Page:The World's Parliament of Religions Vol 1.djvu/347

Rh form part of the Vedas, as explained before, the former explaining the ritualistic use and application of Vedic hymns, the latter systematizing the unique philosophy contained in them. What the Brâhmanas explained allegorically, and in the quaint phraseology of the Vedas, the Smritis, which followed them, explained in plain, systematic, modern sanskrit. As the Vedas is called S'ruti, or something handed down orally from teacher to pupil, these latter works are called S'mritis, something remembered and recorded after the S'rutis. The Sutras deal with the Brâhmanas and S'ritis on the one hand, and with the Upanishads on the other. These latter we shall reserve for consideration in the next stage of religious development, but it should never be supposed that the central idea of the All as set forth in the Upanishads. had at this period, or indeed at any period, ceased to govern the whole of the religious activity of India. The Sutras are divided principally into the Grhya, S'ranta, and Dharma Sutras. The first deals with the S'mrtis, the second with the Brâhmanas, and the third with the law as administered by S'mrtis. The first set of Sutras deals with the institution of Varnas and As'ramas and with the various rites and duties belonging to them. The second class of Sutras deals with the larger Vedic sacrifices, and those of the third deals with that special law subsequently known as Hindu law. It will be interesting to deal "en masse" with these subjects in this place—leaving the subject of law out of consideration.

And first let us say a few words about caste. In Vedic times the whole Indian people is spoken of broadly as the Âryas and the Ânaryas. Ârya means respectable and fit to be gone, from the root R "to go," and not an agriculturist, as the Orientalist, would have it, from a fanciful root ar, to till. The Aryas are divided into four sections called Varnas, men of white color; the others being Avarnas. These four sections comprise respectively priests, warriors, merchants, and cultivators, artisans, and menials, called Brâhmanas, Ks'atriyas, Vais'yasand S'udras. These divisions, however, are not at all mutually exclusive in the taking of food or the giving in marriage of sons and daughters. Nay, men used to be prompted or degraded to superior or inferior Varnas according to individual deserts. In the Sutra period we find all this considerably altered. Mame speaks of promiscuous intercourse among varnas and avarnas leading to the creation of several Jâtis, sections known by the incident of birth, instead of by color as before. This is the beginning of that exclusive system of castes which has proved the bane of India's welfare. Varna and Jâti are foremost among many other important features which we find grafted on Hinduism in this period. We find in works of this period that the life of every man is distributed into four periods—student life, family life, forest life and life of complete renunciation. This institution, too, has become a part of the meaning of the word Hinduism. The duties and relations of Varnas, Jatis and As'ramas are clearly defined in the Sutras and S'mrtis, but with these we need not concern ourselves except in this general manner.