Caste System and Varna System by Mataji Devi The caste system idea had been a fascination of the British since their arrival in India. Coming from a society that was strictly run by birth prejudice and social divides, the British misconstrued the varna and jati system of India, that had been already compromised by centuries of systematic destruction of the original values, knowledge and society, perpetrated by the muslim invaders. When first faced with foreign invasions, at the times of the ancient Greeks, Indian society was easily able to fight back, thanks to the powerful and precise system by which the various occupational categories of society were trained, supported each other and cooperated for the highest good. Even immigrants from different cultures were welcomed to become integral part of the Aryan society. For many hundreds of years Macedonian Greeks, Bactrian Greeks, Scythians (Sakas), Huns and Kushans, as well as indigenous aboriginal tribes from the Indian subcontinent, and populations in the "Greater Bharata" (reaching as far as Singapore - Simhapuri) became fully integrated Aryans. In 302 BCE, Helen, the daughter of the Greek general Seleucus Nicator, also embraced the Hindu religion after marrying Emperor Chandragupta in a Vedic marriage. The 2100-year old Heliodorus column in Besnagar (Madhya Pradesh) has Sanskrit inscriptions that commemorate the conversion in 113 BCE of a Greek envoy, Heliodorus who adopted the Vedic religion and the Hindu name 'Vasudeva' in the court of King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra of Vidisha. Furthermore, there are records of the invading Scythian kings who embraced Vedic Hinduism, adopted Sanskrit and took Hindu names like Satyasimha, Rudrasena etc while their Scythian armies merged with the Hindu population. Something totally different happened with the Abrahamic invasions, that were determined to wipe away the Aryan civilization or subjugate it as "inferior". After being defeated and pushed back in their early attempts, muslim invaders sent in explorers to investigate about the Indian society. They soon discovered that the secret was in the great knowledge and wisdom of the brahmanas, who were responsible for the proper training and education of all the individuals, and for the deep feelings of belonging they were able to inspire in all categories of people. For this reason, muslim invaders specifically targeted brahmanas, killing them or forcing them to work in degrading menial occupations, such as toilet cleaners and scavengers. For example, in a short period of 1393 Sultan Sikander But-Shiken killed so many people as to collect 80 kg of sacred thread - calculating that one thread weighs about 1 gram, the number of the killed brahmanas must have been around 80,000. Under Amir Shamasu'd-Din Iraqi, 1,500 to 2000 brahmanas were brought EVERY DAY to his palace; where his men would remove their sacred thread, circumcise them and force them to eat beef. If they dared to go back to their old faith, they were massacred together with their families and their followers. The muslim invaders also introduced racial prejudice as the "Islamic brotherhood" is divided into three distinct social levels - the ashrafs, said to be of Arab ancestry, the ajlafs or converts and descendents of converts, and the arzals or slaves and descendents of slaves - usually of black race. The muslim rulers placed all kafirs or non-muslims on a level under these arzals, enforcing the dhimmi ("inferior") status on them. For example, all kafirs were obliged to show respect to every muslim in all circumstances and they could not defend themselves if attacked. They could not hold any public office or testify in court, possess weapons, ride horses or camels, keep a light on the door of their house, or even wear shoes. They were obliged to allow muslims into all their meetings, public and private buildings, for as long as the muslims wanted. When the British arrived in India, they found that in spite of all persecutions and even with the systematic decapitation of their society, Indians still retained the memory of a higher way of living, a fondly remembered Aryan ("civilized") heritage they based on two fundamental concepts: varna ("social occupation") and gotra ("family heritage"). The two were ideally intertwined. The descendents of brahmanas cultivated the guna ("qualities") and karma ("activities") that would make them worthy of their ancestors, exposing their children to a high level of consciousness and ethical practices during all their lives. The concept of jati ("birth"), however, had a totally different meaning for Indian Hindus. Vedic scriptures describe three kinds of jati: manusya jati ("birth as a human being") as opposed to pakshi jati ("birth as a bird") and mriga jati ("birth as a mammal animal"). In this sense, jati is a genetic heritage that gives specific fundamental physical characteristics and abilities. But there are no such genetic differences among human beings in regard to religious duties and social occupations, and Vedic scriptures knew this very well. Rig Veda (5-60-5) and Yajur Veda (16.15) clearly teach that all men are brothers; no one is big, no one is small, but all are equal. Atharva Veda (3-30-1) says that all human beings should be affectionate and love one another as the cow loves her newly born calf; they should dine together and be as firmly united as the spokes attached to the hub of chariot wheel. Svetasvatara Upanishad (II. 5) calls human beings as amritasya putra, "children of the Immortal". Rig Veda (9.63.5) unequivocally orders that all human beings should strive to become civilized: krnvanto visvam aryam - "Make all of us in the universe arya, noble" All over the Puranas, Itihasas and other Vedic literature we find examples of how the different race and skin color of individuals is only considered aesthetically, with no connection to their social position or personal capabilities. For example, Krishna is black, while his girlfriend Radha and his brother Balarama are white. The greatest brahmana of all, Veda Vyasa, the compiler of the entire corpus of Vedic literature, is described as black and of horrible physical appearance, and being born as the son of a woman of the fishermen community (outside the civilized society of varnas). He generated a brahmana son (Sukadeva), two kshatriya sons (Pandu and Dhritarastra) and a sudra son (Vidura). Valmiki, another great brahmana sage, was born in an uncivilized family of hunters and dacoits and even personally practiced an uncivilized means of livelihood for some time, before being otherwise instructed by Narada Rishi. Vedic literature clearly teaches, janmana jayate sudra, "by birth everyone is born a sudra", samskarad bhaved dvijah, "by ritual purification one becomes a twice-born civilized person", veda-pathad bhaved viprah, "by studying Vedic knowledge one becomes learned", and brahma janati iti brahmanah, "a brahmana is one who knows Brahman (spirit)". There is not one single verse, in the entire body of Vedic literature, where jati is considered a decisive qualification to belong to a particular varna or even to the aryan community. On the other hand, there are several unequivocal condemnations of those who judge the value of a person by racial features. For example, Ashtavakra said, "A so called learned gathering is no better than a bunch of cobblers when they judge a person by the skin and not by the level of consciousness he has." Mahabharata (5.88.52) states: tasyam sansadi sarvasyam kshattaram pujayamyaham vriittena hi bhavaty aryo na dhanena na vidyaya "Personal behavior, not learning or wealth, determines if one can be called an Arya." Bhagavata Purana (6.16.43) also states: na vyabhicarati taveksa hy abhihito bhagavato dharmah sthira-cara-sattva-kadambesv yam upasate tv aryah "Aryas are those who never fail in following the Dharma prescribed by God, and who do not have prejudice towards the moving and non-moving living entities." Bhagavata Purana says (3.33.7): aho bata sva-paco 'to gariyan yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te "How wonderful! Those who have accepted the chanting of your holy Name immediately become qualified aryans and glorious personalities, even if they were born in the family of dog eaters. The very fact that they are serving you, beginning from their tongue (by chanting of your holy Names and accepting your prasadam) is a proof that in their previous births they have studied the Vedas, practiced severe tapasya, and performed fire sacrifices in the proper way." On the other hand, those who were born in a family of brahmanas but lack the required inclinations and talents are to be called "relatives of brahmanas" rather than brahmanas. The Chandogya Upanisad states: asmat kulino 'nanucya brahma-bandhur iva bhavati "A brahma-bandhu, or a mere relative of a brahmana, is one who belongs to our brahmana family but has not studied the Vedas." In his commentary to this verse, Adi Sankaracarya writes: he saumya ananucya anadhitya brahma-bandhur iva bhavatiti brahmanan bandhun vyapadisati, na svayam brahmana-vrtah. "O gentle one, he who has not studied the Vedas is like a mere relative of brahmanas. He calls the brahmanas his relatives, but he does not have the behavior of a brahmana." Contd..
The British propagandists mistakenly grafted the concept of jati on their own pseudo-scientific ideas on racial anthropology that had been brewing in Europe from the times of Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), the famous physician, botanist, and zoologist. In Systema Naturae (1767) he wrote of five human races: the white Europeanus of gentle character and inventive mind, the red Americanus of stubborn character and angered easily; the the black Africanus relaxed and negligent; yellow Asiaticus avaricious and easily distracted; and the Monstrosus sub humans such as aborigines. Thinkers such as Friedrich Hegel, Immanuel Kant, and Auguste Comte believed that western European culture was the acme of human socio-cultural evolution in a linear process, and approved slavery of "inferior races". In their "Indigenous Races of the Earth Before Origin of Species" (1850), Josiah Clark Nott and George Robins Gliddon implied that "negroes" were a creational rank between “Greeks” (considered the beginning of western European culture) and chimpanzees. Non-white people were kept in cages at “human zoos” during colonial exhibitions promoting the benefits of white colonialism to such colored peoples. In 1906 Ota Benga, a Pygmy, was displayed as the “Missing Link”, in the Bronx Zoo, New York City, alongside apes and animals. Several others examples are recorded. Max Müller is often identified as the first writer to speak of an Aryan "race". In 1861 in his "Lectures on the Science of Language" he referred to Aryans as a "race of people". Müller was responding to the development of racial anthropology and to the influence of the work of Arthur de Gobineau who argued that the Indo-Europeans represented a superior branch of humanity. A number of later writers, such as the French anthropologist Vacher de Lapouge in his book "L'Aryen" argued that this superior branch could be identified biologically by using the cephalic index (a measure of head shape) and other indicators. He argued that the long-headed "dolichocephalic-blond" Europeans, characteristically found in northern Europe, were natural leaders, destined to rule over more "brachiocephalic" (short headed) peoples. In the 18th century an early physical anthropologist, the American physician Samuel George Morton (1799–1851) collected human skulls from worldwide and attempted a logical classification scheme. Influenced by contemporary racialist theory, Dr Morton said he could judge racial intellectual capacity by measuring the interior cranial capacity, ergo a large skull denoted a large brain, thus high intellectual capacity; conversely, a small skull denoted a small brain, thus low intellectual capacity. Of course nobody mentioned that the cranial capacity of Neanderthals was much larger compared to the Cro Magnons', the modern type of man that is the supposed result of progressive evolution. In the United States, scientific racism justified Black African slavery to assuage moral opposition to the Atlantic slave trade. Alexander Thomas and Samuell Sillen described black men as uniquely fitted for bondage because of their “primitive psychological organization”. In 1851, in antebellum Louisiana, the physician Samuel A. Cartwright (1793–1863) considered slave escape attempts as “drapetomania”, a treatable mental illness, writing that “with proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many Negroes have of running away can be almost entirely prevented”. After the Civil War, Southern (Confederacy) physicians wrote textbooks of scientific racism based upon studies claiming that black freemen (ex-slaves) were becoming extinct because they were inadequate to the demands of being a free man, implying that black people actually benefited from enslavement. With the purpose of gaining support from the "highest breeds" of India, British ideologists formulated the "Aryan invasion theory", according to which some foreign invaders, the white "Aryan" nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes coming from Central Northern Asia (i.e. Caucasus, hence "Caucasian race") had swept into India around 1500 BCE and conquered the primitive and pacific civilization of black Dravidians by means of superior iron weaponry, chariots and horses. According to this theory, the stronger, war-mongering and ruthless invaders killed the "primitive indigenous tribes" by the thousands, enslaved some of them and drove the rest away to South India. Thus India was supposedly "civilized" by these typically white nomads with the introduction of Vedic knowledge and Sanskrit, and the division of social classes where the two higher and dominating classes were of "pure Aryan race", the third class was a mixture of the conquerors and the conquered, and the fourth and lowest class was composed by the enslaved conquered "primitive and racially inferior" (black) Dravidians. The same theory also affirmed that Aryan peoples invaded Europe, too, where they became the dominant race, identified by Nazi theories as stout and tall white people with blond hair and blue eyes. The above described "Aryan invasion theory" has been amply discredited by many archeological finds, starting from 1922 with the discovery of the remains of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, two highly developed and civilized urban settlements that have been dated much earlier than 1500 BCE. While it is perfectly possible that around 1500 BCE a wave of barbaric and nomadic invaders actually came down into India from the Caucasus, as this also happened several centuries later with the Huns and other similar populations, the result of such marginal invasions could not be the introduction of Sanskrit and Vedic knowledge with a "civilizing effect". Why? Simply because Aryans, i.e. Vedic civilization, Sanskrit and the Vedas were already in India, with a presence that dates back several thousands years. As such, these barbaric and nomadic invaders could not possibly be a "superior race of civilizers". The revolutionary discovery of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa was the mind-boggling testimony of a highly refined urban civilization, with modern sanitary works (each house had a bathroom connected to a city sewage system running under the paved streets, with regular manholes for inspection), shopping complexes, public granaries, swimming pools, and rounded corners in the ample streets to ease the passage and turning of large vehicles. The houses had worship rooms (centered around the Vedic system of fire sacrifice, as well as images of Shiva, Durga, and other vedic Deities) and among the great wealth of seals discovered, many depict Vedic deities, the bull, and other classical Vedic symbols. Today we know of more than 1,000 similar sites with remains of urbanized settlements along the valleys of ancient Sindhu and Sarasvati, spread across a territory that includes present Pakistan besides India. The ancient Sarasvati river is particularly important as it dried up more than 5000 years ago, yet it is amply described in Vedic texts as a very important and large river. Western scholars used to consider the river Sarasvati a mere legend or a symbolic figure, until its huge dry bed was located by satellite photos. The drying of the Sarasvati river, that occurred around the same period of the drying of the Sahara region in Africa, seems to be the most probable reason why these areas were abandoned, when their inhabitants went to join the other very ancient cities of the Ganga plains. The long academic success of the Aryan Invasion Theory (still taught in schools in India and at global level) is even more disconcerting when we take the pain of actually reading the Vedas and Vedic literature, and find that they always describe a highly urbanized, prosperous, settled and refined Vedic society which does not go well with the inevitably limited conditions of nomadic life or even with the arid and mountainous territory of Caucasus which was supposed to be the "place of origin" of the so-called Aryan race. People that are constantly on the move as a way of life do not build cities, palaces, or temples. Rather, they need to live very simply in tents, preferably made of animal skins (as hunting is an important resource of nomads) that can be packed and moved easily. A nomadic life is naturally dependent on hunting and pillaging rather than agriculture (that requires a settled life) and forces people to keep the material possessions to the minimum that can be transported easily (which usually do not include books). In nomadic life cattle herding is only practical when the animals are regularly slaughtered for meat, especially the young and old that cannot move quickly with the tribe when it's time to move the camp. Vedic civilization never contemplates the slaughtering of cattle (especially calves), rather considering it a very heinous sin. Even separating the calf from the mother is considered an act contrary to religiosity. All the accounts of Vedic civilization, in the form of the many stories they contain astronomical references even dating back to hundreds of thousands of years, show a great development of settled agriculture based on cultivation of cereals, a preference towards ethical vegetarianism, non-violence and peacefulness, and a system of social classes based on the natural tendencies of each single individual, no matter what color or race. The Aryans they describe were not a genetically superior race but a civilized society to which anyone could be admitted. Similarly, the chronology accepted by mainstream academic institutions and textbooks for the compilation of the Vedic scriptures, based on the Aryan Invasion Theory, seems to be highly biased and above all it does not correspond with what the Vedas themselves tell. Contd..
Sri Aurobindo writes in India's Rebirth: "Caste was originally an arrangement for the distribution of functions in society, just as much as class in Europe, but the principle on which this distribution was based was peculiar to India. A brahmin was a brahmin not by mere birth, but because he discharged the duty of preserving the spiritual and intellectual elevation of the race, and he had to cultivate the spiritual temperament and acquire the spiritual training which alone would qualify him for the task. The kshatriya was kshatriya not merely because he was the son of warriors and princes, but because he discharged the duty of protecting the country and preserving the high courage and manhood of action, and he had to cultivate the princely temperament and acquire the strong and lofty Samurai training which alone fitted him for his duties. So it was for the vaishya whose function was to amass wealth for the race and the shudra who discharged the humbler duties of service without which the other castes could not perform their share of labour for the common good. It is the nature of human institutions to degenerate; there is no doubt that the institution of caste degenerated. It ceased to be determined by spiritual qualifications which, once essential, have now come to be subordinate and even immaterial and is determined by the purely material tests of occupation and birth. By this change it has set itself against the fundamental tendency of Hinduism which is to insist on the spiritual and subordinate the material and thus lost most of its meaning. The spirit of caste arrogance, exclusiveness and superiority came to dominate it instead of the spirit of duty, and the change weakened the nation and helped to reduce us to our present condition. The Veda was the beginning of our spiritual knowledge, the Veda will remain its end. The recovery of the perfect truth of the Veda is therefore not merely a desideratum for our modern intellectual curiosity, but a practical necessity for the future of the human race. For I firmly believe that the secret concealed in the Veda, when entirely discovered, will be found to formulate perfectly that knowledge and practice of divine life to which the march of humanity, after long wanderings in the satisfaction of the intellect and senses, must inevitably return". Vivekananda writes in "Caste in society and not in religion": "What caste really is, not one in a million understands. There is no country in the world without caste. Caste is based throughout on that principle. The plan in India is to make everybody Brahmana, the Brahmana being the ideal of humanity. If you read the history of India you will find that attempts have always been made to raise the lower classes. Many are the classes that have been raised. Many more will follow till the whole will become Brahmana. That is the plan. Our ideal is the Brahmana of spiritual culture and renunciation. By the Brahmana ideal what do I mean? I mean the ideal Brahmana-ness in which worldliness is altogether absent and true wisdom is abundantly present. We read in the Mahabharata that the whole world was in the beginning peopled with Brahmanas, and that as they began to degenerate they became divided into different castes, and that when the cycle turns round they will all go back to that Brahmanical origin. The son of a Brahmana is not necessarily always a Brahmana; though there is every possibility of his being one, he may not become so. As there are sattva, rajas and tamas - one or other of these gunas more or less - in every man, so the qualities which make a Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya or a Shudra are inherent in every man, more or less. But at time one or other of these qualities predominates in him in varying degrees and is manifested accordingly. Take a man in his different pursuits, for example: when he is engaged in serving another for pay, he is in Shudra-hood; when he is busy transacting some piece of business for profit, on his account, he is a Vaishya; when he fights to right wrongs then the qualities of a Kshatriya come out in him; and when he meditates on God, or passes his time in conversation about Him, then he is a Brahmana. Naturally, it is quite possible for one to be changed from one caste into another. Otherwise, how did Viswamitra become a Brahmana and Parashurama a Kshatriya? Formerly the characteristic of the noble-minded was - (tribhuvanamupakara shrenibhih priyamanah) "to please the whole universe by one's numerous acts of service", but now it is - I am pure and the whole world is impure. "Don't touch me!" "Don't touch me!" The whole world is impure, and I alone am pure! Lucid Brahmajnana! Bravo! Great God! Nowadays, Brahman is neither in the recesses of the heart, nor in the highest heaven, nor in all beings - now He is in the cooking pot! We are orthodox Hindus, but we refuse entirely to identify ourselves with "Don't- touchism". That is not Hinduism; it is in none of our books; it is an orthodox superstition, which has interfered with national efficiency all along the line. Religion has entered in the cooking pot. The present religion of the Hindus is neither the path of Knowledge or Reason - it is "Don't-touchism". - "Don't touch me", "Don't touch me" - that exhausts its description. "Don't touchism" is a form of mental disease. See that you do not lose your lives in this dire irreligion of "Don't- touchism". Must the teaching (Atmavat sarvabhuteshu) - "Looking upon all beings as your own self" - be confined to books alone? How will they grant salvation who cannot feed a hungry mouth with a crumb of bread? How will those, who become impure at the mere breath of others, purify others? I sometimes feel the urge to break the barriers of "Don't-touchism", go at once and call out, "Come all who are poor, miserable, wretched and downtrodden", and to bring them all together. Unless they rise, the Mother will not awake. Each Hindu, I say, is a brother to every other, and it is we, who have degraded them by our outcry, "Don't touch", "Don't touch!" And so the whole country has been plunged to the utmost depths of meanness, cowardice and ignorance. These men have to be lifted; words of hope and faith have to be proclaimed to them. We have to tell them, "You are also men like us and you have all the rights that we have." Our solution of the caste question is not degrading those who are already high up, is not running amuck through food and drink, is not jumping out of our own limits in order to have more enjoyment, but it comes by every one of us fulfilling the dictates of our Vedantic religion, by our attaining spirituality and by our becoming ideal Brahmana. The command is the same to you all, that you must make progress without stopping, and that from the highest man to the lowest pariah, every one in this country has to try and become the ideal Brahmana. This Vedantic idea is applicable not only here but over the whole world. The Brahmana-hood is the ideal of humanity in India as wonderfully put forward by Shankaracharya at the beginning of his commentary on the Gita, where he speaks about the reason for Krishna's coming as a preacher for the preservation of Brahmana- hood, of Brahmana-ness. That was the great end. This Brahmana, the man of God, he who has known Brahman, the ideal man, the perfect man, must remain, he must not go. And with all the defects of the caste now, we know that we must all be ready to give to the Brahmanas this credit, that from them have come more men with real Brahmana-ness in them than from all the other castes. We must be bold enough, must be brave enough to speak their defects, but at the same time we must give credit that is due to them. Therefore, it is no use fighting among the castes. What good will it do? It will divide us all the more, weaken us all the more, degrade us all the more. It is the duty of the Brahmana, therefore, to work for the salvation of the rest of mankind, in India. If he does that and so long as he does that, he is a Brahmana. Any one who claims to be a Brahmana, then, should prove his pretensions, first by manifesting that spirituality, and next by raising others to the same status. We earnestly entreat the Brahmanas not to forget the ideal of India - the production of a universe of Brahmanas, pure as purity, good as God Himself : this was at the beginning, says the Mahabharata and so will it be in the end. It seems that most of the Brahmanas are only nursing a false pride of birth; and any schemer, native or foreign, who can pander to this vanity and inherent laziness, by fulsome sophistry, appears to satisfy more. Beware Brahmanas, this is the sign of death! Arise and show your manhood, your Brahmana-hood, by raising the non-Brahmanas around you - not in the spirit of a master - not with the rotten canker of egoism crawling with superstitions and charlatanry of East and West - but in the spirit of a servant. To the Brahmanas I appeal, that they must work hard to raise the Indian people by teaching them what they know, by giving out the culture that they have accumulated for centuries. It is clearly the duty of the Brahmanas of India to remember what real Brahmana-hood is. As Manu says, all these privileges and honors are given to the Brahmana because, "with him is the treasury of virtue". He must open that treasury and distribute to the world." Contd..
The Hindu Council UK (HCUK) has released a revealing report on varnashram or the caste system, a subject HCUK says is much misunderstood by the British media, politicians and the public. "Caste has been the subject of ill-informed comment for too long," says HCUK General Secretary Anil Bhanot. "Today, we are putting the record straight. We are also naming and shaming those who spread misinformation about Hinduism and its relationship to caste in an ill-disguised attempt to vilify the Hindu people and cause division within our community." The result of several months research by Dr Raj Pandit Sharma, a member of the HCUK's Executive, the report lifts the lid on rarely-heard Hindu perspectives on a subject assumed by most non-Hindus to be always a gross form of unjust discrimination, an alleged feature of Hinduism so maligned it justifies attempts by Christians to convert Hindus here in the UK, in India, and elsewhere. While the report acknowledges and condemns the fact that abuse of varnashram continues in India, despite an official ban on caste discrimination and the introduction of positive discrimination policies to emancipate lower castes, in particular Dalits, or 'untouchables,' it questions the existence of caste discrimination in the UK, saying no one should be fooled by groups making allegations of such discrimination who are seeking Government legislation and Government funds to tackle this supposed problem. Mr Bhanot argues in his Foreword to the report that MPs such as Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West) and Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), who are lobbying the Department of Communities and Local Government to legislate against caste discrimination may have been "misled by Christian groups who want, quite simply, to 'save' people from the 'falsehood' of Hinduism and convert people to Christianity. In other words, groups who are themselves practising prejudice and discrimination, by condemning the beliefs of those who do not follow their religion." This view is shared by UK Dalits. In a Statement prepared for inclusion in HCUK's report, the Shiri Guru Valmik Sabha in Southall, London, says: "We resent having the word Dalit ascribed to us by the British media and Christian missionary organisations." The Executive adds that organisations professing to tackle caste discrimination in fact "help create further divisions in our society." The community admits there are problems with attitudes in the older generation, but believes inter-caste marriages and the opportunities Britain affords to all are changing this lingering prejudice and will finally eradicate it. In particular, the detailed HCUK report challenges assumptions about caste and the claims made by organisations such as CasteWatch UK and the Dalit Solidarity Network UK, concluding that contrary to their assertions and popular belief, caste, as described in the Hindu scriptures, is not determined by birth. Neither, says the report, is the notion of caste exclusive to the Hindu religion or to Indian culture. The report also traces the spiritual and historical roots of Caste, concluding they lie ultimately in the Indian people's need for spiritual and cultural protection in the face of numerous invasions and foreign rulers, most significantly by the Portuguese and the British Raj, who then perverted the system to their own ends. "It was the British who single-handedly formulated the caste schedules that remain in place today," writes Dr Raj Pandit Sharma in his report. "The evils manifest in the current form of the caste system can not be ascribed to the Hindu faith. The current adulteration of the Hindu varnashram system is a direct result of generations of British Colonial bureaucracy." The report includes quotations from Hindu scripture in support of the concept of egalitarianism and cites many sacred texts – respected and venerated by people of all castes - that were written by 'Dalits,' or 'outcastes,' proving that in Hinduism, caste was never intended to be hereditary; that no one is 'high' or 'low' by birth. The report also highlights the hypocrisy of those who would criticise caste in India while ignoring Britain's own social divisions. "There are now record levels of homeless people in the UK, who are analogous with the outcastes of Indian society," writes Dr Sharma. He also questions the labelling of caste as analogous to apartheid: "This comparison is as ridiculous as it is untrue, especially given the fact these barbaric systems were born under the shadow of slavery or indentured labour, based on the colour of one's skin, and actually conceived and perpetrated by Europeans, not Hindus." "It is no joke to have to ward off concerted misinformation campaigns from UK parliamentarians who really ought to know better," says Anil Bhanot, in his Foreword to the document, but states he has gone through the difficult process in the hope it will alert the wider British public to the underhand and prejudicial tactics carried out by anti-caste propagandists. Full text of the report on Caste by Dr. Raj Pandit Sharma of Hindu Council UK, is at http://bharatam1.googlepages.com/caste.pdf
CASTE-BASED CENSUS—A CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY HINDU SOCIETY SADHU PROF. V. RANGARAJAN Founder Trustee Sri Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram & Yogi Ramsuratkumar Indoligical Research Centre Sri Bharatamata Mandir, Srinivasanagar, Krishna Raja Puram, Bangalore 560 036 (Phone: 080-25610935, Cell: 09448275935, E-mail: sadhu.rangarajan@ gmail.com) About six crore of devotees from more than 140 countries speaking 56 languages visited Haridwar and took a dip in the holy Ganga during the period of the Kumbha Mela which concluded recently. They have all one and only identity—they are Hindus—children of Mother Bharat and those who adore this Holy Land as the land of their forefathers, the land of their hoary spiritual culture and heritage, the land of their salvation. When this ocean of humanity immersed itself into the surging waves of River Ganga, rubbing shoulders to each other, none of them did ask the question what was the caste of the one standing next to him or her in the cool waters of Mother Ganga, the Ganga maiya for all of them. When millions congregated in the dining halls spread out on the river bank by hundreds of religious and spiritual organizations to provide food for the pilgrims from far and wide, none in the gathering asked the question who was sitting next to him and partaking the food so lovingly served by their own Hindu brethren. A few months earlier, there was a congregation of three million mothers lighting ovens in front of the Attukal Bhagavati temple near Tiruvanandapuram, to offer ‘Pongala’—sweet rice pudding prepared with milk and jaggery—to the Divine Mother. All the roads surrounding the temple town were blocked to enable the mothers to set up their ovens to prepare the Prasad for the Mother of all. The Guinness Book of Records called it the greatest congregation of women in the world. The mothers who stood in line to prepare the food for the Mother did not care to know to which caste the women standing next to them belonged. For all of them, She was the Only Mother and all were Her children. Millions throng from all parts of the country and abroad to the renowned temples in India, whether Rameshwaram, Tirupati, or Kollur in the South or Kashi, Kedarnath, Badrinath or Vaishnodevi in the North. In last March, about 1 lakh devotees had Darshan of Tirupati Balaji on a single day. The pilgrims stand in long cues for hours together to have Darshan of their beloved Deity or to share the Prasad in the temple dining halls. None bothers about the caste of others standing or sitting by their side. In the schools, colleges, universities, market places, theatres and cinema halls, in the hotels and restaurants, in trains and buses, millions of people sit side by side, but no one has ever asked the caste of another sitting by his side. In crowded cities and towns, in flats and residential colonies, people of all castes and creeds live together. Then where is caste? Caste has never existed in the remote past nor does it exist today. The Vedas nowhere speak about caste system. Manu emphatically declares, " Janmanaa jaayate shoodrah, samskaarena dwijah"—all men are born as Shudras—unrefined—and by samskaara—refinement, one becomes a dwijah¬—twice born, i.e., one among the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. The classification of the four Varnas is not based on birth. Krishna says very clearly in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita—"Chaaturvarnyam mayaa srishtham, guna karma vibhaagashah"—"I have created the four Varnas on the basis of quality and temperament". Veda Vyasa was the son of Sage Parasara and born in the womb of a fisherwoman, but he became the Guru of all Gurus and compiler of the Vedas by virtue of his inclination and actions. Satyakama Jabali was son of a woman who was serving many masters and therefore he could not know who his father was. His guru Haridrumata Gautama accepted him as a Brahmana because he spoke truth, and speaking truth was the noblest quality of Brahmana, and he became a great Upanishadic seer. Narada was the son of a servant maid. Ravana, though born as the son of a Brahmana, descended to the level of Rakshasa whereas his brother Vibhishana rose to become adored as an Alwar saint—a saint of the Vaishnava order. There were anuloma and pratiloma marriages among the Hindus, one of the higher Varna marrying a girl from the lower Varna and vice versa, respectively. The classification of the four Varnas mentioned in the Purusha Sookta, as rightly pointed out by Sri Guruji Golwalkar in the "Bunch of Thoughts", speaks about the Raashthra Purusha. The men in whom wisdom is predominant and who are inclined to spiritual life are the spokespersons of the Jnaanabhoomi, Karmabhoomi, Mokshabhoomi Bharat. Vasishtha, Viswamitra, Gautama and other rishis of highest enlightenment guided kings and emperors like Dasaratha and Janaka. Men in whom the emotion, prowess—strength of the shoulder--, patriotism and the qualities of a warrior are predominant, become the protectors of the nation and society. Men in whom entrepreneurial skill is predominant become Vaishyas or traders. The common run, whose interest and inclination are to do casual work and eke out a living are Shudras. All the four Varnas are various limbs of the Rashtra Purusha. Nowhere it is said that one cannot move from one Varna to another. Karna, who was considered as a charioteer’s son and was not accepted as Kshatriya, was appointed as King of Angadesha and elevated to the position of Kshatriya by Duryodhana. Vishwamitra, who was a Rajarishi, was elevated to the position of Brahma Rishi and was accepted by Vasishtha. Veetahavya, who was also a Kshatriya, became a Brahmana. Valmiki, a hunter and dacoit by profession turned into the highest Brahmana of the land who gave us the Ramayana. Parasurama and Dronacharya, though Brahmanas by birth, wielded weapons and chose to serve as Kshatriyas. This classification on the basis of Varna gave strength to the Hindu society in most ancient times. When many civilizations and societies all over the world which arose in the later days crumbled because of their conflict with outside forces, Bharat withstood the invasions by Shakas, Hunas and Greeks and even absorbed many of them into the mainstream of Hindu race. However, the rigidity of the Varna distinctions which later came to be called as casteism arose when society advanced with many professional groups coming into existence and intermarriages created many new castes and sub-castes. In the historical period, reform movements like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism cleansed the Hindu society of the disintegrating caste system and movements like those of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Maharashtriyan saints like Ramdas, Tukaram and Eknath, the saints of South India like the Alwars and Nayanmars, Sri Ramanuja, Saint Ramalinga and Sree Narayana Guru fought against the distinction between castes as higher and lower. Swami Vivekananda, the greatest reformer and patriot monk of modern India, points out: “We believe in Indian caste as one of the greatest social institutions that the Lord gave to man. We also believe that though the unavoidable defects, foreign persecutions, and above all, the monumental ignorance and pride of many brahmanas who do not deserve the name, have thwarted in many ways, the legitimate fructification of the most glorious Indian institution, it has already worked wonders for the land of Bharat and is destined to lead Indian humanity to its goal.” During India’s freedom struggle, many great Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Lokamanya Tilak and Veer Savarkar strove to break the barriers between different castes and integrate the entire Hindu society. Mahakavi Bharati, the poet-patriot of the South sang: “Jaatikal etume illayadi paappaa, kulat taazchi uyarchi sollal paapam”—“There are no castes, it is sin to speak of higher and lower births.” CONTD..
Swami Harshananda rightly points out: “There is no gainsaying the fact that during the last 150 years, there has been a true decline of the true spirit behind the caste system. It has been much more pronounced during the 50 years after our political independence.” The British colonialists made the best use of the caste distinctions among the Hindus to divide and disintegrate the nation to keep the country as a part of their empire and the Christian evangelists converted the poor and downtrodden Hindus into their religion to perpetuate the white man’s rule over this nation. Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who founded of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1925, had a deep foresight and he realized that unless and until the entire Hindu society from Kashmir to Kanyakumari stood as one man, wiping out all distinctions based on caste, colour and language, Bharatavarsha could not rise up once again as Hindu Nation and he launched the movement to integrate the entire Hindu society under one banner and with a fiery ideal of adoration of Motherland and elevating Mother Bharat once again as the Loka Guru. In 1934, a winter camp of the Sangh took place in Sevagram at Wardha. One thousand five hundred Swayamsevaks participated in the camp which took place in an open ground near the Ashram where Gandhiji was staying. Seeing the disciplined manner in which the programme of activities of the Sangh were conducted, Gandhiji expressed his desire to visit the camp. As soon as the information reached the Sanghchalak, Sri Appaji Joshi, through Mahadeva Desai, Gandhiji was invited to the camp. On 25th December 1934, in the early morning, Gandhiji visited the camp and spent one and half hours with the Swayamsevaks. He was deeply impressed by their character, discipline and above all the unity which crossed all the barriers of caste and creed. He visited the camp hospital and the dining hall and when he found that the Swayamsevaks did not even care to know each other's caste and lived like members of one family, he expressed his desire to meet the person who had built up this organization. Next morning, when Dr. Hedgewar visited the camp to participate in the concluding function of the camp, the information was conveyed to him and he accordingly called on Gandhiji in the night. Gandhiji spent an hour with Dr. Hedgewar discussing about the Sangh work. Gandhiji was amazed to find that what he was striving to do though his incessant propaganda, i.e., removing the blot of untouchability, was already achieved by Dr. Hedgewar through his Sangh Shakas. After the attainment of Independence, it was expected that the distinctions in the name of caste will be totally wiped out, but the Europeanized politicians who came to power after the British left the shores of this land found a duck that lays the golden eggs in the caste system and realized that as long as they perpetuate the caste distinctions among the Hindus, it will be easy to create vote banks which will help them keep themselves in power perpetually. Therefore they have divided the parliamentary and assembly constituencies in such a way that one or the other caste is predominant there and by appeasing the caste leaders, they could create vote banks. Reservations in jobs, admission to educational institutions and even electing the peoples’ representatives on the basis of caste were found to be easy means to catch votes to remain in power. Today, even those who got converted to Christianity and Islam from Hinduism, apparently protesting against casteism in Hindu society, want to claim the rights given to Scheduled Castes and Tribes among the Hindus. It is those who want to deliberately keep the Hindu society divided for their nefarious political purposes that go on raising the charge that casteism is part of Hinduism. The cunning politician today wants to perpetuate the disintegration and disunity among the Hindus by promoting census on the basis of castes. The foreign Christian missionary and evangelical organizations, who have a hold on the Government of India through a Christian leader of foreign origin controlling the ruling party, find an opportunity to fix their targets for large scale conversion through the caste based census which will disintegrate the Hindus. The so called secular politicians of the country who have betrayed the Hindu society for the sake of power and have always been anti-Hindu, find this caste-based census as an opportunity to keep the Hindus ever divided so that no Hindu nationalist party would ever come to power. "The counting of castes in the ongoing census will weaken the efforts of social harmony and Rashtriya Ekatmata (national integration) being pushed by various organizations and people in the country. It will also ruin the dream of creating a casteless society as was emancipated by many great personalities like Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and others. The RSS has been working since beginning for the unity of the whole Hindu society irrespective of castes," said RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi, while talking to the media persons at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, recently. Why is this caste-based census directed against the Hindus only? Among the Christians, there are so many castes like Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans and Syrians. Among the Muslims, there are Pathans, Labbais, Shias, Sunnis and Ahamadiyas. Will the caste-based senses take the head-count of all these groups? Caste-based census is a conspiracy of anti-Hindu politicians, Christian evangelists and Muslim fundamentalists to destroy Hinduism. Patriotic Indian citizens, irrespective of caste, creed or linguistic differences, should oppose this caste-based census tooth and nail. In countries where Hindus are settled in large numbers, the caste distinctions are almost non-existent. Even in India, only in some remote village areas, these distinctions are prevalent, that too because of ignorance and because of the patronage of politicians who want to create vote banks in the name of caste. The Sindhis, who are the descendants of the Vedic Rishis who built up the Hindu civilization on the banks of River Sindh, do not have any caste distinctions among them. The day casteism will be totally wiped out of India is not far. Why harp upon it again and again? Let us make positive efforts to remove the blot of Casteism that has crept into Hindu society as a virus infecting the whole body. The Rishis addressed the whole of humanity as "Amritasya putraah”—Children of Immortality and called the whole world as one family, "Vasudaiva kutumbhakam". They proclaimed a 'Maanava Dharma'—Religion of Man— that is 'Vishwa Dharma'—Religion of the World—which is the 'Sanaatan Dharma'—the Eternal Religion. They have entrusted to the children of Mother Bharat and their descendants the task of spreading in the entire world man-making and universal values of life. Let us fulfil the hopes and aspirations of our forefathers. We could achieve this mission only when we do away with all distinctions in the name of caste. Let us declare ourselves as Hindus first and Hindus last and refuse to identify ourselves with any caste when the officials come to take the census. Let us boldly declare that we have no castes and WE ARE HINDUS, WE ARE BHARATIYAS. Vishwa Dharma ki Jai! Bharatamata ki Jai! Vande Mataram!
