Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/131



In order to understand the spirit of the ages which upheld caste and varna, one must take pains to understand the philosophy which justified this system. For without proper comprehension of the philosophy we shall unjustly condemn people for doctrines which appear to our eye as unjust, cruel, and monstrous. The philosophy may be wrong, it may have vitiated the ideas of people regarding justice and charity; but the devout people of those ages were not wanting in ideas of those virtues. They thought that they were doing only right by observing and maintaining the rules of four varnas and four ashramas.

Our writer believed that four varnas are created, and to each varna a proper duty is assigned to prevent social dissolution (i, 87). He also believed that dharma for every individual is determined by his origin, because the nature of every person is originally determined.