The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c17.138

v1.c17.138

The Brāhman is 'a receiver of gifts, a drinker of the Soma, a seeker of food, and liable to removal at will.' We can distinguish in this period two classes of Brāhmans, the priests who, as Purohitas of the king or belonging to his *entourage*, took part in the vast sacrifices, some of them lasting for at least a year, which they offered for their masters, and the priests of the village who lived a humble and more restricted existence, except when they might be called on to serve at the sacrifice instituted by some rich noble or merchant. In both cases the priest was, in the long run, at the mercy of the political power of the king. To the spiritual claims of the Brāhmans, so proudly asserted at the ceremony of the royal consecration, when the king is announced to the people as their king but it is added that the Soma is the king of the Brāhmans, must be opposed the practical power of the king.