nd the receipt of presents to
belong to the Brahmans; traffic, cattle and agriculture to the Vaisyas;
the mechanical arts and service to the Sudras. The Ramayana hymn
suggests that in the four great periods the castes successively arrive
at the state of _dharma_ or righteousness. Thus, a Sudra cannot, even by
the most rigorous self-mortification, become righteous in the period
proper to the salvation of the Vaisyas. As the hymn speaks in the
Dvapara age, it speaks of the salvation of Sudras as future, and not yet
possible. Wholly in opposition to the story of a fourfold birth from
Brahma is the legend that the castes sprang from Manu himself, who is
removed by several generations of gods and demi-gods from Brahma. Then,
again, the Santiparvan alleges that the world, at first entirely
Brahmanic, was separated into castes merely by the evil works of man.
Castehood consists in the exercise of certain virtues or vices. _Munis_,
or persons born indiscriminately, frequently rise to the caste of
Brahmans, and the offspring of Brahmans sink to a lower level. The
serpent observes: "If a man is regarded by you as being a Brahman only
in consequence of his conduct, then birth is vain, until action is
shown." But this change of caste takes place only through a second,
birth, and not during the life which is spent in virtue. Another
poetical conception of caste birth is expressed in the Harivamsa. The
Brahmans were formed from an imperishable element (Akshara), the
Kshatriyas from a perishable element (Kshara), the Vaisyas from
alteration, and the Sudras from a modification of smoke.

The general result of the foregoing texts is that several contradictory
accounts have been given of the origin of caste, and that these are for
the most part unintelligible. Caste is described as a late episode in
creation, and as born from different parts of different gods, from the
mortal Manu, from abstract principles, and from non-entity. It is also
described as coeval with creation, as existing in perfection during the
Krita period, and subsequently falling into sin. It is also said that
only Brahmans existed at first, the others only at later periods. Then
the rationalistic theories of the Santiparvan upset the very foundation
of caste, viz. hereditary transmission of the caste character.[10] It
seems clear that when the Vedas were composed, many persons who were not
Brahmans acted as priests, and saints, the "preceptors of gods," by
their "auste