Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/82

 not enough to prevent a man from breaking the injunction of dharma. More terrible than all these was excommunication, which was intended to compel a man to observe the tribal or scriptural dharma. The method of excommunication did not differ very much in the times of our writer from what it is to-day: "Excluded from all fellowship at meals, excluded from all sacrifices, excluded from instruction and matrimonial alliance, abject and excluded from all religious duties, let him wander over this earth. These people should be cast off by their paternal and maternal relations, and would receive neither compassion nor salutation; that is the teaching of Manu" (ix, 238-9).

Date of the author.—Certain facts that can be gathered concerning the personality of the author now deserve our attention. The first question is the one regarding the date of the author. Dr. Bühler in his able introduction has given his estimate of the date to be some time between 200 B. C. and 200 A. D., and here I beg to differ from the learned critic. After examining the contents of the work carefully I have come to believe that the author could not have lived before 200 A. D., and am inclined to place him between 227 A. D. and 320 A. D. For the proper treatment of the question I first summarize the reasons which induced Dr. Bühler to date the author when he did. Dr. Bühler admits that his estimate is based not on any direct evidence from the text referring to events whose dates are known, but is based on the relation-