Mahabharata · Chapter 12.187
brāhmaṇaḥ kena bhavati kṣatriyo vā dvijottama /
vaiśyaḥ śūdraśca viprarṣe tadbrūhi vadatāṃ vara //
bhṛguruvāca /
jātakarmādibhiryastu saṃskāraiḥ saṃskṛtaḥ śuciḥ /
vedādhyayanasampannaḥ ṣaṭ्su karmasvavasthitaḥ //
śaucācārasthitaḥ samyagvighasāśī gurupriyaḥ /
nityavratī satyaparaḥ sa vai brāhmaṇa ucyate //
satyaṃ dānamathādroha ānṛśaṃsyaṃ kṣamā dhṛṇā /
tapaśca dṛśyate yatra sa brāhmaṇa iti smṛtaḥ //
kṣatrajaṃ sevate karma devādhyayanasangataḥ /
dānādānaratiryastu sa vai kṣatriya ucyate //
kṛpigorakṣavāṇijyaṃ yo viśatyaniśaṃ śuciḥ /
vedādhyayanasampannaḥ sa vaiśya iti sañjñitaḥ //
sarvabhakṣaratirnityaṃ sarvakarmakaro'śuciḥ /
tyaktavedastvanācāraḥ sa vai śūdra iti smṛtaḥ //
śūdre caitadbhavellakṣyaṃ dvije tacca na vidyate /
na vai śūdro bhavecchradro brāhmaṇo na ca brāhmaṇaḥ //
sarvopāyaistu lobhasya krodhasya ca vinigrahaḥ /
etatpavitraṃ jñātavyaṃ tathā caivātmasaṃyamaḥ //
vāryau sarvātmanā tau hi śreyoghātārthamucchritau //
nityaṃ krodhācchriyaṃ rakṣettapo rakṣecca matsarāt /
vidyāṃ mānāpamānābhyāmātmānaṃ tu pramādataḥ //
yasya sarve samārambhā nirāśābandhanā dvija /
tyāge yasya hutaṃ sarvaṃ sa tyāgī ca sa buddhimān //
ahiṃsraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ maitrāyaṇagatiścaret / parigrahānparityajya bhavedbuddhyā jitendriyaḥ /
acalaṃ sthānamātiṣṭhediha cāmutra cobhayoḥ //
taponityena dāntena muninā saṃyatātmanā /
ajitaṃ jetukāmena bhāvyaṃ saṅgeṣvasaṅginā //
indriyairgṛhyate yadyattattadvyaktamiti sthitiḥ /
avyaktamiti vijñeyaṃ liṅgagrāhyamatīndriyam //
avisrambhe na gantavyaṃ visrambhe dhārayenmanaḥ /
manaḥ prāṇe nigṛhṇīyātprāṇaṃ brahmaṇi dhārayet //
nirvedādeva nirvāyānna ca kiñcidvicintayet /
sukhaṃ vai brāhmaṇo brahma sa vai tenādhigacchati //
śaucena satataṃ yuktaḥ sadācārasamanvitaḥ /
sānukrośaśca bhūteṣu taddvijātiṣu lakṣaṇam //
Original text: Mahābhārata (southern recension) · Edition: Śrīman Mahābhāratam, ed. T. R. Krishnacharya and T. R. Vyasacharya, Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay 1906–1910; e-text by SARIT (Shrinivasa Varakhedi and others) · SARIT: Search and Retrieval of Indic Texts · SARIT (e-text) via Internet Archive · CC BY-SA 3.0