The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c10.20

c10.20

In III, 194 sq., the Purohita of a Benares king, after a self-imposed test, comes to the conclusion that virtue is better than learning, that birth and caste cause conceit . . . Khattiya (Kṣatriya), Brāhmaṇa, Vessa (Vaiśya), Sudda (Śūdra), Caṇḍāla and Pukkusa will all be equal in the world of the gods, if they have acted virtuously here. Ambā Jātaka (IV, 205) also says that among members of all the six divisions he is the best from whom one can learn what is right. In Tittira Jātaka (I, 217), the Buddha, after an untoward incident asks the assembly of monks, “Who deserves to have the best quarters, the best water, the best food?” Some replied, “He who was a Kṣatriya before he became initiated.” Others replied, “He who was a Brāhmaṇa or a Gahapati.” The Buddha, however, would not recognise the claims of birth at all. The caste rules of professions are often violated. There are, of course, numerous ‘world-renowned’ Brāhmaṇa teachers, surrounded by crowds of, say, 500 pupils each (I, 166, 239, 299, 317, 402, 436 ; II, 137, 260, 421, III, 215), but Brāhmaṇas also work as land-owners (III, 293 ; IV, 276), agriculturists (II, 165 ; III, 163 ; V, 68), merchants (IV, 7, 15 ; V, 22, 471), archers (V, 127), hunters and tappers (II, 200; VI, 170), wheel-wrights (IV, 207). Many Brāhmaṇas accumulate vast amounts of wealth (II, 272 ; III, 39 ; VI, 15, 22, 28, 237, 325 ; V, 227).¹ Brāhmaṇas sometimes eat with Kṣatriyas (II, 319-20). Aristocrats themselves sometimes act as traders or servants (II, 87 ; IV, 84, 169).