Page:A History of Civilisation in Ancient India based on Sanscrit Literature Vol 1.djvu/56

8 repeated, but lost their meaning and sense, and vast ceremonials and observances took the place of simple forms. The priestly class increased in number and in influence, until they formed a hereditary caste of their own. The kings and warriors of the Gangetic valley lived in more splendid courts, and had more gorgeous surroundings than the simple agricultural warriors of the Punjab, and soon separated themselves from the people and formed a caste of their own. The mass of the people—the Vaisyas or Visas of the Riga Veda—became more feeble than their forefathers in the Punjab, and wore, without a protest, the chains which priests and warriors—the Brâhmans and the Kshatriyas—threw around them. And as subjection means demoralisation, the people in Hindu kingdoms never afterwards became what the people in ancient and modern Europe have striven to be. And lastly, the aborigines who were subjugated and had adopted the Aryan civilisation formed the low caste of Sûdras, and were declared unfit to perform the Aryan religious rites or to acquire religious knowledge.

Such was the origin of the Caste-system in India, in the second period of Hindu history. The system arose out of weakness and lifelessness among the people, and, to a certain extent, it has perpetuated that weakness ever after.

It will be observed that this Second Period was a period of the submission of the people under the Brâhmans and the Kshatriyas, and of the submission of the Kshatriyas themselves under the Brâhmans. At the close of the period, however, there appears to have been a reaction, and the proud Kshatriyas at last tried to prove their equality with the Brâhmans in learning and religious culture. Wearied with the unmeaning rituals and ceremonials prescribed by priests, the Kshatriyas started new speculations and bold inquiries after the truth. The effort was unavailing. The priests remained supreme. But the vigorous speculations which the