Skandapurana 5.241

The seers said: / Nārada said: / Speak, O Grandfather! What are the eighteen dependent classes, / and what is their livelihood and dharma? Tell me everything in detail.

Brahmā said: / My birth took place from the calyx of the navel-lotus of the Lord, / the Master of the universe, who had awakened according to the measure of His own time.

Then, long ago, after a long span of time, Keśava remembered [me], / desiring in His mind to create various creatures dominated by the quality of passion.

I, the lotus-born, four-faced son, was born there. / Having entered the belly through the stalk of the navel, I then looked around.

There I had a vision of tens of millions of cosmic eggs. / Filled with wonder, running about for the purpose of creation as I contemplated,

I came out again through the lotus stalk, / but as soon as I emerged outside, I forgot all the means for the purpose of creation.

Then, having gone once more and created the fourfold creatures, / I emerged through the navel-stalk with an inner mind that had forgotten.

Then I became like one inert, and a bodiless voice spoke: / 'Perform austerity, O greatly intelligent one! Inertia is not suitable for you.'

Thereupon I undertook austerity for ten thousand years. / Then an imperishable voice arising from the sky spoke to me again,

manifesting through the power of austerity, having previously taken refuge in the form of the Veda. / Then I was commanded by the Lord: 'Create creatures in many forms!

Having resorted to the quality of passion, [create] the faultless creation of beings.' / At first, a mental creation was conceived by me through the mind.

From that, indeed, brahmins were born, the lords of sages headed by Marīci. / You were born as the youngest of them, having traversed knowledge and Vedānta.

They are devoted to action and ever striving for creation; / you are free from worldly engagement, a devotee of Viṣṇu, serving Brahman in solitude,

free from possessiveness, free from egotism, my mind-born son. / Then, in due order, for the purpose of protecting the Vedas for them,

the first mental creation of the twice-born classes and others was fashioned by me. / Then, O Nārada, I produced the bodily creation there.

Brahmins were born from my mouth, and Kṣatriyas from my arms; / Vaiśyas arose from my thighs, and Śūdras were born from my feet.

Through direct and reverse order, systematically and in due course, / those born lower and lower than the Śūdra all arose from the soles of the feet.

All those dependent classes originated from parts of my body. / Understand this, O Nārada; I shall tell you their names.

The brahmin, the Kṣatriya, and the Vaiśya: these three are the twice-born. / Their [practices are] the Vedas, austerity, study, sacrificing, and also giving gifts.

His livelihood is from teaching and from small gifts of acceptance. / Even if a brahmin is capable of receiving gifts on account of his austerity,

he should still not accept them, since the preservation of austerity is always [paramount]. / Recitation of the Veda, worship of Viṣṇu, meditation on Brahman, freedom from greed,

freedom from anger, purity, essential forbearance, nobility, / devotion to ritual acts, the practice of charity, and the qualities of truth and the like—

he who is constantly adorned with these is called a brahmin. / By a Kṣatriya, austerity must be performed, as well as sacrificing and the giving of gifts,

recitation of the Veda, and devotion to brahmins; their livelihood is by weapons / for women, children, cows, and brahmins, for the sake of the land, and in crisis to their lord,

and also offering refuge at once when the cry of the afflicted sounds; / those devoted to rescuing the distressed were made Kṣatriyas by Brahmā.

The Vaiśya increases wealth, tends cattle, practices agriculture, / sells liquids and the like, and worships gods and brahmins.

Increasing wealth through lending, performing sacrifices and the like, / giving, and study: this is declared to be the livelihood of a Vaiśya.

A Śūdra always has these very acts performed without mantras: / the daily śrāddha to six deities, the portion of food given to guests, and oblations to the fire.

Devotion to gods and twice-born persons is accomplished through prostration. / Even a Śūdra, rising early in the morning and performing salutation at the feet [of superiors],

and reciting verses full of devotion to Viṣṇu, can attain Viṣṇuhood. / Constantly observing annual vows, [honoring] the presiding deities of lunar days and days of the week,

giving food to all living beings, the householder is said to be a [virtuous] Śūdra. / Performing duties even without mantras, he is indeed liberated.

Even a Śūdra who observes vows during Cāturmāsya attains state of Hari. / An artisan, a dancer, a carpenter, a potter,

a woodworker, a painter, a weaver, a washerman, / a reed-worker, a spinner, an oilman, a leatherworker,

a butcher, a musician, a potter/distiller, a fisherman, / a basket-maker, and a caṇḍāla: these are the eighteen dependent classes.

The craft-artisan, goldsmith, woodcutter, brazier, / iron-worker, and potter are the six highest among the dependent classes.

The donkey-carrier, camel-carrier, horse-carrier, / cowherd, and brickmaker are the five lowest of the low.

The washerman, leatherworker, actor, reed-worker, / fisherman, Meda, and Bhilla: these seven are remembered as outcasts.

Whosoever is lower by caste than each is the eighteenth person. / Among all these dependent classes, there are high, middle, and equal:

three divisions are declared, to be known from the determination of the Smṛtis. / Seven artisans are to be known and proclaimed as the highest.

The goldsmith, the shell-cutter, the grain-cleaner, the flower-gatherer, / the betel-seller, the barber, and the jeweler—these are the sevenfold classes. [6.242.40]

There is no [obligatory] ritual ablution, no oblation to deities, no austerity or religious vow, / no Vedic recitation, no vaṣaṭ-utterance, and no purification through marriage. [41]

For these ordinary folks, worship of the guru is always proclaimed; / for these common people, giving gifts continually to brahmins is the supreme rule. [42]

For all classes and stages of life, O great sage, / and for all the common people, devotion to Viṣṇu is always auspicious. [43]

Thus all has been told to you according to the origin of the common folk. / Now hear the exceedingly meritorious tale of how a śūdra attained purity. [44]

Whoever, with a purified mind, listens to or recites this supreme, holy Purāṇa, / shaking off sins accumulated in past lives and devoted to pious acts, goes to the abode of Viṣṇu. [45]

Thus ends the two hundred and forty-second chapter, entitled 'The Explanation of the Eighteen Folk Classes', in the context of the eulogy of the four-month vow, in the dialogue between Brahmā and Nārada, within the story of Śeṣaśāyin, in the praise of the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the auspicious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa comprising eighty-one thousand verses. [242]