It is difficult to give an accurate idea of Brahminism in a brief manner, but theoretically it is based upon the principles set forth in a series of sacred books known as the Vedas, written about 4,000 years ago.  Its gods were originally physical forces and phenomena—­nature worship,—­which was once common to all men, the sun, fire, water, light, wind, the procreative and productive energies and the mystery of sex and birth, which impressed with wonder and awe the mind of primitive humanity.  As these deities became more and more vague and indefinite in the popular mind, and the simple, instinctive appeal of the human soul to a Power it could not see or comprehend was gradually debased into what is now known as Brahminism, and the most repugnant, revolting, cruel, obscene and vicious rites ever practiced by savages or barbarians.  There is nothing in the Vedas to justify the cruelties of the Hindu gods and the practices of the priests.  They do not authorize animal worship, caste, child-marriage, the burning of widows or perpetual widowhood, but the Brahmins have built up a stupendous system of superstition, of which they alone pretend to know the mystic meaning, and their supremacy is established.  Thus the nature worship of the Vedas has disappeared and has given place to terrorism, demon worship, obscenity, and idolatry.

The three great gods of the Hindus are Siva, Vishnu and Brahma, with innumerable minor deities, some 30,000,000 altogether, which have been created during emergencies from time to time by worshipers of vivid imaginations.  When we speak of Hinduism or Brahminism as a religion, however, it is only a conventional use of a term, because it is not a religion in the sense that we are accustomed to apply that word.  In all other creeds there is an element of ethics; morality, purity, justice and faith in men, but none of these qualities is taught by the Brahmins.  With them the fear of unseen powers and the desire to obtain their favor is the only rule of life and the only maxim taught to the people.  And it is the foundation upon which the influence and power of the Brahmins depend.  The world and all its inhabitants are at the mercy of cruel, fickle and unjust gods; the gods are under the influence of the Brahmins; hence the Brahmins are holy men and must be treated accordingly.  No Hindu will offend a Brahmin under any circumstances, lest his curse may call down all forms of misfortune.  A Hindu proverb says: 

“What is in the Brahmin’s books, that is in the Brahmin’s heart.  Neither you nor I knew there was so much evil in the world.”

The power of the priests or Brahmins over the Hindus is one of the phenomena of India.  I do not know where you can get a better idea of their influence and of the reverence that is paid to them than in “Kim,” Rudyard Kipling’s story of an Irish boy who was a disciple of an old Thibetan lama or Buddhist monk.  That story is appreciated much more keenly by people who have lived or traveled