CASTE SYSTEM -SPIRITUAL EQUALITY AMIDST MATERIAL DIVERSITY

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Chaitanyacharan RNS <Chaitanyacharan.RNS (AT) pamho (DOT) net> wrote: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 09:47 -0500

"Chaitanyacharan RNS" <Chaitanyacharan.RNS (AT) pamho (DOT) net>

"Vrndavan Parker" <vrnparker >

caste system article

 

Dear Vrndavan P

please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to srila Prabhupada,

 

Thanks for posting the Ravana article. Please let me know if it gets

published anywhere.

 

Also to add to the discussion on caste discrimination, i am forwarding an

article showing how the caste system was originally intended to be a system

of spiritual equality and material harmony and was appreciated by many

Western thinkers. If you find it suitable you can use it on the vedic

culture group.

 

your servant

Chaitanya Charan Das

 

CASTE SYSTEM -

SPIRITUAL EQUALITY

AMIDST MATERIAL DIVERSITY

 

Caste system is probably among the most talked and most misunderstood

current social controversies; misunderstood because it is based on a false

premise - caste determination by birth. .

 

THE SOCIAL BODY - DISCRIMINATION OR COOPERATION?

 

Interestingly, the original Vedic scriptures don't consider birth - the

basis of casteist discrimination in modern Hinduism - as the criterion of

social classification. The Bhagavad-gita (4.13) declares that this social

division, known as varnashrama, was based on qualities and activities

(guna-karma). The Rig Veda (10.90.12) compares society to the human body.

The brahmanas (thinkers and teachers) are compared to the head, the

kshatriyas (governors and protectors) to the arms, vaishyas (producers and

traders) to the belly and shudras (workers and general assistants) to the

feet. In our body, one part may be positioned higher than the other, but

that is just to facilitate its optimum contribution to the body. Ultimately

all parts need nourishment and are necessary for proper bodily functioning.

If any part is neglected or malfunctions, the whole body suffers. Similarly,

in the social body, brahmanas (determined by qualities, not birth) are

higher in the social hierarchy, but that is just to ensure optimum social

utilization of their intellectual abilities. Ultimately, every class is

valued for its contribution to society. If any class is exploited or is

lethargic, the entire society is adversely affected. Importantly, these four

social classes, known as varnas, are not discriminatory man-made divisions.

Essentially they are four human types found in every human society. Most

people exhibit qualities that reflect an overlapping of these categories,

but one occupational inclination eventually predominates. Interestingly, we

find similar divisions in a modern MNC - researchers, managers, financers

and workers. This division is not discriminatory, but fair, because people

are classified not forcibly, but as per their abilities.

 

Intriguingly the Greek philosopher Plato in his The Republic echoes this

principle. Though he mentions three classes instead of four -

philosopher-kings, warriors (called as auxiliaries), and merchants and

workers together as one, his basis for classification is the same - natural

propensities. He compares rulers to gold, auxiliaries to silver, and those

in the third class to brass and iron.

Engaging people as per their psychophysical natures has several benefits:

 

1. Provided individual job satisfaction and security

In Vedic times, experienced elders would identify the natural inclination of

a child and train him accordingly, thus empowering him to excel in his

vocation and thus become emotionally satisfied and economically secure.

2. Avoided needless competition and maximized social productivity

When people are trained according to their natures, all members of society -

teachers, administrators, traders, artisans - pursue their respective

professions without having to compete with each other and contribute

constructively to society.

Nowadays, when certain professions - engineering and medicine, for example -

are glamorized, everyone chases after them. This leads to:

" Students in those fields undergo intense, often maniac, competition.

" Even successful students fear unemployment as too many candidates

vie for too few jobs.

" When students are educated contrary to their natures, they are

unable to develop the competence expected of their profession, leading to

harm or even havoc. Most of have heard of incompetent doctors prescribing

wrong medicines.

" Dearth of talent in other fields leads to decreased overall social

productivity.

 

3. Satisfies everyone's material needs in an efficient and uncomplicated

manner.

Communities whose members specialize in different fields can trade

internally and become self-sufficient, thus avoiding the complications

attendant with external dependence.

 

Sir Sidney Low in his book, A Vision of India refutes the stereotyped

portrayal of varnashrama as an elitist, exclusivist social order:

 

"There is no doubt that it (caste) is the main cause of the fundamental

stability and contentment by which Indian society has been braced for

centuries against the shocks of politics and the cataclysms of Nature. It

provides every man with his place, his career, his occupations, his circle

of friends. It makes him, at the outset, a member of a corporate body; it

protects him through life from the canker of social jealousy and unfulfilled

aspirations; it ensures him companionship and a sense of community with

others in like case with himself. The caste organization is to the Hindu his

club, his trade union, his benefit society, his philanthropic society."

 

 

HOW DID VARNASHRAMA AVOID EXPLOITATION?

 

1. All people - irrespective of their social position - were spiritually

equal as servitors of God

The lower castes would serve the upper castes, but the upper castes would

serve God - visibly. The brahmanas - the socially most powerful class before

whom even the kings would bow down and offer handsome charity - would prefer

voluntary material poverty to not be distracted from their absorption in

devotional service to God, studying and teaching of scriptures and

performance of sacrifices. A well-known example is Chanakya Pandit, who was

instrumental in installing Chandragupta Maurya as the monarch of Northern

medieval India, lived in a simple hut. Similarly the kings would understand

and demonstrate that the kingdom belonged to God and they were

servitor-caretakers on his behalf. For example, as per time-honored

traditions, many kings would personally sweep the streets in front of the

processions carrying the Deities. When people would see, "Our masters are as

much servants as we are, albeit serving in a different role", they would

unhesitatingly execute their role, decided according to their God-given

talents. Envy and conflict arises only when people see, "I am being deprived

and another is enjoying at my expense."

 

2. The most powerful social classes had to be the most renounced

It was imperative for the upper castes - the brahmanas and kshatriyas - to

renounce the world at around fifty and focus fully on self-realization. This

not only ensured that they successfully achieved the spiritual goal of life,

but also checked them from becoming exploitative.

 

Thus the seemingly discriminatory varnashrama system functions by

enlightened cooperation. Throughout history, thinkers have tried various

means to organize human society to maximize individual and social

satisfaction and growth. In our times, the left attempted - at least in

principle - to bring about social equality by fiat. But the differences

vis-à-vis attitudes and aptitudes among people are inescapable. The

communist attempt at artificial equality failed as it choked the talented by

rewarding them no more than the mediocre. The right provided an open field

for the resourceful, leading to industrial and economic growth - and

cutthroat competition, untrammeled greed and exploitation of the needy by

the wealthy. The varnashrama system ingeniously reconciled and integrated

the absolute spiritual equality of all people with their relative material

differences. Gerald Heard in his book Man, the Master calls varnashrama as

"organic democracy" - "the rule of the people who have organized themselves

in a living and not a mechanical relationship; where instead of all men

being said to be equal, which is a lie, all men are known to be of equal

value, could we but find the position in which their potential contribution

could be released and their essential growth so pursued."

 

 

Mark Tully, the BBC correspondent in New Delhi, explains the superiority of

varnashrama over the current seemingly equal social system in his book No

Full Stops in India, "The alienation of many young people in the West and

the loneliness of the old show the suffering that egalitarianism inflicts on

those who do not win, the superficiality of an egalitarianism which in

effect means equal opportunities for all to win and then ignores the

inevitable losers. For all that, the elite of India have become so

spellbound by egalitarianism that they are unable to see any good in the

only institution which does provide a sense of identity and dignity to those

who are robbed from birth of the opportunity to compete on an equal footing

- caste."

 

BIRTH-RIGHT MADE IT ALL WRONG

 

The caste-by-birth idea - the bane of Hindu casteism - is decidedly

non-Vedic. The Vedic texts abound with examples of qualified people, even if

low-born, being elevated to respectable places in society.

 

" The Chandogya Upanishad narrates how Gautam rsi declared a

maidservant's son, Satyakama Jabali, to be a brahmana as the boy was

unhesitatingly truthful - the hallmark of a true brahmana.

Furthermore, Suta Gosvami, Kanaka, Kanchipurna, Tukaram, Thiruvalluvar, Sura

dasa and Haridasa Thakura were all revered as saints, despite being

low-born.

 

Vedic aphorism reiterates: janamana jayate shudra samskarad bhaved dvijah

veda-pathanat bhavet viprah brahma janatiti brahmana "By birth everyone is a

shudra, meaning everyone is unqualified. By spiritual initiation, one

becomes a twice-born, that is, one begins his spiritual life. By study of

Vedic scriptures, one becomes a learned scholar. By realization of the

Absolute Truth alone does one become a brahmana."

 

 

 

Plato adds an interesting dimension to his social classification: golden

parents will tend to have golden children, as silver parents will naturally

have silver children, and so on. Similarly in varnashrama often the

occupation of a person would turn out to be the varna of his birth -

partially due to the childhood upbringing and training. So, a child born in

a brahmana family would generally become a qualified brahamana. Consequently

the varna would normally be determined by birth, but it could be retained

only by behavior. So if a son of a brahmana did not develop brahminical

qualities, he would no longer be accepted as a brahmana, but as a

brahma-bandhu, unqualified relative of a brahmana. Conversely if the son of

a shudra exhibited brahminical qualities, he would be accepted as a

brahmana. Plato also recommends this flexibility. If an iron parent has a

golden child, then, says Plato, we must acknowledge that a golden child born

to an iron parent, for example, is indeed golden-his birthright should be

disregarded in favor of his natural quality.

 

Then how did the widespread perversion of caste-by-birth originate? In

medieval times, a coterie of brahma-bandhus, wanting to hold on to

brahminical privileges without developing the required character, started

claiming that caste was decided by birth and was unchangeable. Further they

misused their social influence to deprive lower castes of access to the

practices of self-realization. And thus began the unfortunate history of

casteist discrimination. Genuine Vedic teachers categorically disown this

caste-by-birth system as non-Vedic and label it as asuri varnashrama, the

demoniacally-conceived system. Author Micheal Pym echoes in his book The

Power of India: "Caste is the secret of that amazing stability which is

characteristic of the Indian social structure. It is the strength of

Hinduism. Naturally, it can be abused. The moment a Brahmin treats a sweeper

cruelly because he is a sweeper, he departs from his Brahminhood. He becomes

a usurper and a social danger. And in due course, he will have to pay for

this mistake. Because men are imperfect, and because power is a deadly

intoxicant, such abuses may and do occur, but they are not inherent in the

institution - they are contrary to its principles, though they may be

inherent in the make up of the individual.

 

 

SPIRITUALITY IS THE SOLUTION

 

The ultimate purpose of the original varnashrama, known as daivi

varnashrama, the divinely-ordained system, was not just material social

organization, but systematic spiritual elevation. As eternal souls, beloved

sons and servants of God, Krishna, we can attain eternal happiness only in

His devotional service. This selfless divine love enables us to live as

happily as is ever possible in this world and finally transports us to our

original home, the spiritual world, where we live in eternal ecstasy,

reciprocating love with Krishna. Varnashrama offers the best springboard to

catapult us to our spiritual birthright. Hence cultivating genuine

spirituality - Krishna consciousness - and returning back to the spiritual

world is the only real solution to all problems, including the problem of

discrimination and exploitation.

 

Undoubtedly in this world, discrimination must be prevented and redressed.

But is varnashrama its cause? Untouchability and similar Hindu inequities

are portrayed as the ultimate horror, yet racial groups like American

Indians or Australian Aborigines in modern societies were treated worse than

untouchables; they were isolated, crowded into reserves, where they could

only atrophy and disappear.

Many countries today are witnessing xenophobia. And discrimination, if I may

use the word, based on economic power is ubiquitous in the current consumer

economy.

 

What causes discrimination? Almost always materialism. When people imagine

that material things - wealth and comforts, power and prestige, positions

and possessions - are the only way to happiness, they seek to acquire these

by any means. As we live in a world of limited resources and unlimited

wants, plenty for one causes scarcity for another. When the powerful become

materially-minded, they encroach upon the quota of the weak, leading to

social inequities. Depending on time, place and circumstances, this

materialistic agenda masks itself in racial, nationalistic, religious - and

casteist rationalizations.

 

The antidote for materialism is spirituality, which provides inner

fulfillment and cures the exploitative mentality. And varnashrama is the

best social order to foster spiritual enlightenment and experience.

Therefore, while striving to remove the cataract of casteism, let us ensure

that we don't pluck out the eye of Vedic spiritual wisdom. When the whole

world is recognizing the value of ancient Indian wisdom in the form of yoga,

meditation, vastushastra and chanting of holy names, let us not reject the

profound and universal spiritual teachings of ancient India while correcting

the social evils of Hinduism. Late British historian Dr Arnold Toynbee

reminds us, "It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a Western

beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in the

self-destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in

history, the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian way."

 

Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON, remarked, "Without the awakening of

divine consciousness in the individual, there is no use of crying for world

peace." Therefore Srila Prabhupada declared his mission to the West to be

"finding brahmanas." Far from reviving the demoniac caste-by-birth

perversion, he wanted to revitalize the modern social body with its missing

head. He wanted to create, among the so-called lowborn Westerners as well as

everywhere else, a class of genuine spiritual intellectuals, by education,

culture and training. Hundreds of such spiritually transmuted intellectuals

are pioneering a non-sectarian spiritual revival all over the world. When

these detached devoted leaders guide society, their examples, words and

policies will eradicate the material greed that causes all inequities. Hence

practicing and sharing Krishna consciousness constitutes egalitarianism in

its most pure, potent and practical form, the panacea for all forms of

discrimination.

 

 

 

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