Manava Dharmashastra 5.4

5.4

“nanu ca svadharmamanutiṣṭhatāmiti praśnena yuktaṃ ‘yena doṣeṇeti’ uttaraśca grantho naivopapadyate” |
ucyate | anabhyāsenetyādidṛṣṭāntatvenocyate | yathā bhavadbhiḥ pratipannā vedānabhyāsādyaḥ purāyuṣo maraṇahetavaḥ, evaṃ vakṣyamāṇo'nnadoṣaḥ | satsvapi vedābhyāsādiṣu na tāvatsvadharmo yaḥ pūrvatra kathitaḥ, kiṃ tvayamannadoṣo garīyastaraḥ | pṛthak prakaraṇāccaitadabhidhīyate | |
28) | jāghanīnidarśanenaikāhnikaṃ ceṣyate | etāvatā atītanyodhau tu na śakyametat jñātumavaśyamaśitenānena jīvatīti | tatra na pratiṣiddhagrāmyakukkuṭādimāṃsabhakṣaṇamiṣyate | prokṣaṇadevābhyarcanarahitasya tu prakṛtatvādastyanujñānam | vyādheśca na kevalamutpannasya nivṛttyarthaṃ yāvatkṛśakṣayyāturadurbalādīnāṃ sarvakālaṃ māṃsāśanaṃ niyamata iṣyate | ‘‘strīmadyanityāḥ kṣayiṇaḥ, śramavyādhyā ca karśitāḥ | nityamāṃsarasāhārā bhrāturāścāpi durbalāḥ ||’’

Bhṛgu, the righteous son of Manu, said to the great sages—“Listen, by what fault Death seeks to destroy the Brāhmaṇas.”—(3).

Death seeks to destroy the Brāhmaṇas on account of their omitting the study of the Vedas, on account of neglect of right conduct, on account of slothfulness and on account of the defects of food.—(4).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
Objection—“When the question has been put forward in regard to Brāhmaṇas who perform their duties, it is not right to answer it by indicating the ‘fault’; nor can there be any connection with what follows (in verse 4) [as omission of Vedic Study &c. is not possible for those who perform their duties].”

The answer to the above is as follows:—‘Omission of Vedic Study’ and the rest have been put forward only by way of illustration; the sense being—‘just as the omission of Vedic Study and the rest are acknowledged by you all to be the causes of death, so also are the defects of food, going to be described below. Even when a man carries on Vedic Study &c., the fulfilment of his above-described duty is not complete, if it is beset with the very much more serious drawback of defective food. This is emphasised here in view of the fact that this is an entirely different section (dealing with defects of food). (3-4)