Manava Dharmashastra 3.173

3.173

apaṃktyaiḥ pūrvoktaiḥ upahatā dūṣitā paṃktiḥ pariṣadyairbrāhmaṇaiḥ pāvyate nirdoṣā kriyate | tānvakṣyamāṇaiḥ ślokaiḥ śṛṇuta | kārtsnyena niḥśeṣeṇa bravīmi | arthavādarūpāṇyanyāni padāni | yathaikatra bhuñjāno duṣṭo dūṣayati aduṣṭān evaṃ paṃktipāvanaḥ svaguṇātiśayādanyeṣāmapi doṣānapanudatītyasyārthaḥ | na cānenāpaṃktyānāṃ bhojanamanujñāpyate, kiṃ tarhi paṃktipāvano'vaśyamanveṣitavyaḥ | tasmiṃśca labdhe yadyanye nātinipuṇataḥ parīkṣitāḥ tripuruṣaṃ yāvat, tathāpi na cedupalabhyamānadoṣā, vṛthā'pi bhojayitavyā ityevamarthaḥ paṃktipāvanopadeśaḥ |

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘By men unworthy of company’—as described above—‘defiled’—rendered defective,—‘company’—assembly—by which Brāhmaṇas ‘become purified’—rendered free from defilement,—to those ‘listen’— as described in the coming verses;—‘full’—the description that is being given by me fully.

The remaining words are purely laudatory reiterations. What is meant is that the ‘sanctifier of company,’ by reason of the excellence of his qualities, removes the defects of other persons also by dining with them; just as the impure man, dining with others, makes even faultless men defective.

This verse does not sanction the feeding of men unworthy of company. All that it means is, that one should always seek for the ‘sanctifier of company;’ and that if one such person has been found, one might feed,—even though it he futile to do so,—those who have not been carefully examined to three degrees of ancestors, if they are not found to be marked by any perceptible disqualifications. It is with this end in view that the author provides the description of the ‘sanctifier of company.’—(183)