There where men
practise the duties of religion for the sake of acquiring wealth and
other temporal advantages, one should not dwell, for the people of that
place are all to be regarded as sinful. One should fly away with all
speed from that place, as if from a room in which there is a snake, where
the inhabitants, desirous of obtaining the means of life, are engaged in
the practice of sinful deeds. One desirous of what is beneficial should,
from the beginning, relinquish that act in consequence of which one
becomes stretched, as it were, on a bed of thorn and in consequence of
which one becomes invested with the desires born of the deeds of past
lives.[1473] The righteous man should leave that kingdom where the king
and king's officers exercise equal authority and where they are given to
the habit of eating before feeding their relatives (when the latter come
as guests).[1474] One should dwell in that country where Brahmanas
possessed of a knowledge of the scriptures are fed first: where they are
always devoted to the due observance of religious duties, and where they
are engaged in teaching disciples and officiating at the sacrifices of
others. One should unhesitatingly dwell in that country where the sounds
Swaha, Swadha, and Vashat are duly and continuously uttered.[1475] One
should leave that kingdom, like poisoned meat, where one sees Brahmanas
obliged to betake themselves to unholy practices, being tortured by want
of the means of life.
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