Seva Lamberdar wrote:"Harihar Roy’s household consisted of four people – his wife Sarvajaya, baby daughter Durga, 75-year-old Indir, a distant cousin, and himself. Tucked away in a corner of Nishchindipur, a tiny village in ruralBengal, his life was simple and uncomplicated. Except for the usual ups and downs that go with lack of money. The traditional business of his family was to conduct religious rituals of different kinds. So there were regular “clients” at whose homes he performed them. This included people in his own village as well as a few others in nearby villages. It was not a profession where one made money. (People usually gave him a few seasonal fruits, vegetables, sweets and a handful of grains and occasionally a rupee or two for conducting these rituals). But Harihar had a little piece of land and a roof of sorts over his head." (http://creative.sulekha.com/pather-panchali-in-brief_450773_blog)

Comment (by Seva Lamberdar):

Thanks for posting this brief version of 'Pathar Panchali'. This narration again shows that majority of brahmins engaged in the priestly vocation used to be quite poor and their families (wives and children) lived a life of impoverishment and deprivation.

In addition, brahmins did not discourage others (non-brahmins) from learning the Veda and Sanskrit. In reality, others avoided doing so on their own because spending a lengthy and tedious effort in learning the Veda and Sanskrit did not lead them to reaping great rewards financially, as indicated in the above paragraph.

garam_kuta wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:
Comment (by Seva Lamberdar):

Thanks for posting this brief version of 'Pathar Panchali'. This narration again shows that majority of brahmins engaged in the priestly vocation used to be quite poor and their families (wives and children) lived a life of impoverishment and deprivation.

In addition, brahmins did not discourage others (non-brahmins) from learning the Veda and Sanskrit. In reality, others avoided doing so on their own because spending a lengthy and tedious effort in learning the Veda and Sanskrit did not lead them to reaping great rewards financially, as indicated in the above paragraph.

Even now, this is true of not only those living in small/rural areas but also in major towns and cities, I should think. but then, they are the forward class, na?

Seva Lamberdar wrote:

garam_kuta wrote:

Seva Lamberdar wrote:
Comment (by Seva Lamberdar):

Thanks for posting this brief version of 'Pathar Panchali'. This narration again shows that majority of brahmins engaged in the priestly vocation used to be quite poor and their families (wives and children) lived a life of impoverishment and deprivation.

In addition, brahmins did not discourage others (non-brahmins) from learning the Veda and Sanskrit. In reality, others avoided doing so on their own because spending a lengthy and tedious effort in learning the Veda and Sanskrit did not lead them to reaping great rewards financially, as indicated in the above paragraph.

Even now, this is true of not only those living in small/rural areas but also in major towns and cities, I should think. but then, they are the forward class, na?

How ironical!    

Some of my relatives in India engaged in the brahiminical and other professions have been living like this for generations and even these days. 

Btw I already had a number of blogs on this topic, especially the following two.
 
(1) "Caste through the sands of time" (Dronacharya's example in section 'B') ..  http://creative.sulekha.com/caste-through-the-sands-of-time_465740_blog

(2) "Macaulay Report Refutes The Caste Basis For Quotas" ... http://creative.sulekha.com/macaulay-report-refutes-the-caste-basis-for-quotas_591797_blog