The Great Epic of India: Its Character and Origin c8.64

c8.64

² The Jātakas, too, regard the Purohita as a mere magic-monger, though they call him also ācariya, Fick, Sociale Gliederung, p. 110. On the Purohita Upādhyāya, see the story of Marutta, xiv, 6, 7 ff. Here (and in xiii, 10, 36) the office is hereditary. The king in the former passage insists that his family Purohita shall serve him with an incantation, but the priest tells him he is engaged elsewhere, and says “ Go and choose some one else as your Upādhyāya.” So in i, 3, 11 ff., where a proper Purohita is sought “ to kill bad magic” and is installed as Upādhyāya. On his practical importance and honors, compare i, 183, 1, 9; 6–7; v, 126, 2; 127, 25; ix, 41, 12. On the contempt with which he is regarded, xiii, 10, 36; 94, 33; 135, 11.