture and trade, and to that of keeping cattle; 327. Since the Lord of created beings, having 'formed herds, and flocks, intrusted them to the care ' of the Vaisya, while he intrusted the whole human species to the Bráhmen and the Cshatriya: 328. Never must a Vaisya be disposed to say, "I keep no cattle;" nor, he being willing to keep them, must they by any means be kept by men of another class. 329. Of gems, pearls, and coral, of iron, of woven cloth, of perfumes and of liquids, let him well 'know the prices both high and low: 330. Let him be skilled likewise in the time and manner of sowing seeds, and in the bad or good 'qualities of land; let him also perfectly know the 'correct modes of measuring and weighing, 331. The excellence or defects of commodities, 'the advantages and disadvantages of different regions, the probable gain or loss on vendible goods, and the means of breeding cattle with large augmentation: 6 6 6 6 332. Let him know the just wages of servants, the various dialects of men, the best way of keep ing goods, and whatever else belongs to purchase < augment his wealth by performing his duty; and, CHAP. ' with great solicitude, let him give nourishment to IX. 'all sentient creatures. 334. SERVILE attendance on Bráhmens learned in 'the Véda, chiefly on such as keep house and are famed for virtue, is of itself the highest duty of a Súdra, and leads him to future beatitude. 335. Pure in body and mind, humbly serving the 'three higher classes, mild in speech, never arrogant, ever seeking refuge in Bráhmens principally, he may ' attain the most eminent class in another transmigra • tion. 6 336. THIS clear system of duties has been promulgated for the four classes, when they are not in distress for subsistence; now learn in order their 'several duties in times of necessity.' CHAP. X. On the mixed Classes; and on Times of Distress. CHAP. X. 1. LET the three twice-born classes, remaining firm ' in their several duties, carefully read the Véda; but a Bráhmen must explain it to them, not a man of the other two classes: this is an established rule. 2. The Bráhmen must know the means of sub'sistence ordained by law for all the classes, and 'must declare them to the rest: let himself likewise act in conformity to law. 3. From priority of birth, from superiority of origin, from a more exact knowledge of scripture, and 'from a distinction in the sacrificial thread, the Bráhmen is the lord of all classes. 4. The three twice-born classes are the sacerdotal, 'the military, and the commercial; but the fourth, or servile, is once-born, that is, has no second birth from the gáyatrí, and wears no thread: nor is there a fifth pure class. 5. In all classes they, and they only, who are born, in a direct order, of wives equal in class and virgins at the time of marriage, are to be considered as the same in class with their fathers: 6. Sons, begotten by twice-born men, on women 'of 6 X. ' of the class next immediately below them, wise le- CHAP. gislators call similar, not the same, in class with their parents, because they are degraded, to a middle rank between both, by the lowness of their mothers: they are named in order, Múrdhábhishicta, Má hishya, and Carana, or Cáyast'ha; and their several employments are teaching military exercises; musick, astronomy, and keeping herds; and attendance on princes. 6 6 6 6 7. Such is the primeval rule for the sons of wo men one degree lower than their husbands for the sons of women two or three degrees lower, let this rule of law be known. 8. • From a Bráhmen, on a wife of the Vaisyaclass, is born a son called Ambusht' ha, or Vaidya, on a Súdrà-wife a Nisháda, named also Pára6 sava: 9. From a Cshatriya, on a wife of the Súdra-class, springs a creature, called Ugra, with a nature partly warlike and partly servile, ferocious in his manners, 'cruel in his acts. 10. The sons of a Bráhmen by women of three ' lower classes, of a Cshatriya by women of two, and of a Vaisya by one lower class, are called Apasa dáh, or degraded below their fathers. 11. From a Cshatriya, by a Bráhmenì-wife, springs a Súta by birth; from a Vaisya, by a military or 'sacerdotal wife, spring a Mágadha and a Vaidéha. 12. From a Súdra, on women of the commercial, military, CHAP. 6 military, and priestly classes, are born sons of a 'mixed breed, called A'yógava, Cshattrì, and Chandála, the lowest of mortals. 13. As the Ambashť'ha and Ugra, born in a direct order, with one class between those of their parents, are considered in law, so are the Cshattri, and the Vaidéha, born in an inverse order with one 'intermediate class; and all four may be touched with• out impurity. 14. Those sons of the twice-born, who are begotten on women without an interval (Antara) between 'the classes mentioned in order, the wise call Anan'taras, giving them a distinct name from the lower degree of their mothers. 6 15. From a Bráhmen, by a girl of the Ugra-tribe, is born an Avrita; by one of the Ambasť ha-tribe, an Abhira; by one of the Ayogava-tribe, a Dhig vana. 16. The Ayogava, the Cshattri, and the Chandála, 'the lowest of men, spring from a Súdra in an in verse order of the classes, and are therefore, all three 'excluded from the performance of obsequies to their ' ancestors: 17. From a Vaisya the Mágadha and Vaidéha, 'from a Cshatriya the Súta only, are born in an inverse order; and they are three other sons excluded from funeral rites to their fathers. 18. The son of a Nisháda by a woman of the • Súdra |