I have been a deeply spiritual person all through my life time. I had always been interested in arguing and debating and obtaining knowledge about Hinduism. However this interest has reached its culmination especially after being inspired by Archana’s Symbology Hindu gods. However I personally don’t feel Hinduism to be a religion. It is more than that; it is a culture in itself and carrying with a diversity which even all the religions together in the world cannot hold. However unlike Archana I’m more interested in debating about the controversial topicsJ, because I feel we can be more enlightened by debating on such issues. This blog was inspired by the writings of a person in whom I personally have great respect, the late Chandrasekendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Madam. Last Sunday I dusted the book collections of my grandfather and there I was able to find all the 5 parts of the book DEIVATHIN KURAL where I found his thoughts regarding the most controversial subject of Hindu religion, Charturvarnya or the Varnasrama Dharma (Part 2 last chapter). This blog is just to sum up the thoughts and explanations of the great man that have thrown new dimensions regarding this subject. I thought I would share this information in this blog.
According to Swamiji Varnasrama Dharma was a concept that was related to the birth even from the time immemorial unlike many other famous descriptions according to which Varnasrama was a matter related to individual wish during the Vedic period and it became associated with birth only during the medieval period. However he is not able to substantiate his point except for the ceremony of Brahmopadesam which is held at a very early age in all the varnas. His reason to assume that Varnasrama is associated with birth is very different. The main goal of the Varnasrama Dharma, according to him, was that it had to divide the different tasks of the society among the people. All kinds of people were needed to keep the society running and hence the easiest way to do that was to divide it based on birth.
However he reiterates the fact that no inequality has been preached among these varnas in any of the Vedas or Puranas. He also states that the two of the most important things that affect the mind of a person is his family genetics and the environment. It was only for this reason that the people of the same varna lived together (what we call as Agraharam for the Brahmins and Cheri for the Sudras) because these helped to tune the brain of a young child to take up his father’s work and not to deviate into any other field. It was only for this reason that people were not allowed to have an inter-varna marriage because it might affect the family genetics and might create a sense in the people to take up the work of other Varna.
But while making these arguments, I was forced to think what about Yudhistira who being a Kshatriya had all the Sathva Guna of a Brahmin, while Drona being a Brahmin had all the qualities of Kshatriya and the moment I turned the page, Swamiji had the answers for it. He tells that these are all very rare exceptions and they have to be discarded (Oh but I’m not convinced Swamiji). However he was able to convince me for my next question, if all the people are colonized among themselves, what would happen to the unity among the society? He says that it was only for that reason big temples were constructed in the centre of the city / village and festivals were regularly held which forced the people of all varna to come together and participate in all the festivals and thus interacting and living in harmony, a pretty nice explanation indeed.
Another important point that was iterated by swamiji was that Varnasrama Dharma was not something that was created by the Brahmins, because he says if it was they who had created it, they would make it such a way that their life style is easy unlike in Varnasrama Dharma where they are forced to live an ascetic life which was indeed true as known from other sources too.
While answering another question regarding why is that the Brahmin’s are forbidden from obtaining food from the other varanas, he says that since the different sects were destined to do different jobs, the food habits also had to be distinct, for example a Kshatriya needs non vegetarian and other very rich foods because of his demanding physical activity, while Brahmins who are destined only to transfer knowledge and who are supposed to live a rigorous and self denial life are supposed to have bland foods as it had been known from time immemorial that the food can make a direct impact on a person’s emotions and thoughts. Hence it was better for a particular varna not to have food prepared by the other varna. (Swamiji but I’m not convinced as according to the other source of information, only Brahmins were forbidden to eat food from other varna’s and not the others??).
When it comes to the Sudras, according to swamiji they were people who had to do all kinds of human labor according to the requirements of the society. But he strongly asserts that in Vedas and Shastras, they had also enjoyed an equal or even a better status in the society. He backs up his theory with a statement from Veda Vyasa who states that ‘Kali Sadhu, Sudra Sadhu’ meaning that Kali (meaning Kali Yuga) and Sudra are very noble.
Swamiji talks about all these things in detail, I have given only a very brief outline of his talk. However this is only one side of the coin, the other side which is more intricate, which I personally support, talks of the current position of the different varanas, the concept of the Panchama Varna or the 5th varna called as Untouchables and their role in society, (in which I’m more interested and inclined to talk about and which was more rigorously taken up by Subramanya Bharathi and Dr. Ambedkar on which I’m planning to post very soon), about Manu Dharma Sastra (or Danava Sastra meaning Evil Sastra, as how I would like to portray it) have been carefully avoided by him. Nevertheless his talk are extremely thought provoking had definitely given me a new thought regarding the role of Varnasrama in the society and has definitely lessened my otherwise acrimony towards the Varnashrama.
All your opinions on this topic are welcome
Regards
Janakiraman
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