Enigmatic Light
Member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2019
- Messages
- 65
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 8
(note: Harijan, meaning child of Vishnu, was Gandhi’s word to designate Hindus who belonged to castes that were formerly considered untouchable. I use this word here for the sake of convenience)
This is the most controversial subject and section of this website. Most Hindus try not to talk about the phenomena of casteism. But there has been and still is a problem in Hindu society that needs to be admitted and seriously rectified for the sake of both humanity and even the survival of Hinduism. This section is to honour the many Hindus from scheduled caste and tribal background who have rose to great heights and served Hindu society, as well as to provide articles and commentary about this entire phenomenon. It will show to what extent that Harijans are a true and proper part of Hindu civilization.
This is a post that aims to provide an inspiring account of the past of Hindus – because genuinely there is so much beautiful and high in our history that is simply not taught to people. Yet with this there is required the courage to admit our mistakes. No society has been perfect, and on many counts Hindu society has put into practice comparatively good social ideals before its entire polity was thrown into serious confusion by the Islamic and European invasions and the accompanying poverty of our civilization. Sri Aurobindo once wrote, “If faith in ourselves and fidelity to the spirit of our culture are the first prerequisites of a continued and vigorous life, a recognition of greater possibilities is a condition not less indispensable. Their cannot be a healthy and victorious survival if we make the past into a fetish instead of an inspiring impulse.” This Post aims to make our past into an inspiring impulse for the future, and to some extent this has to include admitting our errors that we have to transcend.
Hindu society and religion should be protected against any ignorant and hostile criticism. Untouchability and the oppressive caste system is not a feature of central Hindu texts, and it needn’t be a feature of future Hindu life. There was a time when the structure of Hindu society was fluid and allowed a more natural differentiation. Indeed the forefathers of many ‘Harijan’ Hindus were ‘high caste’ Hindus and vice versa. Many ‘Harijan’ Hindus are descendents of kshatriyas – which can be discerned both from records as well as the fact that many similar customs and names can be seen between kshatriya clans and ‘Harijan’ Hindus. The Harijans are, and God willing will remain, an integral part of Hindu society. Many great saints revered by all Hindus have come from the depressed castes, and even some great warriors. Modern Hindu movements and saints have made an almost unanimous declaration against a rigid social order, and can easily defend their positions using Hindu texts, and in many parts of the Hindu world caste discrimination has been obliterated. Yet injustice has been done, that cannot simply be brushed under the carpet.
This is the most controversial subject and section of this website. Most Hindus try not to talk about the phenomena of casteism. But there has been and still is a problem in Hindu society that needs to be admitted and seriously rectified for the sake of both humanity and even the survival of Hinduism. This section is to honour the many Hindus from scheduled caste and tribal background who have rose to great heights and served Hindu society, as well as to provide articles and commentary about this entire phenomenon. It will show to what extent that Harijans are a true and proper part of Hindu civilization.
This is a post that aims to provide an inspiring account of the past of Hindus – because genuinely there is so much beautiful and high in our history that is simply not taught to people. Yet with this there is required the courage to admit our mistakes. No society has been perfect, and on many counts Hindu society has put into practice comparatively good social ideals before its entire polity was thrown into serious confusion by the Islamic and European invasions and the accompanying poverty of our civilization. Sri Aurobindo once wrote, “If faith in ourselves and fidelity to the spirit of our culture are the first prerequisites of a continued and vigorous life, a recognition of greater possibilities is a condition not less indispensable. Their cannot be a healthy and victorious survival if we make the past into a fetish instead of an inspiring impulse.” This Post aims to make our past into an inspiring impulse for the future, and to some extent this has to include admitting our errors that we have to transcend.
Hindu society and religion should be protected against any ignorant and hostile criticism. Untouchability and the oppressive caste system is not a feature of central Hindu texts, and it needn’t be a feature of future Hindu life. There was a time when the structure of Hindu society was fluid and allowed a more natural differentiation. Indeed the forefathers of many ‘Harijan’ Hindus were ‘high caste’ Hindus and vice versa. Many ‘Harijan’ Hindus are descendents of kshatriyas – which can be discerned both from records as well as the fact that many similar customs and names can be seen between kshatriya clans and ‘Harijan’ Hindus. The Harijans are, and God willing will remain, an integral part of Hindu society. Many great saints revered by all Hindus have come from the depressed castes, and even some great warriors. Modern Hindu movements and saints have made an almost unanimous declaration against a rigid social order, and can easily defend their positions using Hindu texts, and in many parts of the Hindu world caste discrimination has been obliterated. Yet injustice has been done, that cannot simply be brushed under the carpet.
- Rishi Veda Vyasa (c.3100 BC) :- Veda Vyasa is a legendary saint whose very name is synomynous with knowledge. According to traditional Hindu accounts, he lived at the end of the Treta Yuga and early Kali Yuga (the Kali date is 3102BC). Nearly every Hindu order traces his or her lineage to him, and wherever knowledge is respected and spread it is called a Vyaspeeth – Vyasa’s throne.
Yet Vyasa in the later degeneration of Hindu society may well have been considered an untouchable! Satyavati, His mother used to sell fish as a profession to make her living out of it and in many parts of Hindu society in its later period of caste based extreme foolishness would have made him an untouchable. Yet Vyasa is considered by all and sundry as the very epitome of learning! This shows that the terrible rigidity of Hindu society that we have seen in some parts of Hindu society was definitely not originally the state of things.
Veda Vyasa is accredited with compiling the Vedas and writing the Brahma Sutras (one of the three great Vedantic authoritative Vedantic texts – the other 2 being the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads) – to help understand the essence of Vedic knowledge. He was also the recorder/writer of the earliest form of the Mahabharata (which was then called the ‘Jaya’). The followers of Veda Vyasa (the Vyasas or ‘compilers’) carried out the compilation of the Puranas.
‘Guru Purnima’ which is one of the most sacred and widely celebrated days of hindu calender is celebrated as his birthday. There is a very popular saying regarding Sage Veda Vyasa which is: ‘Vyasocchishtasam jagat sarvam’ an means that Rishi Veda Vyasa was so great and learned person , that even his voluminous writings are representation of only his periphery of his knowledge. - Rishi Matanga :- It is hard to put a date to the life of Rishi Matanga, but he lived in old India at a time when the caste system, had become quite firmly established - but had not yet become so degenerate. He is mentioned in many Hindu stories. This Rishi identified himself as a Chandala (outcaste) which corresponds to today's 'dalits' - he dedicated himself to spreading the Vedic wisdom amongst the lowest section of society, and became respected throughout the land as a great sage. Some people called him a Brahmin - even though he was an outcaste by birth, although others opposed this. Hence we can see that at Rishi Matanga's time the status of a Brahmin, which in its ideal should be based on conduct and learning rather than on birth, was becoming rigidified but had not yet become sealed.
Even today, many section of the castes in Karnataka state that are considered as "dalit", are addressed as Matangas or Madigas, a remnant of their association with the great Rishi Matanga. The Varahara Purana has many verses praising the virtues and deeds of Rishi Matanga.
In medieval times, these communities would have been denied access to Sanskrit learning and hence the ability to read this Purana, which praises their own forefathers! Once again we see that although these communities have suffered much discrimination - they are all an intrinsic part of Hindu civilisation - and share close bonds of history. We need to remove our barriers and help restore the central Hindu view of humanity as the foremost ideal guiding Hindu society - and eventually humanity. This Hindu view of humanity is that every human being has a divine presence in them and that we should learn to see and honour this divine presence in every person. - Tiruvalluvar (c. 1st century BCE) :- He was a great saint and scholar hailing from Tamil Nadu. He was Born to a brahmin father and a mother and was foster child of an untouchable, Tiruvalluvar derived his sustenance from his profession as a weaver and also became one of the greatest scholars of all time, authoring one of the great classics in world literature - the Tirukkural. The Tamil culture has been one of the great contributing to the mine of wisdom emanating from the Hindu lands, and the Tirukkural is an example of this.
The Tirukkural is considered to be one of the most famous literature of Tamils . The Tirukkural consists of 1330 couplets in 3 major divisions i.e. Love, Virtue and Wealth.
Tirukkural is a guiding force and light for all humanity for leading a life with all human values. It also guides human being to live life with complete eternal wisdom, moral purity and in perfect health, wealth and prosperity.
The following are quotes from the Tirukkural:
"Though one belongs to high caste, when he loses his conduct (good decorum), no more is he of high caste" (134)
"All beings are equal in birth. But work decides their varied worth." (972)
"The greatness of an individual depends on his ability to perform rare deeds, not in their caste" (973)
It should be noted that the idea that conduct, qualities and actions determine a persons worth rather than their birth is a theme that runs through all the basic texts of Hinduism - including the Vedas, Upanishads and Gita. The Tirukkual is on par with these texts, amd should be read and studied by all.
Last edited:
