A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c6.151

c6.151

our eyes to the map of India, barred as it is by mountain-ranges and rivers, it becomes clear that the past ages of such a country cannot be represented in their fulness and reality by the traditions of the later Brahmans, which as we now possess them in the epic and paurāṇic poetry of the Hindus, are all tinged with the same monotonous colouring. Such a uniformity is always the result of an artificial system, and not of a natural and unimpeded development. It is indeed acknowledged by the Brahmans themselves that different customs prevailed in different parts of India. Some were even sanctioned by them, notwithstanding their policy of monopolising and (so to speak) brahmanising the whole Indian mind. Although, for instance, in the liturgic works annexed to the Vedas (Śrauta-sûtras), an attempt was made to establish a certain unity in the sacrifices of the people all over India, yet in the performance of these sacrifices there existed certain discrepancies, based on the traditionary authority of the wise of old, between family and family. This is still more the case in the so-called domestic ceremonies of baptism, confirmation, marriage, &c., described in the Gṛihya-sûtras, which, connected as they were with the daily life of the people, give us much more real information on the ancient customs of India than those grand public or private sacrifices which are prescribed in the Śrauta-sûtras, and could only have been kept up by sacerdotal influence. In these domestic ceremonies everybody is allowed, as a general law, to follow the customs of the family¹ to which he belongs, or of his village and country, provided these customs do not too grossly insult the moral and religious feelings of the Brahmans.