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""Listen now, O son of Pandu, to those duties that should be observed in the four modes of life. For a Sudra practising all these duties as also for a Vaisya, O king, and a Kshatriya, the Bhikshu mode of life has been laid down.
By reciting this hymn the Brahmana succeeds in acquiring all the Vedas; the Kshatriya becomes crowned with victory, O son of Pritha; the Vaisya becomes successful in obtaining wealth and cleverness; and the Sudra, in winning happiness here and a good end hereafter.
In the city there are many Vaisya elders and Sabaean merchants, whose houses are stately and beautiful. The lanes and passages are kept in good order.
Without being able to touch him or approach his presence, the Sudra used to serve the Brahmana from a distance. It was only the Kshatriya and the Vaisya who could serve the Brahmana by touching his person or approaching his presence. The Brahmanas are endued with a mild disposition. They are truthful in behaviour. They are followers of the true religion.
So also, if he eats elsewhere after having been invited by a person of the royal order or a Vaisya, he falls away from his position and incurs half the sin that attaches to the slaughter of an animal on occasions other than those of sacrifices.
""'Uma said, "O holy one, O thou that didst tear off the eyes of Bhaga and the teeth of Pushan, O destroyer of the sacrifice of Daksha, O three-eyed deity, I have a great doubt. In days of yore, the Self-born One created the four orders. Through the evil consequence of what acts doth a Vaisya become a Sudra? By what means may such degradation of castes be prevented?
Born at last in the Kshatriya order through the grace of Vyasa of immeasurable puissance, he proceeded to see the great Rishi. He had, before becoming a Kshatriya, to pass through diverse orders of being, such as hedgehog and Iguana and boar and deer and bird, and Chandala and Sudra and Vaisya.
These, O foremost of intelligent persons, are the offspring of intermixed orders. The son begotten by a Vaisya upon a Kshatriya woman becomes a Vandi or Magadha. The duties assigned to him are eloquent recitations of praise. The son begotten through transgression, by a Sudra upon a Kshatriya woman, becomes a Nishada and the duties assigned to him have reference to the catching of fish.
"Thus were born unto the wise Dhritarashtra a hundred sons who were all heroes and mighty chariot-fighters, and a daughter over and above the hundred, and another son Yuyutsu of great energy and prowess begotten upon a Vaisya woman."
It may also imply one who eats from off the vessel in which the food eaten has been cooked without, that is, using plates or leaves. The sense seems to be this: a Vaisya ultimately becomes a Brahmana by observing the duties indicated in verses 30 to 33. As the immediate reward, however, of his observance of these duties, he becomes a great Kshatriya.
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