Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1891-01-17

time, Of course, the k,hatrtas or war
rior- ranked first rs the ruling caste.
But they did not maintain this position
very long, Wien there was no more
lighting Ia re- done, they accustomed
thcm-rlvr, to life Of inacion and idle
ness, and that, combined with the ef
frrts Of the hot climate, seduced them
into luxury, volupruousness. debauchery
and dissoIuteness which destroyed ali
their energy ant spirit Of enterprise.
Thus it came to pass that, gradually,
the Bruhmdns, L. z. the learned men or
priests, by close alliance and unity Of
efforts, gain, Il more and more influence
with the people and, at last, got the up
per land in the state. They rose to the
rank of first caste. TO attain this end,
they had altered their primitive religion
from polytheism to "A kind Of pahthelsm,
in which the universal, all permeating
and omnipotent divine power IS repre-
scented by the supreme being BrUhHG
a, e., the holy onel, under and through
whom all other lower gods work and
act. According to their doctrine, he IS
the source Of all creatures and the sub
stance of all things. But he made, they
fought, for mankind a distinction of
rank, by originating the Brahmans from
his mouth. the kshatrias from his
arms, the Naisyas from his legs aud the
Sudras from his feet. And to increase
still more their influence over the
minds of the people, they further taught
| that there was life after death In which
! all those who had not strictly reverenCed
and Obeyed the PRIESTS and their com
mandmpnt4, first would be most awfuly
| punished for "a long period OF time, and
| then be- born anew IN the form Of ami
mails or Parias. SO that if behaving well,
| they could rise again to higher exist
! enCe. However, since this WOrld, SO
! they continued, is full Of misery and
unfit to bestOw any real happiness,
! eternal death and return to Brahma APP
/ pear as the most desirable, best and last
/ aim bat that can be reached only by
| asceticism and virtue, L. e. by renoun-
cling all temporal pleasures and perform
ing many good deeds.
This system of religion, philosophy
| and politics the Hindoo priests had com.
piled from and built upon their ances-
| tors primitive songs, rites and traditions
which, after altering and moulding them
SO as to suit their own purposes, they
wrote down and gathered into five
| bnOks-the four leddS and the LdlrS Of
! NDlu. The latter, originated about go
| b, G., give an exact and detailed &C
| count of all the statutes then regulating
/ the whole life of the nation. These laws
| plainly show that at the time men
! toned. viz 900 years after the conquest,
| the three Aryan castles, /. {. the Brah
| mans, Kahatrias and Naisyas had en-
| trely degenerated. Incidence, loss of
| energy, corruption and want Of prin-
ciples, coupled with abject poverty, X,
| nOranCe, Indebtedness and mad despair
| or duh resignation, generally prevailed.
| This condition was due to causes | have
stated before. Since the establishment
| of slavery the conquerors began TO dis,
| dain manual labor and for that reason,
| they laid, in course Of time, all hard
work upon the Sudras and Parias, while
they Themselves acted only as masters
aud overseers The effects Of this com,
Portable, but Ivy life, combined with
the effects Of the hot climate which they
could not as we'll endure as the native
inhabitants Of the dark races. produced
the deterioration of their bodies and
minds.
From this general misery, distress and
despOndenCe a change in religion took
rise. 1t was originated 10y IA member of
| the Kshatrias. SiduthG, the son Of a
king, taught that the cause Of all evil
depends upon the desues which come
/ from the senses, and that the senses be.
/ long to the body, the rule Of which must
| be entirely thrown off by the soul, if it
wants to find lasting rep0se. This world,
/ he further taught, is only valley of
/ tears, in which mankind forms merely a
/ fellowship of suiferings and Affections.
| Therefore, he required his followers to
| quenCh their seltishness, to consider all
| men as brethren and, consequently, to
| be torbearng, compassionate and CHART
able. Instead of the many and foolish
/ penances, fasts, prayers, notifications
etc, which the Brahmans exacted he
| demanded the practice Of only two main
| VIrtues-ChaSteneSs and poverty. He did
! not menace the sim rs with severe pun
/ lshments in he'll, nor with endless trans
| mIgratIOnS and regeneratlOns on earth,
| Death Is, according to him. the annli-
| alton of the individual by his return into
/ the pale of nature or into that state of
! complete unity with the All which he
/ called NiriruHu.
This short outline shows that his
doctrlne-originaIIy and theoretically a
religion without any god and worship
whatever-mainly depends on the total
announcement and forsaking of the
world, condition which practically
cannot be fulfilled by the great mass Of
the people. However, it soon spread
rapidly in spite of this obstacle. And
why: Because, by openly avowing the
brotherhood and equality of mankind, it
indirectly implied the denial of caste
! distinction and the abolition of slavery,