The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c8.46

c8.46

exile, censure and disgrace.¹ Here is an extensive claim to the ‘benefit of clergy’ but we do not know how far it was admitted in practice. Brâhmaṇas acted as counsellors of the sovereign. “For it is declared (in the Veda): ‘Kṣatriyas, who are assisted by Brâhmaṇas, prosper and do not fall into distress.’”² From their ranks, too, were drawn the astrologers and interpreters of omens who seem to have been attached to Hindu courts all through history. Gautama states the opinion of those who declared that ‘the acquisition of wealth and security depends upon taking heed of those readers of supernatural influences.’³