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right to such sacrament. They appear to be willing to confer the Puranic sacraments on other higher castes in the country, to which shūdras are eligible.

The Brāhmaṇas themselves are not an organized body at present. Most of the Brāhmaṇas follow non-priestly occupations of various kinds, like those of physicians, lawyers, teachers and government servants. Those who follow the priestly occupations are not always versed in the Vedas, though they are well versed in the ritual that is connected with their profession. When any complicated question arises they guide themselves by the opinion of Shastrīs, i.e., those who are learned in Vedas, and Shāstras. In ordinary cities the number of such Shastris is limited. The Shastrīs in the ordinary cities generally give decision on questions that are brought before them, but in the cases of greater importance they generally guide themselves by the decisions of the body of scholars in places known for Sanskrit learning. In the Maratha country they are mainly the following: Poona, Nasik, Wai and Kolhapur. There is one authority greater than all these bodies of scholars. It is His Holiness, Shri Shankarāchārya of Sankeshvara. Many persons consider that the Sacred Seat of Shrigeri in Southern India is a still greater authority. But inasmuch as the "Man on the seat of Shṛingeri" stays outside Mahārāshtra, this authority is rarely appealed to, and even the Shankarāchārya of Sankeshvara is becoming more or less a nonentity.

The castes like Kunbi-Maratha are too large to control their members properly. In fact, a very large number of castes do not have any caste councils. For this reason many of the things which the central authorities in caste perform remain unperformed in the Maratha country.