[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v2.c4.114 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.114 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.114 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c4.114](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.114) According to Geldner,²⁶ the Purohita from the beginning acted as the Brahman priest in the sacrificial ritual, being there the general superintendent of the sacrifice. In favour of this view, he cites the fact that Vasiṣṭha is mentioned both as Purohita²⁷ and as Brahman:²⁸ at the sacrifice of Śunaḥśepa he served as Brahman,²⁹ but he was the Purohita of Sudās;³⁰ Bṛhaspati is called the Purohita³¹ and the Brahman³² of the gods; and the Vasiṣṭhas who are Purohitas are also the Brahmans at the sacrifice.³³ It is thus clear that the Brahman was often the Purohita; and it was natural that this should be the case when once the Brahman’s place became, as it did in the later ritual, the most important position at the sacrifice.³⁴ But the Brahman can hardly be said to have held this place in the earlier ritual; Oldenberg³⁵ seems to be right in holding that the Purohita was originally the Hotṛ priest, the singer \*par excellence\*, when he took any part at all in the ritual of the great sacrifices with the Ṛtvijs. So Devāpi seems clearly to have been a Hotṛ;³⁶ Agni is at once Purohita³⁷ and Hotṛ;³⁸ and the ‘two divine Hotṛs’ referred to in the Āprī litanies are also called the ‘two Purohitas.’³⁹ Later, no doubt, when the priestly activity ceased to centre in the song, the Purohita, with his skill in magic, became the Brahman, who also required magic to undo the errors of the sacrifice.⁴⁰ - [Previous: v2.c4.113](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.113) - [Next: v2.c4.115](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.115) - [Up: v2.c4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.114](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.114) · Pramāṇa