Indian Antiquary Vol 60

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

Page 114

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
MAY, 1931
savage conduct.49 The Paraskara Ghya-sútra allows the marriage of a Kşattriya with a wife of his own caste, of a Brahmana with a wife of his own caste or of the two lower classes, and of a Vaisya with a Vaisya wife only. But it quotes the opinion of certain authorities that all of them can marry a Sadra wife, while other authorities condemn the marriage with a Sudra wife in certain circumstances, which implies that in other cases it might be justified,50 and this hypothesis is further strengthened by Manu's statement about those whom he calls Ugras. We see, then, that intermarriage between the different castes, though not considered quite pro. per, was allowed. In course of time people became more and more mixed with each other, so that practically the whole of southern India became mixed with the original Dravidian population irrespective of their castes. The Brahmaņas continued to be magicians as hithertofore.
Objections may be raised by some as to the magical character of the Brâhmaņas, both of the Vedic period as well as of modern tiines; but fortunately it needs very little, besides what has been said already, to satisfy even the staunchest disbeliever. The prayers of the Rg Veda contain various funeral incantations against demons and evil spirits61; these prayers, known as mantram, meaning charms,' 'incantations,' 'mystic formulas,' were and are chanted by the Brahmaņas. In fact, even down to our own times, it is the duty of the Brahmanas alone to perform the funeral ceremonies.53 The whole of Hindu life is one conti. nual round of religious duties. He must do everything as is prescribed by his religion, and his religion to him is what his guru, or religious teacher, tells him to do. Every action of life is hedged round with a regular ritual ; his religion tells him when to get up and how, what to do when he is up and what not to do, what to eat on a certain day and what not to eat; and even quite trivial actions are not without certain special ceremonies, such as for example, cleaning the teeth, washing the mouth, and so on. From morning till night, from birth to the funeral pyre, he has to act as his forefathers did, or in other words, as the Brahmanas tell him. The principal ceremonies of the Hindus, such as the ceremony at birth, the naming ceremony, the wedding ceremony, and the death ceremony, are all saturated with primitive magic; and it is the Brahmanas who are the high priests of these ceremonies. And lastly, to give one more instance, the Atharva Veda and the Kaufika Sutra are two very important books on Hindu magic.54
After caste had been firmly established in India it continued its existence on the occupational basis-the occupation of being a magician. And there is some doubt as to whether the Brahmaņas were considered as belonging to the highest caste in those times. In the Ambatta Sutta, Buddha claims superiority for the Kşattriyas. "So it is clear, whether you regard it from the male or from the female side, that it is the Ksattriyas who are the best people, and the Brahmaņas their inferiors.” If this is correct, it further proves that the Aryans reserved the highest position for themselves, and the next was given to the magi. cians, the Brahmanas. Caste system continued in a flexible manner till the advent of the Muhammadans. During the ninth and tenth centuries Sankara, an orthodox Hindu, gave it a definite form, in order to protect Hinduism from the attacks of Islam. Since that time it has become definite and rigid, and no important changes have been introduced into it in modern times. Today a man's caste is hereditary.
Thus, if our main thesis is right, caste originated neither with the Aryans nor with the Dravidians; it existed among the conquerors and the conquered. At the earliest times the
19 Laws of Man, x, 9; Jogendranath Bhattacharyya, Hindu Oastes and Sects (Calcutta, 1896), p. 159; B. Bonnerjea, L'Ethnologie du Bengale, p. 9, note 1.
60 E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage, vol. ii, p. 60, quoting Pardakara Grhya-matra, i, 4, 8 f.; Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, ii, 258.
61 H. Oldenberg, La Religion du Veda, translated by A. Foucher, p. 490.
69 Cf., for modern Bengali, Benimadhab Ganguli, The Students' Dictionary of Bengali Words and Phrases (Calcutta, 1908), p. 684, 8.v. "mantra."
53 Cf. B. Bonnerjea, L'Ethnologie du Bengale, Chapter I.
54 H. Hubert and M. Mauss ("Esquisse d'une théorie générale de la Magio," L'Annte Sociologique, vii (1902-1903]) have made use of the Atharva Veda and the Kaufiks Sacra in tirnost important contribution to the philosophy of magic.