The most striking features of the ancient
Indian philosophy relate to its freedom from illusions, prejudices,
misconceptions, injustice and oppressive., all that is unscientific and failing
the tests of changing times. That precisely is the reason that it does not deny
numerous opinions and arguments, even if they are contradictory in nature, and
at the same time rejects infinite numbers of them, referring to them as “Not
this”, “Not this”. That is the reason why the ancient Indian philosophy leaves
itself wide open to corrections and rectification according to changes in
times, space and circumstances.
This
short article collides ‘head on’ with the distorted and corrupted version of ‘Varnashram
Dharm’, much hated because of its being viewed as the source of the present
day caste system existing in India. While most of us casually set aside the
half of it, that is, Ashram Dharm (the part that deals with Brahmacharya
Ashram, Grihast Ashram, Vanprasth Ashram and Sanyas Ashram), without
giving it any importance; we concentrate on the Varna Dharm part of it, and
put the entire blame on the present day caste system on the Varna Dharm as
suggested in Manusmriti. Perhaps, in the distant past, a time came when
a strong need was felt to structure the human society for its growth and safety,
and, it was then proposed that a few from the society would dedicate their
lives to educating themselves, studying different aspects of life, particularly
the human life, contemplating over the different things that exist in the world
and the phenomena that occur there, exploring further into what was not known
till then, to come up with ways and means that satisfied the human needs in its
entirety; such people were called Brahmins. They, the Brahmins,
were not allowed to indulge into anything, except learning and teaching, not
even earning a livelihood for their and their families survival, for which they
had no option but to depend on what the society offered to them, as alms, to
them. A few others from the society were made responsible for its safety and
security by using their physical and mental abilities. They were expected to
even give away their lives, considering it as a part of their duty, if that was
ever needed at any occasion while fighting for the safety of the society they
were a part of. Such people were called Kshatriyas. A third category was
formed to procure and distribute whatever the society produced/ needed earning
their livelihood out of justified profit for services rendered to the society.
This category was named as Vaishyas. The fourth category of people
generally earned their livelihood by deploying their physical abilities and skills
to serve the entire society, including the people of the category they belonged
to. Many of them were self-employed craftsman like carpenters, smiths,
cobblers, weavers, boatmen, horsemen, construction workers, fishermen, hunters
and woodcutters etc. Such people were called Shoodras. The important
thing is that people from all the four categories (Varna) belonged to
their Varna strictly by birth. It is well known that ancient Indian
philosophy gave much importance to Sanskaras (the qualities acquired due
to genetic imprints inherited from their ancestors). The ancient Indian
thinkers believed that a Brahmin or Vaishya would hesitate in
sacrificing his life while defending those whom he was committed to defend
against an enemy; but, a Kshatria would not. Similarly, a Brahmin would
be naturally inclined to possess the wealth of knowledge instead of the
material wealth that any Vaishya would love to possess.
On
the face of it such arrangement appeared fine, except when someone from a ‘lower’
category developed extraordinary desire to dedicate himself to the duties
socially assigned to those who were entitled to undertake by virtue of having
been born in a family of a different, usually ‘upper’, category. For example,
if one born as a Shoodra wanted to learn the art and science using
superior weaponry, or if, one of the warrior class wished to gain knowledge
that only Brahmins were entitled to gain; they were not permitted by the
society to do so. To ensure the purity of genetic imprints marriages between
different categories (Varnas or castes) were also not allowed.
From
the Indian mythological literature we come to know about the cases where many
failed to break the Varna Dharma (rules of the caste system) and also
the cases where some succeeded in breaking such rules. But, they were always
viewed as exceptions made by highly deserving cases. On the basis of
mythological literature, a modern mind may consider Varna Dharma of
ancient India oppressive and lacking in social justice, but not something to be
termed as atrocious or inhuman. The family that revolted against the Varna Dharma
lost its social status and prestige, but never the right to live.
Notwithstanding the way we become introduced to Varna Dharma, perhaps,
there was something inherently unjustified in it, because it left many holes in
it to allow entries of social practices that were grossly discriminatory and
cruel to certain sections of the society. We will try to offer some explanations
offered by some scholars of Indian social history that go in to conclusively
establish that the Varna Dharma became more and more atrocious to some
sections of the society as the time passed.
This
is the first part of this article. The second and concluding part shall be
published within a week.
PROMOD KUMAR SHARMA
[The writer of this blog is also the author of “Mahatma A
Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our Wonderful Words”.]
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