सीधे मुख्य सामग्री पर जाएं

The caste system

We are Brahmin not on account of birth or the performance of rites, not by study or family, but on account of our behavior. (na yonir napisamskaro nasrutam na ca santatih karanani dvijatvasya vrttam eva tu karanam.) ( sarvoyam brahmano loke vrttenaca vidhiyate vrttisthitasu sudropi brahmanatva, mouaccjato – Anusasanaparva.

Even if we are born Sudras. By good conduct we can raise ourselves to the highest status. (sudrayonau hi jatasya sadgunan upastisthatah vaisyatvam labhate brahmam ksatriyattvam tathaiva ca arjave vartamanasya brahmanyam abhijayate – Aranyaparva. )

Patanjali refers to Brahmin kings, and Manu to Sudra rulers. There were Brahmin soldiers in the time of Alexander, as there are today. Shankara held the view that members of all castes can read the sastras. Hindu acaryas denounced the spirit of caste separatism. Vajrasucikopanisad holds that many who were born of non-brahmin women had risen to the rank of Brahmin saints.

Author Beatrice Pitney Lamb has pointed out:

"Clearly the Indian way of assimilating foreigners - by allowing them to pursue their own customs within some niche of the caste system - has led to greater variety and tolerance within the country than exists in the United States, where immigrants have been assimilated through a school program emphasizing 100 per cent Americanization - and hence, implicitly, the rejection of inherited cultural roots."

Writing of this varna-ashrama-dharma, Auguste Comte (1798-1857) the great French sociologist, wrote in his book Système de philosophie positive or Positive Society:

“No institution has ever shown itself more adopted to honor, ability to various kinds than this polytheistic organization…In a social view, the virtues of the system are not less conspicuous. Politically, its chief attribute was stability…As to the influence on mortals, this system was favorable to personal morality, and yet more to domestic, for the spirit of caste was a mere extension of the family spirit….As to social morals, the system was evidently favorable to respect for age and homage to ancestors.” greatest poets and the most venerated saints such as Sura Dasa, Kabir, Tukaram, Thiruvalluvar and Ram Dasa; came from the humblest class of society." Caste system has been exploited against the Hindus, for the last two centuries by the British, Christian Missionaries, Secular historians, Communists, Muslims, Pre and Post-Independence Indian politicians and Journalists for their own endshe caste system was never a tenet of the Hindu faith.
"The universe is the outpouring of the majesty of God, the auspicious one, radiant love. Every face you see belongs to Him. He is present in everyone without exception." - says the Yajur Veda.

"The Lord (The Divine) is enshrined in the hearts of all." - says the Isha Upanishad 1 -1.

The Upanishads which are a pure, lofty, heady distillation of spiritual wisdom which come to us from the very dawn of time tell us:

"Reality (God) is our real Self, so that each of us is one with the power that created and sustains the universe."

In Sanskrit, Tat tvam asi, “You are That.”

"In the depths of meditation, sages (rishis)
Saw within themselves the Lord of Love,
Who dwells in the heart of every creature." says the Shvetashvatara Upanishad. 1 - 3.

टिप्पणियाँ

इस ब्लॉग से लोकप्रिय पोस्ट

Trafficking and india

Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation India Trafficking As of February 1998, there were 200 Bangladeshi children and women awaiting repatriation in different Indian shelters. ("Boys, rescued in India while being smuggled to become jockeys in camel races," www.elsiglo.com, 19 February 1998) India, along with Thailand and the Philippines, has 1.3 million children in its sex-trade centers. The children come from relatively poorer areas and are trafficked to relatively richer ones. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998) In cross border trafficking, India is a sending, receiving and transit nation. Receiving children from Bangladesh and Nepal and sending women and children to Middle Eastern nations is a daily occurrence. (Executive Director of SANLAAP, Indrani Sinha, Paper on Globaliation and Human Rights" India and Paksitan are the main destinations for children under 16 who are trafficked in south Asia. (Masako Iijima, "S. Asia ...

अमरकांत : संक्षिप्त जीवन वृत्त

       कथाकार अमरकांत : संवेदना और शिल्प   कथाकार अमरकांत पर शोध प्रबंध अध्याय - 1   क) अमरकांत : संक्षिप्त जीवन वृत्त 1. जन्म 2. परिवार 3. शिक्षा-दीक्षा 4. रहन-सहन और स्वभाव 5. सेवा मार्ग 6. संघर्ष 7. व्यक्तित्व की प्रमुख विशेषताएँ 8. पुरस्कार एवम् सम्मान ख) अमरकांत : विचारधारा एवम् साहित्यिक दृष्टि 1. तरुण कवि के रूप में 2. साहित्यिक वातावरण 3. साहित्यिक प्रेरणा स्रोत 4. प्रभावित करने वाली विचार धाराएँ 5. कथा लेखन क) कहानी ख) उपन्यास 6. साहित्यिक दृष्टि  अमरकांत : संक्षिप्त जीवन वृत्त 1. जन्म :        उत्तर प्रदेश के सबसे पूर्वी जिले बलिया में एक तहसील है - 'रसड़ा`। इस रसड़ा तहसील के सुपरिचित गाँव 'नगरा` से सटा हुआ एक छोटा सा गाँव और है। यह गाँव है - 'भगमलपुर`। देखने में यह गाँव नगरा गाँव का टोला लगता है।        भगमलपुर गाँव...

अमरकांत की कहानी -डिप्टी कलक्टरी

अमरकांत की कहानी -डिप्टी कलक्टरी :-        'डिप्टी कलक्टरी` अमरकांत की प्रमुख कहानियों में से एक है। अमरकांत स्वयं इस कहानी के बारे में कहते हैं कि, ''ये भी हमारे परिवार की थी। भाई लॉ करके बलिया आ गये थे। बलिया जैसे छोटे शहर में रहकर उनका बिन सुविधा, अपने बूते आई.ए.एस. में बैठना। सिम्पिली सिटी के मास्टर थे वे। जटिल से जटिल चीजों को सिम्पिलीफाई कर देना ये चीज हमने उनसे सीखी। कुछ विषयों में टॉपर! लिखित में नम्बर अच्छे आते, पर इन्टरव्यू.......! इंन्टरव्यू का जब कॉल आता था तो जैसे ताजी हवा का आना, स्वप्न, आशा का वह उत्साह, पिता की आशाएँ, प्रतीक्षा.... आप 'डिप्टी कलक्टरी` में देख सकते हैं। उसकी आलोचना में कहा भी गया है - एक आशा भरी प्रतीक्षा।``8        अमरकांत की बातों से साफ है कि यह कहानी उन्होंने अपने पारिवारिक परिवेश पर ही लिखी है। शकलदीप बाबू और जमुना देवी अपने बड़े लड़के 'नारायण` से काफी उम्मीदे लगाये रहते हैं। नारायण डिप्टी कलक्टरी के इम्तहान में बैठना चाहता है। फीस भरनी है। लेकिन शकलदीप बाबू ग...