es after the death of his father
he solicited the Panda of the great temple of Viseshwar to assist him
in the performance of the ceremonies necessary for the repose of his
father's soul. But the priest refused to do so until the Maharaja had
filled with coined silver the _hauz_ or font of the temple. The demand
was acceded to and Rs. 125,000 were required to fill the font. [422]
Those who are very poor adopt the profession of a Maha-Brahman or
Mahapatra, who takes gifts for the dead. Respectable Brahmans will
not accept gifts at all, but when asked to a feast the host usually
gives them one to four annas or pence with betel-leaf at the time of
their departure, and there is no shame in accepting this. A very rich
man may give a gold mohar (guinea) to each Brahman. Other Brahmans
act as astrologers and foretell events. They pretend to be able
to produce rain in a drought or stop excessive rainfall when it is
injuring the crops. They interpret dreams and omens. In the case of
a theft the loser will go to a Brahman astrologer, and after learning
the circumstances the latter will tell him what sort of person stole
the property and in what direction the property is concealed. But
the large majority of Brahmans have abandoned all priestly functions,
and are employed in all grades of Government service, the professions
and agriculture. In 1911 about fifty-three per cent of Brahmans in
the Central Provinces were supported by agriculture as landowners,
cultivators and labourers. About twenty-two per cent were engaged
in the arts and professions, seven per cent in Government service,
including the police which contains many Brahman constables, and
only nineteen per cent were returned under all occupations connected
with religion.

25. Character of Brahmans.

Many hard things have been said about the Brahman caste and have
not been undeserved. The Brahman priesthood displayed in a marked
degree the vices of arrogance, greed, hypocrisy and dissimulation,
which would naturally be engendered by their sacerdotal pretensions
and the position they claimed at the head of Hindu society. But
the priests and mendicants now, as has been seen, contribute only a
comparatively small minority of the whole caste. The majority of the
Brahmans are lawyers, doctors, executive officers of Government and
clerks in all kinds of Government, railway and private offices. The
defects ascribed to the priesthood apply to these, if at all, only in
a v