Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c12.s8.14

c12.s8.14

This makes it clear that in the Nanda-Maurya period both the Vedic ritual and Upanishadic thought were active forces in the religious life of the country. There were the kings, nobles and wealthy Brahmins who believed in the efficacy of sacrifices and used to perform them with the help of hired priests. These priests who formed a class by themselves were the custodians of the Vedic lore. Many of them were attracted by the fees for officiating at the sacrifices and had become almost professional. But there were others too who saw no attractions in such gains and lived a simple life of austerities, far away from the inhabited localities, in the forests, striving hard to realise the Brahman through tapasya or asceticism.