El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-06
FRANK G. CARPENTERS LETTER.


the most reVOlIlnS IedIuieS VI Tic AAA4A
du religion.
AS to SILVA himself, he has 1000 diff
ferent names Upon his head he car
ries the Gauges. He has three eyes
and around his neck is garland OF
skulls. His weapons are bow, tnun-
derbolt and an ak. He Is the goo Oh
death and destruction and also the
god of asceticism and dancing. in the
latter manifestation being somewhat
like Bacchus.
The Sacred Books of Hinduism.
The Hindus have their sacred books.
upon which their religions are oaseo
Some of these are about the Oldest OF
religious manuscripts. They are known
as the Vedas, and are published in San
skirt There are four Vedas, the most
important of which is the Rig Veda-
This contains over 1000 hymns address
ed to the gods. and concentrating the
march of the Aryan race from kaoul 10
the Punjab And then there Is the Sauna
Veda, which is largely taken up with
the ceremonies of the religion; the
Atharva Veda, composed chiefly or In
carnations, and the Yajur Veda, the
publication of which the government Is
trying to suppress on account of Its
obscenity Connected with these Is the
code of Manu-, which gives the laws and
customs of the Hindus and is generaHy
obeyed today. There are also religious
and philosophical works written by the
Brahmans, and of late these men have
uttered new doctrines through their re-
ligious journals and newspapers They
are advocating the more strict observ-
ance of their religion. insisting on the
custom of infant marriages and upon
the abandonment of the remarriage OF
widows There are others who are ad-
vocating reforms more along the lines
of our civilization.
The Four Great Castles.
II is in the code of Manu- that we
find set down the four great castles
which have existed among the Hindus
for thousands Of years. These are the
main divisions of castles which form
such a big element in the situation OF
today, although there are thousands OF
minor divisions. The first and highest
caste is that of the Brahmans or priests
These men are the Levites of the ma
tives but they have a higher position
than the Levites held in Judea- They
are supposed to have sprung Originally
from the mouth of Brahma and were
! enjoined to study, teach and receive
aims. BY the right of birth they are
the lords of creation and the rest must
support them. There are something
like twenty millions Of them in India,
and they are the vampires Of every
community. They suck the blood OF
their fellows. who are bound to sup
port them. They bless, curse, teach and
govern the other Hindu castles They
are the authority upon all matters, re-
ligious and social They are the brains
of the Hindus and are among the lead
ers in the great unrest of today. They
hold their position on account of the
reverence and sanctity with which they
are regarded, and for this reason they
object 10 our civilization as the, ruina-
ton OF caste. They preach against rail-
roads. because in Chem all grades of
society must mix, arguing that such
contamination will lead to damnation.
The second great class was the war
riors. From these came the Rajuts.
and others whose duty it was to fight.
This class has largely lost its promi-
nence since the advent of the British.
II is supposed to have sprung from
! the arms of the god Brahma.
The third class was the industrial
part of the old population; which con-
tanned the laborers, farmers, herdsmen
and merchants. This sprang from the
belly and thighs of Brahma 1t is
leading caste now. 1t comprises the
largest part of the Hindus. and its
members are found everywhere through
out the peninsula.
The fourth and last caste was the
Sudra, condemned TO do the dirty work
or the community. 1t was the seryile
or slave class and such IL is today. II
sweeps the streets and does the scaven-
ger work L have a Sudra at my hotel
to keep my room clean. He is so hum
bic and servile that he never looks I'D
as he creeps about busting the floor
He carries the water and does work
which the other servants despise 9th
ers of the Sudras are cowskfnners and
corpse bearers and some are employed
as BARRIERS In addition there are
thousands of subcastes so that every
one has his place and his own special
job.
The Power of Caste.
1t is impossible for a stranger to un-
derstand how the Hindus look at caste
matters They accept their position in
society as matter of religion and do
not hope to alter it. All castles are
hereditary. The son of Brahman is
| bound to be priest and the son of
Sudra a Sudra. The poorest Brahman
always considers himself at the ton of
/ the heap, and he would spurn a mill
/ lionaire of any lower class than his own.
what is more, the millionaire would
stay spurned. L was talking the other
day with one of the chief officers of
the British army in India about this
matter. Said he:
No matter how rich or how powerful
a native becomes, he cannot rise above
his caste. Take the Maharajah of Gwa
llor, he is one of the richest of the ma
tive rulers, and vast sums flows into
his Golfers He has a big country IN
govern, and his subjects are millions
Nevertheless the poorest Brahman among
them would not give him his daughter
in marriage, and l venture the raiah
would give all he had IL he could raise
| his caste. He would pay untold fortunes
| TO be made Brahman, but that can
not be bought. We have other raiabs
OF such high caste that the majority Of
their subjects dare not come near them
cannot describe caste; it has existed
Tor ages and it is strong today"
The Marriages of Brnhman.
The rules of caste are strict as 70
marriage, and this is especially so az ~
the Brahmans. The daughter Of
/ pork-packing millionaire could never
marry a duke in this country IT,
Brahman thinks he condescends ~ he
! looks upon woman of a caste be1o,T
| him, and as rule, marriages are made
only in the caste and in the divisions
( or the castles to which one belonoc
4 leads n he