Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s1.3

c48.s1.3

§ 26. It was stated above that the subdivision of Brāhman communities is often traceable to differences in regard to food and ceremonial. These, in turn, depend to a great extent upon function and the means of livelihood accessible. Strictly speaking, the Brāhman, as pointed out earlier in this work, is by origin a functional order, but with the expansion of the Ārya population in post-Vedic times and the growth of the Brāhmanic community beyond the need of the layman for its specific ministrations, great latitude had to be allowed, no doubt, from a very early period. In the present day, within the fairly wide limits which he himself has set, the Brāhman is represented in a large proportion of what may be called the upper and middle class occupations of India. But whichever of these he may take up, his inherent qualities are unabated, and he is still entitled to the homage of the rest of the community, and remains the accredited intermediary between man and the supernatural. In the latter capacity his bare living is assured to him without need to work for it, because in all formal rites such as those connected with birth, marriage, death, expiation or thanksgiving, the provision of a meal for a certain number of Brāhmans is an essential and costly feature. In the more prosperous parts of the country, accordingly, there is usually a plentiful supply of Brāhmans of whom it has been said that "they exist only to be fed". On every side are to be found subdivisions which, in the eyes of their compeers, have fallen from grace by participating in the feasts of wealthy but impure clients. In another direction there are instances on record where the number of local Brāhmans available for a ceremony of this sort not being equivalent to the aspirations of the Chieftain interested in it, the quorum has been made up by him by a special creation out of such lower material as was at hand. Service at a temple, it should be noted, is not undertaken by the better class of Brāhman, as it is held to be degrading, and left, accordingly, to those low in station. In several cases the claim to be accounted a Brāhman rests entirely upon the performance of those duties. The inference drawn from this estimation of temple service is' that the divinities in question are those of the non-Ārya, incorporated from time to time into the Brāhmanic pantheon, as the community which reverenced them was brought to adopt the social system of the higher race. It is probable that the distinction drawn between the acceptance of offerings by a Brāhman in requital for specific services and those made to him on general grounds has its root in the same tradition; for whilst to the donor offerings of any kind to a Brāhman are held to be productive of spiritual merit, only one of the lower class of the order will accept gifts for exorcising evil spirits, averting the baleful influences of an eclipse or certain combinations of stars, reciting the appropriate texts for pilgrims at a bathing place, or helping at a funeral, and the like offices.