sentences:  Srēṣṭha also maintain their superior status over others with the claim that they firmly belong to the mainstream Brahmanic Hindu cultural world than the Jyāpu and others, and are in much more intimate contact with the Brahmans.Because of their high social status, these upper-level castes have also traditionally formed the core of the land-owning gentry and as patrons to all other caste groups.The distinction between Hindu and Buddhist is largely irrelevant from the castes occupying the Shudra "varna" (Jyapu and below) as they generally do not differentiate between the either and profess both the religions equally and with great fervour.