Verse 1

¹Some of the twice-born stand firm in works, king, and others in austerity; others in the study of their own text, others in expounding it, and some in knowledge and in yoga. ²A man who wants what has no end should give the food for the fathers to one who stands firm in knowledge, and so at the rite for the gods; and when there is no such man, to the others as each deserves. ³Two at the rite for the gods, three at the rite for the fathers, or one at each. Even a very rich man should not make a large affair of the offering to the fathers. ⁴Trust fitted to the place and the time, and the goods, the one who receives and the honours done him, do not come out right when the thing is spread wide and handed over to one's own people.

⁵When place and time are right, food such as sages eat, with Hari for its god, set with trust and by rule before one fit to receive it, gives whatever is wished and never runs out. ⁶Sharing the food out to gods, sages, fathers and other beings, to himself and to his own people, he should see all of it as having the Person for its self. ⁷One who knows what dharma really is neither gives meat at the offering to the fathers nor eats it. The highest pleasure is in the food of sages, and it is not in the killing of animals.