History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.57

v5.c73.t1.57

Some of the smṛtis were very strict in laying down the qualifications of brāhmaṇas to be invited at a śrāddha. Auśanasa (chap. 4) asserts: 'that brāhmaṇa⁸⁹⁴ is called *durbrāhmaṇa* and should never be invited at a śrāddha in whose family Veda study and Vedī (i. e. the performance of Śrauta sacrifices) have been stopped for three generations'. The same author⁸⁹⁵ further says that six persons are merely *brahma-bandhus* (i. e. brāhmanas by birth or caste alone) viz. one who is hired by a śūdra or a king as a servant, who has a śūdra woman as his wife, who is a village priest and he who subsists by killing (animals) or by catching them. So early as the Mahābhāṣya⁸⁹⁶ it was stated that austerities (leading a life of restraint and strict observances), Vedic learning and birth (from brāhmana parents) are the causes of (a man being called) a brāhmana and that he who is devoid of the first two is a mere brāhmana by caste (but not a real brāhmana). It is curious to note that Yama stated that, if brāhmanas that do not declare (or point out) the auspicious naksatra or *tithi* or day or muhūrta and other auspicious matters, eat (śrāddha) food it becomes inexhaustible.