Indian Antiquary Vol 59

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 215

OCTOBER. 1930 1
THE VELAR ASPIRATE IN DRAVIDIAN
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(XIII) Effect of the establishment of the Caste System. Once this doctrine was established in the minds of the Hindu people that great source of social unrest which is caused by the desire for social elevation was swept entirely away, for, on the one hand, the Hindu was taught to believe that it was as impossible for a Sudra to become a Vaisya, or a Vaisya a Kshatriya, as it would be for, say, a bird to become a mammal; and, in the second place, had social elevation been possible, it was not desirable, for it would mean not an increase but a decrease of satisfaction as far as his particular bodily and mental desires were concerned. He was taught that happiness in this and subsequent lives was dependent upon submission to his lot, not by teachers who contended with him for material rewards and carthly honours and obtained them at his expense, but who proved themselves divine by their contempt for and renunciation of all which he himself valued. It was, in fact, as the Abbé Dubois has pointed out, this supreme renunciation by the Brahmans that, in spite of the physical weaknesses which they shared with all other human beings, differentiated them from other would-be rulers, and as it were, withont the use of force, compelled the peoples of India to accept at once their teachings and their claims and, still at the present moment, in spite of any self-contradiction between their conduct and their teaching, makes even the body of a Brahman holy, as the only possible habitation of the Brahman Spirit.
(XIV) The Caste System the only Social System ever proposed upon a basis stronger than Force.-From the above enquiry I think we may conclude that the Hindus are the only people in the world which has successfully put into actual practice a scheme of social life thought out upon purely religious and philosophical grounds, and entirely independent of any form of political government. It is the only social system which, whilst it provides a ruling class, bases the rights of the rulers upon entire material renunciation and the duties of the ruled upon love and respect. It provides every member of the community with a position which, though rigidly fixed, is fixed only by his natural limitations, and so allows him every opportu. nity of using to their full extent whatever abilities he may possess to the general advantage. The system is permanently stable because of the complete absence of any motive on the part of the ruled for seeking any alteration.
THE VELAR ASPIRATE IN DRAVIDIAN. By L. V. RAMASWAMI AIYAR, M.A., B.L.
General. JESPERSEN distinguishes three types of the velar aspirate :
(a) What he calls the extra-strong h, which is brought out with a very strong breath and which produces the impression of an "asthmatic" h. He uses the symbol [h] for this sound. An instance of this sound given by Jespersen is the h. in English Holy Ghost as pronounced during sermon-time in English churches, when extra force is bestowed upon the production of the sound, possibly (says Jespersen) as a strong reaction against the dropping of h's amongst the unlettered classes. The vocal chords stand very far apart in the production of the sound and assume, according to Jespersen's notation, the position «3.
(6) The normal h occurring initially in English and German words, where the vocal chords stand a little apart (2) at first at the position called Hauchstellung by Jespersen, and then come close together before the next vocalic sound is produced.
(c) The intervocal h as in English alcohol, etc. The vocal chords here do not quite reach the position 2, but a momentary weakening of the vibratory movement of the chords alone intervenes, accompanied by a production of an expiratory breath, and the sound, therefore, is more or less voiced. It may be observed here that while the extra-strong h can never be voiced, the normal h may be voiced or unvoiced according as the vibration of the vocal chords is greater or less.
Extra-strong [h h) is heard in the emphatic production of initial h in Sanskrit words like hasti, harina, hemanta, etc.