THE TRIUMPH OF BRAHMANISM 307
and interdining that was prevalent among the four Varnas in olden times. This has already been discussed in an earlier section of this chapter. There is however one part of the story that remains to be told. I have said the Varna system had nothing to do with marriage. That males and females belonging to the different Varnas could marry and did marry. Law did not come in the way of inter-varna marriage. Social morality was not opposed to such marriages. Savarna marriage was neither required by law nor demanded by Society. All marriages between different Varnas—irrespective of the question whether the bride was of a higher Varna than the bride-groom or whether the bridegroom was of the higher Varna and the bride of the lower Varna—were valid. Indeed as Prof. Kane says the distinction between Anuloma and Pratiloma marriage was quite unknown and even the terms Anuloma and Pratiloma were not in existence. They are the creation of Brahmanism. Brahmanism put a stop to Pratiloma marriages i.e. marriages between women of a higher Varna and men of lower Varna. That was a step in the direction of closing the connection between the Varnas and creating in them an exclusive and anti-social spirit regarding one another. But while the inter-connecting gate of the Pratiloma marriage was closed the inter-connecting gate of Anuloma marriage had remained open. That was not closed. As pointed out in the section on graded inequality Anuloma marriage i.e. marriage between a male of the higher Varna and the female of the lower Varna was allowed by Brahmanism to continue. The gate of Anuloma marriage was not very respectable and was a one way gate only, still it was an interconnecting gate by which it was possible to prevent a complete isolation of the Varnas. But even here Brahmanism played what cannot but be called a dirty trick. To show how dirty the trick was it is necessary first to state the rules which prevailed for determining the status of the child. Under the rule existing from very ancient times the status of the child was determined by the Varna of the lather. The Varna of the mother was quite unimportant. The following illustrations will place the point beyond doubt:
Father’s Varna of Mother’s Varna of Child’s Varna of name father Name mother name child
Shantanu Kshatriya Ganga Shudra Bhishma Kshatriya (Anamik)
Shantanu Kshatriya Matsyagandha Shudra Viehitra Kshatriya (Fisher) Virya
Parashar Brahmin Matsyagandha Shudra Krishna- Brahmin (Fisher) Dwaipayana
Vishwamitra Kshatriya Menaka (Apsara) Shakuntala Kshatriya
Yayati Kshatriya Devayani Brahmin Yadu Kshatriya
Yayati Kshatriya Sharmishta Asuri Druhya Kshatriya (Nonaryan)
Jaratkaru Brahmin Jaratkari Nag. Asita Brahmin (Nonaryan)