Drunkenness, quarrels, enmity with a large body of men, all manner of dealings connected with marital disputes and the breaking of ties between husband and wife, internal discord, treachery toward the king — these and all sinful paths, it is said, should be avoided. A palmist, a former thief turned merchant, a fowler, a physician, an enemy, a friend, and a minstrel — these seven are incompetent as witnesses. The agnihotra performed out of vanity, silence kept from the same motive, study and sacrifice undertaken for the same reason — these four, harmless in themselves, become harmful when practiced improperly. One who sets fire to a dwelling, a poisoner, a procurer, a seller of soma-juice, an arrow-maker, an astrologer, one who harms his friends, an adulterer, one who causes abortions, a defiler of his teacher's bed, a brahmin addicted to drink, one who is sharp of tongue, one who rakes up old wounds, an atheist, a reviler of the Veda, and bribe-takers, one whose investiture with the sacred thread was delayed past the appointed age, one who secretly slaughters cattle, and one who slays a man who begs for protection — all of these are held to be moral offenses equal to the slaying of a brahmin.