View source for Rajput 04: Relations with Brahmans

==Relations of Rajputs with Brahmans==

But this deference for 
the Brahmans is certainly, with many Rajput classes, very weak. 
In obedience to prejudice, they show them outward civility ; but, 
unless when their fears or wishes interfere, they are less esteemed 
than the bards. 

The story of the King Vishvamitra of Gadhipura 1 and the 
Brahman Vasishtha, which fills so many sections of the first book 
of the Ramayana,2 exemplifies, under the veil of allegory, the 
by the Brahman's levies. These reinforcements would appear to have been 
the ancient Persians, the Sacae, the Greeks, the inhabitants of Assam and 
Southern India, and various races out of the pale of the Hindu religion ; 
all classed under the term Mlechchha, equivalent to the ' barbarian ' of the 
Greeks and Romans. 

The King Vishvamitra, defeated and disgraced by this powerful priest, 
" like a serpent with his teeth broken, like the sun robbed by the eclipse of 
its splendour, was filled with perturbation. Deprived of his sons and array, 
stripped of his pride and confidence, he was left without resource as a bird 
bereft of his wings." He abandoned his kingdom to his son, and like all 
Hindu princes in distress, determined, by penitential rites and austerities, 
" to obtain Brahmanhood." He took up his abode at the sacred Pushkar, 
living on fruits and roots, and fixing his mind, said, " I will become a Brah-
man." By these penances he attained such spiritual power that he was 
enabled to usurp the Brahman's office. The theocrats caution Vishvamitra, 
thus determined to become a Brahman by austerity, that " the divine books 
are to be observed with care only by those acquainted with their evidence ; 
nor does it become thee (Vishvamitra) to subvert the order of things estab-
lished by the ancients." The history of his wanderings, austerities, and the 
temptations thrown in his way is related. The celestial fair were com
missioned to break in upon his meditations. The mother of love herself 
descended ; while Indra, joining the cause of the Brahmans, took the shape 
of the kokila, and added the melody of his notes to the allurements of 
Rambha, and the perfumed zephyrs which assailed the royal saint in the 
wilderness. He was proof against all temptation, and condemned the fair 
to become a pillar of stone. He persevered " till every passion was subdued," 
till " not a tincture of sin appeared in him," and gave such alarm to the 
whole priesthood, that they dreaded lest his excessive sanctity should be 
fatal to them : they feared " mankind would become atheists." " The 
gods and Brahma at their head were obliged to grant his desire of Brahman
hood ; and Vashishtha, conciliated by the gods, acquiesced in their wish, 
and formed a friendship with Vishvamitra " [Muir, Original Sanskril Texts, 
Part i. (1858), 75 ff.]. 

1 Kanauj, the ancient capital of the present race of Marwar. [This is a 
myth. ]

2  See translation of this epic, by Messrs. Carey and Marshman [in verse, 
by R. T. H. Griffith]. 

contests for power between the Brahmanical and military classes, 
and will serve to indicate the probable period when the castes 
became immutable. Stripped of its allegory, the legend appears to 
point to a time when the division of the classes was yet imperfect ; 
though we may infer, from the violence of the struggle, that it was 
the last in which Brahmanhood could be obtained by the military. 

Vishvamitra was the son of Gadhi (of the race of Kausika), King 
of Gadhipura, and contemporary of Ambarisha, King of Ayodhya 
or Oudh, the fortieth prince from Ikshwaku ; consequently about 
two hundred years anterior to Rama. This event therefore, 
whence we infer that the system of castes was approaching per-
fection, was probably about one thousand four' hundred years 
before Christ.