The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c11.54

v1.c11.54

**Reply to the fourth objection:** The reply to the argument founded on the aversion on the part of the Hindus to taste of the offerings made to Śiva, may be met with in the anxiety, so strongly evinced in all the later Hindu Sāstras, to raise the status of the Brāhmans above even that of the greatest of gods. A Brāhman’s curse is infallible, and Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra, and others, bow to it with the profoundest veneration. Viṣṇu once submitted to a kick from a Brāhman, and as an emblem of his veneration for his assailant is described to have ever since borne the mark [ 142 ] of it on his chest ; and if nevertheless, he is a Hindu divinity of high rank, Śiva may well preserve his position in the Indo-Aryan pantheon even after a Brāhman’s imprecation on the character of offerings made to him.