Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s2.71

c15.s2.71

But were the Brāhmaṇas really immune under all circumstances from capital punishment in ancient India? We learn from the *Pañchaviṁśa Brāhmaṇa*² that a *Purohita* (priest) might be punished with death for treachery to his master. The *Kauṭilīya*,³ tells us that a Brāhmaṇa guilty of treason was to be drowned. Readers of the *Mahābhārata* are familiar with the stories of the punishments inflicted on Māṇḍavya and Likhita.⁴ The life of a Brāhmaṇa was not so sacrosanct in ancient as in mediaeval and modern India. We learn from the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* that king Hariśchandra of the Ikshvāku family did not scruple to offer a Brāhmaṇa boy as a victim in a sacrifice.