Hindu. Who? Part Four

Meenakshi Srinivasan

17 May 2008, 07:09

Continued from “Hindu. Who? Part Three”

The Caste System and Polytheism are the two main issues that are hard for non “Hindus” to assimilate and accept about “Hinduism”. If I were a non-”Hindu”, I would find it impossible to accept this nonsense too, especially the first one. Even the second one sounds permissible and sort of childish fantasy. After all, I would come from a background of “All men are created equal” and to find that a society actually divided itself up on “caste” lines and created inequalities is insupportable to me.

What sounded most fallacious in this above scenario, that has been dinned into my head by my History books, the media, people in general was this: How come, the minds that came up with the concept of Zero and Algebra that always wanted to balance equations and inquire into life after death and keeping account of your actions (karma), could devise something as inequal as the caste system?

Back I went to the Vedas, my primary source. The first Suktam I looked into, the Purusha Suktam, describes the ‘Universal being”, the Purusha as one who has the brahmin for his head, kshatriya for his arms, vaishya for his thighs and shudra for his feet. Prior to this, I have heard these four words, brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra in the Phalashruti portions of smaller texts. The Phalashruthi is a concluding “epilogue” for most Indic texts that tells the reader what they will gain when they recite, chant or read a certain text. In each of those, these four varnas are mentioned and given a blessing each. For instance, in the Phalashruthi at the end of the Vishnu Sahasranama, the brahmin is blessed with the ultimate knowledge of the Vedas (Vedanta), the kshatriyas with victory, the vaishyas with wealth and the shudras with bliss. In the Bhagavat Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna that he created the four varnas.

I looked through my understanding of the word varna in the Samkritham medium versus the Anglican meaning. Varna means two things in Samskritham, one means color and the other, description. After all, color is also a way to describe a thing. The Hindi word varnan comes from the same root which means description. Therefore, it be-hooves us to look into what these four words “describe”. The English conveniently translated it as colour, denoting skin tones and therefore the “whitest” of the lot were the brahmins, wheatish, kshatriyas (I don’t know how a warrior could be not tanned) to the darkest toned shudras. I think, the weaver in his dark loom room would have been the fairest of them all! When I met some weavers in kanchipuram, they indeed were very pale complexioned!

They describe four groups of people involved in the socio-economic parameters of making a living within a defined community. These four generic terms were overall categories that dealt with the primary four jobs of health and information sciences, administration/defense, finance/business/trade and farmers/artisans. They were not castes:


Caste: 1555, “a race of men,” from L. casto “chaste,” from castus “pure, cut off, separated,” pp. of carere “to be cut off from” (and related to castrate), from PIE base *kes- “to cut.”Application to Hindu social groups picked up in India 17c. from Port. casta “breed, race, caste,” earlier casta raca “unmixed race,” from the same L. word.

As the Purusha description clarifies, there is no “cut-offs”! Can you imagine a body without its head or without its arms or thighs or feet? Language again – how we see and interpret things.

When I taught a 6th grade class Ancient Indian Civilization (part of their 4 civilizations curriculum), I asked them their parent’s professions. We were able to put every profession under one of these taxons. We found Sports-person a bit difficult to categorize- did they come under kshatriyas (as most of the sports-persons from those days were warriors) or if they did it for fun, like gymnasts, whether they would be categorized as artists, performers and defined as Shudras? All scientists, researchers, teachers, engineers, doctors and lawyers were classified as Brahmanas while retailers, bankers, financial analysts, business people were called Vaishyas, in our little exercise.

When something so ancient finds relevance even today, how can that be considered terrible and unacceptable? Of course, if I were to interpret this as the Caste System that makes one group boss over and exploit the other, yes, it is terrible indeed. Let us not forget the translators and the background they came from. Theirs was a feudal setup. They established a zamindari system to reflect that in their colony. They had to show that they were bringing in a better system and that was different. And they did, a different one for certain.

Centuries of collective living was shattered after the first Census of India (1860-71) where the different “castes” were enumerated. When we read History, there is comic relief too. When asked what “jati” (group) a certain person belonged to, answers were inconsistent. One would say it was male/ female! Yet another gave their family name, yet another their “gotra”, another their language, one, his village or town and one his profession. The census officials of that first census must have gone crazy! Had the British but asked what varna they belonged to, they would have categorized all of India under four parts, not thousands which continues to pose problems today, thanks to our divisive, caste-based politics that our politicians happily inherited and continue.

To me, the purpose of Jati appears to be purely genetical. A few months ago, there was a huge bone marrow drive amongst the South Asian community to help an Indian man who was dying of cancer. He was a young man, newly married and everyone’s heart went out to him. When I was called by my friend to donate, I did. However, I asked what his “jati” was. She said, Tamil Iyengar. I asked for his “Gotram” and asked her to pass the info on to other Iyengars with the same Gotram. Within a few days a match was found within the same “jati”. This man’s own child may not be as fortunate to finding a genetic match as he has married an “out-of-jati” person and the genetic possibilities are endless in such hybrids. We lose our genetic pools with excessive hybridization. Personally, that is fine by me, some of the most beautiful roses are hybrids, but we have got to synthesize the marrow individually, not search for a donor.

The introduction of the zamindari system and an imbalanced distribution of resources, wealth and power had begun to cause rifts that had already started to break up society under the Islamic sultanates. There, flattery got people into elevated positions. Under the British, it was learning their language and being a good public servant.

In the old varna system complimented by the ashramas (periods in one’s life), the brahmins, who were the repository of all information and knowledge (head of the Purusha, the thinker, le Penseur) were made to beg for their food and daily needs. They were not allowed to carry over even a day’s worth of essentials. They were taught and trained to live in trust of the Divine that would provide for them under all conditions.

The kshatriya was given physical power (arms of the Purusha) but denied wealth. They were paid with public funds and considered the servants of the public. Their primary duty was to protect Dharma. We know what happens when a country or individual becomes powerful and wealthy. We have to but look at the state of lobbying and their impact on democracies today.
The Vaishya was denied power but kept the wealth of the nation (therefore the thighs, the fleshiest part of the human body) while the Shudras were the foundation on which the entire society rested (the feet of the Purusha). Everyone had to eat food grown by the farmer, wear clothes made by the weaver, use utensils made by the potter, live in homes built by the mason, use tools made by the blacksmith, starting with a simple nail and so on.

We forgot the most important group of people, the most newsworthy of our times, the most ill-treated- the dalits, the untouchables, the “Achut”, in Gandhi’s parlance, Harijans. Gosh, how many terms in how many years for the same group of people? They are not mentioned in this four varna list, then where do they fit into this neat picture?

Before we come to them, we need to understand the Dharma of each of the varnas. After all, we called this system, the Varnashrama Dharma. Dharma was a synthesized idea from nature where there were clear rhythms and patterns of seasons, life cycles, species interaction, ecological niches and interdependence. Humans picked that idea up and defined the role of each other in a social contract.

The four main varnas had clear agendas. Each had to upkeep their part of the contract to ensure social wellbeing and harmony. As mentioned earlier, they had to be the best in their professions and do a perfect job. It was no wonder that Indian goods have always found favor with all their importers from the times of Mesapotamia and Egypt. The best weaves, artifacts, produce came from this sub-continent where people gave of their best. A modern economist has pegged the average India’s share of world GDP at about 25% or so, just before the Portuguese sailed to town. today it is at a measley 3 or 4% (with 18% of the world’s population)

The clue to the “Achut” problem came to me on reading Chinua Achebe’s “When Things Fall Apart”. He writes about how their tribe would throw away improperly developed babies into the jungle that surrounded their vilage as they could not survive as hunters and had no time to take care of nature’s “freaks”. They would let nature take care of her “freaks”. The missionaries came and changed all that.

If I did not keep my part of the contract, I was thrown out of the community, excommunicated and became an “Achut”. I had to do prayaschit (penance) to regain my status in society and therefore had to do the “dirtiest” of jobs- handle dead bodies, clear away carcasses, dredge drains and carry out the garbage. And because I was in constant touch with decaying, dead matter, I was not allowed anywhere near a community water source, to prevent spread of disease. I was dependent on society to give me water for my sustenance. Londoners learned it the hard way after a severe outbreak of cholera in 1854, that disease could spread from infected water sources. If this was true in a temperate country, imagine the damage in a tropical land like India where bacteria can breed in seconds owing to warmer temperatures.

Like all systems, this system also had its downfall when it became too rigid and the “pure” began to cast stones at those who had “sinned”. Hence, the growth of religions such as Jainism and later Buddhism that were tolerant and willing to let bygones be bygones. In modern times that religion is Christianity. But then someone had to do the “dirty” job and nobody wanted it. (I wonder what would happen, as a social experiment, if all convicted people were made to handle trash.)

In the modern context, with improved sanitation and awareness, I am shocked at the inhuman treatment of certain groups of people on the basis of “caste”, as defined for us by another and followed through by us. It is time to unite ourselves as harmonious parts of a whole, that when synchronized well, will lead to socio-economic and spiritual success. And by “us” I do not mean only “Indians”, I mean all of humanity who has drawn so many lines between ourselves in the guise of regions, language, religion, economics, politics etc.

Yet another important part of Dharma is a term called “svadharma” ie the dharma that each individual feels innate within him/herself. It is the natural talent or leanings each one of us has. I may be born to a weaver, but I may want to sing. Only singing satisfies me. In such a case, I become a musician. I remember vaguely (cannot recall or get to the quote) about a vedic verse that speaks of a person saying how every person in the family is in a different profession.

Complementing the Varna were the Ashrama. These denoted the different phases in one’s life, very similar to the generic ones we have today. The first quarter of one’s life is dedicated to being a student. The Brahmachari is clearly defined as one whose sole purpose was to learn, without distractions. That is hard to imagine in this world of entertainment and distractions with ADD and ADHD. This was followed by Grihasta or the householder: Earning a living, based on your “svadharma” and contributing to society and family. Bring home the salary, pay bills and taxes (not much has changed, have they?!). You marry (please refer to my earlier post on the different types of marriages prescribed in the Indic texts), beget children, preferably pure breeds, not that half-breeds were rejected, just for genetic continuity. When you have gone through this phase for a while, the larger questions arise. What am I doing pushing papers or typing code all these years? Enter, Vanaprasta, or the forest dweller, who retires from active service. He is available for consultations, familial or professional, but he is in quest of that query introduced to him as a student, “Who are you?” Finally, one day even that pondering drops and he enters the final phase of Sanyasa whereupon he leaves behind everything, all his relationships, his interests.

It was not uncommon for people from the different varnas switch to other varnas during a certain ashrama. For instance, the story of Vishwamitra in the Ramayana illustrates how he, a Kshatriya, does severe penance to become a Brahmana and he does. Likewise, it was also common for a student not to enter the life of a householder and proceed to Sanyasa directly.

Polytheism: A student whom I was tutoring once asked me if I did not mind a personal question. I said to go ahead and ask. He said that a friend of his told him that Indians have many Gods, like 10 or so. I said that he was kidding, we had millions! Now that kid was really shocked. He asked, “How come?” I replied that it was each to his own. I illustrated the point by pointing to the pencil and saying if I were an artist and I needed the pecil to make sketches, I would honor it and pray to it like it were my god. for a cobbler, it would be his needle, for a cook his stove and so on. After he finished his assignment he pulled out a piece of paper and sketched something on it. He showed it to me and said, “Mrs. S, this is My God. Do you like Him? I am going to put it up in my room and feel safe.”

Even for the Muslim who shares the Vedic truth that there is no form for God (Aroopa- formless), he has a picture of the stone at Medina and points towards Mecca to do his prayers. As long as we are limited in our physical body that demands satisfaction of its senses, an “object” or symbol plays the role of an aid. In education we are well conversant with the use of learning aids in the classroom as per the requirement of the student and slowly they are taken away.

Apart from the psychological aspects of worship, the Vedic truth of Sarvam Brahmamayam, all this is infused with the same divinity, makes for a sacred life. It makes the living process honorable and divine. Such an individual cannot blow up another person or thing. He cannot imagine abusive behaviour or language. Global warming cannot be a reality if every plant and animal species and water, air, fire and earth are worshipped as sacred. How many of us are ready to close our eyes, sit in meditation and observe the thoughts that pass through our minds? Until such time, “idol” worship helps the mind’s wandering nature to rest focused. The nature of the eye is such that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, hence various forms, shapes, ideas are worshipped, not just one.

Continues with Part Five

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