The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c9.s6.5

c9.s6.5

But so far as the Vaiśya is concerned, we find that he does not have to *kowtow* to the others. He is of course superior to the Śūdra and is on a par with the Kṣatriya and the Brāhmaṇa. Indeed, in so far as he is fit for the sacrifices he becomes "divine", as a matter of course, like the members of the other two orders (*Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* III, 2, 1, 39-40). The dogma of social precedence is robbed of all substantial significance by this doctrine of the Vaiśya's equality with the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya.²⁰