वृषो हि भगवान् धर्मस्तस्य यः कुरुते ह्यलम् । वृषलं तं विदुर्देवास्तस्माद् धर्मं न लोपयेत् ॥ १६ ॥
For divine justice (is said to be) a bull (vrisha); that (man) who violates it (kurute ’lam) the gods consider to be (a man despicable like) a Sudra (vrishala); let him, therefore, beware of violating justice.
One quarter of (the guilt of) an unjust (decision) falls on him who committed (the crime), one quarter on the (false) witness, one quarter on all the judges, one quarter on the king.
राजा भवत्यनेनास्तु मुच्यन्ते च सभासदः । एनो गच्छति कर्तारं निन्दाऽर्हो यत्र निन्द्यते ॥ १९ ॥
But where he who is worthy of condemnation is condemned, the king is free from guilt, and the judges are saved (from sin); the guilt falls on the perpetrator (of the crime alone).
जातिमात्रोपजीवी वा कामं स्याद् ब्राह्मणब्रुवः । धर्मप्रवक्ता नृपतेर्न शूद्रः कथं चन ॥ २० ॥
A Brahmana who subsists only by the name of his caste (gati), or one who merely calls himself a Brahmana (though his origin be uncertain), may, at the king’s pleasure, interpret the law to him, but never a Sudra.