Caste in India: The Facts and the System c7.s5.22

c7.s5.22

The stories either from the Epic or from the Purāṇas, recalling the harsh acts of certain kings towards the Brahmans and the punishments meted out to them in consequence, have been laboriously collected.¹ We hear of Vena forbidding the priests to make sacrifices; of Purūravas depriving them of their jewels; of Nahusha causing his chariot to be drawn by a thousand Brahmans, and other tales. Scholars have seen in them the traces of the struggle for predominance between Brahmans and nobles. We may, without offence, question whether they all really do reflect memories of this kind.