Tell me this, O foremost of speakers! The Srutis say that the offspring
one begets are one's own self. Originally sprung from Brahmana, all the
inhabitants of the earth should have been Brahmanas. Sprung from
Brahmanas, why have men betaken themselves to practices distinguished
from those of Brahmanas.'
"Parasara said, 'It is as thou sayst, O king! The offspring procreated
are none else than the procreator himself. In consequence, however, of
falling away from penance, this distribution into classes of different
colours has taken place. When the soil becomes good and the seed also is
good, the offspring produced become meritorious. If, however, the soil
and seed become otherwise or inferior, the offspring that will be born
will be inferior. They that are conversant with the scriptures know that
when the Lord of all creatures set himself to create the worlds, some
creatures sprang from his mouth, some from his arms, some from his
thighs, and some from his feet. They that thus sprang from his mouth, O
child, came to be called Brahmanas. They that sprang from his arms were
named Kshatriyas. They, O king, that sprang from his thighs were the
wealthy class called the Vaisyas. And, lastly, they that were born of his
feet were the serving class, viz., the Sudras. Only these four orders of
men, O monarch, were thus created. They that belong to classes over and
other than these are said to have sprung from an intermixture of these.
The Kshatriyas called Atirathas, Amvashthas, Ugras, Vaidehas, Swapakas,
Pukkasas, Tenas, Nishadas, Sutas, Magadhas, Ayogas, Karanas, Vratyas, and
Chandalas, O monarch, have all sprung from the four original orders by
intermixture with one another.
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