[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897) › c14.130 # The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c14.130 The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c14.130 - **Language:** English ### [c14.130](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c14.130) According to the commentary of Sâyaṇa on the Aitareya¹ Brâhmaṇa, six categories of Brâhmaṇas are distinguished in the Smṛiti of Sâtâtapa. These, although Brâhmaṇas by birth, are not worthy of being so, and in the first place, among these improper Brâhmaṇas, the servant of the king (rajabhritya) is reckoned.¹ Probably, the sense of this passage is not directed against the service of the king as such—the work of the purohita did appear in the eyes of the Brâhmaṇas as a perfectly legitimate occupation—but against such services as are attributed to the Brâhmaṇas in the Dasabrâhmaṇa Jâtaka. Surely, we must leave to Vidhûra in this case the responsibility for his statements, as further materials from which one might conclude that the Brâhmaṇas really had those low occupations which Vidhûra attributed to them, are not to be found in the Jâtakas. It is with difficulty that such individuals as figured as servants, messengers, carriage drivers of the king—although they might be found in particular cases—can be looked upon as the type of Brâhmaṇas in the king's service. - [Previous: c14.129](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c14.129) - [Next: c14.131](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c14.131) - [Up: c14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c14) ## Cites (3) - [Jātaka](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.khuddaka.jataka) — Pāli - [Aitareyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya) — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit - [Śātātapasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.satatapa) — Śātātapa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c14.130](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.fick-1897.c14.130) · Pramāṇa