ABSTRACT
OF all kinds of punishment the hardest and most unbearable for a Hindu is that which cuts him off and expels him from his caste. Those whose duty it is to inflict it are the gurus, of whom I shall have more to say in a subsequent chapter, and, in default of them, the caste headmen. These latter are usuaHy to be found in every district, and it is to them that all doubtful or difficult questions affecting the caste system are referred. They call in, in order to help them to decide such questions, a few elders who are versed in the intricacies of the matters in dispute.
