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Caste as an educational iDro"blem. 
 
 By 
 
 /i^a^LO/m l/trn^XA^^t^ ^oocuCu^ 
 
 Van • ' y ri Ir R n j n y awTL '^ Q g ■> t / 
 
 A.B. (University of California) 1921 
 
 TH:-il3IS 
 Lb.iitted in partial satisfaction of th-^* requirements for the de/2;ree of 
 
 MAST"^R OF ARTS 
 
 Education 
 
 in the 
 GRADUATTi) DIVISION 
 of the 
 UNIVERSITY OF GALIEORIIIA 
 May, 1922 
 
G(bj3 
 
 iDuc. utpri 
 
 'I DEFT. 
 
CASTl A3 A5 -BDUCATIOHAL PH0B3*BM* 
 
 Contente ' 
 
 1% Introduction. 
 
 /A — 36 
 
 / 2. India ana the Indians. ' 
 
 ^ ry n/ 
 
 3. The theories of the older Caetti Systems. ^/ ^^ 
 
 4. Color as the basis of Caste. ^7'^7^ 
 
 5. The Economio Theory. 70 — ^^ 
 
 6. Psyohologioal Foundation of the Caste System. S3 — 7**^ 
 
 7. Educational System ol^ the Poor Ashrfimas. fi?3^l^S 
 
 8. Hinduism and the Caete System. /Sj^^*^/ 
 
 9. Malt ipli oat ion of Castes and its Reeultk;. /Si^l^S 
 
 10. Educational Suggestions. /^f^fif 
 11* Bibliography. 1— X 
 
 €38QSd 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/casteaseducationOOgogarich 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY* 
 
 Author 
 
 Book 
 
 1. Dr. ^Vestermark 
 
 £» Dr. S* C. Bose 
 
 3. S. Krislina Swaml Alyar 
 
 4. Arrows Smith 
 6« B* B. Havell 
 
 6* Prof. Kaxrauller 
 
 7. Dr. Shrldhar t. Ketk%r 
 
 9. Shastrl R. Shama 
 
 10. Mrs. Sinolair Stevenson 
 XI. D. Anderson 
 
 12. J. B. Pratt 
 
 13. Sir Monier Williams 
 
 History of Marriage. 
 
 Hindus UB They are, 
 Thaoker Spink, Cal- 
 outta(ie82) 
 
 Ancient India, 
 London(1911) 
 
 Translation of the 
 Rigyeda, Boston(1886) 
 
 History of Aryan Rule 
 
 in India, F. A. Stokes^Co., 
 
 Kew york(1918) 
 
 History of Ancient Sans- 
 krit Literature, (1859) 
 
 History of Oaste, 
 
 Taylor & Carpenter. (1909) 
 
 Hindaism, Taylor & Car- 
 penter, (1909) 
 
 Evolution of Caste, 
 S. P. C. K. Press, 
 Madras, (1916) 
 
 Rites of the Twice Born, 
 Oxford, (1920) 
 
 Peooles of India, Cam- 
 bridge University Press, 
 (1913) 
 
 India and its Faiths, 
 pages 183-136 
 
 India and the Indians, 
 Trubner & Co., {1687) 
 Chaps 2,4.8,10,11 
 
Author ( c out inued ) 
 
 14, Saraswatl Ram«^ai 
 
 16 • 
 
 16* Hamaj^ana 
 17* Maliabiiarata 
 
 18 « Chandogya Upanishada 
 
 19 • Bruiidarannyak Upanishada 
 
 SO. Mitra 
 
 81. Mana 
 
 22. J. V. Breltiweiser 
 
 BookCoontinaed) 
 
 High Caste Hindu V«omen. 
 Philadelphia, Pa., (1887) 
 
 List of instunoee of change 
 in gooial Rank, Journal of 
 Royal Asiatic iiooiety. 
 Page 868, (1901) 
 
 Translation by H.O.Putt 
 
 Vols 1,3,8. 
 
 Translation by Max Muller. 
 
 Hinduism. 
 
 laws of Manu( original & 
 translation) 
 
 Vocational Polymorphism, 
 Educational foundations, 
 (Jan. 1921) ' 
 
IBTROiiUCTIOU 
 
 "8inc6 verbal science hvis no finaj end, 
 oince life is short, und obstacles impend. 
 Let centriil facts be picked and firmly fixed. 
 As swans extract the milk with v.ater mixed." 
 
 (Translation from iianekrit) 
 
 Under various titles the subject of caste 
 has been discussed in many a book, essay, article and 
 newspaper column. Much has been li^ritten giving the 
 reader one idea or another re^.irdlng the castes that 
 were established ynd sustained by the Indo-Arynn 
 people. Eoat of the information re^i^rdin^ this soci 1 
 Drg-::?.nization program of the Indo-Aryans, tn^t is m'^de 
 available to Ihe public, v.hether in India or outside, 
 thr :■_}-■ vrj tin«.£-: lu: t^poeches, is almost invri'ibly 
 bapfid on zx biased vie^^polnt, i?nd is, therefore, so 
 fomtuiatsd ;-.s: to supi^ort some narro)?r, sui'jective pur- 
 pose. The attempt is rarely ever mide to present a 
 scholarly, unprejudiced analysis ^nd exposition of the 
 caste system, Vvhich in one form or -inother, has al- 
 ways been -v^ basic feature of all humm institutions. 
 After all the various shortcominsS that one can easily 
 find in the history of the human ruce, history iau;.>t 
 still be the source of experiences upon which v.e c»n 
 build for the future. 
 
THe inveetifeutionb into tno f iiares of tne 
 old InEtltutionB tiave a certain valno. Ih«y present 
 8 eeriee of w rnlngs nA Injanoti onts* Tiieee are 
 neoesBtiry In tJie infancy of a civilization when the 
 governsnent or the et'ite h^e to r^iiee *'Bevare" el^jne 
 everyehere in order to drive ^^ood conduct home to the 
 people ?.t l^ir^e by isay of rer^riiiinds nd paniehnents. 
 Bat tod^iy,it Is claimed that the the tt^te of civili- 
 sation Ir v.nlch 7.e ire living, does not believe In 
 any auca "iJewnre" .signs n-ve ^radaaily been doing 
 
 aitay \^ltn negations. Today, w^e endorse ro&itive measures 
 in the edoc^itlon of the rnblic , instead of pro- 
 
 hibitive onee th? t hnve en r cterised the p^st* In 
 fact we believe In ma'^rln^' the peonle *'Avare'* of their 
 rltchts and responsibilities through uelf re^alizatlon 
 and understand ine,, r-ther than holding before tneu; tne 
 "^ware" signs th it inspire f e r -nd its oonsenaenoes 
 in the form of eliVisn reactions. 
 
 It is well to kno^ the c:^rtent of a thln^ ind 
 < 
 
 then speak uboat it. Vision is required to oriticit>e 
 or commend »inything, s id the Greek pnilosopiier. 
 This method h^iB not bee folloi^ed in the study of the 
 problem of the c -tste system, tiaperf lei ^1 examintitlons 
 by v,ay of noting the existing state of the caste 
 
system or drawing parallels between the social organi- 
 sations of the Greeks and Eomsns, iiave often been 
 made. Indians iiHve a vast literature in tJie Sanskrit 
 language. Some of It dates back to 1500 B« C« There 
 is much in that anoient literature that commands respect 
 and admiration even to this day. This llter-^ture wis 
 produced, socie of it to propose plane for social or- 
 ganization, and some to justify, preach and establish 
 those plans. A careful study of such a literature will 
 reveal the content of the caate system and furnish 
 internal evidence and explanations. This will be 
 speaking through the words of the people who were respon- 
 sible for establishing; such ^^ social org-mizatlDn and 
 not merely expressing our present day ideas in terms 
 of the institutions of our time* 
 Boropean Attitude . 
 
 The Hindu caste system Is a great mystery 
 and is a hard problem for a foreigner to understand 
 even if he reads volumes uoon volumes on the subject, 
 living in India for a lon^ time, he finds it difficult 
 to understand what caste is. He thinks the Hindus 
 are a very strange peocle and oossessed of some very 
 peculiar conjjtitation of mind which no foreigner can 
 pretend to understand. Some cleverly presumptuous men 
 think that the unscrupulous priesthood h =ve led their 
 
countrymen into this snare of folly to maintain their own 
 8upremaoy» 
 
 Whatever be the case the caste system is 
 always regarded as an interesting institution. It is 
 natural that no other feeling than that of amusement 
 should occur to the English mind! English writers and 
 speakers can afford to laugh at the defects and contradic- 
 tions of such an anti^aated and aomplicated institution. 
 The greater the foll^ in the institutions of the strangers, 
 the greater is the enjoyment felt. Many an Englishman 
 has composed a nice little tuble talk with Caste as 
 his tonic. The American missionary finds the subject 
 very useful to stimulate the charitable emotions of 
 his countrymen, ^nd tnut: inducer them to subscribe 
 money to save the souls of two hundred millions of 
 peoole from heathenism. His method of saving souls 
 is in keeping i^ith the tl es. He buys converts to 
 Christianity. It might ^ell be called a commercial 
 religion or a religious commercialism. 
 
 Other Western writers who discuss the caste 
 system, do not necessarily do so to bring the folly 
 to the ' ttentlon fo their countrymen for the j urpose 
 of ridicule. There jre among these foreigners, some 
 who look on this question with philosophic Interest, 
 but it is very little different from the interest 
 
7 
 
 felt by an anatomist when he dleeects an or^-nism. 
 
 Moreover, these European scholarB Vvho study 
 this ouestion concentrate their attention on iincleratand- 
 in^ the present. Some of them formulate the origin 
 of castes in terms of the evolution of their own society* 
 That is v.'hy they never cone to any understanding isith an 
 educated and thoughtful Hindu, Kor have they ever been 
 able to propose any workable or acceptable modifications 
 of this much criticised system. 
 
 But the natives of India would hive to think of 
 castes with ouite a different feeling. They cannot afford 
 to enjoy the ibsurdities. To them it is serious since 
 it is a life problem for them. An oi^tsider would look 
 at the Hindu society without any feeling as an anatomist 
 wo!-ld examine a dead body, But a Hindu cannot remain un-^ 
 moved. The more he thinks about the caste system, his- 
 toriciily, traditionally and eociologio illy ^nd compares 
 it with its condition and form of today, the better he 
 realizes his burden of resDonsibllity. He may dislike to 
 see the weikneeseji of his social organization, but in 
 view of the gradual enchroachment of foreign commercial 
 elements that ^re attempting to destroy caste without 
 
 any better substitutes, such a dislike should not be 
 entertained. 
 
s 
 
 Tiie bliss of ignorance may be very pie Bine; bat 
 tixe price to be paid for it iiardly justifies the cost. 
 We must stady the problem ^Itii tne aim of finding oat its 
 best aspects and elimin^ate the shortcomings where they have 
 crept in. 
 Castes of India as a v>orld problem * 
 
 Caste was for a long time exclnslvely a oroblem 
 that concerned the inhabitants of India* It is nc^i longer 
 80. With the increase of ooBurjunioation dae to progress 
 in oar ^ge, the several groups of human beings are canetant* 
 ly being brought in touch v ith one another* The social 
 relit ions of the human family -re widening every day. 
 < If the problem of Hindu oaates is not sanely ind carefully 
 solved by the educators, the present chaotic complexity 
 into vihich the original simple divisions of society have 
 unfortunately calmin ted, v ill be a grave obstacle in the 
 path of the gradual unification of the human race. One 
 fifth of the human family is entan^^led by the oaste system , 
 and there is no other single obst^icle of equal magnitude 
 that o:in threaten the desirable unity of interest md 
 mutual understanding of the peoples of the v.orld, if ever 
 it is t ossible rnd ever goin^^; to vorked out. 
 
 Europeans find this problem of caste^ that confronts 
 the Hindus of India, very hard to understand. They have 
 always had enon^h of their own troubles to attend to; 
 but the oeonle of the United States sre in h different 
 
oOndition. TJiey have some glaring oaees of oaste In 
 their population md many suboafcjtes though not legally 
 or religiously defined. The conduct of these Amerioan 
 oastee lis pretty nearly elmilar in spirit to that of 
 the Indian castes in their mutual relationshlng. 
 Thoughtful Americans would be able to understand the 
 magnitude of this problem to a considerable degree. 
 What Americ^>n8 can Do . 
 
 It T^ould be a good thing for this Hepublic 
 if the scholars, nd especially the educators tere^ 
 i^ould take a scientific attitude toward the situation 
 in India instead of joinln^ iwith the Europeans in 
 censuring them for an institution vihich due to many 
 causes has become corrupt and doec not function as 
 it uas originally designed to function by the Indo- 
 Aryans. Hindus do welcome Vvholesorae, friendly und 
 scientific advice and suggestions to modify their so- 
 cial organization and to set them right. They them- 
 selves are keenly conscious of the social disinte- 
 gration and degeneration that is gradually taking 
 pl^ce in the Hindu society. Hindu leaders in all 
 walks of life h^ve found themselves unable to touch 
 this problem of social organization and its badly 
 needed reconstruction. They are confronted ith 
 many vital problems of a very serious nature th it need 
 immediate attention and action to save the country 
 
/o 
 
 from deetraction. Moreover, there is one more internal 
 difficulty in tiieir ^ay. Caste in India its a develop- 
 ment of at leafet three tjiousand years and all the social 
 manners and customs of the Hindus are so modeled and 
 interrelated as to fit the caste system. The more 
 highly organized a system, the h-^rder it is to change 
 it. The caste, system is no exception to tills rule. 
 
 There h ve been revolts against this system in .its 
 
 ■ / • 
 
 modern form, from the very early period when it .'^Lsumed 
 a rig-id ^.?nd narrow policy. i3ut most of them succeeded 
 only in multiplying^ the evils. 
 
 Principles antagonistic to the system were 
 forced into society by the swords of the Mohammedans, 
 by tne bayonets^ of the Portuguese md by the orgmized 
 and wealthy missiont: of the Suropeani- and Araericins of 
 the nineteentn and twentieth centuries, but they ill 
 failed to make much of an impression. On the contrary 
 they h'vo ere 2 ted one more oatte of Christians who 
 observe tne same rules v.ithin their newly created 
 comm.unity v ith regard to marriage and other social 
 relationships. 
 
 How therefore, ?ifter such attemrts of -an 
 unsocial and unfriendly character n^ve f^-^iled, is the 
 time when symp'-thetic and scientific study of the 
 
// 
 
 instittttion of oaste snonld be made to discover its 
 cMef outstanding fe^tureB with their psyohologioal 
 baoliggrounds* 
 B^aoational Problem * 
 
 ^his ia essentially an edaeational problem. 
 It cannot be solved b^ politicians or economists. For 
 measares that tiiey would propose to adopt xO. handling 
 this grave problem would be looked upon with mis- 
 giving and susi-^icion by the natives of India. These 
 two a^jencies of modern civilization have culminated 
 in creating suspicion and at times genaine hatred 
 among the peoples of the world today. John Mott, the 
 well known American world tourist, who has spent all 
 his life in studying the nations of the world, before, 
 daring and after the War, emphatically r ointed out in 
 his address to the students of the University of 
 California, recently that the ^orld is seething with 
 bitter distrust, suspicion and often inhuman hatred 
 throughout it.^ length and breadth. "What the world 
 needs is not politics, economic conferences, religions 
 propoganda through missionaries, to eradicate the funda- 
 mental wrong from the world, so much as a human educa- 
 tion." 
 
 Edooationally this problem of the caste 
 
/z 
 
 system Is of mighty importance , for it lias claimed 
 for so many centuries to administer to tite same needs 
 and requirements of society to which modern education 
 lays claim* Professor Bolton offers several, broad 
 and narrow deflnitionp of education in his text book. 
 One of those definitions exactly corresponds to the aim 
 laid down in th.e conetitation of the Hindu social 
 organization. Professor Solton say/ "Education is not 
 mere trainine; or int-truction in some art bat it is 
 living actual life. It does not, therefore^ begin 
 or ^n^ in the school li^alls. Every instigation, lav,^, 
 custom or social approval and disapr^roval are the 
 several a^^encies of education; and thet^e ^^hQXi centra-^ 
 lized into one make what is called a social system." 
 This is the sphere of modern education and It has been 
 so that of the Hindu caste system. The very existence 
 of the caste system depends upon the proper v.orking 
 of all those agjencies which must run so as to uphold 
 this all embracing institution. Thus the sphere and 
 function of the caste system is plain. 
 Plan of Disc as si on. 
 
 The plan of discussing the topic of this 
 thesis consists of three main divisions :- 
 
 !• A brief study of the physical nature of 
 India and an ethnological description of the 
 peoples inhabiting it. Such an acquaintance 
 
n 
 
 with tJie geograpliy of tlie country and the type 
 of the people Is sn essential prereqaielte for 
 any study of txiis kind. 
 
 2« An exposition of the idea of oaste and the 
 evolution of the caste system as €in organization 
 in terms of the philosophic, relig^ious and olisei- 
 oal Sanskrit literature. 
 
 Heading into the ancient Ij teiv.it ure of the 
 idea of c">ete system has this great significance. 
 Although the Inui.n people live in terms of their 
 religious lavs and creeds and customs, yet in the 
 case of vital issnes of their individual or social 
 life they go back to the ancient schools of fhilo- 
 Bophy an(^ to the claeelcal poets for decision. 
 Vedio and post-Vedic literature hat- commanded great 
 respect and admiration of all Hindus. Therefore, 
 all the different creeds that arose in India have 
 alwayii shown gre.it car.: * not violating' tne 
 teachings of the philosocrxers and the poets. Only 
 such creeds and deviations from the Hindu social 
 laws hsve found a hold in the Indian communities. 
 Others such *:is Buddhism, that did not find an ex- 
 planation and justification in the i^ise teachings 
 of the Vedas and the i^hilosophers and poets, could 
 not obtain any pei-manent following in India. 
 
/y 
 
 Thus if an edacator ever works out a nrogram of 
 education for the Indian people, ^hlcJi either sup- 
 ports the caste system in its modified form, or 
 proposes to destrD^v it completely, v/ill be benefit- 
 ed by this study* The Indian mind can be reasonably 
 approached through the teaohin^-s of their OT?fn fore- 
 fathers* All the reformer hiis to do, i^^ to justi- 
 fy his teachings in terms of the ancient liter-itures* 
 Por that purpose, there are presented the discus- 
 sions of a few theories of the caste system in the 
 second part of the treatment* These theories are 
 not discussed in terms of our laresent days notions 
 and beliefs, but are mainly expositions of the 
 ancient Hindu thought* 
 
 After this much background a psychological 
 exposition of the original castes is given. This 
 Is purely objective in nature and shows the univer- 
 sal implications of the castes. This discnssion 
 is followed by the Indian educational program as 
 was worked out by the ancient Indo-Aryans, to en- 
 sure the proper working and administration of their 
 social organization* 
 
 The degenerate \n of the TTTrda castes into the 
 present day chaotic social organization, is discussed 
 with a view to present the existing condition of 
 
/b 
 
 Hindu society* It is out of this chaos that an 
 educator has to v ork a r*; con struct ion scheme, 
 sach -^ scheme of odacation, that it may become accept 
 able and practical, will have to be bailt aoon the 
 several educational sdaj^^^estioni,^ th^it the discussions 
 here, have to offer. Therefore, such edaoatlonal 
 suj^gestions as the problem qI caote gives rit-e to, 
 are put forward. This is done by i^ay of summaris- 
 ing the different discuss iohs in their regular 
 order in order to bring out in a synthetic fashion, 
 the caste as an educational nroblem. 
 
 There -ire then, three final aims in view in 
 the discussion of this tonic: - 
 
 To make the literary evidence avallfible 
 to ?:: student of Hindu castes vsho is interested 
 in the problems of India educationally. 
 
 ?.* To present the present day tendencies of 
 Hindu society and their probable effects. 
 
 To tie up the old and the new ideas with 
 modern tendencies and efforts of American 
 educators. 
 
/c 
 
 OHAPTEH II > 
 IiroXA AI^D THE IHDIAfi PEOPLE. 
 
 Asia is the biggest and the oldest of the con-* 
 tinents* The oenters of ancient civilisations are all to 
 be found within the confines of this continent, and those 
 too, are located mainly in central Asia, iixcept Kgypt 
 in Africa, all the consistent and aseful information 
 concerning the life find achievements of mankind since the 
 days of its known appearance on the globe, could be had 
 from the invest i^ati one and studies of things Asiatic. 
 
 Place of India in the Asiatic World:- 
 
 In ^^V^ ^hen one ^" nt=^ to make . study of 
 several countries and the several contributory factors 
 of civilization, he is required to stor in considering 
 India longer thm at any other nlaoe. This is beOMise, 
 more contributions are made by India; Because the source 
 of many of the oontrlbution^^ of other Asiatic countries 
 is found in India; and lab^tiy because all the mention ble 
 contributionc tn>.t India made toward the building of 
 the human progress as such, have been uniauely durable 
 and permanent in character. To understand anything 
 about India or about any other country it is necessary, 
 in the first T)lace, to ge<r «ome aoauaintanoe Vvith the 
 geogranhy of the country nnd the type of the people in- 
 habiting it. Therefore such a v. ord picture is presented 
 in this chapter. 
 
tteograp hlo -picture of I ndia : 
 
 India Is situated between the latitude 8 and 35fi«^ 
 and longitude 66 and 90 £• On the north It Is separated 
 from the elevated tableland of 1*1 bet by the Himalayan moun- 
 tains; on the west the Suleman range separates it from 
 Afganlsthan and Baloochlsthan; on the Sast continuous ranges 
 of mountains and forests separate It from iJurnah; while on 
 the 3outh the country projects in the form of an Irregular 
 triangle In to the Indian ocean for about one thousend mllea 
 Its length from i^orth to st^outh is about nineteen hundred 
 miles and its breadth » where greatest , eighteen hundred 
 miles but the area does not exceod 1,600,000 square miles. 
 Variety of physical aspe cts : 
 
 ' Uo one who travels through the length and breadtii 
 of this vast country, more appropriately called the continent 
 of India, can fail to be struck with the extraordinary varietRZ 
 of its physical aspects. In the Horth rise magnificent 
 mountain altitudes, bound by snow field and glacier In eternal 
 solitude. At their feet lie smooth wide spaces of depressed 
 river basins; either sandy, dry, 6uid sun scorbhed, or culti- 
 vated and water-logged under a steaety moisture-laden atmos- 
 phBse. 
 
 So the South spreads a great central plateau, 
 where indigenous forests still hide the scattered clans of 
 aboriginal tribes; flanked on the West by the broken crags, 
 over loolcing the Indian ocean, and on the south by gentle, 
 smooth, rounded slopes of green uplands, oome thing at least 
 
lO 
 
 tit the throea and convuldlons of nature which aocompanled 
 the birth of this changeful land is recorded in the physiccLl 
 aspect of the mountains and valleys which traverse it ; and wl 
 an appeal to the evidence of rocks is answered by tne story-^ 
 of its evolution." 
 
 India thus rough hewn by the hand of nature, had 
 hardly added the finishing touches to her outlines when her 
 beauty and her promise were recognized by man- For many 
 ages India was not known, even to its early inhabitants, 
 by any lingle epithet which would embrace all her tribes 
 and races* It was in fact , never a one country but a con- 
 tinent, in the real sense of the tenp, composed of nany 
 Gentries, inhabited by many tribes and races different from 
 one another in physical and social traits. The first recog- 
 nizable term for India was Bharat va rsha ( the land of the 
 iiharatas,a noble warrior-tribe which came in to India from 
 the iJorth. ) It was applied only to the basins of the rivers 
 Indus and vianges. and only to a part even of them. The Aryan 
 peoples o£ central Asia pouring through the highlands in to 
 India, Impelled southward by the crowd of competing humanity 
 in high Asia, found their progress barred by the Indus, 
 which must have appeared to them to be a vast expanse of 
 waters, even as the sea; and they called It by the ocean 
 name of ' 3indhu-nad, " a name that still survives in the 
 region bordering its lower reaches. 
 
// 
 
 The i'erslans called It Hendu In the J^end language; 
 the Greeks reducea the name to Indos, but they knew the 
 native name aindfttis. Eastern nations equally with the 
 i^estem, knew India as the land of the Indus, 'i^he famous 
 Chinese pilgrim, Hluen isiang t 629 - 645, A.J). ), decides 
 that the rightful appellation is In-tu. Modern Persian, which 
 makes It hind has been adopted in the title of the l^raperor, 
 " iiaisar-i-aind, " thus giving it a far wider application 
 than its original significance, which was limited to a part 
 of the i:'imjab and the basin of the Ganges. 
 
 The Aryan people who entered India from the Korth 
 did not come in one stock tout in several branches. According 
 to some the original home of the Aryan people (who are roughly 
 spf-akin^ same as the Cancationo ) was some where in the ^rtlx; 
 region. ( ** Artie home in the ^edas*" by mr.B.G.iilak, is a 
 scholarly work on this sutojeot. )• Prom those cold regions 
 these fair skined people migrated downward in their search 
 of ha>>itation and settled in Asia-minor. Jio authentic ni story 
 of th'^lr life during this time in which they left their ^rtic 
 hone and settled in the Asia-minor Is available. But some 
 what connected account is obtainable about the further move- 
 ments of the Aryans who are supposed to have branched out In 
 to innumernhifl croups and gone in different directions; some 
 gronps even creasing the continent of Asia and entering the 
 Buropeon continent • Thus we see today the members of the 
 
^ 
 
 Aryan race spread over Europe and Asia alike. 
 
 These Aryans were pastoral people and nsed to move 
 from place to place with their wi/iJves and herds of cattle In 
 search of corofortahle habitation and life, in different seasons 
 of the year, i^he branch that happened to turn toward India 
 does not seem to have very big populatioti; moreover they did 
 not have sufficient number of women aaong them; these facts 
 ar* borne out from the study of their subsiquont life in the 
 Indian plains where they came in contact with several other 
 tribes and races of people and stooped to hybridization pro- 
 cess. 
 
 The members of this branch of the Aryans that came 
 to be Imown in the recorded history as IJIDO-AKYAUd, during 
 their long and difficult wanderings through the mountainous 
 regions of the countries on the north western borders of 
 India, came across various natural, phinomina. wandering 
 life (which is literally an unsettled lifo) is as a rule 
 carefree and people leading such a life, not being tied by 
 any property consciousness of a definite nature and left 
 free to enjoy nature and exploit her to the extent of ful- 
 filling their needs and no more, when fortunately by acci- 
 dent come under such conditions of nature as the Indo-Aryaaa 
 
 did, oecoHie abstract thinkers and conceive out of shBer 
 gratefulness, the greatnoss and glory of the creator. 
 
XI 
 
 This may not be tme of all noisadic tribes of the 
 €UQCient world; for the climatic, geographical and auch 
 other physical conditions have ^est deal to do with the 
 evolution of the life and thought of the human beings. But 
 when these Indo- Aryans after having gone through a severe 
 fight with the Mature, thus leaning many things by way of 
 experience and evolving many of their dormont capacitled, 
 physical and mental and gradually developing them oy con- 
 stant exercise, when came up to a place where the Mature 
 seemea to be all merciful nd benign, lands furtlle beyond 
 description, beautiful nd large rivers with abundent of 
 clear, sweet water, lofty skylicking mountains, serving as 
 natural boundaries and nighty walls to protect them from 
 out side invasions and attacks, naturaljry their merry 
 and spirited dispositions caught the idea o4 settlement. 
 
 the only litarary work that we have which gives 
 the idea of the life and thought ofi these early Aryan 
 settlers before their actual occupation of the ^angetlc 
 plane Is the Rig-Veda. Ihis -jrork consists of ten books. 
 The first few books are regarded as being composed while 
 these people were still out side India. In the main this 
 Higveda, the first of the four sacred Yedas of the Hindus, 
 gives A clear account of the daily life of these ^ryan - 
 people. Acoordln/T to western scholars the Rig-veda dates 
 
:^^ 
 
 as baclr as 1500 B.C. The orthodox Hindu view carries It 
 still farther back In the past. 
 
 According to th« descriptions found in the Yedas 
 especially in the earlior portions, we know that these 
 wandering Aryans were Imown as Sushis ( Ru,to go ). These 
 goers,! .e* mlgretory Aryans were great explorers. They 
 moved from place to place to find out new parts of the 
 country that wer« habitable and thus their adventurous life 
 gave them the leadership of the rest of the hoard. !i?his 
 position partly taken and partly accorded them, made them 
 feel the responsibility of their vTork of leading, coun- 
 selling and organizing the social life of the people; hence 
 {7^W: ^^ i^lh I ) I.e., "Rushis are the seers of 
 wisdom," say the scriptures. These Rushis composed prayers 
 and conductei religious ceremonies which they worked out 
 according to their ideas of God -(these were many) for 
 these Aryans were Mature worshipers. AH the big manifesta- 
 tions of Hature from which they received the several 
 means and comforts of life naturally appeared to them as the 
 manifestation of the creator and Inorder to Inspire fear 
 of God and foster devotional attitudes and such other 
 mental disciplines that are ever desirable for making life 
 purposive, steady and systematic, these Rushis started the 
 Investigations Into the thought of the creation, ihelr 
 speculations are recorded nd have grown into what are 
 known as the Vedas and the subsiquent commentaries and 
 other sacred literature of the Indian people. 
 
Al 
 
 At this period of history, while the speculative 
 work of the Hashi was going on, the rest of the people 
 were busy catting down forests, cultivating lands, build- 
 ing houses, establishing schools and working out social 
 organization program. As one would expect from the know- 
 ledge of history of other peoples, these Aryans did not 
 establish any patriarchal system of social organization 
 but a communal one. 
 
 There w^a jULJ^S^ te eyatem a t^thXs period • All 
 who^joame fr f:Bnout__itf India lived together as one comma- 
 nity. They conquered the black aboriginies but never made 
 slaves out of them* They were driven out into the southern 
 parts of the country and in the mountain fastnesses and 
 were kept out from coming in and disturbing the smooth 
 working of tne Aryan society and philosophic contemplations 
 of the Rushis,who as the life became more steady and esta- 
 blished became sages ( chiefly philosophers, forest- 
 meditators, educators, priests and counselors). 
 
 There is no definite proof as to when and how | 
 the social organization on the baais of four castes waa 
 established but from the reading of the Vedas one gets 
 this idea very redily that, as the Aryans became stable 
 and as their phiieeophical inquiries -eveloped and as 
 their population increased, the need for s(»ie kind of 
 
^r 
 
 aOQlal organisation of an adiBinl8tt»t!tT« natitro was etrongly 
 felt* 
 
 $hU8 wo 800 tho ^a&i^otlo pXnjfto bolni; mado hone by 
 tlio Indo-'^ryana^ ^11 tho roglon starting from tbo rlYor 
 Indita ttpto tho rlTor ^^angaa fron #08t to Baat oame to bo 
 oaXXod tho Aryararta or tho abodo of tho Aryans* I'hon tho 
 migration dtio to Inoroaslng population again bogan« Xhoro 
 was a donso foroat aituatod botwoon tho Jlolrthom India and 
 ^onthorn lndla« knows as i>andakaranya« ^hls was supposed 
 to bo Inponotrablo and was a rosort of tho blaok aborlglnloa 
 who woro always dangorons to tho whlto Aryan isvlgrants* 
 
 Also It shottld bo notod horo that, by this tins tho 
 Aryans had ooae in oontaot with othar raoos eapoelalXy tho 
 Mongolians who also wore pouring Into India fron tho Bastom 
 pasaes. rhoBo woro Slbotlans, Chlnoso and daraosos in tho »ain« 
 f ha ^oirlneea of tsaa aiid riJastai^ Bengal are full of a popu- 
 lation that is mainly of the mongolian stook* fho Aryan oom- 
 ffionity doing short of woron naturally took wItos froai among t 
 those various tribes* Of oourse this was necessary only on 
 tho part of those who were of an inferior metal, physloally 
 or »entaiy. ihoy tended tfiR Hilm wdth tho peoples that were 
 physloally and mentally inferior as a race to their own otoolr. 
 i'hus wo can notice time and again in tho older literaturot un» 
 written laws cropping out distinguishing the pure blooded 
 
->g[ uii 
 
 ]f» * 
 
 tii#«»* m^'^^ «-^'«*.- 
 
 
 .•V . "l*. * > 
 
 ^M-£i^- 
 
^f 
 
 Aryans from those vlxo degraded tiiemaelvea and agreed to 
 liftTe their personal desires gratified by forming matri- 
 monial relationehipa with the non-Aryans. 
 
 The natural soenery of the central Indian region 
 vas a great faoination for the Baehls who were always In 
 search of places fitted for their hermitages and philoso- 
 phic contemplations* A short description of the central 
 Indian region will give some idea of the physical and 
 climatic effect that it had up on the people* 
 
 Cent ral India • 
 
 ** The general lie of the ?lndhya region is so nearly 
 horizontal that through ont central India there is one pre- 
 ▼ailing 1 type of scenery. The sharp narrov-baoked ridges of 
 the Hajpatana border^ following the strike of the AraTallis, 
 glTS place to broader flattereleTatlons» where the red sand 
 stone strata spread into nearly horizonral layers, with a 
 gentle tilt south wards towards the Vindhya water-parting* 
 The rivers occasslonally rxxn deep, with a net work of In- 
 tricate ravines* Snch well marked hills as that which is 
 sormoanted by a rock fortress of Gwallor are rare, bat they 
 occar with less acoentaated features farther eouth, and 
 with a general tendency to scatter in to Isolated groups, 
 leaving wide spaces of flat plane between* 
 
 fhe forest areas are restricted in this part of 
 the country. The climate is for the most part delightful 
 

 ■OB ^r!;. 11 
 
 T;t'ft^'0 ;t.:»{!f dsitJCtLfl* '^^ad^ II 
 
^^ 
 
 in vintor and moderate in sonuner. Tlie eleyation of tJie 
 planes rleea to abont two tlioaaend tc&t above the aea-level^ 
 aodi the scenery amid the broken highlande is magnifioent*** 
 
 The Indian oontinent from the ef^oographloal point 
 of Tlew ooald be derided into three main parte: Horthern- 
 India, Central-India, and Southern-Indi^, or i^eccan ae it 
 la popularly kno^n* Northern India has been deeoribed 
 while disoiiesing the oocapation of that region by the Aryans. 
 
 Central India has been desoribed obove in the quotation 
 from the Imperial Gazetteer.lSow a short deeorlption of the 
 soathern India will ma'ice it easy to anderetand the peoples 
 of India and the doontry as a whole* 
 
 S oathern India , 
 
 Soath of the Tapti river oommences the Deooan, 
 that striking physioal. feature whioh shapes the whole oon- 
 tinent of India* The great three -cornered apheaval which 
 abutting on the line of th^ western-Ghats over looking the 
 Bay. of Bengal. Fringing this central sloping plateau on 
 either side is a narrow atrip of ooast land, whioh oompriees 
 the lowlands of Bombay on the west ooast and of Madras on 
 
 the Kast* These lowlands form the India known to the 
 
 « 
 
 mediaeval tradition* It «as on them that the foreigner pushing 
 forward his ocxnmeroial interests, first set his foot; and 
 the India known to the west for many oenturies was but the 
 
^7 
 
 narrow margin of fertile territory which lay below the 
 feei of the rocuntelng known as the Eastern and Western 
 Ghats. 
 
 When the graat prehlatorlo sea of northern 
 Bajputan disappear '3d, there disappears "^ with It those 
 climatic influences rrhich once streaked Rajpntana with 
 glaciers; hut in later years the evl'lence of land 
 ftrffla felon has reasserted Itself and is even yet Ih 
 prosess of evolution. Where the saaids of F.ajputana, 
 shelving gently ires^ward, merge into the flats of the 
 Arabian sea, we find the Indefinite space of land and 
 water called the Eann of Cutc>, g-enerally defined In 
 modern maps as a gulf of sec, with the Island of Cutch 
 standing in its midst and the penlnula of Kathlawad 
 ■•paratlng it from the shallow £ulf of Canby» 
 
 The western promontory of Kathlawad has yellded 
 •one what tot the oceon, whose waves now heat on steps 
 of the temple at jDwarka; and there are trfadltlons of 
 Islands farther south fringing the ^^oast in the days 
 when the slow fleet of Nearehus was piloted from the 
 Indusr ^^^^^'^ to Persia, which have altogether disappeare^ld 
 
3.S 
 
 All theaa resrlona of India are populated 
 today by races of all colors and klnf'.B. Anthropological 
 Inveatlgatlona have b-een made by aome English scientists 
 which reveal the following ImportanH data* 
 
 Anthropoliglcal lata in I ndia* 
 
 H8§a« form In India* 
 
 Compared with the rest of A8la» India may 
 be described as njainly an area of lon^ hea'^^ed people, 
 separate'^ by the Elmalayas pr.^ it 3 cffahoots from the 
 Mongolian country, where the broad healed types are 
 more numeroTia and more pronounced than any where else 
 in the world. At either end of the mountain barrier, 
 bread heads are strongly represent efl. In Asam and Burmah 
 on the east and Baluchisthan on the vest; and the saas 
 character occurs In vatying degrees in the lower 
 Hlmalays. 
 
 In the Punjab, Pejputana ana the united provinces 
 long heads predominate hut th^t type gradually changes 
 as we travel eastward. In Bihar mediuro hea^ls prevail on 
 the whole, 77hile in certain of the bengal groups a 
 distinct tendency towayd brachycephaly may be observed. 
 This is more distinctly Tuarired in the Kayawthas and 
 reaches its maximum developement in the Bengal Brahamans, 
 
^? 
 
 South of the Vlndhyas the prevelent type seems 
 to be mainly long headed or rpedlum headed. The coast 
 population has been much affected by foreign Influence. 
 Kalayn or Indo* Chinese on the east ; Arab, Persian, 
 African, ii^ropeaa, &nd ^^^'l^s^ on ^he west; and the mixed 
 tribes thus profiuced canaot be brought under any general 
 forujula. 
 
 After sephallc index cones the nasal Index. 
 Under Bt)inology in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol«I« 
 we find the following observations;* " Spealing generaly, 
 it csay be said that the broad type of nose Is most common 
 in Madras, the central provinces, and Chota Fagpur; that 
 fine noses in tho strict sens© of the term are confined 
 to the funjeb and Baluehlsthan; and that the population 
 of the rest of India tends to fall within the medium class* 
 But the range of index 1r very great: it varies in individual 
 cases 122 to 53 . and tho mean Indices of different groups 
 differ considerably In the same part of the country. 
 
 The average Rrsel proportions of the Mai Paharla 
 tribe of Bengal are expresned by the figure 94.5 while 
 the pastoral Gujars of the Punjab have an index of 66.9 
 and the aiklis of 68»8 • 
 
3« 
 
 In other words the typical Bravidlen at 
 represented by the Mal-Pahrla, hag a nose aa broad In 
 proportion to its length as the Hegro , while th*8 feature 
 In the Indo Aryan group can fairly bear ooiBp&rison with 
 the nosea of sixty eight Parisian , measured by Toplnard, 
 which gave an jigerage of 69«4 « 
 
 Bven more striding is the curiously close 
 corrospondanoe between the gradations of racial type 
 indicated by the nasal in-lex and 'certain of the social 
 data ascertained by independant inquiryt If we take a 
 series of castes ih Bengal/ Bihar, 8he United Provinees, 
 or Madras, and arrainge them In the order of the asrerage 
 nasal indez, so that the caste with the finest nose shall 
 be at the top and that with the coarsest nose at the 
 bottom of the lis^ , it will be found that this order 
 substantially oorrosponds with the accepted order of 
 social precedeneo t 
 
 Hor 1j? this the only point in which the two 
 seta of obBervatlons, the social and the physical bear 
 out and illustrate each other. Alcng with a some what 
 finer fora of nose groups called after the villages and 
 larger terTitorial areata, ere bearing the name of certain 
 tribal or coinnunal officials , begin to appear; and above 
 
3/ 
 
 these again we reach the eponymoufl saint a ana heroes who 
 In India as In Greece and in I^owe^ are asscclaled with a 
 certain stage of Aryan progress. 
 
 '^he comparatlYe fitness of the Mongolian face 
 is a pecxiliarity which cannot fall to sttike the moat 
 casual observ^jr • On closer e^ramlnation this characteristic 
 will be seen to be closely donnected with the formation 
 of the ch*»ek-bone8, the margins of the bony sAcketa of the 
 eyes, anfi the root of the nose*'* 
 
 This brings the Mongoloid people of Asain and 
 the eastern Himalayas within the platyoplc grpup and 
 effectually differentiates them from the spread headea 
 races of Baluchlathan, Boiabay, end Ooorg. It also separates 
 the Indo Aryans froip the Aryo-3>ravidlanSt 
 
 Much has been written on the subject of the 
 causes whi«h effect the atature, 1;he conclusion in general 
 saena to be that in Surope the influence *f race is to a 
 greet extent obscured by other factors, such as climate , 
 soil, elevation, food mrply, habits of life, occupation, 
 and natural or artificial sele'^tlon. Most pf these causes 
 also coae into play in India but not ne^^essarily to the 
 sase extent ae In Kurnpe, The influence of city life, 
 which in civilised countries tends to reduce the staturs 
 
33. 
 
 and to proau(?e physical degeneracy. Is relatively small 
 In India whore the greet majority of the population are 
 eng£;.ge<5 in Agriculture, 
 
 On the whole however, the distribution of stature 
 in India seoras to suggest that ra^e differences play lar^^er 
 part than in Europe. All this discussion of the physical 
 data enables us to divide the people of India Into seven 
 main physical types. They are:- 
 
 !• !?uri:o-Iranlan :- Represent 6*1 by the people on the 
 
 nt)rthv7e»v,t frontier province, and 
 the Afgans etc* 
 
 8, Indo- Aryans ;- These are found in Punjab, Raj- 
 put ana, K«0h!Tii'»' «nd In some sections 
 of Maharashjpra {Bombay Presidency)* 
 •Phe TTiost important point to observe 
 in the Indo Aryan in easur events are 
 the great nnifornaity of type and 
 the ^sry sll^:ht differences between 
 the higher and the lower groups. 
 
 3, Soytho-Dravidian:- 
 
 The Karnthas cf the Dcccan and 
 people of Coorg ana western India 
 represent this type. These are 
 short in stature, have greater 
 length of head, higher nasal index* 
 All these charsct eristics inay be 
 due to the intermixture with the 
 Dravidians. 
 
 4. Aryo- Draviaien :- 
 
 These are known as Hindusthanves* 
 They are the inhabitants of the 
 United provinces, parts of Raj- 
 Putana, an(? Bihar, Their complexion 
 varies from light brown to black. 
 
35 
 
 5. Mongolo-Dravidlan:- These are represent e*! by 
 
 tha BtBngalles, These are 
 inhabitants of the lowsr Bengal 
 and Origsa« Th*3 Mohammedans of 
 western Bengal also eoroe under 
 this groijp. 
 
 6t The Mongoloid 
 
 7» Dravidian 
 
 :- Thes« ay« Inhabitants of the 
 Hlma3fcii?s , NeT>al, Assam and 
 BttrtRa, They have broad heads, 
 dark cciiiple'>t'ion with a yellow 
 tinge, short stature, flat fae« 
 and oft on oblique eyes» 
 
 :- This iijpB eirtsnis froa? Ceylon 
 to thfi valley of the <yan?res and 
 I)ervafies, Maciras, Hyderabad, 
 Chota-Magpur and pasts of central 
 provinces, Thlg Is probably the 
 . original type of people thst 
 inhabited India before the Aryans 
 ?»aKie in. 
 
 It r»uBt b« however rlearly understood that the 
 areaji ocupied by these various types do not admit of being 
 defined as sharply as they inufst be shown on an ethnographic 
 map. They molt into efich other insensibly due to the long 
 
 period of historic life that . Ind^a hag lived. 
 
 In majiy respects India reeepibles Europe in its 
 social formatiori, i'hat is whji th© compilers of the Inr^erial- 
 Gazetteer olvi&ys ap^ak of indip ro h. continent, India 
 displays all the traits that > continent needs to possess. 
 Just as at the close of t- days Journey in Europe one has 
 his pas ports inspected by the counsels of more than one 
 nation so in India one passes within twenty four hours 
 
S'^ 
 
 trtysi ^ne Sthnlc tra^t to anotber. Also an observer whose 
 attention has been clire'^te?^ to thi« s«bje<^t woul<1 realize 
 clearly enough that l.he physieal ^hara^it eristics of the 
 people h'id undergona an appreciable change and he would 
 ceFtalnlt be unable to say at what partlcult^r stage In hlg 
 progresis the transformation had taken place. 
 
 Secondly It must not b?5 iraaglnea that any type 
 Is allegea to be In exclusive possession of the ^osallty 
 to whlf»h It Is aslilgned, SHien for example, l^adras Is 
 described as a Draviaian &n^ Bengal as a Mongol o-Dravldi an 
 trsiet, this does not mean that all of the people of Madras 
 or Bengal must of necessity? belong to the predominant type. 
 ?roiE tiiuea ImiBeaorial, in Indiana stream of rsoveroent has 
 been setting from '^est to east anni from north to south, 
 a ten'5eney l«|pelling the higher types towards the territories 
 oceupie<^ by the lower. 
 
 In the course of this Moverreni; representatives 
 of the liido- -iryan type havo spread themselves all over 
 India, as conquerors, traders, land owners or priests, 
 preserving their orlginel characteristics in varying degrees, 
 and receiving a raeasure of social recognition dependent in 
 
 the main on the purity of their descent from the original - 
 
 \ 
 
 IniTsi grants. 
 
sr 
 
 Thirdly It may be bsIA that tks narces assigned 
 to the types beg the highly spaculative ^ueation of the 
 eleiBent2 which hs^e contributed to their formation. The 
 orltiolsin Is u];Afin8werable but we must have soms dlattactlve 
 nemes for oar types. And our biological Inestigatlons 
 serving as the background for ethnological surveys offer us 
 tho afore mentioned nai^es» 
 
 In this ^Tay ono can so^"^ tho diversified and highly 
 complex situation, as it ^slsts in India while attempting 
 to understand any vital problem regarding Indians. 
 
 To taka out any problem out yi \t^ proper setting 
 and discuss it to suggest a?olutions has always been the 
 cause of a great wastage of time and energy on the^ part 
 of many, 3ut more than that individual loss, it has caused 
 raore harmful caischief, than one is aware of • Such hasty 
 and presuraptious views set afloat in the vast oceon of 
 Inforinational literature , thiit has so uniquely characterl3«W 
 our age, ha^J often rendured it oxtremel^/ hard for one to 
 get ut & steady and sound understanding of India and her 
 peopl'^ ThL-t Ig v;h^ all this elaborate treatment has bean 
 offered and it is hoped that the un^'er standing of Elndu 
 caste system , as a really serious problem, will be made 
 easy by having this back ground in mind* 
 
3C 
 
 Bj way of a brief suirjijary of this chapter the 
 follow^*ng points will >><3 nsefnl:- 
 
 !♦ Place of India in th<^ Asiatic world* 
 
 2» Kintcry of the Aryan liPir.i grants, 
 
 Z. Physiograhy of Inrlia, (Horthern. Central & Southern, ) 
 
 4« Anthropological data in India. 
 
 5. Kthnolosy or the types of people in India. 
 
 6« General HerDarTrs. 
 
i7 
 
 Chapter III 
 THEOKIifiS OP OiDER CASTE SYSTiSM 
 
 There seems to be no records of the pre-Aryan days 
 of India and the Hindu period of the history begins in the 
 remote and unchronicled past. Our knowledge, therefore, begins 
 with the l^mns of the Higveda which forms the greatest literary 
 m«aori?il of the early Aryan settlement. So far as we ar« 
 able to discern it seems that about three or four thousand 
 years ago tribes of tall fair men of some considerable 
 culture and intelligence came from a common habitat in central 
 Asia. These men belonged to groups of people with the 
 fund€Lmental features of Aryan culture. 
 
 It is believed that others of the same stock 
 traveled westward. One of the western offshoots founded 
 the Persian kingdom. Another built Athens and Lacedonia 
 which became the Hellenic natio^^ A third went to Italy and 
 reared the **City of Seven Hills* which afterwards grew into 
 Imperial Home. A distatt colony of the same race excavated 
 the silver ores of pre-historic Spain. Another went as far 
 as England where as Celts they settled down and fished in 
 Wattle Canoes and worked in the mines of Cornwall. 
 
 The tribes that entered India are supposed to have 
 parted from their Iranian kinsmen and traveled on foot and in 
 wagons with their women folks and herds until they reached 
 the land of the five rivers now known as "The Punjab**. 
 
In hie "Les Castes dans 1* Inde** Mr. Senart en- 
 deavored to show that after the occupation of the Punjab add 
 a gradual spread over the fertile Gangetic plains the Aryans 
 began to evolve their institutions. According to Mr. Senart 
 the caste system is but a normal developeraent of the Aryan 
 institutions. It has its analogus in the Gens of Home and the 
 Greek PhratriaJ "Everything takes us back to the elements 
 of the old family constitution** says Senart, "the true name 
 of Caste is Jati which means birth or race." The family, 
 however, at the period when the Aryans entered India was not the 
 sole social group. It had been evolved by larger organisms, 
 but the clan and the tribe, what ever the names by which they 
 are known in different countries, are but an enlargement of 
 the family occupying and extending its organization. The Gens, 
 Curia, and the tribe of Rome correspond to the family, Phratria 
 aUd Phyle of G reece; to the family, G6tra and Caste of India. 
 
 In classical antiquity the slow fusion of classes 
 was stimulated by and at the same tioe was helped to bring 
 about the Civil and Political ideas which succeeded. In 
 India the Theocracy destroyed the possibility of any evolution 
 in that direction. India in the past has never risen to the 
 idea of the state or nation or fatherland. Instead of ex* 
 tending itself, the ground work of society narrowed. Isolation 
 8uid exclusion entered into the spirit of all the Indo-Aiyan 
 institutions. In the Mediterranian republics the class idea 
 evolved into the larger one of city. In India where the Aryan 
 
Sf 
 
 immigrants were spread over a vast area and where too cusabitious 
 and extensive groupings were "bound to fail, it was narrowed 
 down into the distinctions of caste* 
 
 Again, contact of the Aryans with the peoples whom they 
 regarded as their inferior and for whose dark color and bar- 
 bar ism they had a natural repugnance was bound to exalt 
 in them the pride of rade and to increase the rigor of endogamous 
 rule. In a word such a color prejudice would tend to favor 
 the usages and inclinations which lead to a caste system. 
 
 Sir. Herbert Risley who made an ethnological 
 study of different provinces of India, maintanes that the 
 difference of color between the dark skinned Bravidian or 
 pre-Aryan races and the fair skinned Aryans, their conquerors, 
 led to a poJiicy of self protection on the part of the Aryans 
 which ultimately ciystallized into the caste system. This 
 theory is discussed under a separate chapter in this thesxsk 
 
 Although the caste system did not exist in the easly 
 Vedic period /et it cannot be said that it originated with 
 the institutes of Manu. There seems to be little doubt 
 that at the time when Manu*8 treatise appeared, an elaborate 
 and highly developed social system including tribal and 
 national groups of various sorts, existed in India. Class 
 divisions seem to have existed long before Manu. All he did 
 was to codify the existing clasr rules. In a code the in- 
 junctions are drawn from a model to which it is wished to raise 
 
., ,J . J 
 
 f nl 
 
ifo 
 
 the community. Its prohibitions are derived from certain 
 states of crime apprehended at the time/ 
 
 theories regarding the origin of the caste system 
 seem to be many. In this paper a few important theories 
 are discussed at length; such as the color theory and the 
 economic theor:^''. There is one theory which could be better 
 named as "The mystic origin of the caste system,** The above 
 three explain the origin of the caste eastern in the form of 
 four all sufficing divisions of the society. There are 
 many theories but those do not ^pply to the original four 
 castes. They explain the origins of several subcastes which 
 will be discussed in the charter titled **Multiplication of 
 castes and its Hesults", 
 
 The oldest extant passage in which the idea of the 
 division of society into classes occurs is in the nineteenth 
 hymn of the tenth book of Higveda known as The Purusha Sukta. 
 There are many authorities who are of the opinion that this 
 hymn, as a whole is obscure and of an entirely n^stically 
 import. It describes the act of creation in the guise of 
 a huge sacrifice performed by the Gods, in which the central 
 figure and victim is the great Purusha^ who it is said is 
 *the whole universe, whatever has been and what ever shall be," 
 
mi^ 
 
The Purusha • Sukta a s translated into Knglish 
 runs thus: 
 
 "The unbodied spirit has a thousand heads 
 A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, around 
 On every side enveloping the earth 
 Yet filling space no larger than a span. 
 He is himself this very universe; 
 He is what ever is, has been, and shall be. 
 He is the Lord of immortality. 
 
 All creatures are one fourth of hira, three fourths 
 Are that which is immortal in the sky* 
 From him, called Purusha was born Virya. 
 And from Yirya was Purusha produced. 
 Whom Gods anc holy men made their oblation 
 With Purusha as victim they performed 
 A sacrifice, v/hen tv^ey divided him 
 How did they cut him up? What was his mouth 
 What were his arms. And what were his thighs aild f eef 
 The Brahaman was his mouth, the kingly soldier 
 Was made his arms, the husbandman his thighs 
 The s^vile Shu^ra issued from his feet»* 
 
 ThePurusha as we are told was the embodiment of the 
 universe. This nysiic description does tell us beyond a doubt 
 that there arose at this time a four fold classification 
 of the Aryan people. Those Brahamans who took to prayer, 
 sacrifices, education and philosophical speculations 
 
^( 
 
ifX 
 
 naturally become the mouth of the body social. It was throug|J 
 these Brahamans that the social la^s, customs, aspirations^ 
 ideals, etc*, received expression. 
 
 Those who took to a >¥ar-like career were compared 
 to the arms of the body social, while those who took to 
 Agriculture, trade, and other crafts, formed the thi^^hs of 
 this body social. All the conquered Aborigonies of India 
 were reduced to servitude, and hence compared to the feet 
 of the body social. The sacrifice that was performed is 
 a very m-^gnif icient poetic idea. The human career in 
 this worJ^d of acti on is indeed a great sacrifice. Into this 
 sacrifice just as individual offers the obl^ition of all 
 his energies and intelligence^ finally ending his life, so 
 does the body social embodying all the four classes into 
 which the );uman race (according to the Indo-Aryans) was 
 divided, sacrifices itself by discharging the alloted duties 
 respectively, toward the good of the whole and ultimately 
 succumbs to the will of the providence. This is the Psychologic^, 
 explanation of the Purusha ifymn when we tear off the figurative 
 and i^ystical veil in whicn it is expressed. 
 
 The institutes of Manu, however, accepting the 
 doctrine of the Purusha hymns as the foundation of his creed, 
 states that **tln the beginning of things, the pan«theos (Purusha) 
 produced by effort of thought, a golden egg; from which he him- 
 self was born as Brahma, the creator of the universe." 
 
"fS 
 
 Then for the sake of the prosperity of the worlds, 
 
 he created the Brahaman (Priests) to proceed from his mouth. 
 
 The lis hat riy a (Warrior) from his arms; the Vaishya (trader) 
 
 from his thighs; and the Shudra (Servant) from his feet. 
 
 (Manu 1->51) 
 
 The world wide tradition of the creation of the 
 universe from the golden eg^ is preserved in the •Brahamanas of 
 one hundred paths". This is a tradition known not only in 
 India in the early times, but also among the Greeks. Gompers, 
 in his "Greek thinkers** traces the origin of the ideas 
 to the primitive thought that **a8 the heavens are rounded 
 like an egg there must have been an egg in the oeginning; 
 this egg burst asunder; the uppev part to form the heavensi, whe 
 lower to form the earth. In ^reece in the sixth century B.C., 
 this idea appears in Orphic Theogan;>' under the idea of the mun- 
 dane egg. At about the eame period of time when the stoiy of 
 creation was told in Greece, it was also told in Indin 
 Brahamana (Commentaries on Vedas). 
 
 Thus the **mystic theory of the origin of caste ^stem** 
 plainly siows that the theories of creation that ^ere believed 
 in those early days, almost all over the world, had their 
 influence on the minds of the intelligent peoples of the 
 community and they attempted to work out a soial organization 
 program according to their own ideas, prejudices and the interest 
 of the Aryan people at large over 4h^ against the dark skinned 
 Aboriganies, and cleverly explained their program in terms 
 
ft 
 
 of the theory of creation. Thus found sanction, for their 
 
 plan of social organization in the divine principle of creAion • 
 
 This need not be considered as any selfish or tricky attempt 
 
 on the part of the intellectuals of the time. Every new plan A**-^ 
 
 as a rule has to be e^lained, to the people at large in terms 
 
 of ideas, principles ^nd beliefs current at the time, to obtain 
 
 universal acceptance and thus materialize the program. 
 
 Besides the program divided the population into four 
 groups and thus worked out a compact society in which there 
 was not to be any unwholesome competition and resulting 
 jealousies, in which proper ranking whs to be done in terms 
 of qualifications; intelligence being places on top of all, 
 as it ought to be,, physical power next since it is a part and 
 parcel of human nature, wealth which is a man made power comes 
 next, and then unskilled, purely physical labor in the form 
 of service last of all, being inferior to the abowe three. Thua 
 the plan, in its prominent out-look appeared to aT? ceal to the people 
 at large, when exil^jiined in terms of body social and its four 
 main parts, the mouth, the arms, the thighs, and the feet. 
 There is no mystery about it; it is indeed a biii^ conoeT>tion of 
 society at lar^e as a single body and the several functional 
 members formed into groups serving the body social in their 
 own respective ways and capacities. But while explaining this 
 "nystic theory** it should not be forg<?tten that the comrarison 
 of the four castes to the four parts of the body, brought with 
 it the sense of superiority and inferiority and pride of birth 
 and such other anti-social elem-nts. It is due to these that 
 
f^ 
 
 caste system defeated the uniTersal spirit of Hinduism* 
 
 Also it is worth to note here that, the Hindu theory 
 of caste is so similnr to the division of society into four 
 classes: priests, warriors, cultivators, and artisans • which 
 appears in the sacerdotal literature of ancient Persia. It 
 is not sug ested that the Iranian legend of four cl*3.33es 
 formed part of the stock of tradition which the Aryans brought 
 with them into India. Had this been so the myth relating to 
 their origin wauld have figured prominently in the Yedas 
 and would not have appeared solely in the Purusha Sukta which 
 most ifiuropean critics agree in regarding as a later 
 interpolation. ^-'^ '^ 
 
 Reference 
 
 Spiegal, liraniB'<'he Alterthumskunde 111 547-670 
 
 Although the Aryan people settled in Persia and 
 India there are some differences between the situations 
 that these two groups faced. That is why one group devel- 
 oped a rigid caste system while the other still has a fluid 
 social organiz tion. India had a large aboriganal populntion 
 differing from the Indo-Aryans in respect of religion, usages 
 and physical tyue and more especially in the conspicuous 
 attribute of color; while Persia did not have such. These 
 aborigonies had 8om« how to i e brought within the limits 
 of the scheme and this was done by the simple process of 
 lumping them together in servile class of Shudras, which 
 
is sharply distinguished from the twice^born g roups (the 
 first three castes) and has a far lower status than is 
 assigned to the artisans in the Persian system. Thus the 
 four Varnas (Colors) of Indian caste system occupy an 
 intermediate position between the purely occupational classes 
 of Persia and Kgypt, and the rigidly defined castes of modern 
 India. In the Persian system only the highest group of the 
 Atl:^avan8 or priests was endogaraous, while between the other 
 three groups, as between all the groups of the Egyptian system 
 (excluding the swine herds if we follow Herodotus). No 
 restrictions on intermarriage appear to have been recognized. 
 Moreover, the distinction between the twiceborn and the 
 Shudras and the prominence given to color (Varna) implies 
 that Hindu caste system originally rested upon the basis 
 of racial antagonism of which there is no trace in Persia 
 or iigypt. 
 
¥7. 
 
 00X0^ ^^^ '^^: : of ga35!E. 
 
 Is it possible tli-3t the Hindu castes hud 
 their origin in tiie colour distinction? Did sereral 
 tribea of peoples of differ«»nt complexion enter India 
 from different directions, come in contact with one 
 another, fight wfirs and settle doi^'n -^is a community, 
 each one taking up a profession which he v^as ible to 
 follow and 'nnlntain in the struggle for existence. 
 This Tias, ofcouree, caite likely* 'uhen people, es- 
 pecially immigrants of different colors, get together, 
 it is invariably found that the higher orofession of 
 a community are taken up and monopolized by those \n'ho 
 are superior physically or intellectually. Others 
 who possess capacities of a lower sort tend to sub- 
 mit and fall back to do a louver kind of service to 
 society, merely earn a liTing, and tuns survive the 
 test of cruel nature* 
 
 !?hus it is, that according to the vitality, 
 intelligence, natural incl ^ ^ ""^ -d i aoh other 
 possessions of mankind that these tribes of immig;rants 
 must have taken to different rr of ess ions. Also the 
 color affinity. Inviting -. n t-ar' 1 groapin^i of the 
 different immigrants into different walks of life, 
 and monopolizing those for their OTwn kind, must h ve 
 
¥r 
 
 taken place. For example there ie the case of the 
 Brahamans and the Rajannya (warrior). The %^o must 
 hsve sustained severe fighting airong themselves, the 
 first trying to establish their intellectual supremaoy 
 over the second, ^nt the latter attempting; to dominate 
 by their physical saperiority. After a season they 
 carr;e to some under standing, and became the overlords 
 of the population, one taking charge of the material 
 welfare ^^in^ rrctection of the cominunity, and the other 
 educating, guiding and superintending; the moral life 
 of the people. Others vho did not possess in common 
 with these xjeople those ouallties enumerated above, 
 submitted to the will of these t^o groups, and agreed 
 to engage In manuaj ia}~or for the service and pros- 
 perity of the people as a ^hole. In this way they 
 must have gotten into an organized body called society 
 (Varna Vyavsstha). 
 
 The word Tarna means color or complexion. 
 The color of these four groups of people being different 
 from one another, the term ChattirvMrna Yyavastha (the 
 four color organizationi^} came into use. 
 
 The above idea finds sup ort in the Vedio 
 literature( the Eigveda excepted) and in other sacred 
 literature, such ^iS the iihraties and the iimrities. 
 
*tv 
 
 In the first place, the term Varna suggests 
 the meaning, oolor. 
 
 In the second place, in the desaoription of 
 the ancient works, auoh a& the Itehabhar'ita, there 
 are ruferenoes to the eeveral colors of the people. 
 
 In the third place, the rellgioas scriptures, 
 while enjoining certain rules ^ind forras, prescribed, 
 according to the respective complexion of 'each, the 
 three different colors of clothes that vere to be vvorn 
 
 by the Br ah-J^maa cha r i e a (disciples) yRtiQn they went to 
 
 the house of their Guru for instruction. A Brah^man's 
 son was told to wear p^ain i^hite garments in keeping 
 with his fair complexion. Red garments v^ere prescrib- 
 ed for the son of a Kehatriya in keeping with his red 
 oomplexion. Yellow colored garments were prescribed 
 for the son of a Vaishya who was of yellowKcomplexion. 
 Since there was no provision made for the education of 
 a ^hudra, there wat no rule laid down for his garments. 
 However, since ancient times up to today, a i^hudra has 
 worn black rags known as Kanbal in keeping with his 
 dark complexion 
 
 Thus in this way the white, the red, the 
 yellow and the dark complexioned peoples having come 
 together, mufct have settled themselves in a community 
 form. The oeople of the first three colors came from 
 
J¥- 
 
 oat of India, ancl those of i-^a. dark color irere ncttiTes 
 of tiie land. If tiie above idea is tenable, tJien i ome 
 explanation of iaovv the element of heredity- entered tiie 
 caste eye tern oould be revealed. Moreover, this would 
 throw some mentionable light on facts sach as the 
 difference of features, the difference of complexion 
 and difference of temperament as they are found to 
 exist even today among tne reopleB of India. 
 
 In the fourth place how did the peo le of these 
 four castes multiply and increase in number? Inter- 
 marriage i?as and is not allowed among the four castes 
 or four color groups. She religious scriptures point 
 out a strong disapproval of a male of a higher caste 
 or higher complexion group marrying a female of a lower 
 group. By so doing, he loses hie standing, vithin his 
 group. His progeny would not belong either to the group 
 of the father or to that of the mother. The offspring 
 would be regarded inferior to the caste of the father 
 but superior to that of the mother. An intermediate 
 position vtould be allotted to these hybrids, thus 
 forming a new caste. A man of a lower caste was not 
 allowed to marry a Aoman of a higher caste. Moreover, 
 the progeny of such a mixed parentage was not allowed 
 to follow the profession of Its father. The chief sub- 
 castes that are found in India are the results of such 
 intermarriages. All the vvorks Of the "Shrtitis" and 
 
o ^. 
 
 "Smrites" and other sacred literature give evidence of 
 tills fittastl^n. Jilanii, tiie ^reat Hindu lH\^'-.-iLver, 
 speaks of hevent;* tvio castes formed by the inter- 
 mixtare of the oastee, and lays dov^n, thereby, the name 
 for each kind of mixture. This hybric! po] alatian 
 necessitated the need of a division of labor* Its 
 different members had to be sai^lied with eorne life vsork* 
 This could not be done merely by increasing the number 
 of trades, but had to be done by limit inj^ the sphere 
 of vocation of the four castes. (Thus the vocations 
 taken out of the hands of each one of the four original 
 classes, plus the vocations created by the new wants 
 of the increasing population^ were taken over by the 
 hybrid claeses. This explains the reason Thy cort in 
 professions received ranks, and why some professions 
 were regarded as honourable and others low. Thoses 
 followed by the hybrid element of the populat^.x v.^e 
 re^L^rded as of lower rank; and those followed by oeocle 
 of pure descent and blood were regarded as respectable. 
 
 According to this discussion the Hindu caste 
 system is not based on an econor^.lc foundation. It 
 seems to have originated from the intermarriages of the 
 four pure stocks of four different colors. 
 
 Parity of blood hich is not observed in the 
 strictest fciense in \in^ other society of the world, is 
 
found to exist at least in tiis tiioagJit and oaltare of 
 the Hindu people, and it is so observed even today. 
 This is the ciiier cause of the strict nmrrta^e lai?8 
 of the Hindu cDiimanities. Inter-dining gradually tends 
 to cause and induce intermarriages on account of 
 occasional gooiai intercourse. Therefore, the latter 
 was also T)rohibit8d in order to stop the ever^increasi ng 
 hybridisation. Like measures regarding inter-dinin^ 
 ^ere never taken by any other people of the iivorld, and 
 are not found any %here outside of India even today. 
 
 In the fifth place, these hybrid elements 
 in society were not taken proper care of. This was 
 due to the principle of heredity 'xocepted and preached 
 literally - n6i dogmatically by the Hindu psyoholo^isti:. 
 Having followed a certain profession for several genera- 
 tions, it was believed that an individual was capable 
 and fit for that particular profession n.ore than for 
 any other. Thus hio birth ot heredity decided his 
 job in life. That the capacity of functioning in a 
 p^.srtioular VH.y w^ib' transmitted through blood relation- 
 ship, vtiia another belief of the Hindu psychology. 
 
 If there v.ere two boys born of one father, 
 one through mating vvith a woman of his own caste, and 
 the other tiiroagh mating iwith a voman of lover caste, 
 only the former was suproeed to have inherited all the 
 
'- i 
 
oaalities of iili- oaste. iie was trained for the 'profession 
 of hie f.'ither and vv-;' properly taken care of. 3at tne 
 seoond boy v»as not sappoBed not to have inherited the 
 tendencies and oapacitle& of his f-^tner* Tnsrefore^ 
 nie edacatlDn v^as neglected, and as a eonseouencc he 
 had to resort to the nev'»ly created or of ess ions of the 
 hybrid popalation. Even if this same boy did show the 
 qualities of his fitiisr, he was not accorded the o^tte 
 or the profession of the latter because there ^ae no 
 surety of what kind of oaalities would be born to his 
 progeny, (l) For ini^tance '^idar, the great intellectual 
 figure in the epic of the Kahabharata, v.'as born of 
 Vyasa and a TROinan of the Kshyratrfya caste. He dis- 
 *''l-:yed the raialities of hit f';ther \ioX did not receive 
 his status, althougjh he took to a profession similar 
 to that of his father. (2) Vishivamitra was a Kshatriya 
 by birth but dlsolayed Srahair.anic qualities. (3) Para- 
 shuram was a 3rsiiainan by birth but displayed the natare 
 of a Kshatriya. Many such stories are to be found, and 
 the storivK. ^- u....;:^e ,"-•"*" figures relating to their 
 birth ^md life are told in the Mahabharata in order to 
 expose this very oint of contention. 
 
 Moreover, aiLon5 tne nunierous references that 
 can be foun'. in the vast epic literature of India, 
 \ivhere tne character sketches of the several sons of a 
 king, born of different wives, are given, one can very 
 
■O Vf 
 
 i^ell notice tii: t th* '^^"^or of tiie same sketciies, 
 attributes oaalities ana propensities to these sons 
 on tiie assumed theory of mental inheritance* i'or 
 example there are the character sketches of :.ama, 
 LaTiaan, ^harata and Shatrughna the four eons of JDas- 
 haratha in the ©Die of Ramayana. Ofcoarse, being sons 
 of a kin^ they were not reouired to follow different 
 professions, bnt the dualities spoken of as displayed 
 and posse^ssed by thete four princes, tell the same 
 old story of heredity. 
 
 In the sixth place, we find aiitii^rity for 
 the colour theory of caste even in the Upanishads, which 
 are tne great and learned oomnentaries on the four 
 sacred Vedae, and which also embody the highest phi* 
 losophioal sreculationt of the ancient Indian sages. 
 For instance in the Ghando^ya Upanjshada there Is an 
 account of the creation of the v?orld. Therein we are 
 told ho^ 3 11 the differencee in things have arisen out 
 of the three original colors, iffhite, red and black. 
 Ho?< one is superior to another in 'uality is also 
 described, i^eople of yellow complexion ^ere few in the 
 beginning and seem to have \iQ^n absorbed among the 
 blaclcE. Later coming- under the common designation of 
 Pra ja (coiamon people), they vsere counted among the 
 dark complexloned section of the population. 
 
33t 
 
 fain throaj^hout the Upani shade ^^nd in the 
 Hindu philosophy st large, the tiieory of the tnree 
 oiirdinal oaallties, virtue, passion and ig^norance, 
 is expoundei^ as the three main elements of natare ^*hich, 
 7^h.6n conbined in different pr op ort i onij , take the form 
 which is known as the viorld. The \'vords which are 
 ased to design ;te tneae three elements of ifature, v^hon 
 taken in their literal and root meaning in iaanskrit, 
 denote the three colors, white, red and black resuectlve- 
 
 Life is the anoaaiified common possession of ill 
 the creation bat there is a difference in the natare 
 and behavior of all things* It ia evident that wnen the 
 three Qualities are foond mixed in different proportions 
 in different thin^ti that their behavior also should 
 be neoesearily diversified. The words for the three 
 main complexions eame to connote the three fundamental 
 qualities in nature. This tnrows a sidelight in what 
 manner the science and nhilosophy of social organization 
 in termtj of qualitative ranking, must have taken pi ce 
 according to the colors as ti^e first distinguishing 
 criteria, vnd wi^ ich in the course of adjattment oame 
 to be synonymous with the qualities dis.olayed by the 
 peoples of those respective colors. This may have been 
 a chance coincidence, yet it appears to be true; for 
 the white Aryiin were more intellectual, passive in 
 
i7W 
 
 piiysloal reactions, cilm minded, dl^^nified nd ratjier 
 averse to bodily enjoyments, wJien compared to tnelr 
 brotiiers, tiie Aryana of blooming red complexion, v.ho 
 wore warlike, desirous to rale, 5iven to bodily pleasures, 
 and 7;ho vjcro spirited and kindly in tiielr attitude as 
 a '.vJiole. 
 
 The Braiiamans have as tlieir diBtingaishin^ 
 character istio, the possession of virtue in the main. 
 
 The Ilshatriyaa are oh.'iraeterized by passion 
 in ita general sense, that is people, v.ho -ire on the 
 desire level, and as such rejoice in obtaining their 
 desires even by force. 
 
 The Shudras of black complexion, being people 
 descended from the original aborigines of India, who were 
 without any civilization ifchatsoever, are possessed of 
 darkness, that is, of ignorance. 
 
 It is on such references and ideas which 
 are found broad cast in the ancient and medieval 
 literature of India that the tiieory of color as a 
 basis of caste in India could be based, tt should be 
 noticed that beliefs, popularly entertained witnout 
 ever being put to the test of a consistent, psycholo- 
 gical and logical explanation, do not h'^ve my value 
 from a scientific point of view. ::oiii!Don prudence 
 
^f 
 
 should prevent anyone from embracing a fad without 
 making a rational inquiry into its tru character. 
 Color, from eaperfioial observation, is often spoken 
 of as the basis of Hindu caste. But for our psycholo- 
 gical investigation, the references in the literature 
 of the land do give us a sound basis of the theory, 
 by means of an integrated and careful exposition. 
 Ofoourse, more investigations and intensive researchs 
 ??hich are being m^de by different associations of 
 India^will reveal to the i^orld the chief factors 
 underlying Hindu caste, the soundness and psychological 
 nature of which rendered it durable for so many centuries 
 
^v 
 
 Summary of tJtie principles accepted by the 
 Hindu sociologists^ 
 
 !♦ The qualities und nature of the different 
 groabfi fVarna color) are hereditary* 
 
 £• ^y Intermarriage between the castes, or by the 
 Inter-mixtare of colors^ subcastes isere created. 
 
 3« The castes created by intermarriage led 
 
 to the evolution of several professions v^iiich the 
 different members followed* 
 
 4* Such blood amslgamation which Increases the 
 hybrid popuXaiioa, cau&es thd multix^licatto n 
 of professions, produces a people of mixed capa- 
 cities, tendencies, lifees and dislikes; generates 
 a promiBcnotts competition in life, ^nd vi^^ill 
 result in n unstable social organization; and 
 if not checked in time will cause the collapse 
 of the laf^ei:* J'or this sociological reason, 
 purity of blood and the consequent purity of 
 inherited capacities are regarded essential and 
 extremely important for the efficient functioning 
 of the social organization* 
 
Theory of evolution and other beliefs:- 
 
 Ae the Indian philosophy and religious thought 
 developed and expanded to first gave birth to the 
 doctrine of action, and secondly to the theory of the 
 transmigration of souls • The latter have been the 
 two cardinal doctrines of the Hindu religion. They 
 are enthusiastically taught in the Upanishada , and 
 are afterwards fully developed in the code of Manu. 
 
 The faith of the Indian people for nearly two 
 thousand years has been built largely upon the theory 
 of evolution. This theory of evolution is not express- 
 ed in the same fashion as in the western worl3, but 
 in terms of lon^ po«*'»'ic metaphors, after the mystic 
 fashion of explaining things. A s.^ne minded and 
 unprejudiced approach to the study of this theory will 
 Biake this fact clear. 
 The theory runs thus:- 
 
 A being passes through 8,400,000 lives. 
 Those creatures through v-hich a being passes 
 are supposed to consist of 2,300,000 qaudrupeds, 
 900,000 acquatio animals, 1,000,000 feathered 
 creatures, 1,000,000 creeping insects, 1,700,000 
 immov&ble forms, such as trees and stones, and 
 through 1,400000 human beings. All the stages 
 mark a gradual development of the being which oulmi- 
 
mlnates into the iitman form, ^t is in this 
 hi^est evoliitlDnary type that final emancipa- 
 tion^.^ Interms of self rea^lz^tii^nm^ bf ^ gaJLjaed. 
 
 This is a brief and eimple etatement of this 
 fiindu theory of evolution. It, ofooiiree, was purely 
 based on the keen thinking and speculative genius of 
 the ancient Indo-Aryans v.'ho ^^■e^e so ^»ell knoiin the 
 world over for their marvelous anticipatory guesses. 
 PByohol05ically ST^eaking, this belief ^ae nothing but 
 an attempt to conoaten- te the vast creation, so diver- 
 gent to the Luperficial observltion, ^ith the' dim ox^ 
 presenting to the rational mind a synthetic picture, 
 and thereby revealing to it the legimate position it 
 occutries with reference to other forms. Moreover, such 
 a presentfition of the cosmic phenomena as a integrated 
 whole, makes an understanding of it and a sharing in it, 
 easy and r^ractioal. The figures given, need not be pat 
 to the test of scientific scrutiny, for they merely show 
 the rough proportion in which it was sapposed thut the 
 whole creation stands dlBtrtbated. Horeover, it is a 
 psychological exr)erience that things laid down in de- 
 finite language h'lve n more firm effect on people than 
 when given in indefinite hesitating .statements. 
 Someone h ts humorously said, to illULtrate this idea, 
 that it is better to tell -t definite ind nrecise lie, 
 than to tell an indefinite nd hesitating truth. 
 
(T^ 
 
 Tile abOTe belief was exceedingly necessary in 
 those timee vijien human intelligence h^id already started 
 the inquiry regard In^j the fruit of action^ if the 
 fruit were limited only to this one life, then an indi- 
 ▼idaal could infringe upon the manHnade laws of this life, 
 and indulge in all sorts of vices, immoralities in thought 
 and in deed, in order to attain the worldly comforts and 
 haopiness in general • To check the adrent of such a notion, 
 which is inevitable with the rank and file of a poou- 
 lation, fear for and obedience to the institutions of 
 man were preached and extensively discussed in the litera- 
 tar« of the land. The Indo-Aryans were not slow to 
 formulate, simultaneouely, their theories of the law 
 of Karma and the transmigration of souls, for both of 
 these are mutually co-exibtent and keep a proper balance 
 in tho influence of contending ideas. This was in the 
 age when signs of intellectual scepticism began to be 
 seen all over the country. With the increasing popu- 
 lation, the inter-roixture of groups began to take place 
 on a large scale, and thinking minds began to challenge 
 the reasonability of the caste system, ^ew forms of 
 religion took birth, new creedt and social organiza- 
 tions were worked out. Buddhism took its birth Jt thie 
 time and was principally fostered by the then extant 
 chaotic condition of the caste system. The chief effort 
 of Buddhism was directed toward introducing new ideas 
 
a** . 
 
 'd^^Xt 
 
 ^'^-'}ai. 
 
{0^ 
 
 and prlnclpl€>8 in the life of tiie people, aad toisard / 
 reTevilln<5 the w«alr and anjai.:tlf lable teaoiilngs and / 
 oraotl868 endorsed by the Onste iryetom> and s mctlonY 
 ed by the script ares and Hindu literntare. Kven the I 
 Hind a philosopher 8 hid i-^orked oat hair splitting di»^ 
 otts»ioa on all issues of homan life, and i^ere almO&'t 
 on the point of openly ^ivin^j up the- injunctions of 
 their saored books. Buddhism took up the work openly. 
 Buddha , himself, begL<im0 a TadJLQal _i«fc1l;»g.ftjnlst of HlA^aisa, 
 or tathex^^ftptcllloally speaking, to Brah&maniem* Bat 
 in the Intellectual warfare that vas wa^jed betterly, <ind 
 for a lon^ time, the ^aha^mduxa c^iae out Tiotors. ts 
 a jepnsequenae they or^aniaed the f ortif loatlQh, M 
 religions creeds and teachings In such a fashion, 
 that Boddhies was f^ps^piilled to leave the land of its 
 birth forever. Thus with t-ome few modifioatiDns 
 Brahamanism fiind the caste system were ?e«e8tablished« 
 this time it became «*tro»ger than before and the vistory 
 brought untolu oredlt f»nd authority to the Brahamins. 
 
 Eeligious vjiti^ social Seoonstructlon:- 
 
 Like all victories, thi^ great success of 
 Brahaoianisni over Buddhism, strengthened the hold of the 
 Brahamans over the rest of the popalation* This the 
 great Brahamun champion, Shankaracharya, came on the 
 scone and displayed wonderful organizing capacity, 
 Shankar is the famous exponent of the Vedanta philosophy. 
 
Btalu ha 
 
 ^ 
 
 •j- a-e-s 
 
 €^lSiQ 
 
 ma: 
 
fe^ 
 
 the last school of transcendental philosophy that India 
 produced. His works, especially his commenttirles on the 
 '•Bhagvadglta" and his other "writings on the social 
 and religious life of man, re exceedingly profound. 
 These have lie en studied very intensively and v.ith oniqae 
 interest by the great German scholars at the Berlin, 
 Leipzig and Heidelberg universities. 
 
 H leas this "Sharikar", the intellectual ^.iant 
 of India of the fourth century, who established four sacred 
 monasteries at the four corners of India* The aim and 
 function of these monasttcries was to expound the prin- 
 ciples of the Vedanta philosophy, to send preachers 
 all over the country, to distribute and disseminate the 
 old and the ne^ thoughts and ideas amon^ the people at 
 large, and to guard the bulwark of JB(rahamanism from 
 attacks of any outside religious creed or dogrna. 
 
 These monast^nriee were well established viith 
 enough financial income and permanent land »r*»nts. 
 The latter were obtained from the rulers of different 
 provinces v;ho belonged to Brahamanisro. Brahamanlsm 
 at this time, due to its wide sphere of administration, 
 beaame what is known today as Hinduism. 
 
 i>chools were established all over the country 
 in order to impart education to the members of the three 
 
Ins*! 
 
^T 
 
 oaates according to their vocational needs. The main 
 object was to teaoh the rising generation the important 
 doctrines, beliefs ^nd rales of oondaot as worked out 
 and sunotioned by Hindaism. 
 
 All the enthaslasm that could be oommanded 
 was utilized and displayed at this period* The litera- 
 ture produced daring this period of Indian hifctory is 
 voluminous. Some of it is highly intellectual, force- 
 ful, and commands a genuine respect even today from 
 highly educated scholars all over ti.e world • 
 
 For some considerable time this strict and 
 well organized rule of reli^^ion progressed very nicely 
 and produced Yory v. onderful results, ^t was success- 
 ful because every act sanctioned by Hinduism was care- 
 folly provided vith a lOgiical and phllotophioal expla- 
 nation. This was done vvith two motives, one to equip the 
 priests and eduoators.who were the guides of all social 
 and religious life of the people, ^!th - cogent and 
 rational explanation of every thing they taug^ht, ind 
 secondly, to f^ice the fault finders, who were moL^tly 
 foreigners and exponents of other religions, with strong 
 arguments. 
 
 During this time, when the Brahamans were 
 busy at their reconstruction program, the members of 
 other castes attended to their respective 'duties, took 
 
Ui bn 1 
 
*^9 
 
 £1 i'JAtJier retiring attltade and folloi?.ed the diotatee 
 Of tiie BraJiamane , in religions, social, educational und 
 spirltaal mt^ttere. TJius wei/eee that the theories of the 
 tranamigratlon of soals and Karma strongjly established 
 and extensively expounded. This naturally led to a period 
 of blind faith. This is v^hat always happens ^fter a 
 stiff struggle of any kind. Certain people be^sin to 
 predomin te, nd the masses cease thinking for them- 
 selves v.hen somebody else assumes the entire responsi- 
 bility to do it for them* 
 
 The stories told in the old Puranlc literature, 
 be^an to find popular oirGulation. Ihey preached the 
 theory of mental evolution, showing the several stages 
 in the creation, arr^inged in their ord«r of merit ranking; 
 and they ased it in two different ways. I^iterally it 
 meant a very rational order of merit ranking, but popu- 
 larly, it made the masses believe the superiority of one 
 caste over another. This was a hereditary superiority 
 which determined the social status of an individual^ 
 right from the time of his birth. This was the most 
 absurd and anscientlfic step taken by the social or- 
 ganizers. The theory was a confused combination of 
 biological and social inheritance ideas, ^t is stated 
 thus:- 
 
 «» Among the existin5 things, those that possess 
 
f^b 
 
 life are higJier in rank." (organic creation 
 over the inorganic ) . 
 
 '^ Among tiie organic creation tjbio&e tliat possess 
 reason are superior." 
 
 **Amon5 the animals that possess reason, man 
 stands on a higher level." 
 
 "And among the humans » one who is an intellec- 
 tual, i.e.^i Srahaman, is superior." 
 
 "Among the ^rahamans, those that are learned; 
 are super ior#" 
 
 "Among the learned, those ^^ho possess ripe 
 Judgement (wisdoml, are superior." 
 
 "iUmong the wise, those who are practical, I.e. 
 those who fonction, are superior." 
 
 "And among those who are Dractical,l.e. those 
 who function, those ^ho think and oontempltte 
 over Brahma . the eternal principle behind the 
 universe, are superior." 
 
 T hese vore e s , ^fihen unfj e rytood literally, lay 
 
:il 3Jit 
 
6^ 
 
 ^hese ▼erses.v^Jieii anderetood literally, 
 ley down exactly i^iiat modern social science iiioald 
 endorse. TJie trouble arises ^Jien tiie word firaJiaman 
 is understood to mean a person iviio is a -^aiiainan 
 by the mere accident of birth, whether he is possess- 
 ed of the attributes of hiB class or not* This inter- 
 pretation mixes the pure biolOt^ical and psychological 
 evolution v^ith the social evolution of mankind. The 
 word Brahaman becomes synonymous vith the word intellec- 
 tual in its "denotion", and once this is accepted in 
 practice, then the same fallacy is extended to other 
 oastes anci their social status i6 determined according- 
 ly. 
 
 It was the white oomploizion that led to the 
 making of all these fallacies, "hite is not a specific 
 color but it is a united manifestation of all the colors. 
 In warm countries where the white complexion gradually 
 tends to become red, brown and dark, the general crav- 
 ing for a fair complexion is very noticeable. Also 
 the changes of white to red, brown and dark in this 
 particular seauesce, unconsciously determine in like 
 manner their order of merit. 
 
 People in India prefer white garments. The 
 latter h&ve come to be a sign of wealth, greatness, and 
 dignity. Highly Intellectual and learned i?r*ihamans «re 
 
^5 
 
 Invariably eesn wearing plain, white clothee* In most 
 of tlia rellgioaa oeremoiiies and eoclal fnnotlans, viiite 
 18 regarded Qlh tne most ausplcioa^ of the oolors* A 
 saored fire le charoteri&ed with a white flame* ^8 
 has been said before, the n^imeo of the three esaln ele* 
 ments of natare are also, white, red, and dark standing 
 respect ively for Tirtae, pa&eion and ignoranoe* 
 
 In this way the theory oame to be understood 
 as thls:* 
 
 After having gone through all the evolutionary 
 stages of the lower forme of life, the being dae to good 
 oonflact and attitudes, reoeives birth in the homan family , 
 However, it will be in the leiwest oaete, that is, 
 Oftong those haman beings who are on the lowest plain 
 of mentality and behaviour* Their oomplexion in this 
 stage will be of necessity dark* inen after living a 
 Tlrtuoas life and serving those %ho are mentally superior 
 to them; and thus contracting good associations and Im* 
 press! one during this life, they obtain In the next life 
 birth in the higher caste* if their store of merit be 
 short and the store of demerits great, they descend into 
 lower stages of organic life,ond so goes the cycle of 
 the world* This app:^es to all the castes* ^rah a maae 
 vhe are on the top morally and intellectually, if they 
 lead a life sli> enjoined by the laws of their caste. 
 
■ v: \ -■* 5* j:,-*.v # \3r,» 
 
 :ii r 
 
^7 
 
 reoeXve birtJi c BruiaamaxkB again and again «itli superior 
 mental levels ant 11 self realization la attained* 9li« 
 latter 18 the same ae dalTation of intellectual eman* 
 olpation froa tlie bondage of life and deatix« 
 
 til tills «a8 originally st^^rted by tiie oolor 
 distinction and tlie saperiority on that score uliioh 
 gradually In the oourse of social staballzation beoase 
 a matter of faith and blind following* faith in the 
 rebirth theory vas os much intensified by the moral and 
 intelleotaal philosoohers that eren the cold Intelleo* 
 tnalistfi, thoogh scertical in the beginning, coold 
 not maintain that attltade before the weighty argumeAte 
 of the philosophers, roots and the educators* This ^as 
 the effeot of anlting faith and reason which made th«& 
 almost insolnble* 
 
 S«maiary« 
 
 1* %w color led to caste distinct ions* 
 
 S* Beferenoes in the sacred llteratore of India 
 sapport this theory* 
 
 3« Castes become endogamoas, hovv and ^hy* 
 
 4* A* oereiity two aiii»tott oTen In the time 
 
 of Mana* 
 B# How they oarr.e Into being* 
 0* She treatment offered to hybri ,^> a- 
 
 Itttion* 
 
y^o 
 
 6. Principles accepted by the Hindu eooiolo- 
 ^iate, sommarized. 
 
 6. Evolation theory of the ^oranas explained* 
 its attenrpt to reconcile several contending 
 ideas and beliefs. 
 
 ?• Advent of the theory of transmigration of 
 souls and the ■*^rma a theory. 
 
 6« Ocmflict of Buddhism v.ith Brahmanlsm and its 
 effects* 
 
 9« Shankor icharya becomes the master of the 
 situation and orj^anizes the caste system 
 and transforms Brahmanism into Hinduism. 
 Hinduism is a federation of several indepen- 
 dents ohools of thou^^ht, beliefs, creeds 
 
 10. The social ladder in terms of mental levels 
 explained. This confounded t*''^ biological 
 and snoial stntuB of beings nd led to the 
 creation of blinci faith and taboos o^ all kind 
 
/r 
 
 CHAPTEE V > 
 mS SCOHOMIC THEORY. 
 
 Authority for this theory is found In the 
 diso ass ions that figure so extensively in the Upan- 
 ishadas. #urin^ the Upanishad age philosophioal think- 
 ing was very common and extensively Indulged in. Phi- 
 losophy el often in keeping with extant form of social 
 llfe# For example, today in this age of material 
 civilization, our philosophy and all other abstract 
 sciences express their investigations and truths in 
 terms of natural sciences. 
 
 All these social institutions of today are 
 commended or critisized in li^ht of the achievements 
 and approvals of science. In like manner in the 
 "Brihadarannyaka Upanishada'* two kinds of creations are 
 discussed:- 
 
 1. Creation of humanity* 
 
 E. Oreation of function or duty. 
 The discuBsion runs in this form:- 
 
 The whole world was created out of the un- 
 qualified, eternal, infinite Brahma. Originally all 
 was Brahma but the ^orld could not get along with 
 it alone, so the Brahma (Collective for Brahamans ) 
 
11^ 
 
 I 
 
 er^atvd <mt of It salt, KaliAtrlyaa (Warriors) to attend to 
 the ne da of order and preterit ion and thas leaTe the 
 Bx^taa frae to follow Invest igatlona Into the cayatery of 
 the creation. Still the world couia not get along, so they 
 created the Valshyas (Agriculturists.) froE amongst thesu 
 ThAa the provision for subsl stance was effected and paople 
 ])lTed In peace and prosperity* Bat the result of such peace 
 and prosperity was that the human needs begflua to Increase* 
 The three groups were able to admlnlstar to the Intellectual 
 aspilr^tlonal and physical needs but could not t&ke care of 
 the selieral material functions that required pure physical 
 and mechanical labor. 3o they created the Shudras. 
 
 Up to this stage, the creation was confined to 
 the production of hniaan beings, varying In their sental 
 levels and capacities and as such Inclined to take up 
 functions suited to the different neets of the world. 
 
 But even all of this creation did not h^lp the 
 world to get along eompletely satisfactorily. Than the 
 creation of duty or function was started. Several 
 functions were formulated according to the needs of the 
 world. Then these were elasslf^sa Into groups .These 
 groups were four In number and exhaust el the floli of all 
 the functions that wera assentlal for the saraoth running 
 
^•Xb^ 
 
 K-> f- 
 
n 
 
 of th« world. 
 
 Then came the assignment of these ftin<?tlon grottpt 
 To the grpape of human beings aeeotdlng to their quail fleatloas 
 ana inclinations* Thns all of the people receive 1 work to ao. 
 fhls beacme their duty toward the world* Also the several 
 needs of the world were taken care of« In order to l|ware 
 certainty and order the lron~rod of DahrsA (eternal law) 
 was created* Srery one was responsible to the Bar of this 
 eternal law In the form of duty, Tory strict and clearly 
 deflhed rvles were formulated and all these constituted 
 the Iron^rod of Dharma* Brery one was ccnnpelled to live 
 within the precepts of this rod* Then It was found that 
 sTsry thing vent smoothly and well • 
 
 This is the train of thought. In brief, in the 
 discussions of this Brlhadarannyika Upanishada* In this 
 their social organisation program Is explained not on 
 the basis of birth or caste but It is worked out according 
 to the economic *eeds of the world; and as the needs 
 Increased, the nuraber of duties 1* e. vocations had to 
 be Increased and this led to the four divisions of the 
 hunmn family. In this Upanlshada the word ( Varna ) "color'' 
 Is not aoci* ^Iso there Is no trea^oeat of 'Jatls" ♦••* 
 
/if 
 
 birth cAstes , and th«ir analgWBation ana emit 1 plication 
 etc* The whole theme is eharaeterizetl by the econoiTiic 
 aspeet of the world ana the functional administration 
 it the spirit of the whole thought. 
 
 On the basis of this thou|^t, in the 
 Upanishada^ several referenceo are available in the great 
 •pic of Mahabharat • In this epic while disctissing the 
 social evolution it was said that, at the beginning all 
 were Brahaoana bat in the course of long ages, according 
 to the worldly neids, they were divided into Kshatriyas, 
 Yaishyas and Jhndras • 
 
 It is curious to note that, in spite of this 
 •Gonomle back ground of the Hindu caste syst^i , though 
 found in one of the most sacred Upanishada it could not 
 gain any wide and strong mcoeptance in the Hindu society. 
 the color distinction alon^ is the only origin universally 
 accepted* 
 
 However the authors of the Puranaa ( a very 
 eumberaoroe literature that was produced to formulate new 
 ideas and theories and ©ainly to reconelld the various 
 traditional belelfs and theories that wore opposed to 
 one another and as stioh unfavorable to the social 
 organisation* ) 
 
\ -::?*• 
 
19' 
 
 have m&4e use of this l^#a of soelal «Tolatlon as found 
 la th« Opanlshada i ^J4f7^^ ,) In a totaly aiff«raiit way. 
 In order that , thsre may nit arisa any lnt«rzial Qostra* 
 diet ions erij^ thus shaka the ball of s of the people the 
 Purardkas seem to haTa frmsulated the thaory of four ages. 
 
 this idea of four ages is a Tary asoient idea 
 hut Tery little is known about its origonal fonn, the 
 pureanikas c)M^«^ 1^ ^^^ S^*^ 1^ publicity in the following 
 fashion • This thaory is to a great e^ctent i^at is known 
 in the vrest as the ]>ootrine of Kousaaav • The naaes of 
 these four divisions of time are:- 
 
 1. satya ( TTIPT ) 
 
 Z. Trata ( ^^TcfT ) 
 
 3, Dwapar( ^/^/<^ ) 
 4. Kali ( ^# ) 
 
 1^ 3atya( literally means truth*) • this is the 
 truth age and stands at the beginning of all the other ages. 
 In this age all was truth; there was no vioe or falsehood 
 known. All was perfeetly natural. Hana nature had not 
 eontr acted or ^^valved any thing artificial • ^People d*d 
 not doany thing unjust or erilb an<3 hence their was no need 
 of law eourts. There were no kings to protect the people, 
 for all were good an<^ no protection was needed. 
 
,m: 
 
7^. 
 
 Th«r« was no dlstlnetlon of raiik or blrtli^ 
 that is no eaate or class eonseloasness exist ea but tSbl 
 llvsd In man to man ralatlonshlp. It was tba brotherhood 
 of man In the true sense of the term« Everyone was his own 
 law aaker and abided by it^fben set in the Treta age. 
 
 E^Trata -Yuga: In this age artificial life 
 appeared, people began to loolc and live fifferently 
 from what they really we^e. Such a difference led to a 
 deviation from the pore and aiiBpl# natural life* 
 falsehood ea&e into existance, This made the institution 
 of monarchy nece8::ary« But the kings were good men aaA 
 the population as a whole was good, TTlms with the 
 establishment of manarchy and courts etc, the few m—n 
 members of the society were taken care of and all went on 
 nicely as before. Only this marked the fall of man 
 from his real nature, 
 
 3, Dwapar-Yuga : After the gradual down fall 
 of nan the human rave became organized into aeperate 
 groups or societies, iSach one had seperate kings and 
 armies and all such agencies of order. They lived pretty 
 snoot h and vte^ous life within their own connunities 
 but when one sc^iety came in touch with another they 
 clashed on selfish interests* 
 
n 
 
 Th«y fought wars « mad« eonqutsta, and did not 
 tak« pleasure In 11 f« without leading arml<9s at least onea 
 In a graat while just for the sake of cpoiitoslty «ti« fun. 
 They did not annex any thing to th#lr own posaosaloas 
 but theycare<5 to bo recognised as the superior power. 
 Ambition for faioe an^ name was all that the ktngs of this 
 ago eare<? for* Otherwise th«lr usu&l life was tenparata 
 and norfBal* Thay aid not fight aroong themselves but 
 malntaned good order anf justice within their own boundrles* 
 The societies as a rule beoai&a vary progressiva in tha 
 modern sense of the term. Thay made discoveries and 
 Inventions, They built all kinds of Institutions to meet 
 the huRSii needs .The spirit of roirpetetlon waa eharactar- 
 Istlcslly fostered, 
 
 4« Kall»-Yuga •(^uarral) This waa the fourth 
 division of the tlma, An^ th1« ««?# 1*^ still In ^ro^%B9 
 We are llktnr — ^^^ -^ ' -«, This age Is characterized as 
 the l^?r?j5t aX all the preceadlng ages In all respects: 
 life In this age It Is prophaelsad^ will be most 
 artificial aisd shallow. Man will not live with his fellow 
 beings on the human i^afio , but he will ba crooked 
 in his deal unless checked by the strong hand of law. 
 
m mim-' 
 
 »— »!• Jk <Mi J "^"'"-..Ts-fir* -' «?• 
 
 !.i,^« 
 
 ■it f#£' 
 
 ^is^ssr 
 
7?. 
 
 All lH«iglnabl6 kla«s of ^li«f?ks tin tli« (^onAnet 
 of man will be Institute^!. ^Tr&th will be^^ome a rar^ity* 
 Vlrtu« will axlBt In name only. GooA la the obJectlTe 
 senao of the term will be absent. All will ba relative • 
 Kot only large groups of men will flg|it one another 
 bat the world will be aivldea Into InanHierable nsall 
 factions &n^ gronps and wars will be(*oma a oosmon thing 
 of life. These will no longer be objects of fear and 
 hatred but will be centers of great interest. All the 
 h^man Intelligence and resottrces will be spent on the 
 injprov«Bent of the science of war. All culture will c(»nw 
 forward to aid and Jastijey human quarrel St 
 
 Again within the society there will be no peaea* 
 All eosjpetetion , Jealousy, unjust dealing and vice will 
 prevail. Han will not live tn man to man relation but 
 suspicion and hat wed will sapei^te them • Immorality of 
 all kinds end forms will flourish, ^n will go farther 
 and farther from the right knowledge and will become 
 matter mad. Body will take the place of mind aa Idol takaa 
 the place of Gods. This will be the culmination of 
 Ignorance and discontent^ individual and social will ruin 
 the world. 
 
..-f:#- *^ % 
 
 Itern-^^' 
 
#r««^ wmm will hm fought ana In that way tha 
 hnmaM r&ea will aestroy itsalf and thus close this aga» 
 Thaa again the cyel« will begin to revolve ushering In 
 the truth aget There fore thos-t who will lead virtuous 
 lives In this age will tak# birth In ths human farally 
 torlng the truth age. And thus the ©yele will go on. 
 
 The time limit of each one of these four ages 
 Is also given by th« Puranlltas but all that is of no 
 educational \alue# This shows how the human beings 
 have always regarded and every where that the time 
 before thepi was better and the time that Is to follow 
 them Is sure to be uhdeslreable. Scientifically this 
 helelf Is not borne out by facts. But the reach *f 
 science In social and thought wirld Is not yet very 
 coawlndog • from the bindings a scientist drains Inference 
 absnt the mode of life and thought of people, ^^hls Is 
 not a very sound method • Suppose for Instance that after 
 a thousand years when all the things that we now consider 
 graat and regard as s^bols of our cl%lllzatlon will be 
 destroyed anii when due to sany cosmic ^nd physical uphesvals 
 which change the face of the earth so radically , our 
 Bjonuraents of progress and Intelligence will shattered to 
 pieces and thrown broadcast, then In that condition of things 
 
?• 
 
 if a 8f?l«fitl3t of that r«Biot« faturlty w«r« to find th« 
 pi«e«8 of ffioderm machinery aueh as , th« phonograph, 
 •Itctrle lighting systaiss , or pl«c«a of a wlralaaa 89t^ 
 i^at will ha aay ? Will ha ha aibla to prasant any raliabl<« 
 plctsra of oat tima on th« basis of this fragmantary 
 aTidaaoa? 
 
 All that ha will say with that kind of fragmantary 
 aTidanca ta^an ont of its aattlng, will ba as good a 
 material in his hands, as the findings of our scientists 
 toAay who attaiapt to rea^^. social and intalla<!»tiial attain^ 
 mants of oor prehistoric ancestory. Kowevor it is worth 
 our while to see how by producing; such kind of literature 
 and dl fusing it broadcast the Hindu Puranllu^ attesipted 
 m seeming reconciliation of the philosophical ideai of 
 the Vadic and post- Vadic times and succeeded in bringing 
 •11 of that to the establiahment of fatilisis. 
 
 All the long ana flgaratlTe atoriea that filled 
 the Furanie literature ^llsplay inffiiansa capacity of the 
 Furanikaa In advertising their work ana carrying on a 
 litaraly propaganda not to over throw the thoughts of the 
 ancients but to uaa them to thMr own adTantage« Ifo 
 educator of to^ay, who wants to work among the Hindus can 
 afford to connive at thla fact* he must understand 
 the teachings of this voluminous literature and tiMn 
 
mel F:f 
 
if 
 
 ecr«ftilly sow th« soeas of his n«w eaucatloaal pr^graa 
 to «radlf*at« th« blind faith eauaad by tha aeconnta of 
 tlia IStranaa and connect tha rcodarn aspirant dlractly 
 with the unsalflsh, cont«iplatlvt, straight thinking 
 ancestor of his, of tha Vadle aga« this Is tha only 
 way In which tvary Indian can get tha rich harltaga of 
 his ancestral thought which h« should gat. 
 
 Moreover by msklng such a study of things. 
 It is possible to lead the sodern Indian society out 
 of the chaos ana guard it from blindly falling Into 
 the lElstakes of th^ western clrlllzatlon* 7ha aln should 
 be to offer them the bast that the wast hai to glTs aad 
 also to make available to theic the rich heritage cf their 
 glorious past* 
 
 l&ast systei&s as it exists to day could hot 
 be defended It Is doomed to ruin and Is fast disinter- 
 grating but without ntx^ good aubstltutst Ihat Is tha 
 Irony of fata , The old four fold classification of 
 tha hasian race , leaving out the elements of pride or 
 prejudice sense of superiority or Inferiority could 
 be reinstated* Tha several thoerles of it origin offer 
 . gre&t ittformational data and by iftsing our modern experiences 
 and thoughts It is tfuite possible to wox% out a sound 
 
d^:i^(t-" 
 
 
 ^06i*1Pl? 
 
?^ 
 
 and fluid program of slodal r«co]i8trQetloiu A dlaeassloa 
 of tMs is xirosftnt^d lat«r on while making •duc&tional 
 m^astions. Saaeationall^ it is of interast hara to nota 
 tba elaznants that lad tha Hindu o&ata s^^stiSQ to its 
 prasant corrupt and claganeratad oondition* Tha aoeount 
 and infon&ation aa diaeussad herain is not found in aiqr 
 historical invastigation but tha psyehologiacl traatnant 
 of tha thama has lad to tha laying bara of thasa fav faets 
 of i star est and import asf^ at 
 
 Tha aeonooaic b&sia df casta syetasi is diseussad 
 by soma guropaan writ are but that is done puraly on tha 
 assuinption that what was true of thair social aYolution 
 must haT4^ been true of other social aTolutiona* Bduoational 
 apposition of casta system requires all the internal 
 aridenf^es. Therefore att'sropt haft been cmda in the preeee* 
 ding pages to present what the ancient Indo- Aryans thought 
 with regard to caste systen which was their social organi- 
 sation program* 
 
mi^^m 
 
y^ 
 
 Ca^PTEE 
 
 PSYGHOLOaiCAL FOUBDATIOH OP THE CASTE SYSTEM 
 
 Tlie caste system at it was ori^in-illy formu- 
 lated by the remarkably intellect aal Indo-Aryans was 
 not merely a program of m idealist's dream, or, like 
 Plato's Republic, a laliiloeopliioal picture of an ideal 
 social state, or tJie "City of God" of Saint Augustine, 
 or More's "Utopia. It was the actual v.orking plans of a 
 a great number of social reforms of intense vitality 
 and unbounded enthusiasm. Even this does not fully in- 
 dicate the stren5th of the system. It is in the spirit 
 of the age; it io in the unquestioned drift of events. 
 So unbounded waiB the faith of the Indo- Aryans in the 
 supreme value of their program of the c^ate system, 
 that to attain it they believed any price was not too 
 great to pay. Their whole literature, Ye4ic and pot;t 
 Vedio, of all sorts, is as plain an evidence of this 
 conviction as the sun is the evidence of the day. 
 
 Neither is it proper to criticise their pro- 
 gram because it wus Utopian. Too many Utopias are be- 
 ing realized in this marvelous age to borrow any trouble 
 on that account. Mor is it here the purpose to criti- 
 
r 
 
Slf- 
 
 else it on the ground that the ends set forth v.ere not, 
 according to our ideas of today, the supreme ends which 
 society should try to realize, or were they the things 
 in which they were most deficient. Conceivably it 
 might be argued that there never was a time in the 
 world's history v.hen there was so little real suffering 
 from want of the necesi^lties of life, nor so many en- 
 joyments and comforts by every class in the community, 
 nor so much freedom and opportunity, nor so little in- 
 temperance, nor so many privileges, opportunities snd 
 rights for women. V omen vere writers of the Ved?is. 
 Lilavati was the greatest mathematician of the a^e. 
 Women Hire Gargei and Maitreyi and others figure very 
 hi^h in the ancient literature. 
 
 It might perhaps be re ironed further that 
 while we are still deficient in those things, we are 
 vastly more deficient in no leas vital or still more 
 vital things, such for instance as art, morals, rational 
 manners, culture, brotherhood, cooperation, religion, 
 temperance in the sente of moderation, thrift, health, 
 racial integrity, organized intelligence, rational 
 system of education, an integrated community life, 
 social stability; conservation of human needs and an 
 underijtanding of racial values. One can vvell imagine 
 
,r: ^ -V r-^-^u^^. r 
 
 <<» 'T *» ■ 
 
^7 
 
 that the whole Drogram of social reconfctr action at the 
 present time v^ould be open to tucn criticism, were one 
 honest enough to vievv it from this angle. There is no 
 program of social construction or recont traction that 
 could be qaite free from criticism. Therefore it be- 
 hooves us to sympathetically consider all such programs, 
 especially when they belong to a remote past* 
 
 The trouble today is, that all the plans for 
 social orgonization h^ve been v^orked out too much from 
 the political and economic standpoints, r^ather than from 
 the tisychologlcal point of view. We are living in an 
 economic and political age aci our minds are obsessed 
 by economic ^-nd political ide^s. When we turn to study 
 and understand the programs of the social organization 
 of the Ancients, we are apt to interpret them only 
 in terms of economic and political reactions. We are 
 apt to neglect the human motive that permeated the 
 plans of those ancient people. 
 
 Ho society has itny Cii.ix^c of snceos^-t^ which 
 is not planned with immediate reference to the material 
 of which thnt society is composed. A bridge builder 
 has to give ouite as much ttention to the strength 
 of the material, as he hss to the use and beauty of his 
 structure. Human beings are the material of our sooial 
 order. In short one cannot ^ifford to disregard the 
 
ye 
 
 vital and all important peyciiolo^ical factors. It is dae 
 to these that the mighty bulwarks of all soaial organi- 
 zations coald survive throughout the long ages. 
 
 Let us therefore see the oure and straight- 
 forward psychologic?il motives that vvere fundamental to 
 the Aryan oaste system. Let us for a ^hile be unpre- 
 judiced by after effects of that system due to its mal- 
 administration 'nd abuse at the hands: of later generations. 
 Such a study confined only to the psychologic'<l impli- 
 cations of Caste will be of great educational value. 
 
 All will be unaminons in thf^t no two human 
 
 beings are alike in their mentality. Everyone displays 
 
 different degrees of intelligence. This difference is 
 
 visible in their ohysioal behavior which is so divergent. 
 
 The mind controlij the body and is in turn J^usceotible 
 
 to the influence of the physical tenses, "xrom the 
 physical forms, movements, meaningfttl gestures, con- 
 versation, facial excression, changing hues due to the 
 intensity of the emotions of any kind," soys a Hindu 
 
 Psychologist , "we read the minds of people in general," 
 
 If this inference regarding the mind content of an 
 
 individual is not oorroberated by the mental expressions, 
 
 it is given up as a superficial estimate and is not given 
 
 any value by schol-irs. But if the desires, pro, ensities, 
 
 aspirations, ideas of good and evil, ideals of life 
 
 and general reactions of an individual to the physical 
 
as well as to tiie social stiLUli, v,hicli are the chief 
 ^avenues of mental expression, do not support it, then 
 we have a scientific justi fioation to classify peoples 
 in different groaps in terms of their mental expressions 
 and physical behavior. There might be an ii definite 
 number of such groups, but for establishing a certain 
 system, they may be reduced to as few as poseilile and 
 those the essential ones. 
 
 The Sociologists h-'ve this problem before them 
 of organizing their society on some such basis as vsould 
 do justice to the inborn nature of man plus the acquired 
 capacities throa^h environment, as well as administer to 
 the several needs of society oy proper division of labor 
 and assigning of functions. In the history of peonies 
 we see several plans of soci^ 1 orgJini2.ation, none of 
 them free from fault. Still an effort is made to ap- 
 proximate the justice, v^hich ofcourse is almost invtri- 
 ably -. ffiitter of relativity. The Hindu Caste system is 
 one of these carefully v?orked out plans, though -aot 
 without incongruities. 
 
 Their first division was, as is always the 
 case, tile distinguishing of their Aryan stocic frcan all 
 the rest of the human race; th^t is, Aryans fro^ non 
 Aryans. Since they were to be responsible for the 
 proper organization of their own people, they first 
 divided the Aryan community into three distinct groups. 
 
?t 
 
 these groups were arbitrarily divided but were not quite 
 so hard and fast as they gradna;Lly tended to become. 
 People of their free will and by the force of circum- 
 stances had already taken to different functions. 
 These functions as we all know are three:- 
 !• To produce the means of existence and sustain them 
 
 for the maintenance of the society. 
 2. To protect the community from external attacks and 
 exploitations, and to re5Ulate the life of the 
 members of society in order to avoid and check the 
 conflict of interests within the i^ociety. 
 3« To perpetuate peace and prosperity and build a 
 dynamic force in terms of philosophy in order to 
 generate ideas and ideals; to give meaning to^ life 
 and functions, and to rel^ite thiis life with some- 
 thing in the hereafter in order that ^^^^^ on the 
 ground of hope may not be bewildered by the inevit- 
 able phenomenon of death ind separation. 
 
 The above three are the chief reouirements 
 of '^ny soc' 1 group and resolve thom^o"?^'^-^ ^vntn innu^-^er- 
 able subdivisions of function. Now to attend to these, 
 the society had to be divided into three main divisions. 
 
n 
 
 i'anction is apparently the cJiief compelling cause of 
 
 suoh division bat it must be borne in mind that the 
 
 Hlnda Caste system did not assign functions for their 
 
 \/ own sake, but according to natural tencencies and 
 
 actual behavior, they allowed people to ohooee their work» 
 
 "According to the pos- 
 session of oualities and their actual expression in 
 action" the society v^ae divided into four Varnas, says 
 
 the^'Bhagvadgita'; The latter is the recognised iiible 
 of India but unlike the Sible in that, this sacred work 
 is not only religious, but chiefly philosophical in cha- 
 racter. 
 
 The three groups known in the English Ian- 
 as Castes ure:- 
 
 1. iiirahaman. 
 
 £. Kshatriya. 
 
 3. Vaishya. 
 ^he functions assigned to these three are those that are 
 cnamerated before ay the three essential functional 
 requirements of society. They do not belong: to the 
 threo Castes in the order in which they are at i ted but 
 in the reverse order, that is, the first Caste IfSrahaman) 
 undertakes the function numbered "three"; the second 
 Caste follows the work numbered **two"; and the third 
 Caste take£ care of the duties enumerated in t^^^^P 
 one.' Having thus divided the important functions limong 
 
the three groups of the Aryan society, tJie problem of 
 tJie Hon-Aryans was taken ap« 
 
 TJie Hon-Aryans were of Dravidlan origin, ex- 
 tremely dark in complexion, ugly in tiieir makenp, un- 
 civilized A^nd were living a primitive barb^irous life. 
 Katurally the Aryans, like any other human bcJngs of 
 the world laboring under the same feeling of biologi- 
 cal repugnance, did not like to admit them to a place 
 in their society nd simply left them out by driving 
 them away into the foretsts and mountain regions. We 
 do not hear of four castes in the earlier literature. 
 The Aryans did not, however, make slaves^ of these abori- 
 gines, as many peoples -have done. They did not make 
 themselves blind enough to believe that these ugly, 
 dark people did not come under the category of human 
 beings. Though their aei^thetio sense and narrow vision, 
 in the practical sense of the v. ord, did not permit them 
 to get over the physical prejudice, they dia not re- 
 gard them as animals. As they became stabalized and 
 f oun^ their social administration more or less in a 
 good working order, they did not wish to shut out the 
 aborigines from their social plan. They wished to 
 ntilise this native element in order to put a stop to 
 the occa6ion.-vl clashes, fights -J^nd other troubles which 
 
<^t 
 
 used to croo out botTneen the viJaites and tJie blacks. 
 B6ing aesthetically and mentally on a lower level, 
 they were given the lowest rank in the Hindu social 
 order. Their function vias to discharge all the menial 
 services for the upper three castes, and thus maintain 
 their place in the social order of their conoaerors. 
 No mentionable rales or restrictions were laid down for 
 the guidance of these people who were designated by the 
 term Shadra(This means "Servitors.'*) 
 
 Having thus seen the organization of the first 
 three Castes of the Aryans, and the Incorcoration later 
 on of the Aboriginies into the social system, Tive hive 
 the well known four-fold division of Hindu society. 
 The psychological characteristics that distinguish these 
 four groups from one another are as follows:- 
 
 !• The most fundamental and initial level on 
 which the human mind is found is that of mere enjoy - 
 ment (t>hudr a) ♦ All the activities and endeavours, physi- 
 oal as well as mental of an individual on the initial 
 stage are confined to the enjoyment of things that 
 exist in nature. He does not go any further in the use 
 of his brain than to obtain his needs, but lives simply 
 n/ as a dependent on the favor of nature, ^e is at the 
 level, commonly c illed . Barbarism. He lives in forests 
 
aoes not baild u house to live In, but makes use of the 
 hollows in trees; nor does he anderstand how to protect 
 himself from the attacks of harsh nature in cold or in 
 heat. He is almost on the animal level, but is capable 
 of being improved. He needs trainln^; and guidance to 
 evolve the latent can: cities of man. He is satisfied 
 with his daily bread and does not think of the tomorrov?. 
 Thus by accepting his services of a manual nature, if 
 he could be fed and protected from nature, he ea£ily 
 lives a satisfied life. In short people displaying the 
 "eat, drink and be merry" attitude, and people who are 
 always content to live within the favors of nature, be- 
 long to the Shudra Caste. This was the exact stsxte, 
 psychologically, in which the Aryan conquerors found the 
 primitive aboriglnies of India. 
 
 Moreover, there \Aere other races that entered 
 iMdia from time to time in those days and those which 
 mixed with the Aborlginies, displaying the same tendencies. 
 Since they chose to associate with rtiem, they were class- 
 ed with the natives and oame under the common name of 
 Shudra • 
 
 2. Above this Shudra stage we find a higher mental 
 level where the deoendence on the gifts of nature and the 
 cnrrying of her favor all the time, is not acceptable. 
 Man learns from nature by the dint of his eoecial powers 
 
10iiL\[ 
 
 hi 
 
 i AfQ'i 
 
 a« fil 
 
'0 
 
 how to conserve nature's gifts to meet his wants of to- 
 morrow. He is not anymore content mlth his needs of to- 
 day but craves to store the me^ns of subsistence for 
 future use. He evolves the ability to control the means 
 of his subsistence to r)roduce the comforts of this life 
 and sustain them by artificial devisee. In short the 
 storing of the me^ns, whether obtained from nature, or 
 produced by art, ch^r cterises this mental level. 
 Here the man is not content with the s.^tisf action of his 
 needs of tod'ty, nor with those of hit own individual 
 self, but desiree to perpetuate the comforts of all 
 kinds, by all means, for himself, und his fellow beings. 
 This is obviously a higher sta^e in the mental and eo- 
 oial evolution. It could be termed an organization 
 level. She people among the Aryans who displayed such 
 tendencies, and took to orgj^nized activities, such as 
 agriculture, crafts of different kinds, comr:;eree, -.nd 
 fcJl thuit is concerned r ith the production, distribution, 
 -ind conservation of material wealth, came to be called 
 "Yaiahyas.** 
 
 3« The possession of material Drosperity by 
 
 means of production and 'iccurnWl^ttion does not give full 
 
 satisfaction to all minds. The desire to control such 
 
 a material prosperity ma command it, rather than beg 
 
 or buy it , arises in certain minds. They want the mastery 
 
of saoii materi il mealtJi, by dint of tiieir regnal j ting 
 prowess in arms. Phyeioal and mental i:trengtJi dominates 
 all of their capacities tnd siicii a biological richness 
 of physloae tends to make peoole posseselig' it, desiroas 
 of rule ind fighting. They are the kind of people who 
 could brtcome kln^s ^nd soldiers^ Thej conld defend society 
 from outside att'>c''^s and dminieter to the material life 
 of the ijeople at large. ^ pov.erful body, indomitable 
 courage -^nd v*lll to conquer, take the place of wealth. 
 They do not want to bay comfortL - ^ the vealthy merchants 
 do, but like to command thorn in .. tead« t'eople displaying 
 these traits in varying de^rce^:, took to warrior life, 
 and according to their cap cities obtained their station 
 in life isithin the limits of the "Kshatriya" Caste. 
 A class with duties ranging from thOBe of a king to the 
 I.... of the average soldier in the army, is ouite 
 essential for the maintenence of every social organi- 
 zation. The rights of tne weak are to be defended against 
 the aggress Ivenees of the strong. Law and justice 
 cannot be administered unless there is back of them 
 some such power to support them and enforce obedience. 
 This mental s'ta^-e could be styled the control level. 
 
 4. The social evolution theory of the Indo-Aryans 
 having come thus far, ushers in a ybt^ rich and highly 
 
fj 
 
 complex level of mentality • On this level the human 
 mind does not cr.ve for the enjoyment of objects like 
 the Shadras, conservation of tne means of comfort like 
 the Vaiahy^s, or the mistery of things T/sorldly and the 
 power to rule the lives of peooles.like the Kshatriyas; 
 but the daisn of a superior intelligence, highly moral 
 attitudes, a strict and disciplined life nnd broad per- 
 spective, characterises tj3ie stage of the social order. 
 Knowledge is everything that is to be craved for by 
 men on this level. It is the tonowled^e that reveals 
 the pl'iCe of man in this world 'and ultimately the uni- 
 verse. Knowledge (Gnana) means, not simply abstract 
 thinking or the hiir splitting investigations in any 
 field, but It is a complex combination of wnat we call 
 theory and practise. v>uch cure knovtledge in r<reference 
 to all Physical pleasures is the only thing that he any 
 fascination or attraction for oeople on the un ders tand - 
 
 if.ej level. 
 
 « — 2 — « 
 
 It must be understood that all other Castes 
 need intelligence to discharge the duties that have come 
 to their share respectively, •'business as vee know in our 
 own age today, requires ^reat intelli>-ence and knowledge 
 of a very high kind. But ufter all wh'it is fill this 
 knowledge? Is it not a mere multiplication of the imple 
 things of everyday life turned into or converted into 
 
7 
 
 a clieotio complexity by the so called intelligent people, 
 under tiie ^aise of simplifying the dealing of Jtiaman 
 beings? Who can &eny that this simplification, as we 
 are taught to call it, requires thst hundreds and thou- 
 sands of Intelligent people spend their precious time 
 learning the methods and procedures of running these 
 everyday dealings o- men and making it impossible for the 
 lay minds to unci er stand anything i^hat soever of that which 
 they ou^t to know regarding their own affairs. 
 
 Secondly, granting that this chaotic complex- 
 ity is desirable for the management of the progressive 
 business of today, after all is it not' the sume thing 
 that the people in ancient times used to qo , namely 
 adminifcitering to the bread and butter side of humm 
 life? Our business methods require great intelligence 
 when oompired to those of old, but it is in the same line, 
 only of a hi^-her amplified kind. We cannot, therefore, 
 blind ourselves to believe that the achievements made 
 by modern business men, by exercising great intelligence, 
 could be made eoual in value to those of an intellectual, 
 ( i. e. Brahanian ) of today. 
 
 Knowledge which consisted of worldly wisdom, 
 coupled viith the wide vision and higher thoughts of the 
 grave problems of life, ere t i on and the end of tnings, 
 was whcit the l^ahamanL craved. They were administrators. 
 
7' 
 
 oounselors and minlKtars at tiie courts of the kin^« 
 They were law-g,ivprs, lawyers and edacatora. They ^ere 
 priests attending to the religious and social ceremonies 
 of the people at lar^e. i'hoy wore moralists and Phi- 
 losophers to ^uide and lead humanity, not by mere r>re- 
 oeots, bat by =^ctual example. 
 
 Thus a Brahaman never cared to amass wealth 
 or the comforts of life but on the contrary, he ^as 
 ouite indifferent to such material thln^^s beyond the 
 plain, simple needs of a thin'k:in5 mind. 
 
 We have seen the psychological implications 
 that characterised such a four-fold division of the 
 Hindu society in the ancient days. We might also note 
 the several incentives that brought satisfaction to 
 theae different groups and kept them contented vtithin 
 their social order for several oeax.>^TiQ&. 
 
 The Sjiadra bein^ a man of very lo\. inentality, 
 is not susceptible to rtn^ incentiv^a except those of 
 pure physical gratification. Thus to leave him care- 
 free regarding his maintenance ::xni living, is enough 
 incentive to keep him contented. He sings in merri- 
 ment \^hile doing the manual labor for one -who protects 
 
r 
 
 him. Those v.ho have seen the colored slave v^orking 
 merrily on the farme of his master and sinking son^e 
 Tvhile doing the v^ork, oan imagine hov. the mere incentive 
 of an assured subsistence is enough for them. 
 
 The Vaishyas hnd the incentive of wealth and 
 the conse^aent pleasures that cvuno in the tr.iin of riches. 
 Though they nad to be subordinate to the ruling class, 
 yet in their private *.nd social life they had all that 
 money could buy, and thus the^; led a contented life. 
 If anyone of them had intellectual aptitude he was able 
 to develop the same, and to use it in becoming a business 
 man of a high order. Moreover, the study of any litera- 
 ture was open to him. If he chose he could become a 
 highly educated person and give up his oaete profession, 
 bat in order to protect the members of other castes and 
 not to cause any interference with their professions, 
 he was not allowed to hold public positions that viere 
 reserved for the Brahaman cai^te. 
 
 This was in spirit a kind of guild union 
 system. In the case of the Kehatriyae the incentive 
 w s power, to rule. The Kshatriyas were given the same 
 edueationaJ Tirivi leges that the Branamans or the Valphyas 
 were given but they Tvere advised to train themselves 
 in the seience of government ana were given intensive 
 military training 1x3 order to become vqx^ efficient rulers 
 
7/' 
 
 or soldiers ai: the case demanded • To protect themselves 
 
 within their ov.n c iste and to protect the corresi^onding 
 
 fur.ctions nnd nrlvi le^es from competition on the part 
 
 of the people of the Brahaman or Vaishya oaste, certain 
 
 restrictions %ere laid down. No person, even if he be- 
 
 oume Drof Lcient in a profession other than his own, was 
 
 allov-ed to hold or rather encouraged to hold any office 
 
 of rank in that professlor. The Kshatriya was allowed 
 
 to aof aire a& much learning xb he chose. It was his own 
 
 affair. ^og^^P^ ^& 3.J^Usn 01 1, ftjj^e^^lg r e Jiey f r mQnop o 1 i z e d ^ 
 
 by aj5y sLn^ile caste, but were the "orooerty of anybody l^'^^ \^^ 
 
 and everybody. Only the members of the Shudra^qaste 
 
 werenot all owedto read or study the sacred literature 
 
 for fec-r of their misusing it • They were not allowed 
 
 for the Yery same reason which led the Americans to 
 
 prohibit the colored children to study in the s^ime school 
 
 with the white children and which led the Americans 
 
 to allot^ separ ite o^rs to the v.hites and the blaclcs in the 
 
 Southern States even today. It was generally felt and 
 
 believed that the unclean life that a Shudra usually 
 
 led, due to his lover level of mentality, as v;ell as due 
 
 to -the meni.il work tnat he did, brod unclean habits 
 
 and unrefined manners and attitudes; and as such he co'-ld 
 
 not be reasonably and safely c^uraitted to the study of 
 
 the sacred and philosoph- oal works. This was perhaps 
 
 primarily due to a physical repugnance and prejudice 
 
T 
 
 \J\v 
 
 on the part of the Aryans toward the Shadras. Other 
 reasons were naturally Invented or sophisticated as 
 we h'ive done and still do in many oasea^ 
 
 The incentive in the case of a iSrah'^TT^an was 
 honor or respect paid by all of the three catJtes to him. 
 He did not have the ruling power in his hands, nor the 
 wealth J.Ike the merchants to meet his needs and desires. 
 irom the standpoint of money and power he was the poorest 
 of the first three Aryan castes. Yet the duties he v. is 
 discharging toward the betterment of the society were 
 more nomeroas, more difficnlt ^nd involved greater 
 responsibilities. All that he did was in the main a 
 sacrifice without any adqaate material return whatso- 
 ever. 
 
 But the bigness that comes through intellectual 
 superiority does away with all of the desires of a lower 
 order, Tt is the very nature of sacrifice, self denial 
 for the ^.ood of othert;, that brings untold satisfaction 
 and happiness. Plain living and high thinking In the 
 real sense of the terms have a singular charm and 
 hiopiness of their own. Wants ot any kind cannot make 
 a person of such a tendency, whether born or acnuired, 
 miser^^bl© or discontented. He only needs one legitimate 
 thing to hold on to his duties and to lead a contented 
 
y-r 
 
 life. That is HOI^IOH: Take tliie.away from him and nothing 
 is left him to remnin virtuous. He is sure to follov^ 
 in the footstens of other kindtj of people and cease 
 doin^ hi^ unselfish duty. Brahamane are described in 
 the Sanskrit literature by hi^h sounding and glorifying 
 epithets. They are called TTpT^^T^TTi (those vsh0i>e 
 wealth is honor), ^^^j^x (earthly gods) etc. All 
 this is quite psychological, as even today the kings 
 and emperors are addressed ^Ith like epithete , thoa5h 
 they mean very little in reality* 
 
 Moreover, it is remarkable to note that it was 
 not irvealth or physical power that was respected more than 
 anytning else. It was the pure^ simple, tself denying, 
 intellectual life that was respected. To speak in more 
 popular terms, it wat: not the Kaiseriem of Germany be- 
 fore the War, or the Almighty Dollar of Americi before 
 and after the War, that was held as the object of wor- 
 ship, but it w?is, as the true and ratLon^.i christians 
 will put it, Christ, tne ictuai living virtue, reason 
 and service th it- was respected and worshiped by the 
 Hindus of old times. 
 
 Tnis wai5 the psychological evolution of the 
 Hindu Castes, ^^e shall see Inter tiic? 
 causes of the degeneration and the en i otic condition 
 
into vsiiicii the caete system has degenerated. At tiile eta^e 
 ne are only concerned to not^the psyoholo^loal Implloa- 
 tione in the or^^^nlzatian and admlnietration of the 
 all-safflolng four cifetee. Having seen thaij far the di* 
 Tleion of the Hinda society into o fetes, v*e shall take 
 up in the next chapter = disoaesion of the measures adopt- 
 ed by the Indo-Aryane to sastain the c it^te sjtstem .^a^ 
 render it a practical program* 
 
 Sosomary* 
 
 1* Character of the oa8t« aytstem. 
 
 (C'j-cjtes are not idealistic Dictures of 
 social or^anlzutlone but they are actual 
 ¥»or}flntv; pl^ae.) 
 
 £• iJotivee underlying socie.1 claeslf ieatl on; 
 
 a. Aryans vs. iion-Aryms. 
 
 b. Division of labor ic cording to 
 nature and behavior. 
 
 c. Tl,q three function il > •:.-;£ .md 
 their dcsi*jn'^t? one. 
 
 -.entai evolution and the oorrest^ondin^ 
 social stattis of the different ^^roi ps. 
 
 4. Incentives for entisfaotion ^hich exist 
 within ones caste. 
 
CH PTER VII . 
 
 Jttst as the soci ..- life vaas divided into 
 foor c^eteB, bo ^ileo tiie life of tiie individual was 
 divided into orders* Tiaeee orders, knovm In anskrit 
 ae Aaiiramus, v. ere deelf^ne.- c . -t<=- the life of an 
 
 indivldaal.as well r-a to re^al-f.te tiie ^rou^a of in- 
 dividual in the form of castes* The division of orders 
 was nurely educational in oh^raoter. For Individ uale 
 as well ae groups of individuals ?^ere considered the 
 material of which the social structure was built. 
 I'has the training of theL-e individuals ooT^elpted , 
 not only of school In© in their early years, but also 
 in an all around development dtirln^ their ifehole life. 
 It mi^ht be well to feive a few definitions of education 
 ac f&rriUl&ted by the ancient Aryan educators. 
 
 !♦ Education is that process which has the 
 
 povver to '^^U-'^-'ne the future of n oerson. 
 
 £• Eduoatlon is the wisdom tftat enables indivi 
 
 dualB to uiake 8ati»5f^>ct^ry ^id,1uetraont to 
 their enviroxKient. 
 
 3. Education iB not training or in^jtruction in 
 
 some art but it is living actual life. 
 
 SducatiDn Goet; not, therefore, be^ln within 
 the school v,alls or end there, but it be^^ins first ^t 
 the house of the Guru f teacher ) ^^nd ends with the 
 close of life. Nature i^ .^^ ^reut school or; in 
 
IV 
 
 f 
 
 her ecliool tjie iiaman race has learned innomerable leseans 
 
 aad tiiese lessons have proven to be Hiore flrro -md last- 
 ting than the leasons learned %'itiiln acixsal vtallB. 
 Spenoer*8 Iclea thnt f^auoation la a TjreiD^.ration for 
 for oomplete life may be true in eo far as all learning 
 18 confined to the eohoola an^l t.. .jhOv^l .ge; but the 
 Aryan ooncoption "was deeper. John Sewej, the great 
 Ainerioan eduoator of oar time, voices this Bide concep- 
 tion of the ancient Aryans ^hen he says that education 
 1b not a preparation for Boaethlnt^ to come, bat all 
 •dacation most begin rith the ciiild and lead into human 
 plvllls€'ti -^n. Ill education must start froiB the tra- 
 ditiDnal path and be adaptec to the enviroisBent of the 
 child of today. It is actaal living and partaking of 
 life, leirninfo all the ^hile the traths of life as we 
 paee thrgu^vh the corridor of experience* 
 
 Sttch an education of an all around nature kae 
 to be baised on the plan that ^111 suit the social structure 
 aad ut the same time be iisychologically adapted to the 
 nature of the human organism* ^hQ higher the mental 
 level of an educable orj^anism, the more oompliciited, 
 greater in content and stricter in discipline, should 
 be the form of education designed for it* Higher 
 mental level, after all» means the j^reater cerebral 
 development with Intricate connections and convolutions 
 of the aBeociation fibers, finer motor and sensory dis- 
 
/ 1/-" 
 
 eliarges and Quicker reception and trfcinaxnifcsion of the 
 stimali through several end or^^ns of iienee* According- 
 ly the Aryan educiitore who ^ere not mere i.e .ielaiss, 
 bat eocial lendere, lav. makers and fidminiatratore of 
 all kinds, Icld dovfn thie orderly Bystem of edacatlon, 
 dividing the life of on Indlvldufil !nto fonr parte. 
 This division was b&eed on the complex foundation of 
 biologioal^poyoholo^ioal, eocial. economic and reli- 
 ejioae, political and spiritaal conslderst I Dns% It will 
 be evident to one v.ho hfis onde.rstood the eocial eoheme 
 as described in the previous chapter, hovj all thece 
 several scientific considerations were given to the 
 fonaolation of these orders that are an essential com- 
 llraent to the four -fold system. 
 
 The division of the society, into four all 
 sufficing functional groups ooald not be complete and 
 practical unless some measorei; are taken to limit the 
 functional powers of individuals of one genera ti oil 
 from interfering, overlapping and continuing these 
 functions during the whole life time of the second or 
 third generation. Selfishness is one of the primary 
 instincts of man, and the desire to nold on to ones 
 function and to the attendant authority and honor, is 
 invariably strong in all human beings. Thus in the 
 interest of the yoanecr te^^^ratlon, measures have been 
 
IUW> 
 
 laid domn on a pare payotiolo^lcal baeia wiiioJi dlviao 
 the life of an Individual into parts. Sacii part is 
 to to be devoted t ortaln line of pnrsiilt wjalch is 
 in turn, u cart of the v.liole fonction and aim of the 
 life of thiit individiml* 
 
 This not only enables the indivldaals to ad- 
 qaire different kinds of trfiinlng as reqaired and pos- 
 sible from the biological ^;nd physiological growth and 
 development of hie organism, but politically, md es- 
 T)eoiall.T economically, it eaves the conflict of interest 
 beticeen the old and tne nev^ geEeration, there bein^ a 
 continuous stepping in and oat of functions and offices 
 on the part of every individual. This is known at the 
 Aahrama system which is an integral part of the Indo- 
 Aryan caste system. It may be observed In passing, 
 that violation of the la"WB of the Ashrama system, due 
 to various causes on the part of the people of India, 
 oltimately led to the chsos and Inefficiency of the 
 caste system, culminating in the preeent day abuse 
 and disintegration of the Hindu society. 
 
 Ashrama life is the very root of the Hindu 
 culture. Whatever of idealism has been developed in 
 India, has been very l^irgely due to this a^-e long 
 system irhlch froa. the very earl. - y^ ol iiindu oivili- 
 nation has made it possible for !i Hindu to reallae 
 
ffjY 
 
 and balld ap an ideal for his Individual life. This 
 may be. psyciiolOgiicaliy termed a eystem of indlvidaal 
 ©iiaracter training interms of tke approval and dis- 
 acT^roviil af the o alt are of tiie land» 
 
 Besidei^ it hxiB one far-sigtited aim of ©afe- 
 gaarding the cafate 8y&teiu» ^hm necessary diYieione of 
 caatee may liot breed pride of roeition or conceit of 
 personality. The individual is made to go tiirookh a 
 eevere trsinlr*^ and discipline to develop a i^rirlt of 
 eelf letaciurient in tJtie four stages of life* 
 
 A. Br a bmao h.ar ya slirsm (The Kdutcation Period of a Celibant) 
 
 The ^shraias procsdureile ae^fiJ^llows*- 
 
 The tiiiildron of tiie f Iret three ©atstes of tJW 
 Aryan ^.na be^i-^Aryan ^roape, li-hen tiiey iiave flnisiied 
 tiieir 6igiitli year go tiuroiigii a oerenionial lnown as tlie 
 UpanayanaC translated into i!*tt^lieii ae tiie eaored thread 
 ceremony ). !2iie «ord Upacayana literally means initia- 
 tion or^tHkin^' near" to tiie preceptor for educ^»tion. 
 After tiiis formal cereinonyffor a d^^talled description 
 of wjDioh, t'ee Dr. dose'a "Hindao as tney are**) the ooy 
 enterB tiie house of his Gora fteaehor) who takee full 
 oh:^rge of him, not for the aake of money bat for the 
 sake of impi.rtlne^ knowi©d«;e urn iKisdoc;, un(x thua ful- 
 filling his o^n duty ajs has come to him by reason of 
 his C'itJte and Aahrama. 
 
n^ 
 
 V' 
 
 The first fita^e af life is o^lled the 
 \a which meane the period of oeXlbioy and 
 dlBcioleship* The three vovs thtt a boy haa to take 
 are» 
 "Poverty, 
 '"Ohaatity, 
 "and obedience." 
 
 It ooiild be seen how theise yov^s ire solenti* 
 fioally aaited to the organic » mental and physical} 
 derelopment of the individual ^^t that &tu^e« 
 
 The houBes of the G ur as ( t ea oher a ) « as are 
 all homeB of holineea in India, re very plain and 
 eimrsle. They probcibly live with their wives and ^hil- 
 dren« nd there receive the yoon^ diaoiole who cornea 
 ^^ them to be made fit for the different poaitlona he 
 wi ll oocttpy in life. 
 
 The firet and foremost less on that thie boy 
 learns from his (rorn is about the ^reatnese of God ae 
 manifested in this vsonderfal creation of His* All 
 know the peycholo^ical juetificatlon of this initial 
 training. It aims to foster good attitudes and check 
 man from running wild like animals in the sheer porsait 
 of nhysical ^^ant8 .nd their gratifications rit uny cost* 
 
/ •^ 
 
 r 
 
 It Is Important to note tiiut in the Jiotise of 
 the teacher, vhloh le u hermitage, no caste le observed. 
 Stadents oomln^^ froa all of the three catites are lodged 
 and bOi>rded together. ^They 50 throagh the same training 
 and diaoipline ap to the '^ige ^f thirteen ^nd fifteen. 
 Daring this period of the plasticity of the nerroae 
 system* a oouBBon training, physical as veil as mental, 
 was deemed hl^ly eaeential* For in this period the 
 indlTldoul ie capable of beln^ infloenoed by sarroondinge 
 more than at ''"i^ti^ oth<?r time, find as such commnnal In- 
 tercets, felloi? feeling, brotherhood of castes etc., 
 if cult ivci ted in the mind of the "S'yxxn^ boys by re- 
 oe lying ^ common education ant> living the common life, 
 woald ensore the solld-^rlty and s^ifety of the society 
 at large when these beys beeome the functional members. 
 
 IThe rank of the parents is not considered it 
 all. These hermitages of the Gar as vvere in the forest 
 where great Indian Universities were conducted. 
 Forests were turned over to such institutions of learn* 
 In^ as land grants for their maintenance by the state. 
 The theory of establishing schools s^nd oollegee awsiy 
 from the nolee and rush of the city life, was staunch- 
 ly adhered to, thus creating almost a new world for the 
 young boys, where they could learn by living, the 
 practicul problems of the different Wcilds of life. 
 
/7- 
 
 Th» wlLO^e x>rep^r?i%ion is for th« forth-oomln^ ooiB^ujile* 
 tic life, for i5lilcli India iins been so famoaa all over tue 
 world • 
 
 This ABiirama-eystem of trulnlJD^ Individ aals 
 in efficient oltizenaiilp islth the ideal of eommonlgitic 
 life i^ '^^n outcome of tlie age lon^ experience of the 
 civilised Indo-Ai-yun aocietler^ Inanolng of tiieee 
 foreet nniverfcitiee and tne boarding of tkc teaoiier and 
 tile taoght nt the hermltfigee, m&B done partly throu^jli 
 the oroduoe of the land grants $^n^ r^artly throa^ the 
 pobii<» funds and individual contrlbitione isvhlch «ere 
 voluntfiry. If the oarents of the pu 11 could send 
 anj money, tnec.weil and i^ood, if not, his expenseg were 
 met through the public funds of the institution* The 
 public finnnclni^ of tho instltntee of learning was based 
 on the Hindu iaea of sscrednees of learning* It is the 
 lure of the material civilisation of today on the ocie 
 hand^ and the consec*nent al^^ckneee of noble idees and 
 Ideaie ol life, due to the want of directive force oir 
 power on the other, that is gradoally drawing India out 
 of her orcfoundly homan ideas* 
 
 The nmses i>f these four orders are:- 
 1 • Cel 1 fcft; oy • ( isr ujuaiiia-ciiiirya ) 
 t. Fumll'H^'Qf conjo^a life (Garhisthya) 
 3. i»art!^it; r^^tlrement ( Vanapraatha ) 
 4« Hen uncial; ion (Sannyae) 
 
m 
 
 1* Members of tlie Sraliai&aii oaate were supposed 
 
 to ^0 tarou^Ai. vi^xX tiie four of the abore meiatloned orders* 
 f lifts «e ean see tJie pressure of dlselpllBe^ self oontrol 
 and varlagated experlenclal ordeal tiiroctgh ^nloh the most 
 honored of the eastes had to puss* It was permissible 
 for certain individaals of early intellect ual ripening 
 and depth, to tkiae fraa the order of Gellbaoy rfght en 
 to" the order of l^enonclatlon (^annyas) s^tlppici^ over the 
 tmo intermediate orders* Bat as a 
 
 rale Urahamans neat throti^ii the foar orders, learning 
 
 all the while several lessons from this kind of '^ * - 
 gated experience and oooasional self oontrol v.hlch was 
 aatnrallj called forth to oe exerci«5ed v,iilie quitting 
 one order an(? paeei^i^^ Ai.wj ^iiother ^>^ u.x*,^ - new nature* 
 
 S* The Xshatriyae were enjdlned Oj on by the first 
 
 three orders and Tsere not reouire^-to take the row of 
 complete renunciation of all they once possessed ^nd 
 enjoyed* f sychoia^ioally it ie? bat reasoriable, not to 
 expect too much of a iCshatrya wnoee life is spent In 
 conqaering, mastering; and enJoyii%: the thlni^s of life* 
 Partl«3l retirement, . ,, v^^^ ^.^flce in 
 
 favor of other E who 'were ?>rep«irect i.:> . in Bnd merely 
 
 claim the tseans of honor ;s«i«=*tence, iike the mo- 
 
 dern penfcion»«, Vf^^s almost a las*- seif-aeni al that a 
 warrior can be expected to do* 
 
11^ 
 
 a* Por the l^alsiiy .e(iiierchants and ^rionltarlete) 
 
 only the firtt tr * -^^ 'lerB were ©s^Din- ' *.-» 
 dnrlnfe' tJie pleistio a.ii^ pro^adoleeoent period and uiter 
 tJlfit family life, buslnese life *^nd geaeral fanetXomil 
 life until tJie end. A Yaieiiy^i c^ ^ • li 1 
 
 retirement if he chose to do ao out the kind of life he 
 led all throagh hie yotith and middle age, of money 
 ma-'ing, enjoying laxoriea of wealth etc«, left him 
 generally slu^^vleh, oorpalent und incMipetent to faoe 
 any phyeloal pr lYatlonts or troablee. i^ven in oar time 
 ve L'ee this in the c ae of most of the biibinobs men, 
 when they reach the uge of sixty or sixty^f Ive. ^his 
 is due to the cMafortable mode of life, from u physical 
 standpoint, th^t this class of '^'»^' le leads* 
 
 Aleo in the ease of an agricaltnrl^t the farm 
 duties, after n vhlle, oecome almoBt Bterea^yped and he 
 loses all Irttere )thor thafi hi^ u«a<4l life, 
 
 Moreor . , the other two orders,. - «• intellectual 
 
 and require tielf denial und detacament tvoax thlpge on€i hiS 
 o^ned for a long tlzne* The een&e of attachment ie n>itiir- 
 ■^^1''^ ^•" ' -^ ^^\^ p — ^- r.? tnue^ \,,,„ ^.-Te soaiethlng 
 
 Jhii be «tt iched to. r#haaian*s life frwa r%Yj child- 
 
 v.ood iii so formulated that the eence of property hae 
 r roly . ohanoe to enter his mind. But a Vaishya, more 
 than even a X»hatriya, ie sttaohed to eo many things. 
 Even in the lowest etratom of hie caste he has to cul- 
 
!lt> 
 
 tlvate th'^ 3an8« of attaf»hin«nl' thfl thlxiga that hf5 might 
 progrf5S3. 
 
 Whetherrpbe an agriculturist, a -^rafti'.man or a buGlness 
 man, he '^eala In material objects mora than any bc^y else, 
 Aa such to ^ajoln nnv j^trir»tnr rM Helpline on hliK than the 
 fnlfllTr«'^^- oft th" ^^T ;...o OT'lorf--. woul?1 .'reari to Gtreteh. 
 the virtue beyond its lirs^it. Also his family life w^s full 
 of in<!^lvidual , social, coinirerplal , anl aajional <1utifls« 
 Fin 'iiro tl:'* TT'o-iorol; of rhf.T- i ty, .11 other c""--^'^- in one way 
 or another rlapea^le'l upon this <»a8t9. Kings, e^lucators as 
 K^ell Gi? the laboring classes need the cb.3tf» that handles 
 ti^.Y'i r-ulture i: :•' ■ ': 'i^^-^ia, pr-^. -'^ --i nr;^ diati i -u . ing, and per- 
 petuating the propperi^y. of the soGlety» 
 
 4t Shudras lihs the colore'^^ peojilr; it «'^. jtates 
 
 were negiicted* I/uc to tho '--l y'' ■ r"k. th^f. •^ere doi i- 
 
 for the society, there ^as ae\'i?'iT a '^hance left bo let them 
 oat of it and io so^nethlng ©1b©, Thise v/ho serve others 
 knc *" ■■ ■ -.T ; i.-j :'nvr>.r an '-!n'i to it-. . iiere Is always a 
 
 demand for manu^il labor and the lower kinds of service, 
 moreover as the life of the Aryans, that is, the members of 
 the first ^ hrno castes, wor f '^rrntilized end or-^-^ni^ed in a 
 definite fashion as describe'^ before, their growing population 
 and increasing needs required a greater number of Bervants. 
 
//r 
 
 Boal'ies the pursuits of life for the AryHna, ^i'^ not 
 terminate In the acquiring of education, livlag a f^onjugali 
 life producing and enjoying the needs of the wotld, as 
 we see toda^? in our rriodern noTniTionitios, but the orier 
 system endorsed and encouraged the removal of the functioning 
 members of the society for something srpposed to be higher 
 and nobler beyond mere function of living^ This had much 
 to do with the negler>t of the ohuora caste. They Lad no 
 time left to attend to this class of the Aboriginles and the 
 people of low intelllgnecet 
 
 vVe q.lso seo the same thing in our American history 
 of Hducation, The state laws passes from tim.e to time 
 modifying the conditions of e-iuc^itlonal opportuaity for the 
 population ae a whole shows clearly how for a long time 
 no care r^- s taVen of the colore^ population. The gradually 
 !=iome 8tut.;g sho^^ed u liberal attitude but d4d not approve 
 of putting the r^ol^red children in the samo schools with 
 the white children, ] oreover the courses of study offered 
 for the colnT<b'\ pupils we-^e much inferior In r»ontent • 
 Until very recently a colored man was Indirectly barred 
 froiTi making free use of educational opportunities. Kven today 
 th'^ro are ttm ny dif Iculties in the way of e colored boy 
 getting a satisfactory education as compared to those of a 
 whit 3 lad% 
 
fn 
 
 This Is true every where, ( whether we like to adrr.it it or not) 
 where the relation of conqueror and the conquere^l, superior 
 and inferior, white an- the black ot* yellow exists, Aryans 
 were no exception to thid deep rooted trait of the human 
 nature. Still in those old times they did what they could 
 by admitting ths ohudras in thoir 30L?lal jyatein and recognising 
 thorn as human beings who possessed the same kind of sould , 
 though on a very low level, of evolution. 
 
 Y Educational iige as a rule was from eight to twenty- 
 five inclusive. The initiation cere.mony (thread -"f^remony ) 
 was performed at the jHge of eight, as has been said in the 
 fore poi'ip: pag-es, in the case of all the first threo wastes, 
 ^''roffi the @§e of eight to thirteen there was y'ompulsory primary 
 education des'?ribed for all . The r»urriculum during these 
 primary grades was uniform and common to all, his was the 
 gannral rouada^.ion for ell 3rinds af branching out of studies 
 which took place in the next stage of education, according 
 to the needs of the pupil in termu of his caste. His -^aste 
 simply decided the line ho waa to take up4 but in that line 
 he was perfectly at liberty to choose his special interest, 
 For exampl» a Valshya boy will be direct d to inter the 
 vocational and agricultural lin^s; then within the limits of 
 .that line th«re are innumerable branches of study and training. 
 He colli ^ take up any one or more of those .iev*3ral trades 
 that he liked. Also there v/as some few courses that were 
 
//«> 
 
 compulsory accor'^lng to the nature of the main liae of stu^y. 
 J'or Instance, a boy of the Kshatrlya <»aste r»oul(3 talre up 
 ploltical sr»ien'>e, economics, philosophy or any subject he 
 chose to npeelallze In or ^ o stu-ly as far ar, he could, but 
 military training was coppulaory for him nnfior any condition. 
 In times of war he was to be draft^* first, whether he was 
 actually living a sol'^lerly or kingly life or not and as 
 such he was required to have thftt sort of training eompulsor* 
 lly as a rule. 
 
 From the age of thirteen to sixteen or seventeen 
 the curriculum laid greater emphasis on corapul^Bory r^ourses 
 and elect Ives were compsirltlvel:;' fe-??. For this was the age 
 when conscious education stepped In and here was the time 
 of habit forniijrion and creation of 111c es and dislikes, 
 
 Teach'^rs were as a rule from the Brahaman caste 
 and they being assent! ^7 ly responsiblj* for the authorship 
 and especially for the perpetuation and smooth running 
 of the caste system, advised bki^ instructed the students 
 in such a way that the students would forma habits , likes 
 and dislikes, that ?;ould make them effecient citizens of 
 the societ;^ in terms of their respective castes. 
 
 It must be noticed that, Inditxn educatt^< was ^ 
 not directive in nature as the e-^uccitlon in ^rnerica is 
 but it was purely instructive. On that ground it must be 
 admitted that the Aryans ^vere not so very liberal in their 
 
//7 
 
 social views; rathor on the contrary W6 have ever:/ reason 
 to Infer psych ologlcalj^y from their social ani e^Jucational 
 theories an«5 practise that they were a conservative people 
 In the main. Their progressive attitudes in many respe«^ts 
 may permit their orthodoxy to be called an Knllghtened 
 conservatism » 
 
 ^h'!: vige limit of compulsory e^pcatlon was fifteen 
 after whl'^h u boy was tillowe'"' to leavn ih^ s<^hool that Is 
 the hcjrmiitAcre of his Guru (teacher) If he chose to do so 
 or 6f his parents 30, 'lesired, to take up actual part In 
 the vocation of ll^e. In many ^ases, especially la the case 
 of princes, the boy was required to leavf? the S'^h6o^ 
 right after the compulsory ago , to succeed to the vacant 
 •uhrono. A1'3 ^"he poor people of th'^ Brahaman , Kshatrlya, 
 or Valshya r»Bstes n*^^'^-*^'^ their boys to tal^e up some 
 remunerativ; crlT r ''' support their par-^nts even from that 
 early ago* 
 
 Froir. flfte-^n or seventeen on to twenty five 
 regular specialization v,orV began, f-ne had to choofee his 
 major ana some few allied electives and do Intensive study 
 in that particular line, This specialization program 
 liowever, was not so much of an intsmive resear<»h style. 
 Education was mainly cultural. Though we do find the s^^ier-- 
 of Medicine, Astronomy, Mathematics, and Grammar very highly 
 
//^ 
 
 spceialisji^a. Each one of tho30 r^^qairod full twalva years 
 of Acntlnuous study tr - • -.■' , ^v^ work. The last namily 
 gram»nar may app -ar rather atruQge to bo group©'! with the 
 other aocepto-i s^len<?QS of roodern tirr.eo. but. due to th« 
 highly f1e"velop2d nnci complicat o'l form of the ianakrit 
 language, the then spoken language of India, grammar was 
 30 elaborately ^orlted out that often it could be substituted 
 in tie upper division work "f^or rri?ithematl?^s. 
 
 All the curriculura was so organ! 55 ed that a ^outh 
 coull normally finish hi« spocialiKation as ell as the 
 general eduratlon by the twenty fifth year. Then the period 
 of family life set 1 n^ A student '^me sent out ^vith blessings 
 by his teachers to go to the rity or twsn and get married 
 and start actually parti ripa"^lng In tho problems of life, 
 as >x family man. Marriage w,qs not romjynlsor's on gither of 
 the :^exf;s but it vfps highly rec^orrir^ended, A detailed "esf^ript ion 
 of this will DC given Tvhile treating the second order of the 
 caste system. 
 
H7 
 
 Family 1 If e( GruhasthashraTna) 
 
 This OT'ler Is Instituted with two fundemontal 
 psychological reasonj: 
 
 1. To take care of the sex Instinct, 
 
 2. To perpetuate the human race. 
 
 Thus the timo for siEirrla^e anfl the forms of marriage 
 are laid down in the v/orVs of kanu, the Kindu law giver, 
 accor^itng to the physical and mental levels of the people, 
 Since the first threo castos i.r^ base^l on this V(»r3' consider* 
 at ion Menu speakg of ^ight forrns of marriage with a detailed 
 description of each and that description tells us how those 
 different forms of marriage are acceptable to peoples on 
 different phy:iical --entrA:! levels. Also the tim? for 
 
 marriage varied in different castes. This was also due to 
 the social end educational 'differences among the castes, 
 
 A Brahamfn had to undergo a comparitively period 
 of celebicy then a Kshtriya or a Vaishya, He was supposed 
 to ac^lre greater self control and gravity of learning 
 to filnction efficiently without any neterlel power at his 
 comrr-and. All he could do V7a8 to inspire awe and reverance 
 in the nlnda of the people at large and on the strength 
 of those two keep up his social statAs • Thus norm.ally 
 
~> 
 
a Brahaman was suppos ol to get marriacl froir twenty on. 
 Highly educate-^ Brahairans married at the '^loso of their 
 education or about th-i age of twenty fl-ve. 
 
 The Kshatriayas , due to their physical e^^ucatlon 
 and naturally robust frame used to become physically matured 
 and the age of fifteen* Thus ,they were supposed to get married 
 from fifteen on to twenty according to their social needs. 
 
 Similar was the case with the Valshyff3( Cornrnon 
 people). ;5ome times they married as late as a Brahaman 
 and sometimes ev<^n earlier tihan bhe Kshatriya. The later 
 case of early carriage was due to two reasons: 1. 
 
 1, In the hot climate of India sex naturlty was as 
 a rule earlier. 
 
 2. Very eloaely \nlt farnlliy system In India BMlies It 
 Yjp..^^., ^. .- ] , . *. -f fVr -fe^ -^lles to get a girl 
 in the family circle at an early ags^ so that 
 during the liupresalonable age she could be Instru- 
 
 '-t -^^ ii th-'j fa.Tiily trs'litioas aa'l could be so brought 
 up thttt she would not iook upon the merabers of this 
 new family of her husband as strangers , but will 
 gradually get n^^f».^ t^ ^.^'*t^\ anl learn to regard 
 them iia^ Iotc* thoni as her own people. 
 
fj^r 
 
 TMa eonslderatton la var^ important ana eould not 
 b« anderstood by thoso who have not oxparloncod a family 
 lifo in tha widar sansa of the termt Wa notica in the animal 
 kingdom tliat^ tha m^lo and tha famalo form a raal family unit* 
 Tha yoang onea ara mambars of tho family only during tlioir 
 infanoy, j3o aoonar do tha^' gat atrangth anoug to stand on 
 thair own lags for thair support and protaetion tluui they la 
 laaya the par ants and wit>slR pi ^^or ti^rja forgat thair 
 ralationships* v^^ti to tha axtsst that the young starts the 
 propagation of his ra<?a throwgh hid own mother* 
 
 tfa human balnga are blaasad with reason and our 
 power of remembering things is Inflnatedty greater than that 
 of any emlmal* f he only thing that difttinguished us from 
 other lower knigdomes is onr TatlonaT behavior whieh malrec 
 us n&t merely gregarious but our gregarlousness is highly 
 seleotiTe end systematie. Primitatlva sian with the dawn 
 of reason came to understand the Be:s differeaoe but with 
 the develo^^ement of reason-^raroe to i9r©t#<»t and raspeet 
 his companion of the opposite sex* Here also in the human 
 kingdom we find at tha beginnlgg vs& aougugaa xi£a ^sband 
 and wife , only two constituting a i'aaiil^* -ut as the 
 social assosiatlon fibers bee*»« to increase in number he 
 ooald not saggregate himself from his parents Juat ta win 
 a wtfwfor his paraoiial irratlfl^^^xi on uuii eempalled his mates 
 
//^A- 
 
 to come ana live with him anfi his pa-^-ents. Thvs he learhed 
 to bind the past with the present, ?»lien children were born 
 the s4nse of future relationships evolved and he did not like 
 to let his chllfren go away from him leaving him and his 
 wife by themselves. So he brought up his children In such a 
 way that they learnet^ the same lesson that he had learned 
 through sheer experience. 
 
 Thus with the advance of natural civilization 
 man began to live In larger groups called family. This 
 developed Into the trlbe^ society anf nation. One who Is 
 able to live such a life of larger and wider association 
 came to be regarded as t, truly human and civilized person. 
 This was In brief the psychological evolution of human 
 mind from the social point of view. ?rom this view of 
 natural civilization of man , early ihatrlage with the aim of 
 educating the girl In the traditions of the family and making 
 out of her a worthy mistress of the group, who would enhance 
 and propote the name of the family and add to its glory by 
 her kind, loving, respef»tful, human, and sociable conduct 
 towards all, deserves all ■prt.ize.m 
 
 The critics must remember that In these early 
 marriages there Is no plase for even the thought of sex 
 relationship. Older people who have a vision for the future 
 choose a good natured, healthy girl from a family that is 
 
/A 
 
 socially arid morally equal to their own. Par ant a 
 and other elderly relations af both sides get together 
 and think out the desireablllty of stLc^ a union and then 
 contract the rlationshlp* 
 
 ilarriage la a mere forroal ^eremony so far as the 
 young brife and bridagroom are concerned* • Grett care is 
 exerted by the older members in the family of the bride- 
 groom to superintend the behavior of the brl^e^room towards 
 the brlda. ?or the first year of this nominal married life 
 aoioe elderly woman from the brides fwnlly for whom tha 
 youag girl has great love and attachment , is sent to live 
 with her at her husbands family. Thus the serapation is 
 mnch ffiitigmted and the young girl gradually gets used to the 
 new environment. Alsot the people of the bridegro<Mas family 
 are always exceedingly kind and loving to this new member 
 of the family. 
 
 When the girl attains the puberty age the mother- 
 in law attends to her and a public announcament Is Bade 
 of the day for the honey moon. From that day they become 
 husband and wife in the eugenic sense of the term. 
 
 Thus we see that In the case of rich people or 
 in the oaaa of families that have rich heritage of traditions 
 child marriage becomes a necessity from a social point of 
 vl ew. 
 
l^^ 
 
 If a young woman of fifteen to twanty y^ars of age 
 iJlio under warm Indian climate has practically become a 
 matured woman, 'Ahose ideas and ideals are formed, ifhose 
 character is built up and who due to her long association 
 with her own people during the impress! onaMe age, finds 
 it difflcnlj? to readily understand and appreciate the views 
 ipanners and treat m'^nt of the pwople at her husbands home, 
 be brought into the family, in nine cases out of ten family 
 factions crop out ana the only solution available under 
 that situation is to go back to nature, that is to take 
 to your wife and leave those who brought you up who under- 
 went all kinds of sufferings, physical, social and pecuniary 
 for you, behind to their own fata and enjojr the life in 
 the company of your newly acquired friend as animals and 
 birds do* 
 
 s 
 
 Early marriages In poor families are not socially 
 commended at all tAlso the religion does not permit early 
 Biarrlage in th« eugenic sense either. This much in favor 
 of the rational earlym marriage is enou|!h for those who 
 can understand the underlying conditions and social implicatlonSi 
 For those who cannot understand the true slgniflcence of it 
 will never do so eVen if volumes should he written to eaqplaln 
 the theme* 
 
/ X/^* 
 
 In th« dlscusaiojQ of this ser^ond order of the 
 eas^e system It will b© proper and essential to give a 
 general psychology of marital relations among the Indo-Aryans, 
 
 Marriage Institutions 
 
 According to the religious and social law of 
 InAla marriage is not regarde-^ as a matter od merely choosing 
 a companion of the other sex. If that were allowed, that 
 is, if free choice were to rule the ilatrimonlal affairs it 
 would make the social life individualistic and. with it the 
 caste restrictions would be much shaken • The feeling of 
 love would have ber»orae an incentive to break the rules 
 but as the marriages came to be arralnged by the parents 
 in the majority of cases, the force of this feeling does 
 not avail even now, 
 
 The feelings, information, ideas and calculations 
 
 of th?? parents being the control*ng factors in Indian marriage 
 
 the custom of marrying within the caste is retained. The 
 
 theory of marriage purity as preached in Indian scriptures 
 
 w*ll reveal the reason why the Hindus hild to this form of 
 
 marriage. It is thus:" A really falthftil woman or man 
 ought not to feel affection for a man or woman other than 
 the one vith whom she or he is united. For a superficial 
 observer physical purity or pollution stands for morality 
 
/ ;*- ^ 
 
 ana Its opposite. But ps; <?> ^ " ly the objective standards 
 of morality acscoraing to t. are montal attitudes 
 
 towaT<5s the other sex. " 
 
 On this point the Bhagvadgita says" 
 
 "He nho controls all the physical senses but keeps thinking 
 of the objects of senses , mehtally, that fool is said to 
 ba an immoral person^ 
 
 This is not whet the Hindus alone preached 
 or belelved^ It is admitted by the thlnkAng minds of the 
 world* It is indeed a very difficult and perhaps extra 
 normal doctrine for the average human being emd can only 
 be practised by the super men* But on the whole the ideal 
 that is to be placed before the society and inculcated 
 in the minds of the people for practice is with the aim of 
 helping the evolution of mankind to «^ulroinate into a super- 
 man society, ill the great souls recognized this thot; 
 opportunltists, due to their narrow considerations, have 
 oftan condemmedlt as unpractical and purely idealistic. 
 Christians will do well to recall what their prophe^has 
 said on this point and consider how far It approves the 
 love marrlaga as in vogue today. Jesus said: 
 
 "Ye have heard that IdfTwas aald, thou shalt not commit 
 
 adultery , but I say unto you, that -ivery one that 
 
 looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed 
 
 adult ory with her already in his heart. And if thy right 
 
 eya causeth you to sjrumble, pluck it out and ^ast It from the*?. 
 
4 '^f* y-j^' h .r-t 1".^A- 
 
l^ 
 
 for It Is profit aT)le for th-s-j that one o:^ thy members 
 should j^erish and not thy whol« body be oast Into Hell* 
 And If thy right hand caaseth thee to stu«ble fnt It off, 
 ana cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that ona 
 of thy members should parish and not thy whole ^dy go into 
 Hell, It was said also, who evp^r shall put away his Wife 
 let him give her a writing of devoreement. But I say unto 
 you, that every one that putteth' away his wife an' saving 
 for the oause of fornication , maketh her an adult erest 
 and whoever ahull ij^arry her when she is put away committeth 
 adult ory • " 
 
 Such purity is compulsory not only after marriage 
 but e^en before marriage, for that is the only correct 
 ideal of ehastity, No maiden cooild be considered pure if 
 she feels love for a man other than the one to whom she 
 night get married. As she does not know whon sha is going 
 to get marriad to she must not feel affection in the passionate 
 sense for any man at all, before marriage. If she does so 
 it 13 a 3ia. So it is Setter for a girl to know whom she 
 has to love, before any seijmal consciousness awakens in 
 her* 
 
 The eight forms of marriage of which Mami spaaka 
 so much seem to have been the forms that were in actual ex 
 •xistencti in those days among people in different parts 
 of India, Manu approves of the first four forms and calls 
 tham clTrilized marriages. While the ramaining four forms 
 are not approved because of the low mentality, unciviled 
 condnct, barbarous methods and low tastes characterized 
 them t 
 
/^y 
 
 These last four fonrs were practised by the aborlglnles 
 as well as by those wild tribes that enter India from time 
 to ttir.e« 
 
 The form of nusrriage useri for the Brahaman caste 
 Is known as "The Brahma Vivah %in this form the young 
 scholar after completing his educatloA or leaving the school 
 Is supposed to go back to the society and with the help of 
 the elders, parents, iriends, ect. ,gatner iiiXorj^tioii 
 about certain marriageable girls of hly caste in regard to 
 their physical , mental, enucational, social family, 
 and lastly moral statiBs. Then he was to call on the parents 
 of those girls whose descriptions appealed to him and ask 
 the favor being Introduced to their daughter. 3y way of 
 conversation for some days with such young girls, it was 
 easy for an educated Brahaman boy to find out whether the 
 party was suited to his nature and education and such other 
 considerations. 
 
 The boy would not be introduced to the girl 
 until the parents of the girl got full information about 
 his family, education, social stititus 9itii* If all of these 
 were found to be satisfactory^ he would be permitted to 
 know the girl and then if both the palrtles feel satisfied 
 and inclined toward each other the boy was to go to the father 
 of the girl and beg of him his daughter in marriage. 
 
m 
 
 1 
 
 ill this was not very Intricate procedure for the aiip^^le 
 life of the Brahemans of those ancient tiroea and their 
 high eaucatlonal standing rather made matters quite 
 slmfle and straight forward. 
 
 The form of marriage used by the KahatriFas 
 was known as " Gandharva Tivah'. This was exactly similar 
 to the love marriage in the west* A kingly Eshatriya 
 whether he was a prince or an ordinary soldier » naturally 
 took pride In wining the lady by his chivalrous conduct 
 and heroic deads. The faisous drama "Shakuntala " written 
 by the greatest of the Sanskrit peets. 2:alidas,is a master 
 piece and is real to the letter depiction of the Kshatriya 
 marriage and its whole procedure, 
 
 T?eference ; Dr. Arthdr W, Ryder? translation 
 of 3ha3aintala is the best to read, Sver:froans library series. 
 
 Love marriage was called " G^dharva Vivah" 
 because It was belelved by the Aryans to be the form of 
 marriage used by the Gandharvas or the pleasure seeking 
 guardians of the eight quarters, of Indian !^hology» 
 
 It must not be Inderstoc^ even for a moment 
 that the religious orthod03cy of India was completely void 
 of all feelings and considerations of love. 
 
' D 
 
 Lov« marriage was regarded as a very noble typw of anion. 
 
 but It was nf^y^iT allowed to confine itself to the physical 
 
 sl(^e of the problem; It had to bo linked with the aim of 
 
 life as a viiole. The wife was regarded essential for 
 
 participation in any sort of religious ijeremony. Gods 
 
 it was said, would ne^er be pleased with the services and 
 
 offerings of a mail who was singlet The religions position 
 
 of a woman , which was greater than any position ever 
 
 offered her in any society of the world, made marriage 
 
 mor^ than mere physical gratification concern or propogatlon 
 
 duty, 
 
 Divorces in the Kshatriya caste were permitted 
 due to the nature of love m&rrlage. People are likely to 
 commit mistakes of choice and repent of them later. But 
 socially divorce was condemned or at least not looked upon 
 as respect li^lble. 
 
 In the case of the Vaishyas (common people) 
 '•Dalva Vimah'* ( determined miprrlage ) was used. This 
 was the kind of marriage spoken of at lengUi before. 
 Parents of the briie and the bridegroom are responsible 
 for contracting unions of their 'Children, Also it may be well 
 to recall all the reasons and considerations shown before 
 to explain the psychology of this pra<»tlce. It Is called 
 Dalva or determined form of marriage, because the bride 
 
i'bf 
 
 or the t)rldegroom has no choice In It, 
 
 It is strange to say that , as the Indian society 
 grew bigger and bigger In population and the consolidation 
 of It under the Brahaman guidance, tenrled to maiie It 
 intensely conservative the Valshya form of marriage namely 
 marriage contracted by par'^nts, got the better of the 
 upper two forms anri today among the upper castes this form 
 Is common and deep rnoted. 
 
 This second orcler of the Hindu caste system 
 
 stands In the main for the attainment of the three ends of 
 
 the worldly life namely Dharma ( duty) Artha (wealth) 
 
 and Kama ^ desires), Duty sonsists of helping the malntanance 
 
 of the other three orders, Wealth means producing and 
 
 perpetuatiiig the prosperity of the conanunlty. Desire means 
 
 satisfaction of personal longings as human beings , that 
 
 la, making use of the worldly things towards ones physical 
 
 wants an'l needs, 
 
 I 
 
 It Is plain from what has besn pointed out in 
 
 tha fore going papes as well as In the previous chapters 
 
 that there are two important elements in Hindu caste system, 
 
 1, Endogamy and II , Hierarchy, The classes, ra<»es and 
 
 occupations have a combined effect of exclusion of one 
 
 group from another^ Also due to the life work and the 
 
 attendant ment^ul level and the degree of delf sacrifice 
 
 there is an understanding that, one group is superior to 
 
I ^A^ 
 
 •nothar group* Of th«se two eldraents, in this story of 
 
 marriage, it is better to single out the element of 
 
 endogamy for psychological considerations. Wastemalek 
 
 could be quoted here with snfflcient propriety since ha 
 
 has done great study along thsi line. He aays*: 
 
 "Affaction depends in a very high 'iegree upon syiupathy* 
 Though distinct attitudes, thasa two clasaas of 
 emotions are roost IntAately connetfeed* Affection is 
 strangthanad by sy^athy and sympathy is strengthened 
 by affection. Community of Interest , opinions, 
 santiments. culture, mode of life, as being essential 
 to '•lose sympathy, is ther-s fore to warm affection. 
 If love is excited by contrast it Is ao only within 
 certain limitw. The contrast cannot be so great as 
 to exclude sympathy. *• 
 
 Human affection is generally restricted to those 
 who are similar in these respects. People differing in raca 
 religion, civilization and customs are also different in 
 those es'^entials of close sympathy, and human affadtloB is 
 always guided by race and religion, customes or social 
 positions. All these considerations explain why people tend 
 to become endogamus and then castes ar classes arise out 
 of that. This was not or is not pacullar to India alone. 
 If or is it characteristic of prlmatlve people only. 
 
 Let us tel:e the case of the clvlllzad nations 
 of Europe. In Sweeden in the seventeenth century marriagea 
 out aide of the class were ptnished. According to the German 
 civil law the marriage of a man belonging to a high 
 nobility 
 
13^ 
 
 nobility with e woman of Inferior birth vuq regarae-l fiatll 
 before the great wa» at least <11sparafiing and the woman 
 va£ not entltle'l to the rank of her husband, uor was the full 
 right of Inheritance possessed by her or her children. 
 
 This period of family life extended over twenty 
 five years; that is at the age of fifty amn and woman were 
 expected according to the or'^er system to relinquish in favor 
 of their successors all theor material possessions, make 
 arralngements for their suppoBt ana leaa a life of partial 
 retirement* 
 
 Partial retirement (Vana Prastha) 
 
 ,By lihis partial retlr^^ment order was meant that 
 in most of the ordinary affairs of the family life, the elders 
 were not to be much 'concerned* It was the duty of the young 
 ]»«^le of the family to loolr after tho<^e details. The respon- 
 sibility of the hotjg* hold together with the social duties 
 were to be discharged by the active members of the family* 
 The retired people were to assist the younger generation 
 by way of ktmely advice ans such other help which they 
 could afford to render. But the main purpose of this partial 
 retirement was tvo fold: 
 
/ c^ 
 
 1« To teach the next generation tc function ia 
 place of the olfler one by handing over +'»* ^ -^--^ v-,^ 
 responsibilities and privlliges to them. 
 
 Z9 To learn self control , r!etachment from the 
 worldly poasepslons fnd attractions, to the end of 
 ultimately renouncing all the material connections with 
 the world • 
 
 This was a gradual training in learning how to 
 participate in the activities of the society without any 
 personal selfish interacts what so ever. Teople during this 
 stage have made very r«rMLtta^le contributions , especially 
 literary and philosophical, to th« , culture of India. 
 
 Unselfish interests *n the one hand ani on the 
 other the desire to do something beneficial for the sociaty 
 bafore taking the complete vow of renunciation, .spurred the 
 people to e^tert their best efforts. Consequently the results 
 were often highly beneficial to the comrcAnity as a whole. 
 While the older people were passing their days through this 
 partial retirement order, the younger people also learned 
 to become self reliant and to gradually loosed the ties 
 of attachment to the older generation^ whl'^h often retards 
 the rogresslve march of the youths. 
 
This ordsr lE3t«a for twenty flvs yeftre, 
 physiologically speakliie this 1b th, normal time whne p.opl, 
 •hcnia gat o4t of «ctlv« or ev<,n partial participation In 
 the affairs of the worli for eTentually It becomes and 
 obatlcle m the problems of the society rather than otherwla.. 
 
 Smayaa ( Rennnelatlon) 
 
 This is the final order* T he individual stoppiag 
 Into this order has to go through a certain religious e 
 ceremony in which he takes the vow of complete renunciation 
 of all worldly possessions* He becomes a citizen of the 
 world and is no longer a member of any caste* i411 castes 
 are alike to him. All the restrictions of inter dining^ 
 touchability etc* vanish in his case^ He lives in the 
 spiritual kingdom and recognises God alone as superior to 
 him. He is subordinate to none in the world. ,He gives up 
 aid of his hard earne^l possessions, comforts, human ties, 
 in order to embark on that austier phase of life in which he 
 is supposed to attempt communion with the almighty principle 
 that creates, sustairas and destroys all the universe. 
 His is the life of thought* Merged in high abstract 
 philosophy, living on the- highest inteller»tual plane he 
 learns to manifest the supreme virtues of piety, truth. 
 

 •^ ^T^<^^ ?•• 
 
/^J» 
 
 Ja8tlo« and knowledge* 
 
 As has baan said bafora, ha is a^solTad from all 
 of his worldly obligations in the lagal sensa of tha term. 
 Ha ehangas his nama an*^ takes a new one which has a universal 
 implication* 
 
 Tha whole creation is alike to him slnea on this 
 mental level he is supposed to sea the spirit of things 
 and not the mere external form as he did during all of his 
 praTlous years* 
 
 Oeeassional meditation on abstract principles* 
 plain simple life out side the attractions of worldly noise 
 and struggle, brtng on his a certain gravity, .Constant 
 communion with nature makes him a pure lo^er of Gods creation 
 and deep thinking, a study of philosophy and chaste life 
 malre him rise above the normal plain and attain a unique 
 physical and mental stage of dignity, awe, and reverence. 
 
 The great ' Shank ar' who reconstructed the dwindling 
 Hindu society and religioa when Budhism began to rise in 
 India, was a 3annajrasln ( Renouncer) » He spent all of his 
 life without ever owning anything but all the while doing 
 most unselfish servlcet to the human race. 
 
I^^n -MOT*^ fm'^.^-:'''- 
 
 t^rs f<'f 
 
In modern times the affairs pf the world hav« 
 radically changed the nature of human life. The needs of 
 humanity are different to day from what they were in old times 
 Hence one taking the tow of 3annyaa (renounclatlon) has to 
 lead a somewhat different typw of life than was customary, 
 Dr. Kurtakotl » who Is one the representatives of the great 
 Shankar In India to day has taken this tow and has be'^n 
 busy all these years reorganizing the social and religious 
 life of the Indlah people. He Is the first of his order who 
 has taken actlTe part In the modern educational programs 
 of the count ry. He has been recently elected as the chancellor 
 of tl^e " Tllak Mahavldyalaya ", a new university lately 
 established by the Indian nationalists In memory of late 
 Mr* Tilak» the founder of Indian nationalist party. 
 
 Dr. air, Subramhanyam Alyar , who held high public 
 an'i goTeonmental offices during his life, stepped Into this 
 order and Is now rendering most unselfish serTlce to the 
 •oelety In bringing about the economic and political uplift 
 of indla , He no longer <5lalms any of his titles, , 
 
 Mahatma Gaftdhl , after all of his brilliant 
 career as a scholar in England and a Tery highly paid barrlate ? 
 Barrister in India and in South Afrlva, entered this 
 Ashram and is now leading the masses of India toward their 
 political emacipatlon« 
 
■I/Ci'^ r 
 
/C?i) 
 
 Aeeording to Christian missionaries and Colonel 
 Wedgewood a British officer , Gandhi la th>^ only living 
 person wh* is leading a real Christ-like life. No political 
 leader in any country enjoyed Gandhi's fame • Even his enemie^a 
 have nothing to say against his personal character* Love» 
 truth and piety are his weapons « He does not beleive in 
 physiaval force as the Instrument that a human being should 
 use* in obtaining anything that Is good and righteous* 
 
 Young educated Indians have great reverence and 
 admiration for this order and for the people entering it. 
 They all aspire to enter it some day when they could realize 
 the bliss of universal attitude , vision, and experience* 
 
 This order closes the drama of human life in 
 four acts. 
 
© at #(»«a 
 
 r*#*r«iV-^'t" vSi'b'^'^. 5V?t?f 5*41 -■ 'f A.'> '" 'ort/j f^r- 
 
i3y 
 
 HIHDUI3M AND THS CASTS 3Y3TKM, 
 
 V«ry oft«a a question Is asktd' What Is tha 
 relation of Caatt aystaro to Hindu rallglon?" It la aaay 
 to ask aueh a question, but to answar It Is a vary dlffleplt 
 mattar. Ths difficulty Is not dua to tha ln<»oiBprabanalblllty 
 of tha Phanonana thriicsalTas but to tha false Ideas whlah 
 exist as a reault of the present eourren^^y of a wrong 
 system of thought* Tha study of social sr^lences In Europe 
 Is new, and new as It Is, It has re(*el7e4 a very one sided 
 deTelopement* 
 
 The students of social silences had not a good 
 knowledge of civilizations other than occidental* 
 Moreover their Ideas have been fettered by the ^Imitations 
 of their own languages, and In ray opinion this fact 
 prevented them from studying their own 'Civilisation In: a 
 manner sufficiently objective. 
 
 The first point Is whether ^asta system Is allowed 
 by the Hindu religion or not. This nue^tlon sounds reasonable 
 to one who understands th# word religion as It Is under* 
 stood In occidental countries. 
 
-%■ 
 
 ^6»0: 
 
 d^ Tf 
 
fT 
 
 The ooeldental society was formed on pre-existing 
 eonstitation. A certain taaster and his teaching existed 
 and those who joined the Theophratry and followed its 
 teachings became members of the trible^The members uhder* 
 took to follow the teachings as they are» Thus it became 
 an important matter for every person to find out whether 
 any particular dogma or doctrine can be found in the 
 religion, that is, in the original constitution^ which ha 
 tm suppoded to follow. 
 
 If anything is approved by the master it is 
 to be followed; if it is disapproved, it shoul be 
 abondoned. In this case it is perfectly natural to ask 
 whether a certain thing is allowed by the religion or no 
 Just as the members of the legislature while voting for 
 any law, would cansider whether the particular pr ode dure 
 is allowed by the constitution. 
 
 Thus Religion, that is, Christianity became 
 the backbone of every Institution in the western world, 
 IRome became the central power of all the Suropean Polities, 
 3y the time when reformat ion came, religion did not 
 C6ase to dominate. The king had to call himself the head 
 of the church and as such an administrator of religion. 
 

 
 
 ^ii: 
 
y*fr 
 
 S« did aot *et religion aalde but took over the charge 
 of adffilalaterlng it ana thus nsea It as a shield of 
 defenee 
 
 This was possible because of the nature of 
 religion as the occidentals got. They took what the 
 genius of a single Individual offered them, though they 
 Bade wome changes, chose some portions that suited their 
 purpose and formed seiveral creeds, still In the main 
 they had the savior as the central unifying force, whose 
 word and wisdom they did not challenge nor could claim 
 to 8urp€iS8 publicly. While on the '•ontrary the situation 
 In India was quite different; there religion was not any 
 revealed constitution bat It was a growth* It was built 
 up gradually by the several contributions by men of high 
 Intelligence, pure life, and philosophic vision. There Is 
 no savior as a common, central figure. In Hindu religion. 
 
 In fact there are many If one wants to call 
 then 80. It was a pschologlcal evolution of religious 
 thought, according to the changing and complex needs of 
 the pvople and according to the rise or decline of 
 mentality. 
 
03 
 
 t9 bl9ki^ m m» 
 
 
 '%< 
 
 
 w ^." .-i 
 
 ^c^Bto©' 
 
 -i,i.r7..o '"•*■» .5. ^^Ti*. 
 
/*r. 
 
 Then the laws of Hindu lam came to be formal at ea. 
 It was In faat never conceived as an Independent entity 
 hut It was regarde*^ and la still so regarded, as the 
 Institution which regulates the human thought and conduct » 
 to suit first to the betterment of human life in this 
 world and then to tj:a It up with the life hereaftsr 
 according to the doctrine of Immortalltyt 
 
 Therefore there are several definitions of Hindu 
 religion, and ear*h one expresses the gradual growth of 
 religious thought, la tsrani of the philosophy of the time. 
 In short philosophical Investigations were the raoulders 
 of religion of India, This situation led to the natural 
 logical result of roaJcing Hinduism not a religion but a 
 system of religions. 
 
 People were free to choose their beTlefs and 
 doctrines according to their individaal mental capacities* 
 although differing ru'lleally from one another In their 
 beliefs yet they all remalne'l under the common catigory 
 of Hinduism, In spirit this was the most democratic 
 attempt of allowing Individual freeaoro in matters of 
 religion and still federating all such divergent er49^m 
 into one central or^anozation« 
 
zfi 
 
 ruuB0i! 
 
 
 * Ism ^-^- «^ 
 
 Bhe^Tf 
 
ITir 
 
 The Sa»askrlt word for religion Is Dhanaa 
 and It Is derived from the root Dhra (to hold), "Dharaa 
 Is 80 called because It hiblds this world together, ■ 
 This Is one of the old definitions of religion. 
 ( ^/i^^//^HJJ><^/l: W^^TFTrToTTrTQ. This definition 
 shows the universal charsf^ter of dharma whl(*h was designed 
 for holding together In a unifie<1 form the whole world. 
 
 The second progressive character of dharma is thfts: 
 i^-J^^?^/^^^<V/(|^/% ^^^^). . Tiiat Is rsllglon 
 by means of which one conia have a auccessftil accomplish- 
 went of an all round prosperity an^ the attainment of 
 Hlrvan or salvation • ** This definition Is accepted as 
 the standard definition of Dharma by Hindu scholars of 
 ancient and modern times. 
 
 This Is not opposed to the worldly prosperity 
 as some other definitions are. It doss not regard the 
 world as Illusion but on the contrary It recognises Its 
 place and endorso-l the attainment of an all 31*1 e*^ 
 profperlty, Man Is encourage^, by this character of 
 Hinduism, to realize his citizenship of this world ftrst, 
 as efficiently as he can and then connect It with the 
 

 n-- - 
 
 ■»f4 
 
ir-^ 
 
 asptrAtlons ana life after aesth. This Is the greatest 
 of optimism that any religion can preach. It Is needless 
 here to quote several other minor aeflnltlons of Hinduism 
 found in the saered books of Inila. These t^AO are the 
 moat prominent ones and they clearly state the two fold 
 character of Klndulaia^ namely: 
 
 !• Universality .and 
 
 2« Worldly and 31 ritual scope, 
 ThuB Hindu Dharma la not the setme as the religion of the 
 western people. The essential difference between social 
 systems Hire ahrlstlanlty and Mohammedanism Is that tn 
 one case there Is no conversion ,that Is adoption of one 
 group or Individual by another, while In the other case 
 there Is* 
 
 In one case the uniformity of manner, customs 
 and beliefs Is trusted to Geofraphloal proximity and 
 which leads to social Infetrcourse and the Increase of 
 Intercourse is left to time. While in the other, that is 
 In the <»ase of society enclosed In** Hellglon** an att«Bpt 
 Is made to make the candidate believe what other members 
 believe and disregard all that he has that may be different 
 from their beliefs, then he Is , Indftvldnally permitted 
 In the social group enclosed by that religion. 
 
L" -- ■- i, C^. .r .^M - 
 
 ItS*^ 
 
 :mliy'^^ 
 
 
 iJi;s^t:$/cn 
 
 
/ ' • 
 
 Hlndulam Is \>y no means "national" because all 
 tribes In India were not completely Hlndulsed, but many 
 nations like Burmah and Siard were brought under Hindu 
 influen'»e, ?or example, even to day In Slam not only 
 Bud&a Is respected and revered, but Indian heroes like 
 Baaa are aleo revered. 
 
 Hindu philosophy which is the back bone of 
 Hinduism does not ianction conversion from one religion 
 to another. It preaches that all religions are for the 
 good of humanity. If people follow ^fhat ever Is good in 
 their liiarma they will attain all ^ hat they desire to 
 accomplish, No conversion can bring any good but It will 
 simply "divide the human energy and understanding and thus 
 render difficult the attainment of truth. 
 
 Controversies aai scepticism enter the mind 
 of the convert and he is usually render 3d Incapable of 
 thinking in a straight line. Moerover possibility of 
 changing ones IJharma leads to the abuse of such a 
 conversion,, ffen will tend to use conversion as a means 
 of avolflng the duties that have come to them according 
 to their own Dharma, ilso ideas of conquest and conversion 
 by force are sure to enter the minds of the followers 
 of a religion, that endorse* and encourages conversion. 
 

 -9:1^ ^ • aiS^nSiJ, 'USXJ3XU. »?- 
 
 
 JSO.H: 
 
 ?V.v 
 
 * cj! ttr* ^.i %/' 
 
 JliO 
 
 r-^'zotar 
 
/^I> 
 
 Boh««ijffisaanl8h U8«d military for*?« and th« 
 Ohrlat1aa« u««d Mlssioaa back^'^ by e^onomie aad military 
 power. The earlons thins ig that sll these ftggresslTe 
 religions forget the essential <»hara^ter of their faith. 
 1?h^ proceed to clvlllie the people by using aaolvlllsed 
 meatts, Ttiay do aot follow the good j^riaolples aad teaehlngs 
 of t|ielr own religion, do not exert their beat in reflnlag 
 their own population whleh llTee a life qnlte opposed to 
 the teaf»hlngs of their religion and they set out to ssts 
 the soQla of heathens* l^at eould they e^^^peet to glTe 
 to these heathen oonTerts who have been cinder a totally 
 different social and religious environment when their own 
 population is not able to follow their a(»<»eptea ereed? 
 
 It is a very ridiculous effort made under the 
 name of religion and truth. It is a silent form of 
 BllitariSB^ It has led to Milltarlstlo iaaoes every time 
 when the siissioas met with a gesuiae opposition. In short 
 lt***eaough for our purpose in thi^ paper to note the three 
 •sse^itlal ffharaeteristi^s of Hindui^ira over and against 
 the teachings of other religions of the world, i -^ .. 
 
 X. It is universal and cosmopolitan In spirit as it 
 
 la regulated by philosophy* 
 2. It is opposed toall forss of coa^juest in the form 
 of conversion; whether ly force, fraud ,or money. 
 
'I'- 
 
 -HS^ ^ 
 
 umXqkm 
 
 ■^^^ fc^ 
 
 .?imtmjk: 
 
 -MM%1 
 
Tf 
 
 3, It recognlsea the validity of all the religions 
 lnf»ludlng Itself, as the means to an end ^d 
 preached that salTatlon could be obtained by 
 following the righteous teachings of ones own 
 Dharma« 
 
 Tbsfle thr«e optstandlng characteristics of 
 Elndttlsni should have made it a worl^ religion admitting 
 under it the several religions and creeds. But the fact 
 was that It unfortunately faced the attacks of Kohamms- 
 danism and suddenly ^hanged Its course of teaching. 
 Self defense made It become narrow and exclusive^ Heed 
 of strong stabilization of Its teachings among Its 
 follov7ers , who were ever open to attacks and conversions, 
 made It turn the same wide and universal principles Into 
 mere theories. They cj^alked out a strict and feflnlte 
 program of religious practliie. Thus religion which was 
 originally a systematlsed compilation of philosophical 
 doctrines, principles and modern tes^chlngs, became an 
 independent Institution and worke' out rules and regulations 
 to maintain religious union of the Indian people alone. 
 
 It was here that the code of MannC Iganava Dharma 
 Shastra) 1, e. ,the science of human Bharma was worked out. 
 The author was a very highly learned roan and he exerted 
 

 ,pne>ir. 
 
I'T^ 
 
 great Influence over the social raind of Ms time. 
 fie construct c^ a very compleix compandlnm reconciling 
 the teachings of Vedic literature, post-Vedlc 
 fMlosophlcol doctrines, and the several existing forma 
 of social organlzationtThua the Hindu caste system In 
 the form of four all sufficing divisions of the Indian 
 population was Introduced Into the pale of Hlnduisra. 
 
 But this caste system did not appear this 
 time In Its orlgftaal form. It was split ap Into several 
 subcastes according to the various needs of the people. 
 The main reason, as it appears » for the Incorporation 
 of castes Into Elndul«n, was the badly felt need of 
 amintainlng order in the society and preserving the 
 population as a homogenlus consaunlty. The attacks from 
 the foreign thought and lilfe Ileitis, were very great 
 and the Internal cosmopolitan organization was not 
 atr#Bg enough to stand them. 
 
 ?or this reason the soclollglsts of the time 
 represented by Manu, Introduced caste system Into 
 Hinduism and thus we n&^^r fin4 castes, in their organised 
 form, apart from it. In fact caste system came to be the 
 chief corner st6ne of Hinduism. 
 
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 But Hlndnlsm does not mean simply caste system. It must 
 bs definitely understood, for future pupposes.that castes 
 are merely one part of E^ndulsro, though a very Important 
 part. Hinduism as a ^hole In its orlglonal as well as 
 present form and spirit is essentially objective. 
 This point is ot great signlflcace to the e'lucators, whose 
 job it is to reconstruct the social organization. It is 
 not Jtirscessary to hurt the religious feelings of the 
 Hindus while att erupting to Introduce a new social 
 program or modifying the old one. 
 
 The educator therefore had better understand 
 th fundemental doctrines and beliefs of the Hindu com- 
 Branlfy, Such a psychological insist into and acquaintance 
 with the Hindu mind will make all educational and social 
 programs practical and practicable. 
 
 One of the basic teachings* as expressed by a 
 poet, is this:" The sole eternal one self is always in 
 conflict with Maya , iiyhich causes all the delusion, and 
 makes one thing appear different. ?«lio will stop this 
 conflict? It is knowledge alone v.hi'^h leads to renunciation." 
 In this verse the poet speaks of two important beliefH: 
 1. Knowledge as the liberator from all bondage of 
 ignorance. 
 

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 8« Renanclatlon; self denial or saTlfl^e, expresse'l 
 In terms of service that '5oes not '^opent upon the r 
 Is tho ultimate raanli^estatlon of Irnowleflge, 
 
 Suppose a man of Chrlfctlsn caate goes to a Hindu 
 teacher for spiritual elevation, tho teacher wouia then 
 tell him hovv different Is the re&l Christ from the Christ 
 whom he really adores. The teacher would persuade the 
 studeat to IgAore the historical Christ as the later Is 
 only a partial manifestation of the real flhrist, omniscient 
 and everlasting ^incorporated in human form and acting in 
 human ways, iie is a mere living (historically) symbol 
 like an idol through which the devotee <^d savours to 
 picture and understand the eternal truth. Thus the teacher's 
 ehlel object is .ot to create a change in the object of 
 worship but in his Ideas and phiposophy, leaving the old 
 paraphernalia unchanged. 
 
 Another characteristic of Eindu cosmopolitanism 
 is the reoognltion of the propriety of various forms of 
 worship. In this way the^' got over the differences which 
 the disslmarity of worship may have cauaad among the 
 various tribes and sects. Above the practice of the variety 
 of worship they had a philosophy which di scour aged the 
 oppositions and reconciled contradictions. 
 
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 Dharma (duty) la another cosmopolitan agpoct 
 of EindulSB* Whether a roan is a thelst or an atheist, 
 lie has to follo^^ his Dharma, ?hls Dharma Is eternal 
 and Infinite. To whatever a religion a man may belong, 
 whatever school of thought he may follow, of whatever 
 class he inay be a member, he has to follow Diiarma* 
 Such a Pharma or duty was separated f^ora worship and 
 conceptions of God« According to this theory of Dhama 
 they demanded of a man not worship ITat falfllraent of 
 his dntyt 
 
 The moral of this philosophy ii this. It is not 
 • matter of importance as to what God a person worships, 
 what doctrine he believes, what path he follows, rprovided 
 he follows Dharma, the duties of man, as a man, and 
 those of his position assigned to him either as a teacher, 
 a warrior, or a trader, Svery man la expected to be 
 Dharraika, that la , dutiful, this is the general attitude 
 which brought all the castes and tribes , their worships , 
 their beliefs, under one system. 
 
 This philosophy is capable of universal 
 expansion; it was Intended to be so* According to Hindu 
 idea, it is perfectly proper or even neceasary for a 
 Christian to follow his tribal customs , provided he 
 
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 folloiva liai^va Bhraaa. hid duty 9M suua» 
 
 Thus while fli trussing the i^lae© of «aate aystegi 
 In Hlnanleia wq fina the trae spirit ana for® of that 
 religion is eoamopolltan an4 anlTersal, Caste system in 
 its poptalar sense haa no place In that religion. It 
 enaorsea only the orlgonal four Yernas, These aivialons 
 of society aeeording to Hia^ti religion ana philosophy 
 are not rneanf oily for iTi^lian society but that they are 
 essential for all sof?letles of the woria. They are to be 
 fonn^ sTery where la the worl*! linger one name or another 
 an^ in one font or another. 
 
 This dofjtrtne of four Varnas was a veiry dcminent 
 soelal doctrine which has shaped the Hindu thought for 
 nearly two thousand years . According to this doctrine 
 a society is to be dlvl'^o^ into four classes a«d all 
 social occupations should be distributed among these 
 four divisions* This distribution of the Tarlous positional 
 in life is to b^ on the basts of merit and accompli shmentt 
 
 This doctrine of four Varnas , if properly 
 understood, is a very healthy doctrine for any people. 
 This doctrine whlt^h is discussed at length in the chap%*r 
 entitled** Psychological foundations of Caste iystems* is 
 not the sanie as the caste system in vogue today. 
 
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 The Brahamant who Introduced this doctrine did It with 
 
 the beat alms. Thoj' did not mean to tq^uoq the 80<»lety 
 to whe condition that 1« pwv^valent today. ^Uthough It 
 1« necesaary to change this original four caste plan yet 
 It coulti be rao^fled and the underlying thoery, at 
 least » of this aocleil x>3J*ogram could be made use of while 
 making plana for ths reconstruction of the Hindu social 
 organlaation. 
 
 Hot on.Vj the Varaa doctrin does not Indorss 
 present c&ste of India but even the Dherma ihilosophy 
 d088 not support lt« However the Idea of the division 
 cf fiocioty In the four groups, dititi ogulSiilng the 
 aembora of one from those cf enot} er, on the* ground of 
 tholr differoneoo. In terms of rcerita( Intelligence), 
 natural incllnatlonu, capacities and actual behavior, 
 all of thoBe taken 'collectively, ts deep rooted in 
 the Hindu ralnd. 
 
 A Hindu when askc^d wheth6<r he likes the casts 
 system or not may be found to answer off hand negatively 
 but on cloBer scrt^tl ny, one can readliy notice in the 
 dlscusaion and analysis that he offers, th&t the all 
 sufficing four fold classification of hlfe fiociety 
 appeals to him more, than any other classification in 
 vogue today, in jdther countries of the world. 
 
Th^ reason c&nnot be said to be an affinity 
 gor ones traditions anl social instltutlona; for the 
 almpl3 reason that the Hindu of todaj^ is so far removed 
 from the past in which sueh a pathological division 
 of society axlstr-^ •* i his country and so many long 
 centuries have lntervlene'3 which have changed the socled. 
 plctnre of his country almost to newness. 
 
 A majority of Hindus are not even aware of the 
 facts that lay in the foundation of their present easte 
 system. But the only appeal that such a division of society 
 Bakes is its rational and psychological character. This 
 not only permits but requires the intelllgend* to lead, 
 physical strength and fortitude to protect, capacity for 
 mat'^riel developement to produce , and proaote the 
 prosperity, and lastly the ttnakllled, unrefined and the 
 unintelligent, to serve the society as a ?.'l]Ole In terms 
 ©f manual labor. 
 
 India nee a 3, more than anything else, a strong 
 social revolution that will eleralnnte all the degenerating 
 elements that have enetred the Hindu life, whether through 
 religion, puranic teachings, or foreign aomination. The 
 social life of any people is subject to all such influences 
 fluid once certain docterines of a low type find acceptance 
 
^ 
 
 in the erti atoms cmd manners ^nd thonglit of a people then 
 no llteratore, of whateTer sort , hovvoeTer so great, 
 and IntelJeetnal it wKg be, can do any goo4 to the 
 actual life of thesii people • 
 
 fhe Hintus haYe perhaps, a bigger and very 
 highly philosophical literary heritage bat all that is 
 aseless fros the stan<1point of pra'^tical atility.lt is 
 merely a thing of talk and adairation often culminating 
 into Tain pride and hypocratical character lilcs sons 
 Missionary osoliements in India* In one han^l they hold the 
 Bible a nd connive at the Bottle that gradually creeps in 
 and with the slightest opposition to soch itndesirable 
 foreign encroachments , call forth Bayonets • 
 
 These three B's iM^ve alwsgrs gone together 
 and therefore have created a genuine hatred in the minds 
 of the educated Indiana* Horeever this shows the depth 
 of under «t analog and spirituality of the faith of the 
 siissionarlee in the teachings of Christ. A Hindu lives 
 in one wa;^, recocts to the sateriel stisoili like all 
 other people, shows meger fore sight , and is indifferently 
 aware of his like and ideals while on the other hand he 
 admires, loves, and worships the high ideals, thoughts, 
 an^ teachings of his Aryan ancestors. 
 
I ^ V 
 
 Stt^ a coMltioii la moat daplorable and 
 vmsy TTcaild feel aAiioyea for giving It publicity , but 
 the proper und erst and ing of thia Innate situation la tha 
 Tery.kay to all e^ursattonal plana an^ prosraiBs« 
 aT^ry country It waa ^nuf^atlon that brou^t light ta 
 the maasaa, an In India etluoatlon slona will bring tha 
 renalaaanco • It la a ^ell concelTe'^ program of adueatlon 
 
 that. will brtjig about a aoelal ravolutlon , shake the 
 traditional dogBfts to the foundation^ rai^aal the true 
 aeoreta of th^lr rich literary- heritage and ahow them 
 the flasy » auperflclal and vitally degenerating nature 
 of the e'^ui^ation th<^t haa been introduced and Impoae'^ on 
 theifi under the foreign rule* 
 
 Indian people as a whole ware never ao wide- 
 awake aa they have become today aUd it la at this tlna 
 that the eaucationel probleraa of all aorta ana doscrlptiona 
 will arlaa* i^dueatloniata ogiat understand tha Hindu 
 nature before they proceed to preaerltoe adueational 
 nurture. The nature of the Hindua, 1 • e, the Indian 
 aoclal mind will be properly underatood if unprjudlead^ 
 ayapathetlc and unaelf lah at tempt a are made to atudy 
 India, phyal colly, socially , hiatorically. politically, 
 and economical ly« 
 
/5y 
 
 All these are the chlelT avemies of Inforifiation 
 €uid ft auffi total of their study will give a good reliable 
 foniid&tlon to build a sonnd reconstruction program. This 
 
 Is the field of education which has become the all-> 
 enbraclng agency of our tl&^e* Education today » plays the 
 sami part in the life of the people » that philosophy 
 in ancient India and religion in Mideaval £^rope playeA. 
 This paper , as has been said time and agaln» primarily 
 Intends to present the Indian social odnd as it was» is, 
 and perhaps will be. All the social Influences created 
 by the social orftsclzation plan, form the haeh.-ground 
 for any educational acheae* 
 
 This bacl^«ground is the sain problea of 
 education^ the understanding of which is highly essential 
 to work out any scheBf»e of elucetion for the new India* 
 For this reason the title of thts paper ** Caste as an 
 educational problem " has ^een select 9d« 
 
I'^^'d 
 
 CHAPTER IX > 
 MtTLTIPLICATlON OF CASTES AHD ITS ES3ULTS. 
 
 Aa lias been pointed oat in the preceding 
 pages, the original program of the all sufficing four 
 Varna s (colore) was tyi-ioally Aryan. Later on ats the 
 society increased in population, as the territorial 
 expansion took place, causing the segregation of the 
 people for want of easy means of communication, and as 
 the stabilization of such agregated groups in different 
 provinces of India took place and led to the estaolishment 
 of local traditions, customs and manners, castes began 
 to multiply. This multiplication of castes was caused 
 by various reasons. The first in importance was vo- 
 cation. Authority for this is found in the Epic of the 
 "Mahauharatai" In -i dialogue, the sage Parashar in ans- 
 wer to a caestion asked him,s j.ys, ''To begin with there 
 were only four family groups! namely, 
 
 1* The family group of the cage Auhuj ■}, . 
 
 £• 2he fdmily groun of. thfi_S3g€f An^iu. - • 
 
 3, The family group of the iSage Vaaistha. 
 
 4. The family group of the oage ^^iuxu^u. 
 
 But Other family ^loiips, besides tnese original four, 
 arose >:tooording to vocution, and their numes ^i^o^ 
 were derived from the n^me of the work they took to. 
 
/ ^ */ 
 
 Mr« K«sfieia, vvho ^arrltfl his restarchts in \ 
 the unlt«a provlncts of ladla In regara to the origin of 
 tht mo3«rn castas cam* to this Tary eoaclusloiu Ha aaye, 
 JFanetlori sna function only^ aa I think, was tha foundation 
 upon which tha whol« casta system of India was built up." 
 Tha ordar of tha groups Is datarmlnad by tha prlnelplaa 
 that aach casta or g oup of castas rapresants ona or othar 
 of th*se prograsslva atagas of cultura which have marked 
 tha Industrial daTalopaoiant of mankind, not only In Indla^ 
 but In every other country In the world. Tha rank of any 
 caste as high as low depends upon whether the Industry 
 represent aa bp tha casta belongs to an advanced or backward 
 stage of "ulture; sn-^ thus the natural history of the human 
 Industries affords the chief clua to the gradations as 
 well as to the formation of modern Indian castes* 
 
 At the bottom of the seal a ar^ wore or lass 
 primitive tribes, the last remains ana sole survlnlng 
 representatives of the aboriginal Indian savage , who 
 was once the only Inhabitant of India, Than came tha 
 hunters, boatmen, and fishermen, the pastoral ihlrs and 
 Gadarlas, and the great mass fo agrlculturlstst Than 
 the artisan castes^ These are subdivided with reference 
 to the supposed priority of the evolution of their crafts. 
 
»&7' 
 
/#^ 
 
 Th% basket •ffi8^c«T » th« w&yr, the potttr ana the oilman 
 fall with In th« mora prlroltlTa group antlfiedent to 
 metallurgy, whlls the hlnckoislth, goldainlths, tailors and 
 eonfaetioners art plsca-l In th« grpup eoaval with th« uaa 
 of metal 3, 
 
 Above these eom^ the traflng an^ serving onstes 
 flU'^h as th^ gena«loglsts(Bhfita} and the Kayasthas, «ho 
 are estate snanagers an<l clarhs* Then eome the prli^eiy 
 faffiilles, Hiany of these are soldiers an<? servants but their 
 ancestory being royal, they figure hlghtr than those 
 aentloned above. The BraltaKans, ana religious orders eoroe 
 oa top of all and thus 'complete th*? ^?hole scheme. 
 
 Sow all these f^sste groups are again subdivided 
 within the group Itself* Thus there are hundreds of e&stea 
 according to the census reports. According to soiae 
 writers, these Innumercble castes that are fcund today In 
 India are the outcome of the crlgonal four castes. Many 
 sociological reasons are given to back this thesis but 
 a earef^l study of the Sanskrit literature of those ancient 
 times sliows that tha Yamabheda (color distinct Ion) irtilch 
 was based on raclatl and th^ corresponding cental charac- 
 teristics is quite different from th« functional classify 
 1 eat Ion of the society. 
 
nax^ilt' 
 
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Itw 
 
 ^^ *" ' Ditw Kttkar in his "History of th« east* syat^Biw 
 maintains this point v«ry strenuously while proposing tha 
 original fowr east a plan for nnlveraal accaptaneat 
 
 Raf«reu(?a : Dr. Shriahar V, Eetkar 
 
 History of easts , Taylor ana Carpenter '09» 
 
 It Is not safe to apply the principals of our 
 time to formulate the origins of an(»ient institutions, 
 80 long as literature of thiae times la available* It mast 
 ha studied and evidence to support the hypothesis be found 
 from there* One can explain the Hindu Castes by relying 
 upoft the general parallelism that may be traced between 
 the soci&l organisation of the fiiudus and that of the 
 Greeks and EomanB in the earlier stages of their national 
 developement. This has be^n done in this thesis just for 
 that pappose but thttt cannot be used to decide the origin 
 of the modern bewildering multitude of castes and subcastes* 
 
 They cannot b^ ^'onsidered as the logical sequence 
 of the Varnabheda# But the reason for this multiplication 
 of castes seems to be , as said at the out set of this ehaptilr 
 the aeggegation from one another during the territorial 
 expansion* Lack of communication led to local traditions, 
 customs, and beliefs and local institutions took birth thus 
 stabillKlng the spaclal characteristics of these several 
 
Ih'^ 
 
 groups and making them f«9l <iffer«iit from one another. 
 But the Brfiham&nlc influenr*^ whi<?h XLt^^r oeaaed to 
 doffiljaate over &11 thi»se groups «1«e to their religious and 
 intelleettiftl leadership, did not allow the Hlniu people 
 as a whole to feel foreign toward one anothtr. They always 
 were coner*iou6 of the religioue unity among them* The main 
 principles of their social institutiona were common though 
 the forms became div«r5:ent. 
 
 This segragetlon due to territorial expansion 
 led to the establishnient of now '•ustoms, manners and beliefs* 
 Alsotha Increasing population necess5tated the Increase of 
 ▼tcationSf Contact vith peoples of different races led tc 
 group limit at lens on the hand and lnt<?rf>iiTtur« of races 
 on the other. All this repulted into the elaborate social 
 fabric of c'stes* The Brahamans whersver the^f went took 
 great care to protect their racial purity and became a 
 strietly eddogamus class* This example of the Brshnoans 
 w%s gradually followea by the other castes and intermarriage 
 came to be looked upon as anit social end irreligious. 
 
 Moreover the Idee of class superiority entered 
 Into the society no sooner rl^ld endogasais groups were 
 formed. This gradually led to group isolation. One cast« 
 learned to restrict all its social, religious and such 
 other activities to its own group. 
 
feKO. : ~m ^A ©-'ii'lOX^ 
 
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 M«!nb«r8 of other castts or sabeastes afa not allowed to 
 
 participate la their eereiTiOnles and this led to the strict 
 Bocial restrictions on Inter dining. One caste will not 
 dine with the members of another and so on« This did not 
 canst any serions conflict in the society bee: use the 
 popalatlon ^as Terj large and each caste could have all 
 its fnnotlons and ceremonies propwrly performed within its 
 own groupt 
 
 This isolation and eicclnslon polled took a 
 deep root in the Hindu society and In tha course of time 
 was carried to a ridiculous logical extrerao. It did not 
 stop with the prohibition of interiDarrlage and int tr- 
 aining but led to the loctrlne of untou^hability. 
 A man of the hi^ihwr caste will not eat or drink what la 
 touted by a mamber of the lower castes • 
 
 All the fortigaers who -entered India during 
 modern times whether from the oxident or the orient ,wtrt 
 rtgarded by the Hindu society as persons fit to be claastd 
 with the 3hudras« Thus all thtae rules of exclusion 
 Including nntouchabllity irere exercised against the 
 liohttBBtdana and the Suropeans* If a BllsahaiBaa of an orthodox 
 type accident aly touched the person of an HJuroptan or 
 any other foreigner he would take a bath »n rttarning homt« 
 
l^Jf 
 
 Fbyeleal toueh came to^We T«gara«(1 as & eaust 
 of g«nuln« polutloiu This is obserTer! inore fanatically 
 by the womtn of ortho'lox families. There is no state law 
 prohibiting a meffiber of oae easte from following the 
 profession of another easte, but social disapproval made 
 It hard for a person to deviate from his traditional 
 vocation evsn if he had capacities to do so. This worked 
 In this way up to very recent years and still in inany 
 parts of India lihere illiteracy rules, it is to be found 
 strictly followed by the people. 
 
 In large cities where competition is keen 
 and opportunities to exercise ones powers are many, 
 the Hindus hav given up this vocational restriction 
 and one takes to any vacation he may deam fit and 
 beneficial to hiniBelf» Thus today the numerous castes 
 according to some as ntany as fifteen hundwed In lumber 
 are merely In name* 
 
 They hawever have some significance in villages 
 and a4ong ignorant and Illiterate peoples* But gradually 
 political and economic pressure that Is being laid on 
 the country as a whole, is aiding the rapid dlsintergration 
 of th'ise bewildorlzig castes. 
 
iiStmim. 
 
I^TI 
 
 Tli« religious >i«aas though nominally a«kaowl«dg«d 
 by tht p«opl9 do not aisouat to any thilig Important in th« 
 actual run of 11 f« of th« p^oplt^ Polltleal l«a4«Ts laaan 
 to th« population mor« than any bo^.y *j1s«, Thus the 
 political sltactlon in India has almost angulfafl tha castas. 
 Paople obs«TV«, raughly spsa^lsg^ easts rulss ana rsgtrlatlons 
 In thalr own privata lifs, hut In puhlle a«?tlTltl«8 It has 
 no place, 
 
 Hehataa 6snahl/th<!! great Rlnau Pacifist » 
 lsa<5ar of tha Inaian Kational Jarty » daclarad tha othar 
 day whlla launching his ^r<:i%rwsi of non-cooparatlon 
 vith the British GoTermient that one of the oaths his 
 followers nnst taVe is, that of not balelving in tha non- 
 touchsbillty of castes • He characterize'^ thet element of 
 untouchaLility as the greatest curse of the Hindu aasts 
 sy st em. 
 
 It is isost inhuman ani irrational to trat one 
 meyuber of the huraan race with such s '»ont«i75pt. Mr Ckmdhis 
 program has b^en unanimously accepted by the Indian National 
 Congress and all the Hin-^us ^o hare caaght the fire of 
 national eongcluusness have '^eci'led not to regard afiy one 
 as as tsintouchibl^ • 
 
/6# 
 
 At th« pr«8«iit tlm« though th« fftstta In all 
 thtlr nmltlpharlous forms tio axlst In India y«t 
 politically an(^ educationally thay have ^eased to 
 exert any lnfluea<»e whatsoever long since# Except in the 
 untouchable clasa meinbers of all other eaates hav« be'^n 
 going to the same school and receiving their education 
 la the fashion and in the saime room* No distinction of 
 caste, creed, color or race is made* In giving state 
 positions, whether in the British India or in the native 
 states, no such distinction is observed, A isan from tha 
 lower easte, if he has the qualifications, becomes and 
 officer and a Brahaman of inferior qualifications wowks 
 under him • Socially or rather religiously thetr 
 relations ma: ^« In the reverse order but practically 
 in the actual life ther* is no such policy of birthrights 
 and privileges observed any more* 
 
 This is,iB short, a history of modern castes, 
 their bewildering multiplication, gradual corruption and 
 final disintegration. Thus educationally there is a very • 
 great signifcance of this Information, for It furnishes 
 the prospective educators with the matter of fact s 
 situation of Indian social life and of the part that castes 
 play. 
 
» ' V'^ 
 
 r^ r 
 
/6/ 
 
 Thns wMlt fonaulating any •ducatloaal prograa 
 •na attfinptijag to mattrlallza It, one must attand to two 
 Important pointa, nam«ly : 
 
 1» Hot to hurt tht faellngs of tha mambtrs of the 
 upper castes by emph« sizing the undesirablllty of tha 
 casta system whieh is uneonscloualy dying out and treat 
 tha problem of education from aA (JaiTersal or national 
 poilit of Tiew because all castas are talring enthusiastic 
 interest in it ali>e,« 
 
 2« lAdia is no longer a country where the accident 
 of birth can determine irrevocably the whole course of 
 a Bans social and domestic relations* This being the 
 condition it is up to the educators of today to formulate 
 a plann whereby they can best attend to the ne^ds of the 
 country as a whole* They hare the opportilnity of designing 
 a program that could substantiate the best heritage of 
 the ancient institution of caste system and bring up tha 
 younger generation in such a way that would not frustrata 
 the aims and idials of modern e'^ucation an*^ modern treni 
 of life. 
 
"f*^.-- 
 
/^9 
 
 Mortov«r gmat ear« has to b« t uktn to guard th« 
 young India from falling Into th« same mistakes that 
 tlielr for«fath«rs ooinmlted ana save tham from facing tha 
 sama problems that tha weeterri p«opl«8 ' hav« t)a«n eontanding 
 with all of thesa yaarst 
 
Chapte r X 
 
 EDUCATIONAL SUGGESTIONS 
 
 The discussion so far presented offers three 
 conolusions as follows: 
 
 Past:- LVolution of the Hindu caste system, 
 disclosing several misconceptions and mis* 
 interpretations. Also the evidence of the Hindu 
 literature, Vadic and Classical, speaking for 
 the Hindus and their social institutions. 
 And the geographical and an anthropological 
 picture of India and the Indians. This furnishes 
 us the physical and social backgrounds by way 
 of information. 
 
 Present:- The Psycholoi^ical fotindation of caste 
 system and the *'Gurukula" educational system in 
 the form of four Ashrimas explains the socio- 
 religious and cultural influence of the old in 
 the moulding of the present Indian life. This 
 revealed the fondness and admiration of the 
 cultural classes of India for their literary, 
 philosophic and moral heritage. Moreover, it 
 suggested the undesirability of introducing and 
 implanting something new and intrinsically foreign 
 on the soil of India where it is not likely to 
 take root for good but is sure to cause division 
 
If" 
 
 and factions in the social life of the people. 
 
 Future:* The present bewildering multitude of 
 castes which cannot be explained or supported 
 by the Hinduism or by any culture of India but 
 which is on the contrary declared as a curse by 
 the political leaders^ prophesies the irapenuing 
 future. 
 
 Indian political guides, all without 
 exception, turn out to be men of unchallengable 
 moral character and philosophically inclined. 
 TViis makes the social ?ind religious problems of 
 the country fall in the hands of these political 
 leaders. Thus the future of the Indian people 
 in all respects, lies in the hands of these self 
 sacrificing men; these men have thought of several 
 means of India's awakening and the foremost of them 
 all is the universal education for the peoples of 
 India. Thus they propose to meet the problem of 
 caste system that otares them in the fact at every 
 progressive step, by eniightning the public mind with 
 education. 
 
 These three factors are of immense importance and 
 one realizes thetr vaie as he seriously begins to think 
 of the situation in India today from all points of view. There 
 
n$ 
 
 are several influential agencies at work today in India 
 attempting to remove the social, religious, economic ^md 
 political disease from which the country is constantly suffer- 
 ing. All these ^Agencies are unanimous on one point; they 
 realize that the internal clarification of the society 
 leading to a sane organization of coramunity interests of all 
 kinds is absolutely essential to fight and cope with the 
 national, political and economic crises that India is facing. 
 They differ in the method of rrocedure to effect this social 
 clarification, 
 
 1, The "Arya-Samaja" with its wide spread 
 propaganda and influence is attempting to teach the people 
 to discard every social institution, thought and practice 
 which does not find support and approral of the Vedas, 
 They preach to the people at large that India must go back 
 to the vedic life if they wattto regain their lost glory and 
 lead the world once again. This organization is strictly 
 opposed to all present castes and endorses only the original 
 four divisions of society, in their fluid form. They are 
 not opposed to any foreign accomplishments. They believe 
 in converting and reincorporating peoples of other religions 
 and creeds into the Hindu social organization. An European can b 
 become a member of the Arysamaja and share the universal brother- 
 hood. They believe in the intellectual superiority of the 
 classes but do not recognize birth as the criterion of distinctia 
 They have established schools and colleges for the education 
 
n%^ 
 
 of the people and in the *'Guru Kula** at Kangdi they have 
 etarted an experiment of combining the most n,ncient und 
 the most modern cultures. 
 
 This school is regarded as a laboratory which 
 aims to produce an ideal educational system for the world. 
 They receive students in this school at the age of eight 
 and keep them there until they become twenty five, Th^ 
 are taught the cultural subjects of the ancient Indian type 
 and are introduced to most modern scientific studies as they 
 come of age. They have obtained a very good staff of teachers; 
 some of these teachers are well read in the ancient culture 
 of the Aryans and others are educ?jted in foreign countries 
 of Europe and America. The school is situated at the foot of 
 the Himalaya mountains on the bank of the river Ganges. This 
 institution is free of government aid and is supported solely 
 by the public funds. 
 
 2, Dr. Tagore, the famous poet and philosopher 
 who is well known in the west^ has established a school in 
 Bengal. This is known as "Shantiniketan** (abode of peace.) 
 Dr. Tagore gave all of his wealth to the support of this school 
 and he spent almost all of his time there. The teaching force 
 is very carefully chosen and men of high moral and educational 
 standing only can get access to this scViool. Children are 
 admitted at a very early age and are brought up like those of 
 the "Guru Kula* at Kangdi. 
 
/7;J 
 
 Dr. Tagore has made an extensive study of the 
 educational systems of the -vorld and he has come to m 
 concl ision that, no education can ever do any good, to 
 any people, in the real sense of thts word, unless it is 
 a comTDination of the old and the new, culture and science. 
 
 There are many nationa-1 schools and colleges 
 opened during the last five years to imp»art national education 
 to the younger generation. Self-sacrificing Hindus have 
 given up the idea of holding government positions and have 
 volunteered their lives for the education of the masses. 
 Th^ have organized Corps sending these enthusiastic youths 
 to the villages to live among the poor agricultural people 
 and impart education to them and thus raise the literacy 
 among the Indian people. 
 
 Several social organizations "besides the '*Arysamaj" 
 are zealously at work pulling down the Darriers of the castes 
 and establishing new creeds and forms of worship of a universal 
 type. 
 
 Thus India today is busier than ever, earnestly 
 preparing for a strong social revolution or evolution. This 
 is the greatest need of India for, that will remove all the 
 petty grudges and factions within the different social, 
 religious and provincial communities and bring about a social 
 unity to support and strengthen the national unity that has 
 
/7f 
 
 been effected by the great national leaders such as Messers. 
 B.G» Tilak, Lala I»a ji&aifcrai, and Mahatma Gandhi. The picture 
 e;iven here which shows how In'iia stands today in spite of 
 her several languages, religious cree<3s, different racial 
 types and provincial traditions. Political agitation 
 alone, hiS brought this all about but to perpetuate this 
 unity of a typically heterogenious population like that 
 of India, education must step in and take care of the 
 coming generations. 
 
 In big cities like Bombay and Calcutta and many 
 other industrial capitols, vocational opportunities are 
 bringing all kinds of people together. Keen competition, 
 crowded condition of housing and such other factors of 
 growing industrial life are doing away with the restrictions 
 of caste and provincial or family traditions. i3ut India 
 is an agricultural country and mere industrial nature of 
 the new ere will not be enough to unify the social life 
 of the people in all parts of the country. Education that 
 is r.eeded so very badly will have to be so administered that 
 it will not turn the Indians into a matter-m?id people 
 nor regenerate the curely abstract philosophical past but 
 make a wholesome combination of the old and the new. 
 
 It is not possible to destroy castes completely 
 nor is it desirable. It is in the very nature of living 
 beings to live in mutual relationships according to the 
 
IIT 
 
 mental and physical capacities. There is no country under the 
 sun today that has no caste syBtem of one kind or another. 
 England has her royalty, nobility, gentry and slums. Germary 
 had all of these before the war, Japan hes all those artificial 
 classes and the United States of America, are all the while 
 laboring under the inequalities of labor end capital, racial 
 prejudices and affinities to the ancestral nationalities 
 of many citizens. 
 
 There are all kinds of social taboos to be seen 
 in the actual life of the American people. Of course these 
 castes of other countries arc not the same as those that 
 exist in India. India is not able to handle \\qt problems. 
 She has no power to do so, even if she has the will, jfiven 
 after having removed all this bewildering multitude of castes 
 is it wise and desirable to throw the human race into an 
 open competition without the least regard for the mental 
 differences of the people^ 
 
 American educ^itors are working very earnestly 
 on this problem, iivery society needs pe'jce and that could 
 be had only by bringing satisfaction to the raemoers of the 
 society. Promiscuous competition can only breed discontent 
 and strife. Moreover, prosperity of a society very largely 
 depends upon the efficient functioning of its members, 
 
 American educ-ition primarily aims at producing 
 efficient citizens and that aim alone can explain why 
 
m 
 
 America is the most prosperous country of the world. To 
 insure efficiency of function, American psychologists have 
 "busied themselves, for the last ten years, in developing 
 intelligence tests that aire to discover and measure peculiar 
 power of humans. 
 
 If these powers may be neasured it becoraes the 
 duty of society to tr^din these respective human beings 
 in the peculiar kind of vocation for which they are best 
 fitted. As society becomes more complex it will be necessary 
 that this specialization take place earlier and that the 
 period of training be extended over a longer tine. This 
 longer period of preparation will result in the impossibility 
 of choosing another vocation, once having stairted to pre- 
 pare for a certain life career. The result is that man 
 will be forced to enter into a certain kind of activity, 
 vocation or occupation in terms of those capacities with 
 which they can best serve society. 
 
 This is quite in keeping with what nature ordains. 
 Manis a rational animal. Reason places him over other forms 
 of animals but there is something fundamentally common 
 between man and the rest of the creation, th^t makes it 
 necessary to compare t^e human evolution with the evolution 
 of other beings. 
 
 Among the invertibrates certain insects have 
 gone farthest along the road of social and mental evolution 
 
/79 
 
 bees, ants, social wasps and other highly complex insect forms 
 illustrate this. 
 
 We know that these insects live in large communities 
 Boinetimes numbering, it h-is t)een estiraated hundreds of 
 thousands of individuals. A veiy highly developed evolu» 
 tionary form of animal life is represented by these in their 
 social relationship. 
 
 It is fair to assume that they have In their 
 organization certain lessons that are applicable to human 
 intelligence. Professor J.V. Breitwieser in his article 
 on vocational Polymorphism says The first thing to note 
 is the morphological of anatomical polymorhysm which 
 characterises the ant. By this polymorphyam ^e mean that 
 there are different actual anatomical or morphological 
 forms that serve different purposes in the insect society. 
 This morphological or anatomical polymorphysm results in 
 a division of lai-or that cannot be overco;ne by training. 
 This is, a certain insect is born to do a certain tning and 
 cannot perform ar^y other duties in the insect society. 
 
 Educators cannot afford to loose sight of this 
 important lesson that the animal kingdom has to offer. 
 Kspecially in the case of a country like India where the 
 population is so great and where the division of labor 
 is developing intensely in terms of intelligence. 
 
11% 
 
 This was the cause coupled with many other causes 
 that led the eacient Aryans to divide their society into func- 
 tional groups in terms of "merit and behayior*. They P6« 
 stricted the functions to produce specialists and efficient 
 workers. Such an heriditary institution to functional 
 groups led to certain physiological differences, or to 
 certain anatomical polymorphic peculiarities. Thus some 
 became in the course of time fitted to do certain things 
 vhile others vere fitted to do other things. 
 
 This is true all over the world even today. Our 
 modem social lives are becoming highly complex and 
 specialization more intense. Promiscuous corapetition 
 is wrecking the hearts of many an asuirant c?iu3ing immense 
 wastage of time, energy and money individually as well as 
 socially. Therefore, it is becoming necessary for men to 
 do the thing for which they are best fitted. 
 
 It is the recognition of this fact on the part 
 of the educators in theOnited States that has led to 
 recent development of vocational! and occupational guidance* 
 Psychology as a science of human behavior has busied itself 
 in developing teBts to discover peculiar powers of human 
 beings, oocial organization is thus become a very important 
 problem in the educational system of America. This has 
 got to be 80 in the case of India too. The reconstruction 
 of lndia*'s social organization cannot be left to the religious 
 heads but educators must t^ke th-^t up to prepare the rising 
 
/^f 
 
 l^eneratlon for mef^ting the rcquire-rcnts of the new age* 
 
 "Thtt rapid development and standardization of 
 tests promises to enable educators to determine the capaci|r 
 of an individual comparatively early in life» When capacities 
 are determined preparation in the vocation recommended will have 
 to begin** says Dr» Breitwieser* 
 
 This situation suggests that such tests no sooner 
 they are standardized could be used with inmiense benefit 
 in India when the social reconstmiction program will bo 
 handled by the educ»,tor8. This will save the chaos that 
 is likely to ^ri&e on the dwindling ^uOd abolition of castes. 
 India need not go through all the hard experience through 
 which the people of the United States have Rone. Their 
 experience could be advantageously utilized by the heterogenous 
 population of India« 
 
 ilducators cannot deny that the societies of human 
 beings are tending to become polymorphic and that taey 
 have to become so if human^bemgs desire progress, order» 
 and peace* Contentment must be the ultimate aim of all 
 social progrcu&s. Sduc^tion has to pave the way to content* 
 ment by providing what individuals need in terms of their 
 capacities and the capacities are to be so developed that 
 they would need what they should have* 
 
Much of the present human misery that we see today 
 in different civilized countries of the world is due to the 
 fact that we do not recognize a human polymorphysm or 
 occupational polymorphysm in human beings. A ipan having, 
 certain capacities will usually find himself happiest in 
 activities that make use of these capacities. Psychclogically 
 speaking the chief source of agitation, irritation, discontent 
 in human society is the result of their effort to work, in 
 terms of reactions for which they are not fitted. 
 
 Mal<»adju8tment is the source of all activity aAd 
 organic life mainly consists of a struggle to make admustments 
 to the environment. An organism, to he hapniest must have 
 the minimuxL of mal*adjustment. It is not the removal of 
 mal-adjustment that is happiness; as a Sanskrit poet puts it 
 •People have a strange notion that a remedy for a disease 
 is a poritiv<^ happiness in itself.** It is the absence of 
 mal-adjustment th^t can le^d to human happiness «ind education 
 must needs train the human beings in such a way th^t each one 
 will get '^n own.**Tb each his own" should be the watch word of 
 all psychological education. 
 
 The recover) it ion of "occupational polymorpliysm* 
 to use Hr. hreitwieser's phrase, will being greater happiness 
 to all individuals in the world. Moreover, it is not anti- 
 democratic. Democracy does not mean that all men are born 
 equal but th^t every individual should oe free to realize 
 
\- 
 
/5/ 
 
 himself or herself in terras of his or her highest capacities^ 
 It meatis finally, from the ethical point of vfew, the greatest 
 amount of happiness for the greatect numlaer, for the gre^itest 
 length (ftime» This ethical ideal vhich is esseriti-^lly 
 democratic, is poscible only when ^e determine y^hrnt the individual 
 capacities are, then adequately train in terms of those capacities. 
 
 This means that, in the reconstruction of Indian 
 social life and in organizing an educational scheme for the 
 young Indians educrtional tests and measurem^^nts will be 
 necess';ry. These are needed in organizing the ultimate 
 democracy thnt all Indian people desire* 
 
 Young India needs a functional society, in which 
 erery individual, who is the unit of society will be per* 
 forming to his fullest capacity without any perog-itives 
 of descent or caste. Here we are to recall the advice of 
 Soloman -^nd obey it for our benefit, ''Go to the ant thou 
 sluggard, consider her ways and he wise." 
 
 The caste system of India in its present form 
 is a very grave problem before educition. The arbitrary 
 social approvals rind disapprovals need to be substituted 
 by tests and measurements. Many a man, in India, is helpless 
 to realize himself unless he shows a great moral courage of 
 leaving hishome, relations, and going to an industrial town to 
 follow a tr-i^e Tor which he has special apptitude. There too 
 
/ o 
 
 he is purely following his inctinct of earning money and 
 takes to h. voc^ition thf^.t pays beet* But to standardize the 
 human choiee of life work it must be "based on scientific 
 knowledge of indiriduals physical and mental capacities. 
 
 The strTig<=;le for existence among the peoples of 
 Indi& is becoming more serious every dny, i^^vA it is t scorn- 
 ing necessTiry fo^ every individual to give his services 
 "back in terras of thit particular capacity of which he has 
 most. There is the neces; ity for the conservation of 
 human energy as well as the conservation of the n&tionttl 
 reeources. Along with this concept, the present political 
 and economic movements as started by the Indian nationalists 
 have developed a social phylogophy that competition should 
 give way to a philosophy of cooperation* 
 
 The vast material resources of India, the teach- 
 ings o^ the ancient sacred literature, the evolution of ttee 
 Hindu social and religious ideas, the social institatiorv 
 of India such as the marriage institutions, the scope and 
 universal nature of Hindusm and the caste system which 
 lies at the foundation of all the social life of the Hindus, 
 form the beckground in light of which all educational programs 
 for the India of tomorrow will have to be worked out. 
 
 Agricultural and vocational guid?ince -vill have 
 to figure prominently in the scheme of educ^^tion for the 
 new India; since India is mainly a country of villages and 
 growing industrial towns. Prom the early days do vn to this 
 
X^i 
 
/•^■ii 
 
 day India has always offered great opportunities for 
 agriculture. Indian people have been following agriculture 
 as their main vocation. The fertility of the soil^ plenty 
 of rain and good rivers promise possibilities for an intensive 
 irrig.'ition system, if modern scientific metviods be intro- 
 duced. The imperial f^azetteers ^nd other government reports 
 show tVi'it India produces even without the use of modern scientif jc 
 implements find methods more than her population can consume. 
 The lack of proper transportation from one part of the country 
 to the other, of the produce and the ignorance of the people 
 to understand and use the net! methods of distribution of 
 commodities is the main CQUse of occasional famines in India. 
 These could be very eai?ily averted or even abolished if 
 modern methods of production and distribution could be intro- 
 duced on a large commercial sc^.le. The interests of the 
 alien ruless are a great obstacle in the p^th of this plan. 
 Indian populntion dies by thousands every year, while India 
 exports wheat, raw cotton and such other commodities in 
 enormous quantities to Sngl^ind. This oould be very e-isily 
 verified if one wouid only cast a running f^lance over the ex- 
 port column of India-reports. 
 
 Industrial education is not provided in the educa- 
 tional system of India as it exists today. That is the first 
 and foremost need of the country. In order to establish 
 a permanent coraraunicition between the peoples of different 
 provinces all modern me^ms of communicution need to be intro — 
 
/ s ^ 
 
 duced. This will break down the narrowness, provincialism 
 and exclusive policy of the present bewildering multitudes of 
 castes and foster unity aiaong the people, 
 
 India has six types of people: 
 
 1. lillongoloid 
 
 2. Dravidian 
 
 3. Aryan 
 
 4. /^racian 
 
 5. European 
 6« Jewish 
 
 The ethnological picture as rjresented before 
 showed different distinct races and their remarkaLle fusion. 
 This brings up the serious problein of race amalgamation. It 
 has tail en place ali*eady and that is why we h^ive so maqy types 
 of people th-it could be hardly distinguished. But the caste 
 system v>iich insists on endogauious social relations is the 
 main instrument in the hands of the people to avoid such an 
 intermixture. Educators while explaining the desirability of 
 non* sectarian social groups, if they remember the need and 
 propriety or keeping four distinct types or races separ'ite, can 
 hope to eliminate the ever increasing niimber of Indim castes 
 and preserve the four racial groups which, as diown before, 
 approxim-i tely correspond to the original four soci'il groups 
 or "Vernas". 
 
 This is said to the educators because all the present 
 
7^5^ 
 
 deviations from the social lawc, especially in t>iiB regard 
 of intermsrriB/iie i& made by the educted young men. They hear, 
 read, and study literature from outside coutries, social nnd 
 natural sciences, material philosopViy, etc., and as a rcnult 
 of that inforniition occaBionally show the moral courage of 
 defying their social custom and la>».s, They get married in 
 the castes different from their own. Many hive married English 
 and American girlo. This lyhange is in one sense for the better 
 as it breaks down the exclusion policy basedL on prejudice 
 and ignorFince while on the other hand it sug/3;ests the need 
 of scientific selection and cv.reful preservation of the 
 intelligence levels of higher groups. Ji&ducetion is the only 
 agency th- t dcils ^vith "The minds in the making**, and hence it 
 is © rroblem of educf^tion. 
 
 The whole Hindu culture of the past has nade Hindus 
 feunily lovers. This humnn feutire of Hindu society shoul'' bS 
 presenred. The individuMlistic life which is l-ecoming so very 
 common in theUnited States has shown its social dr^w»backs, 
 Kducation should rather strengthen the habits of social 
 affinity of people. 
 
 It is not the aim of this paper to propose to 
 the educators that thay should eaoourufi;e and reestablish 
 the ancient form of caEte system. The peycholofcicnl 
 exposition of th-^t ancient form has made cle?=ir to us h*--t 
 certain elements of caste as such are not undesirnble even 
 
under the present condition of human llTe and progress* But 
 for that reason it need not necessarily be exactly wh^^t it 
 vas in ancient days, Uodem needs of India, the Metamorphised 
 life of the Hindu and the general social, religious, econoraio 
 and political condition of the country mist be considered* The 
 ixi^ortsnt sugjs;etition is thni, the inevitable c^j^stes th^t vill 
 result out of the modif ioatioas and rec^onstructions of new 
 India, should not be after the fashion of the western countries* 
 In the vest some countries place physical power above all other 
 human cap?icities, other place diplomacy and scares :::ivenes8 
 above every thing else, while some worship material wealth 
 ueyond all; Intel lifi^ence, plain living, fine morality, 
 unselfish service, have no publio recojs;nition or reward* 
 India should not ue Jiade to lose this speci&l charactt*ristic 
 of her social organisation* 
 
 Under modern scientific civilization and 
 democratic aspirations of the human race it is irnpossible to 
 cling to the hereditary possessions and prerogatives* That 
 element of heredity ooild be eliminated from the institution 
 of caste leaving it open for ai^ body and every body to realise 
 himself by the dint of personal capacities and personal 
 accomplishments* Then «:ra4 ially according; to the nature of 
 education th»it the people will receive, all other minor 
 differences will vanish* Voc^*tional guidance is gaining 
 ground in all the countries of the world, as it is in the 
 United S tntes. Th^t will help democratisation of the human 
 race but it should not be allowed by the educators to exalt 
 
/?7 
 
 wealth or power over intelligence, learning, plain living Find 
 self-sacrifice, 
 
 Gaste system of such a fluid nature is absolutely 
 necessary. It serves as a ladder of social evolution on 
 which individuals can find their status in terms of mental 
 capacities and accomplishments. JSociety becomes an enlight- 
 ened judge of the individual contributions and the social 
 approval and disapproval no longer remain subjective in 
 character but the set scheme of classes makes them objective 
 and definite. 
 
 Such a caste system would naturally do away witi 
 all the incongrueties and defects in the Indian society 
 and would render it fit for the handling of modern scientific 
 means of prosperity. This will preserve the good heritage 
 of her ancient glory and will make possible for India to have 
 her place in the great nations of the world. 
 
 In conclusion it must be said that India with all 
 of her past glox^, present cosmopolitan population and future 
 democratic aspirations of her young men is the country, that 
 can offer greatest opportunity for the much desired universal 
 education. There we have on^fifth of the whole human race and 
 it is in a transition period of its history. The greatest 
 need of the world today 1^ the establishment of some sane 
 educational system, all over the world, that will remove the 
 present gross misunderstanding sunong the different peoples 
 
/^f 
 
 of the globe* 
 
 The purpose of such universal education was 
 beautifully summarized at the close of a public address 
 by Dr» Breitwieser in the following words, "The conferences 
 that have been held so far have been attempts on the part 
 of conferees to come to an understanding with one another^ 
 all the while keeping their local interests in the fore front. 
 Large portions of humanity have never been consulted. 
 
 Our American attitude, in theory at least, has 
 been quite different. Our freedom of religious attitudes and 
 oui^ tolerance for the opinions of others so long as they have 
 in them elements that can help contribute to the happiness 
 of humanity, have led us to harbour in our population qiany 
 religious and political organizations. 
 
 Our American educational system is also tending 
 more Bind^more toward broader outlook ^nd wider social content* 
 Ve have the tradition of pioneering in the cause of physical, 
 social and religious emancipation of humanity and what we must 
 do next, as a logical step, is to take up the program of 
 universal education for the unification of the human race* 
 This is the gres^test need of the world today. The human r**ce 
 is s^etiiing with discontent and misunderstanding of all kinds 
 
b* 
 
I Si 
 
 and the only solution of the whole trouble is education; 
 education of an universal type that will do away with the 
 narrow, dogmatic, local and selfish institutions and 
 beliefs and foster better understanding among the different 
 races, widen the community of interests of the human beings, 
 broaden the sympathies of people for one another, and last 
 but not least, bring home to fill the desirability of give 
 and take, of what good we have, understanding the absurdness 
 and futility of exclusiveness, isolation, self-sufficiency and 
 presumed superiority of race color and ranft.** 
 
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