Scientiific Hinduism 2 Institutionalised Oppression

Scientific Hinduism Book 2 Brahminical (caste) Hinduism: a system of institutionalised oppression
Sanjeev Sabhlok Draft 19 August 2013
The effects of caste discrimination on Indias almost 200 million Dalits are strikingly similar to that of race discrimination: social stigmatization, physical segregation, lack of access to education and social advancement, under-representation at all levels in government, business and the organized labor market. [Source] In Hinduism, the type of birth you take in this world, and the conditions of your existence here are all determined by what you did in your earlier existences. You may even be born as an animal, says the Upanishad, if the karma is very bad (Vivekananda) * * * I once met a Mahar, who, fearing that I was going near him and that my purity might then be defiled in case I touched him, and that he might incur the sin of defiling my purity, cried out at once and made his caste known to me. I got into conversation with him. I found that Mahar, though illiterate, could repeat many verses of Tukaram, Namdeo and Chokhamela. He appeared to be well acquainted with the theories of Karma and Bhakti, and of transmigration of soul. He believed that though he was a Mahar in that birth, by some misdoings in his past life, he was going to become a Brahmana in the next birth, as he felt the desire for learning Sanskrit, and reading Gita and Puranas. He conceived that these desires were clear indications of the better birth which he was going to get in his next life. I do not know how far such sentiments exist in other members of the tribe. Bid it is not improbable that very many of the low castes believe, or are made to believe, that they justly suffer in this condition as a retribution for the sins which they did in the past life. [THE HISTORY OF CASTE IN INDIA by SHRIDHAR V. KETKAR (1909)]
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Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013
Contents
1. We, the self-respecting humans, are born free. ..............1

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Equal status in Charvaka Hinduism...........................................3 Equal status in Islam and Christianity.......................................3 Alleged equal consciousness in Vedanta...................................3 Say no to caste..........................................................................4
1.3.1.1 Shankara learnt Advaita from a low caste Chandala, but he never really got the point, did he?...................................................................3
2. Caste is immoral from first principles...............................6

2.1 Violation of basic ethical principles...........................................6 2.1.1 Denial of equal status........................................................6 2.1.2 Denial of equal liberty.......................................................6 2.1.3 Destruction of self-respect................................................7 2.1.4 Different justice for different castes..................................8 2.2 Whats wrong with eugenics, scientific racism, Hindutva and Hindu caste system?.....................................................................8 2.2.1 A worldview that groups disparate people together on GENETIC (birth based) criteria is collectivist:.....................8 2.2.2 These worldviews violate the basic principle of equality of status of mankind:.............................................................8 2.3 Hypothesis: Indias caste system contributed a CRITICAL justification for global racism........................................................9
2.1.1.1 Lower castes called foul names...........................................................6 2.1.1.2 Sudras treated like children.................................................................6 2.1.2.1 Subtle model of race domination, not race extermination....................7
3. Not just destruction of liberty but oppression and VIOLENCE..................................................................12

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Control over key life events....................................................12 Careful domestication (victim-consent) of the oppressed ....12 Obnoxious suggestion that others pollute us........................13 Possible link of pollution with beef eating.............................13 Blaming victims for their plight...............................................14 3.5.1 Vivekananda chastised non-Brahmins.............................14 Economic discrimination.........................................................15 3.6.1 Lower castes not likely to be given jobs..........................15 3.6.2 Lower castes regularly cheated in economic trasactions 15 Mistreatment and humiliation of lower castes/ outcastes.......16 3.7.1 Shivajis humiliation........................................................16 Untouchability, and violence against the outcastes................22 3.8.1 GK Gokhales comment on untouchability.......................22 3.8.2 Extract from Gandhi........................................................22 3.8.3 Oppression of Dalits........................................................23 3.8.4 Jagjivan Ram humiliated .................................................23 3.8.5 Ambedkar humiliated .....................................................24 Violence.................................................................................. 24 3.9.1 Killing Dalits who removed a dead cows hide.................24
3.9
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3.9.2 Some illustrations of violence..........................................24 3.9.3 Dalit literature shows the magnitude of oppression........25
3.9.3.1 Dalit journals...................................................................................... 25
3.10
Mistreatment and humiliation of women...............................25
4. Deliberate lowering of intelligence of the oppressed?....26

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Indian average national IQ is extremely low...........................26 How can we explain the superior (on average) intellectual performance of the Brahmin caste?..........................................30 Self-perception of the Dalits....................................................33 My revised model of IQ that includes pre-birth IQ factors and links with freedom, to explain GDP.............................................33 Increase in IQ expected among the Dalits once oppressions is eliminated................................................................................... 34 Narrowing the IQ gap with China............................................35 Disproving the myth of race will require abolishing caste.......35
5. Do the oppressed make the rules? Of course not...........36

5.1 5.2 5.3 Summary................................................................................. 36 Vedas...................................................................................... 38 5.2.1 Rig Veda..........................................................................38 Dharmashastras......................................................................38 5.3.1 Manus laws.....................................................................38 5.3.2 Taittiriya Brahmana ........................................................39 5.3.3 Vishnu Smriti ..................................................................40 5.3.4 Apastamba Dharma Sutra ..............................................40 5.3.5 Vishnusmriti....................................................................40 5.3.6 Vashishtha Dharma Sutra................................................40 Ramayana...............................................................................41 5.4.1 Beheading of Sudra Sambook.........................................41 Support from Vivekananda and other leaders.........................41 Ambedkar, however, denied that Brahmins created caste......42
5.4 5.5 5.6
6. Do the oppressed defend caste? Of course not..............44

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Vivekananda glorified Brahmins .............................................44 Har Bilas Sarda thought caste was efficient............................45 Bhai Parmanand thought caste is required for social duties. .46 Hindu Council: The Caste System by Raj Pandit Sharma.....46
7. The hereditary and biological (racist) underpinning of caste.........................................................................47

7.1 7.2 7.3 The give away is in its name: Varna Vyavastha......................47 Further, caste is 100 per cent biological (hereditary).............47 The leakage in colour through marrying lower caste women 47 7.4 Foolish arguments denying the biological (race) basis of caste 48 7.4.1 But there is no real difference in skin colour!..............48 7.4.2 Ambedkar did not think skin colour underpinned caste. .48 7.4.3 Soli Sorabjee, Andre Beteille and the Government of India ......................................................................................... 48
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7.4.4 Anthropologist Dipankar Gupta of Jawaharlal Nehru University ........................................................................49 7.5 Learned Hindus have clearly expouned the race basis of caste 51 7.5.1 Through caste our forefathers protected themselves from interfusion with an inferior race (Harendranath Maitra)..............................................................................51 7.5.2 Why has the white complexion of our forefathers now become black? (Vivekananda)........................................51 7.5.3 The original Aryans were from Abyssinia, the people with frightful shapes (Dayanand Saraswati) GET THE RIGHT ONE.......................................................................52 7.5.4 Analytical perspective confirms perceived biological difference (Badri Raina)...................................................54 7.6 Buddhist literature clearly refers to the common perception of caste being linked with birth.......................................................56 7.7 Top Indian experts see clear links with race, at origin of the concept....................................................................................... 57 7.7.1 Ghurye thought that caste started with race................57 7.7.2 The original migrations into India....................................59 7.8 Caste and eugenics: further proof of its strong links with race 59 7.8.1 The Caste System: a Great Eugenic Movement in the truest sense of the word. Btw, if you are a girl, avoid marrying a hairy man.......................................................59 7.9 Strong skin colour preference in India.....................................68 7.10 The mistreatment of foreign white women tourists in India 69
8. Rationalisation for oppression through hierarchies of the soul...........................................................................70

8.1 The soul is (re)born into a caste based on its karma...............70 8.1.1 Gandhis view..................................................................71 8.1.2 Vivekanandas logic for reincarnation of the soul is very good, but DNA and evolution explains much better.........72 8.1.3 J.N. Farquhars findings...................................................75 8.2 Charvakas rejected reincarnation...........................................75 8.3 Buddhists rejected reincarnation of soul??..............................75
9. Lots of red herrings thrown in to confound the truth......76

9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 Red herring: Caste is not determined at birth.........................76 Red herring: Caste is not intrinsic to Hinduism.......................76 Red herring: Caste is a professional association.....................77 Red herring: Caste is class......................................................78 Red herring: there was never any discrimination, anyway......82 Red herring: Caste is cultural..................................................83 Red herring: Other countries have a caste system, too..........84 Red herring: Many reform movements opposed caste so it is not an issue................................................................................84 9.9 Red herring: Caste is dying, hence irrelevant.......................105
10. The escape from oppression......................................107

10.1 Reform that (at least partially) worked...............................107
10.1.1 Brahmo Samaj.............................................................107

10.1.1.1 Raja Ram Mohun Roy (Indias first classical liberal) was also the first MAJOR opponent of caste...................................................................107 10.1.1.2 Some of Indias major Brahmo Samajis .........................................107
10.1.2 Aryan (noble) Brahmins discarded their sacred thread 180 years ago. Any Aryan Hindus found today?.............108 10.2 Reform that failed...............................................................109 10.2.1 Buddha........................................................................109 10.2.2 Shankara.....................................................................111 10.2.3 Bhakti movements......................................................111 10.2.4 Dayanand Saraswati and Arya Samaj..........................112 10.2.5 Ramakrishna Mission...................................................113 10.2.6 Gandhi a reformer but great racist and believer in caste.............................................................................. 114 10.2.7 Periyar.........................................................................116 10.2.8 Rajiv Malhotras advice...............................................117 10.3 Net effect of the challenge of Christianity: Hinduism split into four 117 10.4 Conversion to other religions cannot help...........................117 10.4.1 To Christianity.............................................................117 10.4.2 To Islam.......................................................................118 10.5 Why going to another organised religion is like going from the frying pan into the fire..............................................................118 10.5.1 Organised religions SYSTEMATICALLY shuts out critical thinking..........................................................................118 10.6 Five methods to end the oppressiveness of the caste system 119 10.7 No role for government in removal of caste........................122 10.8 Are Dalits not interested in removal of caste?....................122 10.9 Escape into reason: Scientific Hinduism..............................122 10.10 Only higher castes oppose the abolition of caste..............122 10.10.1 A Hindu writing in Mahratta in favour of caste..........123
11. Economic explantion for the persistence of caste......124

11.1 11.2 11.3 Lohias explanation.............................................................124 Kaivan Munshis explanation...............................................124 Free markets and social minimum......................................125
12. An outline of Scientific Hinduism ...............................126

12.1 Scientific Hinduism rejects the concept of caste.................126 12.1.1 There is no soul, or at least no proof of soul/God that I can personally confirm...................................................126 12.1.2 Even if there is a soul, it visits the earth only once.....127 12.1.3 Classical liberalism and caste are polar opposites......128 12.2 Scientific Hinduism the plausibility of Vedanta...................129 12.2.1 The need to ask for proof: Vivekandas pre-vedanta days ....................................................................................... 129 12.2.2 But Vedanta still represents the best in Hinduism......129
13. References.................................................................130 Appendix: Indias official position regarding caste discrimination.........................................................133 vi

GOI position regarding caste......................................................133 In 1965 GOI agreed that caste groups were downtrodden....133 In 1996 GOI linked caste to class..........................................133 In 2001 GOI said caste is not anyone elses business to discuss ....................................................................................... 133 International position on caste...................................................134 In 2002 CERD confirmed opposition to caste discrimination. 134 In 2009 CERD re-confirmed opposition to caste discrimination ....................................................................................... 134
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1.
We, the self-respecting humans, are born free.
Classical liberalism rejects inequality of stautus and demands equal freedom for all humans (within their own nation, i.e. a place where they pay relevant tax). While much of Hinduism (particularly Advaita) is compatible with science, reason and liberty, and has been, on average, the most tolerant religion on this planet, it is fundamentally incompatible witih key aspects of equality of status and liberty. The key problem with Hinduism is the caste system. This system of differentiation amongst Hindus (and others) on basis of their birth, without regard to their work in real life, is both immoral in itself, and leads to significant immorality among Hindus during their life. That doesnt mean Hinduism is particularly immoral. All religions have institutionalised immorality. None is free of this basic charge. All organised religion smacks of an attempt by priests and intermediaries to control the rest of their flock. This book is based on some research Ive conducted over the past few weeks. Why have I picked Hinduism for such detailed analysis? First, Indias low national IQ. Why would this be so? Because of low nutrition (which Ive covered in Book 1) but also because of the caste system. India performs very poorly, with the lower castes performing far worse than even the national average. This can only be explained by the great harm caused by caste. Ill discuss this in detail later. Second, given my close association with Hinduism (being what I was born and brought up as, being what Im married into, and being what many of my friends and colleagues belong to), I explore the immorality of Hinduism more sternly than I explore the immorality of other religions. Third, being born as an Indian, I remain particularly keen that India revert to its ancient status as a sone ki chidiya, a great prosperous nation. I care for Indias largest religion more than I care for other religions. In the end the world will be better off by getting rid of all religion, and escaping into reason. Only reason can save mankind from its own follies. I dont belong to anyone, to any religion or civilisation. I belong to me, and Im an ordinary human being. Thats all I need to be. I ask questions, and recommend the best ways forward for India and for the world based on answers derived from these questions. My contribution is to offer ideas and leave it to others to consider, on the test of reason. Ambedkars summary of Brahminical Hinduism Dr. Ambedkar came to the conclusion that, A religion which glorifies ignorance and impudently preached inequality, hatred, divided human beings into multitudinous Castes and sub Castes, sanctioned poverty and adopted economic measures to keep the majority of its
followers poor, illiterate, ignorant, disunited and divided was nothing short of infamy.1 In this regard it will be invaluable to read Ambedkars essay Annihilation of Caste, before reading the rest of this book. Regardless of how it started, the problem of the immorality of caste has became bigger over the centuries. No doubt there were attempts to fix it, such as through Brahmo Samaj and others. But Vedantic Hinduism which in many way mimicks key elements of Buddhism managed to not only get back those who deserted Hinduism in favour of Buddhism, but imprisoned those who returned into the same caste hierarchies from which they had fled. But the time the British arrived in India, caste was already a huge blot on mankind, on par with slavery. It took British scholars a century or more to even remotely understand the matter, but their understanding remained incomplete. Enter Raja Ram Mohun Roy It needed an Indian scholar to understand the problem and realise that caste was entirely incompatible with liberty and equality of status two revolutionary ideas introduced in Great Britain by the liberals in the 17 th century. And once he realised that caste was immoral, he had no option but to start a new religion, called Brahmo Samaj, a religion without caste. But given the challenges of communication and hidebound attitudes within the Indian society, this religion didnt go far. And I belive it did not stand as much for reason as it should have. Abolishing caste is an urgent necessity Regardless of the action people may choose to undertake after they personally reject their caste, the fact remains that caste must be abolished. Just like slavery continued across the world till classical liberals challenged it repeatedly, for a century or more, so also caste must be challenged. Caset is far more subtle than slavery, being a form of self-slavery in which the slave (victim/lower caste) accepts the FAKE rationalisation provided by higher castes, and believes he has to obey the higher castes lest his next life be adversely affected. Slavery was relatively easy to abolish. Caste will take much more effort and determination. It must begin with an understanding of the problem and alternatives at hand. This booklet is a compilation of my initial research. It documents the harm caused by caste and how it can be brought to and end. Like all my work, this draft will remain in the public domain and I will work on it as time permits. It should be treated as work in progress.
Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal
1.1
Equal status in Charvaka Hinduism

Charvaka was a revolutionary critical thinker and rejected the idea of soul and hence caste. Total equality of all humans was a mandatory requirem ent in this model.
1.2
Equal status in Islam and Christianity

Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains are EQUAL within their religion. Why not Hindus? Islam and Christianity are known for their insistence on equality. But only Christian takes this to the next level: of looking after the oppressed. In many ways, the idea of looking after the oppressed is missing from Hinduism. NOTE: It is true that if an Indian converts from Hinduism to any other religion, he is likely to carry his caste along with him. That is much to do with the deep inroads into the mind made by the caste system, not a requirement of these other religions.
1.3
Alleged equal consciousness in Vedanta

In some ways, Vedanta is close to Buddhism by considering the common consciousness in all humans. Through revival of Vedanta, Sankara was able to revive Hinduism. But he did not reject caste outright. And there lies the problem. 1.3.1.1 Shankara learnt Advaita from a low caste Chandala, but he never really got the point, did he? I wasn't aware of this story but after I chanced upon it twice in a single day, I researched this further and found that is it is quite well known and widely discussed. Well, if there's ANYTHING useful we can get from this story, it is that caste is wrong. It is a FALSE idea and must be discarded. VERSION OF STORY IN DALIT LITERATURE The great Sankaracharya of Kaldi, famous for his ideologue Advaita once came across a Chandala who was on his way to Harighat. He, being aghast of the presence of an untouchable told the latter to stay away from his sight. To Shankaras utter dismay, the Chandala raised some pertinent questions from the same Advaita. Whom are you telling to keep away, Acharya the fountainhead of all knowledge of Vedas and Upanishads! This body or the atman which resides in this body? Your body and mine are made of the same substance, as pots of varying sizes and colours are made of the same clay. So one such body cannot ask the other of the same to stay away. Are they not part of the same illusion? Source: Swaminathan Venkat, The Dalit in Tamil Literature-Past and Present. Indian Literature Sahitya Akademi, Delhi P.17 (as cited in VOICE OF DALIT IN SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE by Aswini Kumar Mishra) HOW BRAHMINS APPROPRIATED THIS AND CONVERTED THE CHANDALA INTO SHIVA
Sankara, the great Hindu philosopher and reformer, was one day coming from his bath in the Ganges when a drunken outcast accidentally touched him. How dare you touch me? he exclaimed. The outcast replied that since the same Supreme Spirit is in all, how could his touch contaminate, and proceeded to expound the philosophy of Oneness. Sankara listened in wonderment and humbly acknowledged that he was right. Whereupon the outcast stood revealed as Shiva Himself, and Sankara fell at His feet. Source: HINDUISM: The World-Ideal by Harendranath Maitra (1916) Also: http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritualblogs/seekers/philosophy/shankaracharya-and-the-chandala http://belurmath.org/kids_section/06-lord-siva-as-chandala/ Instead of Sankara REJECTING CASTE he continued to teach caste, so that his future disciple Vivekananda continued to teach caste, even though he was teaching advaita. In my view ADVAITA AND CASTE ARE FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE. I totally deny this nonsense about the Chandala being "Shiva". The ONLY evidence we have is that Shankara was caught out by his HUGE EGO and Brahminical arrogance. He didn't get the message of TOTAL EQUALITY which is the key message of advaita. The ONLY way Advaita can make sense is through total equality of all humans, of all human consciousness. Anything less is utter nonsense.
1.4
Say no to caste
Caste is fundamentally EVIL. It might appear harmless on the surface but its approach must necessarily lead to evil consequences. There is NO redeeming feature in the caste system. There were arguably some economic advantages of caste in an agricultural society but these came at great cost: of lowering the self-respect of the people. In the end, that has DESTROYED their potential. I have no doubt that feudal serfs in Europe would have tested very poorly on intelligence (IQ), just like the Dalits do (on average). But the moment feudalism was abolished, others started marrying the erstwhile serfs, and through education and the industrial revolution EVERYONE got an equal chance to develop. But Im afraid the situation in India is so dire that even if the caste system were abolished tomorrow, there would be very few inter-caste marriages. And so the progeny of the Dalits and Sudras will remain handicapped as they dont get the environment necessary for their children to develop. Swami Ramdev runs the Bharat Swabhiman movement today, but that would not have been necessary if there was no caste system. The caste system is destroying the sense of self-worth of billions of people. The best swabhiman movement in India will be to DESTROY the caste system, lock stock and barrel. I encourage you to SAY NO TO CASTE. Anyway, that is the BASIC PRECEPT of Scientific Hinduism.
2.
Caste is immoral from first principles
2.1
Violation of basic ethical principles

Caste is EVIL. Pure EVIL. There is no redeeming feature in the caste system. Its immorality is deeply rooted within the soul. Not being a religious person (nor caring for any religion), I focus purely on ETHICAL principles. While there a lot of problems with caste, I will start by focusing on the two main philosophical ones (liberty and equal status) which confirm its deep immorality.
2.1.1 Denial of equal status

2.1.1.1 Lower castes called foul names Im not good at recognising caste titles. We have had a culture in our house of ignoring caste. The first time I met my future wife I thought that she was Christian because she used to walk to the church with a Christian friend of hers, and I thought most people from NE India were Christians. Turns out that Goswamis are Brahmins. While I dont know which of the following derogatory names apply to which caste, Ive collected a few names from cursory reading of the literature. Dasa, Dasysu, Raksasa, Asura, Avarna, Nisada, Panchama, Mletcha, Svapaca, Chandala, Achchuta, Harijan, Chura in Punjab; Bhangi or LalBeghi in Hindi; Mahar in Marathi; Mala in Telugu, Paraiyan in Tamil, and Pulayan in Malayalam. 2.1.1.2 Sudras treated like children Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, these were the three twice-born orders, belonging to the original Aryan stock. They conquered the non-Aryans, who by race and tradition were inferior. After their gradual conquest, these also became members of the Hindu family, but with inferior rank. These are the Sudras. By this means our forefathers protected themselves from interfusion with an inferior race. In India, with all our caste, there was never either class feeling or race antagonism. The division of this community-family of the Hindus into caste groups was evolved for the division of labour, and the giving to all of the right of equal opportunities within his own particular sphere. True only the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas could read the Vedas, and the Sudras were debarred. One does not give higher mathematics to children. Source: HINDUISM: The World-Ideal by Harendranath Maitra 1916
2.1.2 Denial of equal liberty

Equal liberty is a right in itself. Every Indian must get equal liberty and equal opportunity to succeed. The idea of denying 40 per cent of the Indians a chance just because of the caste is obnoxious in the extreme.
2.1.2.1 Subtle model of race domination, not race extermination Hindu racism does not demand extermination of other castes. It is happy enough to snub and look down upon its inferiors. It is particularly upset (like withi Gandhi) if whites look down upon the upper castes as in any way inferior to whites. Christophe Jaffrelot writes: The main conclusion of this enquiry seems to lie in the ambivalent response of the Hindu nationalist ideologues of the 1920s and 1930s to the European biological theories. These ideologues had inherited a traditional xenology where the racial criterion was minimized compared to the degree of orthopraxy: the caste system reveals here its integrative capacity inasmuch as everybody can find a place in it according to ones rank. All in all, the hierarchical principle of the caste system makes the eugenic criterion of elimination difficult to apply: the exclusion can only be partial; it takes the form of a rejection at the periphery but not outside the whole of the society. This does not mean that the Hindu nationalist ideologues did not expound a racial theory. They did so, but it was more a racism of domination than a racism of extermination. This specificity was again in accordance with the traditional xenology: the Other is not excluded but he can be only integrated at a subordinate rank. The members of minorities who refuse to become Hinduized are bound to remain statutory second-rate citizens from the Hindu nationalist point of view. This kind of discrimination is, indeed, nothing but a form of upper caste racism. [Source: Religion, Caste, and Politics in India By Christophe Jaffrelot]
2.1.3 Destruction of self-respect

This is the most insidious of all: that the lower castes have co-opted themselves into this system. Another aspect of caste system is the way it survives with the support from lower castes. The upper castes do not have to dominate them with the rule of gun. Lower castes justify their subordination by discovering folklore of their kind and offer justification of their own subordination through a moral discourse innovated by themselves rather than by upper castes. Lower castes have legends and myths that justify their lowly situation and transform it into a symbol of sacrifice and luster. Lohia gives an illustration from fisher-folks life. The Kaivarts (fisher-folk caste) who presumably number more than one crore population tell stories about their mythical ancestors, who were simple, un-greedy, brave and generous and who lost everything to other ancestors of Kshatriyas and other high castes because of their greater greed and deceit. The current lot of misery is attributed to the unending succession of sacrificial acts for the sake of high principles. This sacrifice is seen not as an active principle that seeks change but as a passive submission to the caste order. This sort of mythical sacrifices is wide-spread among the lower castes. They secure their subordination. Source: Arun Kumar Patnaik, Lohias Immanent Critique of Caste
2.1.4 Different justice for different castes

The Dharmashastras are full of instances where justice/punishmenet depends on caste. Lord Macaulay was a social revolutionary who, by drawing up the Indian Penal Code, made all Indians equal before the law [Chandra Bhan Prasad] Macaulay wrote: to go to India itself for an instance, though I fully believe that a mild penal code is better than a severe penal code, the worst of all systems was surely that of having a mild code for the Brahmins, who sprang from the head of the Creator, while there was a severe code for the Sudras, who sprang from his feet. India has suffered enough already from the distinction of castes, and from the deeply rooted prejudices which that distinction has engendered. God forbid that we should inflict on her the curse of a new caste, that we should send her a new breed of Brahmins, authorised to treat all the native population as Parias! [Source]
2.2
Whats wrong with eugenics, scientific racism, Hindutva and Hindu caste system?
2.2.1 A worldview that groups disparate people together on GENETIC (birth based) criteria is collectivist:
All these three eugenics, scientific racism and the Hindu caste system are a form of collectivism a perspective that combines a LOT of people on the basis of brith-based characteristics. This worldview has policy implications. In the caste system, for instance, people are treated differently by Hinduism just because of the caste in which they happen to be born. So also under scientific racism which leads to policies such as prohibition of marriages between different "races", or blocking an entire "race" from entry into a nation (e.g.White Australia policy).
2.2.2 These worldviews violate the basic principle of equality of status of mankind:
Scientific racism divices humanity into races based on alleged biological differences. Caste system divides Hindus into different castes based on alleged differences in their soul. Hindutva philosophy divides people into "Indian" religions vs. others. Vedanta/Scientific Hiniduism/ classical liberalism, on the other hand, insist on the commonality of all humans.
As you well know I oppose ANY attempt to discriminate (under the law) between the equal status of all humans. That's perhaps one fundamental reason why I'm broadly comfortable with Vedanta but very uncomfortable with Hinduism as commonly practiced, and with all religions. And that's also why I oppose eugenics and 'scientific racism'. Any philosophy that LABELS people on basis of birth characteristics and then discriminates against them is fundamentally dangerous. That's one reason why socialists/ Nazi fascists and Hindutva (BJP) think alike. They don't mind classifying people into groups. I don't classify people into groups. Each individual is different, and must be judged on his/her own merit.
2.3
Hypothesis: Indias caste system contributed a CRITICAL justification for global racism
The more I think about it, the greater is the likelihood that the Indian caste system was a major contributor to if not the DRIVER of - global racism. Here are the facts: The Europeans including the Dutch and British were extremely poor and lived TRULY short and brutish lives before the industrial revolution. Everyone wrote about India as the great nation of the world. Nothing could beat the splendour of India in those days. India absorbed MOST of the world's gold and produced most of the world's luxury goods and spices. To discover a way to reach India and get its goods cheaply, Europeans went searching helter skelter across the world some going east and some going west! They finally reached India in 1600 as SUBORDINATE traders, living below the thumb of Indian rulers.
There was no possibility of these subordinate Europeans even remotely imagining themselves as "superior". By 1757, through a range of fortuitous circumstances, the British managed to get real territory in India. Most importantly, by that time they were becoming economically better off with the industrial revolution. Capitalism was finally discovered by Adam Smith (although a primitive version of it had been discovered and implemented by Chanakya 2000 years earlier). SO THE REAL BASIS FOR RACISM STARTS WITH 1757 Before 1757 the Europeans were puny barbarians and subordinates of Indians. They couldn't even speak as equals, leave alone imagine they were "superior". By the early 1830s William Jones had discovered connections of Sanskrit with European languages. This gave HOPE to the British that they might have been superior in some way in the past, despite thousands of years of well-documentedtribalism and barbarism (save a few exceptions here and there). Most importantly, they found that Brahmins had a particular role in the caste hierarchy, which was based on skin colour. But even then, there was no real racism, only a glimmer of HOPE that the "whites" might in some way be "superior". No bugles of "superiority" were pulled out. The only sense of superiority that seems to have emerged was some mention about the lack of recent scientific progress in India, in comparison with RECENT advances in the West. And a sense that there were these ghastly customs like sati. Then came the Aryan theory with the Brahmins ("WHITE") AT THE TOP. Max Muller claimed the "Aryan invasion". That was a real breakthrough in the "RACIAL PRIDE" of the Europeans. This was when the British finally started seeing themselves as "superior" to most Indians (not Brahmins, though). And they audaciously (and justifiably!) put themselves ON TOP OF THE BRAHMINS. Why? Because they were "white", and their language had common roots with Sanskrit! So if a brown Brahmin leads the pack in India, then the White Brahmin must lead the global pack. It seems to me that racism peaked between 1860s and 1950s being driven by the "Aryan" myth. The Aryan myth was nothing but the Europeans thinking they were at the top of the world's caste system.
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In this way the Indian caste system, combined with the increasing economic clout of the British, created (or at least stoked) the delusion of "white" racism. Without the caste system there would have been NO HOPE of the "white" "races" seeing themselves "superior" to anyone else. They might have become the rulers but never thought of themselves as a "superior" "race". QED.
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3.
Not just destruction of liberty but oppression and VIOLENCE
I dont intend to even briefly cover the extensive oppression, tyranny and violence of caste. This chapter merely provides a glimpse. Im not covering violence in detail, but statistics of caste based violence are widely available on the internet.
3.1
Control over key life events

Brahmins control the oppressed Hindus at key points in their life: birth, marriage and death. By acting as intermediaries between Hindus and the unseen spirits, they accrue power.
3.2
Careful domestication (victim-consent) of the oppressed

As a result of these control mechanisms, the lower castes have been domesticated. There has been significant co-option in the elevation of oppressive Brahmins by Hindus. At least the upper castes are perfectly under control. There remain some difficulties in controlling intelligent Dalits like Ambedkar, but the average Dalit is well under control, having by now lost the intelligence and ability to understand how they are being controlled. Regardless of the merit or otherwise of the caste system (it is extremely immoral; a great evil), there seems to be (almost) no doubt that Brahmins do have some above-average intellectual skills. The greatest skill that some of the most intelligent specimens of this 'caste' brought to the table, of course, is the very idea of the caste system. There can perhaps be nothing as "smartly designed" as the caste system in which you chant mantras that call others inferior and YET manage to get these "inferiors" running around you to be part of the "system" and to give you dakshina. The Brahmins insult others openly. The Dharmashastras, written by the Brahmins, are full of insults for other castes. Manusmriti: One should consider a Brahman ten year-old and a Kashatriya hundred year old as father and son; but of them the Brahman is the father. A Shudra is not worthy of respect on the ground of his wealth or knowledge no matter how high he may be. Taittiriya Brahmana: The Brahman Caste is sprung from the Gods; the Shudras from the Asuras (daemons). Vishnu Smiriti: The name to be chosen should be auspicious in the case of a Brahman, indicating power in the case of a Kashatriya,
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indicating wealth in the case of the Vaishya and indicating contempt in the case of the Shudra. And of course, many Brahmins have never hesitated to humiliate Dalits like Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram. Plus the usual humiliation of women and insistence on a son to undertake funeral rites: which is the cause of the great tragedy of the missing girl children of India. If Christian priests have behaved badly, then Hindu priests have behaved much worse and have managed, very cleverly, to build a constituency that doesn't challenge them. The Pope is on the defensive. But the Brahmin is still supreme and able to chant his (sometimes vile) mantras without any push back or questioning. It takes great intellectual prowess to design an abusive system and make the victim thank you for it! The caste system is a web which you can't enter or escape from, without paying the Brahmin.
3.3
Obnoxious suggestion that others pollute us

Caste is simply not a system of inequalities between castes of purity and castes of pollution. Such a neat division of labour is not there in the caste system. There are grades of pollution, followed by rules of precedence in matters of education, religion, commensality, marriage, economy and so on. Such rules of precedence exclude not merely Dalits from various sectors of human life. They also exclude Sudras, Vaisyas, non-Vedic Brahmins as well as all women across caste divisions. Caste is thus a hierarchy of grades/ranks of people subdivided by the different rules of precedence in matters governing human life, where the Vedic Brahmin male occupies the top of hierarchy with Dalits occupying its bottom. Vedas and Puranas were seen as two different sources of knowledge. Vedic Brahmins occupied superior status over Puranic Brahmins as the Vedic knowledge preceded Puranic knowledge. Brahmin male occupied superior status over Brahmin women in matters of knowledge. Women of any caste and all non-Brahmin males were excluded from education system by caste practices. Violation of such rules by any group invited proportionate physical punishment. Such punishment rules varied from region to region. Even, untouchables are divided by rules of precedence. Malas think that they are superior to Madigas in Andhra Pradesh and assume that the latter are untouchables. Politically, a Mala may claim that he is a Dalit but does not hesitate to ex-communicate Madigas and their assertions for selfidentity, thus debunking his entire claim for a Dalit identity. Source: Arun Kumar Patnaik, Lohias Immanent Critique of Caste]
3.4
Possible link of pollution with beef eating

The Veda Vyas Smriti contains the following verse which specifies the
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communities which are included in the category of Antyajas and the reasons why they were so included L.12-13 The Charmakars (Cobbler), the Bhatta (Soldier), the Bhilla, the Rajaka (washerman), the Puskara, the Nata (actor), the Vrata, the Meda, the Chandala, the Dasa, the Svapaka, and the Kolika- these are known as Antyajas as well as others who eat cows flesh. Generally speaking, the Smritikars never care to explain the why and the how of their dogmas. But this case is exception. For in this case, Veda Vyas does explain the cause of untouchability. The clause as well as others who eat cow's flesh is very important. It shows that the Smritikars knew that the origin of untouchability is to be found in the eating of beef. Source: Ambedkar: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?217660
3.5
Blaming victims for their plight

For the other castes he had some harsh words, and challenged them to learn Sanskrit. NON-BRAHMINS ARE LAZY To the non-Brahmin castes I say, wait, be not in a hurry. Do not seize every opportunity of fighting the Brahmin, because, as I have shown, you are suffering from your own fault. Who told you to neglect spirituality and Sanskrit learning? What have you been doing all this time? Why have you been indifferent? Why do you now fret and fume because somebody else had more brains, more energy, more pluck and go, than you? Instead of wasting your energies in vain discussions and quarrels in the newspapers, instead of fighting and quarrelling in your own homes which is sinful use all your energies in acquiring the culture which the Brahmin has, and the thing is done. Why do you not become Sanskrit scholars? Why do you not spend millions to bring Sanskrit education to all the castes of India? That is the question. The moment you do these things, you are equal to the Brahmin. That is the secret of power in India. Sanskrit and prestige go together in India. As soon as you have that, none dares say anything against you. That is the one secret; take that up. [Source]
3.5.1 Vivekananda chastised non-Brahmins
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3.6
Economic discrimination
Male Hindus are more likely to discriminate against low caste Hindus Job applications were made for entry level white collar jobs which were based in Chennai and advertised on job search web sites between March and December of 2006. Two resumes were sent for each job vacancy, one being randomly assigned a high-caste sounding name and the other a lowcaste sounding name. The resumes depicted applicants of approximately the same level of productivity. On average, a high-caste applicant had to send 6.2 resumes to get one callback while a low-caste applicant had to send 7.4 resumes to get one callback, a difference of approximately 20 percent. The nature of the audit study also allowed me to look at the variation in callback gaps associated with recruiter and firm characteristics. The effect of low caste on callback is negative for male recruiters and for Hindu recruiters, but it is positive for female recruiters and for non-Hindu recruiters. The effect of low caste on callback is negative for firms with a larger scale of operations (with multiple domestic offices or with foreign offices) but positive for firms with a smaller scale of operations (without multiple domestic offices or without foreign offices). Caste Based Discrimination: Evidence and Policy, Zahra Siddique, September 2008, The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) http://ftp.iza.org/dp3737.pdf
3.6.1 Lower castes not likely to be given jobs
3.6.2 Lower castes regularly cheated in economic trasactions

During the study of the Discrimination in Food Security Programme conducted by the Indian University Grants Commission (UGC), the present UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat (a dalit) and Joel Lee of Columbia University (USA), it was found that discrimination in quantity, quality, price, favouritism and Untouchability is rampant across the country. The result is startling enough to make the government re-orient its food security programmes. With Casteism heavily dominating the Public Distribution Programme (PDS), Dalits are not only denied access to food, but are also made to pay more money for lesser quantity and are charged higher prices. Of the total 521 Villages surveyed in five States: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh- almost 40% reported that Dalits were found to be receiving lesser quantities for the same price as compared to the Upper Castes. [Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal]
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3.7
Mistreatment and humiliation of lower castes/ outcastes

Shivajis humiliation by Brahmins was as abominable as humiliation by Aurangzeb I hold Shivaji in the highest esteem. I don't have any heroes any more but he was a hero during my teenage years. In class 10 in school I played a lead role in the school Shivaji celebrations organised (Kendriya Vidyalaya, Picket, Secunderabad) in 1974-75. I wrote an English play about Shivaji, and then directed and acted in that play. I also painted Shivajis exploits in watercolour paintings for the exhibition. Never did I bother to inquire into his caste or even his religion (he, too it is my understanding was a believer in individual merit, not in someone's caste or religion). But yesterday, while exploring the caste system, I came across this fact that Shivaji was humiliated by Brahmins during his lifetime. Why? Because he was a Shudra! What kind of a religion is this which disrespects real achievements and contributions but pretends that peoples status must be determined by IMAGINARY past achievements in a life that no one has any clue about! The re-birth myth is a curse on India. It is unfortunate that Shivaji bothered to get a Brahmin to crown himself king (at HUGE expense he managed someone to FAKE his background). He should have chosen the most learned person in his kingdom, regardless of the persons religion or caste. I now feel even more disgusted with Brahminical (caste) Hinduism than ever before. Shivaji keenly felt his humiliation at the hands of the Brahmans to whose defence and prosperity he had devoted his life. Their insistence on treating him as Shudra drove him into the arms of Balaji Avjji, another victim of Brahmanic pride. The Brahmans proclaim[ed] a social boycott of Balaji Avaji who had ventured to invest his son with the sacred thread. Balaji naturally sympathized with his master and tried to raise him in social estimation by engaging Ganga Bhatta who 'made Shivaji a pure Kshatriya. [Sarkar, Jadunath. Shivaji and His Times. Calcutta: MC Sarkar & Sons, 1919. Further: Shivajis descendant, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, was not allowed to chant vedic mantras. The reasonwas they were shudras and hence had no right to worship or be worshipped in vedic tradition. A very recent example is of Pandarinath Patil of Chikhali dt., Buldhana. He was insulted for chanting the mantra, Omkar. Even today, all Sankaracharyas are Brahmin by caste. [Source] Basically, everyone seems to be misusing Shivajis legacy to further their cause. Dalits see him as the champion of the outcastes because he was one king who employed their services in his fight against his enemies; Hindutva
3.7.1 Shivajis humiliation
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historians see him merely as a Hindu king ranged against Muslims, seeking to establish a Hindu swarajya; Marathas see him only as their foremost leader who fought Muslim rulers on one side and Brahmin bigotry on the other side; while Brahmins have written about Shivaji as a king who achieved greatness because he was guided by Brahmin sant and advisors. [Source] Whatever the political use people are making of Shivaji, one thing is clear: the Brahmins seriously insulted this fine gentleman. Here are my research findings about Shivajis insult from his own religion. This is what I first came across: From The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal If birth of the Shudra was so pure just because feet are closer to the mother earth, then what happened in the case of Shri Shattarpati Shiva ji? It is a well known historical fact that, Shivaji, after having established a Hindu kingdom in the Western part of Maharashtra, thought of proclaiming himself a king by having a coronation ceremony performed by a Brahman. But he was denied by the Brahmans by proclaiming that Shri Shattarpati Shivaji was a Shudra by birth. Therefore the coronation could not be performed, because he was not a Kashatriya. Even though the Kashatriyas had failed to defend the state, or regain it, from the Moguls, it took a Shudra warrior to take it back. Brahmans refusal to crown Shivaji, meant lot of the tribes would not follow him in battle, because he was not a legitimate king duly crowned, so Shivaji offered ten times as much to a Brahman called Gagabhat from Benares to perform the coronation ceremony on 6th.June 1674. Even then the Brahman would not touch him with his hands to anoint his fore-head instead he used his left toe. The name of Shivaji is mentioned with great pride throughout India, as one of the greatest warriors who stood up to the mogul might, but to a Brahman he was nothing, but a Shudra. Not willing to believe just one source, I investigated further. Here are the results of a few of my attempts to confirm this story. It appears that this is true. Confirmation 1 Human rights activist Teesta Setalvad had prepared a hand book of History for the school teachers some time back. In this she pointed out that since Shivaji was a Shudra, the Brahmins refused to coronate him, so a Brahmin Gaga Bhat had to be brought from Kashi, who did the coronation ritual. Since Shivaji was a Shudra this coronation was done with the toe of his left foot by Gaga Bhat. [Source: SHIVAJIS STATUE IN ARABIAN SEA by Ram Puniyani, June 06, 2009] Confirmation 2 as a Shudra or low-caste person, Shivaji had perforce to enact some ceremony by means of which he could be raised to the status of a kshatriya or traditional ruler. Not a single brahmin was ready to do the coronation ceremonial function of the shudra shivaji. To this end, he enlisted the services of Gagga Bhatta, a famous Brahmin from Benaras, who did the Brahminical thing in falsely certifying that Shivajis ancestors were kshatriyas descended from the solar dynasty of
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Mewar and that too the coronation was made by the thumb of the leg only of shivaji belonging to shudra. This coronation ceremony took on June 6,1974. [Source: http://www.ambedkar.org/bamcef/journal/feb01/letus.html] Confirmation 3: Dalit's Inheritance in Hindu Religion (2009) By Mahendra Singh, Foreword by P.Parameswaran, President, Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari In his book 'History of India (1000 to 1707 AD)', Shiva Lal Agarwala & Company Educational Publishers, Agra, Dr. A.L. Srivastava writes "Orthodox Brahmans in Maharastra were averse to recognizing him as Kshatriya . At his initiation into the rites of the twice-born (Dwija) Kshatriya, Shivaji's guru and other Brahmans uttered Vedic mantras, but Shivaji was not allowed to utter or repeat them." . Coming to position of descendants of Shivaji, Dr. Ambedkar in the same above book writes, referring to aversions of Brahmins, "They could do nothing to the two sons of Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram. Shivaji had their upanayan performed in his life-time by Brahmins with Vedic rites. They could do nothing to his grandson, Shahu because the Brahmin had no ruling power in their hands. The moment Shahu transferred his sovereign power to his Brahmins Peshwa their road to repudiation became clear There is definite evidence that upenayana ceremony of his successor, Shahu-II, who was adopted in 1777 AD had been performed with Pauranic rites and by the direction of Peshwas. The performance of upanayan of Shahu-II with Pauranic rites was tantamount to his being regarded by the Peshwas as a Shudra". Dr. S.V. Ketkar in his book "History of caste in India writes similarly (p. 60) as, "even today I know of a Brahamana of character sufficiently independent to give up all his Jahagir of 40,000 rupees a year and refuse to perform Vedokta ceremonies in the family of Shivaji". As an ideal king and able administrator Shivaji helped the poor peasants by distributing Zamidar's land and taking minimum revenue. He ensured that justice is given to all and never favored his family at the cost of others. He did not have blind belief in orthodoxy and superstitions and undertook sea journeys. He practiced secularism by placing Muslims in his army in good position. Confirmation 4 as a Shudra or low-caste person, Shivaji had perforce to enact some ceremony by means of which he could be raised to the status of a kshatriya or traditional ruler. To this end, he enlisted the services of Gagga Bhatta, a famous Brahmin from Benares, who did the Brahminical thing in falsely certifying that Shivajis ancestors were kshatriyas descended from the solar dynasty of Mewar. 11,000 Brahmins are reported to have chanted the Vedas, and another 50,000 men are said to have been present at the investiture ceremony, which concluded with chants of, Shivaji Maharaj-ki-jai! [Source: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/Shivaji.html] Confirmation 5 A Social History of India By S. N. Sadasivan A most renowned conversion to Kshatriyahood, scintillating for its pomp, conspicuous for its splendour, exorbitant for its cost and extraordinary for
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its rituals, was of Sivaji, indisputably, the most prominent of all Maratha leaders. Sivaji was bom in April or May 1627 in the family of Bhosales founded by Bhosavant who was a Patil or a village officer. His father was Shaji, a military officer under the services of the Mughals and the Muslim rulers of Bijapur, who led successful expeditions against the powerful Vijayanagar empire. Shivaji's mother was Jijabai. His birth was considered to be the answer to her worshipping a local deity Sivai Devi after whom he was named. Brought up in an ambience of reverence to mythological heroes, Sivaji mastered the art of guerilla warfare developed by Malik Ambar, the Abyssinian minister to the Sultan of Ahmednagar. He by his undaunted bravery, formidable political acumen and exceptional organisational ability offered inspiring generalship to a closely knit army drawn from the bold peasantry and the daring hill tribes and conquered vast territories of Aurangazeb who for his religious intolerance was the most hated of the Mughal emperors. His military genius has belied the mythological monopoly of warfare handed down by the Brahminic fiction to an imaginary warrior clan called the Kshatriy.. As H.G. Rawlinson says: "In appearance Sivaji was a typical Maratha". The Brahmins vied with one another to get into his services and although he was of the opinion that they should strictly confine themselves to religious life, he had appointed a great many of them in his administration from top to bottom. Sivaji borrowed the administrative system of the Mauryas, but neither they nor the imperial Guptas ever attached any importance to Kshatriyahood; yet it is amazing even to a frozen intelligence why Sivaji wanted to get converted himself as a Kshatriya. The Marathas to whom he belonged, is a sturdy peasant community which had its own aristocracy. According to Brahminic standard they are Sudras. Capt. E.W. West, Mountstuart Elphinstone, F.W. Sinclair and a host of other students of society in India, are of the definite opinion that the Marathas are Sudras and most of them are Kun(a)bis (cultivators). The other names parallel to cultivators used in upper India and in Gujarat are Kurmis, Koeris and Kanbis who also belong to the Sudra caste. The Marathas would have remained as self-respecting farmers, had not the Brahmins evolved the social framework of Chaturvarnya and arrogated to themselves exclusively the authority for ordaining Kshatriyas. Sivaji was given unstinted support for his military operations by the swordsmen belonging to the Hill Kolis of Mawal who were made later on Marathas by him. The Brahmins did not protest at this upgradation because in spite of their conversion, the Hill Kolis remained as Sudras within the Sudras. The Brahmins who served Sivaji for manoeuvring his power from behind to their advantage, however, were disturbed when Sivaji legitimately aspired, that he should be made the monarch of the territories he brought by the sword under his control. Unlike in the days of the Mauryas and Guptas or even the Chalukyas, in the 17th century caste system had taken its most monstrous form and the entire mobilisation society was aimed at making caste laws fully enforced in its farthest interpretation. The Brahmins had made everyone a slave of caste and forged laws that the Kshatriyas of their ordination alone were entitled to be crowned as kings. By his deed (karma) Sivaji would have been a super- Kshatriya but the
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more he conquered, the more his fame spread, and the more was the intra-communal jealousy and envy against him. The Maratha families who were equal to the Bhosales, did not want to be subordinate to Sivaji whom they looked down upon as a usurper and an upstart while they openly pledged their loyalty to Aurangazeb and the Mohammaden ruler of Bijapur. The hostile Marathas repeatedly endorsed the Brahmin view that Sivaji was a Suclra as any one of them and had no right to be a king although they were happy to be submissive to the imperial authority of Aurangazeb and the sovereignty of Adil Shah of Bijapur. His prime minister Moro Pant Pingle, himself a Brahmin, was openly opposed to the admittance of Sivaji as a Kshatriya though he apprised his political master that the Maratha Brahmins were prepared to perform his coronation rites in conformity with non-vedic scheme befitting to a Sudra military leader. The great warrior felt insulted and was in a predicament when he found the Brahmins were unrelentingly treating him as a Sudra. He therefore, admitted to his inner circle Balaji Avji, the leader of the Kayasthas who himself was fighting Brahminic insolence. Avji who had the temerity to invest his own son with the cross thread with the help of likeminded others, managed to create a pedigree for the Bhosale family tracing it back to the maharana of Udaipur. Nevertheless, it was not difficult for the Brahmins to defeat the whole genealogical venture. Sivaji finally approached Visveswar, popularly known as Gaga Bhatta who was a Brahmin theologian well-versed in scriptures and rituals to confer upon him Kshatriyahood as well as to conduct his coronation. Gaga Bhatta was an authoritative provenance to the other Brahmins who had hardened their stand against making Sivaji, a Kshatriya, however conceded to his request on his being assured of a gargantuan fortune he demanded. As a prelude to the confirment of Kshatriyahood and his coronation, Sivaji visited a number of temples and made lavish offerings. To the idol in the Bhavani temple in Tuljapur alone, he gifted a parasol made of pure gold weighing 1.25 mounds. The Brahmins drew up a long list of his sins both by commission and by omission including inadvertent killing of cows that he might have unknowingly committed, during raids or battles for the expiation of which they fixed their own sums which Shivaji paid. At the instance of Gaga Bhatta 11, 000 Brahmins with their wives and children numbering in all 50, 000 souls, had to be sumptuously fed and supplied with clothes and other necessities on a liberal scale for four months, the expenses for which were entirely defrayed by their generous patron. On the coronation day, as Sivaji sat on his golden throne studded with luminous pearls and precious stones, flowers of various kinds made of gold and silver and miniature gold lotuses speckled with jewels were showered over the distinguished gathering. With all the largesse which Sivaji distributed, the Brahmins who suppressed their indignance at Sivaji's conversion to Kshatriya by ritual purification done by Gaga Bhatta, rose in revolt when Sivaji was to be taught vedic mantras (hymns) befitting to a twice- born. They contended that only Brahmins were twicebom and there could be no true Kshatriya in the modem age. Gaga Bhatta lost his nerves at the resentment of the members of his clan and he suddenly dropped the item from the rituals listed in the programme of the coronation which was performed on June 6,1674 at Raigarh. Besides many fabulous presents, Gaga Bhatta received a reward of one lakh of pounds in
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his capacity as the archpriest of the function. The title of Kshatriya Kulavamsa Sri Raja Sivaji Chhatrapati was conferred on the Maratha conqueror. The head of the English factory at Surat, Henry Oxenden was an eye-witness to the grand and glittering celebration. Oxenden who presented Sivaji with a diamond ring, noted that he was not at any time allowed by the Brahmins to attend to any other business than the religious ceremonies and the talks pertaining to them. The validity of the prohibitively costly coronation of Sivaji according to the vedic rites, was questioned by a Bengali Tantrik priest by name Nischhal Puri Goswami and a few inauspicious occurrences and mishaps that had taken place within weeks of the coronation, he attributed to the inadequacy of the vedic scheme that Gaga Bhatta followed to propitiate the spirits and goblins. On September 24, 1674 Nischhal Puri conducted a second coronation of Sivaji in accordance with the Tantrik rites after which paradoxically mischance only multiplied. The cost of coronation according to Sivaji's court chronicler Sabhasad was 14, 20, 000 buns. There is however no agreement as to the actual amount involved but according to Jadunath Sarkar: "The coronation exhausted Sivaji's treasury and he was in need of money to pay his troops". Sivaji passed away on April 4, 1680 little less than six years after his coronation but before completing his 53rd year. Them is a general belief that Sivaji before his coronation had passed through the process of Hiranyagarbhayaga for investiture to be a Kshatriya but the English and Dutch records are completely silent on this. Whatever the ritualistic details of his coronation, it abundantly illustrates that even as late as 17th century A.D., the mightiest warriors have become victims of the lam and temptations of Kshatriyahood by the confirment of which neither had they enhanced their military capability nor durability of their domains. Confirmation 6: James W. Laine, A Question of Maharashtrian Identity: Hindu Self-definition in the Tales of Shivaji, in Intersections: Socio-cultural Trends in Maharashtra (2000) edited by Meera Kosambi I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the Shivabharata (1927; hereafter SBH), a Sanskrit text composed by Shivaji's court poet, Kavindra Paramananda. Though incomplete, and not always accurate in its details, the text provides a rare window not only on the world Shivaji inhabited, but on the view that he wished others to have of him. It is a panegyric which suggests the loftier ideals of the ruling Hindu nobility and their Brahmin servants, and provides a complicated picture of the ways this group at least defined themselves as Hindus and viewed the HinduMuslim Kulfurkampf of their era. There are good reasons to see the SBH, like Shivaji's coronation in 1674, as part of Shivaji's attempt to claim Kshatriya status and legitimate rule as a Hindu king or Chhatrapati. Indeed, I am sure that the SBH was commissioned at about the same time as the coronation; its language of royal legitimacy presupposes the coronation. In legitimating Shivaji's lineage, however, the court poet needed to recount the successes of the Bhosle clan, especially the deeds of Shivaji's grandfather Maloji and his father Shahaji, and in these stories it becomes clear that the recent rise of the Bhosles was one fostered by Muslim patrons. Of course, in the seventeenth century Deccan, the sultans ruling
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from Ahmadnagar or Bijapur (the Nizam Shah and the Adil Shah), depended on the service of petty Hindu rajas, or sardars. Shivaji's immediate ancestors were soldiers of fortune who won the right to tax certain lands by their loyal military service to the Muslim overlords, and although they certainly remained Hindus, they operated in a rather Islamicate world.' The SBH accurately notes that Shivaji's father and uncle were named after a Sufi pir, and that their battles were clannish or with rival Hindu rajas. Also see: http://www.ssmrae.com/admin/images/28ba4b40e997cbddcb1d542cb6c5 c765.pdf http://mulnivasiorganiser.bamcef.org/?p=168 http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar/web/terms/9599.html
3.8
Untouchability, and violence against the outcastes

It is absolutely monstrous that a class of human beings with bodies similar to our own, with brains that can think and with hearts that can feel, should be perpetually condemned to a low life of utter wretchedness. We may touch a cat, we may touch a dog, we may touch any other animal, but the touch of these human beings is pollution. And so complete is now the mental degradation of these people that they themselves see nothing in such treatment to resent, that they acquiesce in it as though nothing better than that was their due. At a public meeting in Dharwar in 1903 [cited in MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA BY J. N. FARQUHAR,1915]
3.8.1 GK Gokhales comment on untouchability
3.8.2 Extract from Gandhi

Our woebegone Indian society has branded the Bhangi as a social pariah, set him down at the bottom of the scale, held him fit only to receive kicks and abuse, a creature who must subsist on the leavings of the caste-people and dwell on the dung-heap. Not till the invidious distinction between the Brahmin and the Bhangi is removed will our society enjoy health, prosperity and peace, and be happy. Mahatma Gandhi Harijanbandhu, 29-11-1936 (http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL070.PDF)
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3.8.3 Oppression of Dalits

We are sick of the bondage which the barbarism of Hindu customs imposes upon us; we long to enjoy the perfect freedom which the British nation and the British Government desire to offer impartially to all those who are connected with them as British subjects. We would, therefore, earnestly appeal to the Imperial Government to move on our behalf. We have long submitted to the Jagannath of caste; we have for ages been crushed under its ponderous wheels. But we can now no longer submit to the tyranny. Our Hindu rulers did not recognize our manhood, and treated us worse than their cattle; and shall not that nation which emancipated the Negro at infinite self-sacrifice, and enlightened and elevated the poorer people of its own commonwealth, condescend to give us a helping hand? [Mahars (Dalits) of Maharashtra appealing for help against Hinduism to the British rulers of India (1910), in Memorial to the Earl of Crewe, Secretary of State for India cited in MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA BY J. N. FARQUHAR (1915)]
3.8.4 Jagjivan Ram humiliated

Take Shri Jagjeevan Ram, a life-long servant of the Congress Party, he was a Cabinet Minister of the Congress Government from 1947 to his death in 1986. He was acting Prime Minister after the death of Shri Lal Bahadur Shashtri. He was invited to inaugurate the statue of Shri Sampurnanand in 1971 at Benares Hindu University, and having completed the ceremony Jagjeevan Ram went away. Then the statue was taken down, because it was polluted by the touch of an Untouchable. So it was purified with mixture of Punch Gov46, according to the ritual stated in the religious texts, the necessary substances are mixed with water from Ganga and washed for 21 days, then the pollution created by Untouchables touch is purified. Shri Jagjeevan Rams life-time service to the nation came to washing with cows urine and cows dung? He was deliberately chosen to be humiliated. It was designed to send a message to the wider public that Caste along with its prejudices is very much alive. No matter how high a position an Untouchable acquires, but he is still an Untouchable in the eyes of the Hindus. Source: The Evil of Caste:- The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World by Chanan Chahal
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3.8.5 Ambedkar humiliated

Dr. Ambedkar is accepted to be the father of the Indian Constitution, a giant amongst scholars and the first law minister who wrote the constitution. He has undertaken enormous economic and legal reformation to uplift Indians, especially Dalits, how is it no Hindu Pundit ever referred him or called him Pundit? In-fact, Dr. Ambedkars intelligence and humanity cannot be matched by any Pundit alive or dead in the history of India. But they just think about him as a dalit. If such a great and a noble man like Dr. Ambedkar is treated like this, then how can Dr. Sharma maintain that caste system is profession-based? Source: The Evil of Caste:- The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World by Chanan Chahal Someone on FB said that he tought of Ambedkar as a Brahmin. I asked did anyone tell him that during his lifetime? Was he given ANY regard by the Brahimins at any point in his life? His personal experience with Gandhi was very unpleasant. Ambedkar had a few meetings with him and came out feeling insulted and looked down upon. Listen to Ambedkar's own voice, here. What shame that he felt slighted by Gandhi. My opinion about Gandhi has plummeted seriously after this discovery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FNSQcEx02A
3.9
Violence
Jhajjar five Dalits were lynched to death on October 15 in Jhajjar district for hiding a dead cow. local Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders had held a victory procession after the public lynching, how they had decided to reward the killers and claimed that they had burnt 'Ravana'. VHP leaders in Delhi such as Giriraj Kishore had already claimed that the life of a cow was more precious than that of a human being. [Source: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?217730]
3.9.1 Killing Dalits who removed a dead cows hide
3.9.2 Some illustrations of violence

India's "Untouchables" Face Violence, Discrimination Google and youll find plenty of evidence. A Dalit man was beaten to death and at least 12 others, including old women and children, severely injured as upper castes in the village allegedly attacked them for trying to hoist the national flag outside a temple belonging to the community. Source:
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3.9.3 Dalit literature shows the magnitude of oppression

There is now a significant amount of Dalit literature which confirms oppression in the voice of the oppressed. 3.9.3.1 Dalit journals Dalit Voice Bheem Patrika, published since 1958, is our longest-running Dalit periodical [http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?281945] Founder-editor Lahori Ram Balley Ambedkar Journal DALIT VOICE http://dalitnation.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/v-t-rajshekar-down-but-notout/
3.10 Mistreatment and humiliation of women

Im not discussing the effects of son-preference in Hinduism in this booklet since that is a separate piece of work in itself. But let it be remembered that caste has real effects. Caste and social oppression can lead to serious effects on a nations economy and future prospects.
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4.
Deliberate lowering of intelligence of the oppressed?
Those under the control of Brahmins dont even know they are being controlled since their intelligence has beey systematically degraded over the centuries.
4.1
Indian average national IQ is extremely low

The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Indians is around 80-85, with SIGNIFICANT potential to increase A few years ago, while writing Breaking Free of Nehru, I had come across data that showed that Indians had a particularly low average IQ (of around 85). I'm fully aware of the HUGE problems with IQ tests and the fact that it is very hard to arrive at substantive data on IQs. Also, other methodlogical issues. But I do think there is something "indicative" or useful in these tests. Based on this I wrote in BFN: "This figure is based on measurements conducted in India by a range of different researchers over decades. Despite the methodological issues that the underlying data may raise, I have little doubt that this IQ difference is real (I would be pleased to be proven that this is an error.) We cant simply shrug aside a difference of this magnitude; we should try to explain it" I thought that's a given. No one has questioned the data since 2008 when my book was published. Tens of thousands of copies have been downloaded, and most people on FTI claim to have read it. However, Shantanu Bhagwat of FTI has now stated on FB: "Sanjeev: I completely disagree with your assertion on low Indian IQ. Since when did entire populations/ segments of society start having low IQs?" Well, for Shantanu and many others who might not have come across this what I assumed was widely known information, I've quickly reviewed the literature again and here are my results: Sources IQ and the Wealth of Nations by Dr. Richard Lynn and Dr. Tatu Vanhanen. See also the scattergram at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations. Also see: http://www.vdare.com/articles/a-few-thoughts-on-iq-and-the-wealth-ofnations See tables: http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/article_intelligence/t4.asp National IQs calculated and validated for 108 nations by Richard Lynn and Gerhard Meisenberg, Intelligence 38 (2010) 353360 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Global_Bell_Curve The consistent hierarchies of IQ and achievement reported in Lynn's synthesis can be summarized as follows:
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East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans) (Average IQ of 105) Europeans (Average IQ 100) South East Asians (Average IQ 87) North Africans (Average IQ of 84) Sub-Saharan Africans (Average IQ of 67) Australian Aborigines (Average IQ of 62)
National IQ and National Productivity: The Hive Mind Across Asia by Garett Jones, George Mason University
Also: Richard Lynn Race differences in intelligence: A global perspective, in Mankind Quarterly, Spring 1991, Vol. 31 Issue 3. A further article notes: "In the detailed data for South Asians, there is a distinct smaller cluster between 90 and 100, and another bigger cluster between 80 and 90, closer to 90. But then there are a bunch of scores that go as low as 75 which bring down the average to 84." [Source] On the I.Q. of Nations; Smart, Smarter and Smartest? Also read this: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/10/education/anemerging-theory-on-blacks-iq-scores.html http://akarlin.com/2012/08/14/the-puzzle-of-indian-iq-a-country-of-gypsiesand-jews/ http://www.sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm This is particularly eye-opening (and problematic): http://isteve.blogspot.com.au/2008/06/indias-average-iq-in-2100.html What this article needs is a robust rebuttal based on the argument I've provided in BFN (self-respect/liberty based). I do not see "Dalit" IQs being "stagnant" or low in the future with greater liberty and dissolution of the caste system. I recall having read a major list of Indian IQ studies that spanned decades. Let me list whatever I can find now: Fitzgerald, J.A. and Ludemall, W.W. 1926 The intelligence of Indian children. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 6, 319-328
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Sinha, U. 1968 The use of Raven's Progressive Matrices in India. Indian Educational Review, 3, 75-88. Kamat, V.V. (1964) Measuring Intelligence of Indian Children, 4th ed. Bombay, Oxford University Press. Das, Jishnu & T. Zajonc (2010) India shining and Bharat drowning: comparing two Indian states to the worldwide distribution in mathematics achievement. Journal of Development Economics 92: 175187. Anupama Bhave, Roli Bhargava and Rashmi Kumar, Validation of a new Lucknow intelligence screening test for Indian children aged 9 to 15 yr, J Pediatr Neurol 2011; 9(2) KULKARNI SD, PATHAK, NR, SHARMA CS. Academic Performance Of School Children With Their Intelligence Quotient. NJIRM. 2010; 1(3): 1215. Badaruddoza and Afzal M (1993). Inbreeding depression and intelligence quotient among North Indian children. Behaviour Genetics 23: 343-347. Badaruddoza (2004). Effect of inbreeding on Wechsler intelligence test scores among North Indian Children. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 16(2): 99-103 Dr. Analpa Paranjape (2004). A comparison of performance on Indian Child Intelligence Test (ICII) of children with mental retardation and learning difficulties. http://www.indianjmedsci.org/ Bhatt MC. Adaptation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children for Gujarati population [PhD dissertation]. Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Univ. of Gujarat; 1971. Ranganath, Priya and Sayee Rajangam (Bangalore). Intelligence quotient in mental retardation. Disabilities and Impairment Vol.21 (1) 59. In the present study, the IQ level was test on 426 children (261 boys and 165 girls) with MR who visited the Division of Human Genetics, St. Johns Medical College, Bangalore, IQ levels of <50 was observed in 60% of the males and 51-70%in 64% IQ levels of <50 was observed in 40% of the females and 51-70 in 36%. S. Venkatesan, Basavarajappa and M Divya (Mysore). Seguin form board test: Field try out on a modified procedure of test administration. Indian Journal of Applied Psychology, April 2007, Vol. 44, 1-5. Misra, Girishwar; Sahoo, Fakir M.; Puhan, Biranchi N. " Cultural bias in testing: India "European Review of Applied Psychology / Revue Europenne de Psychologie Applique, Vol 47(4), 1997, 309-317. Foundations of Indian Psychology, edited by M. Cornelisson, G. Misra & S. Verma, Publisher: Pearson, New Delhi.
H. S. NARAYANAN, A STUDY OF THE PREVALENCE OF MENTAL RETARDATION IN SOUTHERN INDIA, International Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 10, No. 1, Severe Mental Retardation Across the World: Epidemological Studies (Spring 1981), pp. 28-36
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I know there was regular testing of IQs in India by NCERT [See this]. Some good references are available here. I recall Lucknow had something to do with these tests, but can't readily locate the data. But I found this catalogue of 2000 IQ and other tests in India.
Source: The flynn effect: an alert to clinicians (2004), Andrade, Chittaranjan, Indian Journal of Psychiatry vol:46 iss:2 pg:166. "The only school achievement data for India are from the First International Science Study in 1970 (Comber & Keeves, 1973), and a recent study with a subset of the 2007 TIMSS study in the states of Rajasthan and Orissa (Das & Zajonc, 2010). The school achievement score of India was averaged from these two sources." [Source: Gerhard Meisenberg and Richard Lynn (2011), Intelligence: A Measure of Human Capital in Nations, The Journal of social, political, and economic studies, vol:36 iss:4 pg:421 -454 ] Indian IQ might be as low as 74: India also has not participated in a recent student assessment study, with the exception of the states of Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Both states have advanced education and income levels (Suryanarayana, Agrawal, & Prabhu, 2011, Table 1, p. 16). If there is any divergence from the Indian average, test scores in both states should be higher than the national average. Nevertheless, the low raw results (327345 SAS points, or 7477 IQ) are astonishing. To address the likely higher than average scores in the above states, we cautiously correct the results by subtracting 10 SAS points (equal to d = 0.10 or 1.50 IQ). [Source:Coyle, T R (2013), Spearman's Law of Diminishing Returns and national ability,
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Personality and Individual Differences, vol:55 iss:4 pg:406 -410] IQ is NOT fixed! Let me emphasise that IQ is NOT fixed. I believe only a small portion of it is genetically determined. Most of it is environmental. IQ changes. I won't go into details, but read this paper: William T. Dickens and James R. Flynn, Black Americans Reduce the Racial IQ Gap: Evidence from Standardization Samples. Psychological Science. October 2006. Also see this: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/154/8/711.full http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090922/full/news.2009.935.html http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/why-people-keepmisunderstanding-the-connection-between-race-and-iq/275876/ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444032404578006612 858486012.html Controversy! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_race_and_intelligence_controve rsy Also: http://www.edrev.info/essays/v14n12.pdf Let me end by saying that I don't take the Indian IQ of around 85 very seriously, since I know everyone in India has the potential to dramatically improve their intellectual results with better nutrition and education (particularly critical thinking). However, it is important that we use this information to understand what might be doing on. And then try to fix it. My hypothesis in BFN focused on freedom (and self-respect), although I noted that it is not enough to explain things. I've now honed in on nutrition as a key factor, since Chinese children get good amounts of meat whereas Indian poor children get almost nothing little or no meat or milk and only a few cereals and vegetables. I believe self-respect and appropriate environemental conditions at home are a key part of the IQ generation process, as well.
4.2
How can we explain the superior (on average) intellectual performance of the Brahmin caste?
The [unverified] data on caste related IQ that started me off on this recent spurt of analysis of caste, race and related matters, is probably (broadly) right. If other controls (like environmental/ economic factors) are ignored (for want of data), the intellectual performance of the Brahmin caste seems to be significantly higher than what would otherwise be expected. Here are some examples. None of these sources is peer-reviewed so I'm hesitant to generalise, but they seem broadly consistent with my understanding of the way the India works. And SOME data is better than no data.
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I'll make some broader comments after the data. In the California 2012 National Merit list, there were 184 Indian winners of which Brahmin = 112 North Indian Aryan Upper castes = 40 Dravidian Upper castes = 25 Patels ( middle ranking ) = 3 Sikhs ( middle ranking ) = 4 In the US diaspora, Sikhs and Patels despite being 40% of the diaspora, win just 4%. [Source] And this: The Almighty Brahmin! by Khushwant Singh Whatever be the sphere of curiosity literary, scientific, bureaucratic, or whatever, the Brahmin remains the top dog. Before I give details, we should bear in mind that Brahmins form no more than 3.5% of the population of our country. My statistics come from a pen friend, Brother Stanny, of St. Annes Church of Dhule in Maharashtra. They hold as much as 70% of government jobs. In the senior echelons of the civil service from the rank of deputy secretaries upward, out of 500 there are 310 Brahmins, i.e. 63%. Of the 26 state chief secretaries, 19 are Brahmins; of the 27 Governors and Lt. Governors 13 are Brahmins; of the 16 Supreme Court Judges, 9 are Brahmins; of the 330 judges of High Courts, 166 are Brahmins; of 140 ambassadors, 58 are Brahmins; of the total 3,300 IAS officers, 76 [per cent?] are Brahmins. Of the 508 Lok Sabha members, 190 were Brahmins; of 244 in the Rajya Sabha, 89 are Brahmins. This 3.5% of Brahmin community of India holds between 36% to 63% of all the plum jobs available in the country. [Source] And this: Brahmins occupy a lot of the intellectually demanding positions (I cannot find the source but I recall reading that almost all members of Indias version of the Manhattan Project were composed of Brahmins). A lot of the (super high IQ) US Indian immigrants appear to be Brahmins. [Source] In the Indian Manhattan project team of 18, of which 15 were brahmin and 3 merchants. [Source] And this: Most winners of spelling bee contests are Brahmins (including all three finalists this year, apparently) [Source]
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Even in cricket, apparently 7 out of 11 cricketers in India's cricket team are/were Brahmins. It seems an impression of Brahmin intellectual capability exists in India, so we have this: Infertile Indian couples demand high-caste 'Brahmin' sperm Comments ASSUMING the above data indicate a genuine difference in intellectual ability between castes, we can make one of the following deductions: a) Environmental: Brahmins have a culture and home environment that focuses on intellectual (and spiritual) pursuits which gives them an edge. b) Genetic: Brahmins have created a racist caste system which is designed to preserve their "genes". c) A combination of the two. My preference is for (c). I have no doubt that the caste system HAS created a genetic pool that gives Brahmins (on average) an innate intellectual advantage over other castes. But I believe that effect is relatively modest. In the main, I believe that (a) is the main driver of the observed results. The tradition of having book/s at home, of getting formally educated, must create an environmental advantage that no other caste can offer its children. This tells me two things: i) The idea that Indian "race" has a low IQ is total nonsense. That myth should be put to bed. Given the right environmental opportunities (like the Brahmins get), there is no reason why the whole of India can't perform wonderfully well. ii) EVERY Indian will do well to imbibe a similar interest in intellectual pursuits, like the Brahmins. But there is an obstacle to achieving (ii). One of the key obstacles is the CASTE SYSTEM itself. It destroys the home environment of the lower castes/ outcastes, and prevents the possibility of their rising to their potential. The reform of the caste system should start from the top. The oppressed are so intellectually weakened by centuries of oppression they have very limited mental ability to even fight it. They need all the help they can get. The reform will need to start with Brahmins who realise the immorality of this system system and walk away from it. By doing so, they will allow
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other castes/groups/communities in India to rise to their potential. Raja Rammohun Roy was an excellent example. Now much more needs to be done.
4.3
Self-perception of the Dalits

An interesting experiment in that respect is the one conducted by Hoff and Pandey (2006). Children from Northern India were asked to solve mazes. When caste identity was made public, either the performance from the lower castes children dropped or they withdrew from the game. The authors argue that once identity is made salient, lower castes children either tend to conform to stereotypes or expect discrimination to occur and conform to it. This is one of the many behavioral experiments that evidenced stereotype threat and self discrimination. Caste identity does modulate individuals expectations. Source: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/60/86/74/PDF/thesev2.pdf
4.4
My revised model of IQ that includes pre-birth IQ factors and links with freedom, to explain GDP
My 2008 freedom-IQ model in BFN (discussed here, as well) couldn't really explain Chinese IQ. I noted my model's weakeness in the book but didn't explore further. Recently, with a view that meat provides key nutrients to the human brain, I'm veering towards a revised model (depicted below, also download PPT from here). Comments appreciated (but only professional comments, that demonstrate understanding of the literature). Note that in this revised model nutrition plays a PRE-BIRTH role. While post-birth nutrition is important, it seems to me that pre-birth nutrition must hold the key to a nation's longer term success. The mother is a child building factory. This factory needs ingredients to build high quality brains, so the mother must be fed these ingredients. Once a child is formed, the influence of nutrition on intellectual performance should decline (but other factors such as freedom and selfrespect kick in), since the brain is already built. So our focus must be on (a) feeding mothers and (b) increasing freedom and dignity. How can one feed mothers? This is really problematic, particularly given cultural and social resistance. But maybe if this model is provided to mothers, they will choose to eat healthier food. Note that this model is still an unproven hypothesis. It will require much more research/ thinking to arrive at a "conclusive" model. But this may be a good starting point for further discussion. Anyway, this is my current view. I'll read up some more stuff re: link between PRE-BIRTH nutrition and IQ and report back to you.
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4.5
Increase in IQ expected among the Dalits once oppressions is eliminated

Currently the IQ of oppressed groups in India is extremely depressed. increased IQ has ECONOMIC consequences for India. By keeping 40 per cent of its population oppressed India is not doing itself any favours. If nothing else, then for the sake of economic self-interest, the Hindus should ABOLISH the caste system immediately. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence#Caste-like_minorities Caste-like minorities A large number of studies have shown that systemically disadvantaged minorities, such as the African American minority of the United States generally perform worse in the educational system and in intelligence tests than the majority groups or less disadvantaged minorities such as immigrant or voluntary minorities.[42] The explanation of these findings may be that children of caste-like minorities, due to the systemic limitations of their prospects of social advancement, do not have effort optimism, i.e. they do not have the confidence that acquiring the skills valued by majority society, such as those skills measured by IQ tests, is worthwhile. They may even deliberately reject certain behaviors seen as acting white.[42][92][93][94] This argument is also explored in the book Inequality by Design: Cracking the Bell Curve Myth (1996) which argues that it is not lower average intelligence that leads to the lower status of racial and ethnic minorities, it is instead their lower status that leads to their lower average intelligence test scores. One example being Jews in the early 20th century in the US who, the authors argue, scored low on IQ tests. To substantiate this claim, the book presents a table comparing social status or caste position with test scores and measures of school success in several countries around the world. Examples include Koreans, Peruvians and Brazilians in Japan, Burakumin in Japan, Australian Aborigines,Romani in Czechoslovakia, Maori in New Zealand, Afro-Brazilians, Indigenous Brazilians, Pardos and Rural Exiles (as, but not limited to, people from Northeast in Braslia, So Paulo and Rio de Janeiro metropolitan areas, and including a minority of European descent) in Brazil,Afrikaners in South Africa, Catholics in North Ireland, Irish and Scottish in Great Britain, Arabs and Sephardi Jews in Israel, and Dalit, low caste, and tribal people in India. The authors note, however, that the comparisons made in the table do not represent the results of all relevant findings, that sometimes studies have shown more mixed findings, that the tests and procedures varied greatly from study to study, and that there is no simple way to
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compare the size of group differences. The statement regarding Arabs in Israel, for example, is based on a news report that, in 1992, 26% of Jewish high school, predominantly Ashkenazim, students passed their matriculation exam as opposed to 15% of Arab students. [95] Stephen Jay Gould in the The Mismeasure of Man also argued that Jews in the early 20th century scored low on IQ tests. Rushton as well as Cochran, Hardy & Harpending have argued that this is a misrepresentation of the studies and that also the early testing support a high average Jewish IQ. [96][97][nonprimary source needed]
Murray replies that purely sociocultural factors like this cannot explain the gap, because the size of the gap on any test is dependent on that tests degree of g-loading. As an example, Murray notes that the test of reciting a string of digits backwards is much more g-loaded than reciting it forwards, and the black-white gap is around twice as large on the first test as on the second. According to Murray, there is no way that culture or motivation could systematically encourage black performance on one test while decreasing it on another, when both tests are provided by the same examiner in the same setting.[72][non-primary source needed]
4.6
Narrowing the IQ gap with China

By increasing Dalit (and lower caste) IQ to normal levels, it would become possible for India to narrow the IQ gap with China. The good thing about Chinese is that they dont have a caste system. That means the only effect on their economic prosperity is of the level of freedom. In India, though, the OPPRESSION of lower castes has a very significant effect on national IQ, along with the level of freedom. India has a double whammy.
4.7
Disproving the myth of race will require abolishing caste

I dont see race/IQ as a biologically viable idea. But how can that be demonstrated in the case of India without SMASHING the caste system? Till the caste system is smashed and we can get Indian IQ back to normal levels, the racists will be able to argue that Indians are an inferior race. No amount of claiming superiority of the Vedas or other such things will help. Your National IQ is low then explain it! There are people who have suggested that my focus on caste is in order to get a Dalit constituency (as a politicians), but let me be clear that my ONLY concern is India as a whole. I dont really care for narrow perspectives and would hope that others will join me in SMASHING THE CASTE SYSTEM. It is not enough for us to promote liberty in India. We need to ACTIVELY SMASH THE CASTE SYSTEM.
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5.
Do the oppressed make the rules? Of course not.
There are no prizes for answering the question: who makes caste laws. Not the dalits or sudras. Such laws inevitably go against the lower castes.
5.1
Summary
Several stories from the ancient Sanskrit symbolise caste exclusion: those of Shambuk, Ekalavya and Sita. In the cases of both Ekalavya and Shambuk, youth of great accomplishment from dalit and adivasi backgrounds were denied their due because of the hierarchy of caste: only a brahmin (or twice-born) could practise austerity; only a kshatriya could be a great archer. The youth were victims of social exclusion due to caste. Sita was also a victim of India's caste-defined patriarchy. Cast away by her husband as a result of suspicion after her great ordeal, she had no independent access to property -- as innumerable Indian women do not today. She was subject to the cruel norms of the day and to the whims of her husband. Though the Vedic texts describe a stratified society, it was not yet a caste society. The first text to actually mention the four varnas is the Purush Sukta of the Rig Veda, which is considered relatively late (around the 10th century). This famous text describes the brahmin as being born from the mouth of the primordial man, the kshatriya from his shoulders, the vaishya from his thighs, and the shudra from his legs/feet. The inequality of this -- the feet normally being considered lower (falling at a person's feet is still widely practised in India as a way of declaring one's humility before someone greater) -- is clear. So is the famous passage from the Chandogya Upanishad -- part of a group of texts ordinarily considered high philosophy. This declares that birth into a particular caste results from actions in a previous life, the theory of karma. Notably it states that: "...those who are of pleasant conduct here, the prospect [in rebirth] is indeed, that they will enter a pleasant womb, either the womb of a brahmin, or the womb of a kshatriya or the womb of a vaishya. But those who are of stinking conduct here, the prospect [in rebirth] is indeed that they will enter a stinking womb, either the womb of a dog [who is despised even today] or the womb of a swine, or the womb of a candela " (5.10.7; translation by Michael Witzel). Strikingly, here the untouchable or chandala is equated with a dog or a pig. This, among other things makes the racism in caste clear, that it is the denial of humanity to those of castes considered 'low'. But it is the Dharmashastras and later texts which offer the fullest elaboration of caste. The Manusmriti is quite clear on this, outlining the
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duties of the four varnas in great detail, and noting that a shudra cannot be relieved from service since it is his "essence" to serve. Indeed it was the notion of divided human essence -- split into four major groups -- that underlay much of caste. Manu, like all ancient law-givers, considers varna samkara or intercaste marriage or unions, to be the greatest sin. But he and other Dharmashastra authors also use this as an explanation for the origin of the existing multitude of jatis considered low which did not fit in the orthodox varna system. They are considered products of such illegitimate unions between human beings of different varnas. Thus Manu and others have complex descriptions of various named groups or jatis, which are all classified as products of unions between members of different varnas. "Among all the classes, only [children] who are born 'with the grain,' [or] in wives who are equal [in class] and have their maidenheads intact [at marriage] should be considered members of the caste. They say that sons begotten by twice-born men on wives of the very next [lower] class are similar [to their fathers] but despised for the flaw in their mothers" (Laws of Manu, 234-5). Then various 'castes' or jatis which are said to be products of mixed union are named, and Manu goes on to say: "All of those castes who are excluded from the world of those who were born from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet... are traditionally regarded as aliens, whether they speak barbarian languages or Aryan languages. Those who are traditionally regarded as outcastes [born] of the twice-born and as born of degradation should make their living by their innate activities, which are reviled by the twice-born" (Laws of Manu, 241). It is not simply the notorious Manusmriti which gives a justification for caste. So does the most exalted text of what Romila Thapar called "syndicated Hinduism," that is, the Bhagavad Gita. In the final section, of course, there is the famous passage in which Krishna defines the duties of the four varnas (and, in fact, the whole Gita is in the context of an admonition to Arjuna to fight and thus do his duty, or follow his dharma as a kshatriya), and says that it is better to do one's own duty badly than to do another's duty well. This is the meaning of the notion of swadharma, which even Gandhi praised so much. And, in the first section, where Krishna explains the reason for his taking form as an avatar to save the world, he states that it is due in the end to varnasamkara: Upon destruction of the family, perish The immemorial holy laws of the family; When the laws have perished, the whole family Lawlessness overwhelms also. Because of the prevalence of lawlessness, Krishna, The women of the family are corrupted; When the women are corrupted, O Vrsni-clansman, Mixture of castes ensues. Mixture [of castes] leads to naught but hell.
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(Bhagavad Gita, part I, verses 40-42, translation by Frank Edgerton. Many modern translations of the Gitaavoid this passage and translate varnasamkara by some other term) In other words, the greatest sin was intercaste marriage; and one of the duties of a good king following this doctrine of brahmanism was to enforce the ban on varnasamkara. In historic times, the most famous example of this was that of the Veerasaivas in the 12th century: because their founder and leader Basava had arranged a marriage between a dalit boy and a brahmin girl, the parents of both were brutally executed by being dragged behind elephants, and in the resulting uproar the Veerasaivas were driven from the kingdom of Kalyana. [Source: Caste is the cruellest exclusion by Gail Omvedt]
5.2
Vedas
The creation of Chaturvarnya is found in the ninetieth Hymn of the Tenth Mandala (chapter) of the Rig-Veda, in which the Gods have sacrificed a godly deity called Purusha to carve out the universe and in the verse 11 and 12 the creation of mankind is described; When (The Gods) divided Purusha, into how-many parts did they cut him up? What was his mouth? What arms (had he)? What (two objects) are said (to have been) his thighs and feet? The Brahmana was from his mouth, the Rajanya (rulers) were made from his arms; the being called the Vaishya was his thighs; the last Shudras sprang from his feet. Such anti-social religious creation was forced upon people; it should be accepted in society as The names that are chosen should be auspicious in the case of the Brahman, indicating power in the case of the Kashatriya, indicating wealth in case of the Vaishya, and indicating contempt in the case of the Shudra. [Vishnu Smriti . Chapter XXVII, Sutra 6-9] [Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal]
5.2.1 Rig Veda
5.3
Dharmashastras
Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal The status of a Brahman according to Manu Smriti is that Man started to be purer above the navel, than below; hence self-existent (Svayambhu) has declared the purest part of him to be the mouth. As the Brahman sprang from the Brahmas mouth, as he was first-born, and he possesses the Vedas, he is by right the lord of the whole creation. What created being can surpass him, through whose mouth the Gods continually consume the sacrificial viands?...Very birth of a Brahman is an external incarnation of the sacred law; for he is born to fulfil the sacred law, and
5.3.1 Manus laws
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become one with Brahma. A Brahman, coming into existence, is born as the highest on earth, the lord of all created beings, for the protection of the treasury of the law. Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmin; on account of the excellence of the origin of the Brahman is, indeed, entitled to it all. The Brahman can but eat his own food, wears but his own apparel, bestows but his own alms; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the Brahman. [Manu Smriti . I.PP.92-93, 95, 98-101] One should consider a Brahman ten year-old and a Kashatriya hundred year old as father and son; but of them the Brahman is the father. Wealth, kindred age, sect and knowledge, those are the causes of respect; the most important is the last mentioned. In whom amongst the three higher Castes the most and the best of those five may be, he is worthy of respect; a Shudra is not worthy of respect on the ground of his wealth or knowledge no matter how high he may be. It is only on grounds of his age and that too only if he has attained the tenth decade of his life that he becomes worthy of respect and not before.[ Manu Smriti . Chapter II. Verse. 135^37.] Now the supreme duty of the Shudra and that which ensures his blessings is merely obedience towards celebrated priests who understand the Vedas and live like householders. If he be pure, obedient to higher Castes, mild in speech, without conceit, and always submissive to the Brahman, he attains (in the next transmigration) a high birth. [Manu Smriti . Chapter IX, Verse 334-335] A Brahman may take possession of the goods of the Shudra with perfect peace of mind, for, nothing at all belongs to the Shudra as his own, and he is one, whose property may be taken away by his master. [Manu Smiriti Chapter VIII, verse 417.] Indeed, an accumulation of wealth should not be made by a Shudra even if he is able to do so, for the sight of mere possession of wealth by a Shudra injures the Brahman. [Manu Smriti , Chapter X, verse 129.]
[Source: Caste: its supposed origin, etc.
5.3.2 Taittiriya Brahmana

The Brahman Caste is sprung from the Gods; the Shudras from the Asuras (daemons). [Taittiriya Brahmana. i.2.6.7. Quoted by Muir op. Cit. I, p21]
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Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal
5.3.3 Vishnu Smriti

The name to be chosen should be auspicious in the case of a Brahman, indicating power in the case of a Kashatriya, indicating wealth in the case of the Vaishya and indicating contempt in the case of the Shudra. [Vishnu Smiriti XXVII, Sutr 6-99] With whatever limb an inferior insults or hurts his superior in Caste, of that limb the King shall cause him to be deprived. If he places himself on the same seat with his superior, he shall be banished with a mark on his buttocks. If he spit on him he shall lose both lips. If he breaks wind against him, he shall lose his hind parts. If he uses abusive language, he shall loose his tongue. If low-born men, through pride, give instruction to the member of the highest Caste concerning his duty, let the King order hot oil to be dropped into his mouth. If the Shudra mention the name or Caste of the superior revealingly, a red hot iron pin ten inches long shall be thrust into his mouth.[ Vishnu Smiriti Chapter V, Verse 19^25.] Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal
5.3.4 Apastamba Dharma Sutra

A Shudra can be slain at the pleasure of his master, and the penance is the same as killing the Crow, chameleon, peacock, a duck, a swan, a vulture, a frog, an ichneumon, rat or a dog. [Apastamba Dharma Sutra. Prasna I, Patala 9, Khanda 25, Sutr 15] The man of the first three Castes who commits adultery with a woman of the Shudra Caste shall be banished. A Shudra who commits adultery with a woman of the first three Castes shall suffer capital punishment.[ Apastamba Dharma Sutra. Prasna II, Patala 10, Khanda 27, Sutra 8^9] Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal
5.3.5 Vishnusmriti
The word asprsya [literally "untouchable] was first used in the Visnusmrti, which prescribes death for any member of these castes who deliberately touches a member of a higher caste. However, the sexuality of untouchable women belonged to the "upper caste" men, and was an indispensable part of the labour provided by slave women. [Source]
5.3.6 Vashishtha Dharma Sutra

If the Brahman dies with a food of the Shudra in his stomach, he will
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become a village pig in his next life or be born in the family of the Shudras. For through a (Brahman) whose body is nourished by the essence of the Shudra food may daily recite the Vedas, though he may offer (Agnihotra) or mutter prayer nevertheless he will not find the path that leads upwards. But if, after eating the food of the Shudra, he has conjugal intercourse, even his sons (begotten from a wife of his own Caste) will belong to the giver of the food (Shudra) and he will not assent to heaven. [Vashishtha Dharma Sutra. Chapter. VI. Verses 27^] Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal
5.4
Ramayana
Dr. Ambedkar observes The Chaturvarnya cannot subsist by its own inherent goodness. It must be enforced by law. That, without penal sanction the ideal of Chaturvarnya cannot be realised, is proved by the story in the Ramayana of Rama (one of the reincarnations of God) by killing Shambuka. Some people seem to blame Rama because he wantonly and without reason killed Shambuka. But to blame Rama for killing Shambuka is to misunderstand the whole situation. Ram Raj was a Raj based on Chaturvarnya. In this raj, as the King, Rama was bound to maintain Chaturvarnya. It was his duty therefore to kill Shambuka, the Shudra, who had transgressed his Caste and wanted to be a Brahman. This is the reason why Rama killed Shambuka. But this also shows that penal sanction is necessary for the maintenance of Chaturvarnya. Not only penal sanction is necessary, but penalty of death is necessary. That is why Rama did not inflict on Shambuka a lesser punishment. That is why Manu-Smiriti prescribes such heavy sentences as cutting off the tongue or pouring of molten led in the ear of the Shudra, who recites or hears the Vedas. The supporters of Chaturvarnya must give an assurance that they could successfully classify men and they could induce modern society in the twentieth century to re-forge the penal sanction of ManuSmriti . [Dr. Babasahib Ambedkar writings and speeches L. 1,] Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal
5.4.1 Beheading of Sudra Sambook
5.5
Support from Vivekananda and other leaders

Vivekanandas view Caste is a natural order; I can perform one duty in social life, and you another; you can govern a country, and I can mend a pair of old shoes, but that is no reason why you are greater than I. Caste is good. That is the only natural way of solving life. Men must form themselves into groups, and you cannot get rid of that. Wherever you go, there will be caste. But that does not mean that there should be these privileges. They should be knocked on the head. [Source]
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5.6
Ambedkar, however, denied that Brahmins created caste

Dr. Ambedkar disproved the Aryan Invasion Theory with sound logic. After explaining at length that the caste system has nothing to do with the Aryan invasion, he comes to the conclusion that: 1. The Vedas do not know any such race as the Aryan race. [Sanjeev: True, they called the noble people Arya, but that doesnt necessarily mean they though of themselves as a race] 2. There is no evidence in the Vedas of an invasion of India by the Aryan race and its having conquered the Dasas and Dasyus supposed to be the natives of India. (Dr. Ambedkar, Writings & Speeches, Vol. 7, pages 7485) [Sanjeev: While there is no proof of conquests, there is clear evidence that these terms were used in the Vedas to represent the un-arya] Not only that caste existed much before Manu. It is incorrect to say that Brahmins created caste. The Brahmins might have committed many sins but to impose caste system on the whole non-Brahmin people is beyond their capacity. (Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Caste in India) [Sanjeev: Thats an interesting hypothesis. No doubt it existed before Manu, but whether it existed before Vedas is a good question] Ambedkar declares: Brahmins and the untouchables belong to the same race. From this it follows that if the Brahmins are Aryans, the untouchables are also Aryans. If the Brahmins are Dravidians, the untouchables are also Dravidians. (Dr. Ambedkar, Writings & Speeches, Vol. 7, pages 302-303) [Sanjeev: here, of course, Ambedkar is unaware that there is NO race. All humans are the same sub-species. So he is right, but not in the way it is culturally understood] Dr. Ambedkar has the following firm convictions as to who Sudras are: 1. The Sudras were one of the Aryan communities of the Solar race. 2. There was a time when the Aryan society recognised only three varnas, namely, Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. [Sanjeev: Now he is talking about Aryan society. Why? Also, why is he agreeing to the three castes in this Aryan period? Caste was clearly created on the basis of colour by someone in his or her self-interest] 3. The Sudras did not form a separate varna. They ranked as part of the Kshatriya varna in the Indo-Aryan society. 4. There was a continuous feud between the Sudra kings and the Brahmins in which the Brahmins were subjected to many tyrannies and indignities. 5. As a result of the hatred towards the Sudras generated by their tyrannies and oppressions, the Brahmins refused to perform the Upanayana of the Sudras. 6. Owing to the denial of Upanayana, the Sudras who were Kshatriyas became socially degraded, fell below the rank of the Vaishyas and thus came to form the fourth varna. (Dr. Ambedkar, Writings & Speeches, Vol. 7, pages 11-12) [Source: found this somewhere on the internet, dont recollect. This link provides at least some of this info]
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I do not buy Ambedkars view on this matter. It is evident that Brahmins were the most benefited by the caste system, and so they are almost certain to have started it (or at least given it prominence).
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6.
Do the oppressed defend caste? Of course not.
Just like slavery was ONLY defended by slave-owners, so also caste is only defended by upper castes (or at least caste Hindus). Sudras and dalits are not at the forefront of the defence of caste. There must surely be something suspicious about a system which is praised only by its beneficiaries.
6.1
Vivekananda glorified Brahmins

Vivekandana preached Advaita and universal brotherhood. Despite that, he often had high praise for Brahmins while chastising the lower castes. Vivekananda was in awe of Brahmins and Sanskrit. Very hard to say that he was not 'casteist'. It never became clear WHAT precisely he stood for on the topic of caste. Such ambivalence comes through in most other 'reformers' as well (such as Dayanand Saraswati) who apparently wrote against the caste system but insisted that there should be castes. BRAHMINS ARE SELFLESS ROLE MODELS Extrapolating from a few examples he had seen (particularly his master), he praised the Brahimins sky high: The life of a really orthodox Brahmin is one of continuous renunciation. Very few things can he do; and over and beyond them the orthodox Brahmin must not occupy himself with any secular business. At the same time he must not receive gifts from everybody. You may imagine how rigorous that life becomes. They are the poorest of all the classes in the country; and the secret of their power lies in their renunciation. They never covet wealth. Theirs is the poorest priesthood in the world, and therefore the most powerful. Even in this poverty, a Brahmin's wife will never allow a poor man to pass through the village without giving him something to eat. That is considered the highest duty of the mother in India; and because she is the mother it is her duty to be served last; she must see that everyone is served before her turn comes. That is why the mother is regarded as God in India. This particular woman, the mother of our subject, was the very type of a Hindu mother. The higher the caste, the greater the restrictions. The lowest caste people can eat and drink anything they like. But as men rise in the social scale, more and more restrictions come; and when they reach the highest caste, the Brahmin, the hereditary priesthood of India, their lives, as I have said, are very much circumscribed. Compared to Western manners, their lives
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are of continuous asceticism. The Hindus are perhaps the most exclusive nation in the world. They have the same great steadiness as the English, but much more amplified. When they get hold of an idea they carry it out to its very conclusion, and they, keep hold of it generation after generation until they make something out of it. Once give them an idea, and it is not easy to take it back; but it is hard to make them grasp a new idea. The orthodox Hindus, therefore, are very exclusive, living entirely within their own horizon of thought and feeling. Their lives are laid down in our old books in every little detail, and the least detail is grasped with almost adamantine firmness by them. They would starve rather than eat a meal cooked by the hands of a man not belonging to their own small section of caste. But withal, they have intensity and tremendous earnestness. That force of intense faith and religious life occurs often among the orthodox Hindus, because their very orthodoxy comes from a tremendous conviction that it is right. We may not all think that what they hold on to with such perseverance is right; but to them it is. Now, it is written in our books that a man should always be charitable even to the extreme. If a man starves himself to death to help another man, to save that man's life, it is all right; it is even held that a man ought to do that. And it is expected of a Brahmin to carry this idea out to the very extreme. Those who are acquainted with the literature of India will remember a beautiful old story about this extreme charity, how a whole family, as related in the Mahbhrata, starved themselves to death and gave their last meal to a beggar. This is not an exaggeration, for such things still happen. The character of the father and the mother of my Master was very much like that. [Source]
6.2
Har Bilas Sarda thought caste was efficient

He thought caste was a system of great efficiency: The one great object which the promoters of the hereditary system seem to have had in view was to secure to each class a high degree of efficiency in its own sphere. Hereditary genius is now a subject of serious enquiry amongst the enlightened men of Europe and America, and the evolution theory as applied to sociology, when fully worked out, will fully show the merits of the system. In fact the India of the time of Manu will appear to have reached a stage of civilization of which the brilliant modern European civilization only gives us glimpses. [Hindu Superiority]
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6.3
Bhai Parmanand thought caste is required for social duties

The ideal of personal salvation is the root-cause of our selfishness and this alone has been responsible for the downfall of our nation. It is diametrically opposed to the idea of social duties.... Instead of drawing the peoples attention to their real duties under the caste and ashrams system [the varnavyavastha syste] and trying to remove their defects [Buddha] wrongly concluded that these systems alone were responsible for all social evils.... The abolition of castes and ashramas cut at the very root of social duties. How could a nation hope to live after having lost sight of this aspect of Dharma? Equality for all is an appealing abstraction; but the nation could not long survive the rejection or destruction of Dharma. (ibid.: 126-7) [Bhai Parmanand in the book, Hindu Sangathan 1936] [Source]
6.4
Hindu Council: The Caste System by Raj Pandit Sharma

The Hindu Councils report The Caste System by Dr. Raj Pandit Sharma, in which they have tried to justify their position, seems to claim that: 1. The Caste System is not a hereditary hierarchical system based on birth. 2. The Caste system is not the creation of Hinduism, it is the creation of foreign rulers 3. The Hindus have suffered greatly under foreign rule 4. The Hindus withstood the challenges from their opponents of Caste in ancient times 5. Due to reservation in favour of Scheduled Castes, the Brahmans have to do menial work 6. The Caste is not a hindrance to progress. [Caste destroyed brotherhood the most important element of fair society in India.] 7. The segregation of the Untouchable Castes is to maintain purity of the Brahman. 8. The Hindus are tolerant society. [not true] 9. Other religions also have caste practices. Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Todays World By Chanan Chahal
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7.
The hereditary and biological (racist) underpinning of caste
Stereotying and social hierarchies based on birth-based characteristics are fundamentally problematic. We all know (or should know) that the idea of race is nonsense. That there is no such thing as race has been proven repeatedly. But very few cultures have such a strong distaste for dark skin as the Hindus. This is denied but the evidence is overwhelming. The following give away the real story of caste: scriptures statements of major Hindu leaders actions of millions of Hindus.
7.1
The give away is in its name: Varna Vyavastha

Varna means colour and Vyavastha means an organized system The person who invented this idea (and claimed then that it was given by God) intended UNAMBIGUOULSLY to link it to skin colour.
7.2
Further, caste is 100 per cent biological (hereditary)

There is no case Im aware of where someones caste was changed after birth due merely t his own efforts. Yes, some entire castes have presumably, after lots of effort and debate, managed to get the entire caste raised. But Brahmins never allow individuals to rise in caset. The only case Im aware of was Shivajis, but he had to pay a monstrous bribe to a crooked Brahmin who faked the list of his ancestors. [This case is discussed elsewhere]
7.3
The leakage in colour through marrying lower caste women

As you read Manusmriti and other scriptures you realize that these people didnt have a clue about genetics, so they allowed all kinds of marriages with lower caste women. The Brahmin could have children with lower caste women and these would still be Brahmins. Thats where the conflict between power, sexual control, and love for ones children came into play, and colour was lost. They didnt understand that women have an EQUAL capacity to influence the skin colour of children. Very soon, there was no possibility of distinguishing castes based on skin colour. However, the underlying BIOLOGICAL CONCEPT remained, through blood.
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7.4
Foolish arguments denying the biological (race) basis of caste

There is no uniform difference in skin colour between castes. Attempts to demarcate different castes on bases of biological charactersistics have always failed. Race has a biological connotation whereas caste is a socio-cultural construct. A caste formation is not determined by biological characteristics such as the colour of ones skin. [Caste in the mirror of race by D.L. SHETH]
7.4.1 But there is no real difference in skin colour!
J.C. Nesfield's uncompromising rejection of 'the modern doctrine which divides the population of India into Aryan and aboriginal' was unpopular, particularly his assertion that a stranger walking into the class rooms of the Sanskrit College at Benares 'would never dream of supposing' that the high caste students of that exclusive institution (as Risley put it) 'were distinct in race and blood from the scavengers who swept the road'. [Crispin Bates, Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: The Early Origins of Indian Anthropometry]
7.4.2 Ambedkar did not think skin colour underpinned caste

The purpose of the caste system cannot be considered to be a prevention of racial intermixing, nor can this system be understood as a means of preserving purity of blood. The truth is that even before the caste system came into being, the various races had already got intermixed in India as far as culture and blood is concerned. To consider different castes as if they are different races would be to completely distort the facts. What racial similarity can there be between a brahman of Punjab and a brahman of Madras? What racial similarity can there be between an untouchable of Bengal and an untouchable of Madras? What racial similarity can there be between a brahman of Punjab and a chamar of Punjab? What racial similarity can there be between a brahman of Madras and a paria of Madras? Caste system does not divide races; it is the name of social division within a race (Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste, Anand Sahitya Sadan, Aligarh, 1989, p. 40).
7.4.3 Soli Sorabjee, Andre Beteille and the Government of India

The discussions and debates that preceded the WCAR were precipitated less by the excitement of planning for the Conference than by the Indian Government's position that caste was not a matter to be taken up at the Conference. Since the UN conference was centered on racism, the argument went, as part of the third U.N.-designated Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, caste had no logical place on the country's agenda. At the Regional Preparatory Meeting held in Tehran earlier that year, Attorney General Soli Sorabjee emphasized the distinction between race and caste, thereby rejecting NGO efforts to connect the two forms of social stratification as "misconceived" (2001).
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The Government of India argued further that since caste discrimination was constitutionally recognized and prohibited, and that since both State and Central governments had taken steps toward its elimination, discussion of the issue was best left out of inter-governmental forums. This position set the tone and determined much of the direction of the debate that ensued. Was caste indeed comparable to race? The Indian Government had an ally in Andre Beteille, a veteran Indian social anthropologist, who pondered the wisdom of expanding "racism" to other forms of social exclusion. In so doing, he wrote in The Hindu, the U.N. "is bound to give a new lease of life to the old and discredited idea of race current a hundred years ago" (Beteille 2001). Not only had the "researches of several generations of anthropologists" concluded that racial classifications were biologically untenable, "[e]very social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it from discrimination." [End Page 557] For Beteille, then, equating caste with race was both "scientifically nonsensical" and "politically mischievous," for such movement away from specificity would surely open the door to other discriminated linguistic or ethnic groups from all parts of the world to claim themselves victims of racism. [Source: The Ethnicity of Caste Deepa S. Reddy, Anthropological Quarterly 78.3 (2005) 543-584]
7.4.4 Anthropologist Dipankar Gupta of Jawaharlal Nehru University

Here is a discussion (and rebuttal) of Guptas claims First, Dipankar Gupta argues that caste cannot be equated with race since there is no phenotypical resemblance between members of the same castes. Such a view misrecognizes race since it assumes that members of the same race share phenotypical resemblance. However, it is now established among professional anthropologists and biologists that there is no concordance among human races, which implies that there is no single phenotypical trait that distinguishes all members of a so-called race from members of another race. Members of any race do not share either skin colour, or eye colour, or hair texture, or facial structure. Scientists agree that there is no abrupt change from one skin colour to another, and instead use the notion of clines as opposed to race to capture human variation. As Professor Alan Goodman, a biological anthropologist says, Race is not based on biology, but race is rather an idea that we ascribe to biology. This is why the term race is within quotes to signify that it is a socially constructed category, instituted by law and socially reproduced by popular prejudices. Professor Guptas position seems hopelessly outdated. Second, Professor Gupta makes the startling claim that caste is not about descent and hence cannot fall under Article 1. [Sanjeev: I never heard a more bogus claim than this!] According to him, descent means genealogical demonstrable characteristics, and in the caste order people came of multiple descents. In fact, in the caste system people had to marry outside their lineage within the caste. The term descent is at the core of anthropological studies of kinship, and is not restricted to lineage. A lineage is only one kind of descent group (the smallest) in which ancestry can be demonstrable since it spans living memory of a few
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generations. However, descent also includes other larger groups such as clans (gotras in India) and phratries in which a claim to a common ancestry is made but cannot be demonstrated. Marrying outside of ones own lineage and clan are common practices in India and elsewhere, but caste is really about marrying within a group, as Gupta admits above. Ambedkar famously wrote in 1916 that the superimposition of endogamy on exogamy produces caste. Castes are simply large-scale descent groups as many anthropologists have pointed out. Castes are larger than clans and hence are very much based on claimed ancestry, usually a mythical ancestor appearing in origin stories. Indeed, Guptas own work (Interrogating Caste) demonstrates this widespread existence of castes claiming a remote ancestor [Sanjeev: Always expect these bogus professors to forget the truth and promote personal political positions]. Professor Guptas position is not substantiated logically, conceptually or empirically in scholarship. Third, Professor Gupta cavalierly claims that each caste equally discriminated against other castes. While this still leaves one to wonder how this distinguishes caste from race, Guptas position neglects decades of scholarship that has distinguished between institutional casteism or racism based upon power and individual or group prejudice. While it is quite feasible to argue that in a casteist (or racist) society, everyone can be prejudiced, it is simply not true that everyones prejudice has equal impact. Would Professor Gupta equate the daily humiliations, lynching, and rapes of dalits by all castes who wield power over them, with the presumed prejudice that dalits might hold against other castes? Discrimination requires attention to institutions, and not only subjective notions which Professor Gupta focuses on in his testimony. Thus, his evidence that no caste accepted the notion that they were inferior is quite irrelevant since there are too many castes who not only think they are superior, but actually have the power to act upon their prejudice in systematic and violent ways. In a casteist society that stigmatizes particular castes and privileges others, the latter are raised to think that the resources of the country belong to them as a birthright and are willing to act violently to protect it. Finally, Professor Gupta empties caste of all power (and discrimination) by portraying caste as a matter of cultural traditions claiming that people in the caste system were proud of who they were and their traditions and position in the country. It is almost as if he is being far too accommodative of those upper castes whose caste pride and position in the country is based on the humiliation of other castes. His position that caste members did not want to escape their caste also makes a mockery of historical attempts by individuals from stigmatized castes who prefer to hide their caste origins in the face of contempt of so-called upper castes. It also mocks groups who have claimed new identities over time by leaving Hinduism altogether (for example, neo-Buddhists, Christians, and others). For all those who Professor Gupta sees as revelling in caste pride, there are many more who are weary of caste identities, and resist its inscription upon their bodies. In denying this, he also denies the patriarchal nature of caste. [Source]
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7.5
Learned Hindus have clearly expouned the race basis of caste
7.5.1 Through caste our forefathers protected themselves from interfusion with an inferior race (Harendranath Maitra)
Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, these were the three twice-born orders, belonging to the original Aryan stock. They conquered the non-Aryans, who by race and tradition were inferior. After their gradual conquest, these also became members of the Hindu family, but with inferior rank. These are the Sudras. By this means our forefathers protected themselves from interfusion with an inferior race. In India, with all our caste, there was never either class feeling or race antagonism. The division of this community-family of the Hindus into caste groups was evolved for the division of labour, and the giving to all of the right of equal opportunities within his own particular sphere. True only the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas could read the Vedas, and the Sudras were debarred. One does not give higher mathematics to children. Source: HINDUISM: The World-Ideal by Harendranath Maitra 1916
7.5.2 Why has the white complexion of our forefathers now become black? (Vivekananda)
Vivekanandas appeal: Why has the white complexion of our forefathers now become black? To those who argue that the caste system is not in some way linked with race, there is plenty of material in rebuttal. 1) The Aryans, according to Dayanand Saraswati were not frightful as the Ethiopians (Abysinnians). The implication is clear: there was this group of self-declared smart people with their own mythologies who thought that they were noble and others were frightful. The Aryan is a myth (for it assumes that only Aryans were 'noble') but not the underlying racism. 2) The paper on Hindu Eugenics makes clear that skin colour is a key part of Hinduism. "The pure Brahmin was a white race" 3) Vivekananda asks: "Why has the white complexion of our forefathers now become black?" 4) In all enactments of Ramayana (Ramlila) that I've seen (when I was young), the lowly classes and 'rakshasas' are shown as pitch black. I don't know if these things still happen, but it will be nice to get these recorded and uploaded on youtube, particularly those from UP and Panjab. The conclusion is as clear as day: The Caste System is FUNDAMENTALLY RACIST.
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7.5.3 The original Aryans were from Abyssinia, the people with frightful shapes (Dayanand Saraswati) GET THE RIGHT ONE
Over the last few days I've been studying the origins of racism, which has two key drivers: (a) Social Darwinism (or eugenics) and (b) Aryan race theories. Both, by the way are collectivist ideas and ignore the individual while glorifying the "race" or "society". These two drivers overlap considerably, with one justifying the other. There is apparently a "pyramid" of races, with Aryans at the top. I don't "believe" in race. No biologist worth his salt believes in race. There is simply no way to identify a "race" at the biological level. But the Aryan idea is the most bogus of all. There is no proof whatsoever. Only assertions. If I'm to belive in the "Aryans" I might as well believe in Adam and Eve. Or Noah. Or the tooth fairy. Just having something/someone referred in ancient scriptures is NO proof. We need archaeolgical and biological evidence. We need also to understand issues in the context of OTHER human migrations/ activities. With the Aryan "race" theory nothing adds up. I wonder why "historians" haven't been able to see through this sham concept till now. SCIENTIFIC PROOF THAT THERE WERE NO ARYANS Curiosity piqued, I've searched a bit and found that just a few years ago a scientific study has established that there is NO evidence of any "Aryans" coming from outside to India. Mythological people don't come or go, as expected. "Our study clearly shows that there was no genetic influx 3,500 years ago," said Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj of CCMB, who led the research team, which included scientists from the University of Tartu, Estonia, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Chennai and Banaras Hindu University. [Source] But that's NOT good enough, in my view. It is CERTAIN that humans have been coming in and out of India for tens of thousands of years. We must not mix "Aryan" migration with REAL migration, which HAS been taking place. India falls on a major route of migrations. From here, people have gone to Australia, for instance, 40-50,000 years ago. So India has clearly had a LOT of migrations. Some big, some small. Mostly very small. LANGUAGE commonalities across the world are further proof of migrations from Africa (apart from DNA). The non-existence of an "Aryan" "race" doesn't mean that there was no sharing of langauge (or ideas).
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But small migrations probably made the biggest difference. The fact that India's pre-history is consistent with the world's pre-history (stone/bronze/iron age) is proof that all kinds of ideas were being shared with India (or being invented in India) in ancient times. It only takes one or two people to share ideas. Big migrations are not a necessary requirement for the advancement of mankind. Further, once innovation occurs, it generates a further impetus and new innovations are motivated. NS Rajaram notes that this idea has not yet died out: "While avoiding overtly racial terms, scholars in disciplines like Indo-European Studies continue to uphold scientifically discredited and historically disgraced theories built around the Aryan myth." [Source] Max Muller himself supposedly made clear that the Aryans are not a "race", just a linguist classification: "I have declared again and again that if I say Aryans, I mean neither blood nor bones, nor hair nor skull; I mean simply those who speak an Aryan language in that sense, and in that sense only, do I say that even the blackest Hindus represent an earlier stage of Aryan speech and thought than the fairest ScandinaviansTo me an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar." [Source] However, I suspect Max Muller didn't do enough, particularly because he spoke of the 'invasion' which meant a superior people conquering an inferior one. The following are confirmed facts: 1) India (like most other parts of the world) has had primary migrations from North Africa and secondary migrations from elsewhere (primarily middle East) for tens of thousands of years. 2) The ultimate Indian (and "Hindu") is an African great-great- grand mother. If Hindus want to find their roots, they'd better go to North Africa to worship their ancestors regardless of Dayanand Saraswati's insult. 3) There are significant commonalities in languages across most parts of the world at least between Europe and India. In itself the Indo-European idea of languages was indeed a hugely important discovery. According to one modern anthropologist, it represents, perhaps, the greatest modern intellectual achievement in the humanities'. The problem was in the spread of Aryanism, initially to history and anthropology, where scientific racism was used not simply to analyse structure in language but to explain a highly racialised world
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history. [Source: No such race: Finnegans Wake and the Aryan myth pp. 14-41 ] 4) There is a very good chance that Indian culture was indigenous, BUT supported by minor migrations (this is a two way street, with Indian migrants influencing others, as well). 5) Modern humans have lived in India for at least 50,000 years. 6) Indians were meat eaters, including BEEF eaters (shocking to some!) just like all other humans across the world. In particular, Indus Valley Civilisation was a MAJOR beef/meat eating civilisation. The rest about "Aryans", about the fact that Indians didn't eat beef, is a myth. ADDENDUM This criticism perhaps by a Chinese is good:http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?/topic/15956-thearyan-myth-and-hindu-nationalism/ I haven't read the following but may be worth reading: The myth of the "Aryan tribe" Myth of AIT Death of AIT Aryan Race Politics Eurocentric History India's Self Denial
7.5.4 Analytical perspective confirms perceived biological difference (Badri Raina)

BADRI RAINA, Caste and Race: Discrimination by any Name, Economic and Political Weekly August 11, 2001 If it is agreed as per the position today at which anthropological and allied scientific determinations rest that the entire race of homo sapiens derived from an originary black African female (called Eve) then one is hard put to understand how, on some subsequent ground, ontological distinctions are to be drawn either between races or castes. Let us also underline the distinction between the supposition that we are all gods children and the rather more substantiated argument about our descent form Eve, lest both positions are thought to be equally diversionary. It then stands to reason that all subsequent distinctions are, in modern parlance, constructed ones, and, like all ideological constructions, attributable to changing equations between knowledge and power among
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human communities through contested histories here, there, and elsewhere. This line of thought receives, thankfully, extremely consequential buttress from the findings of the Human Genome project. Contrary to earlier (chiefly 19th century colonial) persuasions on the subject of race, as well as, one might add, the somewhat infamous Jensen offerings in the 20th century from America, those findings deny genetic difference between races. If anything, they suggest that environmental factors impinge on gene-function, as a dialectic seems to unfold between nature and culture. It would thus seem that biology as the constitution of pigmentation enters the picture first only as a part of that dialectic. Taken together, the originary mother stipulation and the Genome findings ought indeed to furnish ground for human equality across the board, as well as yield policy initiatives towards equitable material dispensations aimed at building a global order where, in Hegels stirring formulation, only the rational constitutes the right. Such, sadly, is not the case as everyday fresh arbitrary grounds for discrimination are constructed in the interests of sectional dominance. We know that beginning in the late 18th century most colonial scholars of India constructed a sociology which sought to explain Indian caste society as having originated in racial segregation . In her celebrated work Interpreting Early India Romila Thapar offers a wideranging account of that historical construction across the 19th century. The basis for that construction was located by such people as Max Muller, August Pictet, Christian Lassen and others in comparative philology in an equation of language and race. As relations were drawn between Sanskrit and Greek, Latin and other European languages, a common IndoEuropean root was argued. Thus the upper castes in India were seen as descendants of Aryans as an Aryan-Dravidian divide was stipulated, parallel to the Aryan-Semitic divide in Europe. Furthermore, the Aryans were now supposed to be superior to the non-Aryans since the former were seen as the initial conquerors who had founded civilisations in Europe and Asia. Such a construction also became acceptable to the new middle class elite in India as it could call itself Aryan, differentiate itself from lower castes believed to be non-Aryan and even seek a connection with the British rulers who represented British Aryandom. However interestedly ideological these representations may have been, they were to remain persuasive. And the reason is not far to seek. The Rig Veda which has continued to be seen as a founding document on the Hindu social order furnishes references to an initial division of society into the arya-varna and the dasa-varna, the latter described as shortstatured and dark-complexioned (RV,1.130.8; 5.29.10; 9.41.1, Thapar, Interpreting Early India, p 30). Further, of the two terms most frequently used to define caste (varna and jati) varna which is employed to categorise the four groups (brahmana, kshatriya, vaisya, sudra) derives from the root meaning colour . Romila Thapar infers that the connotation of colour is symbolic since the four colours associated with the groups are white, red, yellow and black; yet it remains a telling fact that the package has white at the top and black at the bottom. The white/black binary of the Rig Vedic text continues to resonate in, for example, such flaunted notions as of the suvarna (the golden-hued) in opposition to the darkcomplexioned dasa, denied access, for instance, to knowledge on
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that basis of a constructed inferiority of status. After all, one of the things that Lord Rama does as he is returning from exile (Valmiki text) is to behead the Sudra Sambook for presuming to engage in meditation. Thus racial totems of a hierarchy were built that also translated into notions of the pure and the polluted and commensurately sacred and profane space was apportioned to the castes through Indias unedifying Hindu social history. It is, therefore, not conclusively clear that caste discrimination may be set apart wholly from constructions of race. Nor is it clear that important functionaries of the union government disagree. Consider, for example, how the honourable secretary to the human resource development ministry views the matter. Writing euphorically on the exclusive deserts of the Kashmiri pandits as a group, he asserts that such exclusivity befits the representative of a race composed entirely of brahmins; there is more: their fair complexion and light blue or green eyes evidence that they are pure Aryans and have retained the purity of their blood. So, brahmin by race/ aryans/pure of blood indeed the Fuhrer could not have said it better (Kashmiri Pandits: Looking to the Future, APH Publishing House, Ansari Road, Delhi 2001, pp 13-14).
7.6
Buddhist literature clearly refers to the common perception of caste being linked with birth
Buddhist literature (which is normally more socially realistic than the Sanskritic) gives a clear picture of this contestation. In the Vasettha Sutta of the Sutta Nipata it is described how a young brahmin, Vasettha, comes to Buddha. He says: "My friend Bharadwaj and I have been having a dispute: what makes a brahmin. He asserts that it is birth (jati): a pure birth through seven generations produces a brahmin. I say it is action (kamma)." The Buddha then answers him by arguing that while there are jatis among plants and animals, human beings, from the hairs of their head to the nails of their feet, have no essential biological differences. Rather, it is action that makes a person: one who makes war is a soldier; one who farms is a farmer; one who does commerce is a trader, and so on. The debate depicts several features. First, there were differences also among brahmins about the emerging theory of 'Brahmanism'. Second, there was a racial-biological element in the interpretation of caste even from the beginning, which the Buddha refutes (showing that he knew what the Hindu Council theorists do not know even today: there is no race among humans). Source: Caste is the cruellest exclusion by Gail Omvedt
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7.7
Top Indian experts see clear links with race, at origin of the concept
Cambridge educated G.S.Ghurye (1893-1983) was the foundational figure of Indian sociology. Ghurye's initial training was in Sanskrit , and it was only after attending Geddes' lectures at Bombay and being selected for a scholarship that he went to England where he studied anthropology at Cambridge under Rivers and Haddon (1920-1923). He took over as Head of Department of the Department of Sociology in Mumbai University in 1924 and wrote prolifically about all sociological issues in India. His list of students reads like the whos-who of Indias sociology, people like Iravati Karve, Y. B. Damle and M.N. Srinivas. It turns out that he had strong views about caste as a derivative of 'race'. This is entirely consistent with the Sanskrit scriptures about which he was extremely knowledgeable. Note that he makes use of the "Aryan" race theory which is a myth because (a) there are no races and (b) the idea of an entire group being "Aryan" is rubbish. But whether these people are called Aryans or just ordinary migrants (which is what I see them as), there is no doubt that at some point in India's history, some of these people struck upon a remarkably shrewd way to protect and even strengthen their privileges through the caste mythology. Im extracting parts of an article by Carol Upadhya (2000) entitled, The Hindu Nationalist Sociology of G.S. Ghurye. [You can read Ghurye's book here] In Caste and Race in India (1932) Ghurye concludes that the IndoAryans belonged to the larger Indo-European stock that dispersed from its homeland after 5000 B.C. The branch that entered India about 2500 B.C. carried with it the early Vedic religion, and the Brahmanic variety of the Indo-Aryan civilisation developed later in the Gangetic plain, along with the caste system. Ghurye also reiterates the racial interpretation of varna as colour and the idea that the dasas described by the Aryans were the dark and snubnosed natives they encountered when they entered India (1969:165). Caste derives from the varna classification of the early Vedic age, which referred to skin colour and differentiated the Arya and the Dasa. The caste system originated as an endogamous institution as the Indo-Aryan Brahmins attempted to maintain their purity by keeping themselves apart from the local population (1969:125). It may be taken to be an historical fact that people calling themselves Arya poured into India through the north-west somewhere about 2000 B.C. It is equally clear that an institution closely akin to caste has been very often described in Sanskrit books, which are the work of either the Aryans or the Aryan-inspired aborigines We have seen that the Brahmins, who were the moral guides and legislators of the immigrant Aryans, tried to keep their blood free from any intermixture with the lower classes [Ghurye 1969:117-18]. The Aryans invaders entered India with three exclusive classes and absorbed the indigenous inhabitants who "accepted the overlordship of the Indo-Aryans" at the lowest level as Sudras (1969:172). They practiced some amount of ritual exclusivity but also displayed tolerance by
7.7.1 Ghurye thought that caste started with race
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assimilating diverse peoples. The mechanism for this assimilation was caste: The Indian Aryans as later Hindus not only tolerated both beliefs and practices not harmonizing with their central doctrines but also assimilated a number in their own complex. Partially at least, on the social organizational side caste system was the modus operandi accommodating diversity of faiths and practices [1969:165-66]. Because caste was maintained by endogamy and hypergamy, there is a correspondence between caste and physical type, or race (1969:173). The racial theory of Indian society was promoted most notably by Risley, the first Director of Ethnography for India, who took the nasal index as an indicator of the proportion of Aryan blood, which supposedly varies along the caste gradient (Trautmann 1997:183).18 Risleys racial theory of caste simply elaborated the earlier two-race theory of Indian history, in which the dark, snub-nosed and primitive Dravidians were conquered by, and partially mixed with, the tall, fair, lepto-rhine invading Aryans (Risley, quoted in Trautmann 1997:202), producing the caste system. This theory was encapsulated in Risleys famous formula: "The social position of a caste varies inversely as its nasal index" (quoted in Trautmann 1997:203). In Caste and Race Ghurye examines Risleys theory in great detail through a reanalysis of the anthropometrical data. He finds that outside the core area of Aryan settlement, Hindustan, physical type does not conform to caste rank, and that there is greater similarity between brahmins and other castes within a region than among brahmins across regions. His conclusion is that the " Brahmanic practice of endogamy must have been developed in Hindustan and thence conveyed as a cultural trait to the other areas without a large influx of the physical type of the Hindustan Brahmins" (1969:125). While Ghurye criticises specific features of Risleys theory and methodology, he accepts the overall framework of racial categorisation and in fact proposes new racial categories for the Indian population based on the nasal and cephalic indices (1969:125 ff.). He bases his argument on the same assumptions employed by the Aryan race theory: that the Aryan type is long-headed and fine-nosed, represented by the people of Punjab and Rajputana , while the aboriginal type, represented by the jungle-tribes, is broad-nosed (1969:118).19 In his argument Ghurye does not distinguish clearly among race, language and culture, although he does add a diffusionist element to his argument by suggesting that brahminism and caste spread throughout India as cultural traits rather than through largescale physical migration of Aryan brahmins. He also suggests that the relation between the Greeks and the Egyptians was similar to that between the Aryas and the Dasas, except that the Vedic people had more reason to show their pride and exclusivity because the Dasas were non-Aryan and of dark colour. ALSO:
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Barbara Celarent, Caste and Race in India by G. S. Ghurye, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 116, No. 5 (March 2011), pp. 1713-1719 Chapters 5 and 7 consider the relation of race and caste. Ghurye here jumps immediately into the polemic between Herbert Risley, a colonial administrator and census officer committed to racial theories of the origin of caste, and his predecessors Denzil Ibbetson and J. C. Nesfield, who inclined to an occupational theory. Using what were then cuttingedge methods (nasal indexes and correlational analysis), Ghurye shows that a strong race/caste correlation exists only in Hindustan , a fact he attributes to its location at the portal where the Aryan / Brahmanic peoples entered the subcontinent. Closeness to ancestral Aryan populations meant that Brahmanic endogamy could remain stronger in Hindustan, whereas in southern and eastern India, where contact had been longer and the fissiparous tendencies of intermarriage hence more dominant, caste no longer correlated with physical type. Thus was diffusionism coupled with a new view that caste endogamy was ideologically important but practically difficult. Intermarriage was perpetually creating new groups, which then had to be rationalized and systematized by Brahmanic intellectuals, even while the exigencies of material lifeoccupation, landowning, tradessteadily pressed against any limited or fixed notion of an occupational rationalization, even for Brahmanical writers. Ghuryes view of caste was thus inevitably dynamic and rejected the deep, almost primeval stability sought byindeed assumed bymany of the racial and occupational theories.
7.7.2 The original migrations into India

The caste system begins to make historical sense if we postulate that the migrating warlike Hindus from South-Central Asia, speaking a Prakriti close to classical Sanskrit overcame the Dravidian peoples of the urban Indus valley and after a period of turmoil assimilated the conquered darker tribes as Sudras. The epics of the Ramayana and the later Mahabharata clearly point to a period of tribal fighting, uncertainty, and mixing of different cultures. [Source] DALITS AND THE CASTE SYSTEM OF INDIA: Some Explorations and Conjectures by Vithal Rajan
7.8
Caste and eugenics: further proof of its strong links with race
7.8.1 The Caste System: a Great Eugenic Movement in the truest sense of the word. Btw, if you are a girl, avoid marrying a hairy man.
This is an amazing attempt to justify the caste system, justified as a "race" project ("white" Brahmins vs others). The writer mourns the damage done to India by Buddhists who forced the mixing of the "white" Brahmins with dark ones. And btw, please don't marry hairy men, girls. That's a eugenically bad idea. And sorry, if you are not Brahmin, you are inferior and not much can be
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done about it. Get used to it. HINDU EUGENICS T. N. Roy, Department of Agriculture, Bengal [The Journal of Heredity, American Genetic Association, [1927 vol:18 iss:2 pg:67 -72] The greatest eugenic movement that the world has as yet witnessed originated in India. It was the institution of the caste system.[1] That intermarriage between two different races was undesirable was early appreciated in India and hence prohibited. That marriages which originated in lust were not likely to be good marriages was also appreciated by the Hindus. The Hindus not only classified themselves according to parentage, but they classified the different kinds of marriages. The best form of marriage was known as the Brahmanva marriage whose sole object was the improvement of the progeny. The choice of the mate did not rest with the contracting parties but with their elders and guardians. Such marriages were likely in many cases to be unhappy, nay unbearable, if both the contracting parties did not believe in the sanctity of marriage. Marriage was, therefore, and still is, with many Hindus a sacred duty where-from all considerations of self and passions were to be excluded. This was effected by religious inculcations, and by moral and social training. Marriages were usually early, sometimes even in infancy, and the married couple had usually to undergo a rather severe training in controlling themselves. Whatever may he said as to the happiness or otherwise of such matings, no one will deny that eugenically such marriages were in some respects of very great advantage. Origin of the Brahmins To understand fully and to appreciate Hindu eugenics one has to go back to the earliest period of their religious and social history. The earliest eugenic movement began with the institution of what is known as the Gotra. The word literally means that which protects the cow, i. e., an enclosure for the cows that was raised for protecting them from the ravages of wild animals or from thieves. The time of the institution of the Gotra has not yet been settled but it is reasonable to suppose that it must have been centuries before 700 B. C. It is contemporary with the institution of the Brahmins as a separate caste for there is no Brahmin without a Gotra. A few intellectual giants of those times who repaired to the solitude of the forests to meditate and evolve their own school of thought or knowledge became famous and attracted pupils. The places where they lived and taught were known as As-rams. These intellectual giants, known as Rishis or Munis, lived mainly on wild fruits of the forest and milk. They kept herds of cows which grazed in the
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almost unlimited pasture and were herded at night in the enclosure or Gotra. The Asrams and the Gotras were named after the founders. The descendants of the founders came to be known by their Gotras. Just as we now qualify a distinguished person by his place of residence or where he won his fame, just as we say Lord Kitchener of Khartoom or Lord Curzon of Keddleston, so in those days a Brahmin would introduce himself by saying that he was so and so of such and such Gotra. There are altogether forty-two Gotras. Whether you meet a Brahmin at Cape Comorin or Simla, at Karachi or Calcutta or anywhere in the wide world, you must know that he is a descendant of one of those forty-two intellectual giants and that his ancestry dates back over 3,000 years. And every Brahmin knows his Gotra and thereby he knows also how, when, and where his soul had its origin. As the descendants of the Gotras multiplied and migrated and settled elsewhere, further distinctive marks came to be instituted. This was done by the institution of what are known as the Prabars, what may in English he translated as the progenitors. The Prabars were the distinguished persons of the same line of descent, so that when a man could tell you his Gotra and Prabars (the founder and the distinguished person of the line) his geneaology was accurately fixed for several centuries. And every Brahmin knows his Gotra and Prabars even today. In fact it is impossible for him to forget them because the sacred thread that he wears has to be knotted together by thrice repeating his Gotra and Prabars. A sacred thread usually does not last more than six months so that a Brahmin usually has to repeat his Gotra and Prabars six times a year. Therefore he cannot forget them. A Brahmin may have as many as five Prabars according to the line to which he belongs. If you meet a Chatterjee anywhere you know that he belongs to Kasyap Gotra and that his Prabars are Kasyap, Apsar and Naidhuva. Further distinctions came to he instituted according to the quarter of the Vedas that each Brahmin followed. There were four Vedas (schools of religion) viz., Rik, Shyam, Yaju and Atharva. And every Brahmin knows his Gotra, Prabar and Veda. No race pays so much homage to the memory of their forefathers and no one regards them with such veneration as the Brahmins. True they did not build Pyramids or Taj Mahals or Minars or gigantic stone needles or other expensive monuments, but, that was characteristic of the Brahmins. They had a supreme contempt for what was merely temporal. Mind was their world and not matter. The Brahmins had already delegated to their inferiors the Khatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras the charge of all temporal matters so that they might unhampered follow their mental persuits. It was impossible for every man to build an expensive and lasting memorial to all his ancestors but it is within everybody's capacity to build a mental memorial that will (and has) outlasted the most
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ancient temporal monument. The mental memorial erected to the memory of the forty-two founders still shines in the minds of their some millions of descendants and is not likely to die so long as any of them live up to their traditions. The Brahmin has to celebrate the anniversaries of the death of his father, mother, forefathers and foremothers, seven on the mother's side and seven on the father's side, by religious ceremonies, offerings and entertaining other Brahmins. He therefore must remember the names of his immediate ancestors, seven generations on both sides. In those days of longevity, seven generations must have covered a period of over 200 years. These seven generations coupled with the Gotra, Probers and Vedas would have given in the pre-literate period a complete ancestry of every Brahmin. Brahminism Not Hereditary The Brahmin was originally created by eugenic selection. The son of a Brahmin in those days was not necessarily accepted as a Brahmin, whereas there are instances where people from different castes were admitted into the Brahmin caste if they could give evidence of the possession of the requisite mental and moral traits, ability and attainments. The Brahmin is called twice-born as also are the Khatrivas and Vaisvas. The second birth takes place at the time of the thread ceremony which is the acceptance of the creed and the beginning of a special training, different for each of the three castes. Evidently many sons of Brahmins were debarred from having the privileges of the caste and denied the sacred thread. This was a very healthy weeding operation as every breeder knows. Without it no pure lines can be established. Later on the weeding was stopped and the caste became hereditary. Of the scheduled mental and moral traits that a Brahmin was to possess by nature we may name the following: (1) Unselfishness, (2) Forgiveness, (3) Self-control, (4) Unswervingness, (5) Cleanliness, physical, moral and mental. ( 6) Simplicity, (7) Devotion, (8) Natural tendency to take delight in the special work of the Brahmin. These works were: (1) Teaching, (2) Learning, (3 and 4) Performing and presiding over religious ceremonies, (5) Giving alms to the good and (6) Receiving alms only from the good. The Brahmin's position was originally above those of the kings and emperors, but for some reason or other the Brahmin fell from his high position. His authority was very greatly shaken after the birth of Buddha, i. e. 500 B. C. Hinduism waned as Buddhism increased. Though Buddha is regarded by some of the Hindus as one of the ten incarnations of God and the law of Karma (Buddha's great tenet), is also preached by the Hindus, there was one fundamental difference between Buddhism and Hinduism
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and that was in the caste distinctions. With the conversion of Asoka the Great, Buddhism spread very rapidly. The tide was turned by the great Sankaraacharjya but not before the harm had been done. In Bengal, Buddhist influence had so far demoralized the Brahmins that when in the eighth century Adisur, the then reigning king, wanted to celebrate the Putresti Jagna[2] not a single Brahmin could be found in the whole of Bengal who could preside over the ceremonies. Adisur sent for five of the best Brahmins from the United Provinces. These came to Bengal with their wives and each with an attendent servant. They performed the ceremonies to Adisur's satisfaction and .he induced them with offers of land and other privileges to settle in Bengal. These five Brahmins are the progenitors of the bluest of the blue Brahmins in Bengal, known as the Kulins. Complete written accounts are available of all their descendents. These five had between them sixty-five sons and each of them settled in a different village with a free gift of land to support himself. A village in Bengal is called Gain. So, the offsprings of these sixtyfive sons were further distinguished by the name of their village which was called Gain. Just as Gotra distinguished the place of the original Brahmin in India, Gain distinguished the original settlement of the sixtyfive pure Brahmins in Bengal. It is not necessary to enter into the details of the history of Kulinism in Bengal. Suffice it to say that it was a great eugenic movement in the truest sense of the word. Modern science may not approve of its methods or their results. The Brahmins of Bengal cannot be called a pure line but it is yet true that the best of the scheduled characters of the Brahmin are oftener met with amongst the Brahmins than amongst any others. If you look up "When and where of famous men and women" by Howard Hensman and Clarence Webb, published by George Routledge & Sons, the three famous men of Bengal that you will find there are Brahmins. viz., Raja Ram Mohan Ray, the theologian Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, the writer and reformer and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the great novelist. It is noteworthy that their fields of fame were exactly those of the Brahmin, religion and literature. Mate Selection The laws of Manu and other religious books contain many instructions and restrictions for the choice of the mates and there are certain laws which have been religiously followed from the remotest antiquity to the present day. It may be an interesting work to have all these published to the world. In these what strikes one the most is the extreme care with which in-breeding was avoided . If the ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians and Greeks were the most in-bred people; the Hindus were the most out-bred people, though usually within the caste. The Brahmins were one caste and a Brahmin must marry a Brahmin but he must never marry one of his Gotra or Prabar. i. e., any one of his own line. The reason for this restriction is not known but
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conjectures are possible. Probably the law was prescribed because they learned from experience that inbreeding sometimes resulted in reversion to undesirable ancestors. In the Puranas, some of the most ancient literature, instances of brother and sister marriages are actually recorded. Susrue, the great medical authority, has also pointed out the bad effects of inbreeding. But the prohibition of marriage within one's own Gotra and Prabar did not by itself constitute a bar to inbreeding. It made brother-sister mating impossible but not cousin marriages. An unmarried daughter had the Gotra and Prabar of her father but she adopted those of her husband after marriage, so that a man's son and his sister's daughter had different Gotras and Prabars and could therefore be married. But this was effectually guarded against by another law which forbade intermarriage between blood relations not separated by at least seven generations. Regarding bodily disabilities and diseases, there are many prohibitions and amongst these one is rather significant and suggestive of Darwin's theory. It is that no girl should be married to a hairy man. That men do differ considerably in hairiness is common knowledge and there are men even today who when passed the middle age strongly suggest in their state of nature the ape. Was it possible that in those remote days a concentration of the hairy genes did in some cases result in a reversion to the wild hairy ancestors? There is also another injunction and to me it is the most important, so far as eugenics is concerned, as I have elsewhere said. It is to observe the law of similars. Marriages should be between similars who are similar looking and similarly constituted, of the same breed and attractive. Here we have a high ideal of selective intensive breeding which has not yet been surpassed. It is likely that a race which has been so systematically out-bred for thousands of years contained many inherent and masked defects. The seven generation prohibition, however, by no means ruled out of court the chance meetings of two recessives during all those thousands of years, specially as marriages were confined to the same caste. This may probably account for the downfall of the Brahmin and hence of the Hindus. But more than that, the downfall was caused by the readmission into Hinduism of the Buddha converts as a result of the preachings of the great Sankaracharjya. Sankaracharjya is credited with the great feat of driving Buddhism out of India by reconverting the Hindu-Buddhists into Hinduism. But this was achieved at a very great sacrifice. During the Buddhistic spell many had intermarried and their reconversion into Hinduism contaminated all the castes. This is most damagingly proved by the color differences. The pure Brahmin was a white race but today Brahmins of all
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colors are to be found from the dark aborigines of India to the white of the European race. Intermixture has very greatly disintegrated the castes. The downfall of the Brahmin was a great calamity , but it is idle now to bemoan it. One is tempted to say with Tennyson "The old order changeth yielding place to new and God fulfills himself in many ways lest one good custom should corrupt the world." The Brahmin was certainly not the special property of India. There have been, and still .are, Brahmins all over the world amongst the different races, as there have been and still are the Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. They have only to be singled out and bred pure in order to constitute the world federation of the different castes. Such castes will endure and profit the world enormously. Insanity, it has been said, is a corporeal disease but one-sided, as it is localized in the head. As with the individual so with the race. A race which has developed very highly on the intellectual side but has woefully neglected its physical side, must also appear to the normally developed race as insane. The Hindus are a case in point. Hindu civilization was essentially an intellectual civilization. The material, the physical, always appeared to them as very low, gross, not worth much thought, something that may be entrusted to the lower people. This was probably due to the environment. Nowhere in the world was life so easy as in India, nowhere was the struggle for existence so little. Whatever was the cause, one-sided views cannot endure for long. Intellectual progress could not proceed far without the material, its physical substratum, as is amply borne out by the result. Hindu civilization was destroyed, as all civilizations have been, by barbarism , by people whose physical side was more cultured than their intellectual. The people who destroyed Hindu civilization failed to appreciate its intellectual attainments. Hindu philosophy still leads the world. Hindu religious literature is almost inexhaustible and beyond the comprehension of most people. Their philosophy, their religion, their civilization, like themselves, are discredited because they failed to govern themselves, because they failed to protect themselves from foreign invasions, because they failed to progress materially with the material progress of the rest of the world. [Sanjeev: This bit I can agree with, at least in part] A reaction seems to be setting in. The races which have made the greatest material progress are today questioning their sanity. They wonder whether they themselves are not perilously near that onesidedness which is insanity, only it is the other way about. They
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wonder whether they have not given too much attention to the material and too little to the intellectual. No doubt there are amongst them those who with a justifiable pride point to their high attainments in physics and chemistry, to their telegraphs, telephones and wireless, to their railroads, motor cars and aeroplanes, to their gigantic commerce and industry. Others as a result of more detailed studies and introspection, are genuinely alarmed at the future prospect. They realize the danger of the by-products of these gigantic commerces and industries,the moral, mental and physical wrecks, the amazing increase in number of the inmates of prison, hospital and lunatic asylum. More than by these they are alarmed at those strange whirlpools of political and economic distress under the action of which the moral, mental and physical wrecks get welded together and cause one of those cataclysmic upheavals such as was lately witnessed in Russiareal menaces to civilization. [Sanjeev: this was only the beginning] Megasthenes who visited India dining Chandra Gupta's time wrote his impartial and now famous account of Indian civilization, as it was at that time. I pass over what he says of the material advancement. "The people were contented" 'he says, "they were peaceful, honest, clean, simple, truthful and industrious." How would that compare with the modern international distrust, envy, crime, restlessness, distressCapitalism, Commercialism, Pauperism and hence Bolshevism. To say that the downfall of the Hindus was due to their caste distinctions would be like mistaking an invariable concomittant for a cause. It would be more correct to say that the Hindus' downfall was due to their trying to march in advance of their times, to their exclusiveness and to their onesidedness. If the caste distinction did them any 'harm it did so because it was not observed well enough. [1] Caste systemThe word caste is derived from the Latin word cast-us meaning pure. It was first used by the Portuguese after their connexion with India. The Portuguese word casta means breed or race. The original castes in India were four, viz., the Brahmins or priest class, the Kshatriya or the military caste; the Vaishva or the merchant class and the Sudras or the servant class. The first three were Aryans and they were called the twice-born because they were initiated at a certain age and wore the sacred thread. Later on a large number of castes came to be instituted as a result of intermixture between those four castes. There are in India now nearly as many castes as there are occupations. Though the people do not now follow their caste occupations religiously as they used to, yet the caste is observed in all religious ceremonies, i. e., those relating to death, birth and marriages.
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[2] Putresti JagnaIt is a religious ceremony for invoking the gods to bless a childless couple with children. Frequent references are found in sanskrit literature about this Jagna. Many of the famous and great men of India were ushered into the world by the performance of this very expensive ceremony/
The story of Indian eugenics #2 - Aryan supremacy and (most importantly) the caste system Indian eugenists accepted as specimens not as scientists. The story of Indian eugenics #1
Vivekananda believed: The Aryan gives his blood to a race, and then it becomes civilised This showed clearly linkages with blood and superiority. This was not just about the soul (since sould cant transmit through blood) Vivekananda believed: The Aryan gives his blood to a race, and then it becomes civilised The original Aryans were from Abyssinia, the people with frightful shapes (Dayanand Saraswati) Vivekanandas logic for reincarnation of the soul is very good, but DNA and evolution explains much better Vivekananda seems to have converted Dayanand Saraswati's depiction of Aryans and Dasyus as nomenclatures (good/evil) into a RACIAL divide. This aspect of Vivekananda is quite pathetic, actually. In this article he writes: In India there are two great races: one is called the Aryan; the other, the non-Aryan. It is the Aryan race that has the three castes; but the whole of the rest are dubbed with one name, Shudras no caste. They are not Aryans at all. (Many people came from outside of India, and they found the Shudras [there], the aborigines of the country). There is something in caste, so far as it means blood; such a thing as heredity there is, certainly. Now try to [understand] why do you not mix your blood with the Negroes, the American Indians? Nature will not allow you. Nature does not allow you to mix your blood with them. There is the
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unconscious working that saves the race. That was the Aryans caste. Mind you, I do not say that they are not equal to us. They must have the same privileges and advantages, and everything; but we know that if certain races mix up, they become degraded. With all the strict caste of the Aryan and non-Aryan, that wall was thrown down to a certain extent, and hordes of these outlandish races came in with all their queer superstitions and manners and customs. Think of this: not decency enough to wear clothes, eating carrion, etc. But behind him came his fetish, his human sacrifice, his superstition, his diabolism. He kept it behind, [he remained] decent for a few years. After that he brought all [these] things out in front. And that was degrading to the whole race. And then the blood mixed; [intermarriages] took place with all sorts of unmixable races. The race fell down. But, in the long run it proved good. If you mix up with Negroes and American Indians, surely this civilisation will fall down. But hundreds and hundreds years after, out of this mixture will come a gigantic race once more, stronger than ever; but, for the time being, you have to suffer. The Hindus believe that is a peculiar belief, I think; and I do not know, I have nothing to say to the contrary, I have not found anything to the contrary they believe there was only one civilised race: the Aryan. Until he gives his blood, no other race can be civilised. No teaching will do. The Aryan gives his blood to a race, and then it becomes civilised. Teaching alone will not do. He would be an example in your country: would you give your blood to the Negro race? Then he would get higher culture. == Here's a more detailed discussion of Vivekananda's (what would be considered today) racist views.
7.9
Strong skin colour preference in India

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Hinduism/2004/05/Are-Hindu-AttitudesTowards-Race-Skin-Deep.aspx?p=2 There is extensive evidence of skin colour preference in India. Ive covered this issue extensively on my blog. A few examples: No need to insert white DNA into your children, India. Just adopt worldbest policies.
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Whether it is caste or race, the status is entirely ascribed, the status one obtains at birth. Segregation exists in both the systems. Outcasts still remain outcastes. Even in the midst of the recent worst human tragedy that hit the country in the form of an earthquake in Gujarat, the whole institutional mechanism of the state did not move into the Dalit areas and belts while the benefits of relief went to the upper castes as fast as possible. This is no concoction. Papers have reported it. Parliament has discussed it. The Congress party has highlighted it and NGOs have testified to it. In both caste and race those in the lowest rung are not only discriminated against but cursed to do menial jobs. Endogamy is another feature of both. Marriages are rare and few both among different racial and caste groups. Both are stratifications, a hierarchical ordering of social categories, supported by social institutions. Inequality is intergenerationally transmitted in caste and race. Prejudice and discrimination are both a part of race and caste. And what is worse is that such prejudice and discrimination are not merely personal but institutional, a part of the structure and processes of whole society. In both caste and race theories, there is an attitude of the so- called higher or superior groups that their culture is superior to all other cultures and all the other groups should be judged according to their culture. What is the difference in the claims made by the white race in Europe and the upper castes in India? In any racial or caste society the access to the society's resources including power is proportionately larger to the pure in comparison to the impure or polluted. [Source]
7.10 The mistreatment of foreign white women tourists in India

Post traumatic stress disorder caused by Indian men treating this Chicago university student like an object. This Indian PRETENSE OF CIVILISATION (a "great" religion apparently underpins this "civilisation") must be blown apart and destroyed. This is NO CIVILISATION. It is a barbaric land. These kinds of stories aren't exceptional. They are the rule. And on the other side, if you are black student/tourist from abroad, you are treated like TOTAL DIRT in India. India's psychiatric disorder of LACK OF RESPECT for others as humans is destroying it, and harming the world, as well. Caste, racism, all come from the same root: a religious framework that either exceptionally "regards" someone or exceptionally disrespects someone. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1023053
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8.
Rationalisation for oppression through hierarchies of the soul
Hindu scriptures and analysts of caste clearly state that caste (varna) is based on the transmigration of the soul which are classified on the good they have done in the previous birth. This good (karma) leads to a hierarchy of souls, made explicit thorugh caste. Upper caste Hindus (like Gandhi) firmly believe in transmigration as the basis of caste. Upper caste Hindus actually believe that they are at the top of the worlds heap because of the good they did in their past life. So you do good in a past life and then get to become BAD in this life by oppressing 40 per cent of Indias population! Thats a strange religion, indeed. A video that shows why karma is a probem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_I7OO8Sv8#at=529 What will remain from Hinduism if transmigration is removed? I suspect vedanta will be the only aspect to survive.
8.1
The soul is (re)born into a caste based on its karma

Indias caste system is necessitated by a complex, MULTIPLE TRIP theory of the soul. In this theory, the soul starts at the lowest level (insect) and works its way up into the human. Finally, after becoming not just an ordinary Brahmin but a great Brahmin, the soul achieves escape velocity and blasts out of Earth permanently (moksha). The figure below illustrates what is widely stated in the scriptures.
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In BFN I wrote: justice was not a matter for this life but the next one, led to the caste system being strengthened. Caste became the means of justice, if we can call it that. If someone behaved well and worked diligently within his allotted sphere in his lifetime, he could hope to rise to the next caste level upon rebirth; and vice versa you could fall down the scale in your next birth. In Hinduism, the type of birth you take in this world, and the conditions of your existence here are all determined by what you did in your earlier existences. You may even be born as an animal, says the Upanishad, if the karma is very bad (Vivekananda 2). The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad specifies the range of insects one can be reborn as: those who conquer the worlds through sacrifices, charity and austerity will do well upon rebirth, but those who do not will become insects and moths, and these frequently biting things (gnats and mosquitoes)3. Given the huge population of insects more than 200 million on this planet4 there must have been a lot of bad people in the past (well in excess of the total number of humans ever born).
8.1.1 Gandhis view

What bothers me is that some Hindus who CLEARLY KNOW that transmigration is the ONLY basis for caste pretend otherwise or try to CHEAT others by saying that caste is not determined at birth. At least Gandhi didnt cheat or falsify this basic truth. The Vaikom Satyagraha The demand for social and religious reforms was slowly gaining ground in Travancore State in the Nineteen Twenties. In 1918, the Exhale caste had already appealed to the Government to open out. The temples in the State to all Hindus, They late followed up with a threat to convert themselves to Christianity if the Government did not act decisively. It was in this climate that the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924-25) took place. The issue concerned the use of a road which ran beside the temple at Vaikom. Untouchables and other low castes were not permitted to use this road. A few followers of Sri. Narayana Guru, several caste Hindus and a Syrian Orthodox Christian began a Satyagraha to open out the road to the untouchable castes Gandhi visited the area and began a negotiation with a Nambudri Brahman trustee of the temple. Mahadev Desais notes of that negotiation reveal Gandhis reformist approach to the problem: Gandhiji: Is it fair to exclude a whole section of Hindus, because of their supposed low birth, from public roads which can be used by non-Hindus, by criminals and bad characters, and even by dogs and cattle?
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Swami Krishnananda in Chhandogya Upanishad, Rishikesh: The Divine Life Society Sivananda Ashram, 1984. 3 Chapter on the Process of Rebirth. 4 The Smithsonian institution estimates that there are more than 200 million insects for each human on the planet. (Information sheet No. 18 of the Museum: [http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/bugnos.htm]
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Nambudri Trustee: But how can it be helped? They are reaping the reward of their Karma. Gandhiji: No doubly they are suffering for their Karma by being born as Untouchables. But why must you add to the punishment? Are they worse than even criminals and beasts? Nambudri Trustee: They must be so, for otherwise God would not condemn them to be born Untouchables. From the discussion quoted above we get some idea of the traditional understanding of the position of the Untouchable castes and Gandhis divergence from this position. [Sanjeev: It was a very minor divergence. Thats not really a divergence, if you ask me. Just COSMETIC RUBBISH. He did not call for an end to caste. That would have been real divergence.] For the Nambudiri Trustee the notion of Untouchablity could not be separated from the being of the Untouchable, which was a result of his Karma. it is clear from this discussion that while Gandhis espousal of the cause against Untouchability is of great social importance, his reasoning appeared self-contradictory. The position taken by the Nambudiri Trustee was nearer the traditional understanding of Karma. Gandhi made a departure from tradition by rejecting the practice of Untouchability without giving up the system of caste. Source: GANDHI AND AMBEDKAR by Siddhartha
8.1.2 Vivekanandas logic for reincarnation of the soul is very good, but DNA and evolution explains much better
I'm interested in finding out how Vivekananda came to reconcile Advaita the most universal philosophy of all, with the caste system and reincarnation of the "soul" (the caste system depends CRITICALLY on the theory of reincarnation). Vivekananda had not been very clear about this initially. So he wrote on 7th Aug., 1889 he asks Pramadadas Mitra of Varanasi, an orthodox Hindu: The doctrine of caste in the Purusha-Sukta of the Vedas does not make it hereditary so what are those instances in the Vedas where caste has been made a matter of hereditary transmission? Sometime thereafter Vivekananda was persuaded that there WAS a hereditary transmission mechanism for the soul (hence the validity of caste). By 1896 he was preaching that "there is hereditary transmission so far as furnishing the material to the soul is concerned." [Source] This is a summary of his argument. For the full argument click here. His argument is extremely cogent - GIVEN THE KNOWLEDGE KNOWN TO MANKIND IN HIS TIMES. He asks the right questions. Fortunately, modern science can answer all these questions. In that sense, the idea of caste (and a "soul" that reincarnates) should be pretty easy to kill once knowledge about evolution and DNA is more widely transmitted. Note that I'm quite comfortable with the idea of a UNIVERSAL SOUL (advaita).
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QUESTION: Is there nothing permanent in this evanescent human life? Is there nothing, they have asked, which does not die away when this body dies? Is there not something living when this frame crumbles into dust? Is there not something which survives the fire which burns the body into ashes? And if so, what is its destiny? Where does it go? Whence did it come? The question was answered once for all thousands of years ago, and through all subsequent time it is being restated, reillustrated, made clearer to our intellect. Eye > Brain > Alertness > Intellect > Soul > orders to act First the external instruments [eye], then the organ to which this external instrument will carry the sensation [brain], and lastly the organ itself must be joined to the mind [alertness]. The mind, too, is only the carrier; it has to carry the sensation still forward, and present it to the intellect. The intellect must carry it forward and present the whole thing before the ruler in the body, the human soul. Before him this is presented, and then from him comes the order, what to do or what not to do; and the order goes down in the same sequence to the intellect, to the mind, to the organs, and the organs convey it to the instruments, and the perception is complete. [The] human being is composed first of this external covering, the body; secondly, the finer body, consisting of mind, intellect, and egoism. Behind them is the real Self of man. REINCARNATION This idea of reincarnation is most essential for the moral well-being of the human race. Why do we not remember our past? Why should we remember the past? What has come to this brain is the resultant, the sum total of the impressions acquired in our past, with which the mind has come to inhabit the new body. Yet at the same time, there are instances which show that this memory does come. No other theory except that of reincarnation accounts for the wide divergence that we find between man and man in their powers to acquire knowledge. [Sanjeev: modern scientists would call it g] If, as some of the European philosophers think, a child came into the world with what they call tabula rasa, such a child would never attain to any degree of intellectual power, because he would have nothing to which to refer his new experiences. We see that the power of acquiring knowledge varies in each individual, and this shows that each one of us has come with his own fund of knowledge. [Sanjeev: This assumption that knowledge is inborn is false.] Knowledge can only be got in one way, the way of experience; there is no other way to know. [Sanjeev: Now hes back to tabula rasa/Locke/Hume] INSTINCT If we have not experienced it in this life, we must have experienced it in other lives. [ Sanjeev: This is a logical error that Vivekananda makes. There could be another transmission mechanism, and indeed there is: DNA.
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] How is it that the fear of death is everywhere? A little chicken is just out of an egg and an eagle comes, and the chicken flies in fear to its mother. There is an old explanation (I should hardly dignify it by such a name). It is called instinct. Let us study this phenomenon of instinct. Instinct is involved reason. What we call instinct in men or animals must therefore be involved, degenerated, voluntary actions, and voluntary actions are impossible without experience. Experience started that knowledge, and that knowledge is there. "But what is the use of saying that that experience belongs to the soul? Why not say it is hereditary transmission?" The simple hereditary theory [which is wrong] takes for granted that mental experience can be recorded in matters. But what proof is there for assuming that the mental impression can remain in the body, since the body goes to pieces? What carries it? [Sanjeev: DNA is a like a computer operating system: those that are fitter carry forward into the future. A soul is not necessary to bring into the picture.] Even granting it were possible for each mental impression to remain in the body how could it be transmitted to me? Through the bioplasmic cell? How could that be? [Sanjeev: Thats where Vivekanadas lack of knowledge of modern DNA etc. shows up clearly. The DNA is the soul] Until these physiologists can prove how and where those impressions live in that cell, and what they mean by a mental impression sleeping in the physical cell, their position cannot be taken for granted. [Sanjeev: instinct is merely that part of the operating system which is fit for purpose. Due to random mutation, programs that are more compatible with the environment, e.g. with the right instinct survive, others die out.] SOUL AND FREEDOM (through KARMA) But I will bring before you one more point with regard to this theory of reincarnation. It is the theory that advances the freedom of the human soul. Men in general lay all the blame of life on their fellow-men, or, failing that, on God, or they conjure up a ghost, and say it is fate. We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. The infinite future is before you, and you must always remember that each word, thought, and deed, lays up a store for you and that as the bad thoughts and bad works are ready to spring upon you like tigers, so also there is the inspiring hope that the good thoughts and good deeds are ready with the power of a hundred thousand angels to defend you always and for ever. [Sanjeev: True, if we lose the soul, we lose this very attractive theory of karma, as well. I do not believe, however, that we should lose the essence of this theory. I include karma theory as the foundational principle in my theory of liberty, and believe it is perfectly compatible with a SINGLE life. There IS a reward for goodness in this lifetime: it is the sense that one has done the right thing.]
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8.1.3 J.N. Farquhars findings

The Outcaste is a soul whose past record is so foul that physical contact with him is spiritually dangerous to the caste Hindu. [cited in MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA BY J. N. FARQUHAR,1915] Also: The most characteristic and vital of all Hindu doctrines is transmigration and karma. It is also more anti-Christian than any other aspect of the religion; for it involves not only the theory that each individual passes through many lives and deaths, but also the doctrines that a mans place in society is an infallible index of the stage of soul-progress he has reached; that the suffering he undergoes is strictly equivalent to his past sins; that women are born women because of former sin, and widows are widowed for the same reason; that to seek to ameliorate the social condition of an individual or a tribe is futile, since the exact amount of the misery or happiness each man will suffer or enjoy is inevitably fixed by his karma; that Caste is the only right form of society, because social grades are divinely proportioned to human desert; that divine forgiveness is impossible; and that, since God stands apart from karma, He is necessarily actionless. So powerful and pervasive is the doctrine that there is scarcely a part of the religion that has not been modified by it. [cited in MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA BY J. N. FARQUHAR,1915]
8.2
Charvakas rejected reincarnation

In this context it must be noted that a good number of Indians have rejected the transmigration and hence, of caste. Crvkas rejected religious conceptions like afterlife, reincarnation [wIKI]
8.3
Buddhists rejected reincarnation of soul??

check
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9.
Lots of red herrings thrown in to confound the truth
9.1
Red herring: Caste is not determined at birth

This is the most common myth. As we have seen, this is totally false. This is a very convenient lie. By pretending that some sections of the scriptures oppose caste by birth, the task fo these upper caste mythmakers is complete. They can then rest on the laurels of their BIRTH-DETERMINED caste and continue to oppress the lower castes and dalits. What fools they make of others. Example: There is no such thing as the Hindu caste system. There is caste system in India which is equally strong in Muslims, Christians and even Sikhs (given that Sikhism explicitly preaches against caste). The caste system is a social system & not a religious system. It is based on the two foundationsendogamy and denial of economic freedom. People are trapped in their respective professions which they have inherited by the accident of the birth. What Hinduism had was the not the caste system but the Varna system. Varna in Vedas and later texts is descriptive rather in perspective. It categoriesed people into four broad groups according to their professions. It was not birth based as you will find mention of families where mother is called Shudra, father Vaishya and son Brahmin due to their respective professions. Same person could belong to different Varna as he/she changed profession. [Source: Abhinav Prakash Singh, On Caste and Economics]
9.2
Red herring: Caste is not intrinsic to Hinduism

A number of people peddle the myth that caste is not integral to Hinduism. A key argument is that transfer of Dalits to other religions doesnt seem change their status. Examples: Caste discrimination has been one of the most evil and damaging activities ever to be falsely associated with the beautiful religion of Sanatana Dharma. The mistaken notion that a person is born with a genetically-inherited "caste" is an inherently anti-Dharmic, anti-Hindu, and anti-human fallacy that is not supported by the scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, and that has repeatedly led to Sanatana Dharma being wrongly accused of being backward and unjust. Sanatana Dharma is neither. The Vedic scriptures do, indeed, strongly endorse the divinely inspired social organizing principle known as varna. Varna, however, is not to be equated with what has come to be known as the "caste" system. Rather, varna proposes a logical and natural division of humanity into four different, broad categories of psycho-physical nature that is purely
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reflective of the inherent nature of each and every individual, and not reflective of one's parentage or of one's genetic inheritance. The presentday caste system is a perverted devolution from the original Vedic varna system. Caste is not varna. [Source: http://www.dharmacentral.com/forum/content.php?119-CasteBigotry]
I am not sure what part of the caste system Ms. Prasad believes is sanctioned by religion. While the Bhagavad-Gita mentions four "varnas," or castes, according to one's qualities and characteristics, the caste system was originally designed to promote the harmonious workings of society. The Gita does not say that a person's caste is to be determined by birth but rather by behavior. Under such a system, a lower-caste person can be promoted to a higher caste through the attainment of knowledge and other virtues, while a higher-caste Brahman can be demoted for not living up to high values. That said, the system became corrupted and rigid over time as higher castes, such as the Brahmans, sought to maintain power by not allowing members of lower castes to move up. Source: Kar, Dev (2007). Religion and Roots of Indias Caste System., The Washington Post (of July 1, 2007).
Caste was more of a social than a religious institution, and that conversion from Hinduism to Islam has not necessarily the slightest effect upon caste [Denzil Ibbetson cited in Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: The Early Origins of Indian Anthropometry by Crispin Bates]
9.3
Red herring: Caste is a professional association

Thus it is incorrect to suggest that castes were ostensibly professional divisions5.
He further went on to assert that castes were essentially guilds, and that a guild in its earliest form, was nothing less than a tribe, based on common descent. A great many caste divisions or sub-caste units, such as gotras, he then argued, were essentially tribal in origin. [Denzil Ibbetson cited in Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: The Early Origins of Indian Anthropometry by Crispin Bates]
Caste Is Not Past by LAVANYA SANKARAN, The New York Times, June 16, 2013
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9.4
Red herring: Caste is class

It has nothing to do with economic status. There is a tendency among some people to suggest that America and the West have castes. This lowers the meaning of caste to merely a class. An example of erroneous analysis that mixes class can caste is: FULLER, C.J., Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Sep2011, Vol. 17 Issue 3, p604-621. 18p. The fact that there is discrimination and a social hierarchy in the West is NOT the same as caste. Caste is only what is related to actions in the previous birth. Race relations can best be studied as a form of class exploitation; the assumption that they are caste relations is confusing and misleading. [Oliver C. Cox, Race and Caste: A Distinction The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 50, No. 5. (Mar., 1945), pp. 360-368. So far as production is concerned, the caste system is not unlike, in functional conceptualization, a colony of bees, with each class of insects doing its work naturally and harmoniously. Human beings may put varying estimates upon the work of each class of insects; yet for the continuity of the insect society the work of each may be indispensable. And so, too, it is a postulate of the caste system that the occupation of the lowest caste, though relatively inferior, is yet important to the system. [ibid] [Sanjeev: if a beehive similie is to be considered which I disagree with then we are talking of biological differences of some sort] The crucial basis of race relations is physical identifiability. When we speak of Chinese, Indians, Europeans, Negroes, or Filipinos, we expect responses indicating consciousness of ocular evidence of physical differentiation. But when we refer to such groups as Chamars, Baniyas, Telis, Doms, Brahmans, Kayasthas, or Jolahas, no sense of physical distinction need be aroused. We see rather only East Indians. [ibid] [Sanjeev: people actually see themselves in India through the lens of skin colour. Subtle shades seem to matter.] Never, so far as we know, has Brahmanic India had a "color problem." [ibid] [Sanjeev: this is absurd nonsense the whole of India is a quagmire of skin colour issues]
Gould points out how this symbolic scheme ultimately reflects the class relations it grows out of: Basically, the distinction is between the land-owning, cultivating castes, on the one hand, who dominate the social order and the landless craft and menial castes, on the other, who are subordinate within it. Hinduism elaborately rationalizes and congeals this fundamental distinction. (The Hindu Jajmani System: A Case of Economic Particularism, Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 14, No. 4 (1958)) Not all of the caste systems in South Asia are Hindu: there is a separate Muslim caste system in India and Pakistan, and in Sri Lanka the Sinhalese system, though historically derived from India, is not based in Hinduism. But they are all broadly organized along the principles outlined above. This should be enough to show that it's the underlying social relations that
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are primary, not their specific ritual elaboration. And yet caste is not class. There are brahmins as poor as any untouchable. [Source: http://www.anti-caste.org/caste-what-is-caste.html]
Vivekananda was CONFUSED! He thought that Europe, USA and UK had an excellent caste system Rarely has a man been more confused about 'caste' than Vivekananda was. CASTE IS NOT KNOWN EXCEPT THROUGH ASTROLOGERS In his model, (based on my deduction from his statements) the reincarnated soul perhaps gets into the mothers womb just minutes before birth. There is no DNA effect, just that of the past karma of the soul, which then determines caste. No oneknows the caste of the newly born child, which has to be determined by astrologers: Every Hindu knows that astrologers try to fix the caste of every boy or girl as soon as he or she is born. That is the real caste the individuality, and Jyotisha (astrology) recognises that. [Source] CASTE IS RELATED TO SOUL'S ACTIVITIES IN PAST BIRTH, HENCE KNOWING IT IS IMPORTANT Just a reminder that we have caste because of the past experience of the reincarnated soul (see also this in which I refutehis reincarnation arguments for caste) Each one of us is born with a peculiarity of nature as the result of our past existence. Either we call it our own reincarnated past experience or a hereditary past; whatever way we may put it, we are the result of the past that is absolutely certain, through whatever channels that past may have come. [Source] Also, the Gita is keen to have castes: Take the case of caste in Sanskrit, Jti, i.e. species. Now, this is the first idea of creation. Variation (Vichitrat), that is to say Jati, means creation. "I am One, I become many" (various Vedas). Unity is before creation, diversity is creation. Now if this diversity stops, creation will be destroyed. So long as any species is vigorous and active, it must throw out varieties. When it ceases or is stopped from breeding varieties, it dies. Now the original idea of Jati was this freedom of the individual to express his nature, his Prakriti, his Jati, his caste; and so it remained for thousands
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of years. Not even in the latest books is inter-dining prohibited; nor in any of the older books is inter-marriage forbidden. Then what was the cause of India's downfall? the giving up of this idea of caste. As Git says, with the extinction of caste the world will be destroyed. Now does it seem true that with the stoppage of these variations the world will be destroyed? [Source] But now he makes some really absurd statements which nullify his earlier views (outlined above). EUROPE AND AMERICAS EXCELLENT CASTE SYSTEM Let Jati have its sway; break down every barrier in the way of caste, and we shall rise. Now look at Europe. When it succeeded in giving free scope to caste and took away most of the barriers that stood in the way of individuals, each developing his caste Europe rose. In America, there is the best scope for caste (real Jati) to develop, and so the people are great. And we can only rise by giving it full sway again. This variety does not mean inequality, nor any special privilege. [Source] ENGLANDS IDEAL HEREDITARY CASTE SYSTEM In England the social status is stricter than caste is in India. The English Church people are all gentlemen born, which many of the missionaries are not. They greatly sympathised with me. I think that about thirty English Church clergymen agree entirely with me on all points of religious discussion. I was agreeably surprised to find that the English clergymen, though they differed from me, did not abuse me behind my back and stab me in the dark. There is the benefit of caste and hereditary culture. [Sanjeev: in this case he is referring to these clergymen as 'gentlemen' with a 'higher caste'] [Source] THIS MAN WAS TOTALLY CONFUSED RE: CASTE 1) OPPOSITION TO HEREDITARY CASTE In India, priesthood, like every other business in a social life, is a hereditary profession. A priest's son will become a priest, just as a carpenter's son will be a carpenter, or a blacksmith's son a blacksmith. [Source] Buddha never fought true castes, for they are nothing but the congregation of those of a particular natural tendency, and they are always valuable. But Buddha fought the degenerated castes with their hereditary privileges, [Source]
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The present caste is not the real Jati, but a hindrance to its progress. It really has prevented the free action of Jati, i.e. caste or variation. Any crystallized custom or privilege or hereditary class in any shape really prevents caste (Jati) from having its full sway; and whenever any nation ceases to produce this immense variety, it must die. Therefore what I have to tell you, my countrymen, is this, that India fell because you prevented and abolished caste. Every frozen aristocracy or privileged class is a blow to caste and is not-caste. [Source] 2) BUT!!! ADVANTAGE OF HEREDITARY CASTE SYSTEM In modern India, no one born of Shudra parents, be he a millionaire or a great Pandit, has ever the right to leave his own society [Sanjeev: but wasn't that the very point he was making by praising USA's social mobility!!], with the result that the power of his wealth, intellect, or wisdom, remaining confined within his own caste limits, is being employed for the betterment of his own community This hereditary caste system of India, being thus unable to overstep its own bounds, is slowly but surely conducing to the advancement of the people moving within the same circle. The improvement of the lower classes of India will go on, in this way, so long as India will be under a government dealing with its subjects irrespective of their caste and position. [Source] Conclusion I find Vivekananda to be TOTALLY CONFUSED: First, Vivekananda's logic for the idea of reincarnation (and hence caste) is false. Second, he believes in astrology and astrologers to determine someone's caste. Nothing more stupid exists than astrology. Third, he thinks USA/UK etc. have a good caste system. Fourth, he thinks that hereditary enclosure of Sudras into their own community is good, and assists in their progress. I'VE RARELY COME ACROSS MORE ABSURD ARGUMENTS THAN THIS. Happy for his followers to enlighten me what is going on with these absurd ideas.
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9.5
Red herring: there was never any discrimination, anyway

A novel argument that suggests that discrimiation did not exist is provided below. Lord Macaulay in 1835 (Ref. 2, excerpts given below) noted that people in India did not consider the learning of Sanskrit (or Sanscrit) etc. as a financially advantageous venture and they would rather do or pursue something else. This is proved by the fact that we are forced to pay our . Sanscrit students while those who learn English are willing to pay us. All the declamations in the world about the love and reverence of the natives for their sacred dialects will never, in the mind of any impartial person, outweigh this undisputed fact, that we cannot find in all our vast empire a single student who will let us teach him those dialects, unless we will pay him. (Section 19, Ref. 2) Nothing is more certain than that it never can in any part of the world be necessary to pay men for doing what they think pleasant or profitable. India is no exception to this rule. The people of India do not require to be paid for eating rice when they are hungry, or for wearing woollen cloth in the cold season. To come nearer to the case before us: --The children who learn their letters and a little elementary arithmetic from the village schoolmaster are not paid by him. He is paid for teaching them. Why then is it necessary to pay people to learn Sanscrit.? (Section 21, Ref. 2) A petition was presented last year to the committee by several exstudents of the Sanscrit College. The petitioners stated that they had studied in the college ten or twelve years, that they had made themselves acquainted with Hindoo literature and science, that they had received certificates of proficiency. And what is the fruit of all this? "Notwithstanding such testimonials," they say, "we have but little prospect of bettering our condition without the kind assistance of your honourable committee, the indifference with which we are generally looked upon by our countrymen leaving no hope of encouragement and assistance from them." They therefore beg that they may be recommended to the Governor-General for places under the Government-not places of high dignity or emolument, but such as may just enable them to exist. "We want means," they say, "for a decent living, and for our progressive improvement, which, however, we cannot obtain without the assistance of Government, by whom we have been educated and maintained from childhood." They conclude by representing very pathetically that they are sure that it was never the intention of Government, after behaving so liberally to them during their education, to abandon them to destitution and neglect. (Section 22, Ref. 2) There is no evidence according to the above that people in India were deprived by brahmins long ago of the opportunity to learn Sanskrit and Vedas and that further exposes the spurious Manusmriti (Ref. 3) about its imaginary restrictions on people to learn the Vedas. In reality, and according to Macaulays report in 1835 (Ref. 2), people seemed to have little interest in learning Sanskrit and Vedas, due mainly to a lengthy, tedious and time consuming initial effort and not much financial advantage later (in occupation as a brahmin). Moreover, in relation to the numbers of Brahmins these days, the overwhelming
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numbers of farmers, masons and carpenters etc. currently (in OBC and SC categories, supposedly representing the descendents of farmers, carpenters and blacksmiths etc. long ago) point to the fact that most people in the past had chosen on their own to pursue and stay in farming etc. and make a decent living that way, rather than risk their financial future by becoming a brahmin after learning Sanskrit and Vedas in a hard and time consuming way. [Source] Whats the actual truth? It took the British to allow Dalits to study in schools. There was NO possibility of Dalits being given Sanskrit education. Prasad said Macaulay's policy set in motion the liberation of the Dalits by dismantling the traditional system of learning based on Sanskrit, the use of which was denied to the lower castes. "When the British opened English-medium schools, Dalits were prevented from entering them by upper caste people, forcing the colonial government to issue orders that no one could be denied admission on the basis of caste, creed, gender or religion," Prasad said. [Source]
9.6
Red herring: Caste is cultural

RACE ACCORDING TO GOLWALKAR RACEIt is superfluous to emphasize the importance of Racial Unity in the Nation idea. A Race is a hereditory [sic] Society having common customs, common language, common memories of glory or disaster; in short, it is a population with a common origin under one culture. Such a race is by far the most important ingredient of a Nation. Even if there be people of a foreign origin, they must have become assimilated into the body of the mother race and inextricably fused into it. They should have become one with the original national race not only in its economic and political life, but also in its religion, culture and language, for otherwise such foreign races may be considered, under certain circumstances at best members of a common state for political purposes; but they can never form part and parcel of the National body. If the mother race is destroyed either by destruction of the persons composing it or by loss of the principles of its existence, its religion and culture, the nation itself comes to an end. We will not seek to prove this axiomatic truth, that the Race is the body of the Nation, and that with its fall, the Nation ceases to exist. Race is basically religion: in Hindusthan, Religion is an all-absorbing entity. Based as it is on the unshakable foundations of a sound philosophy of life (as indeed Religion ought to be) it has become eternally woven into the life of the Race, and forms, as it were its very soul. With us every action in life, individual, social, or political, is a command of Religion. We make war or peace, engage in arts and crafts, amass wealth and give it away, indeed we are born and we dieall in accord with religious injunctions. Naturally, therefore, we are what our great Religion has made us. Our
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Race-Spirit is a child of our Religion, and so with us culture is but a product of our all-comprehensive Religion, a part of its body and not distinguishable from it.
9.7
Red herring: Other countries have a caste system, too

Vivekananda was CONFUSED! He thought that Europe, USA and UK had an excellent caste system
9.8
Red herring: Many reform movements opposed caste so it is not an issue

Such approaches ignore of the foundational theory of caste (transmigration) and the great damage caused by it in India (particularly rural India). By asserting that the scriptures somehow (or the reform movements) wrote against caste, such people are absolved of the responsibility of looking at the actual facts on the ground. Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism? Demolishing a Myth by M. V. Nadkarni, Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 45 (Nov. 814, 2003), pp. 4783-4793 It is necessary to demolish the myth that, caste system is an intrinsic part of Hinduism. This paper intends to logically and with documentary proof show that Hinduism even vedic and classical Hinduism not only does not support the caste system, but has taken lots of pains to oppose it both in principle and practice, making it obvious that caste system is not an intrinsic part of Hindu canon, philosophy and even practice. It will then show that the caste system emerged and survived due to totally different factors, which had nothing to do with Hindu religion. What Caste System Means Caste system as discussed here includes untouchability too, but wherever necessary it will be referred to separately. As we shall note, untouchability came into the caste system much later. The following features are generally taken as essential in characterising caste system. It means not simply a division of labour, with each varna associated with a type of occupation, but also a division of labour determined by birth permitting no occupational/social mobility. This is what distinguishes caste from class. While the former is hereditary, the latter is not at least in principle. It is a rigid system, separating caste from caste, with restrictions on inter-dining and inter-marriage, due to a morbid fear of varnasankara (mixture of varnas). Caste corresponds to jatis, and each varna is supposed to be a cluster of jatis, though there is sometimes ambiguity about which jati belongs to which varna. It is varnas that are cited in canon, not jatis. Restrictions on inter-dining and inter-marriage pertained not merely to varnas but also to jatis. It is a hierarchical system, one below the other in ritual (or purity) status, with several disabilities imposed on the fourth varna of shudras and even more on the untouchables known as antyajas. It was not, however, hierarchical in power and wealth at least as between the upper
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castes. Dumont thought that the distinction between status and power is basic to understanding caste sysem [Dumont 1999:65-91]. The system is associated with a notion of purity vis--vis pollution, with utmost purity at the level of brahmins declining successively with kshatriyas, vaishyas, and then shudras. At the other end, untouchables are treated as most impure or polluted. A touch of them is supposed to pollute others including shudras. A gradation of hierarchy and pollution was found among untouchables too, for example, bhangis (scavengers) considered as more polluted than say, mahars (agricultural labourers). Initially the notion of purity vs pollution may have been based on the need to maintain cleanliness, but it soon developed into an institutionalised form where pollution was associated with birth. The upper castes when polluted could, however, get rid of their pollution through ritual bath and such other expiatory measures. The notion of purity and pollution developed into a powerful instrument to discourage and prevent varnasankara. The whole system along with its taboos and restrictions is authenticated by religion or canon, giving it a religious sanctity. At the foundation of the whole system there is a production system, which is subsistence-oriented and locally based rather than oriented to larger market, and production relations being of patron-client type, based on mutual dependence. Such a system is not necessarily geared for the generation of economic surplus and its appropriation, as it was not oriented to the larger market but to local needs. ll Our Approach to the Demolition of the Myth I reject totally the myth that caste system, as defined by these features either collectively or singly, forms an integral part of Hinduism. Why Hinduism is not varna dharma understood as jati or birth based, will become clear in the course of this paper. Hinduism can be defined, as Gandhiji did, as search for truth, non-violence, compassion for all beings and tolerance. Consistent with its commitment to search for truth, it is also marked by liberalism. Hinduism is a dynamic religion, not fixed or revealed once for all, and hence cannot be identified exclusively with the religion of the Vedas and Upanishads, nor with the religion expounded by Dharmashastras, nor with the Hinduism of the three eminent Acharyas Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhya, nor also exclusively with medieval Hinduism and modern Hinduism. All these phases represent Hinduism, and have contributed to its development. Moreover, there is no disjointedness between different phases of Hinduism, each deriving its inspiration from the previous ones. In that sense, there is both change and continuity in Hinduism. Since however, it is accepted by all as beyond controversy that medieval Bhakti movement was a protest against caste system and since it is equally well known that modern Hinduism as explained by Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo and others also has rejected caste system, the focus of this paper is on previous or classical phases of Hinduism. It is this earlier Hinduism, which may be termed as classical Hinduism, that is taken as supportive to the caste system, and it is this myth that is being demolished by this paper. Our greater attention to the previous phases of Hinduism is thus not because Hinduism is defined in terms of these phases, but simply because the contention concerns these phases.
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The myth is demolished in the following way: (i) by showing that there is no strong correlation between Hinduism and caste system, either spatially or temporally; (ii) by showing that even after the caste system emerged in Hindu society, there was considerable social and occupational mobility, and that none of the defining features of caste system listed above were strictly observed in practice particularly in the classical period; (iii) by showing that far from supporting the caste system, Hindu canon and philosophy were actually against caste system based on birth; (iv) by showing that, in addition, Hinduism created legends to impress the popular mind that the caste system is immoral and invalid; (v) by showing that within the framework of Hinduism, there took place several movements against caste, starting from Bhakti movements continuing to more modern movements; (vi) by showing that caste system emerged and survived in spite of Hindu canon and philosophy, because of factors which had nothing to do with Hindu religion. Ill No Correlation between Hinduism and Caste System The statement that there is no correlation between Hinduism and caste may sound surprising to many. If not in exactly the same words, this is the sum and substance of what Dumont, the most highly regarded authority on caste system, and later even Gail Omvedt not known to be an admirer of Hinduism had to say [Dumont Omvedt 1994:31-32]. Dumont refers to caste distinctions including even untouchable castes, among Christians in India in different regions. The discrimination against untouchable Christians is reflected in the form of their separate seating in churches, and even separate burial grounds. Even today, one can see advertisements in newspapers seeking Catholic brahmin spouses for Catholic brahmins. Islam, supposed to be an egalitarian religion, is not free from castes at least in south Asia. Dumont himself refers to different communities within ashrafs, who are supposed to be high caste, and also non-ashrafs who have a lower status. Among the non-ashrafs also, there are three levels of status: (1) the converts of superior caste, who are mainly rajputs except for those who have been admitted into the ashraf; (2) a large number of professional groups corresponding to the artisan castes of the Hindus, ...; (3) converted untouchables who have preserved their functions. These groups indeed seem to be endogamous .... [Dumont 1999:208]. There is no commensality also between ashrafs and non-ashrafs, due to difference in their status [ibid: 207]. There is caste system among Buddhists of Sri Lanka also. Some lingayats claim that they are non-Hindus because they do not accept the Vedas and the varna dharma, and yet they too are not free from castes and ritual gradation. Basaveshwara (Basavanna), who led the Bhakti movement whose followers became known as veerashaiva or lingayats in Karnataka, was truly against caste system. But unfortunately, he could not succeed in preventing caste system among his latter-day followers. On the other hand, Gail Omvedt points out that among Hindus settled for
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many generations in Surinam, West Indies, Mauritius, Bali, Fiji and other centres outside India, caste system was weak, almost non-existent. There took place inter-mixture more freely, including inter-dining and intermarriage, and no one took varna-based castes seriously, though identities in terms of regional jatis (such as Marvaris and Gujarzitis) have not disappeared. Gail Omvedt, therefore, says significantly that caste is more a feature of south Asia than of Hinduism per se, taking root in this region because of its peculiar social and economic characteristics. Now we may examine correlation between Hinduism and caste system over time. The first reference to the four varnas comes in the tenth mandala of Rg Veda, in two verses of Purusha Sukta (quoted in another section below). According to several scholars who have made deep research on the theme, the tenth mandala was chronologically the last to be composed. There is a good consensus on the point that previous to this, there was no varna system in vedic society. Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana also mention that in Krita yuga, there was no caste, but only one varna of human beings that of the children of Vivaswata Manu [Arvind Sharma 2000:136]. Hence, the word manava, popular in all Indian languages. Puranas and other Hindu scriptures have preserved the racial memory of a golden age in the past when there was no caste. According to B R Ambedkar, there were only three varnas in vedic society, and no fourth varna of shudras. He says, the economy had advanced enough to give rise to a division of labour but there was no hierarchy. He refers to other cosmologies in Hindu texts, but they are all secular, without hint of a hierarchy and without hint of a divine origin. He feels therefore that the two verses in Purusha Sukta are an interpolation, added much later after the caste system was established.1 According to him shudras as an ethnic group were a part of kshatriyas, and a part of Aryan society itself. He does not accept the theory of western scholars according to which shudras and untouchables were originally non-Aryans who were defeated by Aryans, and taken into the vedic society giving them a lower status. On the other hand, shudras were very much a part of the ruling society, several of them being kings. As per Ambedkar, they fell from grace and became the fourth varna when brahmins stopped performing the rite of upanayana for them as a revenge against harassment and insults suffered by them at the hands of some shudra kings. He also says that untouchability is a post-Buddhist phenomenon, which emerged as a result of Hindus giving up sacrifice of animals and beef-eating under the influence of Buddhism, but they went to such an extreme that those who continued to eat beef were regarded as untouchables.2 Whether or not one accepts Ambedkars theory of origin of shudras and untouchables, scholars are agreed that varna-system based on birth is very much a post-vedic3 feature, and untouchability is a postBuddhist phenomenon. This means that at some time, maybe for about first half of the long history of Hinduism since 4000 BCE to the present day, there was Hinduism but no caste system. This is so even according to Ambedkar himself. And, as we shall see in the concluding part of this paper, Hinduism can survive after the collapse of caste system. IV
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Social and Occupational Mobility Not Insignificant The model of caste system as defined in terms of features listed in the first section here hardly ever worked in practice. There have always been exceptions to each of these features and to each of the caste rules and restrictions. Actual occupations have since centuries deviated from the varna theoretical model. Dharmashastras themselves allowed exceptions under apaddharma, whereby persons who could not make their livelihood under the occupations of their own varna, could take to other occupations. Brahmins by birth have taken not only to priesthood, which is their varna based occupation. But also to several others, including manual labour. It is not unusual to find brahmin cooks in the service of scheduled caste (formerly untouchables) and scheduled tribe ministers and officials. Havyaka brahmins in Karnataka have not only owned garden lands but also have been doing manual labour in them. Shudras, apart from doing manual labour and artisan jobs, which is their varna based occupation, have traditionally served as soldiers too, making the distinction between kshatriyas and shudras quite blurred. Ambedkar himself has given several examples of social and occupational mobility during the vedic and upanishadic period. Raikva, Janashruti and Kavasa Ailusha were admitted to ashrams for vedic learning even after revealing their low caste status. Chhandogya Upanishad has a significant story of Satyakama Jabala. He sought admission to the ashram (hermitage) of Gautama rishi (not Gautam Buddha) for vedic learning. On being asked from what family he comes, Jabala frankly tells the rishi: I do not know this, sir, of what family I am. I asked my mother. She answered me, In my youth, when I went about a great deal as a maid servant, I got you. So I do not know of what family you are. I am Jabala by name and you are Satyakama by name. So I am Satyakama Jabala, sir. The rishi was so pleased with his truthfulness, he promptly initiated him as his pupil [Radhakrishnan 1994:406-07]. So many rishis came from obscure origin themselves, that there is a proverb which says that one should not ask about rishi-moola (origin or birth of a rishi). Sage Parasara was born of a Shvapaka woman, Kapinjala of a Chandala woman, and Madanapala of a boat woman. Rishis had a much higher ritual status than brahmins who were mere priests. Valmiki (author of Ramayana) and Vyasa (author of Mahabharata, and editor and compiler of vedas) and even the great Vasistha belonged to the class of the so-called low birth. Kalidasa, the greatest of great poets in Sanskrit also came from a very humble and obscure origin.4 Even as late as 12th century, Vijnaneshwara in his commentary (Mitakshara) on Yajnavalkya Smriti said nrin pati iti nripah, na to kshatriyah iti nemah (whosoever protects people is fit to be a king; he need not as a rule be a kshatriya). The Bhakti movement, both in the south and north of India, saw many saint poets coming from the so-called lower castes. They were more prominent than brahmin and upper castes in the movement. There were so many sharanas (male saints) and sharanes (female saints) in Basavannas Bhakti movement in Karnataka that M N Javaraiah (1997) has written a whole book of more than 300 pages on them. It is thus evident that there was considerable social mobility in the post-vedic society too, not to mention the vedic society where it was very evident. Because of this mobility, there was no unanimity about which caste is
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above which caste, because each considered itself superior to the other. They competed with others in observance of purity rules to show that they were superior to others. Thus, quite a few castes considered themselves to be kshatriyas, while upper castes considered them to be shudras. To gain a higher rank in the caste system, they practised what the upper castes practised, like upanayana (sacred thread ceremony), and even certain homas and pujas. Such attempts are called as sanskritisation by M N Srinivas (1977), through which eventually several castes gained in caste status. Sanskritisation as a process through which whole castes gained in caste status could not have been a purely 20th century phenomenon, though scholarly attention has been mostly confined to the modern period. Even marriages between different varnas were not rare. It must have been because of their significant occurrence, that there is a mention of different types of marriages in Hindu texts based on which jatis were evolved. When the husband is from a higher caste than that of the wife, the marriage was called as anuloma ; when reverse was the case, it was called as pratiloma. While the former type was tolerated, the latter was despised. There was another type of classification also; according to it, a love marriage was called as gandharva, and a marriage where the woman was forced into marriage was called as rakshasa. The former was tolerated and the latter was despised. It is evident from literature that not all marriages were arranged by parents, and mixed marriages were not rare. It is thus not a surprise that caste distinctions are not based on racial or colour distinction, though varna meant colour. Race and colour very much cut across castes since ancient days in India so that a persons caste cannot be determined on the basis of his/her colour or racial or genetic peculiarities. Just as it is possible to find upper caste people with black complexion, it is equally possible to find persons with fair complexion among the so-called lower castes and untouchables. This could not have been so without a significant degree of inter-marriages. Both Rama and Krishna are black gods but highly adored and worshipped. The occupational and social mobility as well as the inter mixture of castes cannot be regarded as infringements of canon or as rare exceptions. As we shall now see, even canon itself did not respect the custom of determining status and character on the basis of birth. V Canon and Caste We first take up such parts of the canon that are (wrongly) interpreted to be supportive of caste system, and then take up such parts as are directly and definitively against caste system based on birth. It is only in the dharmashastras (dharma sutras and smritis) that we find support to the caste system, and not in other canon. However. dharmashastras never had the same status as other canon known as shruti (Vedas and Upanishads) and it is laid down that whenever there is a conflict between the shruti and smriti literature, it is the former that prevails. It is Manusmriti, which is particularly supportive of caste system but where it conflicts with Vedas and Upanishads, the latter would prevail. Though Bhagvadgita (Gita) is not regarded as a part of shruti, Gita is highly regarded as sacred and is very much a part of classical Hinduism.
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As we shall just see even the Gita is against caste system based on birth, and not supportive to it. Thus, to the extent that dharmashastras conflict with shruti and the Gita, the latter prevails. Apasthambha dharmasutra may have supported untouchability, but it seems to be read more by those who like to attack Hinduism with it than by its followers! It is hardly regarded as canon, even if any Hindu has heard of it. Though dharmashastras are supposed to support caste system, there is hardly unanimity about it among them. For example, as Ambedkar pointed out, though according to dharmasutras, a shudra is not entitled to upanayana, Samskara Ganapti explicitly declares shudras to be eligible for it. He also shows that according to Jaimini, the author of Purva Mimamsa, shudras could perform vedic rites. Ambedkar refers also to Bharadwaja Srauta Sutra (V 28) and Katyayana Srauta Sutra which concede eligibility to shudras to perform vedic rites [Vasant Moon 1990:198-99]. Kane points out that in spite of some other dharmashastras saying to the contrary, Badari espoused the cause of the shudras and propounded the view that all (including shudras) were entitled to perform vedic sacrifices [Kane 1990]. Interestingly, Manusmriti itself shows the way to demolish its own support to the caste system based on birth. In chapter 4, verse 176 clearly states: Discard wealth and desire if they are contrary to dharma, and even dharma itself if it leads to unhappiness or arouses peoples indignation. Dharma here does not mean religion in the western sense, but rules of conduct. If varna dharma, or rules of conduct governing varnas, and caste for that matter, lead to unhappiness or to people indignation, as they certainly do, Manusmriti itself says that such dharma can be discarded. What then is dharma, according to Manusmriti? The first verse in chapter 2 of Manusmriti is a reply to this question. It says: Know that to be true dharma, which the wise and the good and those who are free from passion and hatred follow and which appeals to the heart.5 Mahatma Gandhi was fond of quoting this verse in his lectures. According to this verse, if the wise and the good, who are free from passion and hatred, do not accept caste system based on birth as it does not appeal to the heart, the system can be discarded according to the Manusmrti itself. So much to the support of Manusmriti for the caste system. Purusha Sukta in Rg Veda (X 90) has often been cited, more than Manusmriti, as authenticating, sanctifying and glorifying the caste system. The pertinent verses are as follows: Yatpurusham vyadadhuhu kritidha vyakaipayan/ Mukham kimasya kow bahu Ka uru pada uchyete// (11h verse) when (gods) divided Purusha, into how many parts did they cut him up? What was his mouth? What arms (had he)? What (two objects) are said (to have been) his thighs and feet? Brahmanosya mukhamasit bahu rajanyah kritah/ uru tadasya yadvaishyah padbhyam shudro ajayata// (12h verse)
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The brahmana was his mouth, the rajanya (king or kshatriya) was made his arms; the being called the vaishya, he was his thighs; the shudra sprang from his feet(5, 6) As is noted above, Ambedkar considers these verses to be an interpolation on several grounds, including the fact that while the style or format of the two verses is of a question-and-answer type, the other verses in the purusha sukta are narrative in style. Even if it is taken as a genuine part of the original purusha sukta, and not an interpolation, it cannot be interpreted as supportive to caste system based on birth and hierarchy. It is essentially a metaphor taking the society to be an organic whole, of which the four varnas based on division of labour are intrinsic parts. There is nothing to indicate that they ought to be castes or jatis as presently understood. The reference is evidently to occupations or work of respective varnas, which need not necessarily be based on birth. There is also nothing prescriptive or recommendatory about the two verses. It is only indicative of the existence of division of labour, with each varna corresponding to that part of the body of the primeval purusha with which the work or occupation of the respective varna is associated. Since vaishyas and shudras support the society through their economic or productive work, they were taken respectively as coming out of the thighs and feet of the purusha, without necessarily hinting at any lowly status of their work. Similarly since kshatriyas work in warfare involved mainly the use of their arms, they were taken as coming out of the arms of the purusha. Since brahmins work consisted of reciting mantras and preserving Vedas through oral transmission, they were taken as coming out the purushas mouth. In a lighter vein, it could be said that this was also because brahmins are traditionally described as thojanapriyah (lovers of food)! If the intention behind the two controversial verses was to sanctify a hierarchical order, they could as well have described brahmins as coming out of the head of the purusha. It was perhaps seen by the vedic sage who composed the purusha sukta that brahmin priests mostly used their mouth rather than their head while reciting the mantras! There is thus no need for hard feelings due to the two verses in purusha sukta. The Gita is alleged to support the caste system on the basis of three verses. The key quotation in this context is from 13th verse in ch 4 where the Lord tells Arjuna Chaturvarnyam maya srishtam Gunakarma vibhagashah The four varnas were created by me on the basis of character and occupation. In verse 31 of ch 2, Arjuna is cajoled into fighting on the ground that he is a kshatriya for whom there is nothing more glorious than a righteous war. Again in verse 47 of ch 18 the Lord states that one should perform ones own dharma even if devoid of merit and not follow anothers even if wellperformed? Verse 13 in ch IV holds the key to the understanding of the other two as well. Krishna refers to the four varnas, saying explicitly that they were created on the basis of guna (nature, aptitude, character) and karma (work, action, occupation). He does not at all refer to birth as the basis for the fourfold division, which is only a division of labour where each one follows an occupation based on aptitude or natural inclination. Far from
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support to the caste system, K M Panikkar considers it as constituting a devastating attack on caste based on birth.8 Kane says that if Krishna wanted to make birth as the basis of his division of labour, he could easily have said jati-karma-vibhagashah or janma-karma-vibhagashah, instead of guna-karmavibhagashah as actually stated [Kane 1990:1635-36]. He pointed out clearly to guna. This is also consistent with what Krishna replied to Arjunas specific question in Uttaragita. Once this is clear, it follows that the dharma referred to in the other two verses (II 31, and XVIII 47) also is based on guna and not birth. In the Mahabharata war, persons not born as kshatriyas also participated in the war as per their inclination, svabhava or guna. So there was nothing casteist in Krishnas asking Arjuna to fight like a kshatriya. Similarly, the advice to follow ones own svadharma only means that one has to follow ones aptitude and qualities, and see where ones comparative advantage lies. A talented person may be able to perform many tasks better than others, but she cannot afford to do so, and she would achieve more by concentrating on where her comparative advantage lies. The principle of comparative advantage, instead of absolute advantage, is followed in international trade between countries. What Krishna advocated was to ask us to follow the more scientific and practical principle of comparative advantage as that would maximise social as well as individual welfare. There is nothing casteist about his advice. Comparative advantage here can also be taken in the dynamic sense, of potential that can be realised, and not in terms of present or actual guna in a static sense. The story of Shambuka in Ramayana is also cited as supporting caste system to an extreme extent. It is the story of a shudra who was killed on the advice of ministers by Rama as a punishment for doing penance and neglecting his caste duties. The story appears in Uttara Kanda, which is not a part of Valmikis Ramayana which ends with Ramas return to Ayodhya in Yuddhakanda. P V Kane, an eminent Sanskrit scholar, is of the view that Uttara Kanda was clearly a work of later interpolators [ibid: Vol 1, Part 1, p 389]. The interpolation was done at a time when varna system deteriorated and got established on the basis of birth in a rigid form. Shambukas story is not consistent with many examples of persons of socalled low birth being initiated into ashrams as pupils by rishis, and becoming rishis themselves. Matanga rishi is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana with high regard. He came from a caste that may be regarded as untouchable in todays parlance. Rama met him to pay his respects during his forest sojourn. Now we may take note of those parts of classical Hindu canon, which cannot co-exist caste system and have condemned the practice of determining ones character and status on the basis of birth or kula (family). Vedanta philosophy declares that there is divinity in every lecture. Krishna says in verse 30 of ch 6: He who sees Me in all things and sees all things in Me, never becomes departed from Me, nor am I lost to him. The preceding and succeeding verses in the Gita also convey the same message. The lord says again: He who judges pleasure and pain in others by the same standard as he applies to himself, that yogi is the highest (ch 6.32). How can this advice be consistent or co-exist with support to caste distinctions based on birth? In the 16th chapter, the Lord narrates the
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virtues he looks for in human beings and says that those who possess them are divine. Among these virtues are: non-violence, truth, compassion to all, absence of anger and hatred, giving charity and service selflessly, forgiveness, non-covetousness and modesty (ch 16, v 1-3). It follows that high birth is hardly relevant. Rg Veda emphasises equality of all human beings. It goes to the extent of saying, which sounds quite modern: No one is superior, none inferior. All are brothers marching forward to prosperity .9 The idea that all human beings are equal before god irrespective of caste and that all are entitled to receive his light comes out clearly from the following: Ruchanz no dhehi brahnzaneshu Rucham rajasu naskridhi Rucham vishveshu shudreshu Mayi dhehi rucha rucham II Taittiriya Samhita V 7.6 3-4 Put light in our brahmanas, put it in our chiefs (kings), (put) light in vaishyas and shudras, put light in me by your light. It may sound surprising to critics of Hinduism but is a fact that Hindu scriptures have backed liberalism and humanism by undermining birth, upholding character and basic worth of persons as being more important. Mahabharata makes this point very strongly, to an extent that it reflects a revolt against the caste system based on birth: Na kulam vrittahinasya Pramanamiti me matihi / Anteshwapij jatanam Vrittameva vishishyate // Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva, Ch 34, v 41. It means: High birth can be no certificate for a person of no character. But persons with good character can distinguish themselves irrespective of low birth. Mahabharata emphasises the same point again elsewhere too: Yastu Shudro dame satye dharme cha satatotthitah / tam brahmanamaham manye written hi bhavet dvijah // Mahabharata, Vanaparva, Ch 216, vs 14-15. It means: That shudra who is ever engaged in self-control, truth and righteousness, I regard him a brahmin. One is a twice-born by conduct alone. Uttaragita, which is also a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, makes the same point. When Arjuna specifically asks Krishna how varna is determined, he replies:
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Na jatih karanam tata gunah kalyanakaranam / Vritasthamapi chandalam tam devah brahmanam viduh // It means: Birth is not the cause, my friend; it is virtues, which are the cause of welfare. Even a Chandala observing the vow is considered a brahmana by the gods.I2 The verse above corroborates our interpretation of the three controversial verses from the Bhagavadgita quoted above. The story of Shankaracharya (8th century), prostrating before a Chandala is well known. When the latter stood in the way of the former, he was asked to move away. The Chandala asked him whether the Acharyas behaviour was consistent with his philosophy. He asked further: Viproyam Shvapachoyam ityapi mahan koyam Vibhedabhramah (what is this confusing distinction between a brahmin and an untouchable?). Shankaracharya then prostrates before him as before a guru and breaks out into five verses known as Manisha Panchakam. He reiterates his advaita philosophy, but in his very first verse he says that a person who knows the Supreme, whether he is a Chandala or a twice-born, is a guru for him. (Chandaloastu sa to dvijoastu gururityesha manisha mama),I3 Ramanujacharya who came in 12th century, defied caste even more powerfully. Madhvacharya (13th century) in his Brahmasutra bhashya declares: Even the low born (untouchables) have the right to the name and knowledge of god if they are devoted to him. Tirukkural, an ancient text venerated by Tamils as Tamil Veda, authored by Tiruvalluvar, says: Let him who thinks inequity be warned that ruin awaits him (116th aphorism). Again, All men are born alike; the differences are due to differences in what they do. (972nd aphorism).15 There is an entire Upanishad, named Vajrasuchika, devoted to an attack on caste system based on birth. The name of the Upanishad can be translated as Thunderbolt suggestive, which fits its claim to blast ignorance responsible for leading to caste distinctions and away from god. It is in prose and small in size, having only nine short paragraphs. It is included as the last Upanishad in S Radhakrishnan edited The Principal Upanishads along with his translation [Radhakrishnan 1994:935-38]. The following summary account is based on it. The Upanishad is argumentative in style and begins with a few questions (in second para): Who is verily, the brahmana (brahmin)? Is he the individual soul (Jiva)? Is he the body? Is he class based on birth (jati)? Is he the knowledge? Is he the deeds (Karma)? Is he the performer of rites? Then it answers the questions one by one. A brahmin cannot be the individual soul, since soul is the same in previous births. He cannot be the body because the body consists of physical elements, which are common to all human beings. He cannot be determined by birth, because many sages attained high rank irrespective of birth. He cannot also be determined by knowledge, as there were many kshatriyas and others who too attained highest knowledge and wisdom, and knowledge has not been an exclusive feature
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of brahmins. Deeds also cannot make a brahmin, since all human beings can do good work. Similarly, rites and charity can also be done by all. Who then is really a brahmin? He is the one who knows his self like an amalaka fruit (gooseberry) on his palm, without caring for distinctions of birth, being devoid of infirmities, narrowness and ego, and who functions as the in-dwelling spirit of all beings. At the end, the Upanishad calls upon all to meditate on the Supreme, removing all distinctions and egoism from mind. There is no need for further proof to show that Hindu philosophy and religion are against caste system, after reading this Upanishad. VI Legends as a Weapon against Caste System Apart from such direct preaching discussed above, Hinduism fought casteism and untouchability by creating legends too. Such legends appealed to popular mind directly. A legend about Shankaracharya has already been presented above. Tiruppan Alvar (10th century CE), an untouchable devotee of Lord Ranganatha, was insulted by a priest for standing in the way to the temple. The temple doors did not open to the priest, but a voice came from within the sanctum sanctorum that unless the priest takes the Alvar on his shoulders and circumambulates the temple three times and brings him in the Lords presence, the doors would not open. The priest had to obey, and thereafter, Tiruppan Alvar was hailed as a great saint. A similar legend is about Kanakadasa (16th century). When he was not admitted into Udupi Shri Krishna temple by the priests, the idol is said to have turned its face around so that Kanakadasa could have the darshan (sight) of the lord through a back window. It is still known as Kanakana Kindi (Kanakas window). There are similar legends in other regions of India too. An interesting legend concerns working class bhakti-saints of Maharashtra who came from low castes. The legend reflects poignantly the empathy felt by lord Vitthala for his working class devotees who struggle for their livelihood and yet are deeply devoted to him. The lord responds by deeply identifying himself with the devotees and participates in their work and toil, and brings them emotional relief. It is also a way of raising the status of manual labour in the eyes of particularly the upper castes for the lord himself does this labour of love for his devotees. There is such a legend about several, but is particularly interesting in the case ofJanabai, a woman saint from a dalit caste. Chokhamela, a contemporary dalit saintpoet, has immortalised this legend in one of his poems: He scours the floor and pounds the grain, sweeps rubbish from her yard, hastens to fetch water, the Lord of the wheel, and plaits hair with his own hands, sitting at peace, peering down, he quickly kills lice. Chokha says loves labour this.
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He cares little for greatness. 16 VII Movements Against Caste within Hinduism The most prominent movement within the framework of Hinduism to fight against casteism was the Bhakti movement. Though started first in Tamil Nadu as early as in 6th century CE by Shaiva saints, it found a powerful expression against caste system when Veerashaiva movement was led by Basavanna in Karnataka in 12th century. The Bhakti movement democratised, broad-based and humanised Hinduism as never before. Even if it may not have succeeded in eliminating caste system, it brought home the important fact that caste distinctions based on birth can have no sanctity in the eyes of god. The movement effectively undermined the authority of texts, which supported caste, though a false impression was also created more by upper castes than by lower castes that Vedas supported caste. As a result, several Bhakti sects declared that they rejected the authority of the Vedas, prominent among them being the Veerashaiva movement and Sikhism. The Bhakti movement cut across not only castes, but even religions and spread all over India. Kabir in north India, Shishunal Sharif in Karnataka, and Shirdi Sai Baba in Maharashtra were born as Muslims, but were a part of Bhakti movement and highly respected by Hindus. The movement explicitly and powerfully condemned caste system, including untouchability. Basavannas movement in Karnataka was most aggressively against caste, and included several dalit sharanas and sharanes as pointed ourearlier. Basavanna went to the extent of getting a brahmin disciples daughter married to an untouchable disciples son, causing a serious commotion. Basavanna was far ahead of his time. Since the lower castes were from the working class, he preached dignity of manual labour as an important principle of his philosophy. The Bhakti movement in Maharashtra also was very similar, drawing saint-poets from the lower caste working class, though it included brahmins too. The movement in Maharashtra was started by an outcaste brahmin, Sant Jnaneshwar, whose family lost caste because his father, a sannyasi renounced sannyasa and got married on receiving a message from god to that effect. The movement in Maharashtra too emphasised dignity of manual labour. There is thus quite a lot of evidence to show that Hinduism constantly, deliberately and consciously fought against caste system and untouchability from time to time, even before the modern age and before the influence of western ideas. Apart from the scattered and sporadic attacks on caste system, there were also concerted attempts to lift individual communities of untouchables as a whole and to bring them into the mainstream. These attempts started from the 19th century itself. Two glorious examples may be taken that of ezhavas in Kerala and nadars in Tamil Nadu. Both examples relate to the pre-independence period of late 19th to early 20th century. These examples are of great interest as they involved two dalit communities elevating their caste status entirely through selfefforts and very much within the framework of Hinduism . They have been much more successful than other efforts involving conversion to other faiths for the purpose of elevation in social status. Shri Narayan Guru (1854-1928) was the chief force behind
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elevating the social status of ezhavas, who is venerated by them as well as by others. He gave three slogans to his followers: One caste, one religion, and one god for man. Ask not, say not, think not caste. Whatever be the religion, let man improve himself. Though a religious leader, his religion was not sectarian and emphasised that all human beings are equal before god. He wanted to totally remove all caste consciousness. When he saw that the caste Hindus did not permit the entry of ezhavas and other dalits into temples, he first started building new temples for them into which non-dalits too could enter. Then he started vedic schools where dalit priests could be trained both in rituals and the philosophy of Hinduism. Next, he encouraged general and secular education for all, by starting schools and colleges. His initial temple building programme was only to mobilise his community, but his later emphasis was more on general education so that all ezhavas and other dalits could get properly educated and seek good opportunities. He also started credit cooperative societies so that the dependence of dalits on higher castes was avoided. Thus, the guru sought all-round development of dalits. Like Gandhiji, he also tried to change the attitudes of upper castes. He did not preach hatred of upper castes to his followers, as he did not want a rift between them. An example of his success in this regard is the support he received from progressive sections of upper castes, which resulted in a savarna procession in support of dalits entry in to the famous Vaikom temple during temple entry satyagraha started by Gandhiji. Narayana Guru and Gandhiji worked together in temple entry movement. Narayana Guru did not confine himself only to his own community of ezhavas. There were other communities among untouchables in Kerala, which were even lower in social status than ezhavas. But the guru involved them too in his attempts to elevate the status of all dalits.17 Though the nadars did not seem to have had the advantage of a charismatic and religious leader like Narayana Guru, they also did equally well under their secular leaders. The elevation of caste status came mainly through the spread of education and skills, mutual selfhelp by making credit available for starting enterprises, by helping caste members secure jobs by functioning as an informal employment exchange and also through Sanskritisation.18 The members of both these communities ezhavas and nadars are now highly literate and occupy important positions. Nadars have also emerged economically strong, creating a niche for themselves in industry and commerce. The example of ezhavas and nadars offers important lessons for dalits. It is not enough to build their own organisation merely to spread awareness, make demands and protest against in justice, but it is also equally necessary to launch constructive programmes for the welfare of the community. The tendency to rely mainly on making demands on the government to promote social welfare among dalits is not enough. By its very nature, government bureaucracy has limitations in promoting social welfare and social mobility. The communities own efforts at constructive programmes are also necessary. These programmes may be to induce dalit parents to send their children to schools, to help them in getting training and skills for jobs outside their traditional vocations, to provide guidance and help to those who wish to migrate from villages to towns and cities and help in getting jobs and houses, preventing addiction to
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liquor and so on. The community organisations of both nadars and ezhavas took care of the members of their communities like parents. Once dalit organisations take up constructive programmes, help will come to them in a big way from private sources too like voluntary and social service organisations and philanthropic associations. The successful example of ezhavas and nadars also has shown how irrelevant are conversions to other faiths to solve dalit problem. Another important lesson, particularly from Shri Narayana Guru, is that his movement was not adversarial in character. He broke through upper caste resistance to social change, without making enemies of them. He could even enlist their cooperation and support. He was Gandhian in his approach. In Indian ethos, conciliation seems to have been far more successful in effecting change than confrontation. A difference between ezhava and nadar movements, however, is that the former was not concentrated only on one community, but aimed at reaching all untouchables and lower castes which suffered social deprivation. It was a serious attempt to hit out at ritual hierarchy, which existed among dalits themselves. Success in this task, however, perhaps was not as great as in elevating the status of ezhavas. Both nadars and ezhavas movements however, were successful in significantly reducing social deprivation among two numerically important untouchable communities, which had also a higher level of social status than others among dalits. There have been more movements in modern Hinduism, which are not caste or community based and have helped to enrich the moral and spiritual life of their followers such as those led by Ramakrishna Mission, Aurobindo, Brahmakumaris, ISKON, Shri Satya Sai Baba and Mata Amritanandamayi. Their main significance for this paper is that they have shown that Hinduism can very well thrive without caste system.19 VIII How then did Caste System Emerge and Survive? If all that is contended above is true and if Hinduism as a religion and philosophy was against caste system based on birth, and even in practice, it opposed the system, how did it emerge and survive for so long? Simply because, the system performed certain functions that were valued by the society. These functions had nothing to do with religion, being entirely in the aihika (mundane) sphere. The unfortunate part of the story is that caste identities have outlived these functions. These functions may now be enumerated and explained. (i) A System of Checks and Balances The varna system was not just a division of labour. It was also a system of checks and balances such that there is no concentration of power in any varna or class. It was more a system to avoid concentration of power than one meant for appropriation of economic surplus. As per the varna system, brahmins were not supposed to seek regal power. Their duty was to seek knowledge and preserve the Vedas and carry on the vedic tradition. They were not supposed to amass wealth and had to depend on other varnas for their sustenance. According to dharmashastras, a brahmana (brahmin) should not hanker after gifts; he may collect them only for his livelihood, a brahmana taking more than what is required for his maintenance incurs degradation [Kane 1990: Vol II, Part 1, p 531]. As
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Dumont says there was a clear separation of ritual status from material power. While the duty of kshatriyas, particularly of kings, was to maintain law and order, protect dharma and defend people, they too had no absolute power. It was their duty to consult their ministers and listen to people and meet their grievances. The ministry consisted of representatives of all varnas, including shudras. B R Ambedkar cites Shantiparva of Mahabharata, in which Bhishma advises Yudhisthira (Dharmaraja) to have four brahmins, eight kshatriyas, 21 vaishyas and three shudras as ministers to guide him in the affairs of the state [Moon 1990:112]. The relatively large allocation to vaishyas may be reflective of their numerical majority as agriculturists then, apart from their being merchants too. It is also possible that vaishyas were the largest source of revenue for the state and hence were given greater representation. If the king was unable to uphold dharma or protect people and their property, he could even be removed by the ministers with the support of people, according to dharmashastras. A picture of harmony and perfect alliance may not always have been obtained, but it was at least the ideal. (ii) Division of Labour Easy Acquisition of Skills and Knowledge Though there was significant social mobility initially, varnas became gradually hereditary and jati system evolved with increasing division of labour and specialisation. It was easier for skills and knowledge to be imparted within family from father to children as there were no trade schools or polytechnics as such. Education in skills and knowledge required in hereditary occupations began quite early right at home from childhood. As families became specialised in arts and crafts, they flourished and sought even distant markets . Kane observes that professional castes were wealthy and well organised as seen from dharmashastras and epigraphic records. The organisation had reached such sophistication that there were larger professional associations called as gang, and village level associations called as sangha [Kane 1990: Vol II, Part I, pp 66-67]. Kane observes further that the sudra gradually rose in social status so far as occupation was concerned and could follow all occupations except those specially reserved for the brahmana, so much so that sudra became even kings and Manu (IV.61) had expressly to enjoin upon brahmanas not to dwell in the kingdom of a sudra [ibid:121]. Interestingly, while vaishyas and shudras were so organised in professional associations or guilds, there were no such organisations for brahmins. As Kane says, the brahmanas had no organised corporate body like for Anglican church with its hierarchy of archbishops, bishops and other divines [ibid:118]. It is often argued that being at the top of the caste system brahmins designed the caste system and perpetuated it by giving religious sanctity. But they did not have an organisation to enforce it. The caste system could not have continued because of a small minority, which had neither regal nor monetary power. It continued only because all castes accepted it as in their interest. (iii) Decentralised Democracy Lobby Group When the varnas transformed themselves into ethnic endogamous groups based on birth, they developed their own caste/ jati panchayats to decide their own affairs, reducing their dependence on the king. The caste
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panchayats settled disputes within the caste in an inexpensive and prompt way. They also imparted tremendous social stability. Kings came and went, but the society remained stable in spite of all invasions, wars and political instability. The panchayats looked after the welfare of the members of their castes in a decentralised way. The caste system provided a mechanism for decentralised democracy. Though this mechanism provided stability, it also made at least the medieval Hindu society more conservative. The panchayats strictly discouraged intercaste marriages and severely punished elopement in love affairs, because inter-caste marriages had the potential of weakening caste-panchayats. The separation of caste from caste was made more rigid. The hold of caste panchayats, though weakened considerably after independence, has not vanished at least in a few cases. We still hear news reports of lovers across castes intending to marry driven to suicide. This is more common in rural India, including the so-called low castes and untouchables. The continued hold of caste panchayats is ensured by continued dependence of families on members of their caste during birth, wedding and death, and excommunication by caste panchayat is still considered a matter of terrible disgrace and shame. Caste panchayats or their more modern avatar caste lobbies are simply instruments to preserve caste identities or ethnic identities, to seek concessions from or make demands on the larger society or the state. In this form, they are completely disjointed from the traditional notions of ritual status, purity and pollution. (iv) Ecological Role There is also an ecological dimension to the caste system, brought out by Madhav Gadgil in 1983 [Gadgil 1983; Kavoori 2002]. The caste system performed an important function of reducing competition for and avoiding overexploitation of natural resources. Only fishermen caste could go for fishing, and their caste panchayats evolved rules for sustainable exploitation of fisheries. Only hunters caste could go for hunting wildlife in the forests, except the king who did it occasionally for pleasure and also to kill man-eating tigers, which intruded into villages. Only chamar or cobbler caste had the right to the dead animals and their skin. Caste panchayats evolved rules for restricting hunting in particular seasons, or particular animals so that wild life is protected and not driven to extinction. Certain forest areas known as sacred groves (known as devara kadu in Kannada, or dev-ran in Marathi, or pavithravana in Sanskrit) were out of bounds for any hunting or even cutting green trees. The caste system also functioned in a way so as to control the growth of population by creating barriers for marriage. After giving several illustrations, Madhav Gadgil observes: The caste society had thus developed two special mechanisms to regulate the exploitation of natural resources. The occupational specialisation of each caste ensured that any particular resource was primarily if not exclusively utilised by one particular caste. The intra-caste territoriality then spread the exploitation evenly over geographical regions [Gadgil 1938:282]. Gadgil points out both positive and negative ways of viewing this ecological steady state: It may be viewed positively as a desirable state of man living in balance with nature. Alternatively, it may be viewed negatively as a state of
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stagnation. For if the resources are used in a balanced fashion, there would be no pressures for cultural change and technological innovation. This is no doubt what happened and the Indian society remained largely balanced (or stagnant!) freezing its caste system for perhaps two and half millennia between the time of Buddha when the agricultural colonisation of much of the subcontinent was complete and the beginning of the British rule. But value judgments apart, an important consequence of the Indian caste system was this attainment of ecological approximate steady state [ibid:282-83]. (v) Security of Livelihood and Employment An important feature of caste system was its localised system of production based on jatiwise division of labour for meeting local needs, rather than the needs of the larger market. As M N Srinivas explains in a posthumously published article, the base of this localised production was not necessarily a village, but a cluster of neighbouring villages, each cluster having one or more weekly markets, where villagers and itinerant traders would gather to exchange goods, or buy paying cash. The cluster could claim a large degree of self-sufficiency as far as the production of basic needs was concerned... [Srinivas 2003] In most parts of the India, there developed a system of making annual payments in kind or cash, as soon as harvesting was done, for services rendered by village artisans, barbers, washermen, agricultural labourers and the like. The system of payment was not on piece-work, but involved the principle that taking care of the artisans and labourers and their basic needs was the responsibility of land owning families. Whenever there were special occasions of urgent need such as marriage, the working class families were given special help. M N Srinivas refers to different names of this system in different parts of India: jajmani in the north, bara balute in Maharashtra, mirasi in Madras, adade in Mysore. The relationship between the jajman and his kamin is unequal, since the latter is regarded as inferior [Srinivas 1980:14]. The continuing tensions between land owning communities and communities which traditionally were subservient, resulting sometimes into atrocities against the latter owe their origin to this patron-client relationship and its breakdown, rather than to any canonical support to caste system. This institution in the past at least recognised the right to work and livelihood, and in the process controlled competition. The relationship between patron and client extended beyond generations, and in the traditional system at least, it was not open to a landlord to prefer a new client merely because he charged lower for the services offered. Nor could the client seek alternative employment outside his traditional patron for a higher wage at least not when his services were needed by his patron. It was the obligation of the patron that the client and his family did not starve. The much maligned Apasthambha Dharmasutra even says that if an unexpected guest comes and there is limited food, the head of the family and his family members have to cut down their own food, but not that of the servants. The latter have to have their proper meal. The guest should not be fed at the expense of servants [Kane, Vol I, Part 1, pp 57-58]. The system was certainly not an ideal one without blemish. All the shortcomings resulting from patron-client relationship, curbing competition and subsistence oriented production followed from the
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system. In conditions of frequent droughts and high political instability since the medieval age, what mattered most was food security, more than growth. Yet, even under this system, arts and crafts flourished made possible by specialisation and division of labour, especially under political patronage, as happened for example under the Vijayanagara kings and Mughal emperors. It was no wonder that caste system survived under such security. Neither the Muslim rulers nor the British interfered with the system. Many Hindus may have been converted, but the caste system was imbibed into the new religions of Islam and Christianity in India, since the jajmani system and other functions of caste system had nothing to do with religion. IX Collapse of Caste as a System A posthumously published paper by M N Srinivas (2003) carries the assertive title An Obituary on Caste as a System. Paradoxically, the system has expired but caste identities remain and show no sign of going. It looks, caste system is dead but its ghost remains. Caste as a system is taken to mean by Srinivas as involving mainly its localised social production base, subsistence economy, and jati (caste) based occupations. Caste as a system, however, covers all the features listed in the beginning of this paper and its functions listed in the preceding Section VIII. Srinivas refers specifically to the last function discussed here. But other functions also were no less significant in determining the structure of the system. Caste as a system has collapsed today because all its functions have collapsed. It has lost whatever relevance, role, utility and justification it may have had. Several factors contributed to the collapse of the system ethical, political social, economic and technological. Though the system gave some stability and even security, it lost on the side of humaneness and social justice. All kinds of indignities were imposed on lower castes, their access to learning was barred, and they were pushed to unenviable and inhuman positions. It was thus that the caste system, particularly its extreme form untouchability, became disgraced and condemned right from Buddhas time, and again from the medieval age, and then again in the modern times. The functional significance of the caste system also vanished, making its collapse all the more inevitable. A major factor is the emergence of the modern state as a much stronger, much more powerful and pervasive institution than it ever was with its different wings the executive, judiciary and legislature, able to exercise powers on all. Hinduism has accepted the emergence of the modern state to enact its own laws, including personal laws, and the sphere of dharmic laws regulating the conduct of people in day-to-day life has shrunk very significantly. There is thus no need for either dharmashastras which served as de facto legislation in dharmic matters, nor for caste panchayats which acted as judiciary. To the extent that their role still continues, it is much less powerful and is superceded by the role of the state. For the same reason, the role of the varna system in providing a system of checks and balances also has vanished. The legally enacted constitution, accepted by all, provides now a system of checks and balances to maintain equilibrium and stability.
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Since in the bargain, decentralised democracy of the caste system has broken down, a new type of decentralised democracy, which is village based, has taken its place. It does not need any authentication by religion, but is backed by the Constitution and state power, which is more important. For some time, the dominant castes (which are not the same as ritually upper castes) may try to hijack the village panchayats, but it is a losing battle. The system of reservation for backward castes and untouchables and also for women will gradually but definitely reduce the role of dominant castes. The secular and inclusive forces will prevail over the caste forces before long, even if they have not already done so in some areas. The political consensus against caste system and the power of adult franchise in democracy will ensure the success of democratic and secular forces and defeat caste forces. The next factor, which worked against the caste system, was the rise of modern secular education. Education need not be and is not family-based though family education will supplement outside education. It is in schools and colleges including trade schools, professional colleges and polytechnics that skills and education are provided. Thus the need for hereditary occupation is now redundant, and social mobility will be much more. The need for hereditary principle in occupation is now redundant also because of the rise of new occupations and the extinction of several old occupations. The dynamics of the growth of diversity of occupations is such that the hereditary principle looks totally outdated and nonsensical. The information age has thrown up an opening for new occupations, which cannot be classified into the sphere of the four traditional varnas. It is wrong to interpret that all the intellectual tasks were assigned exclusively to brahmins in the traditional varna system. Brahmins had no monopoly of intellect even if they had some monopoly to study the Vedas and officiate as priests. Even the monopoly as priests has been broken, with different jatis arranging their own priests from outside the caste of brahmins and evolving their own rituals. The institutions started by Shri Narayana Guru and Mata Amritanandamayi have been training priests from all castes including women. The exclusive role of brahmins in conducting rituals and ceremonies is highly exaggerated. In any case, it could not have been exclusively intellectual, because every task regal, warfare, agriculture, arts and crafts required the role of intellect. This is even more so in the modern age, particularly the information age, under which every sector demands the role of intellect and information and not one sector alone. The reason why this point is elaborated is because the new intellectual tasks of the information age cannot be mechanically interpreted as brahmanical. Can we say that the study and research in medicine fits into brahmin varna, but practice of medicine into shudra varna? How can we separate the two? Just as new professions and occupations emerged, quite a few old occupations have vanished. Some of them have moved right into homes and do not any longer require specialised occupations and caste groups, thanks mainly to technological change. The system of toilets has undergone a revolutionary change during the last 50 years even in rural areas, making it totally unnecessary to handle human waste and carry it on head as in the past. Toilets have moved inside the homes now, and family members themselves clean them. Several tasks which were considered as dirty and polluting need not be done now directly by hand, and can be handled by tools and machines. It is now possible to be clean
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and hygienic even while handling the so-called dirty tasks. Thus any rationale for separate castes for doing dirty jobs and for isolating them is now totally lost. Alvin Toffler (1980) in his book, The Third Wave, has pointed out to the recent phenomenon of what he calls the prosuming or prosumer, occasioned by the blurring line between producing and consuming. This refers to do-it-yourself kits and self-service, which is becoming more prominent. From furniture pieces to cars to computers, several things are supplied with step-by-step instructions for assembling them at homes. This has reduced the cost to producer and the price to consumers. What is more, the consumer enjoys the thrill of doing it oneself, of creating some thing. This phenomenon is not limited to commodities and has invaded services too. Thus, we do the daily shave ourselves with safety razor, taking over a part of the task of barber. Many of us, with or without washing machines, wash our clothes ourselves and iron them too. The social significance of all this is that the old wall of distinction between artisans and arm-chair consumer is falling apart. The old division of labour separating manual tasks from the intellectual is losing its meaning. In this context, Arvind Sharmas reinterpretation of the purusha sukta in the 10th mandala of Rg Veda is of interest. According to Sharma, the reference here need not be to social structure as such, but to combining in the same individual different duties one has to perform during ones life, learning, helping in the management or governance of the community and the country as in a democracy (voter being the king) including offering militancy service when needed, participation in economic or professional activities and service to society including manual labour (for ones own benefit and for the society). In his words: The idea is that all varnas are contained in every individual from now on instead of every individual being comprised within one of the varnas [Sharma 1996]. M N Srinivas (2003) refers to a combination of new forces in operation, responsible for the destruction of the caste system. These forces have led to the breakdown of the caste-based mode of social production in turn leading to the collapse of the caste system. The new forces are breakdown of the jajmani system, emergence of the larger market and decline of the village based subsistence production, urbanisation, and above all the rise of democracy based on adult franchise. Along with these, there is widespread acceptance of new values equality, self-respect, and human dignity. He cites several instances of how village artisan based production has given place to factory production mass produced edible oil replacing the oil-seed pressing caste, factory produced plastic and aluminum vessels replacing the village potter caste, urban textiles replacing the village weaver and so on. Srinivas observes significantly: The moral is that ideological attacks on hierarchy and brahmanical claims to supremacy failed to create an egalitarian social order since at the local level the production of basic needs was intrinsically bound up with jati (p 458). Last, the caste system has also lost its ecological role and relevance, as observed by Madhav Gadgil himself in the same paper in which he pointed out this role of the caste system. The resources under the control of local communities have been depleted significantly, thanks to their take over by the state and their exploitation by the larger market forces. Thus alienated from their ecological resource base which was depleting rapidly,
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the Indian caste society was rudely thrown out of the ecological steady state maintained perhaps for more than a hundred generations[Gadgil 1983:283]. The recent attempts at regeneration of local natural resources through local committees under schemes like Joint Forest Management, are not based on caste but are secular. Moreover, with the breakdown of social base of production, it is doubtful if the caste-based occupations will ever get a new lease of life. It is evident from the above analysis that the emergence as well as survival of the caste system had nothing to with Hinduism as a religion. The caste system was purely social phenomenon, very much in the mundane sphere. It is aihika sphere (mundane), and not paramarthika or adhyatmika (spiritual). Being in aihika sphere, rules of conduct and custom are liable to change from time to time, and not eternally fixed, as Hindu texts themselves concede. The support to it given by dharmashastras including Manusmruti could be only a result of the social significance and role of the caste system of the time, and not the cause of it. Dharmashastras reflected what is already there in the society. They also approved rejection of it like when Manusmrti (IV 176) indicated clearly that any dharmic rule could be rejected if it led to peoples unhappiness and indignation. There can be no ground for fear that dharmashastras would give a new lease of life to the caste system inspite of its being redundant and irrelevant in the modern age. Most of the verses in dharmashastras have themselves become irrelevant, at least those parts supporting caste systeM. On the other hand, the collapse of the caste system would also pose no threat to the continuation and survival of Hinduism. Hinduism has been thriving with renewed vigour thanks to such leaders as Satya Sai Baba, Mata Amritanandamayi and Sri Sri Ravishankar, and institutions like Ramakrishna Mission, Brahmakumaris and ISKON on an entirely non-caste basis. This is because caste is not intrinsic to basic principles and tenets of Hinduism as enshrined in Hindu canon. Hinduism itself has fought and is still fighting against casteism in a significant way. If caste system were intrinsic to Hinduism, Shri Narayana Guru and Mata Amritanandamayi would not have worked within the framework of Hinduism
9.9
Red herring: Caste is dying, hence irrelevant

Modernisation is having an effect on caste. There is some evidence of the loosing of its grip. E.g. see http://ideasforindia.in/article.aspx?article_id=2
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The Ethnicity of Caste by Deepa S. Reddy, Anthropological Quarterly 78.3 (2005) 543-584 Surveying the impact of social and political movements on the Indian caste system in the mid-20th century, theorists of caste were beginning to aver that while castes might still exist, the caste system was dying. Caste groups, they argued, were moving away from their more traditional relationships of socio-economic interdependence, and toward more competitive models of social interaction. Citing the writings of Edmund Leach and F.G. Bailey, Dumont writes: "If interdependence is replaced by competition, caste is dead. There remain groups that one continues to call 'castes'; but they are set in a different system" ([1970] 1998: 227). This argument is valid to an extent, but it is to speed up the demise of caste that we have to attack its immoral roots. Similarly, here is an extract: Recent studies suggest that the changes observed by dalits since the economic liberalisation of 1991 have been greater than since the institution of reservations for dalits. For example, a study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, documenting major social and economic shifts among dalits in UP since 1991, discovered that they are now much less likely to be seated separately at weddings, much more likely to have shifted from traditional jobs such as sweepers and tanners to nontraditional ones such as tailors, masons and drivers, much more likely to own consumer durables such as TVs and of course cellphones, much more likely to use toothpaste and shampoo, much more likely to serve laddoos at their weddings, much less dependent on rural landlords and moneylenders, with much greater incidence of migration to cities, and so on. What some ideologues see as signs of wasteful consumption stands here for an increase in access to status, an expansion of freedoms. [Source: Nothing can contest caste inequality more than free markets and economic growth, Times of India, 6 February 2013]
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10. The escape from oppression
10.1 Reform that (at least partially) worked

10.1.1 Brahmo Samaj
10.1.1.1Raja Ram Mohun Roy (Indias first classical liberal) was also the first MAJOR opponent of caste A classical liberal par excellence, he also fought tooth and nail with the caste system. Ive OCRd today a copy of the book, HISTORY OF THE BRAHMO SAMAJ (Vol 1) by SIVANATH SASTRI (Download Word version here). [The scanned copy of the original book in archive.org here]. This is what the book says about the plight of the lower castes during his time. Not much has changed in the past nearly 200 years. Men were exclusive, unsympathetic and jealous of their class privileges, so much so that it was seriously argued by the orthodox adversaries of Ram Mohun Roy that it was an unpardonable breach of social decorum on the part of the most virtuous of Sudras to sit on the same bench or carpet with a Brahmin. The conventional usages of society paid an external homage, almost bordering on worship, to the representatives of the priestly class who were ignorant and unspiritual to a degree. There was living in Calcutta in those days a Sudra spice-seller who had collected the dust from the feet of a hundred thousand Brahmins to wear it as a remedy for an attack of leprosy, and he was a type of his people. The rules of caste made it sinful for the different castes to inter-marry or dine with one another. The weight of social opinion pressed heavily on the lower classes, who aspired to nothing higher or nobler than common menial service or brutalising labour unredeemed by a single ray of intellectual light. The poverty and degradation of the masses were frightful. Centuries of ignorance and political slavery had reduced them to the condition of children, and, like children, they revelled in childish things. Even in religion, they believed in and practised puerile things that were unworthy of rational beings. 10.1.1.2Some of Indias major Brahmo Samajis Rabindra Nath Tagore In 1911, Tagore took over the leadership of the Adi Brahmo Samaj Indira Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi In 1942 Indira Nehru and Feroz Gandhi were married under Marriage Validity law (for converted low caste Arya Samajis) by secret pre-Vedic Adi Dharm reformed Brahmic rites taught to Nehru's priest by Adi Dharma elders at Allahabad in the presence of Brahmos like Sarojini Naidu with the groom wearing a sacred Brahmic thread in secret.
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Ever since, these Adi Dharma rites have been used by the Gandhi-Nehru family for their marriages such as for Rajiv Gandhi to Sonia Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi to Maneka Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi to Robert Vadra etc. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Dharm
10.1.2 Aryan (noble) Brahmins discarded their sacred thread 180 years ago. Any Aryan Hindus found today?
Raja Ram Mohun Roy (Indias first classical liberal) was also the first MAJOR opponent of caste Total confusion in the mind of Arvind Kejriwal. Plus (of course) arrogance. Hence write off AAP. A short extract from HISTORY OF THE BRAHMO SAMAJ (Vol 1) by SIVANATH SASTRI (Download Word version here): Brahmo Anusthans or social and domestic ceremonies, began to multiply in unlooked-for quarters. Young men belonging to influential families of Brahmins one after another discarded the sacred Brahminical threads, the badges of caste, and refused to bow before their family idols . As a result of the exertions of the devoted band of new missionaries, who had given up all to be preachers of Gods truth, new Samajes began to spring up in every important district of Bengal and even in distant provinces. Every fortnight the Indian Mirror, the able organ of the younger party, reported the establishment of new Samajes, the opening up of new fields of propagation, and cases of conversion of many young men and also of their persecution by their relatives. These reports were freely quoted by the leading papers of the land, and thus the sayings and doings of the Calcutta reformers were widely circulated throughout the country. In Bengal the new ferment roused up the spirit of old Hinduism. Put them down, put them down, was the cry raised everywhere by the leaders of orthodox Hinduism. Every family that sent its children to Calcutta became apprehensive lest they should come under the influence of the new reformers. The engines of social persecution were set in motion in every part of the province. At Dacca, where Aghorenath Gupta, a young missionary of Mr. Sens party, had been sent as a teacher in the recently established Brahmo School, and where Bijay Krishna also went, social persecution was in full operation to save young men from the prevailing contagion. There some young men, notable amongst them Babu Banga Chandra Roy, who still figures so high as an apostle of the New Dispensation in Eastern Bengal, joined young Aghorenath and roused up a new spirit amongst young men. At Govindapore, a village twelve miles south-east of Calcutta, a young man was treated in the most brutal manner by his relatives for having dared to invite from Calcutta a number of Brahmo friends with the object of celebrating the sltraddha ceremony (memorial rite) of his deceased father according to the new code of rituals. At Mazilpore, a village thirty miles southeast of Calcutta, the landlords of the village tried to crush the little party of young Brahmos by all the means of social persecution at their command. At Bhagalpore, an important town in Behar, the leading members of the Hindu community combined in 1863, to put down the new spirit of Brahmoism, threatening every one who dared to join the reformers with excommunication. But the
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conflagration was spreading. Sparks of living fire were flying in every direction carried forward by the wind, as it were, setting district after district and village after village ablaze. And before it was put down in one village, Lo! a neighbouring one was on fire. Such was the influence of the Brahmo Samaj at this period even in the remotest districts. The ferment caused by it was something unprecedented in Bengal. All of them had done away with caste and idolatry, so far as they were individually concerned; but they would not stop there. They wanted to promote inter-marriages between different castes, a thing never dreamt of amongst the Hindus. They were not content with giving their wives and daughters good education and the light of their faith; but they longed to admit them into social equality with men But there is another element in Ram Mohans teaching which, in the subsequent history, has proved of infinite importance, namely this, that he did not believe in transmigration. Here he broke absolutely with Hinduism. Transmigration and karma are the very essence of the religion. The one aim of the philosophy of the Upanishads is the attainment of release from transmigration. [FARQUHAR The rule that no Hindu may cross the ocean was imposed because it is clear that no Hindu can go to another country by sea and keep caste rules about food. When Ram Mohan Ray went to England, he sought to preserve his caste by taking a Brahman cook with him. [same book as aboe]
10.2 Reform that failed

10.2.1 Buddha
Buddha was not against caste, and did not accept the possibility of lower caste people becoming Budddhas. The early Buddhism did not worship the gods of the lower castes or the dalits but the gods of the higher castes. The gods of the lower caste people, like for example Shiva, were always a thorn in their flesh to them and to the non-Buddhist high castes. Buddhas own sangha differed from the world Sakiya sangha in the issue of caste. He opened his order also and namely to brahmanas. In this way he threw a bridge from the kshatriyas class across the brahmanas one. In this way, Sakiyas and brahmanas were equal in the monastic sangha. Hans Wolfgang Schumann has statistically proven that almost all of Buddhas disciples were high caste people and that the brahmanas comprised the majority of the sangha. Buddha tells about the earlier Buddhas in the so called Mahapadana Suttanta - Great Sermon on the Legends. He refers to their membership of (high) caste as the first characteristic of their full enlightenment. According to this report the Buddhas belonged all to the high castes, to the kshatriyas and brahmanas. Buddha says proudly about himself And now I, the venerable and fully enlightened one, was born a warrior and have come from the caste of warriors, o monks. However, to Siddharta and the monks that listened to him, not only the varna, the hierarchical class but also the jati, the clan respectively the family were of substantial importance. For example, he tells about Buddha Vipassi that he belonged to the Kondanna clan. About himself Siddharta
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reports that he is a kshatriya and was born in the Gotama clan. Not only his clan but also his parents name and place of residence is stated, probably in order to prove Buddhas necessary high mundane birth. The text shows that they were all Rajas and brahmanas. Thus Siddharta tells that Buddha Vipassis father was a raja, a king, called Bandhuma and his mother was Queen Bandhumati. And Buddha Kakusandhas father was a brahmana called Aggidatta and his mother was a brahmana woman called Visakha. The point of naming of the caste membership of both parents is clear: all the Buddhas do not only come from high but also from pure castes. Even though the different castes of the parents were so high, it is absolutely unthinkable for them to have been conceived in a mixed marriage. The standpoint which caste a Buddha should belong to has not been revised in Buddhism up to the present day. It is dogmatised in the Lalitavistara in the following way: a Bodhisattva can by no means come from a lower or even mixed caste: After all Bodhisattvas were not born in despised lineage, among pariahs, in families of pipe or cart makers, or mixed castes. Instead, in perfect harmony with the Great Sermon, it was said that: The Bodhisattvas appear only in two kinds of lineage, the one of the brahmanas and of the warriors (kshatriya). The Bodhisattva explains to the gods that he should be born only in a family of a noble birth and caste. Furthermore the family ought to have procreated only in a direct line and on the mans side, an adoption is impossible. Otherwise, purity would not be guaranteed. The purity of the family is so essential, that the father-to-be Suddhodana says: "King Suddhodana is pure on the side of the mother and father and was born in a respected family." For the ancient Indian Buddhists like the author of the Lalitavistara the idea that somebody belonging to a lower caste or even a dalit could become a Buddha was absolutely impossible. The preference of the kshatriyas and the brahmanas in ancient Buddhism leaves no place for doubts: Buddha and the so called impure castes were entirely separated from each other. A Buddha had nothing to deal with the dalits. The dalits were unworthy of Buddha-ship. Source: Edmund Weber, Buddhism: An Atheistic and Anti-Caste Religion? Modern Ideology and Historical Reality of the Ancient Indian Bauddha Dharma. Journal of Religious Culture No. 50 (2001)` However, Buddha believed that caste is determined by actions not by birth: In the Vasettha Sutta of the Sutta Nipata it is described how a young brahmin, Vasettha, comes to Buddha. He says: "My friend Bharadwaj and I have been having a dispute: what makes a brahmin. He asserts that it is birth (jati): a pure birth through seven generations produces a brahmin. I say it is action (kamma)." The Buddha then answers him by arguing that while there are jatis among plants and animals, human beings, from the hairs of their head to the nails of their feet, have no essential biological differences. Rather, it is action that makes a person: one who makes war is a soldier; one who farms is a farmer; one who does commerce is a
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trader, and so on. The debate depicts several features. Source: Caste is the cruellest exclusion by Gail Omvedt
10.2.2
Shankara
Notwithstanding the intellectual eminence and literary brilliance of Adi Shankaracharya one can find an echo of sanctification to castist order in his writings, particularly in the second sloka of his important philosophical treatise - Vivakachudamani Vol. I sloka 2. It is hard for any living creature to achieve birth in a human form. Successively harder is to be born as male, Brahmin and getting attracted towards Vedic Dharma, being capable of discriminating the Atman and the Non-Atman for continuous union with the Brahmen and final liberation. These fortunes cannot be obtained except through the merits of a hundred - billion well - lived lines Does this sloka express the caste and class interests of Adi Shankaracharya? [Source: AMBEDKAR MEMORIAL LECTURE, TRIVANDRUM 6.7.2013 by R.B.Sreekumar]
10.2.3
Bhakti movements
There were many indigenous religious movements that rejected caste, including the Nath Siddhas and others. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Bhakti movement, that is the movement which spread throughout much of India from the 12th century onwards. (Earlier Tamil Bhakti, which had the stamp of opposition to Buddhism, is perhaps an exception to this, but radicalism was very evident in some of the Saivite Siddhar groups). The Veerasaiva movement in Karnataka, the Varkaris in Maharashtra (Namdev, Jnandev, Tukaram, Cokhamela), the movement of Kabir and Ravidas in northern India are among the most famous of these. Sikhism itself as a separate religion grew out of a Bhakti movement. Of these famous sants, none identified themselves as 'Hindus'; some, including Nanak and others (as well as some Sufis such as Bulle Shah) insisted that they were "neither Hindu nor Muslim (Turk)". Their opposition to caste was famous and was expressed very strongly by Kabir: Worship, libations, six sacred rites, this dharma's full of ritual blights. Four ages teaching Gayatri, I ask you, who won liberty? You wash your body if you touch another, tell me who could be lower than you? Proud of your merit, puffed up with your rights, no good comes out of such great pride. How could he whose very name is pride-destroyer endure the same? Drop the limits of caste and clan, seek for freedom's space,
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destroy the shoot, destroy the seed, seek the unembodied place. (Ramaini 35) (Translation based on Hess and Singh in Kabir 1986) In a famous doha from the popular tradition, Kabir sings: Baman se gadaha bhalla, aan jaat se kutta, mulla se murag bhalla, raat jaagaave suta (A donkey's better than a brahmin, a dog beats other castes, a cock is better than a mullah to tell us night is past [my translation]) Tuka (Tukaram), the famous Maharashtrian sant of the early-17th century, was brutal in his condemnation of brahmins for the practice of caste. In one song he contrasts the brahmin with the famous Ravidas: He's a devotionless brahman, let his face burn. From what concubine was he born? Blessed is the mother of the Vaishnava Chambhar; both lineage and caste are pure. It is not simply what I say -this is the decision given anciently. Tuka says, let this greatness burn up in fire, I don't want to even see these evil ones. (#1319) [Source: Caste is the cruellest exclusion by Gail Omvedt]
10.2.4
Dayanand Saraswati and Arya Samaj
The first edition of Saraswatis book talked about beef eating in the Vedas (apparently).
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BRAHMO SAMAJ AND ARYA SAMAJ At Calcutta, where he stayed from December 15, 1872 to April 15, 1873 Ramakrishna met him. He was also cordially received by the Brahmo Samaj. Keshab and his people voluntarily shut their eyes to the differences existing between them; they saw in him a rough ally in their crusade against orthodox prejudices and the million of gods. But Dayanand was not a man to come to an understanding with religious philosophers imbued with Western ideas. His national Indian theism, its steel faith forged from the pure metal of the Vedas alone, had nothing in common with theirs, tinged as it was with modern doubt, which denied the infallibility of the Vedas and the doctrine of transmigration. He broke with them, the richer for the encountered, for he owed them the very simple suggestion, whose practical value had not struck him before, that his propaganda would be of little effect unless it was delivered in the language of the people. He went to Bombay, where shortly afterwards his sect, following the example of the Brahmo Samaj, but with a better genius of organization, proceeded to take root in the social life of India. On April 10, 1875, he founded at Bombay his first Arya Samaj, or Association of the Aryans of India. [Source]
10.2.5
Ramakrishna Mission
This is, of course, the work of Vivekananda, but we have seen how Vivekananda did not oppose the caste system. In fact he had no solution to this problem. Note: Dayanand Saraswatis and Vivekanandas worldviews were TOTALLY different There is a FUNDAMENTAL difference between Vedas and Vedanata. Vedas are like a hypothesis, Vedanata a critical testing of the hypothesis. Vedanta is a process to question the Vedas and ask what is right and what is wrong. Vivekananda was ecletic and logical, Dayanand Saraswati was more inclined to believe whatever was written in the Vedas. Many a times Vivekananda said we should discard anything in the Vedas which doesnt make sense. Dayanand Saraswati, on the other hand, promoted the Vedas as THE truth. Dayanand Saraswati was BACKWARD looking. Vivekananda was FORWARD looking. To Dayanand Saraswati, the best was behind us. To Vivekananda, the best was yet to come. More than 100 years ago, Vivekananda wrote something which effectively is a challenge to people who think like Dayanand Saraswati: There is a certain class of men whose conviction is that from time eternal there is a treasure of knowledge which contains the wisdom of everything past, present, and future. These men hold that it was their own forefathers who had the sole privilege of having the custody of this treasure. The ancient sages, the first possessors of it, bequeathed in succession this treasure and its true import to their descendants only. They are, therefore, the only inheritors to it; as such, let
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the rest of the world worship them. May we ask these men what they think should be the condition of the other peoples who have not got such forefathers? Their condition is doomed, is the general answer. The more kind-hearted among them is perchance pleased to rejoin, Well, let them come and serve us. As a reward for such service, they will be born in our caste in the next birth. That is the only hope we can hold out to them.[ Sanjeev: This is, btw, the precise language which many Hindutva fanatics use in offering Muslims a chance to come back to Hinduism, and raise their caste to Kshatriyas ] Well, the moderns are making many new and original discoveries in the field of science and arts, which neither you dreamt of, nor is there any proof that your forefathers ever had knowledge of. What do you say to that? Why certainly our forefathers knew all these things, the knowledge of which is now unfortunately lost to us. Do you want a proof? I can show you one. Look! Here is the Sanskrit verse . . . . . Needless to add that the modern party, who believes in direct evidence only, never attaches any seriousness to such replies and proofs. [Source]
10.2.6 Gandhi a reformer but great racist and believer in caste

GANDHI THE GREAT RACIST, ALONG WITH VIVEKANAND AND DAYANAND I knew that Gandhi supported caste, but I wasn't aware that he was a BIGOTED RACIST. (His opinions are PRETTY similar to what Dayanand Saraswati held about blacks and Vivekananda). This information I picked up from random internet browsing on the subject. Gandhi believed that UPPER CASTE HINDUS are entitled to equality with the "whites" (in South Africa) but not lower castes, and DEFINITELY not black Africans. So his great fight against racism was a fight for UPPER CASTE HINDUS!!! "Upper caste" Hindus largely continue to hold themselves aloof from blacks and even call them seriously foul names. Kallu is the typical name today. Gandhi used to call them kaffir equivalent to "nigger". Details of Gandhi's detestation of the blacks are everywhere on the internet so I won't repeat. Just a few links to start you off: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/17/southafrica.india http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/aah/singh_12_3.htm http://sharpens.blogspot.com.au/2008/06/mp3-available-here_18.html So much for his preaching love. I almost thought at one time that he was like a Jesus in his love for the oppressed. Turns out not. He was a bigot. If the racism of Churchill and Hitler is to be rejected, Gandhi's racism too, must be rejected. GANDHI THE GREAT SUPPORTER OF CASTE I'll come to untouchability separately, but as far as caste is concerned,
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Gandhi was a FANATIC. He insisted on observing caste. Here are links to start off your research: http://www.truthseekersinternational.org/gandhi-the-caste-system-it-maysurprise-you/ "I believe in caste division on the basis of birth because the roots of the caste system start from birth." "According to me, the caste system is scientific. You cannot condemn it by argument. It controls the society socially and ethnicallyI see no reason to end it. To end casteism is to finish the Hindu Religion. There is nothing against Varnastram. I have reason to believe that the caste system is an arithmetic principle. It has its own limitation and disadvantages. Even then there is nothing to be hated in this system." Harijan, l932 (Translation from a Lower Caste tract circulated among Scheduled Castes and OBCs) And so on. Now Gandhi didn't want an end to the caste system. He was an orthdox Hindu (and extremely racist, as his writings against the blacks demonstrate). Gandhi was very particular about the Order of Varnas (Varnashramadharma or Chaturvarna), for, he wrote, caste has a close connection with the profession of ones livelihood. Everyones profession is his own dharma. Whoever gives it up, falls from his caste, and is himself destroyed, that is, his soul is destroyed. [Source UNTOUCHABLE FREEDOM A Social History of a Dalit Community Vijay Prashad] In NO WAY was Gandhi a reformer. GANDHI'S UNTOUCHABILITY DRIVE WAS A POLITICAL ACT, NOT GENUINE The more I read the more I understand that Gandhi was a hypocrite in relation to untouchability the thing he is most well known for. Yes, he did make a few statements which indicate his opposition to untouchability. But two things are paramount: a) He had a clear view that if the Dalits (untouchables) were not brought into the fold of Hinduism, they would join the Muslims and significantly increase the strength of Muslims during the political battles underway in pre-independence India. His Closed Chamber Dialogue with Sardar Patel, which reveal the reasoning behind Gandhis actions, one day after he began his fast unto death opposing separate electorate to the Scheduled Castes, as recorded by Mahadev Desai, Gandhis secretary, to justify his threat of selfimmolation: Sardar Patel: Why have you placed yourself between two stones? This is the battle of Touchable and Untouchables. I keep telling you not to do so. Let the two stone grind each other. Why must you cone in between? M.K. Gandhi: The possible consequences of separate electorate for Harijans (this must be Desais editingthe word Harijan was not yet used by Gandhi) fill me with horror. Separate electorates for all other communities will still leave room for me to deal with them, but I have no other means to deal with untouchables. These poor fellows will ask why I who claim to be their friend should offer Satyagraha simply because they were granted some privileges; they would vote separately but vote with
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me. They do not realize that the separate electorate will create division among Hindus so much that it will lead to blood-shed. Untouchable hooligans will make common cause with Muslim hooligans and kill casteHindus[1]. [Source] Also Gandhi thinks that caste is an unequal structure between the touchable castes and the untouchable castes. He argues for changing the upper caste mentalities by an appeal to their change of hearts. He argues that if the upper castes could be convinced with an appeal to the principle of ancestral calling, it would be possible for them to believe in the redundancy of untouchability. According to this principle, we are doing different functions as our duties to a village community as ordained by our ancestors. Through an alternative education of upper castes, it would be possible to convince them that different castes do mere duties to their ancestors. So, there is no low or polluted duty and high or pure duty. All caste functions are duties as per the ancestral calling. Once upper castes are convinced with a notion of duty in every manual labour, it would be possible for them to remove from their minds that some groups do menial labour or polluted functions. All functions would be seen as necessary duties to ancestors. Once upper castes are convinced with this doctrine, they would also undertake street sweeping and so on as Gandhi himself did. That would bring an end to untouchability. So, Satyagraha against untouchability is not necessary. Ambedkar calls Gandhis doctrine as the one of least resistance. [Source: Arun Kumar Patnaik, Lohias Immanent Critique of Caste] Ambedkar and Lohia objected to Gandhis approach, which did nothing to resolve the underlying problem. Both agree the Gandhism reduces caste into existence of untouchables and nullifies any concerted policy or political action against caste system. Both agree that it would be necessary to view caste order as power structure and offer an all-rounded critique of caste so that it would be entirely abolished. Gandhi misses the essence of caste system which consists of grades of untouchability against several human beings, not simply Dalits. [Source: Arun Kumar Patnaik, Lohias Immanent Critique of Caste]
10.2.7
Periyar
In Tamil Nadu, the movement started by Periyar failed because it was not focussed so much against the all-pervasive caste system as against "Brahmanism''. It should be noted that even upper caste non-Brahmans were part of the movement against "Brahmanism" along with the lower denominations in the caste hierarchy. The percentage of Brahmans in the total population is so low and the movement specifically targeted against Brahmanism that after achieving the vanquishment of the Brahmans the movement naturally lost its relevance and militancy. When the oppression by Brahmanism came to an end, rivalries, against one another among the non-Brahman castes resulted. Economic disparities worsened the situation. Even when the anti-Brahman movement was in progress, oppression of the Dalits by the non-Brahman upper castes and the backward castes was in existence, but in the thick of the movement which had gained powerful momentum under the leadership of a dynamic
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leader, the intra-non-Brahman caste rivalries and caste based oppression of the Dalits by higher castes did not show up. But, when the antiBrahman movement weakened the rivalries among the non-Brahman castes and oppression of the Dalits by the higher castes came to surface and the anti-Dalit stance became pervasive. [Source: http://www.hindu.com/2001/07/24/stories/13240611.htm]
10.2.8
Rajiv Malhotras advice
He believes that the oppressed should look to existing Hindu resources and methods to elevate themselves. I totally disagree. Caste must be abolished. It is a blot on humanity.
While Dalits certainly have legitimate grievances that need to be addressed, the true application of the spirit of Black theology would be for oppressed Indians to find similar resources in their own classical narratives, such as Puranas, Kural, Saiva Siddhanta, etc., and thereby do what black theologians have done, i.e. to use internal spiritual resources for their own sociopolitical empowerment. Hinduism has a long tradition of such internally generated revolts, uprisings and new theologies. From Sri Ramanuja (traditionally 1017 1137 CE) through Ayya Vaikundar (180851 CE) to Sri Narayana Guru (18551928 CE), such Hindu liberation movements are singularly marked by the absence of race theories and tendencies to segregate human beings. Of these, the last two spiritual leaders, venerated as Avatars, were born among the marginalized Dalit sections of the society. Within a few generations, these groups transformed themselves into economically and politically empowered Indians [Rajiv Malholtras Breaking India]
10.3 Net effect of the challenge of Christianity: Hinduism split into four
How British rule and Christianity split Hinduism into four parts
10.4 Conversion to other religions cannot help

10.4.1 To Christianity
From the very birth of missionary work in India there had been devoted men who had given their lives to toil amongst the Outcastes, but for a long time comparatively little fruit appeared. From 1822,the South of India suffered from an appalling famine. Everywhere missionaries threw themselves into the work of saving life and alleviating distress; and this piece of disinterested service brought its reward. From 1880 onwards great masses of the Outcaste of South India passed into the Church of Christ. Source: [MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA BY J. N. FARQUHAR (1915)
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10.4.2
To Islam
Swami Vivekananda wrote: Why amongst the poor of India so many are Mohammedans? It is nonsense to say, they were converted by the sword. It was to gain their liberty from the . . . zemindars and from the . . . priest, and as a consequence you find in Bengal there are more Mohammedans than Hindus amongst the cultivators, because there were so many zemindars there. Who thinks of raising these sunken downtrodden millions? [Source]
10.5 Why going to another organised religion is like going from the frying pan into the fire
10.5.1 Organised religions SYSTEMATICALLY shuts out critical thinking
Scientific Hindusm is not a religion. It is an attempt to find the truth, in a private, unorganised way. Its focus is on critical thinking. I really liked this comment from Hrishi: Whats dangerous is the blind belief the systematic shutting out of critical thinking and organising blind belief can only lead to bad things its selfevident if you follow it closely enough. That's very well said, indeed. Christ, for instance, never asked for the creation of a Papacy in the Bible. He was NOT for organised religion. Wherefrom did this "Pope" fellow with his funny robes and ceremonies come from? Can this guy please show me where precisely in the Bible (assuming the Bible is true in some way) did Christ ask that such a ridiculous organisation like the Church be created? Did Christ live so people should worship the Pope? Once organised Christianity started, the Pope SYSTEMATICALLY abused all critical thinkers. And the Church has systematically abused children, as well. And so it goes on. Everywhere. In every organised religion. These are POLITICAL, NOT SPIRITUAL ENTITIES. India's tradition opposes ANY ATTEMPT to organise religion. It wants each individual to find the truth for himself or herself. The Hindu temple may seem chaotic, but there is no "preaching", no indoctrination. You come IF you wish to. There is TOTAL FREEDOM of worship/ disbelief. That's a tradition worthy of respect. All other foreign traditions that act to promote ORGANISED BIGOTRY, CRIMINALITY AND MURDER - must be firmly resisted. These fools allege that India traditions are superstitious. So they may be, in the vast majority of cases. But these fools' traditions are BIGOTED. That's much worse.
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Yes, sati is bad. So it was rightly banned. So also child marriage. And human sacrifice. But these guys don't just kill a few. These criminals KILL IN THE MILLIONS. India must call the bluff of these bigots. It must BANISH foreign missionaries. It is important to defend the freedom to preach. So all preaching/genuine conversion within India by Indian preachers MUSTbe allowed. I'm NOT against proselytisation. Let that be re-asserted. By all means preach the Gospel/ Koran, etc. But it is important that all foreign missionaries - being paid stooges of the Church/ Islamic rulers are EJECTED immediately from India.
10.6 Five methods to end the oppressiveness of the caste system

I've just tweeted five examples of possible ways by which the oppressiveness of caste can be brought to an end. Two of these I'd already mentioned earlier (in BFN). The fifth method involves abandoning caste entirely. The first two are new suggestions. I welcome other alternative suggestions. It is my view that the Hindu is NOT going to give up caste that easily. When something has been drilled into one's head for 3000 years, it takes some time to get rid of it. It is desirable, therefore, to operationalise the PRETEND/BOGUS (FALSE!!!!) claims of Arya Samaj and others who claim that caste is not hereditary by challenging them to CREATE A PROCESS by which people's caste can be OFFICIALLY changed. Stop fooling me and others with a fake view that caste is not hereditary. I challenge you to build a system to allocate caste AFTER birth. Then and only then will your fake claims become real. Else I treat them as pure rubbish. Bogus and intended to cheat. Someone told me that he thought that Dr BR Ambedkar was actually a Brahmin. Sorry, but no one told him that! So why not create a system WITHIN THE RELIGION to ensure that caste is not determined at birth but at age 18 (say). I recommend method No. 2 as the most practical method to allocate caste. I'm happy to help create a system by which such an exam can be administered to all the billion Hindus. Why not method no. 5 (total elimination)? Because that's a delusion. It is never going to happen. After method #2 is implemented for 200 years people will realise this whole thing is sheer red tape and will therefore stop wasting time on the "exam" and stop bothering about caste.
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Note that method #2 means that the lastname of each Hindu will NECESSARILY CHANGE at age 18 after the exam. And a key consequence is that there could be members from all four castes within the same family. METHODS 1. One method to eliminate the oppressiveness of caste would be to give everyone the choice to choose their caste. 2. A second method to end the oppressiveness of caste would be to establish an "exam" at age 18 when caste is determined. 3. A third method (I've already mentioned in BFN) is for all Brahmins to lose caste along with others. 4. A fourth method (again, mentioned in BFN) is for ALL lower castes to become Brahmins. 5. Yet another method but the least likely to succeed is for all Hindus to renounce caste. COMMENTS ON FACEBOOK RM: As can be witnessed in various developed (wealthy) countries, if there is economic prosperity, people will focus less on race and caste. It will dissolve on its own. Sanjeev Sabhlok: This is incorrect. Caste is not going to disappear with prosperity. The rich people of India STILL strongly believe in caste. == RS: Nice, but unfortunately we don't have any practical solution . Sanjeev Sabhlok There is. If caste is not abolished, ALL kinds of people will continue to leave Hinduism. Not just the Dalits and tribals but people like me. It is NOT my job to be part of a religion that oppresses 40 per cent of Indians. == AR Nothing is going to work,unless we kill the sanctity of the religious maths. That is at the core of caste system- Ambedkar did admit that such a reform is not at all possible in Hinduism to kill the sanctity of maths. And the issue is further complicated with the presence of reservation system. The hitherto lower/backward caste people are willing to be attached to their backward tag as caste has become the basis of getting the comfort. The state is in confused state. But these socio-political issues can be solved only when the religious issues are addressed, which doesn't seem to be a reality anywhere soon.
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== YS Only free markets will eliminate caste. I mean make caste irrelevant. I mean you can't remove it. There is nothing wrong in caste. All kinship groups can prosper equally and I see nothing wrong in belonging to a kinship group. As a state or the rule of law should not be different for different groups/religions/castes but people are entitled to belong to a certain group if they wish to essence of property rights .Everywhere there are castes even in America, even among other religions in India or elsewhere is different forms. AR free market is not a panacea for social evils- the free market can hardly address the religious issues from where this caste system takes its root. Sanjeev Sabhlok YS, both your arguments are incorrect. First, there is NO evidence that becoming wealthier or more educated reduces caste. Indians are hugely wealthy in USA but caste based marriage advertisements continue as usual. Caste, you are forgetting, is BY BIRTH. It has nothing to do with post-birth work/merit. Second, you are spouting the fake arguments that all "Hindus" keep giving that there is caste in other parts of the world. That is entirely wrong. Caste is based on transmigration of the soul, and no other religion believes in transmigration. Please understand your own religion properly and you'll realise it has some extremely evil consequences. Re: what I should focus on, kindly leave that decision to me. I see caste as cutting India's GDP and future potential by about 80 per cent. It has lowered the IQ of 80 per cent of India's population. The average Indian's IQ is close to that of a "moron" (in old IQ lingo). Morons can't become wealthy even if you free the markets. Changing Hinduism is getting more and more urgent. === RS These ideas are sounds good but sadly, all these five will fail in the practical world. Because today caste is not a big issue for our current generation most of my friends have done love marriage or you can say inter caste marriages, even our families does not have any problem because they are well educated. Main problem in India is reservation which is caste base nobody wants to leave their caste, no body wants to become Brahmin because they won't get reservation, if we totally abolish the caste system then no body will be able to get reservation so its irrelevant. The best thing is education and willingness to leave the caste culture more and more inter cast inter religion marriages. I don't thing even one of the five ideas will work in our society. Sanjeev Sabhlok RS you are mixing up India with yourself. Please go to villages and study caste. It is AS strong as ever before. And no, please don't blame the reservation system for caste. Yes, it must go, but I would like the caste system to go first.
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== SavitriEra Party suggested that Sri Aurobindo Ghosh's method be used to eliminate caste. On inquiring, it was found to be the following: "Caste is imbibed from family & culture in the mind. By education & appropriate logic, the mind can be changed in a progressive way. First step is to rid individuals from the Caste mentality. It can spread further." This "solution" is not helpful at all.
10.7 No role for government in removal of caste

Regardless of the issues involved, there is no role for government in dealing with the caste issue (or any issue of racism). As I wrote in BFN, I am not denying the deplorable practice of caste discrimination. I strongly oppose it, it being one of my reasons for choosing not to be a Hindu (I have, in addition, many other reasons for opting out of the business of religion altogether). Nevertheless, eliminating the caste system is not a matter for a government to get involved in it is a matter purely for social and religious reformers.
10.8 Are Dalits not interested in removal of caste?

Heres something of considerable concern: "When I have proposed this larger agenda of ending caste, several Dalit activists, organizations and academics have expressed a fear that ending caste may also end the affirmative actions (known as reservations in India). Yes it will! But isnt that the ultimate goal? Arent we very clear that affirmative actions are merely remedial measures? If we agree that it is remedial then we must also accept that remedies cannot become another system." [Source: stalin k. : http://stalink.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/end-casteending-caste-based-discrimination-is-not-enough/]
10.9 Escape into reason: Scientific Hinduism

What I call scientific Hinduism is nothing but reason. It aims to study the best of mankinds intellectual and spiritual innovations and bring them together into a package. I dont intend to organise this religion. It is an offer to all Hindus to escape to truth and reason. I outlined in some detail in the next chapter.
10.10
Only higher castes oppose the abolition of caste
Brahmincal Hinduism cant possible believe in the scriptures and YET elevate Dalits to the same pedestal as a Brahmin. If it were to do so, then the transmigration of the soul (through karma) becomes falsified. There is therefore NO POSSIBILITY of Dalits (or anyone) getting an equal status in Hinduism.
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10.10.1
A Hindu writing in Mahratta in favour of caste
Later, certain Hindus took up the same position; but others pointed out that the policy of raising the Outcaste is contrary to Hinduism and must certainly tend to break up the religion. The following is a sentence from the Mahratta: Now we know that the result of educating the depressed classes must be in the long run to weaken, if not utterly destroy caste. (MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA BY J. N. FARQUHAR (1915))
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11. Economic explantion for the persistence of caste
11.1 Lohias explanation

To cite Lohia: Caste is presumably the worlds largest insurance for which one does not pay a formal or regular premium. Solidarity is always there, when everything else fails. Caste provides for social solidarity in matters of child-bearing, marriage, funeral obsequies, feasts and other rituals. Men belonging to the same caste assist each other at these decisive hours of needs. This system of insurance without any cost or premium makes the system more resilient and durable in the eyes of its members only. I remember one incident from Aska, a small town in Orissa. One Komati (trader) family was not able to arrange their daughter in wedding due to financial difficulties of the family. The Komati Pentha arranged money for her marriage and finally arranged a boy for her too. She was happily married off after sometime. Such solidarity is found in the caste associations throughout India. Brahmin Associations give fellowship to the poor Brahmin students in the schools. Kamma Sangams do similar things. Do we ever come across beggars among Komatis or Jat Sikhs? The Langar houses or Penthas take care of such people. Such activities provide legitimacy and strength to caste order. Caste continues to survive despite many crisis points posed by modernization. This partly explains why caste has survived even the foreign conquests led by Muslims and Christians who came to India with egalitarian ideologies but got adjusted with caste order. And in fact, due to a modernization drive, caste has managed to survive in urban areas by getting organized as associations offering many kinds of assistance at times of financial crisis. The more a caste group has money, the more it is organized with association offices and schemes of assistance for needy members of its own caste. Source: Arun Kumar Patnaik, Lohias Immanent Critique of Caste
11.2 Kaivan Munshis explanation

In India, individuals continue to marry almost exclusively within their (sub) caste or jati. Given the segregation along caste lines that continues to characterize the Indian village, most social interactions also occur within the caste. The jati is thus the natural social unit around which networks would crystallize in India. Indeed, rural insurance arrangements and urban job networks have long been organized around the jati. It is this relatively unexplored feature of the caste system the ability of the caste to provide major forms of economic support to its members that I believe has much to do with its persistence in modern Indian society. Source: http://ideasforindia.in/article.aspx?article_id=2 This explanation provides a possible policy pathway to a resolution of the caste problem..
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11.3 Free markets and social minimum

Free markets and a social minimum can definitely make a difference. In addition a socio-religious movement is needed oppose caste.
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12. An outline of Scientific Hinduism
12.1 Scientific Hinduism rejects the concept of caste

12.1.1 There is no soul, or at least no proof of soul/God that I can personally confirm
While debating the caste system, a FB friend insisted that there is a soul and that there is 'evidence' of a soul (and hence presumably transmigration, so caste). To all such persons I commend Victor J. Stenger's book, God, the Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist. If nothing else it will shock them into demanding real proof. While browsing around I discovered I'm in pretty good company. No inventor greater than Thomas Edison thought similarly (that doesn't mean I'm a great inventor just an ordinary independent thinker). And this is what he said: "there is no more reason to believe that any human brain will be immortal than there is to think that one of my phonographic cylinders will be immortal." [Source] For those who believe in life after death "experiences", here some evidence that these expereinces are REAL but these experiences have nothing to do with soul. Two sets of studies published independently in the same issue of the journal Science demonstrate how the illusion of a bodily self outside one's own body can be stimulated in the laboratory. The studies forge ways to better understand both out-of-body and near-death experiences. "The research provides a physical explanation for the phenomenon usually ascribed to otherworldly influences," Peter Bruger, a neurologist at University Hospital in Zurich who was not involved in the experiment, told science journalist Sandra Blakesee in her report on these experiments in The New York Times (August 24). [Source] Some people have the tendency to believe ANY hypothesis that appeals to them. Others tend to jump to conclusions based on a particular finding. I would rather rule out ALL possible natural phenomenon before allowing myself to "believe" in any super-natural thing. To date there has been NO phenomenon that I've come across which could not be explained by ORDINARY natural processes. Magic comes closest to being something I can't "explain" but I'm assured by magicians who practice these skills extensively, that these are merely sleights of hand. In any event, the would never do their magic under controlled conditions. Therefore while I don't TOTALLY RULE OUT the possibility of soul (hence God, etc.), I have to date not found ANY evidence of any soul. ADDENDUM
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Take a drug, particularly a hallucinogen, and any of these can change, and even our innermost selves can be quite transformed. For those who use these 'near death' experiences as proof of an afterlife, be aware that you will almost certainly be disappointed. This appears to be merely the way brains - which have significant electrical activity/ molecular charge in an active state - shut down: through a last minute surge of sorts. I continue to deny the possibility of any soul since it simply doesn't make any sense from the evolutionary perspective. Ordinary biochemistry itself is capable of explaining everything we observe regarding life. [See here for a report]
12.1.2
Even if there is a soul, it visits the earth only once
There are some other (related) explanations, as well, such as those provided by Vivekananda. But as I showed earlier, such explanations are SERIOUSLY FLAWED. In the absence of modern knowledge of DNA/brain, a multiple trip soul was logically necessary. But now, with modern knowledge, such a theory is clearly an overkill. That doesnt mean Im denying the possibility of a soul. There could be a soul (after all, it is hard to disprove an invisible thing using laws of physics). But the SOUL ONLY VISITS THE EARTH ONCE In the one trip model, the soul does good or bad things while on earth and is punished or rewarded ONCE, after death. Thereafter the soul effectively comes to an end. [It can have perpetual reward, perpetual punishment, or it can be merged into some bigger soul] WHICH THEORY IS CORRECT? The reality is that NO ONE knows whether there is a soul, and if so, its properties. Everything in this field is speculative. But if we are to speculate anyway, why not choose the SIMPLER model? A model which RESPECTS other human beings equally? The simple ONE TRIP TO EARTH MODEL (illustrated below) gets rid of the logic underpinning the caste system. There is no more need for an endless series of rebirths. And if OTHER religions can manage their business (of the soul) with a simpler (one trip) model, why does Hinduism need an open-ended multiple trip model? Hindus are fond of saying that all religions lead to the same goal. Then why not adopt the SIMPLEST model from amongst all religions?
127
12.1.3
Classical liberalism and caste are polar opposites
Classical liberalism is underpinned by a belief in equality of status of ALL humans (under the law). There is NO distinction between citizens in their status under the law. Such equality is not a new idea in India, it being reflected in Buddhism and possibly in Charvaka. As well as (at least logically) in the advaitic tradition of Hinduism. But it is important to highlight that this idea of equality of status all humans is FUNDAMENTALLY in opposition to the caste system. It is also opposed to any system that classifies groups of people (such as Aryans or "whites") as being innately superior to others. In fact, it is in opposition to any way to cluster people together. Individual merit is the only thing that counts. The caste system is evil because it based on the idea of PREVIOUS BIRTH'S MERIT. This is a ridiculous idea with absolutely no evidence base. Similarly, an idea like a society of "Aryans" (which excludes "Sudras" and billions of others) is based on birth characteristics of some sort (e.g. belonging to a particular "race"). Such ideas are easy to linked to racist/eugenist conceptions, and undermine the possibility of individual merit (as indeed has been done with the Hindu caste system). The classical liberal believes that we must work hard and get our reward or punishment IN THIS LIFETIME. Regardless of any natural endowments we may have upon birth, it is our hard work and effort that ultimately matters. Each child should get an equal chance to get high quality school education, so each child can be given the opportunity to achieve his potential. What a child did in his past life (if any!) is not relevant. There was NO attempt in Hinduism to educate all children equally. That, perhaps, was its greatest evil. Classical liberalism is an EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY, MERIT-BASED SYSTEM. Caste system is an UNEQUAL-OPPORTUNITY, BIRTHBASED system.
128
These two worldviews are fundamentally opposed. All souls are equal.
12.2 Scientific Hinduism the plausibility of Vedanta

12.2.1 The need to ask for proof: Vivekandas pre-vedanta days
We need to always keep asking questions. Vivekanandas approach in his pre-Vedanta days is a good guide. I think somewhere down the road he accepted Vedanta, but even Vedanta is not without its gaps. The same God who gives out the Vedas becomes Buddha again to annul them; which of these dispensations is to be obeyed?
12.2.2
But Vedanta still represents the best in Hinduism
The Vedanta is the only element of Hindu religion which makes sense, being universal in its approach. In due course Ill outline the precepts of Scientific Hinduism. This was a very crude outline, a sketch.
129
13. References
BANERJEE, A., M. BERTRAND, S. DATTA AND S. MULLAINATHAN, Labor market discrimination in Delhi: Evidence from a field experiment, Journal of Comparative Economics 37 (March 2009), 14-27. Banerjee, Abhijit; Esther Duflo; Maitreesh Ghatak; and Jeanne Lafortune (2009) .Marry for what: caste and mate selection in modern India., National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Working Paper Series, No. 14958. BANERJEE, B. AND J. B. KNIGHT, Caste discrimination in the Indian urban labour market, Journal of Development Economics 17 (April 1985), 277{307. Barbara R. Bergmann. 1974. Occupational Segregation, Wages and Profits When Employers Discriminate by Race or Sex, Eastern Economic Journal, 1(2): 103-110 Becker, G. S. (1971). The Economics of Discrimination. University of Chicago Press. Black, D. A. (1995).Discrimination in an equilibrium search model. Journal of Labor Economics, 13(2):309334. BLOCH, F., V. RAO AND S. DESAI, Wedding Celebrations as Conspicuous Consumption: Signaling Social Status in Rural India, Journal of Human Resources 39 (2004). Catherine Bros, Castes in India: Implications of Social Identity In Economics Chandra Bhan Prasad, Markets and Manu: Economic reforms and its impact on caste in India, 2007. Chaudhary, S. N. (ed.) (2005) Human Rights and Poverty in India: Theoretical Issues and Empirical Evidences (New Delhi: Concept Publishers, 5 Volumes). George Akerlof and Kranton. R. E., 2000. Economics and Identity The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3) Sections 1 and II George Akerlof, The Economics of Caste and of the Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 90, No. 4 (Nov., 1976), 599-617. Heckman, James, 1998. Detecting Discrimination Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(2):101-116
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ITO, T., Caste discrimination and transaction costs in the labor market: Evidence from rural North India, Journal of Development Economics 88 (March 2009), 292-300. Jasmine Rao, The Caste System: Effects on Poverty in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Global Majority E-Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2 (December 2010), pp. 97106 ["the people in lower castes are assigned menial jobs. This helps in explaining why there is so much poverty. These lower caste members are not allowed to move up the career ladder and instead remain poor."] Kenneth J. Arrow. 1998. What Has Economics to Say about Racial Discrimination? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(2): 91-100 Kerwin K. Charles and J. Guryan. 2011. Studying Discrimination: Fundamental Challenges and Recent Progress, Working Paper 17156, National Bureau of Economic Research. Mason, Patrick. 1996. Race, Culture and Markets Journal of Black Studies 25(6):782-808. Michael Reich, Economics of Racism Phelps, E. S. (1972). The statistical theory of racism and sexism. The American Economic Review, 62(4):659661 Rose, Arnold M. (1967) .Sociological Factors Affecting Economic Development in India., Studies in Comparative International Development, Vol. 3, No. 9 (September), pp. 169-183. Rosen, A. (2003). Search, bargaining, and employer discrimination. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(4):807829. Sam Bowles and H. Gintis, 2002. The Inheritance of Inequality The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16(3):3-30 Scoville, J. G. (2003), Discarding Facts: the Economics of Caste. Review of Development Economics, 7: 378391 Shrestha, Anita (2002) .Dalits in Nepal: Story of Discrimination., AsiaPacific News, Vol. 30 (December); available at: http://www.hurights.or.jp/asia-pacific/no_30/04.htm. SIDDIQUE, Z., Evidence on Caste-Based Discrimination, Labour Economics 18 (2011), S146S159. Silva, Kalinga Tudor and Ajith Hettihewage (2001) .Poverty, Social Exclusion and the Impact of Selected Legal Measures against Caste Discrimination in South Asia.; in: Peter Robson and Asbjorn Kjonstad (eds.) Poverty & the Law (Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing), pp. 59-71. Sukhdeo Thorat and Katherine S. Newman (ed.) Blocked by caste: economic discrimination in modern India, New Delhi, Oxford University
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Press, 2010. [Review] "the book brings together empirical researches undertaken by the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) in Delhi over the past six years, and is the first major attempt to study the linkages between caste discrimination and economic outcomes" Takahiro Ito, Caste discrimination and transaction costs in the labor market: Evidence from rural North India, Journal of Development Economics, Volume 88, Issue 2, March 2009, Pages 292300 W. Arthur Lewis, 1985. Racial Conflict and Economic Development, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Chapters 1 and 2 Waldman, Amy (2005) .Mystery of India's Poverty: Can the State Break Its Grip?., New York Times, Letter from Asia, April 29, 2005. Xavier Fontaine and Katsunori Yamada, Caste comparisons: evidence from India Caste comparisons: evidence from India. OTHER WORK NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO ECONOMIC IMPACT BAYLY, S., Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, The New Cambridge History of India (Cambridge University Press, 2001). Blumer, Herbert, 1958. Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position The Pacific Sociological Review, Vol.1, No. 1. Pages 3-7 Hirschman, Charles. 2004. The Origins and Demise of the Concept of Race, Population and Development Review, 30(3): 385-415. Pages 401407 Ninian, Alex (2008) .Indias Untouchables: The Dalits., Contemporary Review, Vol. 290 (May), pp. 186-192. Pye, Lucian W. (2002) .(Review of:) Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, by Nicholas B. Dirks., Foreign Affairs, Vol. 81, No. 3 (May/June), p. 177 Standing, Hilary and R. L. Strivat (2007) .Untouchables, Harijans., Believe (Religious Information Source web-site, May). Thekaekara, Mari Marcel (2005) .Combatting Caste., New Internationalist, Vol. 380 (July) .
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Appendix: Indias official position regarding caste discrimination
I believe caste is not a matter for governments to get involved but this appendix covers an outline of government postions on caste.
GOI position regarding caste

India has abolished untouchability through its Constitution. India has, however, not generally accepted that caste is a human rights issue.
In 1965 GOI agreed that caste groups were downtrodden

- In 1965, India proposed the historic amendment to introduce descent in the "Convention on Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination" or CERD. It cited its own experience with caste. K C Pant moved the amendment as a member of the Indian delegation and admitted that "certain groups, though of the same racial stock and ethnic origin as their fellow citizens, had for centuries been relegated by the caste system to a miserable and downtrodden condition".[Source]
In 1996 GOI linked caste to class

India's Report on the CERD dated 29 April 1996, while celebrating racial diversity as the quintessence of Indian society, states that "the term 'caste' denotes a 'social' and 'class' distinction and is not based on race. It has its origins in the functional division of Indian society during ancient times [Source] - In 1996, India performed a somersault when it submitted its CERD report. It insisted that caste, though perpetuated through descent, was "not based on race" and therefore did not come under the Convention's purview. It freed itself of any "reporting obligation" on the situation of Dalits and tribals. It said it was prepared to provide information about them only "as a matter of courtesy". But the CERD panel maintained that descent "does not solely refer to race" and that the situation of Dalits and tribals "falls within scope of the Convention." [Source]
In 2001 GOI said caste is not anyone elses business to discuss

- At the 2001 Durban conference against racism, former Supreme Court judge K Ramaswamy, himself a Dalit, dissented from the Indian government position in his speech as a member of India's Human Rights Commission. "It is not so much the nomenclature of the form of discrimination that must engage our attention but the fact of its persistence that must cause concern," he said. He added that "the debate on whether race and caste are co-terminus or similar forms of discrimination is not the essence of the matter." Government representative Omar Abdullah contradicted him saying: "We are firmly of
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the view that the issue of caste is not an appropriate subject for discussion at this conference." [Source]
International position on caste

In 2002 CERD confirmed opposition to caste discrimination
- In 2002, just a year on from Durban, the CERD panel issued a "general recommendation" confirming its interpretation that descent included "discrimination based on forms of social stratification such as caste and analogous systems of inherited status, which nullify or impair their equal enjoyment of human rights." [Source]
In 2009 CERD re-confirmed opposition to caste discrimination

- In 2009, India's state of self-denial suffered a body blow when the UN Human Rights Council issued draft principles and guidelines on discrimination based on work and descent and recognized caste as a factor. The draft said, "This type of discrimination is typically associated with the notion of purity and pollution and practices of untouchability and is deeply rooted in societies and cultures where this discrimination is practised." [Source]
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Scientiific Hinduism 2 Institutionalised Oppression

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Scientific Hinduism Book 2 Brahminical (caste) Hinduism: a system of institutionalised oppression

Sanjeev Sabhlok Draft 19 August 2013

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

1. We, the self-respecting humans, are born free. ..............1

2. Caste is immoral from first principles...............................6

3. Not just destruction of liberty but oppression and VIOLENCE..................................................................12

Mistreatment and humiliation of women...............................25

4. Deliberate lowering of intelligence of the oppressed?....26

5. Do the oppressed make the rules? Of course not...........36

5.4 5.5 5.6

6. Do the oppressed defend caste? Of course not..............44

7. The hereditary and biological (racist) underpinning of caste.........................................................................47

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

8. Rationalisation for oppression through hierarchies of the soul...........................................................................70

9. Lots of red herrings thrown in to confound the truth......76

10. The escape from oppression......................................107

10.1.1 Brahmo Samaj.............................................................107

11. Economic explantion for the persistence of caste......124

12. An outline of Scientific Hinduism ...............................126

13. References.................................................................130 Appendix: Indias official position regarding caste discrimination.........................................................133 vi

We, the self-respecting humans, are born free.

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Equal status in Charvaka Hinduism

Equal status in Islam and Christianity

Alleged equal consciousness in Vedanta

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Caste is immoral from first principles

Violation of basic ethical principles

2.1.1 Denial of equal status

2.1.2 Denial of equal liberty

2.1.3 Destruction of self-respect

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

2.1.4 Different justice for different castes

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Not just destruction of liberty but oppression and VIOLENCE

Control over key life events

Careful domestication (victim-consent) of the oppressed

Obnoxious suggestion that others pollute us

Possible link of pollution with beef eating

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Blaming victims for their plight

3.5.1 Vivekananda chastised non-Brahmins

3.6.1 Lower castes not likely to be given jobs

3.6.2 Lower castes regularly cheated in economic trasactions

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Mistreatment and humiliation of lower castes/ outcastes

3.7.1 Shivajis humiliation

Untouchability, and violence against the outcastes

3.8.1 GK Gokhales comment on untouchability

3.8.2 Extract from Gandhi

3.8.3 Oppression of Dalits

3.8.4 Jagjivan Ram humiliated

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

3.8.5 Ambedkar humiliated

3.9.1 Killing Dalits who removed a dead cows hide

3.9.2 Some illustrations of violence

3.9.3 Dalit literature shows the magnitude of oppression

3.10 Mistreatment and humiliation of women

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013

Deliberate lowering of intelligence of the oppressed?

Indian average national IQ is extremely low

Book 2 Draft 19 August 2013