TRADITIONAL ORIGIN OF CASTE 47
country will journey hundreds of leagues to their native land in search of wives for their sons. Again, as to the caste system, Moses, as is well known,
established it amongst the Hebrews in accordance with the commands of God. This holy lawgiver had, during
his long sojourn in Egypt, observed the system as established in that country, and had doubtless recognized the good that resulted from it. Apparently, in executing the divine order with respect to it he simply adapted and perfected the system which was in force in Egypt.
The Indian caste system is of still older origin. The
Hindu sacred writings record that the author of it was the
God Brahma, to whom they attribute the creation of the world, and who is said to have established this system when he peopled the earth. The Brahmins were the product of his brain; the Kshatriyas or Rajahs issued from his shoulders; the Vaisyas from his belly; and the Sudras from his feet.
It is easy to understand the allegorical signification of this legend, in which one can distinctly trace the relative
degrees of subordination of the different castes. The Brahmins, destined to fulfil the high functions of spiritual priesthood and to show the way of salvation to their fellowmen, issue from the head of the Creator; the Kshatriyas, endowed with physical force and destined to undergo the
fatigues of war, have their origin in the shoulders and arms of Brahma; the Vaisyas, whose duty it is to provide the
food, the clothing, and other bodily necessities of man, are born in the belly of the god; and the Sudras, whose lot is servitude and rude labour in the fields, issue from his feet.
Besides this traditional origin of the different castes, known to all Hindus, there is another to be found in their books, which traces the institution back to the time of the Flood. For, it should be noted, this terrible world-renovat- ing disaster is as well known to the Hindus as it was to Moses. On this important subject, however, I shall have more to say subsequently; suffice it to remark that a celebrated personage, reverenced by the Hindus, and known to them as Mahanuvu, escaped the calamity in an ark, in which were also the seven famous Penitents of India. After the Flood, according to Hindu writers, this