The oldest may be about the date of 800 or 700 B.C.
[Sidenote: Growth of priestly power.
Schools for the study of sacred books, rites, and
traditions.]
The Brahmanas are very poor, both in thought and expression. They have
hardly their match in any literature for "pedantry and downright
absurdity."[10] Poetical feeling and even religious feeling seem gone;
all is dead and dry as dust. By this time the Sanskrit language had
ceased to be generally understood. The original texts could hardly
receive accessions; the most learned man could do little more than
interpret, or perhaps misinterpret, them. The worshiper looked on; he
worshiped now by proxy. Thus the priest had risen greatly in importance.
He alone knew the sacred verses and the sacred rites. An error in the
pronunciation of the mystic text might bring destruction on the
worshiper; what could he do but lean upon the priest? The latter could
say the prayers if he could not pray. All this worked powerfully for the
elevation of the Brahmans, the "men of prayer;" they steadily grew into
a class, a caste; and into this no one could enter who was not of
priestly descent. Schools were now found necessary for the study of the
sacred books, rites, and traditions.
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