Caste and Race in India c8.108

c8.108

Vishnu is more audacious than Manu in asserting the worth of the Brahmins. He is not satisfied with claiming that they are the intermediaries between man and the gods, but would like to enthrone them as the equals of gods, nay even as their masters. He observes: "The gods are invisible deities, the Brahmins are visible deities. The Brahmins sustain the world. It is by the favour of the Brahmins that the gods reside in the heavens; a speech uttered by Brahmins (whether a curse or a benediction) never fails to come true. What the Brahmins pronounce, when highly pleased (as, if they promise sons, cattle, wealth, or some other boon to a man) the gods will ratify; when the visible gods are pleased the invisible gods are surely pleased as well."¹