History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c20.141
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c20.141
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(5) Most smṛtis lay down that a śrotriya (a brāhmaṇa learned in the Veda) was to be free from taxes. Certain passages of the Śat. Br. suggest that even in those times brāhmaṇas were not taxed.³²¹ Āp. Dh. S.³²² II. 10. 26. 10, Vas. Dh. S. 19. 23, Manu VII. 133 say this. Some claimed this exemption for all brāhmaṇas e. g. Vas. Dh. S. (I. 42-43) says "a king ruling over his subjects according to the rules of the śāstra should take the sixth part of all wealth except from brāhmaṇas"; the Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 26 says 'a king should not recover taxes from brāhmaṇas'. Kauṭ.³²³ (II. 1) requires the king to make gifts of *brahmadeya* lands to *ṛtviks* (who officiate at solemn sacrifices), teachers, purohitas, śrotriyas, that will yield substantial produce and on which no fines and taxes will be levied. The reason assigned was the belief that the king shared in the religious merit accumulated by the brāhmaṇas. Vas.³²⁴ (I. 44-46) explains '(freedom from taxation is there) because he (the king) secures the sixth part of the iṣṭāpūrta (the merit due to sacrifices and performing charitable works of public utility) and it is declared (in a Brāhmaṇa text) that the brāhmaṇa enriches the Veda, he relieves (others) from calamities and therefore the brāhmaṇa is not a source of subsistence (i. e. should not be taxed by the king) since Soma is his king; and it is further declared that bliss awaits after death (the king who does not tax brāhmaṇas).' The Viṣṇu Dh. S. III.
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27 says 'they render unto him the tax of religious merit'. Manu VII. 136 says 'by the religious merit which the śrotriya accumulates every day when protected by the king, the king's life, wealth and kingdom increase.' Vide Manu 8. 305. This sentiment is expressed even by a great poet like Kālidāsa³²⁵ 'forest-dwellers give a sixth part of their *tapas* (merit due to austerities) to the king and that is an inexhaustible treasure'. It is further to be noted that not only śrotriyas, but also many other persons were free from taxation. Āp. Dh. S. (II. 10. 26. 11-17) exempts from taxation all women of the four varṇas, all boys before they show signs of manhood (i. e. before they attain majority), those who stay with their teachers for learning (even though they may be grown up), those engaged in austerities and devoted to right practices, a śūdra who washes the feet (of men of the three higher classes), the blind, the dumb and the diseased, those who are forbidden to possess wealth (i. e. ascetics etc.). The Vas. Dh. S. (19. 23.)³²⁶ exempts from taxation the king's servants, helpless persons, ascetics, minors, senile men (above 70), young men, and women who are recently delivered. Manu VIII. 394 contains a similar provision. Bṛhat-Parāśara³²⁷ (chap. III, Jiv. part II p. 113) says 'a brāhmaṇa engaged in agriculture had to pay nothing to anybody'. It is extremely doubtful whether in actual practice kings respected all these rules.
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Note 275 shows that a brāhmaṇa engaging in agriculture had to pay ⅙th of the produce just as others did. An inscription of Vikramāditya V. found near Gadag dated śake 934 (1012 A. D.) refers to taxes levied even on upanayana, marriages and vedic sacrifices (E. I. vol. XX. pp. 64 and 70). The Śāntiparva (76. 2-10) contains an interesting disquisition on the taxation of brāhmaṇas. Those brāhmaṇas who have mastered all the lores and who treat all equally well are called brahmasama. Those brāhmaṇas who have studied the Ṛgveda, Yajurveda and Sāmaveda and who stick to the peculiar duties of their class are styled devasama (verses 2 and 3). A religious king should make those who are not śrotriyas and who do not kindle the sacred fires render taxes and forced labour (verse 5). Then certain brāhmaṇas are described as kṣatrasama and vaiśyasama. A king whose treasury is empty should levy taxes from all brāhmaṇas except those that are described as brahmasama and devasama.³²⁸ Even if these rules were honoured, the claim was not very excessive. The brāhmaṇas who ministered to the religious wants of the people and who were to conserve the religious literature and spiritual inheritance of the country and to teach without the liberty to make a contract for fees were never entitled to raise taxes from the people for their benefit. According to the practice of the Roman Catholic Church 'the clergy owed no allegiance to the secular power;
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they were not under the laws of the land, they paid no taxes to the State. All benefices were put under the Holy See and the Roman chancery compiled a tariff of prices for which each might be bought'. It would take too long to enumerate the other exactions of the same kind—the Tithes, Annates, Procurations, Subsidies and Dispensations.³²⁹