History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c20.124

v2.c20.124

(1) The brāhmaṇa was to be *guru* (object of reverence)³⁰⁸ to all varṇas by the mere fact of birth. Āp. Dh. S. (I. 1. 1. 5) says so. Vas. Dh. S. (IV. 1) says 'the system of four varṇas is distinguished by its origin and by the special features of the sacraments (each of them undergoes)' and quotes Ṛg. X. 90. 12 in support. Manu (I. 31 and 94) says that the Creator produced the four varṇas respectively from his mouth, arms, thighs and feet, that (I. 93) the brāhmaṇa is by right the master of this whole world on account of his birth from the best limb (i.e. the mouth) of the Creator, on account of his priority (in birth to the kṣatriya and others) and on account of possessing Vedic lore. Manu (X. 3) uses almost the same words as Vasiṣṭha 'the brāhmaṇa is the master of the varṇas on account of the peculiar excellence (of his caste), on account of his superiority of origin (from the mouth of the Creator), on account of his submitting himself to discipline (or holding up Vedic lore) and on account of the eminence of the sacraments (saṁskāras) in his case'. Bhīṣmaparva (121. 35) says that the brāhmaṇa is superior among all castes. This sense of superiority was carried so far that Āpastamba³⁰⁹ (I. 4. 14. 23), Manu (II. 135) and Viṣṇu Dh. S. (32. 17) say that a brāhmaṇa only ten years old was to be honoured as a father by a kṣatriya 100 years old.