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AN ESSAY ON HINDUISM

appeal to is the representatives of his own old caste. Appeal to the Hindu community in general or to Brāhmaṇas is useless. It is unnecessary first of all, and secondly, if it is done, it would not bring about the desired results. All that the Brāhmaṇas can do is to purify the individual, by giving him some kind of penance, but they cannot make him a member of any definite caste. The caste decides for itself as to who its members should be. If that caste or tribe is not organized, that is, if it has no central government, readmission of the fallen is difficult if not impossible. Brāhmaṇas have very often made experiments of giving purification to an individual, but such attempts have failed. That man becomes Hindu to be sure, nobody would question that part of the transformation, but he would not be able to find any people to make any connexion with him, or perhaps even to dine with him. He would thus become a member of "one-man caste" or would be compelled to make connexion with such people as would care to do that, very often with those who may have some kind of blemish already.

But, on the contrary, cases have happened where the fallen have been successfully reclaimed. Such has been the case specially in some of the lower castes which have a caste council. The council, or the general meeting convened by the council, would first decide whether a particular fallen man should be readmitted or not. When the caste has decided on taking the fallen in, then they call on the Brāhmaṇas to purify him, and such attempts have been successful.

These facts speak for themselves. The rule may be easily laid down as follows. Any caste may take the fallen, or foreigners, into their own body; and by being