mediately below), he takes birth
himself (so that those children are invested with the status of his own
order). His third wife being of the Sudra order is regarded as very
inferior. The son that he begets upon her comes to be called as an Ugra.
The Vaisya may take two spouses. In both of them (viz., the one taken
from his own order, and the other from the lowest of the four pure
orders), he takes birth himself (so that those children become invested
with the status of his own order). The Sudra can take only one wife,
viz., she that is taken from his own order. The son begotten by him upon
her becomes a Sudra. A son that takes birth under circumstances other
than those mentioned above, comes to be looked upon as a very inferior
one. If a person of a lower order begets a son upon a woman of a superior
order, such a son is regarded as outside the pale of the four pure
orders. Indeed, such a son becomes on object of censure with the four
principal orders. If a Kshatriya begets a son upon a Brahmana woman, such
a son, without being included in any of the four pure orders, comes to be
regarded as a Suta. The duties of a Suta are all connected with the
reciting of eulogies and encomiums of kings and other great men. The son
begotten by a Vaisya upon a woman of the Brahmana order comes to be
regarded as a Vaidehaka. The duties assigned to him are the charge of
bars and bolts for protecting the privacy of women of respectable
households. Such sons have no cleansing rites laid down for them.[299] If
a Sudra unites with a woman belonging to the foremost of the four orders,
the son that is begotten is called a Chandala. Endued with a fierce
disposition, he must live in the outskirts of cities and towns and the
duty assigned to him is that of the public executioner. Such sons are
always regarded as wretches of their race. These, O foremost of
intelligent persons, are the offspring of intermixed orders. The son
begotten by a Vaisya upon a Kshatriya woman becomes a Vandi or Magadha.
The duties assigned to him are eloquent recitations of praise. The son
begotten through transgression, by a Sudra upon a Kshatriya woman,
becomes a Nishada and the duties assigned to him have reference to the
catching of fish. If a Sudra happens to have intercourse with a Vaisya
woman, the son begotten upon her comes to be called Ayogava. The duty
assigned to such a person are those of a Takshan (carpenter). They that
are Brahmanas should never accept gifts