History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c20.114

v2.c20.114

It has been seen above how even during the Vedic period brāhmaṇas had come to be highly eulogised as if they were gods and held superior merely on account of birth. The Tai. Br. III. 7. 3 says ‘One should sacrifice in the right hand of a brāhmaṇa; the brāhmaṇa indeed is Agni-vaiśvānara’. Vide Śāntiparva 343. 13-14, Manu IV. 117, Likhita 31, Vas. Dh. S. 30. 2-5. The same ideas of the sacredness and the superiority of brāhmaṇas were carried forward and further emphasized by the dharma-śāstra works. Most exaggerated and hyperbolical descriptions of the greatness of brāhmaṇas are sown broadcast over all the smṛtis and the purāṇas. It is not possible to set out even a small fraction of them. But a few passages may usefully be cited here by way of samples. The Viṣṇu Dh. S.³⁰¹ (19. 20-22) says ‘the gods are invisible deities, but brāhmaṇas are visible deities; the worlds are supported by brāhmaṇas; the gods stay in heaven by the favour of brāhmaṇas; words spoken by brāhmaṇas never come to be untrue’. Manu (I. 100) declares ‘whatever³⁰² wealth exists on this earth—all that belongs to the brāhmaṇa; the brāhmaṇa deserves everything on account of his superiority due to his descent (from the mouth of the Creator).’ Manu IX. 313-321 contain a hyperbolical eulogy of the power of brāhmaṇas, two of which may be set out ‘who would prosper if he oppresses brāhmaṇas that, when angered, might create other worlds and other guardians of the worlds and that might deprive the deities of their position as deities’ (315); ‘a brāhmaṇa, whether learned or not, is a great deity’ (verse 317). Manu XI. 84 is ‘a brāhmaṇa by the very fact of his birth is an object of honour even to the deities.’ Parāśara (VI. 52-53) holds ‘whatever defects there may be in *vratas*, in austerities, or in sacrificial rites, they all vanish when brāhmaṇas support them. Whatever words are spoken by brāhmaṇas are spoken by the gods; brāhmaṇas have all the gods in them and therefore their words do not fail.’³⁰³ The Mahābhārata indulges in very frequent eulogies of brāhmaṇas. Ādiparva (28. 3-4) says³⁰⁴ 'a brāhmaṇa, when provoked, becomes fire, the sun, poison, and weapon; a brāhmaṇa is declared to be the *guru* of all beings.' Vanaparva³⁰⁵ (303. 16) says 'a brāhmaṇa is the highest light, he is the highest *tapas*; the sun shines in heaven on account of the salutations made by the brāhmaṇas'. This and similar dicta closely follow what was expressed in the Vedic period long before e. g. 'the sun would not rise if the brāhmaṇa did not make sacrifice' (Śatapatha II. 3. 1. 5); the refrain of Ṛg. II. 15. 2-9 is that Indra performed his great and heroic works under the intoxication of the soma (offered by the priests in sacrifices). Ṛg. IV. 50. 7-9 say that a king and others for whom the purohita offers prayers win battles, secure booty and help from gods. Anuśāsana-parva³⁰⁶ (33. 17) says 'they may make a non-deity into a deity and a deity into a non-deity; that man may become a king whom they desire to be so, and he who is not desired by them may be defeated.' Śānti (56. 22) declares 'In this world brāhmaṇa is the highest being'.