Religious Hierarchy in Hinduism
In the Western world we are accustomed to associate the ideas of sacerdotalism, hierarchy and dogma, mainly because they are united in the greatest religious organization familiar to us, the Roman Catholic Church. But the combination is not indispensable. Hinduism is intensely sacerdotal but neither hierarchical nor dogmatic, Islam is dogmatic but neither sacerdotal nor hierarchical, Buddhism is dogmatic and also somewhat hierarchical, since it has to deal with bodies of men mild in monasteries where discipline is distinguished, but except in its most injurious forms it is not sacerdotal.
The absence of the hierarchical notion in Hinduism is striking. Not only is there no Pope, but there is hardly any office comparable with a Bishop. The relationships recognized in the priesthood are those springing from birth and the equally sacred ties uniting teacher and pupil. Hence there is tiny to remind us of the organization of Christian Churches. We have simply teachers expounding their sacred books to their scholars, with such combination of tradition and originality as their idiosyncrasies may suggest, somewhat after the theory of congregational churches. But that resemblance is almost destroyed by the fact that both teachers and pupils belong to clans, connected by descent and popular by the people as a kindly order of mankind. Even in the most unusual sects the descendants of the founder often receive special reverence.
Though the Brahmins have no ecclesiastical discipline, they do not tolerate the interference of kings. Buddhist sovereigns have summoned councils, but not so Hindu monarchs. They have built temples, paid priests to originate sacrifices and often been jealous of them but for the last two thousand years they have not attempted to control them within their occupy sphere or to fabricate a spot Church.
And the Brahmans on their side have kept within their maintain province. It is good that they have succeeded in imposing-or in identifying themselves with-a most exacting code of social, honest and religious prescriptions, but they have rarely aimed at temporal power or attempted to be more than viziers. They have of course supported pious kings and received support-especially donations-from them, and they have enjoyed political influence as domestic chaplains to royal families, but they have not consented to any such relations between religion and the plot.
