THE CASTES

The " highest of the high," the Brahmanas, claim descent from the great priest Wau Rauh, who wandered all over Bali in legendary times creating children with women of all classes, even the servant women of his wives. These children, the future priests, were the heads of the various Brahmana families, some of which are higher than others, according to their purity of blood on account of the origin of their various mothers.

The Brahmanas are further divided into two sects: the Siwa and Bodda, the descendants of the two famous brothers, the religious teachers Mpu Kuturan and Mpu Bharada, who created the laws for the Balinese. A distinction is made between initiated Brahmanas, the priests, and the uninitiated.

It is generally recognized that the Brahmanas are higher than the Satrias, but a great undercurrent of disagreement and animosity has always existed between them on this account. The Satrias resented having to pay homage to the Brahmanas, and the legends and historical records are full of instances of the feud created by their struggle for caste supremacy. Kings were deposed by adventurers supported by Brahmanas; high priests cursed rulers and drove them to commit suicide, and often they had to flee and hide to protect their daughters from arrogant princes who wished to take them as wives, thus affronting their superior caste pride.

Once in a djauk performance I saw a typical story nacted: The Radja of Bali, the Dewa Agung of Klungkung, anted to prove that Brahmanas were fakers when they claimed supernatural powers. He placed a duck in a well and sent for the highest priest in the country so that he could prove his magic power by guessing what was in the well. The priest said that it was a great serpent, a naga.

The king laughed in his face and unovered the well; a huge naga, fire streaming from its nostrils, shot out and coiled around the king's body and would have rushed him to death if the priest had not killed the naga with a wiraculous arrow. From then on, the princes did not dare to question the supremacy of the Brahmanas. This legend is still commemorated at the cremation of Satrias, when the Brahmanic priest shoots arrows at the naga banda, the serpent that conveys the soul to heaven.

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