Page:The Cyclopedia of India (Specimen Issue).pdf/154

 THE CYCLOVEDTA OF INDIA.

to orthodoay. invariably up at to some passage in the Upauishads in order tomsubstantiatc their own reasoning; Now itis true that in the Upanishsds themselves there is so much freedom and breadth ol thought that it is not diﬂicult to ﬁnd in them some authority lor almost any shade ot philosophical opinion. The Old Upauishads did not pretend to give more than " guesses at truth." and when. in course at time. they becauw invested with uninspired character, they allowed great latitude to those who [loiessed to believe in them as revelation. Yet this was not suﬂ'icient tor the rank grou'th of philosophical docuinesduring the latteragesol Indian history; and when none oi the ancient Upanishads could be lotmd to suit the propose. the founders of new sects bad no scruple and no diﬂiatlty in composing new UPanis- hads of their mm." The genuinely original Upmshads numbered ten, but new companions were gradually added until the total has reached an aggregate of 200 or more. Although it is probable that the Upauis. beds were largely the work of Kshatriya writers who chaledunderthe ‘ scholasticism ottheBraho ruins, the names at their authors are unknown. This absence of accredited authorshi was much in favour ol their being regarded as Reve ation. ‘ Sruti ' (things ‘heard from God.“ and not merely ‘Srnriti' (thi ‘remembered. The Vedas. t ,mmﬁm.‘ Brahmanas. with the Aranyakas and Upanishads. all are regarded by Hindus as revealed Scriptures. while the Sutras and the Punnas. which belong to the Rationalist and the Pnranilt ages respectively. are not ordinarily held to he divinely inspired. Such a division is in coulormit)‘ with the practice observed in almost all religions. The earliest sacred books are invariably supposed to be in some way or another at surrhnman origin. or at least to have been framed by ivine inspiration. They are anterior to clearly recorded history. and the In tery incidental to their invests them with the alo ol divinity. Those 0 a later and a more historical period. have. however. the character at more purely human documents. The time and circumstances oi their origin are more clearly known. and they are accordineg not invested with that odour oi sanctity which is the privilege ol the myso terious and the antique. We are speaking. be it noticed. of purely religious books: such epics as the Hahahharata and the Ramayana. while equally. it not more. bury in their origin than the early sacred books at the Hindus. -et on the whole appertain to uvcular literature. and re therelore no r aim to be as Revelation. The light they throw upon re igion is great indeed. but in their original loan at least. they Were not primarily didarlll‘ or religious.

Ill—Caste.

The rise ol the casteasystcrn must be ascribed to the period we are now describing. Even intbe Vedic a e the priesthood tended to become aspe- eial ession. although priestly tarnilies contained mom of other professions. and although the [niests themselves—the thus 0! the Rig-Veda. olten served intheir own personsaswan-iors. and livedfnclyin thewoddamongst theirlcinsmeu. Thistendencyto

specialization became an accomplished tact—the epic age. as with the elaboration ol tell iotts ceremonial. the priesthood me more and mm more a special class. selmrutod ' trom the built at the people by their so ‘or knowledge and sanctity. The knowledge requi to adequate] perform the now complicated ceremonial ol the sacri e rendered necessary the study ol a lite-time. particularly as in the absence oi writing the whole mass 0! religious lore had to be laboriously committed to memory. The priests themselves could be the only teachers, and whom would they be so ltltely to instruct as their own sous? Hence a growth at the hereditary rainciple arm the ' thood. and the idea. gradually dcvelo that e Brahmans— who being the an 'or c of priests gave their name to the pies as a whole, were a distinct and a superior rate. At the same time there appears in the newly termed territorial states oi the Gauptic Valley. a new warlike nobility. the cream at the lighting Aryan race. who assumed the name of Ksbatriyas. The priesthood and the Warrior class for a long time tanned together the great ruling class. The King was a Kshatriya and the priest and nobles served him in their ditterent capacities. As this class- “.vm‘ ionization becrme 'mtifc rigiduthe 0"- name aisya. setter utonetme applied to the whole Ar on race. was appropriated by t e great body at the tan people. chieﬂy [rec pcuths and merchants. A ourth class was then found to include all non~Aryans and the descendants of mixed mar. riages hem-ecu members at the Aryan and non~Arynn races. This lourth division ol the people was lstnowu as the Sudrn caste. The . udras "Jimmy": "' were mostly artisans and labou- rers. perloruting menial services, and they occupied the lamest scale of the social ladder. The gull between the three Ar an custts and the Sudras was the greatest ull at al: in lact in some districts. such as Lower ngal alter its conquest and settlement in the next Age—thegroat division between the Aryan classes and the detested aborigines was ctically the col ' division lor quite u long period ol tistory. This between the races was expressed by giving to the three Aryan castes the appellation o ‘Twicevﬂoru' and to the Sudrus the opprnhrious term at ‘Oncobornl The ionrlold division ol castes which We hth- rnumemted. that division which the “lg-ml Wm“; laws oi Mann regard as primitive W.m and fundamental. was only rigidly carried out in the great Middle.- land, that tract at Northern India where ﬂourished the Gangetic kingdom ol the Epic Age. By the time that the Hindu civilizatth 5 read southwards. a variety oi new castes had been ad ed and the old four. told division was soon lorgotten, even where it had lormerly existed. Enough has been said to show that the basis at caste division was mainly racial and proles- sional. The ﬁrst three castes were distinguished from each other by profession. and all three were at ﬁrst distinguished from the lowest caste by race.