The Law Code of Yājñavalkya 3.2.46

3.2.46

yas tv adhano 'vasannakuṭumbatayā āpadgato 'pi kṣatravṛttiṃ vaiśyavṛttiṃ vā na pravivikṣati sa yatas tato hīnahīnatarahīnatamebhyaḥ pratigṛhṇaṃs tadannaṃ bhuñjāno 'pi vā enasā pāpena na lipyate | yatas tasyām āpadavasthāyām asatpratigrahādāv adhikāritvena jvalanārkasamaḥ, yathā jvalano 'rkaś ca hīnasaṃskāre 'pi na duṣyati tathāyam āpadgato 'pi na duṣyatīty etāvatā tatsāmyam | evaṃ ca vadatā āpadgatasya paradharmāśrayaṇād dviguṇam api svadharmānuṣṭhānam eva mukhyam iti darśitaṃ bhavati | tathā ca manuḥ |

However, one who is without wealth and whose family is destitute, yet who does not wish to enter upon the occupation of a Kshatriya or the occupation of a Vaishya even though he is in distress—whether he accepts [gifts] from anyone whatsoever, namely from lower, still lower, or the lowest [persons], or eats their food, he is not tainted by sin, that is, demerit. Because in that state of distress, by virtue of his eligibility to accept gifts from unworthy persons and the like, he is "like fire and the sun": just as fire and the sun are not defiled even upon contact with base things, so this person too, even in distress, is not defiled—such is the extent of the resemblance to them. And by stating this, it is shown that the performance of one's own duty, even if deficient, is superior for one in distress to resorting to the duty of another. And likewise Manu [says]: