Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/119

 tribes which had received the right of Sanskāra were ārya tribes, while those which did not receive it were base-born. The economic distinction between Vaishya and Shūdra was not very sharp.

To sum up, let us see what all this means. All this gives us a picture of a society not much differing from the society of the present day. At the top of the social system were the Brāhmanas, and these Brāhmanas constituted not only a varna but also a caste. Then came the Kshatriyas. These were not a definite united caste. The name Kshatriya was simply a collective one assumed by such castes and families as were then dominant. In like manner the Vaishiyas. These were no caste. The name was merely a collective one comprehending the landed classes, cattle-keeping tribes, and clans of men engaged in commerce. The name Shūdra is applied as a collective one also to various castes engaged in commerce and skilled trades, unskilled labor and household service and other occupations held to be low. These last mentioned castes were regarded as low, chiefly for the reason that they were not entitled to the sacraments. Castes of one region were looked upon with suspicion by castes of other regions, and each regarded itself as superior to the others. The wild tribes and the castes of a filthy way of life were regarded as lower even than the Shūdras.

I here discuss incidentally the behavior toward each other of such castes as the Brāhmanas looked down upon and regarded as Shūdras. Did they accept their lot as Shūdras and become a democratic body? Far from it. In a hierarchical society the human mind becomes so degraded that even the lowest feel a very great pride on