his own apparel. Other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the Brāhmanas."
"Know that Brāhmana of ten years and a Kshatriya of a hundred years stand to each other in the relation of father and son. Between these two Brāhmana is the father."
"Let not the king, though fallen into the deepest distress, provoke the Brāhmanas to anger, for, when angered, they could destroy him together with his army and vehicles."
"Let a Brāhmana be ignorant or learned, still he is a great deity. To Brāhmana the three worlds and gods[1] owe their existence. Thus though Brāhmanas employ themselves in all mean occupations, they must be honored in every way, for each of them is a great deity."
"Let the king, after rising early in the morning, worship Brāhmanas, who are well versed in the threefold sacred sciences and learned in policy, and follow their advice" (vii, 37).
"Let him honor those Brāhmanas who have returned from their teacher's house after studying the Veda, for that money which is given to a Brāhmana is considered to be the imperishable treasure of the kins. Neither thieves for foes can take it, nor can it be lost. A gift to one who is not a Brähmana brings an ordinary reward; a gift to one who merely calls himself a Brähmana brings tenfold regard, and to one who knows Vedas and Angas, a reward without end" (vii, 82-85).
- ↑ This pretention is not so very bad as it may seem at the first sight. The idea involved herein was that if the Brāhmanas would not perform sacrifices the gods would be defeated and destroyed by the demons.
