Introduction
Tamil nation is a political community, a grand solidarity. To maintain its
solidarity, the Tamil nation has to remove all sorts of divisions that causes
dissension and discord among its members. The Caste System is such a pernicious
division that has plagued our society for thousands of years.
The Caste System still occupies an important place in the Hindu religion. The
primary aim and ideal of all religions is the emancipation of all its followers,
especially that of the weaker sections and the downtrodden. So it is strange that
a religion like Hinduism goes against that ideal and purposefully condemn a
section of its own followers as untouchable outcasts. The Hindu Brahmins have
created theoretical explanations, Puranic stories and religious myths to support
and justify their conduct. The sole aim of what is called "Brahminism" is to
create and maintain a system which gives a supreme place of importance to
Brahmanic priests and other Brahmins in general.
Since all of these arguments are purported to be based on Hinduism, it is proper
that we examine the ideals of real Hinduism and its basic tenets.
Swami Vivekananda condemned the Caste System
To interpret and explain those subtle and deep matters let us get the help of an
appropriate authority like Swami Vivekananda [1863-1902].Then under the British
Imperialism and facing a great onslaught of Christian Missionaries, the status
of Hinduism was very low.
At that time,
Swami Vivekananda
had travelled all over India from Kanniyakumari in the South to the Himalayas in
the North.We may have heard of Swami Vivekananda Rock and Memorial in
Kanniyakumari. Besides he was the first Indian Saint [Self-Realized Person] to
visit the Western countries in 1893.After hearing his memorable address to the
Chicago Parliament of Religions on 11 September 1893,an American newspaper
commented,
"Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the
Parliament of Religions. After hearing him, we feel how foolish it is to
send Missionaries to this learned nation".
In such a way he brought high respect and praise to Hinduism and India. Being
aware of India and the Western world, his views were very enlightening and
instructive. Most of the following quotes are from the
Letters of Swami Vivekananda. Letters are private and therefore one expresses his ideas and
innermost feelings in an unrestricted and straightforward manner there. Besides
all of his letters were hand-written by Swamiji himself, whereas most of his
other published materials were recorded by his disciples and others. So they
never had the benefit of his editing or revision. Therefore his letters are more
authentic expression of his ideas and opinions.
Basic Ideas of Hinduism
Explaining the basic ideas of Hinduism, Swami Vivekananda
writes:
"We believe that every being is divine, is God. Every soul
is a sun covered over with clouds of ignorance, the difference between soul
and soul is due to the difference in density of these layers of clouds. We
believe that this is the conscious or unconscious basis of all religions,
and this is the explanation of the whole history of human progress either in
the material, intellectual, or spiritual plane - the same spirit is
manifesting through different planes.
We believe that this is the very essence of the Vedas.
We believe that this the duty of every soul to treat, think
of, and behave to other souls as such ,i.e.as Gods, and not hate or despise,
or vilify, or try to injure them by any manner or means. This is the duty
not only of the Sannyasin but of all men and women.
The soul has neither sex, nor CASTE, nor imperfection. We
believe that nowhere throughout the Vedas, Darshanas, or Puranas, or
Tantras, it is ever said that the soul has any sex, creed, or CASTE".
-
Letters of Swami Vivekananda, p.69.
"In the Atman there is no distinction of sex, or Varna
[caste] or Ashrama or anything of the kind, and as mud cannot be washed away
by mud, it is impossible to bring about oneness by means of separative
ideas". ---- Letters; - p.200-201.
"In the Atman there is no distinction of male or female, of
Brahmin or Kshatriya, and the like; All is Narayana from the Creator down to
a clump of grass. The worm is less manifested, the Creator more manifested.
Every action that helps a being manifest its divine nature more and more is
good, every action that retards it is evil. The only way of getting our
divine nature manifested is by helping others to do the same". --- Letters;
--p.255.
Lord Buddha, a Kshatriya and not a Brahmin, was against the Caste system.
Writing of Buddha, Swami Vivekananda says:
"What Buddha did was to break wide open the gates of that
very religion which was confined in the Upanishads to a particular
caste........... His greatness lies in his unrivalled sympathy". ----
Letters; -- p.18.
"The religion of Buddha has reared itself on the Upanishads,
and upon that also the philosophy of Shankara. Only, Shankara had not the
slightest bit of Buddha's wonderful heart, dry intellect merely!". ---
Letters; -p.19.
But the Brahminic priests preached against the teachings of Buddha. Swamiji
writes:
"Religion is not in fault. On the other hand, your religion
teaches you that every being is only your own self multiplied. But it was
the want of practical application, the want of sympathy - the want of heart.
The Lord once more came to you as Buddha and taught you how
to feel, how to sympathise with the poor, the miserable, the sinner, but you
heard Him not. Your PRIESTS invented the horrible story that the Lord was
here for deluding demons with false doctrines!
True indeed, but we are the demons, not those that
believed.......... You are bond slaves to any nation that thinks it worth
while to rule over you. Ah, Tyrants! You do not know that the obverse is
tyranny, and the reverse slavery. The slave and the tyrant are synonymous."
- Letters; -- p.40-41.
"No religion on earth preaches the dignity of humanity in
such a lofty strain as Hinduism, and no religion on earth treads upon the
necks of the poor and the low in such a fashion as Hinduism. The Lord has
shown me that religion is not in fault, but it is the Pharisees and
Sadducees in Hinduism, hypocrites, who invent all sorts of engines of
tyranny in the shape of doctrines of Paramarthika and Vyavaharika." -
Letters; - p.41.
"Whenever the Kshatriyas have preached religion, they have
given it to everybody; and whenever the Brahmins wrote anything they would
deny all right to others. Read the Gita and the Sutras of Vyasa, or get some
one to read them to you. In the Gita the way is laid open to all men and
women, to all CASTE and colour, but Vyasa tries to put meanings upon the
Vedas to cheat the poor SHUDRAS." - Letters; --- p.70.
Sufferings of 'Low Caste' Hindus
Then commenting on the tortures and sufferings endured by the Low-Caste Hindus,
Swami Vivekananda writes:
"If anybody is born of a LOW CASTE in our country, he is
gone for ever, there is no hope for him. Why, what a tyranny it
is!.............................. How many people really weep for the
sorrows and sufferings of the millions of poor in India? Are we men? What
are we doing for their livelihood, for their improvement? We do not touch
them, we avoid their com- pany! Are we men? Those thousands of Brahmanas -
What are they doing for the low, downtrodden masses of India? "Don't touch",
"Don't touch", is the only phrase that plays upon their lips! How mean and
degraded has our eternal religion become at their hands! Wherein does our
religion lie now? In "Don't touchism" alone,and nowhere else!" --- Letters;
--p.61-62.
"My brother, what experiences I have had in the South, of
the upper classes torturing the lower! What Bacchanalian orgies within the
temples! Is it a religion that fails to remove the misery of the poor, can
turn men into gods! Do you think our religion is worth the name? Ours is
only "Don't touchism", only "Touch me not". Good heavns! A country, the big
leaders of which have for the last two thousand years been only discussing
whether to take food with the right hand or the left, whether to take water
from the right-hand side or from the left ........ if such a country does
not go to ruin what other will? .......................
A country where millions of people live on flowers of the
Mohua plant -and a million or two of Sadhus and a hundred million or so of
Brahmins suck the blood out of these poor people, without even the least
effort for their amelioration - is that a country or hell? Is that a
religion, or the devil's dance? My brother, here is one thing for you to
under- stand fully - I have travelled all over India, and seen this country
[he means U.S.A] too - can there be an effect without cause? Can there be
punishment without sin?" {This letter was written to his brother disciple
Swami Ramakrishnananda [Sashi] from America on 19 March 1894}. ------
Letters; --- p.81.
"Why amongst the poor of India so many are Mohamedans? 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 Mohamedans than Hindus amongst
the cultivators because there were so many zemindars there. Who thinks of
raising these sunken, downtrodden millions?" ---- Letters; --- p.95. [Note:Swami
Vivekananda is from Bengal - now West Bengal; East Bengal became East
Pakistan and now it is Bangladesh]
"I have no doubt that according to ancient view in this
country, CASTE was hereditary, and it cannot also be doubted that sometimes
the SHUDRAS used to be OPPRESSED more than the helots among the Spartans and
the NEGROES AMONG THE AMERICANS!" - Letters; --- p.8.
"There is no harm in touching the non-Brahmin classes when
it serves one's purpose, and when you have done with it, you bathe, for the
non-Brahmins are as a class unholy and never be touched on other occasions!
Monks and Sannyasins and Brahmins of a certain type have thrown the country
into ruin. Intent all the while on theft and wickedness, these pose as
preachers of religion! They will take gifts from the people and at the same
time cry,
"Don't touch me!". And what great things they have been
doing!-
"If a potato happen to touch a brinjal, how long the universe
last before it is deluged?"
"If they do not apply earth a dozen times to
clean their hands, will fourteen generations of ancestors go to hell, or
twenty-four"
For intricate problems like these they have been finding out
scientific explanations for the last two thousand years -while one-fourth of
the people are starving." ------ Letters; --- p.254.
"The present religion of the Hindus is neither the path of
knowledge, nor that of reason - it is "Don't touchism", "Don't touch
me!","Don't touch me!" -that exhausts its description. See that you do not
lose your lives in this dire irreligion of "Don't touch-ism". Must the
teaching,-"Looking upon all beings as your own self"- be confined to books
alone? How will they grant salvation who cannot feed a hungry mouth with a
crumb of bread? How will those who become impure at the mere breath of
others purify others? Don't touchism is a form of mental disease." ------
Letters; ---- p.255-256.
"Well, do you think there is any religion left in India? The
path of knowledge, devotion,and Yoga -all have gone, and now there remains
only that of Don't touchism - "Don't touch me!" "Don't touch me!". The whole
world is impure, and I alone am pure." - Letters; --- p.183.
"The conviction is daily gaining on my mind that the idea of
CASTE is the greatest dividing factor and the root of Maya; all CASTE either
on the principle of birth or of merit is bondage. Some friends advise,
"True, lay all that at heart, but outside,in the world of relative
experience, distinctions like CASTE must needs be maintained"...The idea of
oneness at heart [with craven impotence of effort, that is to say], and
outside, the hell-dance of demons -oppression and persecution-ay, the dealer
of death to the poor; but if the PARIAH be wealthy enough," Oh,he is the
protector of religion"
Over and above, I come to see from my studies that the
disciplines of religions are not for the SHUDRA; if he exercises any
discrimination about food or going out to foreign lands, it is all useless
in his case, only so much labour lost. I am a Shudra, a Mlechcha, I have
nothing to do with all that botheration. To me what would Mlechcha's food
matter or Pariah's? It is in the books written by PRIESTS that madnesses
like that of CASTE are to be found, and not in the books revealed from God.
Let the PRIESTS enjoy the fruits of their ancestors' achievment, while I
follow the word of God, for my good lies there." - Letters; --- p.337-338.
Priestcraft and Brahminism
Swami Vivekananda was strongly against priestcraft by which he means what we
call 'Brahminism'. He was of the opinion that the priestcraft is the root cause
of all the existing systems of social tyranny. He writes:
"India is to be raised, the poor are to be fed, education is
to be spread, and the evil of priest- craft is to be removed.NO PRIESTCRAFT,
NO SOCIAL TYRANNY!....... Root up priestcraft from the old religion, and you
get the best religion in the world." --- Letters; --- p.174.
"Priestcraft is the bane of India. Can man degrade his
brother and himself escape degradation?" --- Letters; ---- p.234.
"A race of dotards, you lose your caste if you come out!
Sitting down these hundreds of years with an ever-increasing load of
crystallized superstition on your heads,for hundreds of years spending all
your energy upon discussing the touchableness or untouchableness of this
food or that, with all humanity crushed out of you by the continual social
tyranny of ages -what are you? And what are you doing now?...
................................................... Come, be men! Kick out
the priests who are always against progress, because they would never mend,
their hearts would never become big. They are the offspring of centuries of
superstition and tyranny. Root out priestcraft first. Come, be men! Come out
of your narrow holes and have a look abroad. See how nations are on the
march! Do you love men? Do you love your country? Then come, let us struggle
for higher and better things; look not back, no, not even if you see the
dearest and nearest cry. Look not back, but forward!" --- Letters; ----
p.37.
"The Smritis and the Puranas are productions of men of
limited intelligence and are full of fallacies, errors, the feelings of
class,and malice. Only parts of them breathing broadness of spirit and love
are acce-ptable, the rest to be rejected. The Upanishads and the Gita are
the true scriptures -Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Chaitanya, Nanak, KABIR,and so
on are the true Avataras, for they had their hearts broad as the sky -and
above all, Ramakrishna. Ramanuja, Shankara,and others seem to have been mere
Pundits with much narrowness of heart. Where is that love, that weeping
heart at the sorrows of others? - Dry pedantry of the Pundits - and the
feeling of only oneself getting salvation hurry-scurry! But is that going to
be possible, sir? Was it ever likely or will it ever be so? Can anything be
attained with any shred of "I" left anyhow?" - Letters; --- p.337.
Saint Kabir's Condemnation
As mentioned above Swami Vivekananda accepts
Saint Kabir as a "true Avatara".
Kabir belongs to the 15th century. Kabir's songs are noted for their simplicity
and bluntness. Even at that time he raised his courageous and powerful voice
against all sorts of stiff orthodoxies and pretentious pieties. He belongs to
the line of our Tamil Siddhas. So he vehemently opposed the CASTE system and
never hesitated to condemn the selfish and narrow-minded activities of the
Brahminic Pandits as well as that of the Mullas of Islam.Saint Kabir writes:
"Trickling through bones, melting through flesh Where does
milk come from? That's what you drink after lunch,Pandit. And you call clay
untouchable? Throw out your holy scriptures, Pandit, those fantasies of your
mind. Kabir says, listen, Brahmin: All this is your own doing." - The Bijak
of Kabir, p.57-58.
"Kabir says, saints, this is Kaliyug: the age of phony Brahmins." - The Bijak,
p.47.
"If putting on the thread makes you Brahmin, what does the wife put on? That
Shudra's touching your food,pandit! How can you eat it?" - The Bijak, p.69-70.
"Numskull! You've missed the point. It's all one skin and bone,one piss and
shit, one blood,one meat. From one drop,a universe. Who's Brahmin? Who's Shudra?"
- The Bijak, p.67.
"I'm telling you my own truth, madmen follow others' dreams. Hidden and visible
--all one milk. Who's the Brahmin? Who's the Shudra? Don't get lost in false
pride." ------ The Bijak, p.83.
"Pandit, look in your heart for knowledge. Tell me where untouchability came
from,since you believe in it. Mix red juice,white juice and air- a body bakes in
a body. As soon as the eight lotuses are ready,it comes into the world.Then
what's untouchable?" ------ The Bijak, p.55.
"Vedas,Korans,all those books, those Mullas and those Brahmins - So many
names,so many names, but pots are all one clay. Kabir says,nobody can find Ram,
both sides are lost in schisms. One slaughters goats, one slaughters cows, they
squander their births in isms." ---- The Bijak,p.51.
"The Pandit got lost in Vedic details but missed the mystery of his own self.
Worship, prayers, six sacred activities, four ages teaching Gayatri, I ask you:
who's got liberty? You splash yourself if you touch somebody, but tell me who
could be lower than you. Proud of your quality, great with authority, such pride
never brought anyone good. He whose name is Pride-Breaker - how will he tolerate
pride like yours? Drop family, drop status, seek the nonexistent space, destroy
the shoot, destroy the seed, reach the unembodied place." ---- The Bijak,
p.85-86.
"So what if you dropped illusion? You didn't drop your pride. Pride has fooled
the best sages, pride devours all." ---- The Bijak, p.106.
"Dropped from the belly at birth, a man puts on his costumes and goes through
his acts. On that day you and I had one blood, and one desire for life engulfed
us. The world was born from one mother. What wisdom teaches separation?" - The
Bijak, p.79.
Conclusion
The views expressed above by Swami Vivekananda and Saint Kabir
clearly show that the Caste System is against the basic and fundamental ideas of
Hinduism. No religion worth the name can support such a system. It is only the
works of "phony Brahmins" who are prepared to 'take gifts from the people and at
the same time cry "Don't touch me"'. The Brahminic priests put most of their
energy in elaborating rituals and imposed the load of ceremonials and lifeless
rituals on the people in the name of Hinduism. Their sole aim has been to keep
the Brahmins in the highest place and to continue the exploitation of all other
followers of Hinduism. In fact Swami Vivekananda confirm this view. He says:
"The majority of the priests impelled by ECONOMICAL
CONSIDERATIONS were bound to defend that form of religion which made their
existence a NECESSITY of society and assigned them the HIGHEST PLACE in the
scale of caste." ---- [The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda -
Vol.VI-p.160].
So if we want to remove the clever evil and treacherous caste system put in
place by the Brahmins then that can only be done by the proper education of the
masses. The spread of education would bring better awareness among the
downtrodden masses and would equip them with the necessary ways and means to
seek their emancipation. Besides, education in turn would empower them to better
their economic and social conditions. We must remember then only the Brahmins
can have 'knowledge' and only they had the power to imp- art that knowledge.
They proclaimed that it to be an abominable sin if 'others' dared to gain
knowledge. Now we are free to make use of that education and knowledge to
enhance our status.
In Tamilnadu the Dravida Movements could not achieve much in this field because
they wanted to get rid of the Hindu religion as a whole. As Swamiji has pointed
out the Hindu religion is not at fault. It was the superstitious rituals and
ceremonials - the priestcraft - of the narrow-minded and merciless Brahmins that
should be abolished.
That should be rooted out and a purified Hindu religion should emerge. But we
ought to be very vigilant because Brahminism is a covert, cunning and formidable
enemy. Shri Shankara and his band of Sannyasins were able to push out Buddhism -
a great and noble Indian religion which was against the CASTE system - from
India.Besides,even though the CASTEISM is such a cruel and oppressive system,
the Indian Marxists have carefully avoided a head on clash with CASTEISM.In West
Bengal and Kerala states, the Indian Leftists have been in power for a
considerable period of time but even then there is no marked improvement in the
status of the low-caste Hindus living in those states. Here it may be noted that
many of the leading Indian Leftists are Brahmins.
Here I am mainly concerned with our Tamil Eelam. We are fortunate that our
liberation struggle has greatly weakened the hold of the oppressive CASTE system
among our people. It has only weakened but not wiped out completely. So we must
make conscious effort to completely eradicate this oppressive and antiquated
institution. At first,we must get rid of the Brahminic priest system. The
prevailing system that only those people from the caste of Brahmin can serve as
temple priests must be changed. If we want meaningful and actual equality among
the Hindus then all Hindus without any caste distinctions but having the
necessary education and training must be allowed to serve as temple priests.
Another anachronistic remnant of Brahminical orthodoxism is the continued
exclusive use of the "dead language" Sanskrit for worship. Our Tamil language
has a very rich devotional literature and therefore it is eminently suitable for
religious worship. Our Saiva and Vaishnava saints and others have left a rich
and varied legacy of devotional songs. People must speak to their God in an
intimate way,in their own language. Why we must be treated like a conquered
community? Like an enslaved followers of a religion whose Gods we have to
approach through interpreters using a language which we don't understand.
Religion is there for 'liberation'. There should be freedom, faith, and feeling
based on conviction and understanding. When they are lacking then we must
understand that we are on the wrong path.
The Caste system has existed for many thousand years. No other system of human
differentiation based on religion has endured for so long a time. So in the
course of its existence it has produced many sub-castes with innumerable inner
divisions. Shastras, Puranic Stories and religious myths are there to support
its continued existence. Often human beings fear the unknown, death, disease and
perdition more than they fear their mortal enemies. Even highly educated and
very rational-minded people are scared to give up strange, silly and ridiculous
things taught to them in the name of God and their religion. So we have to
proceed with prudence. But the passionate and spirited exposition of the noble
and sublime ideals of Hinduism as presented by
Swami Vivekananda, Saint Kabir, our Tamil Siddhas,
Thayumanavar,
Ramalinga-
Swamigal, Sri
Ramana Maharshi and others should give us conviction, confidence and a
commitment to achieve a caste-free Hindu society.
References:
1.Letters of Swami Vivekananda --Fifth Edition, September
1981, -- Advaita Ashrama, 5,Dehi Entally Road, Calcutta 700 014.
2.The Bijak of Kabir -- Translated by Linda Hess and Shukdev
Singh -- First Indian Ed. -1986. -- Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi 110 007.
3.The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda --- Mayavati
Memorial Ed. - Vol.VI - March 1989- - Advaita Ashrama, 5, Dehi Entally Road,
Calcutta 700 014.
