PURPORT

As there are professional singers, dancers and reciters of prayers in the heavenly planets, so in India still there are professional dancers, givers of blessings and singers, all of whom assemble together during householder ceremonies, especially marriages and birth ceremonies. These professional men earn their livelihood by taking charity on such occasions from the homes of the Hindus. Eunuchs also take advantage of such ceremonies to receive charity. That is their means of livelihood. Such men never become servants or engage themselves in agriculture or business occupations; they simply take charity from neighborhood friends to maintain themselves peacefully. The bhatas are a class of brahmanas who go to such ceremonies to offer blessings by composing poems with references to the Vedic scriptures.