Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c19.s2.t2.47

v2.c19.s2.t2.47

The Brahmans, however, could divert their influence in more profitable channels. They could, for example, elevate the classes which were socially on a lower scale, and thus bring about social reform. One such instance is that of the Brahmans who invested 500 oil-mongers with the sacred thread. It is poet Diṇḍima—who was one of the mahājanas of Mulluṇḍrum alias Prauḍha-dēvarāyapuram, and probably a contemporary of Prauḍha Dēva Rāya,—who gives us these details. Although more particulars are not forthcoming, yet the fact that the oil-mongers still feel grateful to the Brahman family by accepting one of its members as their guru,² indicates to us that, at least in this one instance, the Brahmans have left behind them evidence of the service they rendered to the cause of society.