The European and American people who write of caste do not necessarily do so to bring the folly to the attention of their countrymen for the purpose of ridicule. There are some strangers who look on this question with philosophic interest, but it is very little different from the interest felt by an entomologist observing the habits of ants.
But the sons of India would have to think on caste with quite a different feeling. They cannot afford to enjoy the absurdities as an Englishman would. They have to be serious. A scientific investigator who is not a Hindu would look at this Hindu society without any feeling, as a medical man would examine a dead body. But a Hindu cannot be so unmoved. The more he thinks on the caste system, the better he understands his own burden. As one looking at a cancer would like to turn away his eyes, so a Hindu would like to discontinue his thoughts. But such dislike he must not entertain even for a moment. However pleasing might be the bliss of ignorance, the price which is to be paid would make us drop the idea of tasting such bliss. Investigation in this problem must be carried on without any feeling. It is a critical moment, a question of life and death, and we ought to consider it, and there is no way to escape.
Those who look at the caste distinctions and the evil consequences may even feel that this ship of caste has gone out of control. All that I can say is that we have no reason to despair. Methods of investigation which enable us to ascertain causes and extent of an evil, and to adopt proper remedies therefor, are making more rapid progress to-day than ever before, and the work
