Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/38

 When the word "caste" is used as an abstract noun it means either the caste system or any of its supposed peculiarities, like exclusiveness, hierarchy, fixed order of things, greater regard to the ancestry of a person than to his individual merits, pretensions of the purity of blood, feeling of superiority and inferiority or customary manifestations thereof. I have also noticed that many popular writers when they wish to express themselves strongly use this word to denote classes or restrictions of any kind.

"Origin of caste."—This phrase has no meaning. As long as we use the abstract noun "caste" in a variety of senses and the words "caste system" as one expression to denote a group of phenomena, the expression "origin of caste" can have no meaning. The theory of four classes (varnas) in society has its origin; sharp lines between various layers of society have their origin; ascendency of the priests and their exclusiveness have their origin; association of purity and impurity to various objects also has its origin. We can even conceive of the origin of endogamy. If historical psychology should ever be worked out it may give us the origin of pride and of feelings of superiority and inferiority. Though each of these various phenomena can have an origin, the origin or genesis of caste or caste system cannot be conceived of as long as these words remain a collective expression. If we cannot control our fondness for the word "origin,' we should better use the plural form, viz., "origins of caste;" this expression would have some meaning. It is the duty of the historian of caste to take into account all the complexities which make the caste system, and to go into the origin and the history of every one of them.