DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0346
THE CASTE SYSTEM OF NORTHERN INDIA
chasing power of money, have thus been reduced. An
abandonment of the traditional occupation is no longer
regarded as calling for social ostracism, and the principle
of hereditary function has ceased to be universally recog-
nized as binding. The caste councils have been shorn of
a part of their power. Especially, the commensal res-
trictions are no longer as rigid as they used to be. They
have, indeed, always admitted of exceptions; ever since
the time of Manu, it has been fully recognized that the
hungry traveller may obtain food as best he can, whether
he thereby infringes caste regulations or not.1 The dis-
tinction drawn between kachcha and pakka food forms
another exception, and is an excellent example of practical
casuistry. The incidents of railway travel have further
relaxed these restrictions. It is obviously impossible
to build a cooking place (chulha) in a railway compart-
ment, or even on a station platform; it is inconvenient to
make searching enquiries regarding the caste of a plat-
form food vendor, especially if the wait is a short one.
‘Having drunk water from his hands, it is foolish to
ask about his caste’, says the proverb; and the wise
traveller avoids trouble by making no enquiries at all.
Similarly, he will ignore the possibility that his next door
neighbour in a crowded railway carriage may belong to
a caste whose toucli is pollution; for he knows that if
he does not pocket his caste scruples, he may have to
pay the difference in fare, and finish his journey in a
higher class compartment.
It would, however, be a mistake to conclude that the
efforts of social and religious reformers,
or the disintegrating' force of modern
toJuon^fcZle ideas> have. impaired in any serious
degree the vitality of caste. All the cus-
toms principally attacked—infant marri-
age, virgin marriage, the commensal and food regulations,
even heredity of function—are caste customs, as it were,
by accident. In the case of infant and virgin marriage,
the sanction is religious; the former depends on the belief
1 It is the duty of all Hindus to g'ive hospitality to any hungry
traveller who asks for it.
332
chasing power of money, have thus been reduced. An
abandonment of the traditional occupation is no longer
regarded as calling for social ostracism, and the principle
of hereditary function has ceased to be universally recog-
nized as binding. The caste councils have been shorn of
a part of their power. Especially, the commensal res-
trictions are no longer as rigid as they used to be. They
have, indeed, always admitted of exceptions; ever since
the time of Manu, it has been fully recognized that the
hungry traveller may obtain food as best he can, whether
he thereby infringes caste regulations or not.1 The dis-
tinction drawn between kachcha and pakka food forms
another exception, and is an excellent example of practical
casuistry. The incidents of railway travel have further
relaxed these restrictions. It is obviously impossible
to build a cooking place (chulha) in a railway compart-
ment, or even on a station platform; it is inconvenient to
make searching enquiries regarding the caste of a plat-
form food vendor, especially if the wait is a short one.
‘Having drunk water from his hands, it is foolish to
ask about his caste’, says the proverb; and the wise
traveller avoids trouble by making no enquiries at all.
Similarly, he will ignore the possibility that his next door
neighbour in a crowded railway carriage may belong to
a caste whose toucli is pollution; for he knows that if
he does not pocket his caste scruples, he may have to
pay the difference in fare, and finish his journey in a
higher class compartment.
It would, however, be a mistake to conclude that the
efforts of social and religious reformers,
or the disintegrating' force of modern
toJuon^fcZle ideas> have. impaired in any serious
degree the vitality of caste. All the cus-
toms principally attacked—infant marri-
age, virgin marriage, the commensal and food regulations,
even heredity of function—are caste customs, as it were,
by accident. In the case of infant and virgin marriage,
the sanction is religious; the former depends on the belief
1 It is the duty of all Hindus to g'ive hospitality to any hungry
traveller who asks for it.
332