Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/182

 The kingdom of that king in whose dominions a learned Brāhmana pines with hunger will ere long be afflicted by famine" (vii, 134). "Brāhmana is the root of sacred law. By his origin alone he is a deity even for the gods, and his work is authoritative for men " (xi, 8385).

A few remarks regarding whether, with all these claims of the Brāhmana, his life was really happy will not be out of place. One great thing which was decidedly in favor of the Brāhmanas was that they had a right to take a gift and beg honorably. Other castes could not have done that. The Brāhmanas who were engaged in secular occupations must have exerted a great deal of influence and exacted a prestige on account of their caste. Another great thing which helped them maintain a high status was their superior education. Without education any Brāhmana would have been looked down upon by his caste-fellows. It is this high regard for education which raised them above all and maintained them so. There is no evidence to support the belief that they closed the gates of education to those twice-born castes which were not Brāmanas. Our text has repeatedly tried to impress on the king and all other āryas the importance of education. But a heresy which took delight in promulgating contempt regarding the Brahmanical education and culture was gaining ground.

The Brāhmanas enjoyed high prestige in the land, but they had more restrictions. On account of the peculiar law of purity and pollution their life was extremely circumscribed. A people whose feelings are