[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.s2.373 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s2.373 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s2.373 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c4.s2.373](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.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 - [Previous: v2.c4.s2.372](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.372) - [Next: v2.c4.s2.374](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.374) - [Up: v2.c4.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.373](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.373) · Pramāṇa