Talk:Vedic priesthood

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I took out:

The word is from Indo-Iranian *athar not attested in Sanskrit (c.f. Latin ater "black").

I find it interesting and it can be put back. I just thought that the Avestan word made more sense, and the Vedic Sanskrit is most likely a cognate. Especially considering the similar Athravan class in ancient Persia is probably reflective of their shared proto-religion. Also please note that the Av. athravan is not mispelled ;-) Khirad 09:30, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Purohita

"Vedic priesthood, the priests of the Vedic religion, were known as purohita".

This is utter nonsense. purohita generically meaning "priest" is a latter day (and modern) usage. Simply because that's what it means today does not automatically imply the same meaning in Vedic times, though I understand the Politically Correct motivations to have it be so. In Vedic times, a purohita (literally, "one who is placed in front") was the personal priest of a king or leader. The term designated an office, if not also the official capacity. The generic term for priests was vipra, and later Rtvija. rudra 05:24, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

yes, purohita means "a family priest, a domestic chaplain" in the Rigveda (Monier-Williams). The article does mention rtvija as the term including the sub-classes of priests. We might add a discussion of the looser term vipra. Your additions are most welcome, but they wouldn't be less welcome if you would do without the scathing or belligerent asides. You obviously have the knowledge needed to improve our articles on Vedic religion. Many of these articles are in a very sketchy or dilapidated state. So, there is nothing to stop you from going ahead and fixing things. dab (𒁳) 10:10, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
I apologize for my tone. But I find the treatment of vedic subjects a disaster area on Wikipedia, full of anachronistic (if not also tendentious) projections of latter-day notions to vedic times. Of course, it's eminently peecee to treat vedic subjects synchronically with modern Hinduism, as it buttresses the idea of "continuity" from hoary antiquity (the hoarier the better [1]). I took "were known as purohita" as yet another example of this all too common tendency. rudra 18:17, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
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