DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0026
THE CASTE SYSTEM OF NORTHERN INDIA
firstly, to post-date the origin of caste to comparatively
modern times; and secondly, to look for its origdn in the
nature of the elements composing early Indian society,
and for its development in the working of social forces
on those elements.
No theory so far propounded has commanded univer-
sal assent. Of the best, the most that can be said is
that it seems tenable—so far: for information about
early Indian society is even still meagre, and the dis-
covery of a new fact may upset the best of theories. The
majority are infected with the disease common to so
many theories—the lack of a sense of proportion, in that
far too much importance is attached to some one point,
which is certainly cardinal to the particular theory, but
is also regarded as the cardinal point in the whole en-
quiry. I propose to indulge in no theory-making, but
merely to epitomize what information we possess of
Hindu society as it was at different periods, and consider
what light is thrown on the growth of the caste system
by such information.
In the Vedic hymns occurs the well known verse
‘When they divided man, how many
2. Society in djq they make him ? What was his
period^10 mouth ? What his arms ? What are
called his thighs and his feet? The Brah-
mana was his mouth, the Rajanya was made his arms,
the Vaisya became his thighs, the Sudra was born from
his feet.’1 This verse is an interpolation, though a very
old one. Such as it is, it is the sole Vedic reference to
anything that can be connected with ‘caste’; and the
connexion is one of names alone. The Brahmana, Raj-
anya, Vaisya, Sudra described in this verse are clearly
not castes; they are merely kinds, or types, of men.
Throughout the Vedas there is not a single reference to
connubial or commensal restrictions, to any of the
characteristics of the modern Hindu social system. A
few occupations are differentiated—the leech, the smith,
the artizan; but there is no hint of the existence of func-
1 Rig Veda, x. 90, 11-12. Elsewhere a fifth class, the Nishada or
barbarian, is mentioned.
12
firstly, to post-date the origin of caste to comparatively
modern times; and secondly, to look for its origdn in the
nature of the elements composing early Indian society,
and for its development in the working of social forces
on those elements.
No theory so far propounded has commanded univer-
sal assent. Of the best, the most that can be said is
that it seems tenable—so far: for information about
early Indian society is even still meagre, and the dis-
covery of a new fact may upset the best of theories. The
majority are infected with the disease common to so
many theories—the lack of a sense of proportion, in that
far too much importance is attached to some one point,
which is certainly cardinal to the particular theory, but
is also regarded as the cardinal point in the whole en-
quiry. I propose to indulge in no theory-making, but
merely to epitomize what information we possess of
Hindu society as it was at different periods, and consider
what light is thrown on the growth of the caste system
by such information.
In the Vedic hymns occurs the well known verse
‘When they divided man, how many
2. Society in djq they make him ? What was his
period^10 mouth ? What his arms ? What are
called his thighs and his feet? The Brah-
mana was his mouth, the Rajanya was made his arms,
the Vaisya became his thighs, the Sudra was born from
his feet.’1 This verse is an interpolation, though a very
old one. Such as it is, it is the sole Vedic reference to
anything that can be connected with ‘caste’; and the
connexion is one of names alone. The Brahmana, Raj-
anya, Vaisya, Sudra described in this verse are clearly
not castes; they are merely kinds, or types, of men.
Throughout the Vedas there is not a single reference to
connubial or commensal restrictions, to any of the
characteristics of the modern Hindu social system. A
few occupations are differentiated—the leech, the smith,
the artizan; but there is no hint of the existence of func-
1 Rig Veda, x. 90, 11-12. Elsewhere a fifth class, the Nishada or
barbarian, is mentioned.
12