The obligation seems to be of the same character as that which caused Fabius to leave the army in order to attend his Gentile sacrifice at Rome.

If he did not attend the Gentile sacrifice he was not a member of the _gens_, and if a Hindu did not attend the feast of his clan in past times perhaps he did not remain a member of the clan.

Among the Maratha Brahmans the girl-bride eats with her husband's relations on this day only to mark her admission into their clan, and among the Bengali Brahmans, when the wedding guests are collected, the bride comes and puts a little sugar on each of their leaf-plates, which they eat in token of their recognition of her in her new status of married woman.

The members of the caste or subcaste also assemble and eat together on three occasions: at a marriage, which will have the effect of bringing new life into the community; at a death, when a life is lost; and at the initiation of a new member or the readmission of an offender temporarily put out of caste.

It is a general rule of the caste feasts that all members of the subcaste in the locality must be invited, and if any considerable number of them do not attend, the host's position in the community is impugned.