1 By HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
2 territories. In these contests for sovereign power, the immigrants attached
3 The Aryan immi- themselves to their respective leaders or chiefs, and thus large commu-
4 grants form Tae com- Dities or nations were formed. Successful leaders found themselves in_
5 munities or nations. Hossession of extensive territories and became the acknowledged rulers of
6 the people inhabiting those dominions. Petty chieftainships merged, in the
7 course of time, into comparatively powerful sovereigniies, and in the long
8 periods of peace which followed, and in which the conquerors applied them-
9 Development of the Selves diligently to the task of organizing the subdued territories, the caste
10 caste system, system began to be developed. Preéminent over ull other castes were
11 the Brahmins,* who acted as councillors at the courts of different sove-
12 reigns. They also acted as minstrels and pricsts at sacrifices, and sang
13 the sacred hymns which caused the gods to descend. ‘The Brahmin was con-
14 sidered nobler than all the rest of mankind.t He gained a supremacy alike
15 Thepredominaneoot over the king and the people. The predominance of the Brahmin over all the
16 Ne Lemee other castes creates a new era in the history of the Hindus. Their system
17 of philosophy was prevalent about the year 800 B.c., when the dynasty
18 of Pradyotas ruled the kingdom of Magadha on the south bank of the
19 Ganges. The land between the Yamuna and the Ganges was called the
20 Brahmarshidesa, or “land of the Holy Sages.” Here lived the two great
21 ancient Hindu nations, the Kurds and the Pandts, immortalized by the
22 songs of the Mahdbhdrata, and here were Hastinapta, lndraprastha, Krish-
23 napura, holy cities of ancient fame.
24 The four castes. Next to the sacerdotal class, or Brahmins, were the Shatrias, or the
25 military, who protected the people, the Vaisyas, or workers, who tended the
26 herds, tilled the fields and carried on trade, and the Stidras, or servile
27 class, the remnants of the vanquished aborigines, who served the three other
28 pune Hrahminsthe orders in menial capacities. The Brahmins were the first-born order ;
29 they were nearer to Brahma, or the Holy Spirit, than the others. That
30 the human race might be multiplied, Brahma caused the Brahmins to be
31 created from his mouth, the Shatrias from his arm, the Vaisyas from his
32 thighs, and the Stdras from his feet. The Shatrias were to carry the
33 sword, They were also called Rajnaya, or Rajbansis, which means “ connected
34 with the royal dynasty,” and are now represented by a class of people known
35 as Ndjputs (of royal descent). The Vaisyas by degrees mingled with the
36 other classes and have now almost disappeared as a distinct sect.
37 The Brahmins secured their social supremacy by a compilation of
38 ee laws known as the Code of Mant. According to Duncker, this
39 ai eee a e ue together about 600 B.c., though others assign toit a much later
40 ta ith cata, a S he doctrine of monotheism is recognised throughout the Institutes
41 of Mant. It enjolus a true knowledge of “one Supreme Being” whose
42 nature is thus described in the opening passage :—
43 Pe Hie tu concep. “This (.e.,
44 Ete aie : the universe) existed only in d
45 Ur vorcaan Pour undiscovered, undiscoverable, :
46 Bethe, __, Then the self-existing
47 ible, with five elements
48 ling the gloom.
49 “ac a . bs
50 age a eigen a pega alone can perceive, whose essence eludes the external organs,
51 : es sible parts, who exists from eternity, even He, the soul of all beings,
52 w ee = eing can comprehend, shone forth in person.
53 ee Aes vines to produce various bein gs from His own Divine substance, first,
54 h a eh ae the waters and placed in them a productive seed.
55 : " : : : :
56 ae nee ane a egss bright as gold, blazing like a luminary with a thousand
57 , ategs He was born himself, Brahma, the great forefather of all spirits.
58 * Brahmin, from the
59 : x root brah (to ¢
60 increve. It sionifie : : © grow) means one who elevates o t row or
61 : S : 9 e r causes to grow
62 + Lakebherata. the ideal union of ail that is sacred and divine, ; i
63 The Code of Mami.
64 0 arkness, imperceptible, indefinable,
65 as though it were wholly immersed in sleep.
66 Power, Himself undiscerned, but making this world discern-
67 and other principles, appeared, with undiminished glory dispel-
68 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com