The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s4.6

c2.s4.6

∗ Manu xi. 85: *brāhmaṇaḥ* - - *pramāṇaṃ lokasya*; Mbh. i. 82. 18: *rājā pramāṇaṃ bhūtānām*. The law and Epic give a well known rule to the effect that the right of way belongs to a blind man, a woman, a burden-bearer, and a king; while, if a king and priest meet, the way belongs to the priest (Vās. xiii. 59; Āp. ii. 5. 11. 6; M. ii. 138-9; Mbh. iii, 133. 1; xiii. 104. 25, etc.); but the same Epic recounts a scene where a king meeting a priest calls out to him ‘get out of my way’ (*apagaccha patho ‘smākam*), and when the priest repeats the ‘law eternal,’ as just quoted, it is without effect, and the king even smites him with his whip. The king is cursed by the priest and becomes a demon, but this ‘law’ and anecdote of Vasishtha may serve as an example to illustrate the gradual increase in priestly power, and the means by which it was obtained.