Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c47.s1.12.2

c47.s1.12.2

In function, again, which in its lower grades is closely connected with race, the social gradations are based upon the relative cleanliness of the pursuit, though not without a glance at the ancestry of those who have taken to it. Religious differences only lead to the formation of a separate caste, when as above indicated, they are accompanied by a departure from the social observances of the original body, upwards, it may be, or in the opposite direction. The constant multiplication of castes, indeed, is attributable for the most part either to the assumption by a section of an existing caste of a higher standard of purity than the rest in occupation, marriage regulations, or food; or, on the other hand, to the excommunication of a section from fire and water for a violation of the caste rules regarding such matters. This fissiparity of castes is a subject of great intricacy to which space does not allow more than cursory reference here. It is necessary to make some mention of it, however, in order to show that, rigid and compressive as may be the framework of society imposed by the caste system, it does not preclude mobility within the multitudinous cells of which it is composed, and provides, too, for the increase of their number by accretion from outside. It is perhaps still more important to note that the converse process does not take place.