Ambedkar views on varna system in india. PDF

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I NTRODUCTI ONA maverick, a scholar of high calibre, a social reformer, a Constitution maker, a jurist, sociologist and a political economist of the first degree, Dr Ambedkar was all of these and more. His brilliant mind was strengthened by a fearless heart and acerbic tongue, as he minced no words ...

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INTRODUCTION A maverick, a scholar of high calibre, a social reformer, a Constitution maker, a jurist, sociologist and a political economist of the first degree, Dr Ambedkar was all of these and more. His brilliant mind was strengthened by a fearless heart and acerbic tongue, as he minced no words in condemning the hypocritical approach of the socalled liberals towards the Dalit issue. He made valuable contribution to the social and political thinking and denounced the outrageous attitude of the Brahmanical Hinduism towards the untouchables and worked for the liberation of oppressed class from the high caste Hindus. Though His writing and speeches he made the people conscious of the political, economic and social problem of the untouchables and impressed the need of paying special attention to the conditions of untouchables. He was of the view that, “On “One e mu must st dis istin tin tingui gui guish sh be betw tw twee ee een n th the e fr free ee eedom dom of a coun ountr tr tryy and the fre reedo edo edom m of th the e pe peopl opl ople e in the co coun un untr tr try” y” . Dr. Ambedkar started a weekly paper, "Mooknayak" ("Leader of the Voiceless") . In the first issue he called India a "home of inequality," and described Hindu society as "a tower which had several storeys without a ladder or an entrance. One was to die in the storey in which one was born." The Depressed Classes must be saved "from perpetual slavery, poverty, and ignorance"; herculean efforts must be made "to awaken them to their disabilities."This work division continues based upon the traditional Hindu social order, which assigns to the Dalits the dirty, mean jobs. Dr. Ambedkar said that “in India, a man is not a scavenger because of his work. He is a scavenger because of his birth irrespective of the question whether he does scavenging or not.”Dr. Ambedkar is considered the messiah for his efforts to bring equal opportunity and social justice to the marginalised communities. A real tribute to the great leader would be to continue with his efforts of empowering the Scheduled Castes and helping them overcome the vicious cycle of caste and cultural barrier, rather than merely offering flowers to his statue on his birth and death anniversaries.

AMBEDKAR ON HINDUISM Ambedkar, in his book Philosophy of Hinduism writes “Hin Hin Hinduis duis duism m is ano anoth th ther er na name me for ine nequ qu qualit alit ality” y” y”.. Dr. Ambedkar investigates the ‘Hindu scheme of divine governance’, which, he says, is enshrined in the Manu Smriti. He examines the place of religion in ‘savage’ and ‘civilised’ societies; the latter, he says, are can be further divided into antique and modern societies. According to Dr. Ambedkar, the concept of right or wrong in antique societies was based on ‘social utility’, while in modern societies, it was based on ‘individual justice’, that is, equality, liberty and fraternity. Dr. Ambedkar says that central to the social organisation of Hinduism is a system “in which different castes are placed in a vertical series one above the other.” The religion supports and sustains the rights of a class of ‘supermen’ – the Brahmins. The caste system, he adds, divides labourers, dissociates work from interest, disconnects intelligence from manual labour, prevents a person from cultivating

interests, and prevents societal mobilisation. B R Ambedkar wrote extensively on Hinduism. The following are his important works on this topic: Philosophy of Hinduism         

The Hindu Social Order Symbols of Hinduism The Literature of Brahmanism Riddles in Hinduism An Exposition to Enlighten the Masses The Hindu and his Belief in Caste The House the Hindus have built Annihilation of Caste Castes in India

WHAT IS THE HINDU SOCIAL ORDER? The Hindu social order” is traced back to the Rig Rig-V -V -Ved ed eda a. The Hindu social order is a ladder of castes placed one above the other, together representing an ascending scale of respect and 14 Structure of Indian Society descending scale of contempt . Its main pillars: the caste system and untouchability, presents a unique case. As a system of social, economic and religious governance it is founded not on the principle of liberty (or freedom), equality and fraternity - the values which formed the basis of universal human rights - but on the principle of inequality in every sphere of life which is also the first feature of Hindu social order. The second feature of Hindu social order is that the occupations of people are inherited. The third principle is that interaction of people is limited to the person that belongs to the same caste. Interdining and inter-marrying is not allowed among different castes. The Hindu social order is based primarily on class or Varna and not on individuals. Originally and formally the Hindu social order recognized four classes: (1) Brahmins, (2) Kshatriyas (3) Vaishyas and (4) Shudras. Today it consists of five classes, the fifth being called the Panchamas or Untouchables. The unit of Hindu society is not the individual Brahmin or the individual Kshatriya or the individual Vaishya or the individual Shudra or the individual Panchama. Even the family is not regarded by the Hindu social order as the unit of society except for the purposes of marriage and inheritance. The unit of Hindu society is the class or Varna to use the Hindu technical name for class. In the Hindu social order, there is no room for individual merit and no consideration of individual justice. If the individual has a privilege it is not because it is due to him personally. The privilege goes with the class, and if he is found to enjoy it, it is because he belongs to that class. If a Hindu man lost his caste, he would lose his status.

Narada Smriti says “In the inverse order of four castes slavery is not ordained except where a man violates the duties peculiar to his caste”. Slavery (in that respect) is analogous to the condition of a wife.

 THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES AND UNIQUE

FEATURES OF HINDU SOCIAL ORDER – BY Dr AMBEDKAR : 1. The first principle of the Hindus social order is that it does not recognise the liberty, equality and fraternity. Liberty of movement, speech and action are essential to each and everybody in a free social order and are fundamental. Liberty of speech is the condition of all progress i.e. intellectual, moral, political and social etc. Real liberty is possible where there is no exploitation, no oppression or depression, no unemployment, no poverty and where a person is free from all discrimination. Political liberty is related with making and unmaking of government. According to Dr Ambedkar, the Hindu social order was based on the principles of graded inequality, fixity of occupations individual. He said that caste was a highly organised social group and every caste have fixed and fixation of people within their respective classes. The Hindu social order is based on classes, but not on the status belonging to castes. According to Dr. Ambedkar, hierarchical organised of the Hindu social order is based on occupations.

2. The second principle of Hindu social order is that it does not recognise equality which is in the core and heart of it. The Hindu social order believes that men are the children of Prajapati Brahma (creators of the Universe). The four Varnas were created by the creator from his different parts of his body. The Brahmins were created from the mouth, the Kshatriya from his arms, Vaishya from his thigh and Shudras from his feet. They are not on horizontal plane, they are on vertical plant. According to Manusmriti , the Brahmin is placed at the top rank in society, below him is the Kshatriya, below the Kshatriya is the Vaishya and below the Vaishya is Shudra and lastly is the Anti-Shudra. These differences are not necessary nor advantageous. The only answer is that they are the result of the Hindu instinct to be different from his fellow which has resulted from the belief of people being innately different owing to their being created from different parts of the divine body.

3. Another Principle of Hindu social order is that there is no concept of fraternity. In the Hindu Social order there are two parts. One is that men are created by the Prajapati Brahma. The second part is that men are created from the different parts of the bodies. The Brahmin is no brother to the Kshatriya because the Brahmin was born from the mouth of the divinity and Kshatriya is born from his arm. The Kshatriya is no brother to the Vaishya because the Kshatriya was born from his {God) arm and Vaishya was born from his thigh. The Vaishya is no any brother to the Shudra because the Vaishya was born from his thigh and the Shudra was born from his (God) feet. Therefore, no one is a brother to the other, no one is the keeper of the other. Against this divine concept of Varnas, Dr. Ambedkar has pointed out that if the four Varnas are born from Prajapati Brahma's different parts of

his bodies. So, it is right that the Prajapati Brahma is the father of the four Varnas. The father of the four Vanas are same. The four varnas are brother to each other. They are born from the same father. Therefore, Dr. Ambedkar has rightly observed that there is no contradiction and conflicts among the four Varnas.

4. Hindu's life is divided into four periods, namely, Brahmacharya (stage of student) Grahasthashram (stage of married life), Vanasprastha (stage of detachment from family) and Sannyasa (stage of tantamount of civil death). The Shudras and women were deprived from these four stages of Hindu social life. The Shudras had no right to education, right to read Vedas, right to enter the temple, right to drink water from public resources, etc. The right to rebellion is given to the upper three classes but not for Shudras very natural, because it is only the three upper classes who would benefit by the maintenance of this system. It is this which constitutes ano anoth th ther er spe pecial cial fe featu atu ature re of the Hind indu u so social cial or orde de der. r.

“Fr “From om ea each ch acc accord ord ording ing to his abil bility ity ity;; to eac each h acco accord rd rding ing to his ne need” ed” is not the pri princi nci nciple ple of Hindu social ord rder. er. The pri princi nci nciple ple of the Hi Hindu ndu so socia cia ciall or order der is: “Fro From m eac each h acco accord rd rding ing to his ne need ed ed.. To eac each h acco accord rd rding ing to his no nobil bil bilit it ityy .” Fixit it ityy of oc occup cup cupat at ation ion is an anot ot other her prin rincip cip ciple le of Hind Hindu u so socia cia ciall ord orde e r. Manu says 5. Fix the occupations of the four Varnas are fixed by birth place and is rigid in nature. For instance, the Brahmana is assigned for teaching and learning the Vedas. The Kshatriya is assigned to protect the people. The occupation of Vaishya is trading or business and the occupation of Shudra is serve the upper three classes. To Dr. Ambedkar, the ideal of Chaturvarna is based on social organisation. It is just a division of labour, not only division of labour but also spontaneously division of labourers. This division of labour is not spontaneous and not based on natural aptitudes. Under the caste system the social order is positively pernicious. The individual choose his work according to their efficiency, skill and ability, not on birth or race, caste, creed etc. The division of labour is not based on choice, individual sentiment or preference, but on the dogma of Predestination. It is an inexorable law from which he cannot escape. “Ca “Cast st ste e doe does s no nott br bring ing ab abou ou outt div divisi isi ision on of labo labour ur ur;; it br brin in ings gs ab about out div divis is ision ion of lab labou ou oure re rers rs rs”” I

6. The last principle is on which the Hindu social order is founded is the fixat peop ithin their heir resp resp class es . Caste system observed fixat ation ion of peop ople le within spect ect ective ive class by Dr.Ambedkar as the hereditary division of labourers, a system of graded inequality, a process of sterilisation and devitalisation. The labourers are divided into several watertight compartments. The caste is hereditary in nature. All rights to religious Rituals, education, political, cultural and other social institutions were also made hereditary. All castes are inter-related and

interdependence. In Annihilation of Caste, Ambedkar says that some have defended caste in the name of division of labour. According to them, since division of labour is a necessary feature of every civilized society, therefore, there is nothing wrong with the caste system Ambedkar analysed the definitions of caste proposed by Senart, Nesfield, Risley and Ketkar. He agreed with some points and disagreed with some other points in the definitions. He explained that the cause of caste system is not the concept of purity and pollution, and not the restrictions on inter-dining, instead thecritical element of the caste is that prohibition and the absence of inter-marriage between people of different castes. Ambedkar does not agree with the assumption that its the Brahmin that created castes.He explains that classes exist in all societies and not just in India. but the difference between Hindu social order and other societies is that in Hindu social order, divisions of society have lost the open-door character of the class system and have becomeself-enclosed units called castes. They decided to be endogamous units. And other castes imitated the endogamous nature of Brahmin caste. The extent of imitation varied from the caste to caste. The castes that are nearest to Brahmin have imitated all the customs of Brahmin that are Sati, forced widowhood and minor girl marriage. Castes that are a little further away imitated only the minor girl marriage custom. Ambedkar doesn’t agree with the argument that economic power brings power to the lower caste. He explained that religion , social status and property are all the sources of power and authority that come into play in different situations. Caste superiority is a inculcated in the minds of people.To eliminate hierarchical nature of the caste, these beliefs need to be changed.He opines that caste is a state of the mind. He suggested that people need to criticize shastras for the irrational and inhuman nature. People need to follow the rational thinking rather than blindly following the shastras.

I am conv onvinc inc inced ed that the rea eall re reme me medy dy is int nter er er-m -m -mar ar arria ria riage: ge: to abolish the caste, the real remedy for breaking Caste is inter-marriage. Nothing else will serve as the solvent of Caste. Therefore, these are the essential principles on which the Hindu social order is based.

 UN UNIQ IQ IQU UE FEA EAT TUR URE ES OF HIND INDU U SO SOC CIA IAL L ORDER ER:: Incidentally, there are some strikingly unique features of the Hindu social order that distinguishes it from any other social order in the world.

”T ”The he Br Brah ah ahman man mana, a, havin aving g fa falle lle llen n int into o di dist st stre re ress ss ss,, may re recei cei ceive ve gi gift ft fts s fro rom m any per erso so son n wha whate te tever ver ver;; for by no sacr acred ed ru rule le can it be sho hown, wn, th that at abso bsolut lut lute e puri urity ty can be sulli sulli llied. ed. ed.””

The Brahmin or the Superman was entitled to certain privileges. In the first place, he could not be hanged even though he might be guilty of murder . The inequality is found in Hindu social order in the laws of marriage. Manu opposed to inter caste marriage. He does not recognise inter-marriage. He allowed to Brahmin for marriage from outside the caste to any woman. Inequality is found in Manu's Penal Code. Punishment was strictly imposed on down-trodden classes. There is no punishment for Brahmins. Brahims could take the property of the common man (the Shudra) without compensation and without reference to court if the same was necessary for the performance of his religious duties. If he discovers a hidden treasure he was free to appropriate the whole3 of it without giving the usual share to the king ‘since he was the lord of all’ and was entitled to claim half if it was discovered by another. He was entitled to whole amount accumulated from legal fines from a king whose death was due to some incurable disease. He was exempt from taxation . He was entitled to compel the king to provide for his daily food and to see that he did not starve . His property was free from the law of escheat. With no help by superman to common man, the rise of the Common man is antagonistic to the supremacy of the Superman. In order to keep the Superman satisfied, happy and secure the Hindu social order takes special care to keep the Common man in a state of perpetual degradation.

“Th “The e tw twice ice ice-b -b -bor or orn n may tak ake e arm arms s, whe when n th thei ei eirr dut dutyy is obs bstr tr truct uct ucted ed by for orce ce ce;; and whe when, n, in so some me evil tim ime, e, a dis disas as aste te terr ha has s be befal fal fallen len the tw twice ice bor orn n cla class ss sses es es.” .” 

Another unique feature relates to the technique devised for its preservation of the social order from violent attack it is necessary to bear in mind three considerations. The outbreak of a revolution is conditioned by three factors: (1) the existence of a sense of wrong; (2) capacity to know that one is suffering from a wrong and (3) availability of arms. The second consideration is that there are two ways of dealing with a rebellion. One is to prevent a rebellion from occurring and the other is to suppress it after it has broken out. The third consideration is that whether the prevention of rebellion would be feasible or whether the suppression of rebellion would be the only method open, would depend upon the rules which govern the three pre-requisites of rebellion.

“1 my myse se self lf have cr crea ea eated ted the arr rrange ange angeme me ment nt of th the e fo four ur c ast astes es (in (into to Br Brahm ahm ahmin in ins, s, Ksh shatr atr atriy iy iyas, as, Vai Vaishy shy shyas as an and d Shudr Shudras as as), ), co cons ns nsist ist isten en ently tly with the dif diffe fe feren ren rences ces in the their ir qu qualit alit alitie ie ies s and ac actio tio tions ns ns.. It is, I who am th the e Mak Maker er of It. t.”; ”; Krishna says in BHAGAVDGITA



The third special feature of the Hindu social order is that it is a Divine order designed by God himself. As such it is sacred, not open to abrogation, amendment, not even to criticism. As such it is sacred, not open to abrogation, amendment, not even to criticism. For the purpose of removing any doubt that may be lurking in the minds of anybody about the Divine character of the Hindu social order, attention is invited to the verses from the Bhagvat Gita and

the Manu Smriti. To sum up, the Hindu social order is an order based on classes and not on individual. It is an order in which classes are graded one above the other. It is an order in which the status and functions of the classes are determined and fixed and rigid. No matter what changes take place in the relative position of an individual his social status as a member of the class he is born in relation to another person belonging to another class shall in no way be affected. The first shall never become the last. The last shall never become the first.

CONCLUSION Dr. Ambedkar had proved in his famous work "Who Were Shudras" that in the beginning there were only three Varnas i.e. Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. The Shudras were added later on and present Shudras were the Kshatriyas. Due to struggle between Brahmins and Kshatriyas for power and superiority in religious spheres the Shudra section was created by the Brahmins. To him, the Kshatriyas were ill-treated by the Brahmins. The Kshatriyas were deprived of their privileges and they became into fourth Varna. In this way the Shudra and Untouchables in the Indian society has emerged. This section of Indian s...