Brahmins through the ages : their social, religions cultural political and economic life

This is a known fact that Brahmins held the most prominent place in the cultural and political fields in Ancient India. The intellectual leadership of Hindu Society remained in the hands of Brahmins. In all probability, the Aryans admitted the indi genous people into their fold. The function of an individual was, therefore, the main criteria for determining the 'Varna'. Panini, the great grammarian (Fifth Century B. C.) ex plained Brahmin as one who learnt Veda and who studied Veda, Tadadhite tadveda' (Panini 4.2.59). In the process of evolution the Varna system, however, changed in course of time and by and by acquired a rigid position. This rigidity of Varna system gradually helped the Brahmins to acquire more and more

prestige and power in the society. The origin and evolution of Brahmins through the ages has been most successfully investigated by Dr. R. N. Sharma in the present book, which ransacks from first hand sources the posi tion of Brahmins in the Vedic age, the pre-Mauryan, the Mauryan and the post-Mauryan periods, when Brahmanic renaissance attained the highly respectable social position. Dr. Sharma has thoroughly examined the position of Brahmins from the earliest times in the socio-political and religio-cultural fields. It is gratifying to note that not only the Vedic and classical Sanskrit and Pali sources but the Archaeological, Etymological and Anthropological sources have also been examined. The book presents a trustworthy survey of the

metamorphosis of the position of Brahmins in the different periods of Indian History. In the present work an attempt has been made to examine the position of the Brahmins from the Earliest times to 300 A.D. The work is primarily devoted to a study of their position in the social, religious, political and cultural fields-where they held undisputed sway in those times.