DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0349
CASl'E IN TilE PAST, PREsENT, AND FUTtJRE
ceJy be used as a criterion now, when the idea itself
is fast disappearing; whilst it was never a satisfactory
criterion at any time, for a caste may be regarded as
untouchable by some of the twice born, and not by others;
a caste may be untouchable in one district and not in
the next; and there are untouchable castes with touchable
sections.
Nor is untouchability the lowest possible depth of
degradation. Some untouchable castes—the Kori, the
Bhar, the Pasi, the Dusadli—are none the less served
by Brahmans as their family priests—Brahmans of low
status, no doubt, but still Brahmans. They are obvious-
ly superior to those untouchables for whom no Brahman,
however low, would carry out a domestic ceremony; and
it is they, I suggest, that constitute the ‘depressed’
classes. The suggestion agrees with the historical facts.
At all stages of the evolution of Hinduism, there have
been, on or just outside the border-line of Hindu society,
a certain number of aboriginal tribes and low castes,
following all sorts of primitive or unsavoury professions.
At all times, the Brahman priesthood has endeavoured
to keep them segregated, not only from Hindu society,
but from the Hindu religion and the Hindu ceremonial.
They were not allowed to hear, much less study, the
Vedas; they must not enter the temples; they must carry
out all ceremonies without using the mantras (sacred
texts), and no Brahman would carry out any domestic
ceremony (sanskara) for them. And that is still the
position. The depressed classes are those castes1 who
are not served by Brahmans, yet have shown by their
attempts to secure some trivial service from Brahmans,
that they are desirous of receiving their recognition, and
of being admitted full members of Hindu society. And
the initial step necessary to raise them out of their degrad-
ation is obviously the removal of these religious disabili-
1 See Chapter XIV, par. 26 (3) and (4). There are 25 castes in
the first of the two groups numbering sonre 8J millions; and all the
castes in the second group except those mentioned under sub-pars. (a)
and (e)—twenty in all, numbering possibly 450,000 people.
335
ceJy be used as a criterion now, when the idea itself
is fast disappearing; whilst it was never a satisfactory
criterion at any time, for a caste may be regarded as
untouchable by some of the twice born, and not by others;
a caste may be untouchable in one district and not in
the next; and there are untouchable castes with touchable
sections.
Nor is untouchability the lowest possible depth of
degradation. Some untouchable castes—the Kori, the
Bhar, the Pasi, the Dusadli—are none the less served
by Brahmans as their family priests—Brahmans of low
status, no doubt, but still Brahmans. They are obvious-
ly superior to those untouchables for whom no Brahman,
however low, would carry out a domestic ceremony; and
it is they, I suggest, that constitute the ‘depressed’
classes. The suggestion agrees with the historical facts.
At all stages of the evolution of Hinduism, there have
been, on or just outside the border-line of Hindu society,
a certain number of aboriginal tribes and low castes,
following all sorts of primitive or unsavoury professions.
At all times, the Brahman priesthood has endeavoured
to keep them segregated, not only from Hindu society,
but from the Hindu religion and the Hindu ceremonial.
They were not allowed to hear, much less study, the
Vedas; they must not enter the temples; they must carry
out all ceremonies without using the mantras (sacred
texts), and no Brahman would carry out any domestic
ceremony (sanskara) for them. And that is still the
position. The depressed classes are those castes1 who
are not served by Brahmans, yet have shown by their
attempts to secure some trivial service from Brahmans,
that they are desirous of receiving their recognition, and
of being admitted full members of Hindu society. And
the initial step necessary to raise them out of their degrad-
ation is obviously the removal of these religious disabili-
1 See Chapter XIV, par. 26 (3) and (4). There are 25 castes in
the first of the two groups numbering sonre 8J millions; and all the
castes in the second group except those mentioned under sub-pars. (a)
and (e)—twenty in all, numbering possibly 450,000 people.
335