10. Of created things, the most excellent are those which are animated; of the animated, those which subsist by intelligence; of the intelligent, mankind; and of men, the sacerdotal class. 11. Of priests those eminent in learning; of the learned, those who know their duty; of those who know it, such as perform it virtuously; and of the virtuous, those who seek beatitude from a perfect acquaintance with scriptural doctrine. 12. The very birth of _Bráhmins_ is a constant incarnation of DHERMA, _God of Justice_; for the _Bráhmin_ is born to promote justice, and to procure ultimate happiness. 13. When a _Bráhmin_ springs to light, he is borne above the world, the chief of all creatures, assigned to guard the treasury of duties, religious and civil. 14. Whatever exists in the universe, is all in effect, _though not in form_, the wealth of the _Bráhmin_; since the _Bráhmin_ is entitled to it all by his primogeniture and eminence of birth. 15. The _Bráhmin_ eats but his own food; wears but his own apparel; and bestows but his own in alms: through the benevolence of the _Bráhmin_, indeed, other mortals enjoy life. 16. To declare the sacerdotal duties, and those of the other classes in due order, the sage MENU, sprung from the self-existing, promulged this code of laws. 17. A code which must be studied with extreme care by every learned _Bráhmin_, and fully explained to his disciples, but _must be taught_ by no other man _of an inferior class_. 18. The _Bráhmin_ who studies this book, having performed sacred rites, is perpetually free from offence in thought, in word, and in deed. 19. He confers purity on his living family, on his ancestors, and on his descendants, as far as the seventh person; and He alone deserves to possess this whole earth. Subtract from the Brahminism of the Institutes, the importance assigned to caste; substitute for the Euhemerism of the Epics, an _elemental religion_, and we ascend to the religion of the Vedas; the nominal, but only the nominal basis, of all Hinduism. In the following Vedaic hymns, _Agni_ is _fire_; _Indra_, the _sky_, _firmament_, or _atmosphere_; and _Marut_, the _cloud_. RIGVEDA SANHITA. _Wilson's Translation._ I. 1. I glorify AGNI, the high priest of the sacrifice, the divine, the ministrant, who presents the oblation (to the gods), and is the possessor of great wealth. 2. May that AGNI, who is to be celebrated by both ancient and modern sages, conduct the gods hither. 3. Through AGNI the worshipper obtains that affluence, which increases day by day, which is the source of fame and the multiplier of mankind. 4. AGNI, the unobstructed sacrifice of which thou art on every side the protector, assuredly reaches the gods.