to different dates between the twelfth and sixth centuries A.D.

The germs of the Brahminism of the Puranas are the two great epics, the
_Ramayana_, or the conquest of Hindostan by Rama, and the _Mahabharata_,
or great war between the Sun and Moon dynasties. If we call the _worship
of dead men deified_, Euhemerism, it is the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata, to which the Euhemerist elements of the present Brahminism
are to be attributed. They increased the _personality_ of the previous
religion. This is the natural effect of narrative poetry, and one of
which we may measure the magnitude by looking at the influence and
tendencies of the great Homeric poems of Greece. It is these which give
us Kali, Rama, Krishna, Siva, and Vishnu, and which helped to determine
the preponderance of the two last over Brahma--Brahma being the Creator;
Vishnu, the Preserver; and Siva, the Destroyer. The highest antiquity
which has been given to the _epics_ is the second century B.C.; and this
is full high enough.

The Brahminism of the "Institutes of Menu," the oldest Indian code of
laws, is simpler than that of the epics. Its Euhemerism is less.
Nevertheless, it contains the great text on the caste-system, the
_fulcrum_ of priestly pre-eminence.

INSTITUTES OF MENU.

_Sir Graves Haughton's Translation._

1. For the sake of preserving this universe, the Being, supremely
glorious, allotted separate duties to those who sprang respectively
from his mouth, his arm, his thigh, and his foot.

2. To _Brahmins_ he assigned the duties of reading the _Veda_, of
teaching it, of sacrificing, of assisting others to sacrifice, of
giving alms, _if they be rich_, and, if _indigent_, of receiving
gifts.

3. To defend the people, to give alms, to sacrifice, to read the
_Veda_, to shun the allurements of sensual gratification, are, in a
few words, the duties of a _Cshatriya_.

4. To keep herds of cattle, to bestow largesses, to sacrifice, to
read the scripture, to carry on trade, to lend at interest, and to
cultivate land, are _prescribed or permitted_ to a _Vaisya_.

5. One principal duty the Supreme Ruler assigns to a _Sudra_;
namely, to serve the before-mentioned classes, without depreciating
their worth.

6. Man is declared purer above the navel; but the Self-Creating
Power declared the purest part of him to be his mouth.

7. Since the Brahmin sprang from the most exce