A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c7.64

c7.64

We have thus far endeavoured to describe the theories of the nature and the origin of the king's office, that are laid down in the Brāhmaṇas. It will now be our task to consider the views of the canonists concerning the status of the ruling class in general along with the priestly order in relation to the rest. The social system of the Indo-Aryans, as we have seen, involves from the first a division into four classes which were afterwards known as Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas Vaiśyas and Śūdras. Now the Vedic Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas lay down doctrines of the origin of these classes, which involve their arrangement in an order of precedence. The earliest theory of class origins is contained in the celebrated and oft-quoted hymn in honour of the primeval giant (Puruṣa), which occurs in the last book of the Rigveda, and is reproduced in the Atharva as well as the Yajus Saṃhitās. Puruṣa, it states, has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand legs. He was born in the beginning, and with him the gods performed a sacrifice. His mouth became the Brāhmaṇa, his arms the Rājanya (Kṣatriya), his thighs the Vaiśya, and from his feet sprang the Śūdra. From his mind sprang the Moon, from his eye the Sun, from his mouth Indra and Agni, from his breath the god of wind. From his navel arose the air, from his head the sky, from his feet the earth, from his ear the four quarters.∗ In this account of the origin of creation is obviously involved the dogma of precedence of the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya by virtue of the creative act of the Deity. The point is explicitly brought out in an alternative theory of social origins which occurs in a passage of the Taitt. Sam. According to this view, the Brāhmaṇa was created from Prajāpati's mouth, and hence he is the chief. The Kṣatriya was produced from his breast and arms, and hence he is strong. From Prajāpati's middle the Vaiśya was created, and hence he is fit to be eaten, while the Śūdra was produced from the Creator's feet, and hence he is dependant on others and unfit for sacrifice."¹ Further, it has to be observed that the doctrine of precedence of Brāhmaṇa and Kṣatriya is sought to be justified in other passages on grounds independent of the dogma of their divine creation. Thus the Śat. Br. declares in one place that the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya precede but never follow the Vaiśya and the Śūdra, for otherwise there would ensue confusion between the good and the bad.² According to this passage, then, the gradation of classes is the reflection of their relative moral worth. Therefore the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya have a moral title of precedence over the other classes.