| Manusmriti |
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| Scriptures |
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Manusmriti: The Laws of Manu |
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| 21.
On him (who, for the reasons stated, appropriates another's
possessions), a righteous king shall not inflict punishment; for (in
that case) a Brahmana pines with hunger through the Kshatriya's want
of care. 22.
Having ascertained the number of those dependent on such a man, and
having fully considered his learning and his conduct, the king shall
allow him, out of his own property, a maintenance whereon he may
live according to the law; 23.
And after allotting to him a maintenance, the king must protect him
in every way; for he obtains from such (a man) whom he protects, the
part of his spiritual merit. 24.
A Brahmana shall never beg from a Sudra property for a sacrfice; for
a sacrificer, having begged (it from such a man), after death is
born (again) as a Kandala. 25.
A Brahmana who, having begged any property for a sacrfice, does not
use the whole (for that purpose), becomes for a hundred years a
(vulture of the kind called) Bhasa, or a crow. 26.
That sinful man, who, through covetousness, seizes the property of
the gods, or the property of Brahmanas, feeds in another world on
the leavings of vultures. 27.
In case the pre-scribed animal and Soma-sacrifices cannot be
performed, let him always offer at the change of the year a
Vaisva-nari Ishti as a penance (for the omission). 28.
But a twice-born, who, without being in distress, performs his
duties according to the law for times of distress, obtains no reward
for them in the next world; that is the opinion (of the sages). 29.
By the Visve-devas, by the Sadhyas, and by the great sages (of the)
Brahmana (caste), who were afraid of perishing in times of distress,
a substitute was made for the (principal) rule. 30. That evil-minded man, who, being able (to fulfill) the original law, lives according to the secondary rule, reaps no reward for that after death.
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