Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c6.108

c6.108

The intending emigrant should be provided with means of sustenance. The king should provide for a Brāhmaṇa who is driven by poverty to thieving.¹ Elsewhere, the worship of Brāhmaṇas is inculcated as the foremost duty of kings. They should be cherished and protected like children. Even if they practise trade, agriculture or robbery, they should be held in esteem. In origin, Brāhmaṇas are anterior to Pitṛis, deities, nāgas (snakes), Rākṣasas (demons) or human beings in general.² Birth alone entitles a Brāhmaṇa to adoration from all creatures.³ There is nothing higher than a Brāhmaṇa. Gods, ancestors, all are gratified when Brāhmaṇas are gratified. The earth itself had declared that the service of Brāhmaṇas was excellent and cleansing. All acts hurtful to Brāhmaṇas lead to discomfiture and ruin.⁴ Brāhmaṇas should be protected like sons and worshipped like fathers. A Kṣatriya, a hundred years old should look upon a Brāhmaṇa boy of ten as a father. The Mahābhārata takes another simile and declares that Brāhmaṇas are to Kṣatriyas as husbands are to wives. Or again, if the earth has accepted the Kṣatriya for her lord, it is because she failed to obtain the Brāhmaṇa.⁵ Those who offend against Brāhmaṇas must be exiled. The Brāhmaṇa’s wealth must be protected in particular. “Everything is protected by protecting the Brāhmaṇa’s wealth.”⁶ Here, as elsewhere, the poetic form in the Mahābhārata is injurious to exactitude of thought and expression, and occasionally leads to self-contradiction. But the general purport is clear that Brāhmaṇas are entitled to special consideration.