Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 140

100
EARLY COLONIZATION OF INDIA
parts, thinking that it might be to their advantage to adopt
the customs of their neighbours, began to clamour for
Brahmins. Accordingly, some were made to order out of
the youths of the country, who, after conforming to the
customs and rites of the Brahmins, were incorporated into
their caste by the investiture of the triple cord.
The
descendants of these ready-made Brahmins have ever since
been considered on an equality with the rest. The southern
Brahmins do not care to be reminded of the fact yet they
are obliged to admit it, as well as that two of the Rishis
were originally Kshatriyas. An objection which people
often put to them is that if nothing but the investiture of
the triple cord can make Brahmins of them, then their
wives, who do not go through the ceremony, really belong
to the Sudras and this means that all Brahmins are obliged
to marry out of their caste and by so doing violate their
most sacred principles. The reply they invariably make
to this, as to other embarrassing questions, is that they
are but following time-honoured customs and institu-
;
;
tions.
One is certainly justified in expressing doubt on the
subject of the Brahmins' origin, but I, for one, should be
sorry to oppose my conjectures to their absurd fables.
Far be it from me to start any theories. My only desire
is to collect materials which may help those who are trying
to lift the veil which shrouds from view the cradle of the
universe.
It is practically admitted that India was in-
habited very soon after the Deluge, which made a desert
of the whole world.
The fact that it was so close to the
plains of Sennaar, where Noah's descendants remained
stationary so long, as well as its good climate and the
fertility of the country, soon led to its settlement.
I will
say nothing of the conquests of Hercules, Bacchus, and
Osiris, as most learned men look upon them as fabulous
beings, and those who admit an element of truth in the
tales carefully denude them of all the extravagant details
which tradition assigns to them *. The history of Sesostris,
although equally full of impossibilities, has something more
truthful and authenticated about it.
The few ancient
monuments which have been preserved make him out to
1
See Plutarch's Isis and Osiris, chap. xxxv.