Mudgalapurana 3.20: varṇadharmaprakāśo nāma viṃśatitamo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

Nara and Nārāyaṇa said:
Thus, O sage, the four castes are endowed with their respective dharmas: / The brāhmaṇa, the kṣatriya, the vaiśya, and hear now the śūdra is described.

Through their intermixture, O great sage, / various castes especially arose; know this here without doubt.

Among them, I shall tell you in brief the dharma of the brāhmaṇa. / Hear this ancient [dharma] composed of māyā, for the sake of destroying māyā.

The livelihood of brāhmaṇas is declared by the scriptures to be fourfold: / gleaning ears of grain, picking fallen grains, the white [livelihood], dead, and also the non-dead.

And unasked alms, plowing the earth, or dwelling in the forest— / I shall declare their manner; listen with full concentration.

The grain gathered by farmers, and what is left behind uncollected— / through grains and the like [gleaned] from that, one should maintain the body.

Or whatever grains and the like are swept up from the houses of merchants and others, / through that one should maintain the body.

This is declared as one mode of livelihood; hear now the second. / Without plowing the earth, food is produced there by rain;

with that alone the maintenance of the body should always be performed by brāhmaṇas. / Practicing the white livelihood, one should beg alms free from passion and greed.

By that he should maintain the body; that is considered 'the dead'. / Or it should be maintained by unasked alms; this is proclaimed 'the non-dead'.

Or he may plow the earth with farmers; / when grain is produced there, he should maintain the body with it.

One's own dharma has been told to you in the earlier section, O great sage; / a brāhmaṇa should never exist by means of service and similar livelihoods.

And for kṣatriyas, O great sage, maintenance of the body / is declared by bearing weapons and the like; he must not be a performer of service.

He should perform the fire oblation through the hand of a brāhmaṇa. / O lord of sages, one born of a kṣatriya should never undertake renunciation.

A vaiśya also should indeed practice buying and selling, / tilling the soil through farming, and the care of cows with respect.

And he should always remain devoid of the dharma of renunciation, O bestower of honor. / For kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, O sage, sacrificing and giving gifts

as well as study are proclaimed; officiating at sacrifices and the like are not prescribed for them. / Ritual work with the fire and the worship of gods [should be done] through the hand of a brāhmaṇa.

One who knows the vaiśya dharma should have them performed for the sake of observing his own dharma. / He should perform libations with mantras through the mouth of a brāhmaṇa.

This path of the vaiśya has been told to you, O best of the twice-born. / But for the śūdra, constant service to the three castes is proclaimed.

Like a servant—there is no doubt here; his stage of life is called that of a householder. / He should give gifts only to a brāhmaṇa, and likewise listen to the purāṇas.

He should do this; he must never listen to the syllables of the Veda. / The incarnations of the gods are proclaimed in the purāṇas and other works.

The consecration of their images was performed of old by the divine sages; / touching them and the like must never be done [by him].

Whatever [image] is installed by men everywhere according to their own wish, / that may always be touched by śūdras, O great sage.

Worship should be done with the name-mantra, as well as remembrance; / or he should worship an earthen idol with the name-mantra, O sage,

beginning with the invocation and ending with the dismissal. / Ancestral rites, libations, and the like, with mantras originating in the purāṇas,

should be performed with respect by śūdras through the mouths of brāhmaṇas. / The verses originating from the purāṇas and similar works must not

be recited by those born of the śūdra caste, O fortunate one; listening is always approved. / For śūdras born of outcaste births, remembrance of the Name should always

be performed; touching images of gods should never be done. / Nor should any ritual action be performed with mantras originating from the purāṇas, O great sage,

by all those devoted to their respective dharmas. / Having dedicated wealth and the like to the ancestors and to the deities,

grain should be given away by them; this is the ancient path. / These [people], intent upon their own dharmas, indeed go to heaven;

there is no doubt here; having great pleasures, they delight in happiness. / The realm of Prajāpati is for brāhmaṇas, and that of Indra for kṣatriyas,

that of Vāyu for the vaiśya castes, and that of the Gandharvas for those of śūdra birth. / This realm is proclaimed by the wise for those devoted to their own duties.

There they become enjoyers of pleasures; there is no doubt in this. / Thus is this brief illumination of the dharma of the castes, composed of māyā. / Whoever hears or recites it has no delusion caused by māyā.

Om tat sat. Thus ends the twentieth chapter, entitled 'Illumination of the Dharma of Castes', in the account of Mahodara in the third section of the glorious and supreme Mudgalapurāṇa, an Upaniṣad of the Purāṇas.