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84.
D. D. KOSAMDI
Thcrc is a possiblc (but insufficient) matcrialist cxplanation for the decay of Tyaştr, namely the changing social relationships within Aryan sociсty, duc prcciscly to the conquest. llic craftsman-god lias much less honour than the war-lcadcr god, as would be natural. With this wc also get the grcater urgency of ritual and a disfcrcntiation, then barcly visiblc, hctwccn thic functions of priest and king (iv.50.7-11). There is the corresponding risc ofan altogether new god (of prayer or of thic sacrilicc) Bylaspati, who has varying dcgrccs of respect, from a trilling mention in thic Viavimitra book (iii.26.5, 41.26.2.= agni ; iii. 62,4-6, but this is a Jamadagni hymn in all probability), to having cntirc hymns dcdicatcd to him in the properly Brahmanical books, as ii. 23 to 11.26. .
The last notc is about the structure of vedic socicty. Thccastc system is pcculjarly Indian, yct the four castes arc mcntioncd in just onc rgvcdic hymn (x.90) the famous Purugasfikta, quitc obviously a latcr addition duplicated in the last of the vedas, the Atharva-voda. The four-castc system is mentioned nowhcrc cisc in the Rigveda, nor arc thc two lower castes, Sūdra and Vaisya. Brühmana in the sense of one belonging 10 thc pricsthood, with the special function of spccch, is rarc occurring only in the ncwest layer. (vii.103 ; x.16.6 ; 71.8-9;88.19;90.12;97.22; 109.4). Katra in the scrise of llic rulcrs or rulc, and katriya do occur both of gods and mon; but thc book nccd not cmphasize Ulis, sccing that there is no compctition. There can be no question of purohita-gotras cxclusivcly, for the pricsthood is not the exclusivc prcrogative of onc castc ; in ii.1.2. = 7.91.10, brahman is aclually separated from all other priests. Even latcr; we have amplc proof that the ksatriya could officiatc at the sacrifice, for all that thc Bralımanical scriptures cujoin is that he should not oflicialc at the sacrifices of others as do Dic Brahmins; nothing prcvcnts him from officiating at his own yajšia. Even licrc, we find the story of Icvāpi (Brhaddcvati vii.155-viii.10 on RV.x.98-101) wlio did so officiatc at the ceremonics for his crownc younger brother Sarniany. This is of somc importance for us in the bcaring it has or thic castc systein at its (slciest stage, and its relation with the gotras.
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VisvĀMITRA ANI VASISTIJA
.. 8. If we assumc thai all Bralinins were Aryans from the first, and that they were the pricsthood which developei entircly from within, there is very litic that analysis can tell us cxccpt that our legends arc mcaningless. But if we make no such hypothesis, then the most instructive tradition is that of the rivalry between Vasistla and Vibvūmitra. Later tradition has Visvamitra a luatriva who did his best to become a Bralunin in jealousy or Vasistha, and currcred. The traclition is uniform that he was originally not a Brahmin but a ruler and member of the warrior caste, a rijarşi, though there is no
