This week's page from Hindu Dharma (see note at bottom) is "Who is Responsible
for the Decay of Varna Dharma?" from "The Vedic Religion And Varna Dharma". The
original page can be found at
http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part3/chap6.htm.

Next week, you will be emailed "The Least Expected of Brahmins" (from "The Vedic
Religion And Varna Dharma")

Best regards
for kamakoti.org


Venkatesh
(this email is being sent on an automated basis)

Who is Responsible for the Decay of Varna Dharma?
from The Vedic Religion And Varna Dharma, Hindu Dharma

Politicians and intellectuals alike say that jati is part of an
uncivilized system. Why? Who is responsible for the disintegration of so worthy
an arrangement as varna dharma?

These are question that I raised and I shall try to answer them. The wrong
ideas that have developed about varna dharma must be ascribed to the Brahmins
themselves. They are indeed responsible for the decay of an ages-old system that
contributed not only to our Atmic advancement but also to the well-being of the
nation as well as of all mankind.

The Brahmin relinquished the duties of his birth-the study of the Vedas and
performance of the rites laid down in the Vedic tradition. He left his
birthplace, the village, for the town. He cropped his hair and started dressing
in European style. Giving up the Vedas, he took to the Mundane learning of the
West. He fell to the lure of jobs offered by his white master and aped him in
dress, manners and attitudes. He threw to the winds the noble dharma he had
inherited from the Vedic seers through his forefathers and abandoned all for a
mess of pottage. He was drawn to everything Western, science, life-style,
entertainment.

The canonical texts have it that the Brahmin must have no love for money, that
he must not accumulate wealth. So long as he followed his dharma, as prescribed
by the sastras, and so long as he chanted the Vedas and performed sacrifices, he
brought good to the world, and all other castes respected him and treated him
with affection. In fact they looked upon him as a guide and model.

Others now observed how the Brahmin changed, how his life-style had become
different with all its glitter and show and how he went about with all the
pretence of having risen on the scale of civilization. The Brahmin had been an
ideal for them in all that is noble, but how he strayed from the path of dharma;
and following his example they too gave up their traditional vocations that had
brought them happiness and contenemnt, and left their native village to settle
in towns. Like the Brahmin they became keen to learn English and secure jobs in
the government.

For thousands of years the Brahmin had been engaged in Atmic pursuit and
intellectual work. In the beginning all his mental faculties were employed for
the welfare of society and not in the least for his own selfish advancement.
Because of this very spirit of self-sacrifice, his intelligence became sharp
like a razor constantly kept honed. Now the welfare of society is no longer the
goal of his efforts and his intelligence has naturally dimmed due to this
selfishness and interest in things worldly. He had been blessed with a bright
intellect and he had the grace of the Lord to carry out the duties of his birth.
Now, after forsaking his dharma, it is natural that his intellectual keenness
should become blunted.

Due to sheer momentum the bicycle keeps going some distance even after you stop
pedalling. Similarly, though the Brahmin seeks knowledge of mundane subjects
instead of inner light, he retains yet a little intellectual brightness as a
result of the "pedalling" done by his forefathers. It is because of this that he
has been able to achieve remarkable progress in Western learning also. He has
acquired expert knowledge in the practices of the West, in its law and its
industries. Indeed he has gained such insights into these subjects and mastered
their finer points so remarkably well that he can give lessons to the white man
himself in them.

A question that arises in this context is how Vedic studies which had not
suffered much even during Muslim rule received a severe set-back with the advent
of the European. One reason is the impact of the new sciences and the machines
that came with the white man. Granted that many a truth was revealed through
these sciences- and this was all to the good up to a point. But we must remember
that the knowledge of a subject per se is one thing and how we use it in
practice ins another.

The introduction of steam power and electricity made many types of work easier
but it also meant comforts hitherto unthought of to gratify the senses. If you
keep pandering to the senses more and more new desires are engendered. This will
mean the production of an increasing number of objects of pleasure. The more we
try to obtain sensual pleasure the more we will cause injury t our innermost
being. The new pleasures that could be had with scientific development and the
introduction of machines were an irresistible lure for the Brahmin as they were
to other communities. Another undesirable product of the sciences brought by the
white man was rationalism which undermined people's faith in religion and
persuaded some to believe that the religious truths that are based on faith and
are inwardly experienced are nothing but deception. The man who did not give up
his duties even during Muslim rule now abandoned them for the new-found
pleasures and comforts. He dressed more smartly !
that the Englishman, smoked cigarattes and even learned to dance like his white
master. Those who thus became proficient in the arts of the white man were
rewarded with jobs.

Now occurred the biggest tragedy.

Up till now all members of society had their hereditary jobs to do and they did
not have to worry about their livelihood. Now, with the example of the Brahmin
before them, members of other castes also gave up their traditional occupations
for the jobs made available by the British in the banks, railways,
collectorates, etc. With the introduction of machinery our handicrafts fell into
decay and many of our artisans had to look for other means of livelihood. In the
absence of any demarcation in the matter of work and workers, there arose
competition for jobs for the first time in the country. It was a disastrous
development and it generated jealousy, ill-will, disputes and a host of other
evils among people who had hitherto lived in harmony.

Ill feelings developed between Brahmins and non-Brahmins also. How? Brahmins
formed only a small percentage of the population. But they were able to occupy
top positions in the new order owing to their intelligence which, as I said
before, was the result of the "pedalling" done by their forefathers. They
excelled in all walks of life- in administration, in academics, in law, in
medicine, engineering and so on. The white man made his own calculations about
developing animosity between Brahmins and non-Brahmins and realised that by
fuelling it he could strengthen his hold on the country. He fabricated the
Aryan-Dravidian theory of races and the seeds of differences were sown among
children born of the same mother. It was a design that proved effective in a
climate already made unhealthy by rivary for jobs.

As if to exacerbate this ill-will, the Brahmin took one more disastrous step.
On the one hand he gave up the dharma of his caste and joined hands with the
British in condemning the old order by branching it a barbarous one in which one
man exploited another. But, on the other hand, though he spoke the language of
equality, he kept aloof from other castes thinking himself to be superior to
them. If in the past he had not mixed physically with members of other castes,
it did not mean that he had placed himself on a high pedestal. we must remember
that there was a reason for his not coming into physical contact with other
castes. There have to be differences between the jatis based on food, work and
surroundings. The photographer needs a dark room to develop his films. To shoot
a film, on the contrary, powerful lights are needed. Those who work in a factory
canteen have to scrupulously clean; but those who dust machinery wear soiled
clothes. This does not mean that the waiter in!
a canteen is superior to the factory hand who dusts machines. The man who takes
the utmost care to keep himself intellectually bright, without any thought of
himself, observes fasts, while the soldier, who has to be strong and tough, eats
meat.

Why should there be bad feelings between the two, between the Brahmin and the
Ksatriya? Does the Brahmin have to come into physical contact with the Ksatriya
To prove that he does not bear any ill-will towards him? If he interdined with
the Ksatriya he would be tempted to taste meat and such a temptation might
eventually drag him into doing things that militate against his own duty. Each
community has its own duties, customs and food habits. If all jatis mixed
together on the pretext of equality without regard to their individual ways of
life, all work would suffer and society itself would be plunged into confusion.

It was with a definite purpose in view that the village was divided into
different quarters: the agrahara (the Brahmin quarter), the agriculturists
quarter and so on. Such a division was possible in rural life but not in the the
new urban way of living. With urbanization and industrialization it becomes
necessary for people belonging to various jatis to work together on the same
shift, sit together in the same canteen to ear the same kind of food. The
Brahmin for whom it is obligatory to observe fasts and vows and to perform
various rites was now seen to be no different from others. Office and college
timings were a hindrance to the carrying out of these rites. So the Brahmin
ithrtew them to the winds. He had so far taken care to perform these rites with
the good of others in mind. Like a trustee, he had protected dharma for the sake
of society and made its fruits available to all.

All that belonged to the past. Now the Brahmin came forward proclaiming that
all were equal and that he was one with the rest. All the same he became the
cause of heart-burning among others and -ironically enough- in becoming one with
them he also competed with them for jobs. That apart, though he talked of
equality, he still thought himself to be superior to others, inspite of the fact
that he was not a bit more careful than they about the performance of religious
duties. Was this not enough to earn him more hatred?

The Brahmin spoiled himself and spoiled others. By abandoning his dharma he
became a bad example to others. as a matter of fact, even by strictly adhering
to his dharma the Brahmin in not entitled to feel superior to others. He must
always remain humble in the belief that "everyone performs a function in
society; I perform mine". If at all others respected him in the past and
accorded him a high place in the society it was in consideration of his selfless
work, his life of austerity a, discipline and purity. Now he had descended too
such depths as to merit their most abrasive criticism.

It is my decided opinion that the Brahmin is responsible for the ruin of Hindu
society. Some people have found an explanation for it. The Brahmin, if he is to
be true to his dharma, has to spend all his time in learning and chanting the
Vedas, in performance sacrifices, in preserving the sastras, etc. What will he
do for a living? If he goes in search of money or material he will not be able
to attend to his lifetime mission- and this mission is not accomplished on a
part-time basis. And if he takes up some other work for his livelihood, he is
likely to became lax in the pursuit of his dharma. It would be like taking
medicine without the necessary diet regimen: the benign power gained by the
Brahmin from his Vedic learning will be reduced and there will be a
corresponding diminution in the good accruing to mankind from his work.

This is one reason why Brahmin alone are permitted by the sastras to beg for
their living. In the past they received help form the kings_ grants of lands,
for instance-in consideration of the fact that the dharma practised by them
benefited all people. But the sastras also have it that the Brahmins must not
accept more charity than what is needed for their bare sustenance. If they
received anything in excess, they would be tempted to sek sensual pleasures and
thereby an impediment would be placed to their inner advancement. There is also
the danger of their becoming submissive to the donor and of their twisting the
sastras to the latter's liking. It was with a full awareness of these dangers
that in the old days the Brahmins practised their dharma under the patronage on
the rajas(accepting charity to the minimum and not subjecting themselves to any
influence detrimental to their idharma).

The argument of those who have found an excuse for the conduct of latter days
Brahmins goes thus. "Brahmins ceased to receive gifts from rulers after the
inception of British rule. How can you expect them to live without any income?
Force of circumstances made them to English education and thereafter too seek
jobs with the government. It is unjust to find fault with them on that score. "

There is possibly some force in this argument but it does not fully justify the
change that has come over Brahmins. Before the British, the Moghuls ruled us and
before them a succession of sultanates. During these periods a few pandits must
have found a place in the darbar. But all other Brahmins adhered to their
dharma, did they not, without any support from any other ruler? The phenomenon
of the Brahmin quarter becoming deserted, the village being ruined, all
pathasala; a(the Vedic school) becoming forlorn and the lands(granted to
Brahmins)turning into mere certificates is not more than a hundred years old.
Did not Vedic dharma flourish until a generation ago?

The Vedic religion prospered in the past not only because of the patronage
extended to the Brahmins by the Hindu rulers. People belonging to all varnas
then were anxious that it should not become weak and persih. They saw too it
that the Brahmin community did not weaken and contributed generously to its
upkeep and to the nurturing of the Vedic tradition. Today you see hundreds of
Vedic schools deserted. There are few Brahmin boys willing too study the
scriptures. Who had raised the funds for the Vedic institutions? [In Tamil Nadu]
the Nattukottai Nagarattars, Komutti Cettis and Vellalas. The work done by
Nagarattars for our temples indeed remarkable. Throughout Tamil Nadu, if they
built a temple they also built a Vedic school with in in the belief that the
Vedas constituted the "root" of the temple. This root, they felt, was essential
to the living presence of the deity in the temple and for the puja conducted
there. Similarly, the big landowners among the Vellalas made lavis!
h donations to the Vedic schools.

If the Brahmin had not been tempted by the European life-style and if he were
willing to live austerely according to the dictates of the sastras, other castes
would have come forward to help him. It is not that the others deserted him. He
himself ran away from his dharma, from his agrahara, from his village and from
the Vedic school because of his new appetite for the life of luxury made
possible with the new technology of the West. He forgot his high ideals and paid
scant respect of the principle that the body's requirements are not more that
what it takes- in physical terms- to help the well-being of the Self. All told
the argument that the Brahmin was compelled to abandon his dharma because he was
denied his daily bread does not hold water. We cannot but admit that the Brahmin
became greedy, that he yearned far more that what he needed for his sustenance.

Let us concede that the Brahmin left his village because he could not feed
himself there and came to a city like Madras. But did he find contentment here?
What do we see today in actual practice? Suppose a Brahmin received a salary of
Rs1000 in Madras today. If he gets a job in Delhi with double the salary he runs
off there. When he goes to Delhi he would abandon totally the dharma he was able
to practise at least to a small extent in Madras. Later, if he were offered
$4000 a month in America he would leave his motherland for that country, lured
by the prospect t of earning a fortune. There, in the United States, he would
became totally alienated from his religion, from his dharma, from all his money.
The Brahmin is willing to do anything, go to any extent, for the sake of money.
Fort instance, he would join the army if there were the promoter of more income
in it. If necessary he would even take to meat and to drinking. The usual excuse
trotted out for the Brahmin deserting !
his dharma does not wash.

I will go one step further. Let us suppose that, the following the import of
Western technology, other communities also became averse to observing their
respective dharmic traditions. Let us also assume that, with their thinking and
feelings influenced by the Aryan-Dravidian theory concocted by the English,
these castes decided not to support the Brahmins any longer. Let us further
assume that to feed himself(for the sake of a handful of rice) the Brahmin had
to leave hearth and home and work in an office somewhere far away from his
native village. Were he true to his dharma he would tell himself: "I will
continue to adhere to my dharma come what may, even at the risk of death". With
this resolve he could have made a determined effort to pursue Vedic learning and
keep up his traditional practices.

There is no point, however, in suggesting what people belonging to the
generation that has gone by should have done. I would urge the present
generation to perform the duties that the past generation neglected to perform.
To repeat, you must not forsake your dharma even on pain of death. Are we going
to remain deathless? As it is we accumulate money and, worse, suffer humiliation
and earn the jealousy of others and finally we die losing caste by not remaining
true to our dharma.

It is not better then to starve and yet to be attached firmly to our dharma so
long as there is breath in us? Is not such loyalty to our dharma a matter of
pride? Why should we care about how others see us, whether they honour us or
speak ill of us? So long as we do not compete with them for jobs they will have
no cause for jealousy or resentment. Let them call us backward or stupid or
think that we are not capable of keeping abreast of the times. As we not now
already their but of ridicule? Let us be true to our dharma in the face of the
mockery of others, even in the face of death. is not such a lot preferable to
suffering the slings of scorn and criticism earned by forsaking our dharma for
the sake of filling our belly? People nowadays die for their mother land; they
lay down their lives for their mother tongue. They do not need a big cause like
the freedom of the country to be roused too action: they court death, immolate
themselves, even for a cause that may be seem triv!
ial like the merger of a part of their district in another. Was there any
demonstration of faith like this, such willingness to die for a cause or a
belief, when the British came here with their life-style? At the same time did
we protect our dharma with courage, in the belief that even death was a small
pride to pay for it?

The Lord himself has declared in the Gita that it is better to die abiding by
one's dharma that prosper through another man's dharma ("nidhanam sreyah").
Brahmins who had seen no reason to change their life-style during the long
Muslim period of our history changed it during British rule. Why? New sciences
and machinery came with the white man. The motor car and electricity had their
own impact on life there. Brahmins were drawn to comforts and conveniences not
thought of before. This could be for a reason for their change of life, but not
a justification.

The Brahmin is not to regard his body as a means for the enjoyment of sensual
pleasures but as an instrument for the observance of such rites as are necessary
to protect the Vedas- and the Vedas have too be protected for the welfare of
mankind. The basic dharma is that to the body of the Brahmin nothing must be
added that incites his sensual appetite. It was a fundamental mistake on the
part of the Brahmin to have forgotten the spirit of sacrifice that incites his
dharma and become a victim of the pleasures and comforts easily obtained form
the new gadgets and instruments. There is pride in adhering to one's dharma even
when one is faced with adverse circumstances. Brahmins(during British rule)
committed a grave mistake by not doing so and we are suffering the consequences.
See the ill-will in the country today among children of the same mother. We have
created suffering for others also. At first Brahmins were denied admission to
colleges and refused jobs. Now things have com!
e to such a pass that other communities also suffer the same fate.

All was well so long as man, using his own innate resources, lived a simple
life without the help of machines. With more and more factories and increasing
machine power, life itself has become complicated. The situation today is such
everyone is facing difficulties in getting admission to college or in getting a
job.

People ask me: "What is the remedy today? Do you expect all Brahmins to leave
thier new life-style and return Vedic learning? "Whether or not I expect them to
do so and whether or not such a step seems possible, I must ask them to do so(
to return to their Vedic dharma). Where is the need for a guru-pitha or a seat
on which an acarya is installed if I am to keep my mouth shut and watch idly as
the dharma that is the source of everything is being endangered? Even if it
seems not possible (Brahmins returning to the dharma of their birth) it must be
shown to be possible in practice: that is the purpose of the institutions called
mathas. They must harness all their energies towards the attainment of this
goal.

During the years of the freedom struggle some people wondered whether the white
man would quit because of satyagraha. Many things in this world regarded as not
being within the realm on possibility have been shown to be possible. It is not
for me to say that this(return of all Brahmins to the Vedic dharma) is not
possible; to take such a view would be contrary to our very dharma. it is up to
you to make it possible in practice or not to make it possible. All I can do is
too keep reminding you the message of the dharmasastras.





Note:
Hindu Dharma is a translation of two volumes of the well known Tamil Book
"Deivatthin Kural", which, in turn, is a book of 6 volumes that contains talks
of His Holiness Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Mahaswamiji of Kanchipuram.
The entire book is available online at http://www.kamakoti.org/ .