Listen, O seeker, to the teachings regarding the purity of food and the consequences of what we consume, as revealed in the sacred verses. It is said that one who eats improperly, without necessity or discernment, falls into a lower state, entering the womb of a Śūdra. While alive, such a person becomes a Śūdra, and after death, he is reborn as a dog. If a person dies with another’s food in his belly, he attains a birth corresponding to the nature of that food. Therefore, one must carefully avoid eating food from certain sources. Food taken from a group, from a courtesan, or from a eunuch should be shunned. Likewise, one must not partake of food offered by musicians, metalworkers, or women who have recently given birth. Food from remarried women, umbrella-makers, and those who are cursed is also to be avoided. Physicians, prostitutes, and stick-bearers are among those from whom food should not be accepted. Consuming food from a seller of Soma, and especially from one who cooks for dogs, is to be avoided as well. Food abandoned by a miser or eaten by one who consumes leftovers should not be taken. Similarly, food belonging to someone who is frightened, who has wept, who has been insulted, or who is exhausted is impure and should not be eaten. Food that is improperly cooked, food associated with a corpse, or food from one’s father-in-law should be avoided. Especially, food from artisans and sellers of weapons is to be shunned. Food from one whose procreation is impaired, or from one surrounded by grief, should not be accepted. Even food from a teacher should not be eaten if it is not properly prepared. Know that whoever eats another’s food partakes of that person’s sins. These various kinds of food are considered fit for consumption among Śūdras and for those who dedicate themselves in certain ways. The wise may give these foods for a small price to those for whom they are intended. Yet, oil-cake and oil may be accepted from a Śūdra by those of twice-born status. Some foods are to be universally avoided: onions, garlic, fermented foods, and exudations. Wilted or deformed foods, mushrooms, and fungi are also to be shunned. A twice-born who eats udumbara fruit or bottle gourd surely falls from righteousness. Uncooked meat, offerings to the gods, and sacrificial oblations are not to be consumed. Diligently avoid the fruits called nipa, kapittha, and plaksha. Curd mixed with sesame seeds at night is to be given up with care. Food that is spoiled by improper action, by its very nature, or by contact with the impure must be rejected. Food smelled by a dog, food cooked again, or food seen by an outcaste is impure and should not be eaten. Food that is not properly offered, that is stale, or that is leftover should always be avoided. Food smelled by humans or touched by a leper is also unfit. Likewise, food touched by someone wearing dirty clothes or by another person should be rejected. Manu has declared that sheep’s milk and milk from a newly calved animal should not be drunk. Certain birds are also forbidden: the curlew, the chakora, the net-footed bird, and the cuckoo. Nor should one eat the pigeon, the lapwing, or the village rooster. The jackal, the monkey, and the donkey are also not to be eaten. These rules apply to creatures living both in water and on land. Yet, Manu, lord of creatures, has said that five-clawed animals are always fit to be eaten, but only after offering them first to the deities and to the Brahmins, never otherwise. Among birds, the vādhrīṇa, the crane, and the fish-eating goose may be eaten after they have been ritually defeated. Certain fish, too, are declared fit for eating, O best of the twice-born, according to prescribed rule. Even so, these exceptions are permitted only under strict conditions: at the peril of life, for medicinal purposes, when unable to do otherwise, by command, or for the sake of sacrifice. Thus, the wise must always act with discernment, purity, and reverence in matters of food, for what is consumed shapes both body and destiny.