The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c14.3

c14.3

While we had to point out in the case of the Khattiyas that the expression "caste" did not strictly apply to them, either in the modern sense or in the sense of the Brahmanical theory, the case is different with Brâhmaṇas. They are no class and do not represent any special element of the Indian society which may be called the spiritual element, just as the Khattiyas represent the ruling element; also they do not represent a purely hereditary rank, as do, for example, the ministers of the king, for we shall see that the Brâhmaṇa and the priest are in no way identical. The Brâhmaṇas are a caste and that, too, almost in the sense in which they understand it in their own theory. Every one is a Brâhmaṇa by his birth,¹ not by his profession;