CHAPTER XXI
CASTE AND THE LEGEND OF THE ARTISANS
However learned one may be, there is always something more to be learnt ; however much in favour one may be with kings, there is always something to fear ; however affectionate women may be, it is always necessary to be wary of them.–Sloka.
Caste is a puzzling subject to the new arrival in India who has not made a study of it. Everyone has heard of caste, and knows the use of the word in England, where it can only be applied to class. It has, however, a very different meaning in the East, and has no counterpart in Europe. It is founded on religion, and so intimately connected with it that someone has said ‘Caste is Hinduism, and Hinduism is caste.’
From ancient times there have been four divisions the Brahmin, or priestly ; the Kshattriya, or soldier ; the Vaisya, or merchant ; and the Sudra, or server. The impression conveyed by these divisions on the uninformed mind is that all men attached to the temples and ministering there are Brahmins, that all sepoys are Kshattriyas, shopkeepers are Vaisyas, and Sudras servants. This is not so, although originally it might have been the case in the dim past, when the caste distinctions were made to indicate the trades and professions. The Brahmin is certainly to be found in numbers in all the big temples built for the worship of Siva and the incarnations of Vishnu ; but there are thousands of small temples dedicated to demons where the pujari is not a Brahmin. On the other hand, Brahmins
