Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c19.s2.t2.60

v2.c19.s2.t2.60

From the ending of certain epigraphs it appears that some Brahmans forsook their rules to receive gifts, and were, therefore, not held in high esteem by the people. The inscription which gives us this information is dated A.D. 1395, and it ends thus: "The Brahman who forsakes the rules for receiving gifts becomes a monkey; and the giver becomes a foul-scented jackal in the burning ground".² If receiving gifts (*pratigraha-vidhi-tyāgi viprō bhavatu markkataḥ*) refers to begging, then, evidently the people were justified in condemning such a Brahman, for it was a violation of one of the rules laid down in the code of Manu: "One must not consider as a guest a Brāhmaṇ who dwells in the same village, nor one who seeks his livelihood by social intercourse, even though he has come to a house where (there is) wife, and where sacred fires are kept. Those foolish householders, who constantly seek (to live on) the food of others, become, in consequence of that (baseness) after death the cattle of those who gave them food".³ Vaśiṣṭha clearly says: "The king shall punish that village where Brāhmaṇas, unobservant of their sacred duties and ignorant of the Veda, subsist by begging; for it feeds robbers".⁴