/lit/ - Literature

>>12476693
The Dharma-sastra texts that have survived down to today start from around the 6th-5th century BC and discuss the castes and their roles and activities in great detail. These texts are predicated on and constantly reference older texts discussing the same topics which have been lost to time. The Brahmanical system is also mentioned in the Pali Canon which was assembled from oral records of Buddha's teachings in the 6th century BC. The Brahmanical system did not spring up out of nowhere in the 6th century (around the time of Plato) but from them being mentioned in both Buddhist texts and the Dharma-sastras dating from that period and from the older texts referenced in the Dharma-sastras we can infer that it had been going on for quite some time. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of the 9th-8th century BC mentions the Brahmins being supreme and the Kshatriyas paying respects to them. When the Greek diplomat Megasthenes traveled to and spent time in India around 300 BC, he remarked that the Brahmins were an example of philosopher-kings in practice.

nice try though