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Bhagavadgita Pages, Chapters 1 to 18

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V.Krishnaraj

Caste and Color

Varna – The Color and the Veil

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The curse of Caste. One's higher caste is flaunted and the lower caste is flouted.

The Pyramid- the living monument of Manu, the author of the Laws of Manu.

In this day and age, there are people who still believe that they emerged from mouth of god, while all other castes emerged from lesser parts; without lesser parts, no one is a complete person. All without exception emerged from the womb of the respective mothers.  The myth started by Manu and others and perpetuated by self-serving and ruthless higher castes (of bygone era) to protect their means of livelihood and untenable superiority is still alive and well. The kings and princes (Bhagavan Krishna, Mahavira, and Buddha) gave us the religions and what the self-styled 'twice-born' Brahmins (and not Brahmanas) gave us were castes and rituals with costs. Brahmanas are a distinct group of men and women coming from all castes with Brahma Vidya (God Realization: Brahma- or bhagavat-sākşātkāra)), belong to no caste and have risen above the pettiness of the castes. Where do Chinese, Europeans, and Eskimos fit in this inane system of caste stratification?

On the other hand, there is spice and nice(ness) in mythology that we were born from the body parts of the Lord. That our ancestors were apes is not appealing. Let us repeal that notion from our mind. Against my sterile scientific bent of mind, I will accept mythology as a charming alternate explanation of the origin of man. Science is bent; once bent, you can never make it straight. I am going to stop the fight and accept wight (human being) came from body parts of god.

Why is it that we all harp on Gotra, birth star....? Do we really believe in Sapta Rishis who were purported to be the head honchos with superior cojones to have disseminated their respective Y-Chromosomes and started the inane Gotras. Yes, there were Rishis or seers in India, who were not the mind-born sons of Brahma, but were womb-born like everybody else. What is this all about Vaidika and Laukika Gotras? I must admit that Gotra consideration prevented proscribed marriage within the same Y-chromosome-dependent Gotra. Do you know of any Gotra member attain Moksha or even college admission on the strength of his high Gotra?  I bet the interviewers in college admissions panel did not ask for Gotra. May be, they should so they can choose the lowest Laukika Gotra candidate from among candidates otherwise equally eligible for the seat. Science tells us that the first man and first woman were Africans and definitely not Sapta Rishis, the mind-born sons of Brahma. We are all Africans first and then only the other mutated races. The African lurks even in the lily white with blond hair, blue eyes....  Why then perpetuate this myth. Even the educated and the enlightened announce their Gotras.... The VIPs and the High and the low Govt. officials announce their Gotra, when they go to temple to offer prayers. If one were a high Government official or a minister, he or she would look stupid for lack of knowledge, when the priest asks for the name, Nakashatra and Gotra. People say it is all tradition. What Gotra and Kula does Siva belong to? If God Himself has no Gotra (Siva is Akula, not sakti = not having any power.), why do ordinary Karma-bound earthlings take pride in spurious Gotra appellations? Of course, Daksa did not think much of Siva because He lived in cremation grounds, begged for food and ate out of a skull bone. Even worse, Daksa called Siva a Sudra. How low can you get? That is hitting below the belt.

Here is a brahmin (not a Brahmana) introducing himself to others about his high birth and the eminent Seers belonging to His Gotra and the rest. A Brahmin of Vedic Times or an Atavistic Brahmin of today introduces himself in a snobbish, pompous, highfaluting, superior-than-thou flamboyance, whereby he diminishes everyone around. I am already diminished; you can't take me down any further. To say that Great Rishis born of Brahma belong to his Gotra is to append greatness to his name by invoking the names of the Saptarishis of bygone era. That is name-dropping of spurious kind. Why would not every one stand on his own intrinsic merit?  You have the mouth of a brahmin but not the feet of a Sudra. Even a genuine Brahmana, whom we all revere, respect and look up to, cannot honestly  and does not claim heredity, sampradaya or parampara from the Great Rishis. That kind of pompous claim is antithetical to being a Brahmana.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin_gotra_system 

The full affiliation of a brāhamana consists of (1) gotra, (2) pravaras (3) sutra (of Kalpa), (4) shakha. 

(Example :) A brahmana named 'X' introduces himself as follows : I am 'X', of Shrivatsa gotra, of Āpastamba sutra, of Taittiriya shākha of Yajurveda, of five pravaras (the most excellent Seers) named Bhārgava, Chyāvana, Āpnavan, Aurva and Jāmadagnya (This example is based upon the example given by Pattābhirām Shastri in the introduction to Vedārtha-Pārijata, cf. ref.). 

Here I am, a pallid pensioner compared to the pompous pundit.--V.Krishnaraj

(I am Veeraswamy Krishnaraj, claim my ancestry from African Adam and Eve, and wear Indo-European genes; no eminent seer or seers have the distinction to belong to my nondescript ancestry, heredity and circumstance. I don't claim high Gotra, eminent Pravaras, Sutra or Shaka). What you see is what you get.

Take the Master Painters of the West. They painted Adam and Eve in their image: tall, handsome, very white.... I heard some say they are with the angels while (they said) others were with apes. We all heard that time and again. The very idea that other people belonged to category of apes did not impress on them that their own forefathers were apes, monkeys or whatever.

On the other hand, does it really matter that a person invokes cognate but mythical lineage from non-existent Brahma-born Saptarishis or claims a proximate affiliation with the angels? It does not matter. This is all a case of benign self-massaging of one's ego.

Bhagavadgita Verses.

4.13: I founded (created) the four-fold order of Varna according to guna and karma - fundamental quality and work. Though I am the founder, know me thou as unable to act or change.

The emphasis is on Guna and Karma and not on birth. Gunas dictate and determine which caste a person belongs to.

Some reputable Hindu scholars have mentioned that many sacred texts have interpolations. Could this be one of those interpolations?

It is quite possible that this verse is an interpolation. There are very many so-called sacred texts written by men and falsely attributed to God.

Assuming that Krishna paramatma Himself utered these verse, let us analyze them.

Ref: http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/hinduism/dn/scb.txt

Gita Chapter 18 Verse 41:

Gita C18V41  Lord Krishna states:

The Brahmanas, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras, O Parantapa, are  separated by the gunas – Sattva, Rajas, Tamas – born of their own nature.

The Uddhava Gita Verse 12.16 says, disposition of a Brahmin should be to control the manas and Indriyas (mind and senses), meditate on Isvara, observe purity,  live contented, exercise compassion, abide in Truth, renounce, walk a straight path, and remain devoted to the Supreme.

The Uddhava Gita Verse 12.41 says  acceptance of  gifts by a Brahmin for performing sacrificial rites is antithetical to austerity, independence, and reputation. He should use only the grain gleaned from previously harvested fields.

Read what Vivekanada says about Ksatriyas (kings) and Brahmana priests.

What business had the priests to interfere (to the misery of millions of human beings) in every social matter?

You speak of the meat-eating Kshatriya. Meat or no meat, it is they who are the fathers of all that is noble and beautiful in Hinduism. Who wrote the Upanishads? Who was Rama? Who was Krishna? Who was Buddha? Who were the Tirthankaras of the Jains? Whenever the Kshatriyas have preached religion, they have given it to everybody; and whenever the Brahmins wrote anything, they would deny all right to others. Read the Gita and the Sutras of Vyasa*, or get someone to read them to you. In the Gita the way is laid open to all men and women, to all caste and colour, but Vyasa tries to put meanings upon the Vedas to cheat the poor Shudras. Is God a nervous fool like you that the flow of His river of mercy would be dammed up by a piece of meat? If such be He, His value is not a pie!

There is one thing that is certain; if there were no Brahmanas, Hindu religion will be unrecgnizable something else; to that extant Brahmanas (not Brahmins) deserve a universal sky-high credit from all people of the world.

A List of Brahmin Communities

Compiled by Vikas Kamat
First Online: April 01, 2003
Page Last Updated: January 02, 2012

The following is a list of Brahmin communities of India. It is documented here for anthropological research purposes. Where available, links to related pictures and topics on the particular community are provided. Please suggest additions/corrections to askkamats@gmail.com

Vyasa*: Vyasa  was born of a Brahmana father and a non-Aryan mother.

 Facts and a little parody  If you see some apparent irreverence, it makes it all the more enjoyable.

At the end of the article, a definition of  Brahmin (Brahmana) is given. The verses were uttered by the Buddha (a prince before He became the Buddha) Himself. 

 Information was gathered from several sources.
Ramanuja, Kanchipurna, Ambedkar, Narayana, Andal, Perialvar, Panalvar, Vivekananda. what is  their  Varna?  Is it  by birth or by attributes?  Which is it? Now it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is the attributes that make a Brahmin, as originally intended and advocated by Lord Krishna. 

The president, Dr. Kalam, is a Muslim; the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, is a Sikh; there are Dalits (the oppressed or untouchables) in the legislature, parliament, and ministries; India is showing signs of equality of races and castes. Sonya Gandhi, if she wished, could have been the Prime Minister.

The pernicious casteism spreads to USA among upper-caste Indians.

NYTimes reports in the METRO section on 10/24/2004 the following: Mr. Daniel, former director of Columbia's South Asian Institute, told of the resistance he faced among upper-caste Indians on an academic committee when he wanted to name an endowed chair in Indian political economics after a noted untouchable, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a Columbia graduate who helped draft the Indian Constitution, which decades ago abolished caste system." Article in NYT: Family Ties and the Pressure to Live an Outmoded Tradition

    Vivekananda  (1863-1902) the disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa came to Chennai (formerly Madras) and talked about Atman, Brahman, Reality, inane caste system and untouchability. The pernicious, calcified, ossified and petrified orthodox Brahmins of Madras of yore threw verbal barbs without touching him; they called him a Sudra. They asked him in a pointblank in-your-face verbal assault (physicality is out of question; touch is defiling) how a Sudra like him could become a Sannyasi. A Sudra can be householder but not a Sannyasi according to the Brahmanical canons (cannons) of Varnasrama Dharma. Vivekananda tried his best to convince the irate Brahmins that Sannyasa is open to anyone with proper qualification. They saw no reason. Vivekananda loaded his verbal gun with enough powder and pellets and fired it on the pack of Brahmins by saying, "You the Brahmins of Madras, you are the pariahs of the pariahs!"

    By the way, even pariah sheds his bondage and obtains liberation when he mentions the Lord's name, Narayana, once. (Bhagavata Purana 5.1.35)

    This was the same man who came to the west later and addressed  The World's Parliament of Religions Chicago, 11th September 1893, "Sisters and Brothers of America." The recalcitrant Brahmins of Madras of yore saw their stupidity and ineptitude and had a change of heart, after the intelligentsia of the world first and later India recognized his greatness.

Swami Vivekanda says the following to his listeners in America (26th September, 1893):  "The religion of the Hindus is divided into two parts: The ceremonial and the spiritual. The spiritual portion is specially studied by the monks. In that there is no caste. A man from the highest caste and a man from the lowest may become a monk in India, and the two castes become equal. In religion there is no caste; caste is simply a social institution." Another blow to Manu; one-two punch; down goes Manu. Manu is the ancient man who wrote "The Laws of Manu" which codified men into castes. Dr. Ambedkar, who wrote the constitution of India, burnt a copy of 'The Laws of Manu and converted to Buddhism.

My comment: What is amazing is even now there are religious heads who profess, practice, support, and enforce Varnasrama Dharma. Dharma label does not make it sacred or the word of god. It is a misnomer in this context; Dharma cannot be conjoined with Varnasrama; they are poles apart. How could there be justice (Dharma) based on caste, color, race, creed...? Krishna's words on Varnasrama are twisted, tortured and molded to fit their cast and caste. Those words may not be those of Bhagavan Krishna.

Vivekananda also is not thrilled about the hereditary Gurudom in India: the father Guru passing on the mantle to the son. Read what Vivekananda says about pseudo-Gurus and real Gurus.

One more idea. There is a peculiar custom in Bengal, which they call Kula - guru, or hereditary Guruship. "My father was your Guru, now I shall be your Guru. My father was the Guru of your father, so shall I be yours." What is a Guru? Let us go back to the Shrutis --"He who knows the secret of the Vedas", not bookworms, not grammarians, not Pandits in general, but he who knows the meaning. [Sanskrit]--"An ass laden with a load of sandalwood knows only the weight of the wood, but not its precious qualities"; so are these Pandits. We do not want such. What can they teach if they have no realisation? When I was a boy here, in this city of Calcutta, I used to go from place to place in search of religion, and everywhere I asked the lecturer after hearing very big lectures, "Have you seen God?" The man was taken aback at the idea of seeing God; and the only man who told me, "I have", was Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and not only so, but he said, "I will put you in the way of seeing Him too". The Guru is not a man who twists and tortures texts. [Sanskrit]--"Different ways of throwing out words, different ways of explaining texts of the scriptures, these are for the enjoyment of the learned, not for freedom." Shrotriya, he who knows the secret of the Shrutis, Avrijina, the sinless, and Akamahata, unpierced by desire -- he who does not want to make money by teaching you -- he is the Shanta, the Sadhu, who comes as the spring which brings the leaves and blossoms to various plants but does not ask anything from the plant, for its very nature is to do good. It does good and there it is. Such is the Guru, [Sanskrit]--"Who has himself crossed this terrible ocean of life, and without any idea of gain to himself, helps others also to cross the ocean." This is the Guru, and mark that none else can be a Guru, for [Sanskrit]--"Themselves steeped in darkness, but in the pride of their hearts, thinking they know everything, the fools want to help others, and they go round and round in many crooked ways, staggering to and fro, and thus like the blind leading the blind, both fall into the ditch." Thus say the Vedas."

Purusasūkta of Rg Veda [(Purusa = man, heavenly man +  Sukta = Vedic hymn) = The Purusa Hymn or Hymn of Rg Veda)]. It contains the revealed wisdom, cosmogony, race, color, and origin of man.

Varnasrama dharma and separation of the Hindu man /woman into four classes (Brahmana, Ksatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra) and its origin  can be traced back to Rg Veda.

According to the Tantrics, generally man is divided into three types: Divine man, Hero, and Animal (Divya, Vira, and Pasu).  Tantric classification takes the whole human race into consideration in this classification. Tantrics do not, by their tenets and precepts, practice discrimination by caste. And yet you can see some remnants of Brahmanical system even among Tantrics.

Here is man, not according to his birth, caste, race... but according to what he is.

Intuitional = pure, untaught, noninferential knowledge,  largely spiritual.

The above chart illustrates the stages of man in general based on his intrinsic quality which has seven ranges, five steps or three stages according to the system of classification.

Tantric System:  three kinds: 1. Pasu (animal man), 2. Vira (Hero or man-man), and 3. Divya (god-man).

Kundalini System: Seven stages: anal man, genital man, emotional man, thinking man, Sattvic man, intuitional man, and Yogi.

Swami Sivananada Radha: five stages: 1. mineral-man, 2. vegetable-man, 3. animal-man, 4. man-man, and 5. god-man.

Sattvic = good, virtuous.... Rajas = motion and passion; Tamas = darkness, sloth, slumber. Guna = mode, quality, attribute.

W + E + SC = Wealth, Education, Social Climbing; several degrees of separation from animal man; traces of Sattva or goodness.

It appears that Manu's system is based on natal division and comes into conflict with other Indian systems of classification, which pertain to one's post-natal behavior and accomplishment. The Non-Aryan system of classification is much older and robust than the Aryan Manu's decrepit system.

The one who knows the Imperishable as Brahman is a Brahmana (Brhad Upanishad 3.8.10). The last statement in the Upanishad absolutely eliminates any doubt that only Brahmins have the privilege to know the sacred scriptures and learn about and know Brahman. The birth caste of a person is irrelevant; his Guna or nature is relevant. For Yoga sadhana, a Guru's guidance is recommended. A Guru transfers spirituality to his pupil by sparsa (touch), Dharshana (sight), and Sankalpa (thought). Ramana Maha Rishi was known to have conveyed his wisdom, grace and bliss just by casting his eyes on the visitors.

Siva in answer to a question from Parvati tells her: Veda is not Veda, the eternal Brahma  is Veda. Whosoever knows the Brahma Vidya is a Brahmin, skilled in the Vedas (Verse 50).  After knowing Brahma Jnana, one is free from all distinctions of caste (57). Jnana Sankalini Tantra.

A view from the West: Abbe Dubois in his own words in green.

Abbe Dubois (1770-1848) a Christian Missionary from France was one of the most astute Hindu watcher in Tamil Nadu, India and an acerbic commentator. He did feel that Mantras neither induced vibrations nor oscillations of Spirit nor obtain realm of peace. He most of his time was watching the Hindus so much so that he did not have time and that he converted in his own words only  "two to three hundred converts, 2/3rd were 'pariahs' (his words) or beggars and the rest composed of Sudras, vagrants and outcastes of several tribes." He was frustrated that Roman Catholicism contaminated with caste system prevailed among the converts. The converts consulted the astrologers and purohitas (priests), practiced Hindu manners and customs in marriage. He had a particular annoyance at the Brahmin community then, whom he regarded as the sole purveyors of Mantras, which 'enchain the power of gods themselves.' Gods thus bound by chains were afraid of Purohitas who declared themselves as 'Brahma gods or gods of the earth.' He quotes a Mantra familiar to Purohitas:

Devadhinam jagat sarvam,

Mantradhinam ta devata

Tan mantram Brahmanadhinam

Brahmana mama devata

Which means, 'The universe is under the power of gods; the gods are under the power of Mantrams; the Mantrams are under the power of the Brahmins; therefore the Brahmins are our gods.'  'The argument is plainly set out, as you may see, and these modest personages have no scruples about arrogating to themselves the sublime title of Brahma gods or gods of the earth. When one points out  to the Brahmins that these much-vaunted Mantrams do not produce startling effects in the present day, they reply that this must be attributed to the Kali-Yuga, a veritable age of iron when everything has degenerated.

Abbe Dubois derides Gayatri Mantra, so highly regarded by Hindus. He observes derisively that Gayatri Mantram removes the sins and that gods tremble at it. The Brahmin must make sure that he always repeats it in a low voice,  that he is not overheard by a Sudra, or even by his own wife, particularly at the time  when she is in a state of uncleanness (monthly periods). The Mantram should not be imparted to an unbeliever (like Abbe Dubois). Page 138-140: Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies. (Dubois speaks and writes here in green and I in black.)

The Sudras, the Sutras, the gotras and the Y chromosome

  The Brahma Sutra devotes a whole section 1.3.34 to 38 on the topic of disqualification of Sudras for Brahma-knowledge.  Janasruti, a previously documented Ksatriya (warrior caste) but now mistaken for a Sudra (menial worker) was grief-stricken to hear words of disrespect. Of all birds, a flamingo derided Janasruti for lack of Brahma-knowledge and  he ran to Raikva in grief.  When Raikva saw grief written all over the face of Janasruti, Raikva called him a Sudra for the word Sudra also means "grief."  That makes every Sudra feel good, for a Sudra it is a little better to grieve than to heave in pain.  The Sudras are prohibited from offering  sacrifices, but not acquiring Brahma-knowledge.  A well-known Sudra of Mahabharata is Vidura, born of  Vyasadeva and a palace maid and is known to have mastered Brahma-knowledge.  

By the way Sutra means thread and is cognate with Suture; in this context Sutra means aphorism.

The Gotra game

Gotra means "Cow-pen or Cow-shed" and is of two kinds - Vaidika and Laukika.  Vaidika is according to the Vedic prescription and the Laukika is "mundane, worldly, common". In ancient times the extended family members shared one cowshed and therefore that name stuck.   Gotra is a family tree whose root can be traced to a common ancestor. Since  it is exogamous and patrilineal, it is  based on the Y chromosome.  The females claim the gotra of  father, and of  husband after marriage. A man can not marry a woman of the same gotra.  But a male can marry a woman of the same gotra at least seven degrees removed from his father.  The Vaidika Gotra members trace their lineage from high priests and renowned  Rishis, namely  Bharadvaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Visvamitra, Kasyapa, Atri, Vasistha (SaptaRishis) and more (Atharvan, Angiras, Bhrgu).  Strictly speaking only Brahmanas can claim a  gotra.  The Ksatriyas and others can not claim any such medallion or pendant, simply because they are not cognate to the original  Brahmana Rishis and for that reason they are categorized in the laukika (mundane) variety. There were exceptions:  Visvamitra and Vasistha,  both Ksatriyas by birth performed tapas ( austerity) and were accepted as Brahmanas. Mundane gotra members  are defined as non-cognate followers of  a succession of disciples of the original Priests and  Rishis.  There is no genetic or Y chromosome connection here between the mundane gotra members and the original Progenitors listed above.  Y chromosome is  transferred intact from father to son. The only way to resolve the dispute is to perform DNA analysis of Y Chromosome in males,  and Mitochondrial DNA of all people and find out the common denominator or tree structure in Vaidika and Laukika Brahmins, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. Additional benefit  would be finding any strays among other castes who belong to Brahmana caste and strays who are Non-Brahmins among Brahmana caste by the strength of DNA analysis. It is a known finding that Brahmins by and large belong to Eurasian genetic pool and are closer to Europeans than to ancient people of India. Ramanuja took in his fold a lot of Jains and non-Brahmins; genetically there is a mingling between the Brahmins of yore and the neo-Brahmins of post-Ramanuja period. The Brahmins are not as pure as they think they are. There are whites in USA who have sickle cell trait or even disease, though they have all the conventional features of white people. Does it all mean anything? Claim of superiority by race, color or caste is for the weak, who has no other flotation device in this sea of Samsara; he or she clutches on the straw of race, color or caste to claim superiority in a roiling sea, where intellect, prudence, patience, tolerance, compassion, sympathy, and empathy are the flotation devices. Bigotry, arrogance, false sense of superiority, and inhumanity are the dead weights that sink the soul, body, and mind into the abyss of darkness.

We are Africans, no matter what your race, color or caste is. No Escape Clause

Mitochondrial  DNA can trace mother backwards to the African Eve. The first man and the first woman are Africans; one cannot wash that off from one's genes, body, mind and soul. If modern science and genealogy are any guide, where do Saptarishis fit in? Why are the Brahmins and the priests play this Gotra Game?  It is the tradition which perpetuates the feigned superiority of high birth, high Gotra and doubtful mythical lineage to prop something that does not exist in real-life genetics.

The SaptaRishis were the original Rishis, most favored by the gods and were saved at the time of the Great Deluge by Lord Vishnu by taking them on to a floatation device.  These seven Rishis are seven stars forming the Great Bear in the sky. Rig Veda says that Rishis came from all castes. That being so, let us embrace this delightful multi-chromatic hodgepodge.

My mom doesn't know my Gotra.

Jabala, the poor boy goes  to Gautama for Brahma-knowledge.  Gautama, a man way ahead of his time, asks him what his gotra is.  The youngster born of a maid working in a travel lodge (eons ago) admits to his indeterminate status (Nirkkottiram = ¿¢÷§¸¡ò¾¢Ãõ) Gautama immediately puts his trust on his honesty and truth and takes him as a pupil.  The lesson here is that the content of his character rather than his  birth or gotra determines his caste.  The Sudra fortunately originated from a body part of the Lord, namely the feet, at which all the Alwars worshipped. At the feet of Lord Krishna, the Alwars, the Sudras, and the twice-born see eye to eye.  That is Lord's grace.

¿¢÷§¸¡ò¾¢Ãõ =  nirkkōttiram 

, n. < nir- gōtra. The state of belonging to no family. See கோத்திரமின்மை. (சிலப். 10, 188, உரை.)

The power-grubbing lesser gods cause all the trouble.

Knowledge, power, wealth, service and justice are the cornerstones of a society.  Brahman  establishes order through varnasrama dharma.

Brhad-Aaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 - 17: In the very beginning there was Brahman, who "became all". Becoming all means that he is the Brahmana, Ksatriya, Vaishya and Sudra -the priestly class, the warriors, the traders and the nourishers.  The gods, seers and men who "knew" this became Brahman themselves.  Whoever thinks that he and Brahman are separate and worships a god, "knows not", and is like an animal to the gods.  The gods did not like this secret - the Truth - known to men, for the gods wanted to be worshipped by men and offered sacrifices.  Brahman was not pleased with his first creation, Brahmana and created the Ksatra.  He did not flourish and Brahman created Vis -Vaishyas.  Just remember that the created classes - Brahmanas / Brahmins,  Ksatriyas and Vaishyas were gods originally.  The Vis did not thrive and so Sudras were created.   Sudra is compared to the earth. He is the nourisher.   He did not thrive and Brahman created justice.  This justice / Dharma / Truth / Law establishes order and is the common thread joining the classes. There is nothing higher than this justice or Truth. Brahmana represents knowledge, the ksatra the power, the Vaisya  wealth, and the Sudra service to all. Knowledge, power, wealth, service and justice are the cornerstones of a society.  Sri Chanakya Niti-Shastra says: The strength of a Brahmana, a king, a Vaisya, or a Sudra comes from his learning, army, wealth, and aptitude to serve others respectively.  

 Joseph Campbell on separation of castes and internal segregation within a group, Myths of Light, page 103-104.

Joseph Campbell says, that Hinduism and Judaism are ethnic religions as opposed to creedal religions, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. Creedal religions span across geography and race and are founded by a single persona. By and large the ethnic religions come under ritual laws, while creedal religions come under ethical laws. He believes that Dharma and Varna keep a certain group of people compartmentalized and separate from the other group. Since these groups and descendants do not generally intermarry and have their special external markers, they can be distinguished from one another by their physiognomy and other markers, particularly at the village level and even in cities. The behavior of the group is dictated by the ritual laws.  Group identity supercedes  individual aspirations. Societal structure and strata keep the various castes touchable within the group and untouchable outside the group and between the groups. Violation of  ritual laws  within a group makes the violator untouchable and not worthy of having at a dinner table. He cites an example of a Brahmin youth who could not sit with his father to eat at the same table because he crossed the seas and ate with "lechers."  If the youth was Jewish, the father would have used the word goyim, "gentiles." according to Campbell. "These are the people who are not of the holy society. This is a very important point to remember about the great old traditional religions out of which these later creedal religions have developed. The current situation--the relationship of traditional Hindu culture to the secular cosmopolitan society--is extremely complicated, and one can only feel anxiety for the problem of the Indian psyche."

    The caste laws (of each caste) determine the morality, stratum in the society and individual behavior in such ways that the individual spends his lifetime within the confines of their respective constrictive laws; they tell him what he must do and does not address what he wants to do. The individual is smothered and the group is tethered to its laws. "Everything about the individual that you meet on the street proclaims his caste: the dress that he wears; the name that he bears; even his physical character. Since people have married only within the caste for thousands of years, these groups have essentially become separate races. If you travel in India and have the good fortune to get outside of the Cook' s Tours area and meet people of different social orders or see them, you'll know within days how to distinguish the people walking down the street: you can tell when you see them, That's a brahmin, that's a merchant, this one is a Sudra. And it is not merely a matter of bearing and material possession that signals these differences, as they would in the West. Remember, there are wealthy, proud sudras and humble, poor brahmins: everything about the person proclaims his identification with the caste. The goal of all this is to make the individual forget that he's an individual, to make him lose the sense of himself as a freely willing, freely judging, unique being. The highest caste is called the brahmins; in Sanskrit, that is brāhmana. Now that long ā with the line, or macron, over it at the beginning means "related to." So brāhmana means "having to do with Brahman," that divine power which we have been examining-the source and being of the universe."

    Campbell says that the Brahmins employ two important services to assert their top position in the Hindu hierarchical society; one is action and the other word; they are the rituals and chanting of hymns. All aspects of Hindu life from birth to death and everything in-between are governed by rituals and hymns. A Brahmin's presence at every ceremony, stage, and station in life, birth, coming of age,  school, temple, various events, marriage, and death is so significant that the society does not move without them. They chant their way into a Hindu's life from birth to death.  Not paying for his services is sin. Every movement in the ritual act is choreographed; every word is intonated, modulated and uttered precisely. They are passed on from one generation to the next generation. It is a miniature cosmic dance and music.

   Brahmanas are more powerful than gods.

They are the agents between gods and men; their rituals and chanting of Mantras and hymns invoking  god are so powerful that gods are pleased to receive the burnt offerings; if it is not for the brahmana priest, the gods will be starving for lack of food and attention and not receive the holocaust (burnt offerings) of butter and cereal; thus, the brahmanas became more powerful than gods. Without Brahmanas, the temples will not function according to Agamas and Nigamas. One such Brahmana, Bhrgu Muni,  had the temerity to kick Vishnu on his chest because Vishnu was not quick enough to get up on his feet to greet him. The same Bhrgu Muni laid a curse on Vishnu to be born on this earth as Avataras. When was the last time you heard that a delivery boy kicked his boss because the boss did not get up from his seat to receive him with honor guard and a round of applause for delivering interoffice mail?  Strange things happen in heaven! To be fair, Bhrgu Muni was testing  Vishnu as to his fitness to run his Office of  Creation, Maintenance and Destruction of the universe under duress and abuse. Vishnu played along and accepted the kick on his chest. Krishna in The Uddhava Gita, Dialogue 1 Verse 28-34  says, "I served my purpose in my descent as Krishna. The Yadu line has become very arrogant, proud, and greedy and seize all they see. I stopped their usurpation; their end is near and I will oversee it before my departure. The Brahmin's (Bhrgu Muni) curse is in full force on me and the Yadhava clan. My family's destruction has begun. O Brahma, let me stay with you for a while before I return to Vaikuntha. Look at this devastation and destruction all around you. Nothing can stop the destructive power and play of the curse of Brahmins."  Thus, Bhagavan Krishna Paramatma himself could not escape the wrath and the curse of the Brahmins. The story behind the curse is as follows.

      Vishnu’s incarnations were due to karma. Once the Asuras (demons) took shelter in hermitage of Bhrgu Muni. Vishnu, Indra and other lesser gods seized the hermitage and Bhrgu’s wife pleaded with gods and asked them to leave her hermitage forthwith. She threatened to burn them down with the fire of her Tapas. At the suggestion of Indra, Vishnu killed Bhrgu’s wife. (Bhrgu once kicked Vishnu on his chest. The story on that incident is in the Supplement section titled “The Cagey Sages.”) Bhrgu Muni cast a curse on Vishnu saying that he would be born a human being seven times. Bhrgu, being a muni and sage, brought his wife back to life immediately for them to witness his power.  Thus a Brahmana was able to cast the Lord of the Universe Vishnu into a world of misery and kick him for not paying respects promptly. On top of all this, Vishnu, the Divine Smoothie Extraordinaire, massaged his feet for they might be tired from all the walking he did before coming to Vishnu. Mahalakshmi massages the feet of Vishnu; Vishnu massages the feet of Bhrgu Muni: the optics does not look good.

Show me my place in the totem pole of Hindu Caste hierarchy.

How do I get to the top of the list?

    The following is the hierarchical layers of a community from top down.

The King (Though the Ksatriya is lower than the Brahmin, the latter is in his employ.)

The Chieftain

The Vedic Brahmin

The Temple priest

The farmer

The blacksmith

The carpenter

The cowherd

The merchant or grocer

The oil vendor

The toddy-tapper

The barber, physician, and surgeon

The washerman

The weaver

The potter

The fisherman

The hunter

The Pulayan: புலையன் pulaiyaṉ. he who eats offal (the inedible parts of butchered animal); aboriginal; low or mixed caste person.

What started as craft gelled and became fossilized as caste; craft passed down generations as a birth privilege or curse.

What does a donkey know about sandalwood?

Sometimes gods traded insults by obliquely calling each other a Sudra.  Bhagavatham Canto 4 Text 13: When Daksa entered an assembly of gods, Shiva did not rise to pay Daksa respects. Daksa expected respect from Shiva, because Shiva was married to Daksa's daughter. Daksa excoriated Shiva by saying that giving his daughter to Shiva in marriage  was like teaching Vedas to a Sudra.   Chandogya Upanishad 6.1.1: The Veda chanter is compared to a donkey which knows the weight, but not the fragrance of the sandal wood.  When it comes to food, the tongue knows what the hand knows not.  Maitri Upanishad 7.8  exudes an aroma (is it a stench?) of prejudice against Sudras as follows: it is unworthy of being disciples of Sudras who are learned in scriptures.  A Brahmana cannot be a mere draft animal and  a Sudra cannot be a Vedic expert. A double whammy to Joseph Campbell's nostrum, "Follow your bliss". There were exceptions. The most famous real-life Brahmana, Ramanuja (1017 C.E.) had his Guru and preceptor in a Sudra, Mahapurana / Kanchîpûrna.

Here is an extract from Devi Mahatmya by Coburn on page 27.

From our perspective, the most significant agreement of these two traditions is on the applicability of a phrase that has become the virtual motto of Puranic study: itihāsapurānābhyām vedam samupabrmhayet. R.C. Hazra translates this in its fuller context as follows:

That twice-born (Brahmana), who knows the four Vedas with the Angas (supplementary sciences) and the Upanisads, should not be (regarded as) proficient unless he thoroughly knows the Puranas. He should reinforce the Vedas with the Itihasa and the Purana. The Vedas is [sic] afraid of him who is deficient in traditional knowledge (thinking) "He will hurt me."79

When Mular (Ca200BCE) Speaks, everybody listens.

Tirumular  (●Verses 230-233) states that thread and tuft do not make a Brahmana. True Brahmana wears Vedanta as his thread and his knowledge as tuft.  They, who are devoid of pure wisdom, lack control over senses, remain spiritually bankrupt and vacuous of devotion, and fail to grasp the Truth, are mad fools and not Brahmanas. True and pure Brahmanas follow the path of neither Chit nor Achit, reach the Supreme Guru’s (Siva) feet with guidance from earthly guru, give up all actions, rituals, rites, and ceremonies, and finally slip into Turiya state.  Those who chant the Vedas are the Pure Brahmanas. The Vedanta that flows out of the pure Brahmanas is pure and conducive to salvation. The true Brahmanas realize that Vedanta preached by others is deficient; it is mere ostentation.

234.
அந்தண்மை பூண்ட அருமறை அந்தத்துச்
சிந்தைசெய் அந்தணர் சேரும் செழும்புவி
நந்துதல் இல்லை நரபதி நன்றாகும்
அந்தியும் சந்தியும் ஆகுதி பண்ணுமே.

●234: The Brahmanas, who adopt pure life and reflect on the Truths of the Vedanta, have fertile lands, their king flourishing, if they maintain the sandhi fires.

235.
வேதாந்த ஞானம் விளங்க விதியிலோர்
நாதாந்த போதம் நணுகிய போக்கது

போதாந்த மாம்பரன் பாற்புகப் புக்கதால்
நாதாந்த முத்தியும் சித்தியும் நண்ணுமே.

●235: When Jnana of Vedanta shines, the Brahmanas receive relief from karma, tread the path to the Light of Nadanta, and reach the Bodhanta Light of the Great Lord; Nadanta mukti and Siddhi come within their reach.

The Vedists, who practiced Vedic Truths, abandoned their desires. Thread and tuft declare not the state of Brahmin; thread is cotton, fine tuft is mere hair; (true) thread is Vedanta, fine (true) tuft is Jnana (knowledge); the (true) thread-Brahmins do see the virtues of a real Brahmin.

241.
மூடங் கெடாதோர் சிகைநூல் முதற்கொள்ளில்
வாடும் புவியும் பெருவாழ்வு மன்னனும்
பீடு ஒன்று இலனாகும் ஆதலாற் பேர்த்துணர்ந்து
ஆடம் பரநூல் சிகையறுத் தால்நன்றே.

●241: When the (Brahmins) flaunt their tuft and thread out of rank stupidity, the land withers, and the high-life king is deprived of greatness. Therefore, after great deliberation, it is better the king cuts the thread and the tuft of the pretenders.

242.
ஞானமி லாதார் சடைசிகை நூல்நண்ணி
ஞானிகள் போல நடிக்கின் றவர் தம்மை
ஞானிக ளாலே நரபதி சோதித்து
ஞானமுண் டாக்குதல் நலமாகும் நாட்டிற்கே.

●242: The unwise don matted locks and sacred thread, and act like the wise. The ruler of men should employ the truly wise to test (the pretenders), and educate the unwise in ways of wisdom. That increase in wisdom will bring goodness to the country.

Lakshmi: Don't pick my petals.

Here is a humorous episode as related by Chanakya, a man of words and wisdom.  Lord Vishnu wondered aloud as to why His consort Lakshmi did not want to live in the house of a Brahmana. Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, not living in a house means that the house is deprived of wealth and prosperity.

She said " O my Lord,  Rishi Agastya swilled my Father, the Ocean; Brigu Muni booted you on the chest where I reside; the Brahmanas are too haughty with their knowledge gained from Sarasvathi,  my competitor; and last but not the least, they keep picking  the petals of  my Lotus seat. Therefore, my Lord, I stay as far away as possible from a Brahmana."  There is a reason why Lakshmi does not like the petals picked by any one. Lakshmi or Sri rose up with a lotus in her hand  from the ocean that was churned by Suras and Asuras.  Another version states that she was seated on the fully blossomed lotus flower  floating in the ocean at the time of creation of the universe. Sri knew that having the petals picked while seated and floating on the lotus flower is not the thing to do to a friend.   She did not care for Bhrgu Muni, who came to test the patience, fortitude of, and the ability under stress to offer salvation to the devotees by Lord Vishnu by kicking Him on the chest wherein Sri Lakshmi took up residence. 

Agni (Fire) consumes Manu, as Ambedkar rewrites Laws of Manu.

The modern lawyer goes after the Vedic law giver.

Manu wrote the Laws of Manu, codifying the castes. Reference to castes and their respective qualities is mentioned in Bhagavadgita. According to some scholars, the Laws of Manu may have been written by more than one person.  The modern-day Manu was Dr. Ambedkhar, who burnt a copy of the laws of Manu in  public to express his disgust at the codification of people by caste and other disagreeable laws listed in the Laws of Manu.  How about our erudite distinguished President Narayanan? How about President Dr. Kalam, a Muslim by birth and a devotee of Lord Rama? All of them are not Brahmins by birth. But they rose to the highest of the offices in India by sheer Brahmin attributes. No one is born with Brahmin attributes, which are not hereditary. A Brahmana is not being but becoming. A Brahmin does not have to be a Hindu; any one with qualification can claim to be a Brahmin.  Now we have a non-Hindu, non-Brahmin as our Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and  a Muslim (Dr. Kalam) as the president. India is changing for the better. As of 2011, a woman is the president of India: Pratibha Patil.

Varna generally means color, but literally means veil, or screen. Since it means veil or screen, you can right away rule out that color is not the only aspect of varna. In the ancient Indian literature, colors have alluded to men and Gods. Puranas and Alvars describe God in different colors. In various yugas, God appears in colors such as gold, white, red, green, and blue black. The most common color for God according Alvars, is dark blue complexion of the clouds. As you know, the God of the Alvars is Narayana / Vishnu / Krishna.    Black was beautiful as far as Indira (the chief of gods) was concerned.  Krishna and Rama were of dark-blue complexion.  It is interesting to note that the pillar of cloud, Fire, and Ark are the earthly manifestations of G-d (God), according to Jews.

The Color Scheme.

Each caste was doled out a color. Brahmin got the white, Ksatriya  the red, Vaisya  the yellow, and Sudra the black. On second thought, the colors and  the associated castes reflect the gunas as told by Krishna in BG C18V41. The white goes with sattvic attributes of a person, the red goes with rajas, the yellow goes with a mixture of white and red, and mixture of Sattva and rajas, and  the black with tamas.  He (God) created man in his His own multiple colors. This separation of people by gunas or attributes or tendencies degenerated into a hereditary birth right and privilege. Religion and speech were also some of the distinguishing factors in this separation by varna. Sanskrit, as opposed to Prakrits, connotes that it is cultivated. It is said that the Aryans were faced with Dravidians and proto-Austroloids. It is claimed that color and the nose struck the Aryans. The brown Dravidians and the black proto-Austroloids were branded as dasyu-varna and the Aryans branded themselves as Arya-varna.  Religion, language, speech and Arya-varna congealed into separation of people into a four-fold division: Brahmin, Ksatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra. This was codified, and sanctified by Manu. 

Varna is discussed in Narada Purana (2.43.53b-89) in a question and answer fashion. Bharadvaja, a great sage asks Bhrgu Muni (Remember, he is the one who kicked Vishnu on his chest) to list the criteria used for dividing people into different castes in the light of the fact that sweat, urine, feces, phlegm, bile and blood are of the same nature in all.

Brahmanas morphed or mutated into Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras.

Bhrgu Muni says in reply that at the time of creation by Brahma, there was no difference between people. All people created by him were Brahmanas, equal in all aspects. Their different karmas made them different people.  Some Brahmanas became lascivious, violence-prone, jealous, risk-taking, red-complexioned fighters full of Rajas (passion and motion) guna. They became the Ksatriyas, warrior class. Some Brahmanas were fond of making a living by tending and rearing cattle, became yellow (mixture of Rajas and Tamas) Vaisyas. Some Brahmanas practiced violence, spoke untruth, worked at odd jobs, and became greedy and black (Sudras) full of Tamas. Here, the colors of Brahmanas (white), Ksatriyas (red), Vaisyas (yellow) and Sudras (black) indicate their character rather than the pigment of their skin. Take heed Sudras and Vaisyas, you were once Brahmanas, but you slipped and slid from your high station and now feel like Sisyphus trying to get back on the top. Brahmanas (the old timers) are saying that things have deteriorated in the past 50 years; it is euphemistic saying for the rise of Sudras and Vaisyas and the fall of Brahmanas. The Sudras and Vaisyas have moved in on them in their neighborhoods and jobs, as they started going to colleges and getting better in their skills. Forget about the Ksatriyas (the warrior class); the Government took care of them: their kingdoms, fiefdoms, titles and purses were abolished in the democratic India. It is like saying in the West that the neighborhood has gone bad, when the minorities move in and take the jobs.

Those people who practiced truthfulness, charity, benignity, kindness, compassion, sympathy, and asceticism are the Brahmanas. He should be learned in Vedas, have external and internal purity, practice religious duties, respect the elders and the learned, and observe Vratas (vows) and rites. (Now show me one who is qualified!)

A Ksatriya should study Vedas, collect taxes, make gifts and defend his subjects. A Vaisya engages in business, husbandry of nonviolent nature, makes gifts, studies Vedas, and respects the Ksatriyas and Brahmanas. When a person has fallen from the study of Vedas, performs odd jobs and no ordained duty, and eats any food, he becomes a Sudra. If a Sudra by birth shows Brahmanical qualities, he is no longer a Sudra. If a Brahmana by birth does not show Brahmanical qualities, he is no longer a Brahmana.  (It is time for Sudras and Vaisyas do what Brahmanas are supposed to do and become the Brahmanas that you were once before., not in the name but by true worth.)

The difference between a Brahmana and a Brahmin.

This Varnasrma dharma became the foundation of the Vedic society.  The Brahmanas claimed to be the representatives of gods on earth. They sought and got exemptions and privileges from the king. They were exempt from death penalty for capital offences.  They were entitled to receive gifts, freedom from oppression, and exclusive rights to consume sacrificial soma and Prasaada. Since they were gods on earth, no body  was  holy enough to eat prasaada.  His wife and his cow were declared sacred.  The priestly services to the king helped the Brahmana  advance his career to ministerial posts and other high offices of the state.  They became very learned in Vedas.   The Brahmanas were the forerunners of the present day Brahmins. There is a distinction between a Brahmana and a Brahmin.  The former was very much immersed in the study of all scriptures and Sanskrit.  They were the gurus, the teachers, the priests, and the high officials above the king.  A Brahmana was a truly sattvic person in all respects. The Brahmanas trace their lineage to seven Rishis.   In the passage of time not all Brahmanas were able to keep up with the stringent demands and requirements of being a Brahmana.  They took up other professions. Most of them were not proficient in their scholarly pursuits of scriptures or Sanskrit and deterioration took place. Brahmanas became Brahmins.  He, who is not a true Brahmana or a Ksastriya is called a Brahmana-Bandhu or a Ksatra-Bandhu.  It is an associate or an adjunct status. When Gayatri has not been sung for three generations in a Brahmana family, the family loses its privilege and caste status and ceases to be Brahmanas. They still retain the Brahmin status, which is one or several notches below the real entity. The family which has not performed sacrifices for three generations loses its status and is called degenerated Brahmanas, Durbrahmanas. A degenerate Brahmana can regain his status by performing Prayascittas, expiatory rites. Full restoration is not possible for those who gave up Gayatri for three generations; this Brahmin cannot be made whole again; he is simply a Brahmana-bandu. The neighborhoods where the Brahmana-bandus live lose their status, Agrahara.

Brahmana: Don't flaunt your Tuft and thread. Repeat-skip

Tirumular (V230-233) states that thread and tuft do not make a Brahmana. True Brahmana wears Vedanta as his thread and his knowledge as tuft.  They, who are devoid of pure wisdom, lack control over senses, remain spiritually bankrupt and vacuous of devotion, and fail to grasp the Truth, are mad fools and not Brahmanas. True and pure Brahmanas follow the path of neither Chit nor Achit, reach the Supreme Guru’s (Siva) feet with guidance from earthly guru, give up all actions, rituals, rites, and ceremonies, and finally slip into Turiya state.  Those who chant the Vedas are the Pure Brahmanas. The Vedanta that flows out of the pure Brahmanas is pure and conducive to salvation. The true Brahmanas realize that Vedanta preached by others is deficient; it is mere ostentation. V241-2: When the (Brahmins) flaunt their tuft and thread out of rank stupidity, the land withers, and the high-life king drowns in sorrow. Therefore, after great deliberation, it is better that the king cuts the thread and the tuft of the pretenders. The unwise don matted locks and sacred thread, and act like the wise. The ruler of men should employ the truly wise to test, and educate the unwise in ways of wisdom. That will bring goodness to the country.

Daksa flings insults on Mendicant Siva, the Yogin of Yogins.

Daksa, the progenitor and Prajapati, conducted a sacrifice to increase the material prosperity of the world. Siva, one of the attendees, was insulted by Daksa for not respecting Daksa. Siva’s follower Nandisvara blasted all the officiating Brahmanas for calling themselves twice-born spiritual leaders while they actually put matter over spirit in the performance of sacrifice. They, he said, were guilty of vidya-buddhi, avidyam, and karma-mayam (material knowledge, ignorance, and delusion of karma). Nandisvara cursed all the Dvija-kulayas (the twice-born Bahmanas) for their materialistic pursuits in the performance of the sacrifice, by saying that the Brahmanas of the genre – Vedas-for-sale, Vedas-for-livelihood—would be wandering beggars, glorifying wealth, creature comforts and satiation of senses.

With all the deterioration, as a caste they still enjoyed a privileged place in Indian society and their contribution to the arts and sciences are noteworthy.  There were many Brahmana Rishis, who contributed to the spiritual development.  There were many Sudras too who contributed to bhakti movement both in Siva and Vishnu sects.  All castes made significant contributions in the matters of religion, arts and sciences. There were Dalits (the Oppressed, below the 4 castes) and Tribals who were saints in the true sense of the word.

When a Brahmin is born, he is not a Brahmin until he undergoes the cord ceremony, at which time he becomes twice-born.  Take the Sudra: he is eka-janman (once-born)

Mix and Mash (the gene pool)

But as things go through their natural evolution, there was racial  / caste mixing and integration going on from the time of its inception.   Vyasa  was born of a Brahmana father and a non-Aryan mother.  (Krishna says in The Uddava Gita, Dialogue 11, Verse 19, " I am a Brahmin, Guru and priest."  A technical nincompoop could right away challenge Krishna's assertion pointing out his less than desirable parentage and lineage.) The race became less of a factor as time went on. But the division did solidify into distinct entities not only for the beneficial interdependence of the whole society, but also for the preservation of  privileges and prestige attached to Varna by birth. Even the modern world is divided into a  four-fold division. There is no escaping that fact. The division exists whether we like it not in all societies. It is the mutual respect that is lacking, and most desirable. It is not the color or the jati  (caste) but the attributes that matter. But this Varna was given a boost by allusion -or is it illusion? It is claimed that the Brahmins originated from the mouth of the God, the Ksatriyas from the arms, the Vaisyas from the legs and the poor Sudras from the feet.  (But don't call them poor yet. You have no feet and you arn't a complete person; this in no way denigrates a handicapped person.  Thank God that the Brahmins originated from the fore end.   God puts His money where His mouth is.  While Brahma was creating animals from various parts of his body, he created goats from his mouth [Brahmanda Purana1.2.8.43]. That does not mean that Brahmins and goats are equal or Brahmanas are no better than goats.) The Brahmins, by tradition occupied the higher echelon in all departments of noble endeavor. (Money talks and you know who walks. Yea yea, the Sudra walks.)  But over years, other castes played catch-up. There is no way this Organism can function satisfactorily without the full complement of the four Varnas -divisions. Dynamic tension among castes helped betterment of other castes in all noble endeavors.

Brahmanas claim (genetic) superiority for wearing Aryan genes; but genetics do not support this wishful longing of many Brahmins. A significant number of non-brahmins wear Aryan genes but don't know that fact. Non-brahmins moved up the ladder by adopting their practice. Coburn in his book Devi Mahatmya says on page 10-11 the following as a quote from the book by Srinivas Religion and Society among Coorgs of South India.

"The caste system is far from a rigid system in which the position of each component caste is fixed for all time. Movement has always been possible, and especially so in the middle regions of the hierarchy. A low caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism, and by Sanskritizing its ritual and pantheon. In short, it took over, as far as possible, the customs, rites, and beliefs of the Brahmins, and the adoption of the Brahmanic way of life by a low caste seems to have been frequent, though theoretically forbidden. This process has been called "Sanskritization" in this book. . . ,28".

[According to text 15 of Brahmasamhita, Maha-Vishnu floating and resting in the causal ocean created Vishnu from His left limb and Brahma from His right limb and the effulgent halo of male principle from the space between the eyes.  If the Supreme God Himself emerged from a limb and not from the mouth or head of Maha-Vishnu, the Sudra should be pleased that he came out of the feet of God.  There were certain people and beings  who emanated from the buttocks and anus of Brahma. Consider Vishnu here . Even though He is derived from Maha-Vishnu, the adjunct or the delegate status does not diminish His  potency.  He is the personal God of the Vaishnavas.]

Conjugate embrace versus conjugal embrace

The pleasures of sweet vengeance

Siva and Parvati as Chandalas

    Matangi (Maatamgi) is one of the ten Mahavidyas who are various manifestations of goddess Parvati or Kali. Matangaka was the name of the chief of Chandalas. Chandalas are one of the lowest among the castes. In a game of impersonation, "fool me, fool me not," Siva impersonated as a traveling jewelry salesman (the milkman of the by-gone era in the west), sold some ornaments to Parvati while she was visiting with her father, and suggested that she could pay him by sexual favors. Parvati without missing a beat said, "Yes, but not now." She had the intuitive divine vision that the traveling salesman was her husband in disguise. Siva went on his way and sat down on the banks of Manas Lake for meditation and worship. Parvati assumed the appearance of a nubile outcaste (Chandala) girl with a shapely body accentuated by a red dress, and  beautiful and beguiling eyes, and danced in front of Lord Siva jiggling her moon-like breasts. Siva's ravenous eyes imbibed Parvati's beauty in motion and gently asked her who she was. Parvati in the sweet innocence of youthful voice replied with the utmost bashfulness, "Swami, I am a Chandala girl. I came to do penance."  Siva is the Yogi of Yogins. Who else is more fit to teach penance? Siva gently took her lotus hand and pressed it tenderly against his lotus lips. Then he proceeded to make love to the captive but willing Parvati, whose identity was unknown to Siva. (They call it consensual sex nowadays.) While they were in the conjugate embrace in Siva's mind and conjugal embrace in Parvati's mind, Parvati morphed Siva into a Chandala (in embrace with a Chandalini). Siva in a flash realized that Matangi (Chandala girl) was no other than his dear wife, Parvati.

    Parvati reaped her sweet vengeance, laid open utter lowness of her action and sexual submission, and begged Siva to accept her in his heart as "Ucchista Chandalini." Ucchista = rejected (once used commodity); remnants of food in the mouth after eating, that are spit out of the mouth; food sticking in the mouth and hands after eating, therefore impure remainder of sacrificial food; left over crumbs. Siva accepted to honor her supplication. She is thus called Matangi (a woman from a degraded mountain tribe or hunter-gatherers, who became Sudras from neglecting all prescribed rites, mlecchas.)  The deities in this instance did not feel ashamed in playing the role of Chandalas You are whom you associate with. One who makes love to a Chandalini, is a Chandala, though he is a god. These Lilas (plays of gods) affirms the fact that all are born equal. The very fact that Parvati asked Siva to accept her as she is (Ucchista Chandalini and Matangi)) speaks volumes about equality. Remember, once Siva's Father-in-Law insulted him as unworthy like a Sudra.

The egalitarian aspect of gods and goddesses did not leave an imprint on the recalcitrant few of the higher castes.

My burial mound is taller than yours. I am Spring and you are Winter.

To further concretize this division, the height of the burial mounds were raised or lowered according to the anatomical assignment of the four castes. The Brahmin's burial mound was the tallest from the ground up and rises to mouth level and so on and so forth. This was not enough for the separation by varna. What metal each one is made of?  I thought people are judged by their mettle.  No pun is intended here. You guessed it right. Each one is assigned a metal that they can wear as jewelry. The Sudra is the iron man.  Guess what?  You got no iron; you got  iron-poor blood. The Vaisya is the brass man. The Ksatriya is gold and silver man of low quality. And the Brahmins wore gold and silver of highest quality. You thought this is the end of it. No way. Who do you think is the man for all seasons ?  Or should I say which is the fair-weather caste?  Just kidding.  Find out. Initiation - upnanayana - ceremonies: Spring for the Brahmin, summer for the Ksatriyas, and fall for the Vaisyas. Sudra, obviously left out in the cold, was not initiated. Could that be why the Sudra is hardy, enduring and catching up fast?  He could take the heat;  no no, I mean he could take the cold. 

Brahmin, Ksatriya and Vaisya carry staffs progressively shorter (than that of a Brahmin) according to the caste superiority, Brahmin's staff being Palasa wood , Ksatriya's Banyan wood, and Vaisya's Udumbara wood.  You can tell them apart by the length and the species of the wooden staff each one carries. The girdles accordingly are Munja grass, bowstring, and hemp thread. Upper garments respectively are the skins of black antelope, spotted antelope, and cow or goat. The colors of garments are white, purple-red and yellow. Condensed passage. --Dharmasutras of Vasistha Verses 11.52-67. page 279 Dharmasutras Translation by Patrick Olivelle.

Mantras, Sudras excluded.

The Brahmin is initiated at the eleventh year after conception and Ksatriya in the twelfth year. Just hold your  Asvas / horses. Gayatri - Vedic poetic meter of 24-syllables, triplet of eight syllables each - was assigned to the Brahmin, Tristubh - meter of 4 feet of 11 syllables each - to the Ksatriya (funeral verses are in Tristubh),  Jagati - meter of four feet with 12 syllables each -to the Vaisya. Jagati has the quality of spreading like waves of water, came out of the western mouth of Brahma and goes with consecration and sacrificial animals. Brhati meter of 36 syllables helped gods gain heaven. Viraj meter consists of 40 syllables (4X10 or 8X5).  Read on.  I love this one, the best of all. The Brahmin can take four wives- holy mackerel-, the Ksatriya, three wives and the Vaisya, two wives and the Sudra only one wife; all this happened at Vedic times.  Poor Sudra, he always gets short changed.  The primary wife is of the same varna. One can marry down but can't marry up the line, Shucks! Virginity is highly regarded.   Manu Chapter 3.21 to 26: Since a Brahmana is god on earth, a Brahmana  is allowed to marry Brahma, the gods, the Rishis,  Prajapati, the demons, and the Ghandharvas to fill the quota of secondary wives.  Brahmana had in front of him a whole panoply of choices.  The king can have secondary wives, the primary wife being of the same caste, from among the Asuras,  the Ghandharvas,  the Raksasas and  the Pisakas.  Brahma is the creator, Rishis are the seers, Prajapati is the Lord of the creatures, Asuras are the demons /  anti-gods / a-suras, Gandharvas are the atmospheric godlings or akin to the Greek Centaurs ( half human  and half animal - Chimera), the Raksasas are the ogres,  the Pisakas are the carnivorous demons.  The female of Pisaca is Pisaci.  Pisacas are known to metamorphose to any form and render themselves invisible.  Just cover your mouth or snap your fingers in front of your mouth when you yawn. If not, don't be surprised that the feces-eating Pisacas enter the intestine via the mouth. (Sorry for being blunt and forthright, but it is true!)  I wonder why a king would want to have a Pisasi as his secondary wife.

Adultery is discouraged, because it causes confusion of castes. The king can dispense punishment for adultery. 

Sudras left to their own devices.

Coming to the duties of the respective castes, the following is pertinent. Teaching is the essential duty of a Brahmin. No wonder it is that the anatomical origin of a Brahmin is the mouth of the God.   Bearing arms is the principle duty of Ksatriya.  Does that mean he is more brawn than brains?  No, I don't think so. Because there were very erudite kings. Hinduism owes its birth and existence to Kings and less so on Brahmins. Take Krishna Bhagavan a king, who gave Bhagavad Gita free of charge. Take king Rama, the most virtuous. Take Prince Buddha, on whose name and teachings Buddhism came about. Take king Mahavir, on whose teaching, Jainism was born.  Agriculture is for Vaisya. Service to the other three is expected of Sudra. Just like each caste can marry down, each caste also can do the work of a lower caste, when needed, say when the king is a drunk - you had your moonshine and we had our Soma Rasa - and the Brahmin minister had to take over the kingdom  - You call this a step-down, you must be kidding - or when a Brahmin has fallen off his station in life or when the Sudras went on strike! Holy moly.   Sudras can attain merit by imitating virtuous men with the exception of reciting sacred texts. What kind of deal is that?  Only Brahmins, Ksatriyas,  and Vaisyas were  allowed to perform Jnaana yoga, Karma yoga, and  Bhakti yoga.  Sudras were left to their own devices. Sudras never gave up,  played within the system and progressed.

Sudra Saint Nammalvar.

Nammalvar (798AD) was born a Sudra, but respected and loved the Vedas and the Brahmins. The most famous Sudra Saint Nammalvar deviced, practiced, propounded and taught Prapatti and Saranagatti.   Prapatti  and Saranagatti are resignation and  total self-surrender to God with six conditions for its fulfillment.  1: (God) Pleasing acts 2: Avoidance of  (God) displeasing  acts 3: Humility, helplessness, vulnerability because of ordained ineligibility to practice yogas 4: Absolute and irreconcilable faith in God 5:  Supplication to God  for Protection  6: Prayerful pleading of God to safe-keep one's self.  The sixth is the centerpiece.  Here is the Greatest Soul who didn't fight the system, but studied the system inside out  and devised ways to overcome the obstacles.  If you take evolution, you will see that an organism changes its own  devices in order to thrive in an adverse environment.  The organism effected an internal change rather than a change in its milieu .   Now guess who adopted this prapatti and Saranagatti. It was Sri Ramanuja himself, the propounder of Visistadvaita.

A Brahmana takes a Sudra as Guru.

According to Bhagavata Dharma:  Lord Hari's true devotees are the ones who claim no superiority by birth, deed, or caste.
Ramanujacharya's genius -Qualified Non-dualism  -  is not only his philosophy, but his humanity. Ramanuja, a Brahmin by birth  (1017 A.D) and attributes, sat and learnt at the feet of Mahapurna, a Sudra, and received important lessons on bhakti and more. Ramanuja's wife, a practicing Brahmin lady - if you call her a lady -, served meals to Mahapurana / Kanchîpûrna  on a plantain leaf, pushed out the leaf by a stick to prevent contaminating herself and took a ritual bath  after serving meals to Kanchîpûrna. She also scrubbed the house clean. Sri Ramanuja was very upset and said that he would have eaten  from out of the same leaf used by Kanchîpûrna. Ramanuja's wife and Kanchîpûrna's wife were quarrelling over drawing water from the same well. In those days and even now, it is not uncommon, esp in remote villages,  that the higher caste person won't share the same well  for water with a lower caste person for fear of contamination.  Kanchîpûrna saw the incident and left Ramanuja to prevent such incidents happening again. In another instance, Ramanuja's wife didn't serve a hungry man, telling him that she had no food in the house.  Ramanuja, to his disgust and consternation, found out that there was enough food to feed the hungry man and more. These three  incidents upset Ramanuja so much that he sent his wife back to her parents and became a sannyasi.  No, Not all Sannyasis were created this way! Eventually Ramanuja asked for forgiveness from Kanchîpûrna, who graciously wondered why Ramanuja was asking for forgiveness.

Holier than me

Once Ramanuja was circumambulating a holy shrine when he saw a Chandala woman ( a person of mixed caste) coming towards him.  R asked her to move away from him so that he could pass.  The woman did not budge one bit and retorted saying that there was purity all around her and which side could  her impurity  turn to.  R was struck speechless at the woman's retort and later  asked her  for forgiveness and declared that she was holier than him.  Later he visited all the holy places all over India, in an attempt to purify himself.

Tantrics are the most broad-minded and yet they impose some restrictions on Sudras.

 Guru Tantra states that Guru is the central figure in all activities of Sadhakas. Any tantric activity without the guidance of Guru is sin. Others are of the opinion that practice of Tantra due to mitigating circumstances like unavailability of Guru for initiation and teaching  does not constitute sin. Guru by convention and sastras is a Brahmana for initiation. A Brahmana Guru can initiate all castes; in his absence, Ksatriya and Vaisya can serve as initiating Gurus for their own or lower castes; a Sudra can never initiate any caste, because initiation, with a Mantra by a Sudra, of other caste member or even another Sudra will take the initiator and the initiated to depths of the Nether worlds.

    Kamadhenu Tantra is very strong in its condemnation of Sudra initiators; they are characterized as follows: Their sinning tongue should not utter Mantras, because their tongues are contaminated with feces, urine and blood. His face is urine, feces and blood; his food is excrement; his water is urine; he is a Chandala (lowest of the low). The mere sight of his face makes the sacred River Ganga abandon its own waters and take a flight out of abhorrence. All  Tirthas (places of pilgrimages) scoot from their seats out of repulsion. A Mantra-Mongering Sudra (seller of Mantras) is an atrocious sight which makes Ganga go to Brahmaloka, the highest place, unreachable to a Mantra-Mongering Sudra. (Sudra's tongue is contaminated because he is presumed to eat meat, blood, and bone of an animal for the satiation of his hunger. Prescribed eating of Mamsa and Matsya (meat and fish) are not proscribed. Mantramongers (Venders) are ubiquitous among  higher castes too. They are not vilified here, but should elicit same condemnation and repercussions.)

Shoulder to shoulder with a Sudra, an accidental devotee

Dhanurdasa was an athletic handsome charming young man in love with a beautiful lass by name Kanakamba.  K wanted to go to Srirangam to witness festivities.  D was so much in love with the girl, her eyes and her clear skin that he was holding a cover over her to protect her from the scorching sun, where ever  she went.  R accompanied by his disciples, was returning from River Cauvery and saw D making love to K, a private act in a public place.  He pointed this private act to his disciples and took up the challenge, saying that he would direct the love of  the handsome man  from girl to God.    R approached him and gently posed him the question as to how he could engage in an act of such nature so publicly.  D replied that he couldn't help but do it, considering her lotus-like eyes, her beauty and charm.  R told him that if it was alright with him, he could show him eyes more beautiful than those of his  girl friend.  D agreed to be shown such eyes and went along with R who took him to the temple, showed him the eyes of Lord Ranganatha and asked him to study the eyes of the Lord well.  D could not not take his eyes off the Lord's eyes and agreed that he never saw anything like them.  He thanked R profusely for having been kind to him and immediately became the devotee of Lord Ranganatha and the disciple of R.  K having heard this episode became a devotee of Ranganatha and a disciple of R.  R after morning customary ablutions in the River Cauvery walked many times with his hands on the shoulders of D.  The Brahmin disciples did not like this one bit.  How could he do that?  Apacharam, Apakarman - offence, an offender.  Why so?  Because he was a Sudra.  R told his Brahmin disciple that they were all guilty of  setting themselves high because of  high birth, learning and wealth.  He added that D was completely free from three vices namely pride of high birth and caste, pride of learning and pride of wealth, and they are all contaminated with those vices.  R pointed out that the Cauvery river water could purify their or his body but his mind was purified by the TOUCH of a devotee like D.  The Brahmin devotees did neither raise the subject again, nor protested.

Andal was found as a baby by a flower  bed / garden by Perialvâr.

Nammalvâr belonged to Vellala  Sudra family.  According to Upanishads, only Brahmins, Ksatiyas and Vaisyas were allowed to practice  Bhakti yoga,  Jnaana yoga, or Karma yoga. He was in a fix, because he was  a Sudra. He was a man in a hurry to attain moksa / liberation in this life, not next life.  So his genius devised Prapatti and Saranagatti, resignation and total self-surrender to God.  See above for details.  

The low-born rides on the back of the High-born: A real-life story.

ThirupPananAlvar  (b 781 A.D)  was a low-caste devotee of  Lord Ranganatha.  He was not allowed to enter the temple. He composed  a poem with ten verses extolling the body, the body parts and the ornaments of Lord Ranganatha.  The ending line in his poem - paraphrase -, is:  My eyes having seen You can't see anything else. One day he was sitting by the banks of the  Kaveri River meditating on Lord Ranganatha.  He was deep in ecstasy. He wasn't aware of his surroundings.  A Brahmana temple priest, by name lokasaranga muni,  uttered abusive words and threw a stone on this low-caste Panan because he was on his path to the river. Having been hurt and a victim, the low-caste Panan apologized to the high-born and said that he didn't hear him coming and repented.  This episode didn't go unnoticed by the Lord Himself.  The Lord is color-blind and caste-blind.  He loves His devotees and would never allow anything to happen to His devotees.  The Lord appeared in the dream of the Muni and ordered the high-born to carry the low-born Panan on his shoulders to the Sanctum Sanctorum.  And the high-born carried the low-born to the Sanctum.  The low-caste saint was named Munivahana, meaning that his vehicle was a muni himself or the one who rode on the Muni.

A Dalit (low-caste or Harijan) real-life Saint, Nandanar

    An unnamed Dalit (Pulaiyan) lived in Adanur in Tamil Nadu. He worked on the lands and dead carcasses of animals and made leather goods for the Chidambaram Nataraja temple for the temple drums. He was a Siva devotee. (I lived in Chidambaram for two years while attending Annamalai University in the 1950s.)

(Dalit, known by the derogatory word Paraiyan (பறையன்) in Tamil Nadu; the word Pariah is derived from Parai, the drum; Pariah or Paraiyan is the one who beats the drum to make announcements. Mahatma Gandhi christened them Harijans (children of God). They live on the outskirts of the village and are mostly day laborers, tend cattle and lands for the village upper caste landowners. I lived in such a village in Tamil Nadu and know their lot very well. If there is anything nobody wants to do, that is the job that a Dalit takes. )

   He was later named Nandanar, after people became aware of his saintliness. Before that, he could not go to Chidambaram to see Lord Nataraja because of his daily toil on the lands and low-caste status. People used to ask him when  he was going to visit Chidambaram. He used to say, "I will go tomorrow."  So people named him Tiru-naalai-povar (திருநாளைபோவார்), meaning the "sacred-tomorrow-goer." Right from childhood he was a devotee of Lord Nataraja but he never gained entry into the temple because of his caste status. He watched from a distance the temple and went  around the temple walls as a mark of his devotion to Lord Nataraja.  He did not want to break the caste barriers imposed by others on him and his caste. Once he went to Tirupungur to see the Deity Sivalokanathar. He and his friends stood outside the temple to see the deity in the Sanctum Sanctorum; the sacred stone bull Nandi was in the way for a proper darsan (தரிசனம்). Siva ordered the stone bull to move so that his devotee can take a look at him well. Nandi moved and he received the vision of the Lord. Since then he was known as Nandanar (named after Nandi), a very respectful name for a devotee.  He wished to visit the sanctum sanctorum in Nataraja Temple. How was it going to be possible for a Dalit to enter the temple? Lord Nataraja appeared in the dreams of Nandanar and the temple priests and ordered the priests to let him take a bath and walk through fire and visit him in the Sanctum Sanctorum. 

    Nandanar enters fire

Nandan's  physical body euphemistically called the illusory body perished in the fire with the emergence of a radiant muni of great virtue with the sacred thread shining on his chest and matching matted locks.  When the crimson fire rose to the sky, he was radiant-looking like Brahma seated on the lotus flower. Dundubhi (large kettle drum) sounded; the celestials poured showers of flowers and ManthAra blossoms (shoe flower, Japapushpa, hibiscus rosa-sinensis). He,  to the amazement of the hereditary temple priests (Thillai-Vaz-Anthanar) walked on his own power to the Sanctum (Golden Hall) and merged with the Lord with no trace of him either in the cinders or in the Sanctum.

    Bharati added some dramatic elements in the biography of Nandanar with good intentions and changed the biography, true in spirit and practice. The word VaruhalAmo (வருகலாமோ) packs all that is wrong in the oppression of the Dalits. May I come in to your street so that you can all retreat to your houses and thus stay pure and not see the polluting sight of a Paraiyan?

Vedhiar is an airy character, to whom Bharati gave a physical body and a spurious run side by side with Nandanar.

                    Walking through fire to prove purity and chastity (Sita) and sacredness (Nandanar) has been a disturbing feature of Hindu religion, though ordered by the gods.

        A low-caste Chandala asks high-caste Brahmana Sankara a pointed question.

We have the Pure Self we all share. I can keep my body away from your body. How could I keep the Self that we both share away from you?

Once Sankaracharya (Propounder of  Monism, b 788 A.D) was walking along Ganges River, a Chandala was walking by with his dogs. The disciples of Sankara yelled at the chandala and asked him to get out of the way of Sankara.  It is claimed that a Chandala was born of a Brahmin women and a Sudra man. Here is an instance of confusion of castes as mentioned earlier.  Those days this confusion of castes and its  prohibition were equated to the miscegenation laws of the west.   Here the varnasrma dharma was broken. Chandala was also a lowest person outside the Varna system. The chandala asked Sankara whether the propounder of Advaita philosophy should see the difference between man and man and how it was  consistent with his advaitism. Another expansive version of the same incident gives the following narrative. Sankara himself asked the Chandala to keep some distance from him. The Chandala spoke his mind: What is it that you want to keep away from, my Self or my body? Your and my body are made of food; if you desire, I could keep my body away from your body.  The Self, that is pure awareness, is shared by you and me.  How is it possible for the omnipresent Pure Awareness go away from itself?  Sankara fell at his feet like a stick with all his eight angas at prostration. (Eight Angas / Sashtanga Namaskaram: Prostration by touching with eight limbs: two hands, two knees, two shoulders, chest, and forehead.) Sankara thought that Lord Siva himself in the form of Chandala was there to teach him a lesson. He composed 5 slokas, named Manisha panchaka. Every sloka ended with a phrase that essentially said that anyone, be a chandala or Brahmin, who was learned enough to look at phenomena in the light of Advaita, was his guru.  The great Indian tradition doesn't exclude anybody from acquiring knowledge.  He can rise to any height according to his ability and depth of devotion. According to Chandogya Upanishad 5.24.4,  if any one offers the sacrificial remnant of his food to a chandala, it is offered to the Universal Self.  Here the caste, the race, and all other discriminatory pettiness are given the short shrift.

When the Indian masses were buffeted by orthodox Brahmanical Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism and other Isms at various ages, Bhakti movement of personal devotion without the umbral priests blocking the light of Grace brought God into hearts and minds of the masses. If it is not for the Bhakti movement, Hinduism would have fallen prey to the latter-day religions and the constrictive, restrictive, destructive, and ritualistic Brahmanical Hinduism, which would have only stunted its growth. 

Saint Ramalingar  (b: Oct/05/1823) states that there is no such thing as higher or lower castes.  He adds that the Lord revealed to him that color of the skin is not an indication of a higher caste,  and  that these distinctions of caste and life styles are childish plays.

18.41: Brāhmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sūdra, O Parantapa, and their activities are divided according to the Gunas born of their own nature.

The fourfold order is not peculiar to Hindu society. It is of universal application. The classification depends on types of human nature. Each of the four classes has certain well-defined characteristics though they are not to be regarded as exclusive. These are not determined always by heredity.

The Gītā cannot be used to support the existing social order with its rigidity and confusion. It takes up the theory of the four orders and enlarges its scope and meaning. Man's outward life must express his inward being; the surface must reflect the profundity. Each individual has his inborn nature, svabhāva, and to make it effective in his life is his duty, svadharma. Each individual is a focus of the Supreme, a fragment of the Divine. His destiny is to bring out in his life this divine possibility. The one Spirit of the universe has produced the multiplicity of souls in the world, but the idea of the Divine is our essential nature, the truth of our being, our svabhāva, and not the apparatus of the gunas, which is only the medium for expression. If each individual does what is appropriate to him, if he follows the law of his being, his svadharma, then God would express Himself in the free volitions of human beings. All that is essential for the world will be done without a conflict. But men rarely do what they ought to do. When they undertake to determine events believing that they know the plan of the whole, they work mischief on earth. So long as our work is done in accordance with our nature, we are righteous, and if we dedicate it to God, our work becomes a means of spiritual perfection. When the divine in the individual is completely manifested, he attains the eternal imperishable status, śasvataṁ padam avyayam. The problem that human life sets to us is to discover our true self and live according to its truth; otherwise we would sin against our nature. The emphasis on svabhāva indicates that human beings are to be treated as individuals and not as types. Arjuna is told that he who fights gallantly as a warrior becomes mature for the peace of wisdom.

There are four broad types of nature and answering to them are four kinds of social living. The four classes are not determined by birth or colour but by psychological characteristics which fit us for definite functions in society.  Dr. Radhakrishnan, The Bhagavadgītā , page 364-5.

Mr. Thomas, Professor of Sanskrit, University of Oxford was visiting Tiruvannamalai Tamil Nadu in December 1937 and posed a question to Ramana Maharishi.

Q: What do you think of castes?

A: The castes relate to bodies and not to the Self. The Self is Bliss. To realize Bliss one realizes the Self. No need to worry oneself about caste, etc. Talk 433. Ramana Maharishi.

Here is what Vajrasucika Upanishad says about caste. This belongs to Sama Veda and undermines caste distinctions based on birth. This passage is a complete extract minus Sanskrit text of Vajrasucika Upanishad,  The Principle of Upanishads, translated by Radhakrishnan (page 935-938).

I.I shall describe the Vajrasuci doctrine which blasts ignorance, condemns those who are devoid of the knowledge (of Brahman) and exalts those endowed with the eye of knowledge.

2. The Brahmana the Ksatriya, the Vaisya and the Sudra are the four classes (castes). That the Brahmana is the chief among these classes, is in accord with the Vedic texts and is affirmed by the Smrtis. In this connection there is a point worthy of investigation. Who is, verily, the Brahmanas? Is he the individual soul? Is he the body? Is he the class based on birth? Is he the knowledge? Is he the deeds (previous, present or prospective)? Is he the performer of the rites?

3. Of these, if the first (position) that the Jiva or the individual soul is Brahmana (is to be assumed), it is not so; for the individual's form is one and the same in the large number of previous and prospective bodies. Even though the Jiva (the individual soul) is one, there is scope for (the assumption of) many bodies due to the stress of (past) karma, and in all these bodies the form of the Jiva is one and the same. Therefore the Jiva is not the Brahmana.

   4. Then if (it is said) that the body is the Brahmana, it is  not so, because of the oneness of the nature of the body which is composed of the five elements, in all classes of human beings down to the candalas (outcastes), etc.; on account of the perception of the common features of old age and death, virtue and vice, on account of the absence of any regularity (in the complexion of the four classes) that the Brahmana is of the white complexion, that the Ksatriya is of the red complexion, that the Vaisya is of the tawny complexion, that the Sūdra is of the dark complexion and because of the liability of the sons and others (kinsmen) to becoming tainted with the murder of a Brahmana and other (sins) on cremating the bodies of their fathers and other kinsmen: Therefore the body is not the Brahmana.

5. Then (if it is said) that birth (makes) the Brahmana, it is not so, for there are many species among creatures, other than human; many sages are of diverse origin. We hear from the sacred books that Rsyasrnga was born of a deer, Kausika of Kusa grass, Jambuka from a jackal, Valmiki from an ant-hill, Vyasa from a fisher girl, Gautama from the back of a hare, Vasistha from Urvasi (the celestial nymph), Agastya from an earthen jar. Among these, despite their birth, there are many sages, who have taken the highest rank, having given proof of their wisdom. Therefore birth does not (make) a Brahmana.

6. Then (if it is said) that knowledge (makes a) Brahmana, it is not so because among Ksatriyas and others there are many who have seen the Highest Reality and attained wisdom; Therefore knowledge does not (make) a Brahmana.

7· Then (if it is said) that work (makes a) Brahmana, it is not so, for we see that the work commenced in the present embodiment or accumulated during the previous or to commence on a future embodiment is common to all living creatures and that good men perform works impelled by their past karma. Therefore work does not (make) a Brahmana.

8. Then (if it is said) that the performer of religious duties is a Brahmana, it is not so; for there have been many Ksatriyas and others who have given away gold. Therefore the performer of religious rites is not the Brahmana.

 Giving away gold is an act of religious duty.

9· Then, who, verily is the Brahrnana? He who, after directly perceiving, like the amalaka fruit in the palm of one's hand, the Self, without a second, devoid of distinctions of birth, attribute and action, devoid of all faults such as the six infirmities, and the six states, of the form of truth, wisdom, bliss and eternity, that is by itself, devoid of determinations, the basis of endless determinations, who functions as the indwelling spirit of all beings, who pervades the interior and the exterior. of all like ether, of the nature of bliss, indivisible, immeasurable, realizable only through one's experience and who manifests himself directly (as one's self), and through the fulfillment of his nature, becomes rid of the faults of desire, attachment, etc., and endowed with qualities of tranquility, etc., rid of the states of being, spite, greed, expectation, bewilderment, etc., with his mind unaffected by ostentation, self­sense and the like, he lives. He alone who is possessed of these qualities is the Brahmana. This is the view of the Vedic texts and tradition, ancient lore and history. The accomplishment of the state of the Brahmans is otherwise impossible. Meditate on Brahman, the Self who is being, consciousness and bliss, without a second; meditate on Brahman, the Self who is being, consciousness and bliss without a second. This is the Upanisad,

   six infirmities: old age, death, sorrow, delusion, hunger and thirst. six states:  birth, being, growth, change, waning and perishing.

   Many texts declare that the determining factor of caste is character and conduct and not birth.

Listen about caste, Yaksa dear, not study, not learning is the cause of rebornness. Conduct is the basis, there is no doubt about it. M.B. Aranya-parva 312. 106.

O King of serpents, he in whom are manifest truthfulness, charity, forbearance, good conduct, non-injury, austerity and compassion is, a Brahmana according to the sacred tradition.

O serpent he in whom this conduct is manifest is a Brahmana; he in whom this is absent treat all such as Sudra. M.B. Aranya-parva 180. 20, 27. The gods consider him a Brahmana (a knower of Brahman who has no desires, who undertakes no work, who does not salute or praise anybody, whose work has been exhausted but who himself is unchanged.

Sanatsujata defines a Brahmana as one who is devoted to truth: sa eva satyānnāpaiti sa jñeyo brahmanas tvayā.

It is valuable to recall the teaching of this Upanişad which repudiates the system that consecrates inequalities and hardens contingent differences into inviolable divisions.

End of Vajrasuika Upanishad.

Here is what Pujya Swamiji of  Rishikesh does in his Gurukulam; here is his stance on caste. He takes orphaned children irrespective of caste, names them Rishikumars, and offers them both secular education and Vedic studies.

Parmarth Gurukul, Rishikesh India　

At the sacred time of the Paush Purnima (full moon), 24 of the rishikumars had their official upanayana, or sacred thread ceremony. This ceremony marks the boy's official entry into the study of the vedas and the "gurukul" system. Although historically it was a ritual performed only for the brahmin caste, Pujya Swamiji made no distinctions between children born of different castes. Any of the boys who wanted to undergo the official ceremony - during which they also receive a sacred mantra from Pujya Swamiji - were welcome.

In India today there are thousands and thousands of abandoned and impoverished children, roaming the streets of the cities and the dirt paths of the villages. These are children whose parents were too poor to raise them, or who simply decided they did not want to accept the burden of a child, or who were befallen by an accident that left them incapable of fending for themselves, let alone a child.　

However, simple shelters with food, beds and babysitters are not sufficient. These children need not only to be fed and sheltered - they need to be educated and trained so they can be productive members of society. They need to be inculcated with values, ethics and spirituality which will make them torchbearers of Indian culture and divine cultural ambassadors. We have opened an orphanage /gurukul in Rishikesh where 100 young boys live and study - both basic academics as well as intensive Sanskrit and ancient Vedic texts. Their days are filled with yoga, meditation, Vedic chanting, reading of scriptures, mathematics, seva and special programs designed to infuse their lives with essential sanskaras. They are being trained to be not only doctors, scientists and engineers, but they are also being trained to be India's cultural ambassadors, to be the priests and guides who will travel throughout the world, carrying with them the ancient secrets of the Vedas combined with the blessings of Mother Ganga.

　From the first minute that the boys arrived, their identity was changed from "orphan" and "poor" to "Rishikumar." With that slight, simple change of term, their entire identities have changed. Looks of hopelessness have become looks of great optimism and hope. Lightless eyes have become bright, shining eyes. Feelings of destitution and despair have become feelings of pride, of faith and of enthusiasm.

　We currently have 150 young boys living in our 2 gurukuls, one on the premises of Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh and the other on the premises of the Veerpur ashram, 8 km. away. We are looking to take in up to 500 more children.

Computer Centre for Rishikumars

February 2005 saw the inauguration of a computer centre in the Gurukul, which was kindly sponsored by Bellaben and Yogeshbhai Patel. A special prayer was said at the function so that the rishikumars grow, blossom and bridge the gap between ancient traditions of the Himalayas and modern technology of the computer age.

　Janeo Sanskar of Rishikumars

On 12 July 2005, Parmarth Gurukul accepted 91 new Rishikumars into the Gurukul. The children, all of whom come from poor, disadvantaged situations (some of whom are orphans, some who have one parent, some who have both but the parents cannot properly care for the children) received their janeo sanskar. The sacred thread ceremony is an important ritual in the life of a Hindu boy (see www.parmarth.com/sanskaras.htm for details of the meaning of this ceremony), and one which prepares him to study the scriptures.

The ceremony was performed and all the rishikumars received the sacred mantra from Pujya Swamiji and a mala for japa, as well as a special asana for sitting for their meditation and sandhya.

　In the evening, after the Ganga Aarti, the rishikumars all (new and old) received new clothes, new school books and big sweet ladoos, by the hands of the Shahra family from Indore and Mumbai.

Here is a real-life story of a high-caste Nayanar (Naminandhi Adikal (நமிநந்தி அடிகள்) , a devotee of Siva.  Lord ThyAgEsar (Image) rode in state from TiruvArUr to Manali. There was a huge crowd jostling with each other for a good clear obstruction-free Darshan (¾¡¢ºÉõ = Auspicious sight of the deity) of the Lord. The Brahmanas, Vaishyas, Sudras and other unclassified castes were mingling in the crowd and rubbing shoulders. Adikal went home that night but did not enter his pollution-free house because his body was polluted by the touch of the lower castes. He went to sleep in front of the house that night, as he was thinking he would take a cleansing bath. Siva in His Archana form appeared in his dream and told him that all those born in TiruvarUr are His Ganas (attendants) and that he should take a note of this condition. He woke up early in the morning, told his wife of his dream and being afraid of Apasaram («Àº¡Ãõ = irreverence) for not doing the morning worship, left for TiruvArUr. All the people of TiruvArUr appeared as Siva-Nilakanta (Siva with blue throat) to Adikal, who raised his hands above his head, held the palms together and fell prostrate on the ground in humility and became ecstatic at having seen Siva (Siva clones). Here you may notice several things. Siva is the egalitarian God. He forgives His devotees for any infractions and wrong notions about caste. He positively tells them what is right and what is wrong in a very non-threatening and amiable manner without flustering the devotee. He even gives a vision of Himself to his erring devotees. Pollution is just not a physical but mostly a mental perception. Siva tells the down-trodden and oppressed people that they are one with the higher castes and He has their interest in His mind. Siva gives Grace (அனுக்கிரகம்) to all irrespective of caste. The following verse depicts the appearance of Siva with blue throat to His devotee as myriad Clones of Himself, to teach the high-caste errant devotee that He belongs to all castes.

Periya Puranam (பெரிய புராணம்) Verse 1899 by Sekkizar.

தெய்வப் பெருமாள் திருவாரூர்ப் பிறந்து வாழ்வார் எல்லாரும்

மைவைத்து அனைய மணிகண்டார் வடிவே யாகிப் பெருகு ஒளியாய்

மெய்வைத்து அமர்ந்த மேனியராம் பரிசு கண்டு முடிகுவித்து

கைவைத்து அஞ்சி அவனி மிசை விழுந்து பணிந்து கண் சிறந்தார். 1899

All the people born in Tiruvarur under the aegis of the Supreme Lord of the gods (ThyAgEsar) with the black throat appeared as the blue-throated Nilakantappas with effulgent bodies. Having seen the nature and appearance and become afraid, he raised his hands above his head, brought his palms together, fell prostrate on the ground in worship and humility and became ecstatic at seeing the form of the Lord.

May 2009: Indian students in Australia, the land down under of Aussies and a former Penal Colony are the victims of assault by the Junkies among Aussies.

There is a lesson to be learnt from the Aussie Junkie Curry Basher, who is an equal opportunity  Basher. All Indians and Indian look-alikes joined together to protest the violence against Indians. The basher did not pick and choose one's religion, caste, economic status and other identifiers. The victim could be Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Brahmin, (Ksatriya), Vaishya, Sudra, Dalit, other or any one of the scheduled castes and tribes (SCs & STs constitute 24% of India's population). The Curry Basher goes by your look and not by your affiliation. All of you joined together in the protest, because each one of you felt the pain irrespective of that which separates one from the other. When you go back to India, you should remain Indian, advocate oneness of all Indians and do not engage in divisive politics or practices. In a larger global context, each one of us is a citizen of the world and thus should rise above that which separates us. Obviously the supreme ignoramus the curry basher is not destined for greatness. They are the scum, the dross, the riffraff, the dregs, the refuse, the curse of Australia and the world. We should not be part of his culture.

What Krishna Bhagavan tells about Varna in Bhagavad Gita:

4.13: I founded (created) the fourfold order of Varna according to guna and karma (fundamental quality and work). Though I am the founder, know me thou as unable to act or change.

It is quite possible that this verse is an interpolation by the unscrupulous. This social engineering of the past was deliberate in excluding other castes from acquiring knowledge.

                           Conversion is not the answer. The change should come from inside.

With all the conversions in the name of Jesus Christ, the Curse of Caste is deeply embedded in the hyphenated Christians: Naidu-Christians, Reddy-Christians, Vellalar-Christians, Kamma-Christians, Dalit-Christians. Obviously the guaranteed salvation and equality in Christianly are defeated roundly by these hyphenations, separation and endogamous marriages. It is not uncommon among Christians to announce and claim superiority that their ancestors were Brahmins, Reddys, Naidus, Velalars, Chettiars.... Dalit-Christians politely called Adhi Dravidas are the bottom of the heap, which is regrettable, and offensive to the moral, legal and ethical concerns of a community, a nation and the world. The hyphenated Christians always fall back on their ancestral heritage, when it comes to marriage, social standing, association.... Dalits are escaping discrimination and segregation by education and migration into cities. Matrimonial columns are the place to find out about castes, hyphenated castes couched in code words and the desired prospective spouses. I had the opportunity to associate with ease with Muslims,  Brahmin-Christians and Dalit-Christians in my professional and personal life. Dalit oppression and suppression are so locally pervasive, severe, and intolerable in some instances that they take refuge in the alien so-called Abrahamic creedal religions (formal creeds which of necessity limit and restrain thought, free will and intellectual pursuits.) which  took upon the mantle to salvage the world of unbelievers and which are driven by prophets, dogmas, central authority, occupations, military campaigns, colonialism, organizations, misrepresentations, false promises, conversions, and wealth. Hindus are largely to blame for these conversions. If they don't treat their brethren well, they fall into the hands of alien religions. Once the conversions have been accomplished, the Hindu organizations bend over backwards to reconvert them back to the Hindu faith. In the west Christianity suffers the same malady by separation, race, color, ethnicity, abuse.... Black church burning is an example of intolerance of Christianity of blacks. We have our castes; they have the race.

  PAGE 116 Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna  1836-1886

982. I had to practice the various religions once, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, and I have walked the paths of the different sects of Hinduism again--the Sakta, the Vaishnava, the Vedantic and others. And I have found that it is the same God towards whom all are travelling, only they come through diverse ways.  

It appears that the evil of caste has crossed its sardonic boundaries and embraced the hyphenated Christians. Here is an example given by Mark Twain. The fractured soul of the hyphenated Brahmin-Christian in the unusual role of a Brahmin-servant speaks in broken English. 

Mark Twain (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910) in Bombay records a conversation he had with his servant, Manuel.

Page 5002/9190 Entire Collection of Mark Twain.Pdf on Scribd.com

"Name, Manuel. Yes, master."

"I know; but how did you get the name?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose. Think happen so. Father same name, not mother."

I saw that I must simplify my language and spread my words apart, if I would be understood by this English scholar.

"Well--then--how--did--your--father--get--his name?"

"Oh, he,"--brightening a little--"he Christian--Portygee; live in Goa; I born Goa; mother not Portygee, mother native-high-caste Brahmin--Coolin Brahmin; highest caste; no other so high caste. I high-caste Brahmin, too. Christian, too, same like father; high-caste Christian Brahmin, master--Salvation Army."

Matthew 23:15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and then you make that convert twice as much a child of hell as you are.-- Jesus Christ. 

I knew of a Christian classmate of mine training and working in a hospital on the East Coast in the USA. This was before the Civil Rights Legislation, and when the Jim Crow South had 'Whites  Only' signs and the blacks were riding in the back of the bus with white kids who rode in the back for fun of  a butt-bruising bumpy ride. This medical doctor was black like coal but ebony in appeal, handsome by appearance, brilliant and compassionate as a physician, and a gentleman by character; yet he was as black as it comes. The hospital was short on doctors; the staff was long on conventional racial attitudes at that time, place, and circumstances and had to take Foreign Medical Graduates to fill the positions.  His life was miserable in the hospital. (Even after Civil Rights legislation in the USA and with an avalanche of Indian doctors,  I was told by an immigrant white nurse with red hair and generous sprinkling of freckles on her otherwise lily white face to go back to India. The freckles were so crowded and so close together on her face that if they coalesced together, she would be no different from an Indian woman.  I see with amusement now a white tigress in human form. It appeared she asserted her right to be a legal immigrant and working and denied me the same right. She was antithetical to the good soul, Sister Nivedita, a white disciple of Swami Vivekananda.) He was adored and admired in his family and Christian Community in Tamil Nadu for his accomplishment and yet he suffered humiliation and prejudice here for his color, though he was a true Christian by name and practice. He left the hospital and went straight back to India. It appears that Indian Christians are better treated, tolerated, respected, educated and employed in India than in countries, which pride themselves on their Christian heritage. (If you have noticed, it is an invariable custom and tradition that the defense Minister of India [Currently A.K.Antony 2010; He claims to be an atheist.] is a Christian most of the time. A Muslim, a Dalit, a woman [Currently Pratibha Patil, 2010] or a Minority is the president of India. A Dalit [Dr. Ambedkar, formerly a student at Columbia University, NY] takes the honor of having written the constitution of India. We the people.) Some domiciled so-called educated Indians of higher caste shamelessly blocked Columbia University from establishing a chair in the name of Ambedkar simply because he was a Dalit (oppressed class). Do you think that they will get any vimōcanam (விமோசனம் vimōcaṉam vi-mōcana. Deliverance, liberation; absolution, as from sin)?

 I heard in another instance from reliable sources that a patient in the USA refused to undergo cardiovascular surgery by an eminent surgeon, who happened to be a Sikh with a full-length luxuriant flowing beard tied up neatly to be non-threatening, and a glittering turban to match. The patient has the right to choose his surgeon. But going by appearance of the reputed surgeon on the staff of a famous hospital (which is proof that he is good) is grievous stupidity and self-defeating racism; he uses the latter to justify his prejudices.  What if all patients refuse to take the surgeon's service by virtue of his appearance? That is a loss of talent and loss of job for the surgeon at that hospital. He goes elsewhere where his services are in demand.

Oct 17, 2010. Take Ajay Banga-the Sikh with a neat beard and a turban. Educated exclusively in India, he is the current president and chief executive officer of MasterCard. NYTimes reports the frequently asked question of his appearance in relation to his rise in his career.  Ajay Banga brushes off questions about his appearance. "People say 'How does it feel to be looking like you working in the West?' " he notes.

Without skipping a beat, he replies in fluent Hindi: "What difference does it make?"

A case of Ragheads and self-professed and self-anointed Rednecks

Today these good souls are referred to as Ragheads by a few (who proudly brand themselves as Rednecks) in the USA (Example: Sikh-born Nikki Haley, Republican Candidate for Governor SC --May, 2010). Now she is Governor-elect, the first woman governor of South Carolina and the 2nd Indian-American Governor in the USA. Nov 4, 2010. She was sworn in on Wednesday, January 12, 2011.

On that score, all woman all over the world are Ragheads when they step out of the shower with their heads wrapped in towels. The Indians or South Asians are called by pejorative names: Ragheads, Turban Toppers, Dot heads (Vs Dot busters), Wogs (Vs Curry Bashers), PAKIs....

When you think of good souls like Sir John George Woodroffe (1865–1936), also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon, Paul Brunton (October 21, 1898 - July 27, 1981), Sister Nivedita (1867-1911), born Margaret Elizabeth Noble... we have to cast aside our lurking disapproval of the marginal souls, who are yet to advance from Pasu Bhava (animal man), to Vira Bhava (man-man) and Divya bhava (spiritual or godly man).

Black Laws of the Manu Smriti Against
Dalits and Women
S. L. Virdi Advocate

On December 25th 1927,
Dr.Ambedkar burnt Manusmriti

http://www.bhagwanvalmiki.com/manu-smriti.htm

Manu divides Hindus into four varnas i.e. casteism. He not only divide Hindus into four varnas, he also grades them. Besides prescribing rank and occupation Manu grants privilege to swarnas and imposes penalties on the shudras.The status of the Shudras in the Hindu society as prescribed by Manu the Law-giver and the Architect of Hindu society. There are so many Codes of the Manu Smriti against the Shudras and Women which are below:

1. For the welfare of humanity the supreme creator Brahma, gave birth to the Brahmins from his mouth, the Kshatriyas from his shoulders, the Vaishyas from his thighs and Shudras from his feet. (Manu's code I-31,)

2. God said the duty of a Shudra is to serve the upper varnas faithfully with devotion and without grumbling. (Manu 1-91) Manu is not satisfied with this. He wants this servile status of the Shudras to be expressed in the names and surnames of persons belonging to that community. Manu says:

3. Let the first part of a Brahman’s name denote something auspicious, a Kshatriya’s be connected with power, and a Vaishyas with wealth but a Shudra’s express something contemptible. (Manu II. 31.)

4. The second part of a Brahmin’s name shall be a word implying happiness, of a Kshatriya’s (a word) implying protection, of a Vaishya’s a term expressive of thriving and of a Shudra’s an expression denoting service. (Manu II. 32.)

5. A hundred year old Kshatriya must treat a ten year old Brahmin boy as his father. (Manu 11-135)

6. The Brahmin should never invite persons of other varnas for food. In case, the latter begs the Brahmin for food, the Brahmin may give them some left-over. Even these left-over must be served not by the Brahmin but by his servants outside the house. (Manu II2).

7. He who instructs Shudra pupils and he whose teacher is a Shudra shall become disqualified for being invited to a shradha. (Manu III. 156.)

8. A Shudra is unfit of receive education. The upper varnas should not impart education or give advice to a Shudra.It is not necessary that the Shudra should know the laws and codes and hence need not be taught. Violators will go to as amrita hell. (Manu IV-78 to 81)
9. "Let him not dwell in a country where the rulers are Shudras." (Manu IV. 61)

10. He must never read the Vedas in the presence of the Shudras. (Manu IV. 99.)

11. Any country, where there are no Brahmins, of where they are not happy will get devastated and destroyed. (Manu VIII-20 to 22)

12. A Brahmana who is only a Brahman by decent i.e., one who has neither studied nor performed any other act required by the Vedas may, at the king’s pleasure, interpret the law to him i.e., act as the judge, but never a Shudra (however learned he may be). (Manu VIII. 20.)

13. The Kingdom of that monarch, who looks on while a Shudra settles the law, will sink low like a cow in the morass. (Manu VIII. 21.)

14. Any Brahmin, who enslaves or tries to enslave a Brahmin, is liable for a penalty of no less than 600 PANAS. A Brahmin can order a Shudra to serve him without any remuneration because the Shudra is created by Brahma to serve the Brahmins. Even if a Brahmin frees a Shudra from slavery the Shudra continues to be a slave as he is created for slavery. Nobody has the right to free him. (Manu VIII-50,56 and 59)

15. A Shudra who insults a twice born man with gross invectives shall have his tongue cut out; for he is of low origin. (Manu VIII. 270.)

16. If he mentions the names and castes of the (twice born) with contumely, an iron nail, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red hot into his mouth. (Manu VIII. 271.)

17. If a Shudra arrogantly presumes to preach religion to Brahmins, the king shall have poured burning oil in his mouth and ears. Manu VIII. 272.)

18. A Shudra who has an intercourse with a woman of the higher caste guarded or unguarded shall be punished n the following manner; if she was unguarded, he loses the offending part; if she was guarded then he should be put to death and his property confiscated." (Manu VIII. 374.)

19. A Brahman may compel a Shudra, whether bought or unbought, to do servile work for he is created by the creator to be the slave of a Brahmana. (Manu VIII. 413.)

20. No Shudra should have property of his own, He should have nothing of his own. The existence of a wealthy Shudra is bad for the Brahmins. A Brahman may take possession of the goods of a Shudra. (ManuVIII-417 & X129)

21. A Brahman may seize without hesitation, if he be in distress for his subsistence, the goods of his Shudra. The Shudra can have only one occupation. This is one of the inexorable laws of Manu. says Manu. (Manu VIII. 417)

22. A Shudra who wants to just fill his stomach may serve a Vaishya. If he wants a permanent means of living he can serve a Kshatriya. But if he wants to go to heaven or wants higher or superior birth in the next generation he must serve a Brahmin. (ManuIX334 & 335)

23. The most sacred duty of a Shudra is to serve the Brahmins, always, reciting the words "Brahman" with utmost devotion. Such a Shudra will get salvation. Otherwise he will die a worst death and will go to the worst hell. (Manu X-121)

24. But let a (Shudra) serve Brahmans, either for the sake of heaven, or with a view to both (this life and the next) for he who is called the servant of a Brahman thereby gains all his ends. (Manu X. 122.)

25. The service of Brahmans alone is declared (to be) an excellent occupation for a Shudra for whatever else besides this he may perform will bear him no fruit. (Manu X. 123.)

26. They must allot to him out of their own family (property) a suitable maintenance, after considering his ability, his industry, and the number of those whom he is bound to support. (Manu X. 124.)

27. Brahmins to give Shudras food leftovers, old torn clothes, spoiled grain and old utensils (Manu X-125)

28. No superfluous collection of wealth must be made by a Shudra, even though he has power to make it, since a servile man, who has amassed riches, becomes proud, and, by his insolence or neglect, gives pain to Brahmins. (Manu X. 129.

29. A Brahmin shall never beg from a Shudra, property for (performing) a sacrifice i.e., for religious purposes. All marriages with the Shudra were prescribed. Marriage with a woman belonging to any of three other classes was forbidden.

A Shudra was not to have a connection with a woman of the higher classes and an act of adultery committed by a Shudra with her was considered by Manu to be an offence involving capital punishment. (Manu XI. 24.)1, 2 ,3, 4In the matter of acquiring learning and knowledge Manu’s successors went much beyond him in the cruelty of their punishment of the Shudra for studying the Veda. For instance, Katyayana lays down that if a Shudra over heard the Veda or ventured to utter a word of the Veda, the king shall cut his tongue in twain and pour hot molten lead in his ear. Manu’s law book and its strict compliance by the Brahmans, it may be summarized that men and women are not born equal. There is no room for individual merit and no consideration of individual justice. If the individual has the privilege, it is not because it is due to his/her personally.
The
privilege goes with class, and if it is his/her good luck to enjoy it, he/she is destined to be born in the privileged class. On the other hand, if an individual is suffering in a class, it is because he belongs to that class. Thereby, logically speaking from Manusmriti’s point of view, the suffering of Shudras and women is because of their being part of their caste and sex respectively. Manu’s ‘social order’ breeds 'social out-caste,’ which in turn dishes out ‘social injustice’ to the underprivileged. Narda’s ‘Smriti’ (law book), openly advocate slavery, but since Varnashram (a creation of caste system by the Manu) was critical and deviously interwoven into religion, to subjugate the Shudras through superstitions like opium to an addict, the Brahmans let the slaves die."5From-Casteism: The Eighth Worst Wonder by Dr. S. L. Virdi, Pages-39-43)

References:
1. Dr.Babasahib Saheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Vol. 5, Page 113 to 115
2. Kovena, Toward Emancipation, Page 57, 62
3. S.L.Shashtri, Manu Simiri ki Shav Preksha, concluded, Page 54 to 155
4. Author Coke Burnale, Hindu Polity (The Ordinances of Manu) concluded.
5. G.S.Thind, Our Indian Sub Continent Heritage, Page 145

Black Laws against the Women - Casteism and Degration of Women

1. Every woman must be loyal, faithful. obedient honorable to her husband even if he is blind, deaf, dumb, old, physically handicapped, debauchel or, gambler and neglects his wife and lives with his concubine(s). If the husband is unhappy, it would be the fault of his wife. If he cries, she should cry. If he laughs she should laugh. She can only answer humbly to his question. She should not on her own put any question. She should eat only after her husband eats. If he is beating she should not react, but fall on his feet and beg him to pardon her, and kiss his hands and pacify him. If the husband dies she should burn herself to death on his funeral pyre and go along with him to the other world and serve him there in this manner. (Padma Purana)

2. Women are fickle minded. Never believe them. Friendship with a women is just like friendship with a wolf. (Rig-Veda 8-33-7)

3. A virtuous woman is one who dies on the funeral pyre of her dead husband and avails the privilege of serving her husband in the other world. (Atharva Veda 18-3-1)

4. Woman is the source of sorrow. At birth she makes her mother weep. At the time of the puberty she makes her parents weep. At the time of the marriage she makes all her family members and relatives weep. In youth she commits lot of blunders and brings bad name to the entire family, relatives and Varna. She tortures the hearts of her parents, husband and other family members. She is called 'DARIKA' because she is source of sorrow to all.

(Aithareya Brahmana)
5. Women are liers, corrupt, greedy, and unvirtuous. (Manu II 1)

6. Even for a woman, the performance of the sanskaras are necessary and they should be performed. But they should be performed without uttering the Veda Mantras." (Manu II. 60)

7. It is the nature of women to seduce men in this (world); the wise are never unguarded in the company of males. (Manu II. 213)

8. For women are able to lead astray in (this) world not only a fool, but even a learned man, and (to make) him a slave of desire and anger." (Manu II.214)

9. One should not sit in a lonely place with one's mother, sister or daughter, for the senses are powerful, and master even a learned man." (Manu II. 215)

10. A Brahmin male by virtue of his birth becomes the first husband of all women in the universe. (Manu III. 14)

11. Women not care for beauty, nor is their attention fied on age; (thinking); (it is though that) he is a man, they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly. (Manu IV. 14)

12. By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house." (Manu IV. 147)

13. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent. (Manu IV. 148)

14. She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband or son; by leaving them. She would make them both (her own and her husband's) family incompatible. (Manu IV. 149)

15. A Brahman must never eat food given at a sacrifice performed by a woman. (Manu IV. 205)

16. Sacrifices performed by women are inauspicious and not acceptable to god. They should therefore be avoided. (Manu IV. 206)

17. A girl must be under the care of her father . . . in youth under the care of the husband and in old age under the care of her sons. But she should never be free and independent. (Manu V. 148)

18. She must always be cheerful, clever in management of her household affairs, careful in cleaning her utensils and economical in expenditure. (Manu V. 150)

19. Him to whom her father may give her, or her brother with the father's permission, she shall obey as long as he lives and when he is dead, must not insult his memory. (Manu V. 151)

20. The husband who wedded her with sacred mantras is always a source of happiness to his wife, both in season and out of season, in this world and in the next. (Manu V1. 53)

21. Though destitute or virtuous, or seeking pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good qualities, yet a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife. (Manu V. 154)

22. No sacrifice, no vow, no fast must be performed by women, apart from their husbands. If a wife obeys her husband, she will for that reason alone be exalted in heaven. (Manu V. 155)

23. At her pleasure let her (i.e. widow) enunciate her body, by living voluntarily on pure flowers, roots and fruits, but let her not when her lord is deceased, even pronounce the name of another man. (Manu V. 157)

24. But a widow, who from a wish to bear children, slights her deceased husband by marrying again, brings disgrace on herself here below, and shall be excluded from the seat of her lord (in heaven). (Manu V. 161)

25. Responsibly the father who gives not (his daughter) in marriage at the proper time. (Manu IX. 4)

26. A woman must always maintain her virtue and surrender her body to her husband only, ever if she is married off to an ugly person or even a leper. (Manu IX. 14)

27. Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however, carefully they may be guarded in this (world). (Manu IX. 15)

28. Knowing their disposition, which the Lord of Creatures laid in them at the creation, to be such, (every) man should most strenuously exert himself to guard them. (Manu IX. 16)

29. When creating them, Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of heart) seat and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct. (Manu IX. 17)

30. Killing of a woman, a Shudra or an atheist is not sinful. Woman is an embodiment of the worst desires, hatred, deceit, jealousy and bad character. Women should never be given freedom. (Manu IX. 17 and V. 47, 147)

31. Women have no right to study the Vedas. That is why their Sanskars are performed without Veda Mantras. women have no knowledge of religion because they have no right to know the Vedas. The uttering of Veda Mantras, they are as unclean as untruth is." (Manu IX. 18)

32. All women are born of sinful wombs. (Bhagavad-Gita IX 32)

33. The husband is declared to be one with the wife, which means there could be no separation once a woman is married. (Manu IX. 45)

34. Neither by sale nor by repudiation is a wife released from her husband. (Manu IX. 46)

35. To a distinguished, handsome suitor of equal caste should she have not attained (the proper age) (i.e. although she may not have reached puberty). (Manu IX. 88)

36. A wife, a son and a slave, they three are declared to have no property: the wealth which they earn is (acquired)for him to whom they belong. (Manu IX. 416)

37. None of the acts of women can be taken as good and reasonable. (Manu X.4)

38. Day and night women must be kept in dependence by males (of their families), and, if they attach themselves to sexual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control. (Manu XI2)

39. Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence." (Manu XI. 3)

40. Women must particularly be guarded against evil inclinations, however trifling (they may appear); for, if they are not guarded, they will bring sorrow on to families." (Manu XI. 5)

41. Considering that the highest duty of all castes even weak husbands (must) scribe to guard their wives. (Manu XI. 6)

42. A woman shall not perform the daily sacrifices prescribed by the Vedas. Then according to IX.37 if she does it, she will go to hell. (Manu XI. 36)1, 2, 3, 4 From- Casteism: The Eighth Worst Wonder by Dr. S. L. Virdi, Pages-39-43)

References:
1. G.S.Thind, Our Indian Sub Continent Heritage, Page 146 to 151)
2. Author Coke Burnale, Hindu Polity The Ordinances of Manu) Concluded 3. Kovena, Toward Emancipation. Page 57, 62, 72, 73
4. S.L.Shashtri, Manu Simiri ki Shav Preeksha concluded page 54 to 155.

Vedas

No one is to argue critically about vedas because religion has originated from them. Any nastika (non-believer) or critic of the Vedas, who "insults" them on the basis of logic, is worthy of being socially boycotted by "noble" persons. Women, that is, even women belonging to Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya varna are not entitled to upanayan and the study of the Vedas. For them, marriage is equivalent to upanayan and service of their husbands is equivalent to the study of the Vedas in the gurukul. Even if the husband is morally degraded, engaged in an affair with another woman and is devoid of knowledge and other qualities, the wife must treat him like a god. A widower is allowed to remarry but a widow is not. Besides, women are not considered fit for being free and independent. They are to be protected in their childhood by father, in youth by husband and in old age by son. They should never be allowed by their guardians to act independently. A woman must never do anything even inside her home without the consent of her father, husband and son respectively. She must remain in control of her father in childhood, of husband in youth and of son after the death of her husband.

Ramayana

In Ramayana, Ram kills Shambuka simply because he was performing tapasya (ascetic exercises) which he was not supposed to do as he was a Shudra by birth.


Mahabharata

In Mahabharata, Dronacharya refuses to teach archery to Eklavya, because he was not a Kshatriya by birth. When Eklavya, treating Drona as his notional guru, learns archery on his own, Drona makes him cut his right thumb as gurudakshina (gift for the teacher) so that he may not become a better archer than his favorite Kshatriya student Arjuna!


Bhagvadgita

The much-glorified Bhagvat-Gita, too, favors varna-vyavastha.When Arjuna refuses to fight, one of his main worries was that the war would lead to the birth of varna-sankaras or offspring from intermixing of different varnas and the consequent "downfall" of the family. On the other hand, Krishna tries to motivate Arjuna to fight by saying that it was his varna-dharma (caste-duty) to do so because he was a Kshatriya. In fact, Krishna goes to the extent of claiming that the four varnas were created by him only.

Dealing with the question of wages to the shudras:

X – 124. They must allot to him (shudra) out of their own family property a suitable maintenance, after considering his ability, his industry and the number of those whom he is bound to support.

X – 125. The remnants of their food must be given to him, as well as their old clothes, the refuge of their grain and their old household furniture.

X – 129. No collection of wealth must be made by a shudra even though he be able to do it; for a shudra who has acquired wealth gives pain to Brahmana.

XI – 6. One should give, according to one’s ability, wealth to Brahmanas learned in the veda and living alone; (thus) one obtains after death heavenly bliss.

XI – 261-62. A Brahmana who has killed even the peoples of the three worlds, is completely freed from all sins on reciting three times the Rig, Yajur or Sama- Veda with the Upanishad.

Thus in Hinduism, there is no choice of avocation. There is no economic independence and there is no economic security. Economically, speaking of a shudra is a precarious thing.

Successors of Manu made the disability of the shudra in the matter of study of veda into an offence involving dire penalties as:

XII. 4. If the shudra intentionally listens for committing to memory the veda, then his ears should be filled with (molten) lead and lac; if he utters the veda, then his tongue should be cut off; if he has mastered the veda his body should be cut to pieces.

The Manu Code of Laws (the revered book of Hindus) stated 2000 years ago :

"No collection of wealth was to be made by Shudras (low caste) even though he /she may be able to do it, for a Shudra who has acquired wealth gives pain to Brahmin, and that a Brahmin may appropriate by force the property of Shudra" (Manu Smriti X, 129)

"Sri Brahma (God the Creator) had intended from eternity that the Untouchables should be born slaves, live as slaves and die as slaves" (Manu Chapter 19, #413)

Dhammapada by Buddha defines Brahmana as follows (Verses 383 to 423):

383. He who gives up sensuality and stills the mind is a Brahmana.

384. He who transcends duality (pleasure and pain) is a Brahmana.

385. He who is free from anxiety is a Brahmana.

386. He who meditates, tranquil in mind, free from taint and intrusive thoughts, and accomplished in yoga is a Brahmana.

387.  Day shines in sunlight; night shines in moon light; warrior shines in his armor; a Brahmana shines in meditation; at all times Buddha shines in his glory.

388. He who breaks with evil deeds is a Brahmana.

389. He who does not lose his temper is a Brahmana.

390. He whose mind recoils from pleasurable experiences is a Brahmana, who does not harm anyone.

391. He who does not inflict pain by body, mind and speech is a Brahmana.

392. He who tends the sacrificial fire is a Brahmana. Pay homage to him who teaches the Truth, like Buddha does.

393. Matted hair, caste, and lineage do not make a Brahmana. Purity and truth make a Brahmana.

394. Matted hair and antelope skin do not make a Brahmana; they make him look good; but he is a tangled knot inside.

395. A man may wear rags from refuse and look haggard; his strength glows in every fiber of body as he meditates alone in the forest; that man is a true Brahmana.

396. A Brahmana he is not, just because he is born of a Brahmana mother.  He is contemptible if he owns anything at all. A true Brahmana owns nothing to call his, having no attachment.

397.  He who  severs his bonds (with the world); shows equanimity, and transcends all worldly ties, is a liberated Brahmana.

398.  He who severs his harness (straps, bands, and bridle) and breaks out of the barrier is a Brahmana; he is Buddha himself.

399. He who stays calm under severe censure, brooks maltreatment, remains patient, and shows inner strength is worthy of his appellation, Brahmana.

400. He who is free from anger and desire, has enduring discipline, and lives in his last body (with no possibility of rebirth) is a Brahmana.

401. He is like water on a lotus leaf; he is like a mustard seed on the point of a pin; thus, he is not attached to the senses; he is a Brahmana.

402.  His experience of suffering in this life has come to an end, having put aside his burden; he is a Brahmana.

403.  He is wise; he knows right from wrong; he attained the supreme purpose; him I call a Brahmana.

404.  He shies away from monks and men, has no place to call home, and entertains few needs; him I call a Brahmana.

405.  He refrains from injury to mobile and immobile living things; he neither kills nor causes death; him I call a Brahmana.

406. He is placid among the tumultuous; he glows with peace among the violent; he is unclinging among the clingers; him I call a Brahmana.

407.  He transcends love and hate; ego and pretense have fallen by the wayside like the mustard seed on the point of a pin; him I call a Brahmana.

408.  He is gentle in speech and revealing in his words; he utters only Truth, criticizing no one; him I call a Brahmana.

409.  He takes nothing that is not given to him; him I call a Brahmana.

410. He has no desire in this or the next world; he is free from craving; him I call a Brahmana.

411.  He is a realized soul, having dived into deathless bliss; him I call a Brahmana.

412.  He transcends good and evil; he is faultless and pure with no sorrow; him I call a Brahmana.

413.  He is pure and stainless like the rays of the moon; he has drowned his desires; him I call a Brahmana.

414.  He crossed the ocean of Samsara and ignorance and reached the other shore, by meditation, tranquility of mind and paucity of desires; him I call a Brahmin.

415. He, having renounced contact with senses and expunged desires, wanders homeless; him I call a Brahmin.

416.  He, having renounced craving, gave up worldly life and home; him I call a Brahmin.

417. He, having broken the human bonds and transcended the desires of heaven, is free from all bonds; him I call a Brahmin.

418.  He, having transcended pleasure and pain and withdrawing the fuel, extinguished his desires and won over all worlds; him I call a Brahmin.

419.  He, having seen death and rebirth of all beings, frees himself from clinging desires, attains realization and enters a world of bliss; him I call a Brahmin.

420.  Devas, Ghandarvas, and men do not know his path; his mind is empty of mundane thoughts and passions; him I call a Brahmin.

421.  He had no possessions of his own at any time and remains unattached; him I call a Brahmin.

422.  He has no fear; he is noble; he is a great sage, a vanquisher of desires and a realized soul, having washed off all stains; him I call a Brahmin.

423.   He knows his former lives, heaven and hell; this life marks the end of birth for him who attained transcendent knowledge; him I call a Brahmin.