the castes which serve these animals are graded accordingly.
A caste is again degraded by giving up or not having the traditional rules of purity of the surrounding dominant castes and by irregular conduct from their standard. In Western India, some castes are degraded by the use of wine and meat and even by that of tobacco. Many Brahmin castes in certain localities have lost in status by using meat, which is used in those localities only by non-Brahmins. Though the use of meat is generally not approved, yet the eating of beef and of pork and of vermin is considered most degrading. Many castes have been lowered in the social scale by the custom of polygamy, and by the custom prevailing among them of the purchasing the bride. They also gain or lose status according to the higher or lower form[1] of marriage which they use. Moreover, if at the time of the marriage the bride is already of age, that fact is considered as degrading to the caste. It is preferred that a girl should marry before she comes of age. The reasons for such a belief will be given later on.
These examples of the ceremonial law of purity, which tend to raise or lower the caste, are neither complete nor universal. The law differs according to the locality. The principles of ceremonial purity which in some parts form a hard and fast rule may he simply a sentiment elsewhere. When a question of precedence between two castes came before the colleges of Pundits in Benares, or Poona, it was decided, not by the observation of actual social conditions, but by the authority of old books.
- ↑ The Hindu Scriptures distinguish eight forms of licit marriage.
