562 



NATURE 



[October 14, 1897 



every possible effort to inculcate the doctrine of their own 

 superiority into the minds of the people. 



*' The more orthodox Sudras," he tells us (p. 20), 

 " carry their veneration for the priestly class to such an 

 extent, that they will not cross the shadow of a Brahman, 

 and it is not unusual for them to be under a vow not to 

 eat any food in the morning, before drinking Bipra- 

 charanamrita, i.e. water in which the toe of a Brahman 

 has been dipped. On the other hand, the pride of the 

 Brahman is such that they do not bow to even the 

 images of the gods worshipped in a Sudra's house by 

 Brahman priests." 



If a Sudra be invited in the house of a Brahman -that 

 is to say, if he be invited to partake of the leavings of the 

 Brahman's plate— the Sudra has to pay a " salutation fee 

 of at least one rupee." 



" But when a Brahman eats in the house of a Sudra on 

 a ceremonial occasion, the payment of a fee by the host 

 to the guest is a sine qua non^' (p. 21). 



Such customs, and the ideas underlying them, can only 

 be understood by a long history of subjection — a sub- 

 jection which Was all the more thorough, as the ruling 

 class was that of the priests, naturally the most powerful 

 class in a country like India where religion was at all 

 times the main force in the life of the nation. 



Taking a bird's-eye view of the caste system, as sketched 

 by Pandit Bhattacharya, we see before us a highly 

 developed system of aristocracy. Here we have not 

 only, as in most of the other countries, one class of society 

 raised by hereditary rank above the rest of the people, 

 but a graduated scale of ever so many distinct classes of 

 society, every one of which claims superiority to the next 

 lower class, the status of every family being determined 

 by the traditions as to their hereditary rank, traditions 

 which, in India, seem to be as trustworthy as a Gotha 

 Almanac. 



No man, as Pandit Bhattacharya shows, could pass 

 himself off as a member of a Brahman caste. The strict 

 rules of etiquette require that every Hindu, when asked, 

 must mention not only the names of his paternal and 

 maternal ancestors, but give also information about his 

 caste, his clan, his family or Gotra, his Pravara or 

 ancestral family priests, his Veda, and the particular 

 sacred books studied by his family. Our author tells us 

 a characteristic story how a shoemaker was found out 

 who wanted to pass as a Brahman. 



" With a view to have a share of the nice eatables pro- 

 vided for the Brahman guests of a local Dives, he 

 equipped himself like a Brahman with his sacred thread, 

 and quietly joined the company when they assembled in 

 the evening. As usual on such occasions, one of the 

 party asked him what his name and his father's name 

 were. He said, in reply, that his own name was Ram 

 Chatterjea and that his father's name was Kasi Lahiri. 

 Being thus found out, he was hustled out of the place. 

 His low position in caste saved him from kicks and 

 blows, and while effecting his exit he gave expression to 

 the sad moral of his adventure by muttering, 'a shoe- 

 maker cannot conceal his caste even under cover of 

 night ' " (p. 30). 



Whatever may have been the ongm of caste, whether 

 race differences or differences of occupation, nowadays 

 the social status of a man is determined neither by the 

 breadth of his nose nor by his occupation, but by his 

 genealogy. The very profession to the exercise of which 

 NO. 1459, VOL. 56] 



the Brahman owes his high social rank has fallen into 

 contempt, for "according to Hindu notions, a priest is a 

 very inferior person, and no Brahman, who can live 

 otherwise, would willingly perform the work of a priest " 

 (p. 25). On the other hand, pedigrees are most highly 

 valued. Take, for instance, the high class Radhiyas or 

 Kulins of Bengal, one of the most aristocratic of the 

 Brahman castes, who until recently were quite illiterate, 

 yet — 



" Their hereditary rank made them highly prized as 

 bridegrooms for the daughters of their well-to-do clans- 

 men, and many of them lived in former times by making 

 marriage their sole profession. A Kulin of a high class 

 might then marry more than a hundred wives without 

 any difficulty, and there are still some who have such 

 large numbers of wives as to necessitate their keeping 

 regular registers for refreshing their memory about the 

 names and residences of their spouses. Not only each 

 marriage, but each visit by a Kulin to his wife brought 

 him valuable presents, and as his wives and children 

 were supported by his fathers-in-law, he could pass his 

 days in comfort without being qualified for any kind of 

 service or profession " (p. 41). 



In spite of all the laws of the Sastras prescribing 

 certain occupations for each caste, there is hardly one 

 profession that may not be exercised by any caste. We 

 find Brahmans employed as cooks (pp. n, 22, 63, &c.), 

 others who practise medicine (p. 48), many who live as 

 agriculturists (pp. 50, 55, 131), and even as common 

 servants (p. 131). The Valodras of Gujarat are partly 

 money-lenders, and partly beggars who perform their 

 begging tours on horseback (pp. 74, 81). Among the 

 Audichyas in Gujarat there are also many professional 

 beggars, and some who act as water-carriers (p. 75)- 

 The same variety of occupations is also found among 

 other castes. 



Pandit Bhattacharya divides the castes into six groups : 

 i) The Brahmans, (2) the military castes, (3) the scientific 

 castes (physicians and astrologers), (4) the writer castes 

 (Kayasthas), (5) the mercantile castes, and (6) artisan 

 and agricultural castes, cowherds and shepherds, and 

 domestic servants. 



For every one of the numerous castes and sub-castes 

 belonging to these six principal divisions, the Pandit 

 gives us not only valuable statistics, but also highly 

 interesting historical and ethnological data, which will 

 be welcome to every student of the caste problem. 



The second part of Pandit Bhattacharya's book is 

 devoted to a survey of the Hindu sects. By way of an 

 introduction the author states his views concerning the 

 origin of sects and of religion in general. He defines 

 religion as "the art of bringing men under priestly 

 discipline," all religion being denounced by him as "the 

 outcome of human policy," while founders of religious 

 sects should be regarded like conquerors and political 

 rulers. He uses very strong adjectives whenever he 

 speaks of priests and founders of sects, but, strange to 

 say, he never uses such strong language when he 

 happens to speak of the Brahmans. On the contrary, 

 they are always spoken of as wise law-givers, whose 

 "good and noble" teaching was corrupted by the sect- 

 founders to whom such terms as " quacks " or "jugglers " 

 are freely applied by the author. 



The fact is, in speaking of the Hindu sects, Pandit 



