Brahmajala Sutta (Theravada)
In the second part, the Buddha explains the major beliefs of ascetics in India. He begins by saying, ""Monks, there are other things which are very deep (profound), very hard to understand, very difficult to perceive, so holy and sacred, unreached by means of mind, so subtle, that they are only to be understood and experienced by the wise. These things were perceived clearly, seen clearly and were discarded by the Tathagata, and by this act based on the truth that people praise and revered Tathagatha. What are those things?""
Census of India prior to independence
Despite the general ruling that caste was restricted to Hindus, later modified to include Jains, there were over 300 recorded Christian castes and more than 500 that were Muslim. The definition of Hindu, Sikh and Jain religious beliefs was always blurred and even the Christian and Muslim believers could cause difficulties with classification, although they were usually more easily defined. Kolis in Bombay worshipped both Hindu idols and the Christian Holy Trinity; Kunbis in Gujarat were known to follow both Hindu and Muslim rituals, causing the census to classify them as socially Hindus but Muslim by faith. The Raj had also introduced constitutional changes that gave certain groups political representation. This led to events such as that in the 1931 census when, according to Shirras: