Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c47.s1.5

c47.s1.5

§ 16. The caste system being an institution essentially and exclusively Indian, the question arises whether its origin is to be sought amongst the Āryan immigrants or to be ascribed to those whom they found in possession of the field. Or, again, assuming that it is the resultant of the contact of the two social systems, what is the influence respectively attributable to each? The view now very generally held is that it is the product of no single cause, but that to its establishment in the form in which it now prevails, several factors, Āryan, pre-Āryan and hybrid, have at different times contributed. Of these by far the most prominent is the hieratic influence by which the main principles of the system were fixed and the standard set by which social position is graduated. That influence derives its authority entirely from the Vedic tradition, so it becomes necessary to see what information is obtainable from that source regarding the social organisation of the community amongst whom it originated. As in regard to all else concerning the earlier life of that community, reference must here be restricted to the Sūktas of the Ṛksaṁhitā. These compositions must of course be defective in some respects, and from their character and the occasions they were intended to serve they cannot be expected to furnish a complete and detailed picture of the organisation of the body to which they relate. Nevertheless, the general conditions of life among those peoples were simple, and the relations between those who offered the sacrifice and the divine power whose good offices were solicited through it were so intimate and practical, that from the large collection of effusions handed down to posterity a very fair general notion can be formed of the leading facts relevant to the subject under consideration.