Revered
by the ancient Hindu tradition, the conventional Hindu priestly class of India - the Brahmin community has a
controversial role in social building of cultural India. While tradition gave them the
highest status among men, rationalists and Ambedkarites have held them
responsible for the creation of the ugly caste system and ugliest
untouchability which not only hierarchised the Indian society but also doomed
millions of Dalits into dark subhuman living for numerous successive
generations till eternity.
Brahmins were supposed to
be the preservers of ‘Dharma’ – a broad term which loosely includes ethics,
morality and social obligations. They were the holy and the wise men – the men
of religion and scriptures who constituted major sections of seers, sadhaks,
ascetics, renunciants and knowledgable ones. They taught the children of Kings
and wealthy men the lessons of wisdom and morality. While till the early Vedic
age, caste system was actually Varna Vyavastha – i.e. caste was by merit and
choice and not by birth or parentage, things underwent a drastic change during later
vedic age. The flexible Varna Vyavastha became the rigid Jati Vyavastha –
wherein the son of a Brahmin remained a Brahmin – howsoever stupid he may be,
and the son of a ‘Shudra’ continued to be a ‘Shudra’ even though he might be
extraordinarily intelligent.
THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BRAHMIN COMMUNITY
Brahmins indeed were a
formidable cultural force in India
even during the medieval ages. They help preserve the glory of the local
religion (Hinduism) in the face of foreign onslaught. Some of the greatest of religious
personalities during medieval India
were Brahmins – Like the Illustrious Sant Tulsidas – the composer of the
greatest epic poem of India
– Ramcharitmanas, The great devotional Krishna Bhakt & composer of his
songs – Surdas (supposedly) and the one of the most popular influences of
medieval India
– Sant Kabir were all Brahmins.
At a time when most lowercaste
people were getting attracted to Islam, these leaders helped prevent this
rising tide. Thus local religion was saved from Islamic imperialism. Moreover
an effort was also made to bridge the gap between Hindus and Muslims and the foundations
of a modern secular state was laid.
BRAHMINS
AS SOCIAL VILLAINS
However in certain
quarters Brahmins are seen as social villains. The rise of anti – Brahmin
movements in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the early and mid 20th
century was a revolt against the gross monopolization of education and services
by Brahmins at the cost of almost all other castes and communities. The
strongly pro – Dalit Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh gained
prominence on it’s ideology of anti – Brahminism as it was felt Brahmins and
Thakurs (Kshatriyas) were unduly dominating society and oppressing lower
castes.
It is popularly believed
that the Brahmin community created the caste system and kept themselves at the
highest ladder to corner all the social advantage.
THE
REAL PICTURE
Brahmins were indeed a moral
force. They guided and shaped the destiny of Indians for several millennia. In
Hinduism, all the intensity of religio-cultural practice was placed among
Brahmins. However they did act selfishly and some of them prevented the rise of
lower castes as far as they could. For them the rise of a ‘Shudra’ was against
Dharma – a grossly erroneous, anti-modern and un-democratic premise.
THE
CONTEMPORARY SCENE
Even though many modern
people consider caste system to be an out dated concept and reflective of backwardness
and medievalistic thinking, however caste continues to bleed India. From
winning elections to choosing right life partner for marriage, caste dominates India like
nothing else. Even though constitutionally we are all Indians, but this
thinking is more common only in the books.
Many Brahmins allege reverse
discrimination today owing largely to the caste based reservation schemes meant
to benefit SCs, STs and OBCs. However in real sense only the end of caste
identity can establish a modern society in India.
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