Manava Dharmashastra 5.29

5.29

carāścaraṇapatanaraṇotsāhayoginaḥ śyenanakulādayaḥ | teṣāmacarāḥ sarpakapotādayaḥ annam | evaṃ daṃṣṭriṇāṃ siṃhavyāghrādīnāṃ adaṃṣṭriṇaḥ rurupṛṣatādayo mṛgāḥ | ahastāḥ sarpamatsyādayaḥ sahastānāṃ nakulaniṣādādīnām | śūrāṇāṃ mahotsāhayuktānāṃ jīvitanirapekṣāṇāṃ bhīravaḥ priyajīvitāḥ | alpasattvā annatvena hanyante |

The immobile is the food of the mobile; those devoid of fangs are the food of those endowed with fangs; those without hands are the food of those with hands; and cowards are the food of the brave.—(29).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Mobile’,—those that are capable of walking and flying and are courageous and active; e.g. the kite, the mongoose and the rest.—Of those the ‘immobile’—lethargic animals, such as the pigeon, the serpent and the like—are ‘the food.’

Similarly ‘of those endowed with fangs,’—i.e. of the lion, the tiger, etc.,—‘those devoid of fangs’—the Ruru, the Pṛṣat and the other kinds of deer—arc the ‘food.’

‘Those without hands, serpents, fish and the like—are the food of ‘those with hands,’—of the mongoose and the fisherman, etc.

‘Of the brave’—of those that are endowed with great courage—‘cowards’—those who are over-fond of life—are the food.

The meaning is that those possessed of inferior strength are killed for food—(29).