Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s7.282

v2.c4.s7.282

Although clear distinctions were made between the different castes, there is little trace in Vedic literature of one of the leading characteristics of the later system, the impurity communicated by the touch or contact of the inferior castes,⁸² which is seen both directly in the purification rendered necessary in case of contact with a Śūdra, and indirectly in the prohibition of eating in company with men of lower caste.⁸³ It is true that prohibition of eating in company with others does appear,⁸⁴ but not in connexion with caste: its purpose is to preserve the peculiar sanctity of those who perform a certain rite or believe in a certain doctrine; for persons who eat of the same food together, according to primitive thought, acquire the same characteristics and enter into a sacramental communion. But Vedic literature does not yet show that to take food from an inferior caste was forbidden as destroying purity.⁸⁵ Nor, of course, has the caste system developed the constitution with a head, a council, and common festivals which the modern caste has; for such an organization is not found even in the Epic or in the Pāli literature.⁸⁶ The Vedic characteristics of caste are heredity, pursuit of a common occupation, and restriction on intermarriage.