Chapter XVII
Fourfold Social Division
Creation of caste
Hindu
dharma and its rules of life are based on caste (varna) and stage of life (asrama).
Let us take first the principle of caste in religion.
The
codes of law (smrithi) declare, “The
four castes are created by Me (chaathur
varnyam, maya srishtam)”; and the Vedas (sruthi) say, “The brahmin emerged from the face, the warriors rose
from the arms, etc. (brahmanosya mukham
aseeth; baahuu-raajanyah krithah, etc.)”. It is clear that the caste system
is created by the Lord. If it is propagated that the caste system has brought
about disastrous distinctions, the fault lies in misinterpretation of the word.
Names and forms: handiwork of God
To
prove that trees exist, the word “tree” is enough. A word is just sound, but it
indicates something that exists. The sound “elephant” is proof of the existence
of that animal.
The
sounds were there even before us. We were born into the tangle of sounds. We did
not originate them. So, for every current word, a meaning must adhere. The
words with their implications are there already, even before our birth. We just
use them, whichever we want, whenever we need.
Similarly,
the words brahmin and labourer (sudra)
inform us that there were persons answering to those words. The questions “Who
is a brahmin? Who is not a brahmin?” are irrelevant in this discussion. What is
being made known is only the conceptions of “word” and “meaning”. The entire
cosmos is subsumed under “word” and “meaning”; it is sheer name and form (the name being the word; the form, the
meaning).
The
Vedas (sruthis) declare: “Name and
form are one single indivisible unit (vaachaarambho
vikaaro naa- madheyam)”.
Since
they are based on the divine Lord, who is the splendour of wisdom and the
repository of innate glory, the darkness of delusion, ignorance, or nature
should not overpower us. Where light is present, darkness has no place. The
Lord declared, “I shall become many,” and that Will resulted in the cosmos and
is directing it forever.
Therefore,
name and form are the results of that Will, and not of any human will. It would
be an absurd claim for people to pretend that they originated them. The
All-powerful Lord alone has willed so. That is why He is designated as the
Supreme. To the question, “Does God exist?”, the existence of the word God is
the indisputable proof.
The
world consists of multifarious objects, each with a name. No one has discovered
how or why these names got attached to these objects, nor is it possible to
explain this. Even if an attempt is made, the result can be only a guess and
not the truth. So it is best to conclude that it is divinely descended. Words
used between birth and death, or current before birth or after death, words
indicating mother and children, or words like righteousness (dharma), unrighteousness, heaven (swarga) and hell (Naraka) are certainly not human artifices but divine dispensations.
The Vedas are the authority for this declaration.
So,
when it is declared that the brahmin manifested from the face (brahmanaasya mukham aaseeth) or that the
four castes (varnas) were created by
Me (chaathur varnaym mayaa srishtham),
doesn’t that also posit that there must have been castes that are denoted by the
word and people who could be described as examples or representatives of that
word? Don’t these declarations make plain to us that the very God who created
them grouped them on the basis of their tendencies and activities as castes?
Primal qualities created by innate desires
So
the word caste (varna) can be
understood in all its bearings only if deep inquiry is made and clear thought
is directed on it. The meaning of caste, the most common among the people and
current everywhere, is “colour”. But how this word came to be attached to that
meaning is not known to many. This has to be known in order to grasp the true
significance of the word.
In
the word varna, the root vri means
description, elaboration, and also the process of counting. The roots r and rn that form words like ramana mean enjoyment, pleasure, etc., so varna signifies “accepting with pleasure
after elaborate consideration”.
Individuals
take birth according to the tendencies they appreciate, aspire for, and adopt.
So the castes into which they are born are determined by themselves and not by
any external authority. Which particular tendency they choose to cultivate
depends on their intellectual level. It is generally believed that desires
shape the intelligence.
Intelligence
molds the activities, and activities decide the character and nature of life.
This is the correct interpretation of the expression Guna karma vibhaagasah.
While
the Vedas (sruthis) and the codes of
law (smrithi) indicate so elaborately
the causes that lead to the individual’s birth, life, and death in particular
castes, religions, families, and sections, people who are unable to understand
them lay down theories according to their own limited intelligence and derive
satisfaction therefrom.
What
else is this but sheer ignorance? Or it may be egotist pride exhibiting that
they know everything, for isn’t egotism itself the progeny of ignorance? The
conclusion is that caste, social status, family and even religion are
determined by quality (guna) and
karma. They are not amenable to human manipulation. The Vedas declare so; they
posit that it has been so decided by divine Will.
Love.
