History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c20.s2.t2: Position of the Brahmans

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c20.s2.t2

Language: English

Position of the Brahmans

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The Brahmans had gained complete ascendancy, and it was considered meritorious by the other castes—Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas and Śūdras—to make them gifts. Sometimes, however, the Gāhaḍavāla monarchs gave lands to a hereditary Rāuta or a Kṣatriya, as for example, Jayacandra made six grants in favour of the Rāuta Rājyadharavarman, who is expressly called a Kṣatriya.² This shows that non-Brahmans were not then altogether excluded from the bounty of donors. Further, there are some instances of Buddhists being objects of royal generosity. The Sahet-Maheṭh inscription records that Govindacandra, having been gratified by the Saugata Parivrājaka, the Mahāpaṇḍita Śākyarakṣita (a resident of the Utkala country) and his disciple the Saugata Parivrājaka, the Mahāpaṇḍita Vāgīśvararakṣita (a resident of the Coḍa country), bestowed the villages of Vihāra, Paṭṭanā, Upalaüṇḍa, Vavvahali, Meyī-sambaddha-Ghosāḍī, Pothivāra-sambaddha Payāsi upon “the most respectable community of Buddhist friars (Śākyabhikṣu), of which Buddharakṣita was the chief, residing in the holy convent of Jetavana.”³ Incidentally the above inscription proves that Buddhism was still lingering on, and that the Gāhaḍavāla kings were tolerant enough to extend their patronage to its votaries. This view is also supported by the Bodhgayā inscription, which describes Jayacandra as a disciple of the Buddhist saint Śrīmitra, and the Sarnath inscription of Kumāradevī, the Buddhist queen of Govindacandra, who repaired or restored the Dharmacakra Jina, originally set up by Dharmāśoka and placed it in a new *vihāra* at Sarnath. It was customary for donors to make grants by a libation of water after bathing in a sacred river such as the Ganges,¹ the Jumna,² confluences of rivers such as the Sarayū and the Ghargarā,³ the Triveṇī at Allahabad,⁴ or that of the Varuṇā and the Ganges at Benares.⁵ The usual occasions for such gifts were the lunar⁶ or solar eclipse,⁷ the annual Śrāddha in honour of one's father,⁸ the royal birthday (*Jātakarma*),⁹ the name-giving (*Nāmaka-raṇa*),¹⁰ or the installation ceremonies,¹¹ the Uttarāyaṇa¹² and the Dakṣiṇāyana Saṃkrāntis,¹³ the Akṣayatritīyā festival¹⁴ and so on. The gifts were as a rule absolute, and were to hold good "as long as the sun and moon endure." Resumption was expressly forbidden with dire imprecations, it being laid down that whoever took back land once given, or obstructed its enjoyment, "cannot be purified by a hundred horse-sacrifices, but lives in hell until the destruction of all beings."

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² Ind. Ant., XVIII, pp. 135-43.

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³ Ep. Ind., XI, pp. 24-26.

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¹ See e.g., *J. A. S. B.*, V, (1922), p. 83.

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² " " *Ind. Ant.*, XIV, p. 103.

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³ " " *Ep. Ind.*, XIV, pp. 194, 196.

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⁴ " " *Ibid.*, XIII, p. 219.

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⁵ " " *Ibid.*, XIV, pp. 198, 199.

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⁶ " " *Ibid.*, IV, p. 101.

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⁷ " " *Ibid.*, IV, p. 108.

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⁸ " " *Ibid.*, IV, p. 105.

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⁹ " " *Ibid.*, IV, p. 127.

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¹⁰ " " *Ind. Ant.*, XIII, pp. 131, 134.

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¹¹ " " *Ep. Ind.*, IV, p. 121.

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¹² " " *Ibid.*, VIII, p. 159.

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¹³ " " *Ind. Ant.*, XVIII, p. 35.

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¹⁴ " " *Ep. Ind.*, VII, pp. 98, 99.

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The Brahmans are distinguished by their *Gotras* and *Pravaras* in inscriptions, which mention among the former : Kāsyapa, Kātyāyana, Bhāradvāja, Bandhula, Gobhila, Vatsa, Vasiṣṭha, Pārāvasa, Sarkarākṣa, Sāṇḍilya, Gautama, Kṛṣṇātreya, Sāṃkṛtya, Kauśika, Kapisthala, Kauṇḍinya, Upamanyu, Parāśara, Bhārgava, Jīvantyāyana, Garga, Gārgya, Dhaumya, Sausravasa, Sāvarṇa, Kūtsa, Gālava, Sārkara, Dakṣa, Candrātreya, Jātukarṇa, Gauṇya, Pippalāda, Maunya, Harīta, Maudgalya, Darbha, Kaṇva, Agasti, Ātreya, etc.¹

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¹ See *Ep. Ind.*, VII, p. 99; *Ibid.*, V, pp. 118, 212-13; *Ibid.*, XIX, pp. 18-19; *Ibid.*, IV, pp. 101, 132, 133; *Ibid.*, VIII, p. 154; *Ibid.*, XVIII, pp. 12, 222; *Ibid.*, XIV, pp. 202-09.

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The Pravaras are enumerated as : Bandhula, Aghamarṣaṇa, Visvāmitra, Gobhila, Āṅgirasa, Ambariṣa, Bhārgava, Cyāvana, Apnavāna, Aurva, Jāmadagna, Maudgalya, Bharmyāsva, Kāsypa, Āvatsara, Naidhruva, Bhāradvāja, Bārhaspatya, Kāṅkāyana, Kauśika, Dhaumya, Audalya, Devarāta, Gautama, Aitatha, Avitatha, etc.²

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² *Ep. Ind.*, IV, p. 101; *Ibid.*, p. 112; *Ibid.*, pp. 130, 133; *Ibid.*, VII, pp. 99-100; *Ibid.*, XVIII, pp. 12, 13, 17, 19, 222, 224; *Ind. Ant.*, XIV, p. 103, etc.

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In some records we also find mention of such Brahmanic surnames as Miśra³, Dvivedī or Dvivedin,⁴ Tripāṭhī or Tripāṭhin,⁵ Dīkṣita⁶, Śarman⁷, Avasthī,⁸ Caturvedin⁹ or Caturvaidya¹⁰, and the title Paṇḍita, which shows that terms in modern use had at this time begun to come into vogue. In some inscriptions even the terms Ṭhakkura and Rāuta¹ are applied for Brahmans, whereas in another record the title Prāṇācārya with Bhaṭṭa occurs.²

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³ *Ibid.*, XIV, p. 207.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 205.

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⁵ *Ibid.*, p. 208.

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⁶ *Ibid.*, IV, p. 98.

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⁷ *Ibid.*, XVIII, p. 123.

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⁸ *Ibid.*, p. 226.

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⁹ *Ibid.*, XIV, p. 204.

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¹⁰ *Ibid.*, XIX, p. 54.

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¹ Ind. Ant., XV, pp. 8, 10, 12, 13, etc.

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² Ep. Ind., VIII, p. 154.

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The Brahmans are further described as practising Yoga³ and pursuing the study of the Vedas, of which the inscriptions mention all the four, viz., the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda and the Atharvaveda. Among the vedic Sākhas they specially refer to the Āśvalāyana,⁴ Vājasneya,⁵ Chāndogya,⁶ and the Sānkhyāyana-Bahvrica.⁷ According to Alberuni, who wrote his Tahkik-i-Hind in 1030 A. D., the Brahmans learnt the Vedas by heart, and many could recite them without difficulty, although their contents were understood by a few only.⁸ The Brahmans also studied such works as the 18 Purāṇas, Smritis composed by "twenty sons of Brahman," philosophical treatises on the Sāmkhya, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika Mīmānsā etc., the Epics, and those dealing with the exact sciences like Grammar, metrics, Astronomy, Astrology, Mathematics, and medicine etc.⁹ These texts were written down in the current alphabet of the times, about which Alberuni remarks : "The most generally known alphabet is called Siddha Mātrikā, used in Kashmir and Vārāṇasī. These are the high schools of Hindu sciences. The same writing is used in Madhyadeśa, the country all around Kanauj, also called Āryāvarta."¹⁰ But in spite of the widespread knowledge of the art of writing, the Brahmans preferred to trust their trained memories for the preservation of the Veda, and Alberuni explains their attitude thus : "They do not allow the Veda to be committed to writing because it is recited according to certain modulations, and they therefore avoid the use of the pen, since it is liable to cause some error, and may occasion an addition or a defect in the written text."¹ Besides this, the Brahmans did not want any encroachment upon their monopoly by extending to the bulk of the population the privilege of knowing the "sacred word." This is evident from the following general observation of Alberuni : "The Brahmans teach the Veda to the Kṣatriyas. The latter learn it, but are not allowed to teach it, not even to a Brahman. The Vaiśya and Śūdra are not allowed to hear it, much less to pronounce and recite it. If such a thing can be proved against one of them, the Brahmans drag him before the magistrate, and he is punished by having his tongue cut off."² Such unmeaning laws must have engendered a spirit of tyranny and exclusiveness among the higher castes, and crushed the enthusiasm of the masses for the existing order of things. It is no wonder, therefore, that the hardy races of the northwest, fired as they were by a new message of equality and brotherhood, scored an easy triumph against a power that countenanced invidious distinctions between man and man.

Linked texts (1)

Bodh-Gaya Inscription (A) of the Lakshmaṇasēna year 51 — Sanskrit