Manava Dharmashastra 4.80.1

4.80.1

śūdrasya dṛṣṭādṛṣṭaviṣaye hitāhitopadeśo na kartavyaḥ | śūdrasya mantritvaṃ na kartavyamiti yāvat | vṛttyarthaścāyaṃ niṣedhaḥ | sauhārdādinā tu na doṣaḥ | bhavanti hi śūdrāḥ kulamitrāṇi | maitryā cāvaśyaṃ hitamupadiśyate | anujñātā ca sarvavarṇe brāhmaṇasya maitrī "maitro brāhmaṇa ucyate |" ye tu vyācakṣate—apṛcchato na brūyādityupanyasya yuktaṃ śākhāntarasiddhatvāt | "nāpṛṣṭaḥ kasyacidbrūyāditi" (a0 2 ślo0 110)'-tadyuktam | tatra hi svādhyāyaviṣayaṃ svaravarṇagatamanyadvā'saṃgataṃ kurvate| 'vināśitaṃ tvaye'tyādāvapṛṣṭena na vaktavyam | tathā cāmī nādhyāpyā ityasminprasaṅge idamuktaṃ "nāpṛṣṭo brūyāditi" | aśikṣyasthāpṛcchato visvaraṃ vyakṣaraṃ vā paṭhato na kiṃcidvaktavyamiti tasyārthaḥ |

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
No advice shall be offered to a Śūdra regarding his welfare or otherwise, regarding matters temporal or spiritual; that is to say, one should not become an adviser to a Śūdra.

This prohibition pertains to being an adviser as a means of livelihood; there would be nothing wrong in offering advice in a purely friendly manner; in fact, there may be hereditary friendship between Brāhmaṇas and Śūdras; and certainly through friendship advice for welfare is always offered. Further, it has been declared (by Manu himself) that the Brāhmaṇa should be friendly to all castes—‘the Brāhmaṇa is one who is friendly to all.’

Some people offer the following explanation:—

“From what is said in other texts, it is better to take the present verse to mean that advice shall not be offered unasked; as declared above (in 2. 110),—‘He should not say anything to any one without being asked.’”

This explanation, however, is not right. What has been said under 2,110, is in connection with the reading of the

Veda; the sense being, ‘if a man is found to be committing a mistake in accent, or syllable, or in some other detail, one should not tell him, unless one is asked, that he had murdered the Text.’ Similarly, in connection with the enumeration of persons who shall not be taught the Veda, it has been said—‘One shall not speak unasked;’ and this also means that, in the case of persons other than his own pupils, one should not say anything, even if he finds them reciting the Veda wrongly, either as regards accent or syllables.