ublic interest. But
in India the feeling of nationality never arose. The Hindu states
and empires had no national basis, since at the period in question
the only way in which the idea of nationality could be conceived,
was by participation of the citizens in a common sacrifice, and this
participation is only possible to persons living in a small local
area. Hence Hindu society developed on its own lines independently
of the form of government to which it was subject, and in the new
grouping by occupation the old communal sacrifices were preserved
and adapted to the fresh divisions. The result was the growth of
the system of occupational castes which still exists. But since
the basis of society was the participation of each social group in
a communal meal, the group could not be extended to take in persons
of the same occupation over a large area, and as a result the widely
ramified system of subcastes came into existence. The subcaste or
commensal group was the direct evolutionary product of the pre-existing
tribe. Its size was limited by the fact that its members had to meet
at the periodical sacrificial feasts, by which their unity and the
tie which bound them together was cemented and renewed. As already
seen, when members of a subcaste migrated to a fresh local area,
and were cut off from communication with those remaining behind,
they tended as a rule to form a fresh endogamous and commensal
group. Since the tie between the members of the subcaste was
participation in a sacrificial meal of grain cooked with water, and
as this food was held to be sacred, the members of the subcaste came
to refuse to eat it except with those who could join in the communal
feast; and as the idea gradually gained acceptance, that a legitimate
child must be the offspring of a father and mother both belonging
to the commensal group, the practice of endogamy within the subcaste
became a rule.

92. Veneration of the caste implements.

Since all the citizens of the Roman State participated in a
common sacrifice, they might be considered as a single caste,
or even a subcaste or commensal group. The Hindu castes have a
common ceremony which presents some analogy to that of the Roman
state. They worship or pay homage once or twice a year to the
implements of their profession. The occasions for this rite are
usually the Dasahra festival in September and the fast after the Holi
festival in March. Both these are festivals of the goddess