[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.s2.464 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s2.464 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s2.464 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c4.s2.464](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.464) From the Greek authorities¹²² it also appears—what is certainly the case in the Buddhist literature¹²³—that Brahmins practised the most diverse occupations. It is difficult to say how far this was true for the Vedic period. The analogy of the Druids¹²⁴—in some respects very close—suggests that the Brahmins may have been mainly confined to their professional tasks, including all the learned professions such as astronomy¹²⁵ and so forth. This is not contradicted by any Vedic evidence; for instance, the poet of a hymn of the Rigveda¹²⁶ says he is a poet, his father a physician (Bhiṣaj), and his mother a grinder of corn (Upala-prakṣiṇī). This would seem to show that a Brahmin could be a doctor, while his wife would perform the ordinary household duties. So a Purohita could perhaps take the field to assist the king by prayer, as Viśvāmitra,¹²⁷ and later on Vasiṣṭha¹²⁸ do, but this does not show that priests normally fought. Nor do they seem normally to have been agriculturists or merchants. On the other hand, they kept cattle: a Brahmacārin’s duty was to watch his master’s cattle.¹²⁹ It is therefore needless to suppose that they could not, and did not, on occasion turn to agricultural or mercantile pursuits, as they certainly did later. But it must be remembered that in all probability there was more purity of blood, and less pressure of life, among the Brahmins of the Vedic age than later in Buddhist times, when the Vedic sacrificial apparatus was falling into grave disrepute. - [Previous: v2.c4.s2.463](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.463) - [Next: v2.c4.s2.465](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.465) - [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.s2.464](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s2.464) · Pramāṇa