joe, it would appear that the use of the term 'non twiceborn hindu' in my post dated jan 24 has created a bit of confusion in the mind of the goanetters who are not familiar with terms normally used whilst discussing the hindu caste set-up.
the word twiceborn is, indeed, associated with the cycle of births and rebirths i.e. reincarnation. in the hindu scheme of things, there is no heaven or hell hereafterwards, instead there is this reward called reincarnation or moksha the ultimate end. a hindu who has led a pious life is rewarded with another birth: a very good but not yet a perfect life leads to rebirth as a brahmin; and in decending order one could be born as a kshatriya or as a vaisya . these three castes are collectively known as twiceborn castes. whereas for some mysterious reasons known only to the good old bhagwan other persons are born as sudras, outcastes and untouchables. since the word sudra has a derrogatory connotation,i thought it would be safer to use instead the words ''non twiceborn'' to describe this overwhelming majority of social class before their conversion to christianity. antonio