BOOK Scription of the Hindús as they are to be seen in present times. I. The alterations effected during the interval will appear from a comparison of the two pictures; and a view of the nation at a particular point of the transition will be afforded from the accounts which have been left to us by the Greeks. CHAPTER I. DIVISION AND EMPLOYMENT OF CLASSES. THE first feature that strikes us in the society described by Menu, is the division into four classes or casts (the sacerdotal, the military, the industrious, and the servile). In these we are struck with the prodigious elevation and sanctity of the Bramins, and the studied degradation of the lowest class. The three first classes, though by no means equal, are yet admitted into one pale: they all partake in certain sacred rites, to which peculiar importance is attached throughout the code; and they appear to form the whole community for whose government the laws are framed. The fourth class and the outcasts are no further considered than as contribute to the advantage of the superior they casts. CHAP. A Bramin is the chief of all created beings; the Bramins. world and all in it are his: through him, indeed, * The word class is adopted here, as being used in Sir W. Jones's translation of Menu; but cast is the term used in India, and by the old writers on that country. It is often written caste in late books, and has sometimes been mistaken for an Indian word; but it is an English word, found in Johnson's Dictionary, and derived from the Spanish or Portuguese-casta, a breed. I. 1 BOOK other mortals enjoy life'; by his imprecations he could destroy a king, with his troops, elephants, horses, and cars; could frame other worlds and regents of worlds, and could give being to new gods and new mortals. A Bramin is to be treated with more respect than a king. His life and person are protected by the severest laws in this world, and the most tremendous denunciations for the next. He is exempt from capital punishment, even for the most enormous crimes. His offences against other classes are treated with remarkable lenity", while all offences against him are punished with tenfold severity." हैं Yet it would seem, at first sight, as if the Bramins, content with gratifying their spiritual pride, had no design to profit by worldly wealth or power. The life prescribed to them is one of laborious study, as well as of austerity and retirement.. The first quarter of a Bramin's life he must spend as a student; during which time he leads a life of abstinence and humiliation. His attention should be unremittingly directed to the Védas, and should on no account be wasted on worldly studies. He should treat his preceptor with implicit obedience, and with humble respect and attachment, which i Chap. VIII. 272. 283. 325. 377. Chap. XI. 205, 206. * Chap. II. 175-210. I. ought to be extended to his family. He must per- CHAP. form various servile offices for his preceptor, and must labour for himself in bringing logs and other materials for sacrifice, and water for oblations. He must subsist entirely by begging from door to door.heili 22 AR talt 1999 m. For the second quarter of his life, he lives with his wife and family, and discharges the ordinary duties of a Braming These are briefly stated to be, reading and teaching the Védas; sacrificing and assisting others to sacrifice; bestowing alms, and accepting gifts. cho lhs olda utine m The most honourable of these employments is teaching. It is remarkable that, unlike other religions, where the dignity of the priesthood is derived from their service at the temples, a Bramin is considered as degraded by performing acts of worship or assisting at sacrifices, as a profession." -All Bramins are strongly and repeatedly prohibited from receiving gifts from low-born, wicked, or unworthy persons. They are not even to take many presents from unexceptionable givers, and are carefully to avoid making it a habit to accept of unnecessary presents. When the regular sources fail, a Bramin These rules are now only observed by professed students if by them. Chap. X. 75, 76. 85. n Chap. III. 180. subsists in full force. о Chap. IV. 205. A feeling which still Chap. IV. 84. Chap. X. 109, 110, 111. Chap. XI. 194 -197. P Chap. IV. 186. BOOK I. may, for a mere subsistence, glean, or beg, or cultivate, or even (in case of extreme necessity) he may trade; but he must in no extremity enter into service; he must not have recourse to popular conversation, must abstain from music, singing, dancing, gaming, and generally from everything inconsistent with gravity and composure. q He should, indeed, refrain from all sensual enjoyments, should avoid all wealth that may impede his reading the Védas', and should shun all worldly honour as he would shun poison. Yet he is not to subject himself to fasts, or other needless severities. All that is required is, that his life should be decorous and occupied in the prescribed studies and observances. Even his dress is laid down with minuteness; and he may easily be figured (much as learned Bramins are still) quiet and demure, clean and decent, "his hair and beard clipped, his passions subdued, his mantle white, and his body pure;" with a staff and a copy of the Védas in his hands, and bright golden rings in his ears." When he has paid the three debts, by reading the scriptures, begetting a son, and performing the regular sacrifices, he may (even in the second portion of his life) make over all to his son, and remain in his family house, with no employment but that of an umpire. 8 u Chap. IV. 63, 64. Chap. II. 162. Chap IV. 35, 36. Chap. IV. 16, 17. ▾ Chap. IV. 257. |