It is true that Untouchables are not Hindus and never Hindus, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, (DV, April 18, 1989, p. 6-9). Only those who belong to the chaturvama, namely the Hindu caste system, are Hindus. Since the Untouchables (20%) tribals (10%) and Backward Castes (35%) – a total of 65% of India’s population – do not belong to the chaturvarna; they are outside the caste system. Qui caste means outside the caste system. So, the SC/ST/BCs need not worry about the cancer of caste system as it does not bother them. The victims of the caste system/Hinduism are those belonging to the four-fold caste on, the Savarnas. Babasaheb Ambedkar has written a whole book (Annihilation of Caste, Dalit Sahitya Academy 1988, Rs.10) to the Savarnas warming them about the dangers of getting afflicted with the cancer of caste. He wanted them to destroy caste before the caste destroys them. But they did not heed Babasaheb’s warning and so much so they are all today down with this deadly disease- the caste system. The problem with this caste cancer is it is contagious and it has already spread into Christianity and Sikhism. It is also threatening Islam and other egalitarian religions. That is why, though we are outcastes and hence outside the caste, we have to be worried about this spreading cancer in the interest of country’s health and wellbeing. The very unity and integrity of the country is being threatened by this disease. The author of this article s an elderly Ambedkarite and had worked with Dr. Ambedkar during his official career in Delhi. His article though addressed mainly to the savarnas will also serve as a warning to those Susie’s Gessate to pure of the caste cancer. — EDITOR.
T.K NARAYANAM, TRIVANDRUM
Literature is the mirror of a people. In all the brahminical literature starting from the Rigveda numbering umpteen, the priestly class has declared itself as “supermen and gods on earth”. They have. also declared themselves as the “intellectual class” of India. In his historic book, What Congress and Gandhi have done lo the untouchables, Babasaheb Ambedkar has said about this class as follows: “No intellectual class has prostituted its intelligence to invent a philosophy for keep is uneducated countrymen in a perpetual state of ignorance and poverty as the Brahmins have done in India”.
Let us see how this class of “gods on earth” has prostituted its intelligence to invent a philosophy which in practical life has turned out to be deadlier than the Whiteman’s atom bomb. The philosophical weapon of the priests in the course of its existence the last scores of centuries has peacefully wiped out from the face of this country millions and millions of illiterates, poor and innocent people for no fault of theirs. The philosophical weapon these ingenious priests used to prostitute their intelligence is known by the inglorious name of Purusha Sukie. It is laid down in the 18th hymn of the 10th Mandala of Rigveda. Sakta means song in praise of Brahma, the god of the bhoodevata. It is this Purusha Sakta that gave birth to the ideal society of savarnas known as chaturvama (the four tired caste system) that stands vertical and not horizontal. It is this ideal society of Savarna created by the priests that paved the way for India’s degradation and downfall. Graded inequality and untouchability are the essence of the ideal society of the Aryan known as Chaturvarna, the fruit of the prostitution of the intelligence of India’s intellectual class.
Purusha Sukta is a theory of the origin of the universe and hence it is a cosmogony. Cosmogonies have never been more than matters of academic interest. But in the case of Purusha Sukta, the matter stands on a different and serious footing. let explains how the Dalit Voice ~~ four varnas, Brahmins (priests) Kshatriyas (soldiers), Vaishyas (traders) and Shudras (slaves) arose from the various paris of Brahma, the creator. Purusha Sukta should not be understood as being merely explanatory of a cosmic phenomenon. it is treated as containing a mandatory injunction from the Brahma to the effect that society must be constituted on the basis of the four varnas mentioned above. Thus, chaturangas the very constitution of the brahminical social order that governs their social life. The authority and the influence of chaturvarna has never been questioned by anyone except the Buddha.
Law defends injustice: What are the features of the social ideal of Purusha Sukta that gave birth to charturvarna? The Shankaracharya’s say that the Hali mark of their society is unique. Various classes, high and low, rich and poor, existed in every society but none of these societies have elevated this material fact to the dignity of an ideal society. This has been done only by the Purusha Sukia. In that sense Purusha Sukta is unique. No community other than the Aryans/ Sanatana’s/Hindus has ever thought of giving the reality of classes existing in their society the sanction of law. No society has ever accepted that their class composition is an ideal one.
But Purusha Sukta regards that its class composition of castes is sacred and divine. This is another unique feature of a Purusha Sukta. The number of the classes in a society has never been a matter of dogma in any society known to history. No society has an official gradation laid down fixed and permanent, with an ascending order reverenced a descending degree of contempt. In this respect also Purusha Sukta is unique. It is unique because it fixed a permanent warrant of precedence among the different castes which neither time nor circumstances can alter. This warrant of precedence is based on the principle of graded inequality among the four castes whereby it recognizes the Brahmin to be above all, Kshatriya below the Brahmin but above the Vaishya and Shudra and the Vaishya below the Kshatriya but above the Shudra and Shudra below all. This is how the Purusha Sukia June 1-15, 1991 3 – has given birth to the ideal society of the Hindus; named chaturvarna, where the monster of caste rules the roost. The day it came into being it is gnawing inch by inch the very marrow of this country causing its disunity and disintegration, degradation and downfall. Is there anything for a Hindu, high or low, to be proud of his ideal society of caste? Nothing. But there is everything for him to be ashamed of it.
Divine sanction to Jati: Now, turning to the riddles of Purusha Sukta: the upper castes/Hindus claim that Purusha Sukta was the creation of their Rishis (sages) ‘who were endowed with the knowledge of the. past, present and future. The question is why these great Rishis did not have a sense of unity and consciousness of kind necessary for an associated ideal life of equality, fraternity and liberty making one and all to feel that they are kith and kin, blood of the blood, vein of the vein and flesh of the flesh? In creating chaturvarna, the ideal Hindu society, why these great sages were absolutely indifferent to the human values of equality and fraternity though their minds were clothed with the triple time? Were their minds tainted with the smell of the jungles on account of their long life there? The inalienable quality of man inherent in him is a longing for an associated life of unity and integrity. Ideals, as norms, are necessary. Neither a society nor an individual can do without a norm, a value system. But a norm must change with the – changes in time and circumstances. The possibility of revaluing values remains open only when the institution is not invested with sacredness which prevents revaluation of its values. Once sacred, always sacred. Purusha Sukta makes chaturvarna a sacred institution, a divine ordination. Why did Purusha Sukta make a particular form of social order so sacred be beyond criticism and beyond change? This is the first riddle of Purusha Sukta.
Jugg lery: In presenting the doctrine of chaturvarna, the Purusha Sukta plays a double-game. It proceeds first to raise the real, namely the existence of the four castes, to the status of an ideal society. This is a deception because the ideal is in no way different from facts as they exist. This is a deception because the ideal is in no way different from facts as they exist. This attempt of Purusha Sukia to idealize the real and to realize the ideal is a kind of political jugglery, the like of which is not to be found in any other book of religion. What else is it if not a fraud and a deception? To idealize the existence of four castes which is full of inequalities is a selfish thing intended to obtain power, position and social status by mere accident of birth. Only when a person finds a personal advantage in things as they are that he tries to idealize the real. This is an attempt nothing short of a criminal one. It means perpetuating inequality on the ground that whatever is once settled is settled for ever. Such a view is opposed to all morality. No society with a social conscience justice has ever accepted it. On the contrary, the human progress in the course of a Dalit Voice; I history is entirely due to the recognition of the ethical doctrine that whatever is wrongly settled is never settled and must be resettled. The principle underlying the Purusha Sukta is therefore, criminal in intent and anti-social in its results. For, it aims to perpetuate an illegal gain obtained by one caste and an unjust wrong inflicted upon another. What else can be the motive behind this jugglery of the Purusha Sukta? This is its – second riddle.
The position of shudras: The last and the greatest of all these riddles is the one relating to the position of the Shudra. The Purusha Sukta concerns itself with the origin of castes and says that they were created by God (i.e. Brahma). This is a doctrine which no other theology has thought it wise to propound. This in itself is a strange thing. But what is astonishing is the plan of equating different castes to different parts of the body of the Brahma, the so-called creator. The equation of the different castes to different parts of the body is not a matter of accident. It is deliberate. The idea behind this plan seems to be to discover a formula which will solve two problems. One is to fix the functions of the four castes and the other to fix the gradations of the four Castes after a pre-conceived plan. The part fixes the gradation of the castes and the gradation in turn fixes the function of the caste. The Brahmin is equated to the mouth of the Brahma. The mouth being the “noblest” part of the body. The Brahmin becomes the “noblest” of the four castes, as he is the noblest in the scale, he is given the noblest functions, that of the custodian of knowledge and learning. The Kshatriya is equated to the arms of the Brahma. Among the limbs of a person arms are just below the mouth. Consequently, the Kshatriya is given x an order of precedence next to the Brahmin and is given a function which is second only to knowledge, namely fighting. The Vaishya is equated to the thighs of the “creator”. In the gradation of the limbs the thighs are next below the arms. Consequently, Vaishya is given a position next to the Kshatriya and is assigned a function of industry and trade which is below the function of a warrior. The shudra is equated to the – feet of the “creator. The feet from the lowest and the most ignoble part of the human frame. Accordingly, the Shudra is placed last in the social order and is given the filthiest function, namely to serve as a menial.
This is how the Purusha Sukta has created the ideal society of the Hindus known as chaturvarna. As has already been said, this is the social constitution of the savarnas/Aryans/upper castes/Hindus.
The later developments of chaturvarna are mainly two. First is the creation of the “fifth caste” next below the shudra. The second is the separation of the shudra from the first three twice-born Dwija castes. These changes have got integrated with the original scheme of Purusha Suka that they have given rise to peculiar terms and expressions so well-known that anybody understands what they stand for. (In North India, even – ‘June 1-15, 1991 Se the Untouchables think they are shudras). These terms are: Savarnas, Avranas, Dwijas, non-Dwijesh and Travaris’s. Anti-Shudras etc. They stand to indicate the sub-divisions of the original four castes and the degree of separation between them. It is necessary to take note of the relative position of these “castes” because they disclose a new riddle. These names are not mere names but they stand for definite rights and privileges. The Savarna is contrasted with Avarna. Savarna means one who belongs to one of the four varnas (i.e. castes).
Untouchables have no caste: Avarna means one who does not belong to any one of the four varnas (varna means colour). The Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras are savarnas. That is to say those people who belong to a caste. The Untouchables and BCs are Avranas. That means those who belong to no caste. The first four varnas are within chaturvarna and the Untouchables and BCs are outside the pale of chaturvarna. Dwija is contrasted with non-Dwija. Dwija means twice-born and non-Dwija (shudras) means one who is born only once. This distinction is based on the right to wear the so-called “sacred thread”. The wearing of this “sacred thread” is treated as a second birth. Those who have the right to wear the thread are called Dwijas and those do not have the right to wear the thread are called non-Dwijas. The Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are Dwijas and the shudra though he is part of chaturvarna has no right to wear the thread and hence he is called a non-Dwija. He is thus, a Shudra (shudra means slave) as well as a non-Dwija.
Varieties of “sacred thread”: Another very important – aspect of the chaturvarna is that the three twice-born castes of Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas though they have a right to wear the thread should not use the same materials for making their thread. The material with which a Brahmin’s thread is made of should not be used by the Kshatriya for making his thread. He has to use a material different and inferior _ to the material used by the Brahmin for making his thread. Similarly, the Vaishya should not make his thread with the materials used either by the Brahmin or by the Kshatriya for making their thread. He must use only a different and inferior substance, for making of his thread. Look at the madness which seems to have a method in it. Brahminism, Vaidhik Dharma/ Sanatana dharma or Hinduism if it is a religion at all, is sinking deeper and deeper in the mire of degradation, inequality and untouchability!
This is the structure, the intent and the essence of chaturvarna, the social constitution of the Hindu society. The alpha and the omega of Hinduism is graded inequality and untouchability. This constitution of the Hindus is eternal as claimed by its makers – the priests of the yore, and it is being preserved in tact by the priestly class of today. No wonder they are the gods, the supermen and the intellectual class of India. Dalit Voice Let the oppressed Indians including the shudras know where they stand in the Hindu constitution of the chaturvarna, the product of the prostitution of the intelligence of a class of people who declared themselves as the gods on earth: Of course, these gods are the gods of the last three varnas standing one above the other, within the pale of the chaturvarna, the social hierarchy. Does the “Hindu constitution” meaning the Manu Dharma-shastra recognize them as Hindus? Does the law-giver of the Hindus, namely Sumati Bhargava (Manu is only the pen name of Sumati Bhargava who was a Brahmin) recognize them as Hindus? Neither the constitution nor the law-giver _ does recognise them as Hindus. These are the real facts brought out by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in his precise words given above. The oppressed Indians, namely SC/ST/BCs, are not Hindus. They are a distinct people, though they are oppressed, dedicated to the cause of establishing a new social order based on the noble human values of equality, fraternity and liberty where man’s inhumanity to man will be abolished forever. Let the oppressed Indians be proud of being known as “Bahujan’s”, a name that smacks no smell of caste and their society be known as “Bahujan Samaj”.
Let us bury the caste that gnaws inch by inch and minute by minute the very marrow of this great country of ours. Let unity and integrity be our watchword!
