Caste in India: The Facts and the System c7.s4.43

c7.s4.43

I greatly fear that the texts will never furnish a decisive answer. Doubt is all the more permissible in proportion as the true position of the hymns in Hindu antiquity is still imperfectly determined; for we still discern but vaguely the precise moment of historical evolution to which they correspond. They reflect an ancient epoch, but not without the admixture of a multitude of purely Hindu traits; the civilization which follows pays them the most extravagant respect, while itself building on a profoundly different religious and dogmatic, geographical, and social foundation. Who can profess to-day to determine the exact relation of these two phases?