bulian priesthood of India belongs to the first caste, or that of the Brilliman''Is exclusively; for no member either of the Kshattriya, or the Vais'ya, or the Sftdra caste is allowed to perform the functions of a priest. But as the proper perform ance of such functions requires, even in a Brilhinan'a, the knowledge of the sacred texts to be recited at a sacrifice, and of the complicated ceremonial of which the sacrificial acts consist, none but a Brahman'a learned in one or more Vedas (q.v.), and versed in the works treating of the ritual (see ICALPA-StTURA), possesses. according to the ancient law, the qualification of a priest; and so strict, in ancient times, were the obligations imposed upon a priest, that any defective knowledge on Ins part, or any defective per formance by him of the sacrificial rites, was supposed to entail upon him the most serious consequences both in this life and in the future.. As the duration of a Hindu sacrifice varies from one to a hundred days, the number of priests required at such a ceremony is likewise staled to be varying; again, as there are sacrificial acts at which verses from the it'igve,da only were recited; others requiring the inaudible muttering of verses from the Yajurveda only; others, again, at which verses only of the Silmarcda were minted; and others, too, at which all these three Vedas were indispensable—there were priests who merely knew and practiced the ritual of the Higveda, or the Yajurveda, or the SlIniavedii; while there were others who had a knowledge of all these Vedas and their rituals. The
full contingent of priests required at a great sacrifice amounts to 16. Other inferior assistants at a sacrifice, such as the ladle-holders, slayers, choristers, and the like, are not looked upon as priests. Such was the staff of priests required at Ow great and solemn sacrifices which took place on special occasions, and could be instituted only by very wealthy people; from one to four priests, however, sufficed at the minor sacrifices, or those of daily occurrence. These were the rules and practices when the Hindu cere monial obeyed the canon of the Vaidik ritual; and the latter probably still prevailed at the epic period of India, though many deviations from it are perceptible in the Naha bharata and Ilamayan'a (q.v.). But at the Pauradik period, and from that time down ward, when the study of the Vedas had fallen into disuse, and the Vaidik rites had made room for other ceremonies which required no knowledge on the part of a priest, ebxcept that of the reading of a prayer-book, and an acquaintance with the observances enjoined by the Purrin'as, but easy to 'o through, almost every Brahman, not utterly ignorant, became qualified to be a priest. For the priesthood of the Buddhists, Jainas, and Thibetans, sec BUDDHISM, JALNAS, and LAMAISM.