Evening star., 1928-03-15
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

pride, for she is not permitted in the
dining room when hubby" eats. She
sWearS not only to love. honor and
obey his lordship. but she really has 10
do just that, In a most literal sense.
She Is only a woman! He Is lord and
master.
All Hindus recognize four castes.
| Quoting again from The Worlds Liv-
| Ing Religions:
There is one. and only one. men,
| ton In the Rig Veda the Hindu Bible)
OF the four castles OF Hinduism. In
! this earliest document OF Hinduism,
perhaps 1000 years old, the four main
| groups in human society represent the
| successfully lower organs. or functions.
OF the primeval person:
His mouth became the Brahman.
| 'fiis arms became the kahatriya,
His thighs are the Vaisya.
The Sudra are produced from his feet"
Just as 1t Is impossible for q human
foot To rise and become an arm, much
less a mouth. so it is impossible that a
man or woman. born into one caste,
can ever rise into another caste Hin
duism Is religion of hopelessness and
| absolute seltiShness, so far rs this life
Is concerned. though II one sins here.
he may be penali2cd In his reincarna-
ton by being reborn into u lower caste
next time.
1t Is tabu for Brahman even to
accept glass OF water from low
caste Sndra. but II a Sudra leads true
Hindu life In India now, according to
his caste. and the Brahman sins, their
castles may be reversed. next century,
| III some future birth
The American bride now marries
. Ia lint
monkey. she may slip and fail To hold
| that caste IN her next reincarnatiun
and then will wish herself back I'm the
land Of the brave. There Is ns wide
division between the status Of Hin
du man and q fkindu woman rs there
Is between the castes,
Quoting from "Indias Problem:
Krishna or Christ" by John p, Jones
Her lord and husband has been
taught, from time immemorlal. 10 keep
her In obscurity. and tn surround her
with the screen OF ignorance and mar
row sympathiea. She has never aspired
to realms not granted by her lawgivers
The modern aspiration Of the new
woman Of the West docs not appeal to
her. She asks only To be let alone In
her narrow but, to her. all-sutficient
sphere"
That describes not an American
Hindu woman. hut native who knows
no other atmosphere. The author con-
tinucs:
say Of The power OF woman In India,
II hiill remains that In no other land
has she suffered such marked disability
and deeper injustice II her goodness
has sllonc out Of her darkness, 1t has
only served tn reveal. the more, the
sadness OF her position, She bears In
hx condition the signs Of her bondage
and humiliation The evils OF the land
have been attributed In her. and man
too often ascribea his own degradation
and sin Ia the curse breathed upon him
by woman.
"The proverbs of u country are the
tf.eat test of It's sentiments, What
have these 10 say OF the woman Of
India today?
"'Whnt poison Ii that which appears
like uectarf Woman
"'What IL crueip The heart ot
viper What IL more orllel7 The heart
Of woman. What In the n,uat cruel
Of ali' The heart of II "o"l'eas, nennl-
"'iie is II fool who considers his wife
as his friend
Educating Il woman IL like putting
knife Into the hands of monkey
'''fhese proverbs do not necessarily
reveal the depravity Of the Hindu
woman. but they do testity unmistak.
ably IN the estimation IN which she IL
held by man,
"1hr ignorance of woman there is
dense. and Ii probably a fact which
closely connects her with the proverhlal
expressions concerning her, Her INT.
eraey Ia mt an incident IN Indian Me
II has been through tha centuries II
settled policy af the landF\At the nrea~