banquets to the purposes of political supremacy. It is not, therefore,
till the Brahmanic period of Indian history, which ends with the coming
of Sakya Muni, in 600 B.C., that we find the caste-definitions of Manu
realized as facts. These are--"To Brahmans he (i.e. Brahma) assigned the
duties of reading the Vedas, of teaching, of sacrificing, of assisting
others to sacrifice, of giving alms if they be rich, and if indigent of
receiving gifts."[18] The duties of the Kshatriya are "to defend the
people, to give alms, to sacrifice, to read the Veda, to shun the
allurements of sensual gratification." The duties of a Vaisya are "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." These three castes (the twice born) wear the sacred thread. The
one duty of a Sudra is "to serve the before-mentioned classes without
depreciating their worth."[19] The Brahman is entitled by primogeniture
to the whole universe; he may eat no flesh but that of victims; he has
his peculiar clothes. He is bound to help military and commercial men in
distress. He may seize the goods of a Sudra, and whatever the latter
acquires by labour or succession beyond a certain amount. The Sudra is
to serve the twice born; and even when emancipated cannot be anything
but a Sudra. He may not learn the Vedas, and in sacrifice he must omit
the sacred texts. A Sudra in distress may turn to a handicraft; and in
the same circumstances a Vaisya may stoop to service. Whatever crime a
Brahman might commit, his person and property were not to be injured;
but whoever struck a Brahman with a blade of grass would become an
inferior quadruped during twenty-one transmigrations. In the state the
Brahman was above all the ministers; he was the raja's priest, exempt
from taxation, the performer of public sacrifices, the expounder of
Manu, and at one time the physician of bodies as well as of souls. He is
more liable than less holy persons to pollution, and his ablutions are
therefore more frequent. A Kshatriya who slandered a Brahman was to be
fined 100 panas (a copper weight of 200 grains); a Vaisya was fined 200
panas; a Sudra was to be whipped. A Brahman slandering any of the lower
castes pays 50, 25 or 12 panas. In ordinary salutations a Brahman is
asked whether his devotion has prospered; a Kshatriya, whether he has
suffered from his wounds; a Vaisya whether his health is secure; a Sud