Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXII. Heathenism and Christianity—The Religion of the Hindoos—Caste—The Brahmins—Their Tyranny—Superstition—The Influence of Christianity—Keshub-Chunder-Sen, the Indian Reformer—His faith and Influence
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218,
Story of an Emigrant.
system of caste. It has stifled all noble efforts, all brotherly
love and humane feelings; it has plunged the people into
superstition, indifference and ignorance; it has doomed
ninety-nine hundredths of the myriads of India to the most
cruel slavery, in body and in soul; it has placed locks and
fetters on the human mind and branded the infant in its
mother’s womb to infamy and execration; and, the worst of
all, it has stifled all incentive to progress and development.
It has smothered many noble feelings, and taught men to
hate and despise each other; and so strong is the class
distinction of this system that a good Hindoo of our day
would a thousand times rather die of thirst or hunger than
take a glass of water or a piece of bread from a person of a
lower caste. Like other evils it has also been a curse to its
authors, the Brahmins themselves, by lulling thegreat
majority of them into ignorance and indifference. For why should
they take the trouble to study or work when the whole
world with its joys, pleasures and honors is open to them
anyway? Spacc does not allow discussing this matter more
fully, hence I will simply cite some of the doetrincs which
the Brahmins claim to have found in the divine books, and
which the people still regard as sacred:
41 Whoever disturbs a Brahmin during his religious
contemplations shall lose his life; if a person of a lower caste
sits down on the mat of a Brahmin, his back shall be burned
with red-hot irons; if lie touches the hair, beard or neck of
a Brahmin, the judge shall order both his hands to be cut
off; if he listens to evil reports about the Brahmins, molten
lead shall be poured into his ears; if he does not arise when
a Brahmin approaches, lie will be changed into a tree after
death ; if he casts an angry look at a Brahmin the god Yania
shall pluck out his eyes. The Shastras teach that a gift to a
Brahmin is of incalculable value to the giver. Whoever gives
a Brahmin a cow shall gain a million years of bliss in
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