Hindu Administrative Institutions c8.s2.15

c8.s2.15

That this institution has not been sufficiently understood in its true spirit even by learned Sanskritists is clear. Julius Eggeling writes: ‘A complicated ceremonial requiring for its proper observance and consequent efficacy the ministrations of a highly trained priestly class has ever been one of the most effective means of promoting heirarchical aspirations. Even practical Rome did not entirely succeed in steering clear of the rock of priestly ascendancy attained by such like means.’⁴ Again ‘in urging the necessity of frequent and liberal offerings to the gods, and invoking worldly blessings on the offerer, the priestly bard may be detected often pleading his own cause along with that of his employer as Kaṇva does when he sings:’⁵ ‘Let him be rich, let him be foremost, the bard of the rich, of so illustrious a Maghavan as thou, O Lord of the Bay Steeds!’ He concludes from this that the sacerdotal office must have been a very lucrative one.⁶