India -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1947; India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947; India -- Social conditions
My misguided Hindu brethren of India should remember what the followers
of Nanak, the Sikhs, have already done, and what the Arya Samajists are
doing now in the Punjab. They can do the same and much more! If they
need a leader to guide them, they can find no one holier or wiser in
the whole world today than Mahatma Gandhi, who will show them the light
as soon as they are ready to see it. Gandhi, the Mahatma (the Great
Soul), the leader of millions, has adopted an untouchable girl into
his family, whom Mrs. Gandhi is bringing up with their own children in
their home. This action has made Gandhi no smaller in the sight of God
or man. Will it make other Hindus smaller if they come forward and say
to their brethren: “Come, brothers, we embrace you. We shall forget the
past and be one again. Children of the same Father, we are all equal
before His law. There shall be, in future, no high or low among us.
Brahman and Sudra, Mohammedan and Parsi, we shall join hands and strive
to bring our motherland back to its former vigor.” Then and then alone
will the regeneration of India be possible.
We find that quite early in the country’s history Hindu society fell
into two main divisions, the Aryans and the non-Aryans. The former
were again divided into three orders represented by priests, warriors,
and Aryan farmers or merchants; while the non-Aryans constituted the
servant class or the Sudras. The division of society into the three
priestly, warrior, and merchant classes is a natural one. We find its
parallel in ancient Persia, where the division of the community into
priests, warriors, and husbandmen is shown in the Avesta. “In fact, the
caste sentiment prevails in greater or less degree in all monarchical
countries of the world. In mediæval Europe the sentiment of caste grew
so strong that it found expression in literature and law.”
The work of society in India was distributed among the four castes as
follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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