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Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c19.s1: Section I. Their Position in Hindu Society

Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c19.s1

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Section I. Their Position in Hindu Society

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There seems to be hardly any justification that we should dwell at length on a section of the Hindu people, who have gained prominence as much by their intellectual attainments as by their adamantine orthodoxy. But if it is realized that the Vijayanagara age was an era of Hindu regeneration, and that the Brahmans, according to the evidence of eye-witnesses, played an important part in the affairs of the times, we may be allowed to give some details about their status and achievements under the mediaeval monarchs.

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Like the King, the Brahman, too, suffered decline as regards the unassailable position he had taken in the classical times. The earlier writers maintained that the Brahman preceded the Kshatriya,—that is to say, they analysed the question of the relative position which the king and the priest occupied in Hindu society. While some canonists were constrained to give the priest the pre-eminent place in Hindu society, to endow him with divinity, and to bestow on him certain privileges, like those relating to the inviolability of his person and of his property, others were inclined to give him a rank equal to that of the Kshatriyas, and, in one famous instance, even to relegate him to a place of insignificance, at least so far as the elements that constituted sovereignty were concerned. The Vijayanagara monarchs showed the classical touch that marked their action by holding the Brahman in the highest esteem; but they revealed, at the same time, their essentially mediaeval nature by making him the servant of the State.

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This conformity to, and apparent violation of, classical injunctions by the Hindu rulers of Vijayanagara is amply illustrated in their theory as enunciated by Kṛiṣhṇa Dēva Rāya, and in the inscriptions which give us the history of the Brahmans in mediaeval times. Ancient precept still influenced the mediaeval mind. Nowhere has the case for the Brahmans been so powerfully advocated as in the following words of Manu: "Let the king, after rising early in the morning, worship Brāhmaṇas who are well versed in the three fold sciences and learned (in polity), and follow their advice. Let him daily worship aged Brāhmaṇas who know the Veda and are pure; for he who always worships aged men, is honoured even by the Rākṣhasas".¹ Then again: "Let him (the king) not, though fallen into the deepest distress, provoke Brāhmaṇas to anger; for they, when angered, could instantly destroy him with his army and his vehicles".² Manu further says: "A Brāhmaṇa be he ignorant or learned, is a great divinity, just as the fire, whether carried forth (for the performance of a burnt-oblation) or not carried forth, is a great divinity".³ "Thus, though Brāhmaṇas employ themselves in all (sorts of) mean occupations they must be honoured in every way; for (each of) them is a very great deity".⁴

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¹ Manu, VII, 37-8, p. 221. ² Ibid., IX, 313, p. 397. ³ Ibid., IX, 317, p. 398; see also 314-16, ibid. ⁴ Ibid., IX, 319, p. 399.

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Bhīshma evidently has the same idea in mind when he says thus: "Thou shouldst worship those Brāhmanas that are devoted to their duties, possessed of learning, regular in worshipping the gods, observant of high vows, and endued with other accomplishments, when they come to thy abode, and employ them in officiating in thy sacrifices".¹ Nārada also has identical ordinances. "Let a king be constantly intent on showing honour to the Brahmans. A field furnished with Brahmans is the root of the prosperity of the world. A Brahman may command respect, and a distinguished seat at the king's court. The king shall show his face in the morning before the Brahmans first of all, and shall salute them all".²

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¹ Śānti Parva, LXXI, p. 233.

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² Nārada, XVIII, 34-5, pp. 218-19. For a detailed discussion of the question of the Brahman's position in society, see Ghosal, Hind. Pol. Theor., pp. 14-15, 30, 48, 52-4, 63, 66, 108, 110-12, 189-90 (1st. ed.)

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Before we note the similarity that exists between Vijayanagara theory and that of the ancients in this respect, we may cite the opinion of Kauṭilya, who, in his enumeration of the elements of sovereignty, says: "The king, the minister, the country, the fort, the treasury, the army and the friend are the elements of sovereignty".³ The Brahman, therefore, in his priestly capacity, is, according to Kauṭilya, a negligible factor in the matter of sovereignty.

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³ Arthaśāstra, Bk. VI, Ch. I, 258, p. 309. Supra, Volume I, Chapter V, Central Government.

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Nevertheless the underlying principle which has marked the relationship of the Brahman to the State, in spite of the injunction of Kauṭilya, may be expressed in the following statement of the Mahābhārata: "It is said that the preservation and growth of the kingdom rests upon the king. The preservation and growth of the king rests upon the king's priest. That kingdom enjoys true felicity where the invisible fears of the subjects are dispelled by the Brahmana and all visible fears are dispelled by the king with the might of his arms".⁴ Thus did Bhishma reconcile the apparently conflicting claims of the Kshatriyas and of the Brahmans for superiority in the Hindu state and society.

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⁴ Śānti Parva, LXXIV, p. 241.

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The monarchs of Vijayanagara were not unacquainted with the ancient precepts which required of the rulers the highest respect for the Brahmans. As we said in connection with the Revenue Administration of the country, according to Kṛṣṇa Dēva Rāya that could not be called expenditure which was used for purposes of buying and feeding elephants and horses maintaining soldiers, and worshipping gods and Brahmans.¹ He has also said: "Realizing that charity is for the protection of the Dvijas and that knowledge is for your own protection, take refuge in Nārāyaṇa."²

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¹ Amuktamālyada, v. 262; J. I, H., IV, p. 73, op. cit.

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² Ibid. v. 278, p. 75.

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These theoretical assertions are not so convincing as the testimony of travellers, who could not help noticing the honour which the Vijayanagara kings paid to the Brahmans. Abdur Razzāq says thus: "The Brahmans are held by him (Dēva Rāya) in higher estimation than all other men".³ The Portuguese travellers have more details to give on the subject. Duarte Barbosa writes: "Among them is another class of people whom they call Bramenes, who are priests and rulers of their houses of worship...Among them all these men hold the greatest liberties and privileges and are not liable for death for anything whatsoever which they do. The king, the great Lords and men of rank give them much alms on which they live; also many of them have estates while others live in the houses of worship, as in monasteries, which possess good revenues".⁴ Paes relates that the king of Bisnaga "pays much honour, and he holds them in great favour".⁵ Further he says: "In all the land of the heathen there are these Brahmans; they are men who do not eat anything, that suffers death; they have little stomach for the use of arms".⁶

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³ Elliot, Hist. of India, IV, p. 105; Major, India, p. 23.

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⁴ Barbosa, Dames, I, p. 217; Stanley, p. 94.

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⁵ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 246.

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⁶ Ibid., p. 280.

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This last remark, however, Paes himself will qualify in the other details he has given of the Brahmans. Nuniz, whose description of the priestly class, as we shall see, is the longest, says: "And in this kingdom of Bisnaga there is a class of men, native of the country, namely Brahmans, who the most part of them never kill or eat any live thing, and these are the best that are amongst them".¹ The same chronicler tells us in what manner the Vijayanagara king honoured the Brahman priest. ".... every day he (i.e., the Emperor) hears the preaching of a learned Brahman, who never married nor ever touched a woman. He urges in his preaching (obedience to) the commandments of God, that is to say, that one must not kill any living thing, nor take anything belonging to another, and as with these so with the rest of the commandments".² While repeating the legend of the building of the capital, Nuniz informs us that Harihara, whom he calls "King Deorāo", "...after that hermit (i.e., Vidyāraṇya) was dead the king raised a very grand temple in honour of him and gave much revenue to it".³

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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 390.

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² Ibid. pp. 390-1.

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³ Ibid., p. 300. This temple was identified by Sewell with the celebrated temple of Virūpāksha, ibid., n. 2. The Portuguese chronicler has some thing more to say about this temple. "And ever since, in his memory, the Kings of Bisnaga, on the day when they are raised to be kings, have, in honour of the hermit, to enter this house before they enter the town....". This makes it difficult for us to identify the temple or shrine referred to by Nuniz: both the Prasanna Virūpāksha temple (Longhurst, Hampi Ruins, p. 92) and the famous Virūpāksha temple, as is well known, are in Vijayanagara proper. B. A. S.

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In the history of the provincial rulers, too, it is narrated that they treated the Brahmans with the greatest respect. The Tanjāvurivari Charitra contains the following about Vijaya Rāghava Nāyaka of Tanjore. This great ruler, it is said, used to feed daily 12,000 Brahmans first and partake of his meal afterwards. "In a rainy season he was advised to cease doing so, but he maintained that his own household could not be allowed to eat till the Brahmans were fed; and when an entire want of fuel was stated to exist, he ordered every wooden material about his house to be taken down, or pulled to pieces in order to supply fuel. In three days this supply was exhausted; he then directed all the vestments in the palace to be dipped in oil, and made use of for fuel. At this time", we may be permitted to continue the tale, "a most valuable jewel became missing from the nose of the female idol in the Srirangham fane, and the head Brahman was greatly molested as being suspected of the theft. A Brahman woman became possessed; and, speaking in the name of the said goddess, said that the jewel would be found in one of the pots used by Vijayarāghava for boiling rice; where, accordingly it was found, to the no small joy of the said ruler".¹

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¹ Taylor, Cat. Rais III, pp. 176-7.

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