424.  Libations should always be poured upon a blazing fire.  Fire made with dry grass or straw blaze up quickly and become soon extinguished.  By pouring libations, therefore, upon such fires, one practically pours them upon ashes and gains no merit.

425.  To derive the means of sustenance from a wife was always viewed with feelings of aversion in this country.  It seems, therefore, that the custom of domesticating sons-in-law was not unknown in ancient times.  To receive acts of hospitality in return for those rendered was regarded as not only meanness but also destructive of merit.

426.  Jnatinam is an instance of the genitive in what is called Anadara.  The meaning, therefore, is disregarded them.  For a Brahmana woman to bring forth a son devoted to heroic deeds is a reproach.

427.  The scriptures declare that Righteousness loses its strength as Time advances.  In the Krita age, it exists in entirety.  In the Treta, it loses a quarter.  In the Dwapara, another quarter is lost.  In the Kali age, full three quarters are lost and only a quarter is all that remains.

428.  The Rishis think that the distinctions between the lower, the middling, and the higher classes of society are eternal, and nothing can be a greater calamity than the effacement of those distinctions.  Equality of men, in their eyes, is an unmitigated evil.

429.  Forgiveness is the duty of the Brahmana.  To fall off from forgiveness is to fall off from duty.  To censure when censured and assail the assailer, are grave transgressions in the case of a Brahmana.  The idea of retaliation should never enter the Brahmana’s heart; for the Brahmana is the friend of the universe.  His behaviour to friend and foe should be equal.  To eat the flesh that attaches itself to the back-bone of a slaughtered animal is also a grave transgression.

430.  A religious mendicant should always wander over the Earth, sleeping where night overtakes him.  For such a man to reside in a city or town is sinful.

431.  To till the soil is a transgression for a Brahmana.

432.  Good food should never be taken alone.  It should always be shared with children and servants.

433.  A village having only one well should be abandoned by a Brahmana, for he should not draw water from such a well which is used by all classes of the population.

434.  The penance that is involved in standing on one foot should be practised, like all other penances, in the woods.  To practise a penance on the way leading to a village so that people may be induced to make gifts, is a transgression of a grave kind.

435.  Some kine that are vicious have their hind legs tied with a rope while they are milked.  If the rope be made of human hair, the pain felt is supposed to be very great.  To obtain the aid of a calf belonging to another cow is regarded as sinful.  To the cow also, the process of sucking cannot be agreeable.  If the milk is held in a vessel of white brass, it becomes unfit for gods and guests.