A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s7.154

v1.c8.s7.154

Just as this little story is invented to *explain* an attribute of women, there are numerous narratives in the Brāhmaṇas which deal with the *origin* of some matter or some institution. Such legends of origin, to which also the creation-legends belong, the Indians designate as Purāṇas,³ in order to distinguish them from the Itihāsas (or Ākhyānas), as the stories of gods and men are called. Among these narratives, too, there are such as were merely invented by Brāhmaṇa theologians, while others date back to old, popular myths and legends, or at least are founded upon a tradition independent of the sacrificial science. Thus, the origin of the four castes is frequently related in the Brāhmaṇas. Already in one of the philosophical hymns of the Ṛgveda, the Puruṣasūkta,⁴ it is reported how the Brahman arose out of the mouth, the warrior out of the arms, the Vaiśya out of the thighs and the Śūdra out of the feet of the Puruṣa sacrificed by the gods. In the Brāhmaṇas it is Prajāpati who produced out of his mouth the Brahman together with the God Agni, out of his breast and his two arms the warrior as well as Indra, out of the middle of his body the Vaiśya and the All-gods, but out of his feet the Śūdra. With the Śūdra no deity was created; therefore he is incapable for sacrifice. In consequence of this kind of origin the Brahman performs his work with his mouth, the warrior with his arms; the Vaiśya does not perish, however much he is "consumed," *i. e.* exploited, by priests and warriors, for he is created out of the middle of the body, where the reproductive power reposes; but of religious ceremonies, the Sūdra can perform only the foot-washing of members of the higher castes, for he arose out of the feet.¹ The following two suggestive tales of the creation of the night and of the winged mountains, found in the Maitrāyaṇī-Saṃhitā, are more pleasing.