In the ancient teachings, it is said that the most worthy recipient for sacred offerings is one who recites the Atharvaśiras, especially the revered Rudrādhyāya. Equally honored is the one well-versed in mantras and Brāhmaṇas, or who is a diligent reciter of dharma texts. If a person’s lineage is devoted to giving gifts to Brahmins, born of pure womb, and who gives generously—a thousandfold—such a one is esteemed. Those devoted to worshipping their teacher, the gods, and the sacred fire, and who are intent on gaining true knowledge, are also praised. One who is engaged in the worship of Mahadeva, who follows the ways of Vishnu, and who purifies the dining line by their presence, is considered pure. Those who perform sacrifices and are steadfast in giving are recognized as purifiers of the dining line, as are Brahmins devoted to the recitation of the Savitri hymn. Brahmins who have bathed after constructing the fire altar are also counted among the purifiers of the dining line, as is the sage who knows the Self and lives a restrained life. A Brahmin who is faithful and devoted to performing ancestral rites, or who follows the Atharva Veda seeking liberation, is a purifier as well. So too is the Brahmin who is unattached. If none of these are present, one should feed a Naiṣṭhika, a person of lifelong vows, or one who is restrained, or an Upakurvāṇa, a student in training. If even such individuals are not found, it is permitted to feed a householder who strives for virtue. Yet, the merit gained by feeding those who know the Vedas surpasses even the merit of giving a thousandfold. Should none of these be available, one may offer food to other twice-borns during oblations. This is the substitute procedure, always practiced by the virtuous. Among those who may be fed are the daughter’s son, the master of speech, a relative, the officiating priest, and the sacrificer. However, caution is urged: the southern offering, if made to the unworthy, is considered demonic and bears no fruit in the next world. Indeed, if food is eaten by an enemy, the offering becomes fruitless after death. One should not offer oblations to such a person, for it is like pouring offerings into ashes. Similarly, if an oblation is given to one who does not recite the Ṛc, the giver receives no benefit. After death, such a person suffers, consuming as many burning, harsh lumps as the number of such acts. Where unworthy persons consume the offerings, O twice-born, that place becomes demonic. Such a wicked Brahmin is never fit for śrāddha or similar rites. Those who live by slaughter or bondage—these six are merely Brahmin-bandhus, relatives of Brahmins by name only. Those who sell the Veda are condemned in śrāddha and similar rites. Those who officiate for the unqualified are declared fallen, as are those who teach the Vedas to the unqualified. Kāpālikas, Pāśupatas, Pāṣaṇḍas, and others of that kind—if one offers śrāddha to them, it yields no results in this life or after death. Brahmins who falsely claim to belong to an āśrama should be known as defilers of the line. One who begets children with a widow, a thief, an impotent man, or an atheist, as well as a house-burner, one who eats from a pit, and twice-borns who sell Soma—these are to be excluded. So too are those born of remarriage, usurers, astrologers, those with defective or excessive limbs, and those who have scattered their seed. A betrayer of friends, a slanderer, or one always subservient to his wife, one who breaks the lineage, who has lost purity, or who has touched forbidden stalks, one who travels across the sea, a murderer, or one who breaks agreements, and those who delight in reviling the twice-born—all these are to be excluded from śrāddha and similar rites. Thus, the tradition carefully sets forth who is worthy of receiving sacred offerings, and who must be avoided, so that the fruits of ritual may be pure and enduring.