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SEPTEMBER, 1877.] SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN ANCIENT INDIA.
treasury is empty, should levy taxes from such persons, excepting those who resemble Brahma and the gods" (see above). Compare Prof. Haug's note to his translation of the Aitareya Brahmana, p. 38, where six kinds of Brahmans are stated to be, according to the Smritis as referred to by Sâyana, of a low order.
Mahubh. xiii. 1542. This passage insists on character. "All the Vedas, with their six appendages, the Sankhya, the Puranas, birth in a good family, cannot help the Brahman who is destitute of good character. The man who has read and thinks himself learned, but who, by his knowledge, seeks to discredit others, he sinks he does not practise truth-his happiness in the next world is finite," 1550f. Any one giving gifts to men who "traverse this earth praising righteousness but not practising it, and who are addicted to acts which infringe the rules of their caste," goes to hell.
According to verses 1585ff. of the same chapter, the following classes of Brahmans are not to be invited to śráddhas, viz. "physicians, idol-priests, men practising vain observances, sellers of the Soma-plant, singers, dancers, jugglers, musicians, story-tellers, soldiers, those who act as hotri priests for, or who instruct, Śûdras, or are the pupils of Éûdras, and those who are salaried to teach, with their pupils, these being sellers (or buyers) of sacred learning," &c. &c. In v. 1644, among the men who go to hell are mentioned those who sell the Vedas, or corrupt [or revile] them, or commit them to writing. This punishment seems more deserved by those who are doomed to it in v. 1636, viz. those who deceive a female who is an orphan, or young, or old, or timid, or an ascetic. In vv. 1665f. among persons who get to heaven are mentioned those who obey their fathers and mothers, and are affectionate towards their brothers; and those who, though rich, and strong, and young, are self-restrained and sober. In vv. 4302ff. of the same book (xiii.), among the Bráhmans who elevate their class are named the ascetic, who knows the course of life which leads to final emancipation, those who recite legends (itihasas) to Brâhmans, who are acquainted with grammars and commentaries, who peruse the Purâņas, and books prescribing legal duties, and who properly, and in due form, practise what they read."
The following passages also occur in the
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Mahabharata :-xii. 8751 ff. "He who discerns the imperceptible supreme (One) in all mortal bodies is, when he dies, fitted for absorption into Brahma. Wise men look with an equal eye on a Brahman who is distinguished for knowledge and high birth, on an ox, on an elephant, on a dog, and on a man out of the pale of caste. For in all beings, both these which move and those which cannot, dwells the one great Soul whereby this universe is stretched out. When the embodied spirit beholds itself in all creatures, and all creatures in itself, then Brahma is attained."
Mahabh. iii. 17392. Yudhishthira says, in answer to a Yaksha's question on what Brâhmanhood depends;-"It is neither birth, nor study, nor Vedic learning which makes a man a Brâhman; it is good conduct alone which does so.. Good conduct must be earnestly maintained, especially by a Brâhman. He does not decline, whose good conduct does not decline; but he whose virtue is destroyed is (really) destroyed. Students, teachers, and others who reflect on the scriptures are all zealous fools; the man who acts is the real pandit. A man who knows the four Vedas, if his conduct be bad, is worse than a Sûdra (sa súdrád atirichyate: perhaps we should read na instead of sa, 'is no better than a Sûdra'). He who assiduously practises the agnihotra sacrifice, and is of subdued mind, is called a Brâhman."
Mahabh. iii. 14075. "A Brahman living in evil deeds which cause him to fall, hypocritical, wise to do evil (dushkrita-prajnah, according to Dr. Böhtlingk's correction), is on the same level as a Sûdra. But regard as a Brâhman that Śûdra who always practises calmness, truth, and righteousness, for in conduct he is a twice-born man."
Mahábh. v. 1492. "The man who, whether of humble or of high birth, does not transgress the rules of virtue, who seeks after righteousness, is mild and modest, is better than a hundred well-born men."
Mahabh. xii. 8925.
"The gods call him a Brâhman by whom alone the ether is, as it were, filled; and by whom (by whose absence ?) it is rendered empty though crowded with (other) men; who is clothed in anything, and fed by anything, who sleeps anywhere; who dreads a crowd as if it were a serpent, ease (or
