Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 79

EXPULSION FROM CASTE
39
quarters inhabited by Europeans; and unhappy is the
man who puts trust in them
A caste Hindu is often
a thief and a bad character, but a Hindu without caste is
almost always a rogue.
Expulsion from caste is generally put in force without
much formality. Sometimes it is due merely to personal
hatred or caprice. Thus, when persons refuse, without
any apparent justification, to attend the funeral or marriage
ceremonies of their relations or friends, or when they happen
not to invite the latter on similar occasions, the individuals
thus slighted never fail to take proceedings in order to
obtain satisfaction for the insult offered to them, and the
arbitrators called in to decide the case usually pass a decree
of excommunication.
When a case is thus settled by
arbitration, however, a sentence of excommunication does
not bring upon the guilty person the same disgrace and the
same penalties which are the lot of those whose offence
!
no room for compromise.
Otherwise it matters little whether the offence be deli-
berate, whether it be serious or trivial, in determining
that a person shall pay this degrading penalty.
A Pariah
who concealed his origin, mixed with other Hindus, entered
their houses and ate with them without being recognized,
would render those who had thus been brought into con-
tact with him liable to ignominious expulsion from their
caste.
At the same time a Pariah guilty of such a daring
act would inevitably be murdered on the spot, if his enter-
tainers recognized him.
A Sudra, too, who indulged in illicit intercourse witli
a Pariah woman would be rigorously expelled from caste
offers
became known.
of Brahmins assembled together for some
family ceremony once admitted to their feast, without
being aware of it, a Sudra who had gained admittance on
if
his offence
A
number
the false assertion that he belonged to their caste.
On the
circumstance being discovered, these Brahmins were one
and all outcasted, and were unable to obtain reinstatement
until they had gone through all kinds of formalities and
been subjected to considerable expense.
I once witnessed amongst the Gollavarus, or shepherds,
an instance of even greater severity. A marriage had been