7.  That certain prohibited articles, such as cows’ flesh, pork, fowls, etc., are not to be taken.

8.  That the ocean or any other of the boundaries of India cannot be crossed over.

The only acts which now lead to exclusion from castes are the following: 

1.  Embracing Christianity or Mohammedanism.

2.  Going to Europe, America or any other foreign country.

3.  Marrying a widow.

4.  Throwing away the sacred thread.

5.  Eating beef, pork or fowl.

6.  Eating food cooked by a Mohammedan, Christian or low caste Hindu.

7.  Officiating as priest in the house of a low caste Sudra.

8.  By a female going away from home for an immoral purpose.

9.  By a widow becoming pregnant.

When a Hindu is excluded from caste his friends, relatives and fellow townsmen refuse to partake of his hospitality; he is not invited to entertainments in their houses; he cannot obtain wives or husbands for his children; even his own married daughters cannot visit him without running the risk of being excluded from caste; his priest and even his barber and washerman refuse to serve him; his fellow caste men ostracize him so completely that they refuse to assist him even in sickness or at the funeral of a member of his household.  In some cases the man excluded from caste is debarred from the public temples.

To deprive a man of the services of his barber and his washerman is becoming more difficult these days, but the other penalties are enforced with more or less rigor.

They tell us that foreigners cannot appreciate the importance of caste.  Murray’s guide book warns the traveler to remember that fact, and says that the religion of the Hindu amounts to little more than the fear of demons, of the loss of caste and of the priests.  Demons have to be propitiated, the caste rules are strictly kept and the priests presented with gifts.  Great care has to be taken not to eat food cooked by a man of inferior caste; food cooked in water must not be eaten together by people of different castes, and castes are entirely separated with regard to marriage and trade.  A sacred thread of cotton is worn by the higher castes.  Washing in the sacred rivers, particularly the Ganges, and especially at Allahabad, Benares, Hardwar and other exceptionally holy spots, is of efficacy in preserving caste and cleansing the soul of impurities.

“The traveler should remember,” says the guide book, “that all who are not Hindus are outcasts, contact with whom may cause the loss of caste to a Hindu.  He should not touch any cooking or water holding utensil belonging to a Hindu, nor disturb Hindus when at their meals; he should not molest cows, nor shoot any sacred animal, and should not pollute holy places by his presence if any objection is made.  The most sacred of all animals is the cow, then the serpent, and then the monkey.  The eagle is the attendant of Vishnu, the bull of Siva, the goose of Brahma, the elephant of Indra, the tiger of Durga, the buffalo of Rama, the rat of Ganesh, the ram of Agni, the peacock of Kartikkeya, the parrot of Kama (the god of love), the fish, the tortoise and boar are incarnations of Vishnu, and the crocodile, cat, dog, crow, many trees, plants, stones, rivers and tanks are sacred.”