[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Caste and Race in India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.ghurye-1932) › c7.16 # Caste and Race in India c7.16 Caste and Race in India c7.16 - **Language:** English ### [c7.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.ghurye-1932.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. - [Previous: c7.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.ghurye-1932.c7.15) - [Next: c7.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.ghurye-1932.c7.17) - [Up: c7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.ghurye-1932.c7) ## Cites (2) - [Kṛṣṇayajurvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.krsnayajur*kathaka) — Sanskrit - [Śatapathabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.satapatha) — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.ghurye-1932.c7.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.ghurye-1932.c7.16) · Pramāṇa