Local Government in Ancient India c9.107

c9.107

The priestly craft had also its own guild to regulate its members. The sacrificial fee is to be divided among the sixteen officiating priests as follows: the heads of the four classes are to receive 48 per cent. (each 12 per cent.); the second priest 24 per cent., the third 16 per cent., and the fourth 12 per cent. (*Manu*, VIII. 210). Among other laws may be mentioned the following: If an officiating priest chosen to perform a sacrifice abandons his work, a share only of the fee in proportion to the work done shall be given to him by those who work with him (ibid. 206). If among several officiating priests one should meet with a calamity, his share of the work shall pass to another, and the stipulated fee shall also belong to his substitute (*Nārada*, III. 8). An officiating priest forsaking his work without a sufficient cause is to be punished.