Caste and Race in India c7.16

c7.16

That members of other classes could be admitted to studentship as special cases must be inferred from the fact that in the Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā a rite is referred to for the benefit of a person, who had mastered the lore, though himself not a Brahmin. The priest's profession was perhaps hereditary, as we read of a Brahmaputra in a few passages as the son of a Brāhmaṇa (a priest) and also of a Brahmabandhu (a priest in name only). Nevertheless there are indications, corroborated by later tradition, that members of the Kshatriya class could also be priests. The expression "Brahmapurohita", meaning "having a Brahmin priest as Purohita", suggests the possibility of a non-Brahmin priest. Viśvāmitra, the chaplain of Sudās and the famous rival of Vasiṣṭha, according to the tradition, was a Kshatriya. Yāska tells us that Devāpi, who officiated as priest at his brothers' sacrifice, was a prince of the Kuru family. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa regards a Brahmin as impure if he follows the profession of a physician.