HINDOO CASTES.
My dear Children--The people of India are divided into castes, as they
are called. Their sacred books declare, that after Brumha had peopled
the heavens above and the worlds below, he created the human race,
consisting of four classes or castes. From his mouth proceeded the
Brahmin caste. Those of this class are the highest and noblest beings on
earth, and hold the office of priests. At the same time there flowed
from his mouth the _Vedas_, or sacred books, of which the Brahmins are
the sole teachers To their fellow-men, they were to give such parts of
these books as they thought best. From Brumha's arm proceeded the
military caste. The business of this class is to defend their country
when attacked by enemies. From his breast proceeded the third caste,
consisting of farmers and merchants. From his feet, the member of
inferiority, proceeded the Sudras, or servile caste. Carpenters,
braziers, weavers, dyers, and the manual cultivators of the soil, are
included in this class.
Caste is not a civil, but a sacred institution. You must get some one
older than yourself to explain what this means. Caste is a difference of
_kind_. Hence, a man of one caste can never be changed into a man of
another caste, any more than a lion can be changed into a mole, or a
mole into a lion. Each caste has its laws, the breaking of which is
attended with great disgrace, and even degradation below all the other
castes. For instance, if a Brahmin should, by eating any forbidden
thing, break his caste, he would sink below all the other castes. He
would become an outcast, or pariah. For beneath the fourth, or lowest
caste, there is a class of people belonging to no caste--a class of
outcasts, held in the utmost abhorrence.
By the system of castes, the Hindoos have been divided into so many
selfish sections, each scowling on all the rest with feelings of hatred
and contempt. The spirit which upholds it, is similar to that spirit
which says, "Stand by thyself, for I am holier than thou," and, of
course, is nothing but pride. This is one of the greatest obstacles to
the spread of Christianity in this dark land, and for the exhibition of
which we were lately obliged to cut off many of the members of our
churches.
The Brahmins, in consequence of their being of the highest caste, and of
their having been taught from their infancy to regard all other classes
of men with the utmost contempt, are very proud. They make great efforts
to keep themselves pure, in their sense of the word, both without and
within. They are exceedingly afraid of being defiled by persons of other
castes. They have the utmost dread even of being touched by a pariah.
For them to eat with any of these pariahs, or to go into their houses,
or to drink water which they have drawn, or from vessels which they have
handled, is attended with the loss of their caste. A Brahmin who should
enter their houses, or permit them to enter his, would be cut off from
his caste, and could not be restored without many troublesome ceremonies
and great expense. The pariahs are considered to be so low, that if a
Brahmin were to touch them, even with the end of a long pole, he would
be looked upon as polluted In some districts they are obliged to make a
long circuit, when they perceive Brahmins in the way, that their breath
may not infect them, or their shadow fall upon them as they pass. In
some places their very approach is sufficient to pollute a whole
neighborhood.
The Brahmins carry their ideas of purity very far. Should a Sudra happen
to look upon the vessels in which they cook their food, they would be
considered as defiled. They can never touch any kind of leather or skin,
except the skin of the tiger and antelope. The most disagreeable of all
American fashions, in their eyes, is that of boots and gloves. They
rarely eat their food from plates; and when they do so, it is only at
home. They use the leaf of the plantain or other trees as a substitute.
To offer them any thing to eat on a metal or earthen plate which others
have used, would be considered a great affront. For the same reason,
they will neither use a spoon nor a fork when they eat; and they are
astonished that any one, after having applied them to their mouths, and
infected them with saliva, should repeat the act a second time. They
have a great abhorrence of the toothpick, if used a second time. When
they eat any thing dry, they throw it into their mouths, so that the
fingers may not approach the lips.
They do not drink as we do, by applying the cup to the lips. This would
be considered a gross impropriety. They pour the water into their
months. The reason why they do these things is, because they consider
the saliva to be the most filthy secretion that comes from the body. It
is on this account that no one is ever permitted to spit within doors.
The use of animal food they consider to be defiling. Not only will they
not eat animal food, but they will eat nothing that has the principle of
life in it. On this account, they cannot eat eggs of any kind. I was
once breaking an egg in my medicine-room at Panditeripo, while a Brahmin
was present. He told me that, under such circumstances, he could not
remain with me any longer. In his view, I was committing a great sin. To
kill an ox or a cow, is considered by them as a crime which can never be
atoned for, and to eat their flesh is a defilement which can never be
washed away. To kill a cow is, by _Hindoo_ law, punishable with death.
The touch of most animals, particularly that of the dog, defiles a
Brahmin. Should a dog touch them, they would be obliged instantly to
plunge into water, and wash their clothes, in order to get rid of such a
stain. Notwithstanding this, the dog is one of the gods worshipped by
the Hindoos.
The Hindoos consider themselves to be unclean if they have assisted at a
funeral. When the ceremony is over, they immediately plunge into water
for the sake of purification. Even the news of the death of a relative,
a hundred miles off, has the same effect. The person who hears such news
is considered unclean until he has bathed. In unison with this feeling,
a person is no sooner dead, than he is hastened away to be buried or
burned; for, until this is done, those in the house can neither eat nor
drink, nor go on with their occupations.
A Brahmin who is particular in his delicacy, must be careful what he
treads upon. He is obliged to wash his body or bathe, if he happens to
tread on a bone, or a broken pot, a bit of rag, or a leaf from which one
has been eating. He must also be careful where he sits down. Some
devotees always carry their seats with them, that is, a tiger or
antelope's skin, which are always held pure. Some are contented with a
mat. They may sit down on the ground without defilement, provided it has
been newly rubbed over with cow-dung. This last specific is used daily
to purify their houses from the defilement occasioned by comers, and
goers. When thus applied, diluted with water, it has unquestionably one
good effect. It completely destroys the fleas and other insects, with
which they are very much annoyed.
There is one thing more which I wish to mention. It is, that all the
high castes consider the use of intoxicating drinks to be defiling. I
hope that you, my dear children, will always have the same opinion, and
never touch them any sooner than you would touch arsenic or other
poisons.
A person may be restored to his caste, provided he has not committed an
unpardonable offence. This is done as follows. After he has gained the
consent of his relations to be restored he prostrates himself very
humbly before them, they being assembled for that purpose, and submits
to the blows or other punishment which they may think proper to inflict,
or pays the fine which they may have laid upon him. Then, after
shedding tears of sorrow, and making promises that, by his future
conduct, he will wipe away the stain of his expulsion from caste, he
makes the shaashtaangkum before the assembly. This being done, he is
declared fit to be restored to his tribe.
When a man has been expelled from his caste for some great offence,
those who restore him sometimes slightly burn his tongue with a piece of
gold made hot. They likewise apply to different parts of the body redhot
iron stamps, which leave marks that remain for ever. Sometimes they
compel the offender to walk on burning embers; and to complete the
purification, he must drink the punchakaryam, which literally means the
_five things_; these all come from the cow, and must be mixed together.
The first three of these I will mention, namely, the milk, butter, and
curds. The other two, for the sake of delicacy, I must not mention.
After the ceremony of punchakaryam is finished the person who has been
expelled from his caste must give a grand feast. This finishes all he
has to do, and he is then restored to favor.
There are certain offences which, when committed cut off all hope that
the offender will ever be restored to his caste. For instance, should he
eat the flesh of the cow, no presents which he might make, nor any fines
which lie might be disposed to pay, no, not even the punchakaryam
itself, would be of any avail for his restoration or purification.
I will make a remark here, which I might have made before. It is, that
in Christian countries, there is a spirit of pride which much resembles
the spirit of caste. Many are to be found who are very proud that they
have descended from rich and honorable _ancestors_, and who look down,
almost with disdain, upon those in other situations. I need hardly tell
you that this is a very wicked spirit, and entirely opposed to the
spirit of the Gospel. No matter what may be our high thoughts of
ourselves, we appear but very low in the sight of Him who created us. We
are all sinners, and, as such, are offensive in his sight. If we would
go to heaven, the first thing which we have to do, is to humble
ourselves for the pride of our hearts, and become as little children
before him. We must have that spirit of which the apostle speaks, when
he says, "Let each esteem others better than themselves." With a humble
spirit we may approach a holy God, with the assurance that he will, for
Christ's sake, forgive all our sins.