Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s2.373

v2.c4.s2.373

4. Legal Position of Brahmins.—The Taittirīya Saṃhitā 40 lays down a penalty of a hundred (the unit meant is unknown) for an insult to a Brahmin, and of a thousand for a blow; but if his blood is drawn, the penalty is a spiritual one. The only real murder is the slaying of a Brahmin according to the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.⁴¹ The crime of slaying a Brahmin ranks above the sin of killing any other man, but below that of killing an embryo (bhrūṇa) in the Yajurveda; 42 the crime of slaying an embryo whose sex is uncertain is on a level with that of slaying a Brahmin.⁴³ The murder of a Brahmin can be expiated only by the horse sacrifice,⁴⁴ or by a lesser rite in the late Taittirīya Āraṇyaka.⁴⁵ The ritual slaying of a Brahmin is allowed in the later ceremonial,⁴⁶ and hinted at in the curious legend of Śunaḥśepa ;⁴⁷ and a Purohita might be punished with death for treachery to his master.⁴⁸