When, however, the
Brahmana betakes himself to the duties of the lowest order, then does he
certainly fall off. When the Sudra is unable to obtain his living by
service of the three other orders, then trade, rearing of cattle, and the
practice of the mechanical arts are lawful for him to follow. Appearance
on the boards of a theatre and disguising oneself in various forms,
exhibition of puppets, the sale of spirits and meat, and trading in iron
and leather, should never be taken up for purposes of a living by one who
had never before been engaged in those professions every one of which is
regarded as censurable in the world. It hath been heard by us that if one
engaged in them can abandon them, one then acquires great merit. When one
that has become successful in life behaves sinfully in consequence of
one's mind being filled with arrogance, one's acts under such
circumstances can never pass for authority. It is heard in the Puranas
that formerly mankind were self-restrained; that they held righteousness
in great esteem; that the practices they followed for livelihood were all
consistent with propriety and the injunctions laid down in the
scriptures: and that the only punishment that was required for chastising
them when they went wrong was the crying of fie on them.[1525] At the
time of which we speak, O king, Righteousness, and nothing else, was much
applauded among men. Having achieved great progress in righteousness, men
in those days worshipped only all good qualities that they saw.
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