12.077
Yudhiṣṭhira said:
Some are engaged in their own duties, others in different actions, and yet others in non-action. O Grandfather, please explain the distinction among these Brāhmaṇas.
Bhīṣma said:
O king, those Brāhmaṇas who possess the characteristics of knowledge and are knowers of the Veda everywhere are declared to be equal to Brahman.
O king, those Brāhmaṇas who are endowed with priests and teachers and are established in their own duties truly become equal to gods.
O king, the sacrificial priest, family priest, counselor, messenger, and supervisor of affairs among the Brāhmaṇas are indeed considered equal to warriors.
O king, among Brāhmaṇas, those who are horse-riders, elephant-riders, charioteers, and foot-soldiers are considered equal to Vaiśyas.
O king, those who are merely relatives of brāhmaṇas, lacking in noble birth and action, and who are miserly, are indeed considered equal to śūdras among brāhmaṇas.
All those who are not versed in the Vedas and all those who do not maintain the sacred fire—the righteous king should require all of them to pay taxes and perform forced labor.
Summoners, temple-servants, and village-priests of the nakṣatra villages—these are Brāhmaṇa outcastes, considered the fifth class as mahāpathika (highwaymen).
A king with an empty treasury should collect offerings from these people, except from those who are equal to Brahman and those who are like gods.
The king is the master of the wealth of non-Brāhmaṇas, according to the Veda. And among Brāhmaṇas, those who engage in improper acts are also (subject to the king's authority).
But those engaged in improper acts should never be neglected by the king in any way; they should be restrained and assigned duties with the intention of upholding dharma.
If, in the domain of a king, a twice-born person becomes a thief, those who are learned consider that offense to be the king's alone.
O king, even if a knower of the Veda and a graduate lives without proper livelihood and thus becomes a thief, he should be supported by the king—this is the declaration of those who know dharma.
O scorcher of foes, if he whose conduct is established should change towards us, then he, along with his relatives, should be exiled from that country.
