Temples - 3

...The priests in temples were Brahmans only. The people from other Varnas were not eligible to become priests. It was in accordance with Vedic dharma where the pure and pious people of highest social stratum, the lawmakers, controlled divinity and all the sacred things and god. These lawmakers were the only people who could recite the word of God. They were the only people who could worship the sacred temple gods.

Over a period of time the temples became highly popular. They came to enjoy the patronage of kings, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas and this made them quite rich. The temples received various land grants. Everybody was damn interested in improving his next world, which nobody had seen. By making donations to temples people expected to prevent their rebirth in lower categories lives like jackals, cats, dogs and others. Not only that, their social status, with in their Varna, also increased directly in proportion to donations made by them. It was actually a transfer of wealth from kings, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas to Brahmanas; the deviceful spiritual people. The lawmakers were very happy. With people controlling the resources of society attaching themselves with the temples, the temples became centers of religious and social activities. The Brahmans who controlled temples were not under the rulership of kings. As a result the temples emerged as parallel power centers in Hindu society. This was the section of society which accumulated ample wealth and which was not under the purview of kings. The development of super rich temples under the renunciating and sovereign Brahmanas had its harmful effects. No Hindu king or robber dared to attack the temples with a view to take away the wealth without hurting the supreme dharma. Unfortunately the coming Muslim invaders did not think so. They did not believe neither in Hindu gods and nor in the Hindu dharmic theory of divine retribution. And they met with no divine retribution thus falsifying the Hindu theory of divine retribution.

However the distribution of wealth went in favor of temples and thereby in favor of renunciating and spiritual lawmakers who were forever interested in welfare of people through dharma by denying all the rights to Shudras and untouchables. These epitomes of spirituality happily enjoyed all the wealth that came their way. Such a high level of rationality was never seen. It was a divine reward for their social and religious control...