The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c6.10

c6.10

Over this hovers, like a black cloud, another institution, the system, or rather the chaos, of caste. Its grotesque inconsistencies and bitter tyranny have gone far to make the Hindu what he is. The corrosive properties of this single institution, more than anything else whatsoever, have checked the development of India into a nation. They have made possible the spectacle of a country of nearly 300 millions of inhabitants, governed by the skill of 60,000 military and 60,000 civilian foreigners.