Manava Dharmashastra 2.190

2.190

yadetadekānnabhojanakarmādiṣṭametadbrāhmaṇasyaiva manīṣibhirvidvadbhirve dādupalabhyopadiṣṭam kṣatriyavaiśyayostu naitadicchanti | na kadācittayorbhaikṣabhojanam | "nanu ca śrāddhabhojane brāhmaṇānāmevādhikāraḥ | 'ye tatra bhojanīyāḥ syurye ca varjyā dvijottamāḥ | arhattamāya viprāya' iti vacanādbrāhmaṇasyaiva pratigrahādhikāraḥ | tatra kuto'yaṃ pratiṣedho rājanyavaiśyayoriti | pratiprasavaścāyaṃ nāpūrvavidhiḥ | prātisavyapekṣāśca pratiṣedhā bhavanti |" ucyate | bhuktavatāṃ brāhmaṇānāmeva śiṣṭasyānnasya pratipattirāmnātā—'jñātiprāyaṃ prakalpayet' iti | na ca tatra jātyapekṣā, yasya jñātiḥ sa tena bhojayitavyaḥ | na ca tatra kṣatriyādayaḥ pratigrahītṛtayā sambadhyante, api tu jñātayaḥ | ato'syāḥ prāpteḥ pratiṣedhaḥ |

This duty has been prescribed by the sages for the Brāhmaṇa only; this duty has not been so ordained for the Kṣatriya and the Vaiśya.—(190)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The duty—tbat one should eat the food given by one person only under certain circumstances—that has just been prescribed, is meant for the Brāhmaṇa only;—it has been so ordained ‘by the sages’—by the learned, after having learnt it from the Veda. They do not intend this to apply to the Kṣatriya and the Vaiśya; which means that students belonging to these two castes should not eat any food except what they get as alms.

Objection.—“As a matter of fact, it is only the Brāhmaṇa that is entitled to eat at Śrāddhas; as is clear from such declarations as—‘Which Brahmaṇas are to be fed at Śrāddhaa, and which to be avoided?’—‘To the most deserving Brāhamaṇa etc.’ and so forth; from which it is clear that the Brāhmaṇa alone is entitled to receive gifts. Further, what we have here is a counter-exception, not an original Injunction; and all denials are dependent upon possibility [and in the present case there is, as just pointed out, no possibility of the feeding pertaining to any non-Brāhmaṇa].”

To the above we make the following reply:—It has been ordained that after the Brāhmaṇas have eaten, the remnant should be disposed of by being made over to ‘relations’; and in this there is no restriction as to caste; the man thus would feed any one who may happen to be his ‘relation’; and in this the recipients are indicated, not by the caste-names ‘Kṣatriya’ etc., but simply by the general name ‘relation.’ It is in view of this possibility of non-Brāhmaṇas partaking of the food at Śrāddhas that we have the prohibition in the Text.—(190)