"54. I call him alone a Brahman who knows his former abode, who
sees both heaven and hell, and has reached the extinction of
births.
"55. What is called 'name' or 'tribe' in the world arises from
usage only. It is adopted here and there by common consent.
"56. It comes from long and uninterrupted usage, and from the
false belief of the ignorant. Hence the ignorant assert that a
Brahman is such from birth.
"57. One is not a Brahman nor a non-Brahman by birth: by his
conduct alone is he a Brahman, and by his conduct alone is he
a non-Brahman,
"58. By his conduct he is a husbandman, an artisan, a merchant,
a servant;
"59. By his conduct he is a thief, a warrior, a sacrificer, a
king....
"62. One is a Brahman from penance, charity, observance of the
moral precepts and the subjugation of the passions. Such is
the best kind of Brahmanism."
"That would pass for very good republican doctrine in Jonesville," I
said. "What a pity you have all so backslidden from your orthodoxies
here in India, Bhima Gandharva! In my native land there is a region
where many orange trees grow.
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