Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c4.t4: IV. The Purohita
Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jātaka Stories c4.t4
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IV. The Purohita
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Next to the king stood the *Uparāja*—the Viceroy—in the sphere of administration. As however the *Jātakas* do not give us much that is of special importance as regards his position and functions, and whatever is said by them has already been noticed before, we pass over to another and very important official, *viz.*, the Purohita.
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Fortunately for us, this 'formidable personage' of Ancient India, as Prof. Hopkins¹ has characterised him, has been subjected to a searching examination at the hands of eminent scholars. The institution of the purohita, being as old as the Vedic times, if not pre-Vedic, had naturally roused a lively interest in it, sufficient to engage the best talents of scholars to trace its origin and development. Readers are only directed to the eminent summary of these valuable researches given by the learned authors of the *Vedic Index*,² and as regards the Epic, to the masterly contribution of Prof. Hopkins on *The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India*.³ Our task, here, is to present the *Jātaka* evidence on the point which, though, has been more or less fully examined by that talented scholar, Richard Fick,⁴ whose inspiring lead has left us under a deep debt of gratitude.
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¹ J., *A. O. S.*, 13, p. 161.
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² *Vedic Index*, II, pp. 5-8. See also Dikshitar, *Hindu Adm. Inst.*, pp. 114 ff.
3. op. cit., pp. 151-62.
4. op. cit., pp 164 ff. Here also, as in all other aspects of the subject treated by him, the learned scholar has kept the Brāhmaṇic or priestly individual constantly before him, which at times, unknowingly though, debars him from an impartial judgment.
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Looking at the general position of the purohita, we notice that he was an indispensable companion of the king. His post was often, though not always, hereditary and remained with the same family for generations together.⁵ Once the Brāhmaṇas protest against the installation of a young son of the late Purohita. "For seven generations," so complains the mother of the boy, "we have managed the elephant festivals from father to son. The old custom will pass from us, and our wealth will all melt away."⁶ Sometimes of course new men, who found favour in the eyes of the king, were appointed to the post, presumably removing the old ones.⁷
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⁵ J., I, p. 437; II, p. 47; III, pp. 392, 400, 455; IV, p. 200—*purohita kulam*.
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⁶ J., II, p. 47.
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⁷ J., III, pp. 194, 337; but a king has four counsellors of *Dhamma* at J., VI, p.
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The purohita is a Brāhmaṇa, *par excellence*.⁸ Once a king⁹ addresses his purohita as 'Brāhmaṇa'. The purohita headed the Brāhmaṇas on all ceremonious occasions as the Senāpati did the courtiers.¹⁰ He was the highly-respected leader of other Brāhmaṇas. When a purohita is about to renounce the world, he summons the Brāhmaṇas before him. He asks them, "What will you do?" They reply, "You are our teacher," and they follow him.¹ Even his wife, who must of course be a 'Brāhmaṇī'² was also a respected personality amongst the Brāhmaṇa ladies.³
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³³⁰ Perhaps they were distinct from the *purohita*.
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⁸ J., I, pp. 370; 484; II, pp. 46; 113, III, p. 513-G.
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⁶⁰ *Cf.* Jayaswal, op. cit., II, p. 20: "He symbolises the Brāhmaṇa."
9. J., IV, p. 272; VI, p. 475-G. 1667.
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¹ J., IV, pp. 483-4.
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² J., II, p. 46, 113; IV, p. 484; V. p. 127.
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³ J., IV, pp. 484-5; he had also more than one wife J. III, p.
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From the origin of his post, the purohita has remained a teacher of the king. The Jātaka purohita is always the teacher, the ācariya, of the king.⁴ It often happens that the purohita or the preceptor is the teacher of the king in his youthful days, and is appointed to the post when the latter ascends to the throne.⁵ But as a rule the post being hereditary as we stated before, the king accepted the old purohita or, as it sometimes happened,⁶ his son who was his fellow-mate at the University, as his Ācariya. The intimacy thus contracted in early days remained also later on, and the two became inseparable companions, both in private and public activities.⁷
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⁴ J., II, 29, 376; IV, pp. 270, 371; V, pp. 1, 127.
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⁵ J., II, p. 282.
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⁶ J., I, p. 289; IV, p. 473. also III, pp. 31, 392.
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⁷ J., II, 75; III, p. 320.
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Looking now to the varied functions of the purohita we at once notice that he is the spiritual and temporal adviser of the king—atthadhammānusāsako.⁸ The latter is never different from the purohita as Fick⁹ seems to make out. We have clear references to show that the office of the purohita meant that of the 'spiritual and temporal adviser' of the king. "Sucirato nāma Brāhmaṇo Purohito Atthadhammānusāsako ahosi," so begins a Jātaka.¹⁰ Similarly another 'born in the purohita kula' became purohita, and therefore the spiritual and temporal adviser of the king.¹¹
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⁸ J., I, p. 184; II, pp. 30, 74, 96, 126, 264; III, pp. 317, 342, 400; V, p. 57; VI, p. 131.
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⁹ Op. cit., pp. 144-5; 174.
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¹⁰ J., V, p. 57; also VI, p. 131.
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¹¹ J., III, p. 400—"purohitakule nibbattitvā....purohitaṭṭhānaṃ labhitvā rañño atthadhammamānusāsako ahosi."
12. J., II, pp. 96 (amaccakule), 127 (paṇḍitāmacca) 264; III, p. 317.
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He was one, probably the foremost, of the ministers (amaccā).¹² What were his functions is not clearly stated. Sometimes¹³ he is styled 'Sabbatthaka' or do-all-minister, meaning thereby, perhaps, that he advised the king in all matters—spiritual or temporal. And that is why he is a constant companion of the king.¹⁴ Even in travelling he is with the king.¹⁵ The purohita was of course a past master in the Vedic lore,¹⁶ and other sciences.¹⁷ The following gāthās¹⁸ give a glimpse of this master-scientist:
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³⁹¹ Once a purohita falls in love with a courtesan whom he leaves big with child (IV, p. 298.)
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¹³ J., II, pp. 30, 74; Thomas, J. R. A. S., 1914, p. 389; "Sarvārthacintakaḥ" of the Epic: J. A. O. S., 13, p. 85.
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¹⁴ J., IV, p. 272; V, pp. 101-2.
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¹⁵ J., IV, p. 232.
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¹⁶ J., II, p. 243; IV, pp. 245-6; Cf. Matsya p., 230, 9 "Śrutivattā Purohitaḥ."
17. J., II, pp. 46, 243; VI, p. 475.
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¹⁸ J., VI, pp. 475-6-GG. 1666-7; Cf. Kauṭilya, Arthaśāstra, I, p. 9, who places the purohita in the front rank of the state officials, demands of him the knowledge of the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas, and skill in reading portents, providential or accidental among other things: see also a verse from Śukra quoted by Dikshitar, op. cit., p. 127.
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“He is clever, knows all omens and sounds.
Skilled in signs and dreams, goings out
and comings in (of the *nakkhattas*) understands
All tokens in earth and air and stars.”
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Leaving aside these advisory functions and coming to the practical side, we notice that the *purohita* sometimes, and not usually, took part in the administration of justice. In one *Jātaka*¹ he is represented as a ‘backbiter greedy of bribes and a giver of unrighteous judgments (*Kuṭavinicchayiko kuṭattakārako*).’ Here we are told that the study of the Holy lore was the rightful and delightful duty of the *purohita*, but that to sit on the seat of judgment was an unusual task handed to him by the king. So he utters at the end:
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¹ J., V, pp. 1, 2, 10.
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“Once in holy lore delighting I in sinful toils was cast,
Working evil for my neighbour, through the lengthening years
I passed.”²
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² Ibid., p. 10—G. 31.
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Elsewhere³ also his appointment as a judge is only due to the fact that the king has a high opinion of his wisdom (*paṇḍito ti vinicchaye misīdāpesi.*) Here again his character as fond of bribes is revealed. He is used to dispossess the real owners and put the wrong owners in possession, thus thwarting the high ideal of justice so frequently preached in the *Jātakas*. This *purohita*-judge once gives a wrong judgment and the defeated man approaches the prince-viceroy who rectifies it, upon which the king dismisses the *purohita* from his office and places the *Kumāra* on it instead.⁴ In another instance⁵ he is represented in a better light. Here it is the *Senāpati* who conducts cases and is a bad judge, and a defeated man approaches the *purohita*, who reverses the judgment and the king being pleased with him appoints him to judgeship to try all law-suits from that time so that “it will be a joy for my ears and prosperity for the world.” These instances, stray though they are, would be sufficient to indicate the nature of his function as a judge. The *purohita* becoming a judge, was not a usual affair.⁶
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³ J., VI, p. 131.
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⁴ J., VI, “vinicchayaṃ kumārassa adāsi.”
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⁵ J., II, pp. 186 ff.
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⁶ Contrast Javaswal, *op. cit.*, II, p. 153. “In the *Jātakas* we have the Purohita politician and Brahmin ministers as embodiments of political wisdom and moral rectitude. To this class belonged the judges.... The Brahmin for the *Dharma* administration was thus absolutely necessary. We find this jurisdiction being exercised by the Purohita in the *Jātakas*. He at the same time heard and decided, sitting along with other officers (probably non-Brāhmaṇas) cases of secular law. Law proper and law ecclesiastical in administration tended to unite into one and unite in the hand of the Brahmin judge. And the Brahmin was fairly above the influence of the king.” How these remarks fall wide of the mark as far as the *purohita*-judge of the *Jātakas* is concerned, can well be judged from the above discussion. The difference is self-evident.
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For other functions of the *purohita*, we have no clear proof. Guarding of the king’s treasures seems to have been one of his duties, if we can believe in the words which he utters when arrested by the king's servants on a false charge of misbehaviour. "Bring me into the king's presence before you slay me," so he prays, "because as the king's servant (*rājakammiko*), I have toiled greatly on the king's business, and know where great treasures are hidden.... and I have the interests of the royal family at my heart (*rājakutumbam mayā vicāritam*).¹ If I am not brought before the king, all his wealth will be lost."²
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¹ This sentence seems to have been left untranslated by Chalmers, the English Translator of Cowell's edition.
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² J., I, p. 439.
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Sometimes, he is shown as settling the prices with dealers and merchants like the horse-dealers from the North.³ Even here, if he did not act to the pleasure of the king, he was deposed and another 'amacca' was appointed for the work, though his status as an adviser did not diminish at all, and he might again capture his former office.⁴ Such was the irregular, uncertain and vague nature of administrative affairs in those days when the king was anything and everything.
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³ J., II, p. 31—"asse agghāpetvā mūlaṃ aparihāpetvā dāpesi."
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⁴ Ibid.
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The *purohita*'s character as a Brāhmaṇa is seldom, if ever, lost sight of in the stories. If they represent truth, and there is no reason to doubt, he, being a Brāhmaṇa, was greatly a lover of wealth, a greedy fellow. Fick⁵ is right in asserting that 'a position of worldly power was neither necessarily connected with his office as house-priest nor determined by proper regulations; the political power of the *purohita* was purely individual and had its source wholly and solely in the personal influence which he obtained over the king through his function as sacrificer and magician." On occasions like the consecration of a king, he is the leader of the officers of the state as we saw before. At one place⁶ he is the performer of a festival called *Hatthimaṅgalam* a royal elephant festival... And this was a lucrative performance, since all the trappings and appointments, the entire jewellery, of the elephants which came into the place of festival, fell to the lot of this performer by right. By this means he gained as much as ten millions (*koṭi*) at each festival. This may have been a hereditary office as indicated in the story.
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⁵ Op. cit., p. 175.
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⁶ J., II, p. 46. The office of the elephant-trainer should be clearly distinguished from this ceremonial functionary.
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Not only this, but as some of the stories tell, his greed of wealth carries him to the depth of moral degradation which is unworthy of such a man. A sacrifice is proposed by the Brāhmaṇas to avert some calamities foretold for the king; one of the pupils of the *purohita* comes to his *ācariya* and mildly asks, "Master, you have taught me the three *Vedas*. Is not there a text that says 'the slaying of one creature giveth not life to another?'" The Master replies, "My son, this means money to us, a great deal of money. You only seem anxious to spare the king's treasury.... Only hold your peace."⁷
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⁷ J., I, p. 343; III, p. 45; also III, pp. 159 ff. Cf. the succinct but beautiful remarks of Hopkins as regards the Epic *purohita*: "In the latest portion it is pitiful to see the degradation of the priest. He grovels for gifts. His rapacity breaks every barrier that morality, religion, and philosophy had striven to raise between his soul and the outer world. He becomes a mere 'periculorum proemiorumque ostentator'": op. cit., 158.
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As if all these presents were not enough, the *purohita* seems to have enjoyed a *Bhogagāma*, the revenue of a village.¹ Land may also be given to him, as to priests in general, as sacrificial fee.²
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¹ J., III, p. 105; IV, p. 473.
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² J., III, p. 516.
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It appears from all this, that the functions and the powers of the *purohita* were never so political in nature as advisory and spiritual. Wealth, and not power, seems to have been his innermost desire, and the ultimate goal.
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Before we close the discussion on the advisory element of the king, the *purohita*, we may take notice, *en passant*, of another individual named *Kulūpakatāpaso*, who was a hermit and a wanderer and whom the king respected with all earnestness and sincerity in order to receive instruction from him, and thus acquire the merit which leads to heaven (*saggasaṃvattanikaṃ puññaṃ*).³
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³ J., I, p. 506; II, p. 273. *Cf.* Jayaswal, op. cit., II, pp. 109-14, on the influence of hermits and recluses on politics.
Linked texts (3)
- Jātaka — Pāli
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
- Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit