BAWS Volume 3

Contents

PART I

1. Philosophy of Hinduism

PART II

India and The Pre- Requisites of Communism

2. The Hindu Social Order – Its Essential Principles

3. The Hindu Social Order- Its Unique Features
4. Symbols of Hinduism

PART III

Revolution and Couter-Revolution

5. Ancient India on Exhumation

6. The Ancient Regime
7. A Sunken Priesthood
8. Reformers and Their Fate
9. The Decline and Fall of Buddhism
10. The Literature of Brahminism
11. The Triumph of Brahminism
12. The Morals of the House
13. Krishna and His Gita
14. Analytical Notes of Virat Parva and Udyog Parva
15. Brahmins Versus Kshatriyas
16. Shudras and the Counter-Revolution
17. The Woman and the Counter-Revolution

PART IV

18. Buddha or Karl Marx

PART V

19. Scheme of Books

PART I

Chapter 1

Philosophy of Hinduism
______________________________________________
Contents

Chapter 1 Philosophy of Hinduism

Does Hinduism recognize Equality?
How does Hinduism stand in this matter?
Does Hinduism recognise Fraternity?
What is the value of such a religion to man ?
On what level does Hindu morality stand?
Of what use is this philosophy of the Upanishadas?

(The script published in the Writings and Speeches, vol. 3 published by

Government of Maharashtra did not have any chapter names. It was divided in
I to VI parts. For the sake of readership convenience we are providing
additional hyperlinks to some paras by way of projecting some questions in
the text. )

Editorial Note:
This script on Philosophy of Hinduism was found as a well-bound copy which
we feel is complete by itself. The whole script seems to be a Chapter of one big
scheme. This foolscap original typed copy consists of 169 pages.— Editors

CHAPTER I
Philosophy of Hinduism
I
What is the philosophy of Hinduism? This is a question which arises in its logical
sequence. But apart from its logical sequence its importance is such that it can
never be omitted from consideration. Without it no one can understand the aims and
ideals of Hinduism.
It is obvious that such a study must be preceded by a certain amount of what may
be called clearing of the ground and defining of the terms involved.
At the outset it may be asked what does this proposed title comprehend? Is this
title of the Philosophy of Hinduism of the same nature as that of the Philosophy of
Religion? I wish I could commit myself one way or the other on this point. Indeed I
cannot. I have read a good deal on the subject, but I confess I have not got a clear
idea of what is meant by Philosophy of Religion. This is probably due to two facts. In
the first place while religion is something definite, there is nothing definite*[f1] as to
what is to be included in the term philosophy. In the second place Philosophy and
Religion have been adversaries if not actual antagonists as may be seen from the
story of the philosopher and the theologian. According to the story, the two were
engaged in disputation and the theologian accused the philosopher that he was "like
a blind man in a dark room, looking for a black cat which was not there". In reply the
philosopher charged the theologian saying that "he was like a blind man in the dark
room, looking for a black cat which was not there but he declared to have found
there". Perhaps it is the unhappy choice of the title — Philosophy of Religion—which
is responsible for causing confusion in the matter of the exact definition of its field.
The nearest approach to an intelligible statement as to the exact subject matter of
Philosophy of Religion I find in Prof. Pringle-Pattison who observes[f2] :—
"A few words may be useful at the outset as an indication of what we commonly
mean by the Philosophy of Religion. Plato described philosophy long ago as the
synoptic view of things. That is to say, it is the attempt to see things together-to keep
all the main features of the world in view, and to grasp them in their relation to one
another as parts of one whole. Only thus can we acquire a sense of proportion and
estimate aright the significance of any particular range of facts for our ultimate
conclusions about the nature of the world-process and the world-ground.
Accordingly, the philosophy of any particular department of experience, the
Philosophy of Religion, the Philosophy of Art, the Philosophy of Law, is to be taken
as meaning an analysis and interpretation of the experience in question in its
bearing upon our view of man and the world in which he lives. And when the facts
upon which we concentrate are so universal, and in their nature so remarkable, as
those disclosed by the history of religion—the philosophy of man's religious
experience—cannot but exercise a determining influence upon our general
philosophical conclusions. In fact with many writers the particular discussion tends to
merge in the more general."
"The facts with which a philosophy of religion has to deal are supplied by the
history of religion, in the most comprehensive sense of that term. As Tiele puts it, "all
religions of the civilised and uncivilised world, dead and living", is a `historical and
psychological phenomenon' in all its manifestations. These facts, it should be noted,
constitute the data of the philosophy of religion; they do not themselves constitute a
`philosophy' or, in Tiele's use of the term, a `science' of religion. `If, he says, 1 have
minutely described all the religions in existence, their doctrines, myths and customs,
the observances they inculcate, and the organisation of their adherents, tracing the
different religions from their origin to their bloom and decay, I have merely. Collected
the materials with which the science of religion works'. 'The historical record,
however complete, is not enough; pure history is not philosophy. To achieve a
philosophy of religion we should be able to discover in the varied manifestations a
common principle to whose roots in human nature we can point, whose evolution we
can trace by intelligible-stages from lower to higher and more adequate forms, as
well as its intimate relations with the other main factors in human civilisation".
If this is Philosophy of Religion it appears to me that it is merely a different name
for that department of study, which is called comparative religion with the added aim
of discovering a common principle in the varied manifestations of religion. Whatever
be the scope and value of such a study, I am using the title Philosophy of Religion to
denote something quite different from the sense and aim given to it by Prof. Pringle-
Pattison. I am using the word Philosophy in its original sense, which was two-fold. It
meant teachings as it did when people spoke of the philosophy of Socrates or the
philosophy of Plato. In another sense it meant critical reason used in passing
judgements upon things and events. Proceeding on this basis Philosophy of Religion
is to me not a merely descriptive science. I regard it as being both descriptive as well
as normative. In so far as it deals with the teachings of a Religion, Philosophy of
Religion becomes a descriptive science. In so far as it involves the use of critical
reason for passing judgement on those teachings, the Philosophy of Religion
becomes a normative science. From this it will be clear what I shall be concerned
with in this study of the Philosophy of Hinduism. To be explicit I shall be putting
Hinduism on its trial to assess its worth as a way of life.
Here is one part of the ground cleared. There remains another part to be cleared.
That concerns the ascertainment of the factors concerned and the definitions of the
terms I shall be using.
A study of the Philosophy of Religion it seems to me involves the determination of
three dimensions. I call them dimensions because they are like the unknown
quantities contained as factors in a product. One must ascertain and define these
dimensions of the Philosophy of Religion if an examination of it is to be fruitful.
Of the three dimensions, Religion is the first. One must therefore define what he
understands by religion in order to avoid argument being directed at cross-purposes.
This is particularly necessary in the case of Religion for the reason that there is no
agreement as to its exact definition. This is no place to enter upon an elaborate
consideration of this question. I will therefore content myself by stating the meaning
in which I am using the word in the discussion, which follows.
I am using the word Religion to mean Theology. This will perhaps be insufficient for
the purposes of definition. For there are different kinds of Theologies and I must
particularise which one I mean. Historically there have been two Theologies spoken
of from ancient times. Mythical theology and Civil theology. The Greeks who
distinguished them gave each a definite content. By Mythical theology they meant
the tales of gods and their doings told in or implied by current imaginative literature.
Civil theology according to them consisted of the knowledge of the various feasts
and fasts of the State Calendar and the ritual appropriate to them. I am not using the
word theology in either of these two senses of that word. I mean by theology natural
theology[f3] which is-the doctrine of God and the divine, as an integral part of the
theory of nature. As traditionally understood there are three thesis which `natural
theology' propounds. (1) That God exists and is the author of what we call nature or
universe (2) That God controls all the events which make nature and (3) God
exercises a government over mankind in accordance with his sovereign moral law.
I am aware there is another class of theology known as Revealed Theology—
spontaneous self disclosure of divine reality—which may be distinguished
from Natural theology.But this distinction does not really matter. For as has been
pointed out[f4] that a revelation may either "leave the results won by Natural
theology standing without modifications, merely supplementing them by further
knowledge not attainable by unassisted human effort" or it "may transform Natural
theology in such a way that all the truths of natural theology would acquire richer and
deeper meaning when seen in the light of a true revelation." But the view that a
genuine natural theology and a genuine revelation theology might stand in real
contradiction may be safely excluded as not being possible.
Taking the three thesis of Theology namely (1) the existence of God, (2) God's
providential government of the universe and (3) God's moral government of
mankind, I take Religion to mean the propounding of an ideal scheme of divine
governance the aim and object of which is to make the social order in which men live
a moral order. This is what I understand by Religion and this is the sense in which I
shall be using the term Religion in this discussion.
The second dimension is to know the ideal scheme for which a Religion stands. To
define what is the fixed, permanent and dominant part in the religion of any society
and to separate its essential characteristics from those which are unessential is
often very difficult. The reason for this difficulty in all probability lies in the difficulty
pointed out by Prof.Robertson Smith[f5] when he says:—
"The traditional usage of religion had grown up gradually in the course of many
centuries, and reflected habits of thought, characteristic of very diverse stages of
man's intellectual and moral development. No conception of the nature of the gods
could possibly afford the clue to all parts of that motley complex of rites and
ceremonies which the later paganism had received by inheritance, from a series of
ancestors in every state of culture from pure savagery upwards. The record of the
religious thought of mankind, as it is embodied in religious institutions, resembles the
geological record of the history of the earth's crust; the new and the old are
preserved side by side, or rather layer upon layer".
 The same thing has happened in India. Speaking about the growth of Religion in
India, says Prof. Max Muller :—
"We have seen a religion growing up from stage to stage, from the simplest
childish prayers to the highest metaphysical abstractions. In the majority of the
hymns of the Veda we might recognise the childhood; in the Brahmanas and their
sacrificial, domestic and moral ordinances the busy manhood; in the Upanishads the
old age of the Vedic religion. We could have well understood if, with the historical
progress of the Indian mind, they had discarded the purely childish prayers as soon
as they had arrived at the maturity of theBrahamans; and if, when the vanity of
sacrifices and the real character of the old god's had once been recognised, they
would have been superseded by the more exalted religion of the Upanishads. But it
was not so. Every religious thought that had once found expression in India, that had
once been handed down as a sacred heirloom, was preserved, and the thoughts of
the three historical periods, the childhood, the manhood, and the old age of the
Indian nation, were made to do permanent service in the three stages of the life of
every individual. Thus alone can we explain how the same sacred code, the Veda,
contains not only the records of different phases of religious thought, but of doctrines
which we may call almost diametrically opposed to each other."
But this difficulty is not so great in the case of Religions which
are positive religions. The fundamental characteristic of positive Religions, is that
they have not grown up like primitive religions, under the action. of unconscious
forces operating silently from age to age, but trace their origin to the teaching of
great religious innovators, who spoke as the organs of a divine revelation. Being the
result of conscious formulations the philosophy of a religion which is positive is easy
to find and easy to state. Hinduism like Judaism, Christianity and Islam is in the main
a positive religion. One does not have to search for its scheme of divine governance.
It is not like an unwritten constitution. On the Hindu scheme of divine governance is
enshrined in a written constitution and any one who cares to know it will find it laid
bare in that Sacred Book called the Manu Smriti, a divine Code which lays down the
rules which govern the religious, ritualistic and social life of the Hindus in minute
detail and which must be regarded as the Bible of the Hindus and containing the
philosophy of Hinduism.
The third dimension in the philosophy of religion is the criterion[f6] to be adopted for
judging the value of the ideal scheme of divine governance for which a given
Religion stands. Religion must be put on its trial. By what criterion shall it be judged?
That leads to the definition of the norm. Of the three dimensions this third one is the
most difficult one to be ascertained and defined.
Unfortunately the question does not appear to have been tackled although much
has been written on the philosophy of Religion and certainly no method has been
found for satisfactorily dealing with the problem. One is left to one's own method for
determining the issue. As for myself I think it is safe to proceed on the view that to
know the philosophy of any movement or any institution one must study the
revolutions which the movement or the institution has undergone. Revolution
is the mother of philosophy and if it is not the mother of philosophy it is a lamp which
illuminates philosophy. Religion is no exception to this rule. To me therefore it seems
quite evident that the best method to ascertain the criterion by which to judge the
philosophy of Religion is to study the Revolutions which religion has undergone.
That is the method which I propose to adopt.
Students of History are familiar with one Religious Revolution. That Revolution was
concerned with the sphere of Religion and the extent of its authority. There was a
time when Religion had covered the whole field of human knowledge and claimed
infallibility for what it taught. It covered astronomy and taught a theory of the
universe according to which the earth is at rest in the center of the universe, while
the sun, moon, planets and system of fixed stars revolve round it each in its own
sphere. It included biology and geology and propounded the view that the growth of
life on the earth had been created all at once and had contained from the time of
creation onwards, all the heavenly bodies that it now contains and all kinds of
animals of plants. It claimed medicine to be its province and taught that disease was
either a divine visitation as punishment for sin or it was the work of demons and that
it could be cured by the intervention of saints, either in person or through their holy
relics; or by prayers or
pilgrimages; or (when due to demons) by exorcism and by treatment which the
demons (and the patient) found disgusting. It also claimed physiology and
psychology to be its domain and taught that the body and soul were two distinct
substances.
Bit by bit this vast Empire of Religion was destroyed. The Copernican Revolution
freed astronomy from the domination of Religion. The Darwinian Revolution freed
biology and geology from the trammels of Religion. The authority of theology in
medicine is not yet completely destroyed. Its intervention in medical questions still
continues. Opinion on such subjects as birth control, abortion and sterilisation of the
defective are still influenced by theological dogmas. Psychology has not completely
freed itself from its entanglements. None the less Darwinism was such a severe
blow that the authority of theology was shattered all over to such an extent that it
never afterwards made any serious effort to remain its lost empire.
It is quite natural that this disruption of the Empire of Religion should be treated as
a great Revolution. It is the result of the warfare which science waged against
theology for 400 years, in which many pitched battles were fought between the two
and the excitement caused by them was so great that nobody could fail to be
impressed by the revolution that was blazing on.
 There is no doubt that this religious revolution has been a great blessing. It has
established freedom of thought. It has enabled society " to assume control of itself,
making its own the world it once shared with superstition, facing undaunted the
things of its former fears, and so carving out for itself, from the realm of mystery in
which it lies, a sphere of unhampered action and a field of independent
thought". The process of secularisation is not only welcomed by scientists
for making civilisation—as distinguished from culture—possible, even Religious
men and women have come to feel that much of what theology taught was
unnecessary and a mere hindrance to the religious life and that this chopping of its
wild growth was a welcome process.
But for ascertaining the norm for judging the philosophy of Religion we must turn to
another and a different kind of Revolution which Religion has undergone. That
Revolution touches the nature and content of ruling conceptions of the relations of
God to man, of Society to man and of man to man. How great was this revolution
can be seen from the differences which divide savage society from civilized society.
Strange as it may seem no systematic study of this Religious Revolution has so far
been made. None the less this Revolution is so great and so immense that it has
brought about a complete transformation in the nature of Religion as it is taken to be
by savage society and by civilised society although very few seem to be aware of it.
To begin with the comparison between savage society and civilised society.
In the religion of the savage one is struck by the presence of two things. First is the
performance of rites and ceremonies, the practice of magic or tabu and the worship
of fetish or totem. The second thing that is noticeable is that the rites, ceremonies,
magic, tabu, totem and fetish are conspicuous by their connection with certain
occasions. These occasions are chiefly those, which represent the crises of human
life. The events such as birth, the birth of the first born, attaining manhood, reaching
puberty, marriage, sickness, death and war are the usual occasions which are
marked out for the performance of rites and ceremonies, the use of magic and the
worship of the totem.
Students of the origin and history of Religion have sought to explain the origin and
substance of religion by reference to either magic, tabu and totem and the rites and
ceremonies connected therewith, and have deemed the occasions with which they
are connected as of no account. Consequently we have theories explaining religion
as having arisen in magic or as having arisen in fetishism. Nothing can be a greater
error than this. It is true that savage society practices magic, believes in tabu and
worships the totem. But it is wrong to suppose that these constitute the religion or
form the source of religion. To take such a view is to elevate what is incidental to the
position of the principal. The principal thing in the Religion of the savage are the
elemental facts of human existence such as life, death, birth, marriage etc. Magic,
tabu, totem are things which are incidental. Magic, tabu, totem, fetish etc., are not
the ends. They are only the means. The end is life and the preservation of life.
Magic, tabu etc., are resorted to by the savage society not for their own sake but to
conserve life and to exercise evil influences from doing harm to life. Thus
understood the religion of the savage society was concerned with life and the
preservation of life and it is these life processes which constitute the substance and
source of the religion of the savage society. So great was the concern of the savage
society for life and the preservation of life that it made them the basis of its religion.
So central were the life processes in the religion of the savage society that
everything, which affected them, became part of its religion. The ceremonies of the
savage society were not only concerned with the events of birth, attaining of
manhood, puberty, marriage, sickness, death and war they were also concerned
with food. Among pastoral peoples the flocks and herds are sacred. Among
agricultural peoples seedtime and harvest are marked by ceremonials performed
with some reference to the growth and the preservation of the crops. Likewise
drought, pestilence, and other strange, irregular phenomena of nature occasion the
performance of ceremonials. Why should such occasions as harvest and famine be
accompanied by religious ceremonies? Why is magic, tabu, totem be of such
importance to the savage. The only answer is that they all affect the preservation of
life. The process of life and its preservation form the main purpose. Life and
preservation of life is the core and centre of the Religion of the savage society. As
pointed out by Prof. Crawley the religion of the savage begins and ends with the
affirmation and conservation of life.
In life and preservation of life consists the religion of the savage. What is however
true of the religion of the savage is true of all religions wherever they are found for
the simple reason that constitutes the essence of religion. It is true that in the
present day society with its theological refinements this essence of religion has
become hidden from view and is even forgotten. But that life and the preservation of
life constitute the essence of religion even in the present day society is beyond
question. This is well illustrated by Prof. Crowley.When speaking of the religious life
of man in the present day society, he says how—
"a man's religion does not enter into his professional or social hours, his scientific
or artistic moments; practically its chief claims are settled on one day in the week
from which ordinary worldly concerns are excluded. In fact, his life is in two parts; but
the moiety with which religion is concerned is the elemental. Serious thinking on
ultimate questions of life and death is, roughly speaking, the essence of his
Sabbath; add to this the habit of prayer, giving the thanks at meals, and the
subconscious feeling that birth and death, continuation and marriage are rightly
solemnised by religion, while business and pleasure may possibly
be consecrated, but only metaphorically or by an overflow of religious feeling."
 Comparing this description of the religious concerns of the man in the present day
society with that of the savage, who can deny that the religion is essentially the
same, both in theory and practice whether one speaks of the religion of the savage
society or of the civilised society.
It is therefore clear that savage and civilised societies agree in one respect. In both
the central interests of religion—namely in the life processes by which individuals
are preserved and the race maintained—are the same. In this there is no real
difference between the two. But they differ in two other important respects.
In the first place in the religion of the savage society there is no trace of the idea of
God. In the second place in the religion of the savage society there is no bond
between morality and Religion. In the savage society there is religion without God. In
the savage society there is morality but it is independent of Religion.
How and when the idea of God became fused in Religion it is not possible to say. It
may be that the idea of God had its origin in the worship of the Great Man in Society,
the Hero—giving rise to theism—with its faith in its living God. It may be that the idea
of God came into existence as a result of the purely philosophical speculation upon
the problem as to who created life—giving rise to Deism—with its belief in God as
Architect of the Universe.[f7] In any case the idea of God is not integral to Religion.
How it got fused into Religion it is difficult to explain. With regard to the relation
between Religion and Morality this much may be safely said. Though the relation
between God and Religion is not quite integral, the relation between Religion and
morality is. Both religion and morality are connected with the same elemental facts
of human existence—namely life, death, birth and marriage. Religion consecrates
these life processes while morality furnishes rules for their preservation. Religion in
consecrating the elemental facts and processes of life came to consecrate also the
rules laid down by Society for their preservation. Looked at from this point it is easily
explained why the bond between Religion and Morality took place. It was more
intimate and more natural than the bond between Religion and God. But when
exactly this fusion between Religion and Morality took place it is not easy to say.
Be that as it may, the fact remains that the religion of the Civilised Society differs
from that of the Savage Society into two important features. In civilised society God
comes in the scheme of Religion. In civilised society morality becomes sanctified by
Religion.
This is the first stage in the Religious Revolution I am speaking of. This Religious
Revolution must not be supposed to have been ended here with the emergence of
these two new features in the development of religion. The two ideas having become
part of the constitution of the Religion of the Civilised Society have undergone
further changes which have revolutionized their meaning and their moral
significance. The second stage of the Religious Revolution marks a very radical
change. The contrast is so big that civilized society has become split into two,
antique society and modern society, so that instead of speaking of the religion of the
civilised society it becomes necessary to speak of the religion of antique society as
against the religion of modern society.
The religious revolution, which marks off antique society from modern society, is
far greater than the religious revolution, which divides savage society from civilised
society. Its dimensions will be obvious from the differences it has brought about in
the conceptions regarding the relations between God, Society and Man. The first
point of difference relates to the composition of society. Every human being, without
choice on his own part, but simply in virtue of his birth and upbringing, becomes a
member of what we call a naturalsociety. He belongs that is to a certain family and a
certain nation. This membership lays upon him definite obligations and duties which
he is called upon to fulfil as a matter of course and on pain of social penalties and
disabilities while at the same time it confers upon him certain social rights and
advantages. In this respect the ancient and modern worlds are alike. But in the
words of Prof. Smith[f8]:—
"There is this important difference, that the tribal or national societies of the
ancient world were not strictly natural in the modern sense of the word, for the
gods had their part and place in them equally with men. The circle into which a
man was born was not simply a group of kinsfolk and fellow citizens, but embraced
also certain divine beings, the gods of the family and of the state, which to the
ancient mind were as much a part of the particular community with which they
stood connected as the human members of the social circle. The relation between
the gods of antiquity and their worshippers was expressed in the language of
human relationship, and this language was not taken in a figurative sense but with
strict literally. If a god was spoken of as father and his worshippers as his offspring,
the meaning was that the worshippers were literally of his stock, that he and they
made up one natural family with reciprocal family duties to one another. Or, again,
if the god was addressed as king, and worshippers called themselves his servants,
they meant that the supreme guidance of the state was actually in his hands, and
accordingly the organisation of the state included provision for consulting his will
and obtaining his direction in all weighty matters, also provision for approaching
him as king with due homage and tribute.
"Thus a man was born into a fixed relation to certain gods as surely as he was
born into relation to his fellow men; and his religion, that is, the part of conduct which
was determined by his relation to the gods, was simply one side of the general
scheme of conduct prescribed for him by his position as a member of society. There
was no separation between the spheres of religion and of ordinary life. Every social
act had a reference to the gods as well as to men, for the social body was not made
up of men only, but of gods and men."
 Thus in ancient Society men and their Gods formed a social and political as well as
a religious whole. Religion was founded on kinship between the God and his
worshippers. Modern Society has eliminated God from its composition. It consists of
men only.
The second point of difference between antique and modern society relates to the
bond between God and Society. In the antique world the various communities
"believed in the existence of many Gods, for they accepted as real the Gods of
their enemies as well as their own, but they did not worship the strange Gods from
whom they had no favour to expect, and on whom their gifts and offerings would
have been thrown away.... Each group had its own God, or perhaps a God and
Goddess, to whom the other Gods bore no relation whatever, " [f9]
The God of the antique society was an exclusive God. God was owned by and
bound to one singly community. This is largely to be accounted for by

"the share taken by the Gods in the feuds and wars of their worshippers. The
enemies of the God and the enemies of his people are identical; even in the Old
Testament `the enemies of Jehovah' are originally nothing else than the enemies of
Israel. In battle each God fights for his own people, and to his aid success is
ascribed ; Chemosh gives victory to Moab, and Asshyr to Assyria ; and often the
divine image or symbol accompanies the host to battle. When the ark was brought
into the camp of Israel, the Philistines said,"Gods are come into the camp ; who can
deliver us from their own practice, for when David defeated them
at Baalperazirm, part of the booty consisted in their idols which had been carried into
the field. When the Carthaginians, in their treaty with Phillip of Macedon, speak
of "the Gods that take part in the campaign," they doubtless refer to the inmates of
the sacred tent which was pitched in time of war beside the tent of the general, and
before which prisoners were sacrificed after a victory. Similarly an Arabic poet
says, "Yaguthwent forth with us against Morad"; that is, the image of the God Yaguth
was carried into the fray".

This fact had produced a solidarity between God and the community.
"Hence, on the principle of solidarity between Gods and their worshippers, the
particularism characteristic of political society could not but reappear in the sphere of
religion. In the same measure as the God of a clan or town had indisputable claim to
the reverence and service of the community to which he belonged, he was
necessarily an enemy to their enemies and a stranger to those to whom they were
strangers".[f10]
God had become attached to a community, and the community had become
attached to their God. God had become the God of the Community and the
Community had become the chosen community of the God.
 This view had two consequences. Antique Society never came to conceive that
God could be universal God, the God of all. Antique Society never could conceive
that there was any such thing as humanity in general.
The third point of difference between ancient and modern society, has reference to
the conception of the fatherhood of God. In the antique Society God was the Father
of his people but the basis of this conception of Fatherhood was deemed to be
physical.
"In heathen religions the Fatherhood of the Gods is physical fatherhood. Among
the Greeks, for example, the idea that the Gods fashioned men out of clay, as
potters fashion images, is relatively modern. The older conception is that the races
of men have Gods for their ancestors, or are the children of the earth, the common
mother of Gods and men, so that men are really of the stock or kin of the Gods. That
the same conception was familiar to the older Semites appears from the Bible.
Jeremiah describes idolaters as saying to a stock, Thou art my father ; and to a
stone, Thou has brought me forth. In the ancient poem, Num. xxi. 29,
The Moabites are called the sons and daughters of Chemosh, and at a much more
recent date the prophet Malachi calls a heathen woman "the daughter of a strange
God". These phrases are doubtless accommodations to the language, which the
heathen neighbours of Israel used about themselves. In Syria and Palestine each
clan, or even complex of clans forming a small independent people, traced back its
origin to a great first father ; and they indicate that, just as in Greece this father or
progenitor of the race was commonly identified with the God of the race. With this it
accords that in the judgment of most modern enquirers several names of deities
appear in the old genealogies of nations in the Book of Genesis. Edom, for example,
the progenitor of the Edomites,was identified by the Hebrews with Esau the brother
of Jacob, but to the heathen he was a God, as appears from the theophorous proper
name Obededom, " worshipper ofEdom", the extant fragments of Phoenician
and Babylonian cosmogonies date from a time when tribal religion and the
connection of individual Gods with particular kindreds was forgotten or had fallen
into the background. But in a generalized form the notion that men are the offspring
of the Gods still held its ground. In the Phoenician cosmogony of PhiloBablius it
does so in a confused shape, due to the authors euhemerism, that is, to his theory
that deities are nothing more than deified men who had been great benefactors to
their species. Again, in the Chaldaean legend preserved by Berosus, the belief that
men are of the blood of the Gods is expressed in a form too crude not to be very
ancient; for animals as well as men are said to have been formed out of clay mingled
with the blood of a decapitated deity. "[f11]
This conception of blood kinship of Gods and men had one important
consequence. To the antique world God was a human being and as such was not
capable of absolute virtue and absolute goodness. God shared the physical nature
of man and was afflicted with the passions infirmities and vices to which man was
subject. The God of the antiqueworld had all the wants and appetites of man and he
often indulged in the vices in which many revelled. Worshipers had to implore God
not to lead them into temptations.
In modern Society the idea of divine fatherhood has become entirely dissociated
from the physical basis of natural fatherhood. In its place man is conceived
to be created in the image of God ; he is not deemed I to be begotten by God. This
change in the conception of the fatherhood of God looked at from its moral aspect
has made a tremendous difference in the nature of God as a Governor of the
Universe. God with his physical basis was not capable of absolute good and
absolute virtue. With God wanting in righteousness the universe could not insist on
righteousness as an immutable principle. This dissociation of God from physical
contact with man has made it possible for God to be conceived of as capable of
absolute good and absolute virtue.
The fourth point of difference relates to the part religion plays when a change of
nationality takes place.
In the antique world there could be no change of nationality unless it was
accompanied by a change of Religion. In the antique world, "It was impossible for
an. individual to change his religion without changing his nationality, and a whole
community could hardly change its religion at all without being absorbed into another
stock or nation. Religions like political ties were transmitted from father to son ; for a
man could not choose a new God at will ; the Gods of his fathers were the only
deities on whom he could count as friendly and ready to accept his homage, unless
he forswore his own kindred and was received into a new circle of civil as well as
religious life."
How change of religion was a condition precedent to a Social fusion is well
illustrated by the dialogue between Naomi and Ruth in the Old Testament.
"Thy Sister" says Naomi to Ruth, "is gone back unto her people and unto her
Gods"; and Ruth replies, "Thy people shall be my people and thy God my God."
It is quite clear that in the ancient world a change of nationality involved a change
of cult. Social fusion meant religious fusion.
In modern society abandonment of religion or acceptance of another is not
necessary for social fusion. This is best illustrated by what is in modern terminology
and naturalisation, whereby the citizen of one state abandons his citizenship of the
state and becomes a citizen of new state. In this process of naturalisation religion
has no place. One can have a social fusion which is another name for naturalisation
without undergoing a religious fusion.
To distinguish modern society from antique society it is not enough to say that
Modern Society consists of men only. It must be added that it consists of men who
are worshippers of different Gods.
 The fifth point of difference relates to the necessity of knowledge as to the
nature of God as part of religion.
"From the antique point of view, indeed the question what the Gods are in
themselves is not a religious but a speculative one ; what is requisite to religion is a
practical acquaintance with the rules on I which the deity acts and on which he
expects his worshippers to frame their conduct—what in 2 Kings xvii. 26 is called
the "manner" or rather the"customary law " (misphat) of the God of the land. This is
true even of the religion of Israel. When the prophets speak of the knowledge of the
laws and principles of His government in Israel, and a summary expression for
religion as a whole is "the knowledge and fear of Jehovah," i.e. the knowledge of
what Jehovah prescribes, combined with a reverent obedience. An extreme
skepticism towards all religious speculation is recommended in the Book
of Ecclesiastes as the proper attitude of piety, for no amount of discussion can carry
a man beyond the plain rule, to "fear God and keep His Commandments". This
counsel the author puts into the mouth of Solomon, and so represents it, not
unjustly, as summing up the old view of religion, which in more modern days had
unfortunately begun to be undermined."
The sixth point of difference relates to the place of belief in Religion.
In ancient Society :—
"Ritual and practical usages were, strictly speaking, the sum total of ancient
religions. Religion in primitive times was not a system of belief with practical
applications ; it was a body of fixed traditional practices, to which every member of
society conformed as a matter of courage. Men would not be men if they agreed to
do certain things without having a reason for their action ; but in ancient religion the
reason was not first formulated as a doctrine and then expressed in practice, but
conversely, practice preceded doctrinal theory. Men form general rule of conduct
before they begin to express general principles in words ; political institutions are
older than political theories and in like manner religious institutions are older than
religious theories. This analogy is not arbitrarily chosen, for in fact the parallelism in
ancient society between religious and political institutions is complete. In each
sphere great importance was attached to form and precedent, but the explanation
why the precedent was followed consisted merely of legend as to its first
establishment. That the precedent, once established, was authoritative did not
appear to require any proof. The rules of society were based on precedent, and the
continued existence of the society was sufficient reason why a precedent once set
should continue to be followed."
The seventh point of difference relates to the place of individual conviction in
Religion. In ancient Society :—
"Religion was a part of the organized social life into which a man was born, and to
which he conformed through life in the same unconscious way in which men fall into
any habitual practice of the society in which they live. Men took the Gods and their
worship for granted, just as they took the other usages of the state for granted, and if
they reason or speculated about them, they did so on the presupposition that the
traditional usages were fixed things, behind which their reasoning must not go, and
which no reasoning could be allowed to overturn. To us moderns religion is above all
a matter of individual conviction and reasoned belief, but to the ancients it was a part
of the citizen's public life, reduced to fixed forms, which he was not bound to
understand and was not at liberty to criticize or to neglect. Religious non-conformity
was an offence against the state; for if sacred tradition was tampered with the bases
of society were undermined, and the favour of the Gods was forfeited. But so long as
the prescribed forms were duly observed, a man was recognized as truly pious, and
no one asked how his religion was rooted in his heart or affected his reason. Like
political duty, of which indeed it was a part, religion was entirely comprehended in
the observance of certain fixed rules of outward conduct."
The eighth point of difference pertains to the relation of God to Society and man, of
Society to Man in the matter of God's Providence.
First as to the difference in the relation of God to Society. In this connection three
points may be noted. The faith of the antique world
"Sought nothing higher than a condition of physical bien etre. . . . The good things
desired of the Gods were the blessings of earthly life, not spiritual but carnal
things." What the antique societies asked and believed themselves to receive from
their God lay mainly in the following things :
"Abundant harvests, help against their enemies and counsel by oracles or
soothsayers in matters of natural difficulty." In the antique world
"Religion was not the affair of the individual but of the Community. . . . It was the
community, and not the individual, that was sure of the permanent and the unfailing
hand of the deity." Next as to the difference in the relation of God to man.
"It was not the business of the Gods of heathenish to watch, by a series of special
providence, over the welfare of every individual. It is true that individuals laid their
private affairs before the Gods, and asked with prayers and views for strictly
personal blessings. But they did this just as they might crave a personal boon from a
king, or as a son craves a boon from a father, without expecting to get all that was
asked. What the Gods might do in this way was done as a matter of personal favour,
and was no part of their proper function as heads of the community."
"The Gods watched over a man's civic life, they gave him his share in public
benefits, the annual largess of the harvest and the vintage, national peace or victory
over enemies, and so forth, but they were not sure helpers in every private need,
and above all they would not help him in matters that were against the interests of
the community as a whole. There was therefore a whole region of possible needs
and desires for which religion could and would do nothing." Next the difference in the
attitude of God and Society to man.
In the antique world Society was indifferent to individual welfare. God as no doubt
bound to Society. But
"The compact between the God and his worshippers was not held to pledge the
deity to make the private cares of each member of the Community his own."
"The benefits expected of God were of a public character affecting the whole
community, especially fruitful seasons, increase of flocks of herds and success in
war. So long as community flourished the fact that an individual was miserable
reflected no discredit on divine providence."
On the contrary the antique world looked upon the misery of a man as proof.
"That the sufferer was an evil-doer, justly hateful to the Gods. Such a man was out
of place among the happy and the prosperous crowd that assembled on feast days
before the alter." It is in accordance with this view that the leper and the mourner
were shut out from the exercise of religion as well as from the privileges of social life
and their food was not brought into the house of God.
As for conflict between individual and individual and between society and the
individual God had no concern. In the antique world :
"It was not expected that (God) should always be busy righting human affairs. In
ordinary matters it was men's business to help themselves and their own kins folk,
though the sense that the God was always near, and could be called upon at need,
was a moral force continually working in some degree for the maintenance of social
righteousness and order. The strength of this moral force was indeed very uncertain,
for it was always possible for the evil-doer to flatter himself that his offence would be
overlooked." In the antique world man did not ask God to be righteous to him.
"Whether in civil or in profane matters, the habit of the old world was to think much
of the community and little of the individual life, and no one felt this to be unjust even
though it bore hardly on himself. The God was the God of the national or of the tribe,
and he knew and cared for the individual only as a member of the community."
That was the attitude that man in the antique world took of his own private
misfortune. Man came to rejoice before his God and "in rejoicing before his God man
rejoiced with and for the welfare of his kindred, his neighbours and his country, and,
in renewing by solemn act of worship the bond that united him to God, he also
renewed the bonds of family, social and national obligation." Man in the antique
world did not call upon his maker to be righteous to him.
Such is this other Revolution in Religion. There have thus been two Religious
Revolutions. One was an external Revolution. The other was an internal Revolution.
The External Revolution was concerned with the field within which the authority of
Religion was to prevail. The Internal Revolution had to do with the changes in
Religion as a scheme of divine Governance for human society. The External
Revolution was not really a Religious Revolution at all. It was a revolt of science
against the extra territorial jurisdiction assumed by Religion over a field which did not
belong. The Internal Revolution was a real Revolution or may be compared to any
other political Revolution, such as the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution.
It involved a constitutional change. By this Revolution the Scheme of divine
governance came to be altered, amended and reconstituted.
How profound have been the changes which this internal Revolution, has made in
the antique scheme of divine governance can be easily seen. By this Revolution
God has ceased to be a member of a community. Thereby he has become impartial.
God has ceased to be the Father of Man in the physical sense of the word. He has
become the creator of the Universe. The breaking of this blood bond has made it
possible to hold that God is good. By this Revolution man has ceased to be a blind
worshipper of God doing nothing but obeying his commands. Thereby man has
become a responsible person required to justify his belief in God's commandments
by his conviction. By this Revolution God has ceased to be merely the protector of
Society and social interests in gross have ceased to be the center of the divine
Order. Society and man have changed places as centers of this divine order. It is
man who has become the center of it.
All this analysis of the Revolution in the Ruling concepts of Religion as a scheme
of divine governance had one purpose namely to discover the norm for evaluating
the philosophy of a Religion. The impatient reader may not ask where are these
norms and what are they? The reader may not have found the norms specified by
their names in the foregoing discussion. But he could not have failed to notice that
the whole of this Religious Revolution was raging around the norms for judging what
is right and what is wrong. If he has not, let me make explicit what has been implicit
in the whole of this discussion. We began with the distinction between antique
society and modern society as has been pointed out they differed in the type of
divine governance they accepted as their Religious ideals. At one end of the
Revolution was the antique society with its Religious ideal in which the end was
Society. At the other end of the Revolution is the modern Society with its Religious
ideal in which the end is the individual. To put the same fact in terms of the norm it
can be said that the norm or the criterion, for judging right and wrong in the Antique
Society was utility while the norm or the criterion for judging right and wrong in the
modern Society is Justice. The Religious Revolution was not thus a revolution in the
religious organization of Society resulting in the shifting of the center—from society
to the individual—it was a revolution in the norms.
Some may demur to the norms I have suggested. It may be that it is a new way of
reaching them. But to my mind there is no doubt that they are the real norms by
which to judge the philosophy of religion. In the first place the norm must enable
people to judge what is right and wrong in the conduct of men. In the second place
the norm must be appropriate to current notion of what constitutes the moral good.
From both these points of view they appear to be the true norms. They enable us to
judge what is right and wrong. They are appropriate to the society which adopted
them. Utility as a criterion was appropriate to the antique world in which society
being the end, the moral good was held to be something which had social utility.
Justice as a criterion became appropriate to the Modern World in which individual
being the end, the moral good was held to be something which does justice to the
individual. There may be controversy as to which of the two norms is morally
superior. But I do not think there can be any serious controversy that these are not
the norms. If it is said that these norms are not transcendental enough ; my reply is
that if a norm whereby one is to judge the philosophy of religion must be Godly, it
must also be earthly. At any rate these are the norms I propose to adopt in
examining the philosophy of Hinduism.

II
This is a long detour. But it was a necessary preliminary to any inquiry into the
main question. However, when one begins the inquiry one meets with an initial
difficulty. The Hindu is not prepared to face the inquiry. He either argues that religion
is of no importance or he takes shelter behind the view—fostered by the study of
comparative Religion—that all religions are good. There is no doubt that both these
views are mistaken and untenable.
Religion as a social force cannot be ignored. Religion has been aptly described
by Hebert Spencer as "the weft which everywhere crosses the warp of history". This
is true of every Society. But Religion has not only crossed everywhere the warp of
Indian History it forms the warp and woof of the Hindu mind. The life of the Hindu is
regulated by Religion at every moment of his life. It orders him how during life he
should conduct himself and how on death his body shall be disposed of. It tells him
how and when he shall indulge in his sexual impulses. It tells him what ceremonies
are to be performed when a child is born—how he should name, how he should cut
the hair on its head, how he should perform its first feeding. It tells him what
occupation he can take to, what woman he should marry. It tells him with whom he
should dine and what food he should eat, what vegetables are lawful and what are
forbidden. It tells how he should spend his day, how many times he should eat, how
many times he should pray. There is no act of the Hindu which is not covered or
ordained by Religion. It seems strange that the educated Hindus should come to
look upon it as though it was a matter of indifference.
Besides, Religion is a social force. As I have pointed out Religion stands for a
scheme of divine governance. The scheme becomes an ideal for society to follow.
The ideal may be non-existent in the sense that it is something which is constructed.
But although non-existent, it is real. For an ideal it has full operative force which is
inherent in every ideal. Those who deny the importance of religion not only forget
this, they also fail to realize how great is the potency and sanction that lies behind a
religious ideal as compound with that of a purely secular ideal. This is probably due
to the lag which one sees between the real and the ideal which is always present
whether the ideal is religious or secular. But the relative potency of the two ideals is
to be measured by another test—namely their power to override the practical
instincts of man. The ideal is concerned with something that is remote. The practical
instincts of man are concerned with the immediate present. Now placed as against
the force of the practical instincts of man the two ideals show their difference in an
unmistaken manner. The practical instincts of man do yield to the prescriptions of a
religious ideal however much the two are opposed to each other. The practical
instincts of man do not on the other hand yield to the secular ideal if the two are in
conflict. This means that a religious ideal has a hold on mankind, irrespective of an
earthly gain. This can never be said of a purely secular ideal. Its power depends
upon its power to confer material benefit. This shows how great is the difference in
the potency and sanction of the two ideals over the human mind. A religious ideal
never fails to work so long as there is faith in that ideal. To ignore religion is to ignore
a live wire.
Again to hold that all religions are true and good is to cherish a belief which is
positively and demonstrably wrong. This belief, one is sorry to say, is the result of
what is known as the study of comparative religion. Comparative religion has done
one great service to humanity. It has broken down the claim and arrogance of
revealed religions as being the only true and good religions of study. While it is true
that comparative religion has abrogated the capricious distinction between true and
false religions based on purely arbitrary and a priori considerations, it has brought in
its wake some false notions about religion. The most harmful one is the one I have
mentioned namely that all religions are equally good and that there is no necessity of
discriminating between them. Nothing can be a greater error than this. Religion is an
institution or an influence and like all social influences and institutions, it may help or
it may harm a society which is in its grip. As pointed out by Prof. Tiele[f12] religion is
"one of the mightiest motors in the history of mankind, which formed as well as tore
asunder nations, united as well as divided empires, which sanctioned the most
atrocious and barbarous deeds, the most libinous customs, inspired the most
admirable acts of heroism, self renunciation, and devotion, which occasioned the
most sanguinary wars, rebellions and persecutions, as well as brought about the
freedom, happiness and peace of nations—at one time a partisan of tyranny, at
another breaking its chains, now calling into existence and fostering a new and
brilliant civilization, then the deadly foe to progress, science and art."
A force which shows such a strange contrast in its result can be accepted as good
without examining the form it takes and the ideal it serves. Everything depends upon
what social ideal a given religion as a divine scheme of governance hold out. This is
a question which is not avowed by the science of comparative religion. Indeed it
begins where comparative religion ends. The Hindu is merely trying to avoid it by
saying that although religions are many they are equally good. For they are not.
However much the Hindu may seek to burke the inquiry into the philosophy of
Hinduism there is no escape. He must face it.
Ill
Now to begin with the subject. I propose to apply both the tests, the test of justice
and the test of utility to judge the philosophy of Hinduism. First I will apply the test of
justice. Before doing so I want to explain what I mean by the principle of justice.
No one has expounded it better than Professor Bergbon[f13]. As interpreted by him
the principle of justice is a compendious one and includes most of the other
principles which have become the foundation of a moral order. Justice has always
evoked ideas of equality, of proportion of "compensation". Equity signifies equality.
Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in value.
If all men are equal, all men are of the same essence and the common essence
entitled them to the same fundamental rights and to equal liberty.
In short justice is simply another name for liberty equality and fraternity. It is in this
sense I shall be using[f14] justice as a criterion to judge Hinduism.
Which of these tenets does Hinduism recognize? Let us take the question one by
one.
1. Does Hinduism recognize Equality?
The question instantaneously brings to one's mind the caste system. One striking
feature of the caste system is that the different castes do not stand as an horizontal
series all on the same plane. It is a system in which the different castes are placed in
a vertical series one above the other. Manu may not be responsible for the creation
of caste. Manupreached the sanctity of the Varna and as I have shown Varna is the
parent of caste. In that sense Manu can be charged with being the progenitor if not
the author of the Caste System. Whatever be the case as to the guilt of Manu
regarding the Caste System there can be no question that Manu is responsible for
upholding the principle of gradation and rank.
In the scheme of Manu the Brahmin is placed at the first in rank. Below him is
the Kshatriya. Below Kshatriya is the Vaishya. Below Vaishya is
the Shudra and Below Shudra is the Ati-Shudra (the Untouchables). This system of
rank and gradation is, simply another way of enunciating the principle of inequality
so that it may be truly said that Hinduism does not recognize equality. This inequality
in status is not merely the inequality that one sees in the warrant of precedence
prescribed for a ceremonial gathering at a King's Court. It is a permanent social
relationship among the classes to be observed— to be enforced—at all times in all
places and for all purposes. It will take too long to show how in every phase of life
Manu has introduced and made inequality the vital force of life. But I will illustrate it
by taking a few examples such as slavery, marriage and Rule of Law.
Manu recognizes[f15] Slavery. But he confined it to
the Shudras. Only Shudras could be made slaves of the three higher classes. But
the higher classes could not be the slaves of the Shudra.
But evidently practice differed from the law of Manu and not only Shudras
happened to become slaves but members of the other three classes also become
slaves. When this was discovered to be the case a new rule was enacted by a
Successor of Manu namely Narada[f16]. This new rule of Narada runs as follows :—
V 39. In the inverse order of the 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."
Recognition of slavery was bad enough. But if the rule of slavery had been left free
to take its own course it would have had at least one beneficial effect. It would have
been a levelling force. The foundation of caste would have been destroyed. For
under it a Brahmin might have become the slave of the Untouchable and the
Untouchable would have become the master of the Brahmin. But it was seen that
unfettered slavery was an equalitarian principle and an attempt was made to nullify
it. Manu and his successors therefore while recognising slavery ordain that it shall
not be recognised in its inverse order to the Varna System. That means that a
Brahmin may become the slave of another Brahmin. But he shall not be the slave of
a person of another Varna i.e. of the Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, or Ati-Shudra. On
the other hand a Brahmin may hold as his slave any one belonging to the
four Varnas. A Kshatriya can have a Kshatriya, Vaisha, Shudra and Ati-Shudra as
his slaves but not one who is a Brahmin. A Vaishya can have a Vaishya, Shudra and
Ati-Shudra as his slaves but not one who is a Brahmin or a Kshatriya. A Shudra can
hold a Shudra and Ati-shudra can hold an Ati-Shudra as his slave but not one who is
a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra.
Consider Manu on marriage. Here are his rules governing intermarriage among the
different classes. Manu says :—-
III. 12. "For the first marriage of the twice born classes, a woman of the same class
is recommended but for such as are impelled by inclination to marry again, women
in the direct order of the classes are to be preferred."
III. 13. "A Shudra woman only must be the wife of Shudra : she and a Vaisya, of
a Vaisya; they two and a Kshatriya, of a Kshatriya ; those two and a Brahmani of
a Brahman."
Manu is of course opposed to intermarriage. His injunction is for each class to
marry within his class. But he does recognize marriage outside the defined class.
Here again he is particularly careful not to allow intermarriage to do harm to his
principle of inequality among classes. Like Slavery he permits intermarriage but not
in the inverse order. A Brahmin when marrying outside his class may marry any
woman from any of the classes below him. A Kshatriya is free to marry a woman
from the two classes next below him namely the Vaishya and Shudra but must not
marry a woman from the Brahmin class which is above him. A Vaishya is free to
marry a woman from the Shudra Class which is next below him. But he cannot marry
a woman from the Brahmin and the Kshatriya Class which are above him.
Why this discrimination? The only answer is that Manu was most anxious to
preserve the rule of inequality which was his guiding principle.
Take Rule of Law. Rule of Law is generally understood to mean equality before
law. Let any one interested to know what Manu has to say on the point ponder over
the following Rules extracted from his code which for easy understanding I have
arranged under distinct headings.
As to witnesses.—According to Manu they are to be sworn as follows :—
VIII. 87. "In the forenoon let the judge, being purified, severally call on the twice-
born, being purified also, to declare the truth, in the presence of some image, a
symbol of the divinity and of Brahmins, while the witnesses turn their faces either to
the north or to the east."
VIII. 88. "To a Brahman he must begin with saying, `Declare ; to a Kshatriya, with
saying, ' Declare the truth '; to a Vaisya, with comparing perjury to the crime of
stealing kine,grain or gold ; to a Sudra, with comparing it in some or all of the
following sentences, to every crime that men can commit.".
VIII. 113. "Let the judge cause a priest to swear by his veracity ; a soldier, by his
horse, or elephant, and his weapons ; a merchant, by his kine, grain, and gold ; a
mechanic or servile man, by imprecating on his own head, if he speak falsely, all
possible crimes ;"
Manu also deals with cases of witnesses giving false evidence. According to Manu
giving false evidence is a crime, says Manu :—
VIII. 122. "Learned men have specified these punishments, which were ordained
by sage legislators for perjured witnesses, with a view to prevent a failure of justice
and to restrain iniquity."
VIII. 123. "Let a just prince banish men of the three lower classes, if they give false
evidence, having first levied the fine ; but a Brahman let him only banish." But Manu
made one exception :—
VIII. 1 12. "To women, however, at a time of dalliance, or on a proposal of
marriage, in the case of grass or fruit eaten by a cow, of wood taken for a sacrifice,
or of a promise made for the preservation of a Brahman, it is deadly sin to take a
light oath." As parties to proceedings—Their position can be illustrated by quoting
the ordinances of Manu relating to a few of the important criminal offences dealt with
by Manu. Take the offence of Defamation. Manu says :—
 VIII. 267. "A soldier, defaming a priest, shall be fined a hundred panas, a
merchant, thus offending, an hundred and fifty, or two hundred; but, for such an
offence, a mechanic or servile man shall be shipped."
III. 268. "A priest shall be fined fifty, if he slander a soldier; twenty five, if a
merchant ; and twelve, if he slander a man of the servile class." Take the offence of
Insult—Manu says:—
VIII. 270. "A once born man, who insults the twice-born with gross invectives,
ought to have his tongue slit ; for he sprang from the lowest part of Brahma."
VIII. 271. "If he mention their names and classes with contumely, as if he say,
"Oh Devadatta, though refuse of Brahmin", an iron style, ten fingers long, shall be
thrust red into his mouth."
VIII. 272. "Should he, through pride, give instruction to priests concerning their
duty, let the king order some hot oil to be dropped into his mouth and his ear." Take
the offence of Abuse—Manu says :—
VIII. 276. "For mutual abuse by a priest and a soldier, this fine must be imposed by
a learned king; the lowest amercement on the priest, and the middle-most on the
soldier."
VIII. 277. "Such exactly, as before mentioned, must be the punishment a merchant
and a mechanic, in respect of their several classes, except the slitting of the
tongue ; this is a fixed rule of punishment. " Take the offence of Assault—
Manu propounds :—
VIII. 279. "With whatever member a low-born man shall assault or hurt a superior,
even that member of his must be slit, or cut more or less in proportion to the
injury ; this is an ordinance of Manu."
VIII. 280. "He who raises his hand or a staff against another, shall have his hand
cut ; and he, who kicks another in wrath, shall have an incision made in his
foot." Take the offence of Arrogance—According to Manu:—
VIII. 28). "A man of the lowest class, who shall insolently place himself on the
same seat with one of the highest, shall either be banished with a mark on his hinder
parts, or the king, shall cause a gash to be made on his buttock."
VIII. 282. "Should he spit on him through price, the king shall order both his lips to
be gashed; should he urine on him, his penis: should he break wing against him, his
anus."
VIII. 283. "If he seize the Brahman by the locks, or by the feet, or by the beard, or
by the throat, or by the scrotum, let the king without hesitation cause incisions to be
made in his hands." Take the offence of Adultery. Says Manu:—
VIII. 359. "A man of the servile class, who commits actual adultery with the wife of
a priest, ought to suffer death; the wives, indeed, of all the four classes must ever be
most especially guarded."
 VIII. 366. "A low man, who makes love to a damsel of high birth, ought to be
punished corporal; but he who addresses a maid of equal rank, shall give the nuptial
present and marry her, if her father please."
VIII. 374. "A mechanic or servile man, having an adulterous connection with a
woman of a twice-born class, whether guarded at home or unguarded, shall thus be
punished ; if she was unguarded, he shall lose the part offending, and his whole
substance ; if guarded, and a priestess, every thing, even his life."
VIII. 375. "For adultery with a guarded priestess, a merchant shall forfeit all his
wealth after imprisonment for a year; a soldier shall be fined a thousand panas, and
he be shaved with the urine of an ass."
VIII. 376. "But, if a merchant or soldier commit adultery with a woman of the
sacerdotal class, whom her husband guards not at home, the king shall only fine the
merchant five hundred, and the soldier a thousand;”
VIII. 377. "Both of them, however, if they commit that offence with a priestess not
only guarded but eminent for good qualities, shall be punished like men of the servile
class, or be burned in a fire of dry grass or reeds."
VIII. 382. "If a merchant converse criminally with a guarded woman of the military,
or a soldier with one of the mercantile class, they both deserve the same
punishment as in the case of a priestess unguarded."
VIII. 383. "But a Brahman, who shall commit adultery with a guarded woman of
those two classes, must be fined a thousand panas ; and for the life offence with a
guarded woman of the servile class, the fine of a soldier or a merchant shall be also
one thousand."
VIII. 384. "For adultery with a woman of the military class, if guarded, the fine of a
merchant is five hundred ; but a soldier, for the converse of that offence, must be
shaved with urine, or pay the fine just mentioned."
VIII. 385. "A priest shall pay five hundred panas if he connect himself criminally
with an unguarded woman of the military, commercial, or servile class, and a
thousand, for such a connection with a woman of a vile mixed breed."
Turning to the system of punishment for offences Manu's Scheme throws an
interesting light on the subject. Consider the following ordinances :—
VIII. 379. "Ignominious tonsure is ordained, instead of capital punishment, for an
adulterer of the priestly class, where the punishment of other classes may extend to
Loss of life."
VIII. 380. "Never shall the king slay a Brahman, though convicted of all possible
crimes ; let him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his property secure,
and his body unhurt."
XI. 127. "For killing intentionally a virtuous man of the military class, the penance
must be a fourth part of that ordained for killing a priest ; for killing a Vaisya, only an
eighth, for killing a Sudra, who had been constant in discharging his duties, a
sixteenth part."
XI. 128. "But, if a Brahmen kill a Kshatriya without malice, he must, after a full
performance of his religious rites, give the priests one bull together with a thousand
cows."
XI. 129. "Or he may perform for three years the penance for slaying a Brahmen,
mortifying his organs of sensation and action, letting his hair grow long, and living
remote from the town, with the root of a tree for his mansion."
XI. 130. "If he kill without malice a Vaisya, who had a good moral character, he
may perform the same penance for one year, or give the priests a hundred cows and
a bull."
XI. 131. "For six months must he perform this whole penance, if without intention
he kill a Sudra ; or he may give ten white cows and a bull to the priests."
VIII. 381. "No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahman ; and the
king, therefore, must not even form in his mind an idea of killing a priest."
VIII. 126. "Let the king having considered and ascertained the frequency of a
similar offence, the place and time, the ability of the criminal to pay or suffer and the
crime itself, cause punishment to fall on those alone, who deserves it."
VIII. 124. "Manu, son of the Self-existent, has named ten places of punishment,
which are appropriated to the three lower classes, but a Brahman must depart from
the realm unhurt in any one of them."
VIII. 125. "The part of generation, the belly, the tongue, the two hands, and, fifthly,
the two feet, the eye, the nose, both ears, the property, and, in a capital case, the
whole body."How strange is the contrast between Hindu and Non-Hindu criminal
jurisprudence? How inequality is writ large in Hinduism as seen in its criminal
jurisprudence? In a penal code charged with the spirit of justice we find two things—
a section dealing defining the crime and a prescribing a rational form of punishment
for breach of it and a rule that all offenders are liable to the same penalty. In Manu
what do we find? First an irrational system of punishment. The punishment for a
crime is inflicted on the organ concerned in the crime such as belly, tongue, nose,
eyes, ears, organs of generation etc., as if the offending organ was a sentient being
having a will for its own and had not been merely a servitor of human being. Second
feature of Manu's penal code is the inhuman character of the punishment which has
no proportion to the gravity of the offence. But the most striking feature of Manu's
Penal Code which stands out in all its nakedness is the inequality of punishment for
the same offence. Inequality designed not merely to punish the offender but to
protect also the dignity and to maintain the baseness of the parties coming to a
Court of Law to seek justice in other words to maintain the social inequality on which
his whole scheme is founded.
 So far I have taken for illustrations such matters as serve to show * how Manu
has ordained social inequality. I now propose to take other matters dealt with by
Manu in order to illustrate that Manu has also ordained Religious inequality. These
are matters which are connected with what are called sacraments and Ashrams.
The Hindus like the Christians believe in sacraments. The only difference is that
the Hindus have so many of them that even the Roman Catholic Christians would be
surprised at the extravagant number observed by the Hindus. Originally their number
was forty and covered the most trivial as well as the most important occasions in I a
person's life. First they were reduced to twenty. Later on it was reduced to
sixteen[f17] and at that figure the sacraments of the Hindus have remained stabilized.
Before I explain how at the core of these rules of sacraments there lies the spirit of
inequality the reader must know what the rules are. It is impossible to examine all. It
will be enough if I deal with a few of them. I will take only three categories of them,
those relating with Initiation, Gayatri and Daily Sacrifices.
First as to Initiation. This initiation is effected by the investitute of a person with the
sacred thread. The following are the most important rules of Manu regarding the
sacrament of investiture.
II. 36. "In the eighth year from the conception of a Brahman, in the eleventh from
that of a Kshatriya, and in the twelfth from that of a Vaisya, let the father invest the
child with the mark of his class."
II. 37. "Should a Brahman, or his father for him, be desirous of his advancement in
sacred knowledge ; a Kshatriya, of extending his power; or a Vaisya of engaging in
mercantile business; the investitute may be made in the fifth, sixth, or eighth years
respectively."
II. 38. "The ceremony of investitute hallowed by the Gayatri must not be delayed,
in the case of a priest, beyond the sixteenth year ; nor in that of a soldier, beyond the
twenty second ; nor in that of a merchant, beyond the twenty fourth."
II. 39. "After that, all youths of these three classes, who have not been invested at
the proper time, become vratyas, or outcasts, degraded from the Gayatri, and
condemned by the virtuous."
II. 147. "Let a man consider that as a mere human birth, which his parents gave
him for their mutual gratification, and which he receives after lying in the womb."
II. 148. "But that birth which his principal acharya, who knows the whole Veda,
procures for him by his divine mother the Gayatri, is a true birth ; that birth is exempt
from age and from death."
II. 169. "The first birth is from a natural mother; the second, from the ligation of the
zone ; the third from the due performance of the sacrifice ; such are the births of him
who is usually called twice-born, according to a text of the Veda."
II. 170. "Among them his divine birth is that, which is distinguished by the ligation
of the zone, and sacrificial cord ; and in that birth the Gayatri is his mother, and
the Acharya, his father." Then let me come to Gayatri. It is a Mantra or an invocation
of special spiritual efficacy. Manu explains what it is. II. 76. "Brahma milked out, as it
were, from the threeVedas, the letter A, the letter U, and the letter M which form by
their coalition the triliteral monosyllable, together with three mysterious
words, bhur, bhuvah, swer, or earth, sky, heaven."
II. 77. "From the three Vedas, also the Lord of creatures, incomprehensibly
exalted, successively milked out the three measures of that ineffable text,
be ginning with the word tad, and entitled Savitri or Gayatri."
II. 78. "A priest who shall know the Veda, and shall pronounce to himself, both
morning and evening, that syllable and that holy text preceded by the three words,
shall attain the sanctity which the Veda confers."
II. 79. "And a twice born man, who shall a thousand times repeat those three
(or om, the vyahritis, and the gayatri,) apart from the multitude, shall be released in a
month even from a great offence, as a snake from his slough."
II. 80. "The priest, the soldier, and the merchant, who shall neglect this mysterious
text, and fail to perform in due season his peculiar acts of piety, shall meet with
contempt among the virtuous."
11.81 "The great immutable words, preceded by the triliteral syllable, and followed
by the Gayatri which consists of three measures, must be considered as the mouth,
or principal part of the Veda."
II. 82. "Whoever shall repeat, day by day, for three years, without negligence, that
sacred text, shall hereafter approach the divine essence, move as freely as air, and
assume an ethereal form."
II. 83. "The triliteral monosyllable is an emblem of the Supreme, the suppressions
of breath with a mind fixed on God are
the highest devotion ; but nothing is more exalted than the gayatri ; a declaration of
truth is more excellent than silence."
II. 84. "All rights ordained in the Veda, oblations to fire, and solemn sacrifices pass
away; but that which passes not away, is declared to be the sylable om, thence
calledacshare ; since it is a symbol of God, the Lord of created
beings."
II. 85. "The act of repeating his Holy Name is ten times better than the appointed
sacrifice: an hundred times better when it is heard by no man ; and a thousand times
better when it is purely mental."
II. 86. "The four domestic sacraments which are accompanied with the appointed
sacrifice, are not equal, though all be united, to a sixteenth part of the sacrifice
performed by a repetition of the gayatri." Now to the Daily Sacrifices.
III. 69. "For the sake of expiating offences committed ignorantly in those places
mentioned in order, the five great sacrifices were appointed by eminent sages to be
performed each day by such as keep house."
 III. 70. "Teaching (and studying) the scripture is the sacrifice to the Veda; offering
cakes and water, the sacrifice to the Manes, an oblation to fire, the sacrifice to the
Deities; giving rice or other food to living creatures, the sacraments of spirits;
receiving guests with honour, the sacrifice to men."
III. 71. "Whoever omits not those five great sacrifices, if he has ability to perform
them, is untainted by the sons of the five slaughtering places, even though he
constantly resides at home."
Turning to the Ashramas. The Ashram theory is a peculiar feature of the
philosophy of Hinduism. It is not known to have found a place in the teachings of any
other religion. According to the Ashram theory life is to be divided into four stages
called Brahmachari, Grahastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyas. In
the Brahamachari stage a person is unmarried and devotes his time to the study and
education. After this stage is over he enters the stage of a Grahastha i.e. he marries,
rears a family and attends to his worldlywelfare. Thereafter he enters the third stage
and is then known as a Vanaprastha. As a Vanaprastha he dwells in the forest as a
hermit but without severing his ties with his family or without abandoning his rights to
his worldly goods. Then comes the fourth and the last stage--that of Sannyas—
which means complete renunciation of the world in search of God. The two stages of
Braharnchari and Grahastha are natural enough. The two last stages are only
recommendatory. There is no compulsion about them. All that Manu lays down is as
follows:
VI. 1. A twice born who has thus lived according to the law in the order of
householders, may, taking a firm resolution and keeping his organs in subjection,
dwell in the forest, duly (observing the rules given below.)
VI. 2. When a householder sees his (skin) wrinkled, and (his hair) white, and the
sons of his son, then he may resort to the forest.
VI. 3. Abandoning all food raised by cultivation, all his belongings, he may depart
into the forest, either committing his wife to his sons, or accompanied by her.
VI. 33. But having passed the third pan of (a man's natural term of) life in the
forest, he may live as an ascetic during the fourth part of his existence, after
abandoning all attachment to worldly objects.
The inequality embodied in these rules is real although it may not be quite obvious.
Observe that all these sacraments and Ashramas are confined to the twice-born.
TheShudras are excluded[f18] from their benefit. Manu of course has no objection to
their undergoing the forms of the ceremonies. But he objects to their use of the
Sacred Mantras in the performance of the ceremonies. On this Manu says: — X.
127. "Even Shudras, who were anxious to perform (heir entire duty, and knowing
what they should perform, imitate the practice of good men in the household
sacraments, but without any holy text, except those containing praise
and salutation, are so far from sinning, that they acquire just applause." See the
following text of Manu for women: — -
II. 66. "The same ceremonies, except that of the sacrificial thread, must be duly
performed for women at the same age and in the same order, that the body may be
made perfect; but without any text from the Veda."
Why does Manu prohibit the Shudras from the benefit of the Sacraments? His
interdict against the Shudras becoming a Sannyasi is a puzzle. Sannyas means and
involves renunciation, abandonment of worldly object. In legal language Sannyas is
interpreted as being equivalent to civil death. So that when a man becomes a
Sannyasi he is treated as being dead from that moment and his heir succeeds
immediately. This would be the only consequence, which would follow if
a Shudra become a Sannyasi. Such a consequence could hurt nobody except the
Shudra himself. Why then this interdict? The issue is important and I will quote Manu
to explain the significance and importance of the Sacraments and Sannyas. Let us
all ponder over the following relevant texts of Manu :
II. 26. With holy rites, prescribed by the Veda, must the ceremony on conception
and other sacraments be performed for twice-born men, which sanctify the body and
purify (from sin) in this (life) and after death.
II. 28. By the study of the Veda, by vows, by burnt oblations, by (the recitation of)
sacred texts, by the (acquisition of the) three sacred Vedas, by offering (to the
gods Rishis and Manes), by (the procreation of) sons, by the Great Sacrifices, and
by (Srauta) rites this (human) body is made fit for (union with) Bramha. This is the
aim and object of theSamscaras. Manu also explains the aim and object of Sannyas.
VI. 81. He (the Sannyasi) who has in this manner gradually given up all
attachments and is freed from all the pairs (of opposites), reposes in Brahman alone.
VI. 85. A twice born man who becomes an ascetic, after the successive
performance of the above-mentioned acts, shakes off sin here below and reaches
the highest Brahman. From these texts it is clear that according to Manu himself the
object of the sacraments is to sanctify the body and purify it from sin in this life and
hereafter and to make it fit for union with God. According to Manu the object of
Sannyas to reach and repose in God. Yet Manu says that the sacraments and
Sannyas are the privileges of the higher classes. They are not
open to the Shudra. Why? Does not a Shudra need sanctification of his body,
purification of his soul? •Does not a Shudra need to have an aspiration to reach
God? Manu probably would have answered these questions in the affirmative. Why
did he then make such rules. The answer is that he was a staunch believer in social
inequality and he knew the danger of admitting religious Equality. If I am equal
before God why am I not equal on earth? Manu was probably terrified by this
question. Rather than admit and allow religious equality to affect social inequality he
preferred to deny religious equality.
 Thus in Hinduism you will find both social inequality and religious inequality
imbedded in its philosophy.
To prevent man from purifying himself from sin!! To prevent man from getting near
to God!! To any rational person such rules must appear to be abnominal and an
indication of a perverse mind. It is a glaring instance of how Hinduism is a denial not
only of equality but how it is denial of the sacred character of human personality.
This is not all. For Manu does not stop with the non-recognition of human
personality. He advocates a deliberate debasement of human personality. I will take
only two instances to illustrate this feature of the philosophy of Hinduism.
All those who study the Caste System are naturally led to inquire into the origin of
it. Manu being the progenitor of Caste had to give an explanation of the origin of the
various castes. What is the origin which Manu gives? His explanation is simple. He
says that leaving aside the four original castes the rest are simply baseborn!! He
says they are the progeny of fornication and adultery between men and women of
the four original castes. The immorality and looseness of character among men and
women of the four original castes must have been limitless to account for the rise of
innumerable castes consisting of innumerable souls!! Manu makes the wild
allegation without stopping to consider what aspersions he is casting upon men and
women of the four original castes. For if the chandals—the old name for the
Untouchables—are the progeny of a Brahman female and aShudra male then it is
obvious that to account for such a large number of Chandals it must be assumed
that every Brahman woman was slut and a whore and every Shudra lived
an adulterous life with complete abandon. Manu in his mad just for debasing the
different castes by ascribing to them an ignoble origin seems deliberately to pervert
historical facts. I will give only two illustrations. Take Manu's origin
of Magadha and Vaidehik and compare it with the origin of the same castes as given
by Panini the great Grammarian. Manu says that Magadha is a caste which is
born from sexual intercourse between Vaishya male and Kshatriya female. Manu
says that Vaidehik is a caste which is born from sexual intercourse between a
Vaishya male and a Brahmin female. Now turn to Panini. Panini says
that Magadha means a person who is resident of the country known asMagadha. As
to Vaidehik Panini says that Vaidehik means a person who is resident of the country
known as Videha. What a contrast!! How cruel it is. Panini lived not later than 300
B.C. Manu lived about 200A.D. How is it that people who bore no stigma in the time
of Panini became so stained in the hands of Manu? The answer is that Manu was
bent on debasing them. Why Manu was bent on deliberately debasing people is a
task which is still awaiting exploration[f19] In the meantime we have the strange
contrast that while Religion everywhere else is engaged in the task of raising and
ennobling mankind Hinduism is busy in debasing and degrading it.
 The other instance I want to use for illustrating the spirit of debasement which is
inherent in Hinduism pertains to rules regarding the naming of a Hindu child.
The names among Hindus fall into four classes. They are either connected
with (i) family deity (ii) the month in which the child is born (iti) with the planets
under which a child is born or (iv) are purely temporal i.e. connected with business.
According to Manu the temporal name of a Hindu should consist of two parts and
Manu gives directions as to what the first and the second part should denote. The
second part of a Brahmin's name shall be a word implying happiness ; of
a Kshatriya's a word implying protection; of a Vaishya'sa term expressive of
prosperity and of a Shudra's an expression denoting service. Accordingly the
Brahmins have Sharma (happiness) or Deva (God),
the Kshatriyas have Raja(authority) or Verma (armour),
the Vaishyas have Gupta (gifts) or Datta (Giver) and the Shudras have Das (service)
for the second part of their names. As to the first part of their names Manu says that
in the case of a Brahmin it should denote something auspicious, in the case of
a Kshatriya something connected with power, in the case of
a Vaishyasomething connected with wealth. But in the case of a Shudra Manu says
the first part of his name should denote something contemptible!! Those who think
that such a philosophy is incredible would like to know the exact reference. For their
satisfaction I am reproducing the following texts from Manu. Regarding the naming
ceremony Manu says :—
II. 30. Let (the father perform or) cause to be performed the namadheya (the rite of
naming the child), on the tenth or twelfth (day after birth), or on a lucky lunar day, in
a luckymuhurta under an auspicious constellation.
II. 31. Let (the first part of) a Brahman's name (denote) something
auspicious, a Kshatriya's name be connected with power, and a Vaishya's with
wealth, but a Shudra's (express something) contemptible.
II. 32. (The second part of) a Brahman's (name) shall be (a word) implying
happiness, of a Kshatriya's (a word) implying protection, of a Vaishya's (a term)
expressive of thriving, and of a Shudra's (an expression) denoting service.
Manu will not tolerate the Shudra to have the comfort of a high sounding name. He
must be contemptible both in fact and in name.
Enough has been said to show how Hinduism is a denial of equality both social as
well as religious and how it is also a degradation of human personality. Does
Hinduism recognise liberty?
Liberty to be real must be accompanied by certain social conditions [f20].
In the first place there should be social equality. "Privilege tilts the balance of social
action in favour of its possessors. The more equal are the social rights of citizens,
the more able they are to utilise their freedom… If liberty is to move to its appointed
end it is important that there should be equality."
 In the second place there must be economic security. "A man may be free to enter
any vocation he may choose. . . . Yet if he is deprived of security in employment he
becomes a prey of mental and physical servitude incompatible with the very essence
of liberty.... The perpetual fear of the morrow, its haunting sense of impending
disaster, its fitful search for happiness and beauty which perpetually eludes, shows
that without economic security, liberty is not worth having. Men may well be free and
yet remain unable to realise the purposes of freedom".
In the third place there must be knowledge made available to all. In the complex
world man lives at his peril and he must find his way in it without losing his freedom.
"There can, under these conditions, be no freedom that is worthwhile unless the
mind is trained to use its freedom. (Given this fact) the right of man to education
becomes fundamental to his freedom. Deprive a man of knowledge and you will
make him inevitably the slave of those more fortunate than himself.... deprivation of
knowledge is a denial of the power to use liberty for great ends. An ignorant man
may be free. . . . (But) he cannot employ his freedom so as to give him assurance of
happiness."
Which of these conditions does Hinduism satisfy? How Hinduism is a denial of
equality has already been made clear. It upholds privilege and inequality. Thus in
Hinduism the very first collection for liberty is conspicuous by its absence.
Regarding economic security three things shine out in Hinduism. In the first place
Hinduism denies freedom of a vocation. In the Scheme of Manu each man has his
avocation preordained for him before he is born. Hinduism allows no choice. The
occupation being preordained it has no relation to capacity nor to inclination.
In the second place Hinduism compels people to serve ends chosen by
others. Manu tells the Shudra that he is born to serve the higher classes. He exhorts
him to make that his ideal. Observe the following rules lay down by Manu.
X. 121. If a Shudra (unable to subsist by serving Brahmanas) seeks a livelihood,
he may serve Kshatriyas, or he may also seek to maintain himself by attending on a
wealthyVaishya.
X. 122. But let a Shudra serve Brahmans....
Manu does not leave the matter of acting upto the ideal to the Shudra. He goes a
step further and provides that the Shudra does not escape or avoid his destined
task. For one of the duties enjoined by Manu upon the King is to see that all castes
including the Shudra to discharge their appointed tasks.
VIII. 410. "The king should order each man of the mercantile class to practice
trade, or money lending, or agriculture and attendance on cattle ; and each man of
the servile class to act in the service of the twice born."
VIII. 418. "With vigilant care should the king exert himself in compelling merchants
and mechanics to perform their respective duties ; for, when such men swerve from
their duty, they throw this world into confusion."
 Failure to maintain was made an offence in the King punishable at Law.
VIII. 335. "Neither a father, nor a preceptor, nor a friend, nor a mother, nor a wife,
nor a son, nor a domestic priest must be left unpunished by the King, if they adhere
not with firmness to their duty."
VIII. 336. "Where another man of lower birth would be fined one pana, the king
shall be fined a thousand, and he shall give the fine to the priests, or cast it into the
river, this is a sacred rule." These rules have a two-fold significance, spiritual as well
as economic. In the spiritual sense they constitute the gospel of slavery. This may
not be quite apparent to those who know slavery only by its legal outward form and
not by reference to its inner meaning. With reference to its inner meaning a slave as
defined by Plato means a person who accepts from another the purposes which
control his conduct. In this sense a slave is not an end in him. He is only a means for
filling the ends desired by others. Thus understood the Shudra is a slave. In their
economic significance the Rules put an interdict on the economic independence of
the Shudra. A Shudra, says Manu, must serve. There may not be much in that to
complain of. The wrong however consists in that the rules require him to serve
others. He is not to serve himself, which means that he must not strive after
economic independence. He must forever remain economically dependent on
others. For as Manu says:—
1. 91. One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Shudra to serve meekly even
these other three castes. In the third place Hinduism leaves no scope for the Shudra
to accumulate wealth. Manu's rules regarding the wages to be paid to
the Shudra when employed by the three higher classes are very instructive on this
point. Dealing with the question of wages to the Shudras, Manu says :—
X. 124. "They must allot to him (Shudra) out of their own family property a suitable
maintenance, after considering his ability, his industry, and the number of those
whom he is bound to support."
X. 125. "The remnants of their food must be given to him, as well as their old
clothes, the refuse of their grain, and their old household furniture.
This is Manu's law of wages. It is not a minimum wage law. It is a maximum wage
law. It was also an iron law fixed so low that there was no fear of the Shudra
accumulating wealth and obtaining economic security. But Manu did not want to take
chances and he went to the length of prohibiting the Shudra from accumulating
property. He says imperatively:—
X. 129. No collection of wealth must be made by a Shudra even though he be able
to do it; for a Shudra who has acquired wealth gives pain to Brahmans.
Thus in Hinduism, there is no choice of avocation. There is no economic
independence and there is no economic security. Economically, speaking of a
Shudra is a precarious thing.
 In the matter of the spread of knowledge two conditions are prerequisites. There
must be formal education. There must be literacy. Without these two, knowledge
cannot spread. Without formal education it is not possible to transmit all the
resources and achievements of a complex society. Without formal education the
accumulated thought and experience relating to a subject cannot be made
accessible to the young and which they will never get if they were left to pick up their
training in informal association with others. Without formal education he will not get
new perceptions. His horizon will not be widened and he will remain an ignorant
slave of his routine work. But formal education involves the establishment of special
agencies such as schools, books, planned materials such as studies etc. How can
any one take advantage of these special agencies of formal education unless he is
literate and able to read and write? The spread of the arts of reading and writing i.e.
literacy and formal education go hand in hand. Without the existence of two there
can be no spread of knowledge.

How does Hinduism stand in this matter?

The conception of formal education in Hinduism is of a very limited character.
Formal education was confined only to the study of the Vedas. That was only
natural. For the Hindus believed that there was no knowledge outside the Vedas.
That being so formal education was confined to the study of the Vedas. Another
consequence was that the Hindu recognised that its only duty was to study in the
schools established for the study of the Vedas. These schools benefited only the
Brahmins. The State did not hold itself responsible for opening establishments for
the study of arts and sciences, which concerned the life of the merchant and the
artisan. Neglected by the state they had to shift for themselves.
Each class managed to transmit to its members the ways of doing things it was
traditionally engaged in doing. The duties of the Vaishya class required that a young
Vaishya should know the rudiments of commercial geography, arithmetic, some
languages as well as the practical details of trade. This he learned from his father in
the course of the business. The Artisan's class or the Craftsman who sprang out of
the `Shudra class also taught the arts and crafts to their children in the same way.
Education was domestic. Education was practical. It only increased the skill to do
a particular thing. It did not lead to new perceptions. It did not widen horizon, with the
result that the practical education taught him only an isolated and uniform way of
acting so that in a changing environment the skill turned out to be gross ineptitude.
Illiteracy became an inherent part of Hinduism by a process which is indirect but
integral to Hinduism. To understand this process it is necessary to draw attention to
rules framed by Manu in regard to the right to teach and study the Vedas. They are
dealt with in the following Rules.
 1. 88. To the Brahmanas he (the creator) assigned teaching and studying the
Veda.
1. 89. The Kshatriya he (the creator) commanded to study the Veda.
1. 90. The Vaishya he (the creator) commanded. . . . . . to study the Veda.
II. 116. He who shall acquire knowledge of the Veda without the assent of his
preceptor, incurs the guilt of stealing the scripture, and shall sink to the region of
torment."
IV. 99. He (the twice born) must never read (the Veda). . . . . . in the presence of
the Shudras.
IX. 18. Women have no business with the text of the Veda. XI. 199. A twice born
man who has...... (improperly) divulged the Veda (i.e. to Shudras and women)
(commits sin), atones for his offence, if he subsists a year on barley. In these texts
there are embodied three distinct propositions. The Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya
can study the Vedas. Of these the Brahmins alone have the right to teach
the Vedas. But in the case of the Shudra he has not only not to study the Vedas but
he should not be allowed to hear it read.
The successors of Manu made the disability of the Shudra in the matter of the
study of the Veda into an offence involving dire penalties. For instance Gautama
says:
XII. 4. If the Shudra intentionally listens for committing to memory the Veda, then
his ears should be filled with (molten) lead and lac ; if he utters the Veda, then his
tongue should be cut off; if he has mastered the Veda his body should be cut to
pieces. To the same effect is Katyayana.
The ancient world may be said to have been guilty for failing to take the
responsibility for the education of the masses. But never has any society been guilty
of closing to the generality of its people the study of the books of its religion. Never
has society been guilty of prohibiting the mass of its people from acquiring
knowledge. Never has society made any attempt to declare that any attempt made
by the common man to acquire knowledge shall be punishable as a crime. Manu is
the only devine law giver who has denied the common man the right to knowledge.
But I cannot wait to dilate upon this. I am more immediately concerned in showing
how the prohibition against the study of the Vedas to the mass of the people came to
give rise to illiteracy and ignorance in secular life. The answer is easy. It must be
realized that reading and writing have an integral connection with the teaching and
study of the Vedas. Reading and writing were arts necessary for those who were
free and privileged to study the Vedas. They were not necessary to those who were
not free to do so. In this way reading and writing became incidental to the study of
the Vedas. The result was that the theory of Manu regarding the rights and
prohibitions in the matter of the teaching and the study of Vedas came to be
extended to the arts of reading and writing. Those who had the right to study the
Vedas were accorded the right to read and write. Those who had no right to study
the Vedas were deprived of the right to read and write. So that it can be rightly said
according to the law of Manu reading and writing has become the right of the high
class few and illiteracy has become the destiny of the low class many.
Only a step in the process of this analysis will show how Manu by prohibiting
literacy was responsible for the general ignorance in which the masses came to be
enveloped.
Thus Hinduism far from encouraging spread of knowledge is a gospel of darkness.
Taking these facts into consideration Hinduism is opposed to the conditions in
which liberty can thrive. It is therefore denial of liberty.

IV

Does Hinduism recognise Fraternity?

There are two forces prevalent in Society. Individualism and Fraternity.
Individualism is ever present. Every individual is ever asking "I and my neighbours,
are we all brothers, are we even fiftieth cousins, am I their keeper, why should I do
right to them" and under the pressure of his own particular interests acting as though
he was an end to himself, thereby developing a non-social and even an anti-social
self. Fraternity is a force of opposite character. Fraternity is another name for fellow
feeling. It consists in a sentiment which leads an individual to identify himself with
the good of others whereby "the good of others becomes to him a thing naturally and
necessarily to be attended to like any of the physical conditions of our existence". It
is because of this sentiment of fraternity that the individual does not "bring himself to
think of the rest of his fellow-creatures as struggling rivals with him for the means of
happiness, whom he must desire to see defeated in their object in order that he may
succeed in his own." Individualism would produce anarchy. It is only fraternity, which
prevents it and helps to sustain the moral order among men. Of this there can be no
doubt.
How does this sentiment of Fraternity of fellow feeling arise? J. S. Mill says that
this sentiment is a natural sentiment.
"The social state is at once so natural, so necessary, and so habitual to man, that,
except in some unusual circumstances or by an effort of voluntary abstraction he
never conceives himself otherwise than as a member of a body; and this association
is riveted more and more, as mankind are further removed from the state of savage
independence. Any condition, therefore, which is essential to a state of society,
becomes more and more an inseparable part of every person's conception of the
state of things which he is born into, and which is the destiny of a human being.
Now, society between human beings, except in the relation of master and slave, is
manifestly impossible on any other footing than that the interests of all are to be
consulted. Society between equals can only exist on the understanding that the
interests of all are to be regarded equally. And since in all states of civilisation, every
person, except an absolute monarch, has equals, every one is obliged to live on
these terms with some body; and in every age some advance is made towards a
state in which it will be impossible to live permanently on other terms with any body.
In this way people grow up unable to conceive as possible to them a state of total
disregard of other people's interests."
Does this sentiment of fellow feeling find a place among the Hindus? The following
facts throw a flood of light on this question.
The first fact that strikes one is the number of castes. No body has made an exact
computation of their number. But it is estimated that total is not less than 2000. It
might be 3000. This is not the only distressing aspect of this fact. There are others.
Castes are divided into sub-castes. Their number is legion. The total population of
the Brahmin Caste is about a crore and a half. But there are 1886 sub-castes of the
Brahmin Caste. In the Punjab alone the Saraswat Brahmins of the Province of
Punjab are divided into 469 sub-castes. The Kayasthas of Punjab are divided into
590 sub-castes. One could go on giving figures to show this infinite process of
splitting social life into small fragments.
The third aspect of this splitting process is the infinitely small fragments into which
the Castes are split. Some of the Baniya sub-castes can count no more than 100
families. They are so inter related they find extremely difficult to marry within their
castes without transgressing the rules of consanguinity.
It is noteworthy what small excuses suffice to bring about this splitting.
Equally noteworthy is the hierarchical character of the Caste System. Castes form
an hierarchy in which one caste is at the top and is the highest, another at the
bottom and it is the lowest and in between there are castes every one of which is at
once above some castes and below some castes. The caste system is a system of
gradation in which every caste except the highest and the lowest has a priority and
precedence over some other castes.
How is this precedence or this superiority determined ? This order of superiority
and inferiority or this insubordination is determined by Rules (1) which are connected
with religious rites and (2) which are connected with commensuality.
Religion as a basis of Rules of precedence manifests itself in three ways. Firstly
through religious ceremonies, secondly through incantations that accompany the
religious ceremonies and thirdly through the position of the priest.
Beginning with the ceremonies as a source of rules of precedence it should be
noted that the Hindu Scriptures prescribe sixteen religious ceremonies. Although
those are Hindu ceremonies every Hindu Caste cannot by right claim to perform all
the sixteen ceremonies. Few can claim the right to perform all. Some are allowed to
perform certain ceremonies, some are not allowed to perform certain of the
ceremonies. For instance take the ceremony of Upanayan, wearing of the sacred
thread. Some castes can't. Precedence follows this distinction in the matter of right
to perform the ceremonies. A caste which can claim to perform all the ceremonies is
higher in status than the caste which has a right to perform a few.
Turning to the Mantras, it is another source for rules of precedence. According to
the Hindu Religion the same ceremony can be performed in two different ways.
(1) Vedokta and (2) Puranokta. In the Vedokta form the ceremonies are performed
with Mantras (incantations) from the Vedas. In the Puranokta form the ceremony is
performed with Mantras (incantations) from the Puranas. Hindu Religious Scriptures
fall into two distinct categories (1) The Vedas which are four, and (2) the Puranas
which are eighteen. Although they are all respected as scriptures they do not all
have the same sanctity. The Vedas have the highest sanctity and the Puranas have
the lowest sanctity. The way the Mantras give rise to social precedence will be
obvious if it is borne in mind that not every caste is entitled to have the ceremony
performed in the Vedokta form. Three castes may well claim the right to the
performance of one of the sixteen ceremonies. But it will be that one of it is entitled
to perform it in the Vedokta form, another in the Puranokta form. Precedence goes
with the kind of Mantra that a caste is entitled to use in the performance of a
religious ceremony. A caste which is entitled to use Vedic Mantras is superior to a
caste which is entitled to use only Puranokta Mantras.
Taking the priest as a second source of precedence connected with Religion,
Hinduism requires the instrumentality of a priest for the derivation of the full benefit
from the performance of a religious ceremony. The priest appointed by the scripture
is the Brahmin. A Brahmin therefore is indispensable. But the scriptures do not
require -that a Brahmin shall accept the invitation of any and every Hindu
irrespective of his caste to officiate at a religious ceremony. The invitation of which
caste he will accept and of which he will refuse is a matter left to the wishes of the
Brahmin. By long and well-established custom it is now settled at which caste he will
officiate and at which caste he will not. This fact has become the basis of
precedence as between castes. The caste at which a Brahmin will officiate is held as
superior to a caste at whose religious functions a Brahmin will not officiate.
The second source for rules of precedence is commonality. It will be noticed that
rules of marriage have not given rise to rules of precedence as rules of commonality
have. The reason lies in the distinction between the rules prohibiting intermarriage
and inter-dining. That difference is obvious. The prohibition on intermarriage is such
that it cannot only be respected but it can be carried out quite strictly. But the
prohibition of inter-dining creates difficulties. It cannot be carried out quite strictly in
all places and under all circumstances. Man migrates and must migrate from place
to place. In every place he happens to go he may not find his caste-men. He may
find himself landed in the midst of strangers. Marriage is not a matter of urgency but
food is. He can wait for getting himself married till he returns to the Society of his
caste-men. But he cannot wait for his food. He must find it from somewhere and
from someone. Question arises from which caste he can take food, if he has to. The
rule is that he will take food from a caste above him but will not take food from a
caste, which is below him. There is no way of finding how it came to be decided that
a Hindu can take food from one caste and not from another. By long series of
precedent every Hindu knows from what caste he can take food and from what caste
he cannot. This is determined chiefly by the rule followed by the Brahmin. A caste
is higher or lower according as the Brahmin takes from it food or not. In this
connection the Brahmin has a very elaborate set of rules in the matter of food and
water. (1) He will take only water from some and not from others. (2) A brahmin will
not take food cooked in water by any caste. (3) He will take only food cooked in oil
from some castes. Again he has a set of rules in the matter of the vessels, in which
he will accept food and water. He will take food or water in an earthen vessel from
some castes, only in metallic vessel from some and only in glass vessel from others.
This goes to determine the level of the castes. If he takes food cooked in oil from a
caste its status is higher than the caste from which he will not. If he takes water from
a caste its status is higher than the caste from which he will not. If he takes water in
a metallic vessel that caste is higher than the caste from which he will take water in
an earthen vessel. Both these castes are higher than the caste from which he
will take water in a glass vessel. Glass is a substance which is called (Nirlep) (which
conserves no stain) therefore a Brahmin can take water in it even from the lowest.
But other metals do conserve stains. Contaminating character of the stain depends
upon the status of the person who has used it. That status depends upon the
Brahmins will to accept water in that vessel. These are some of the factors which
determine the place and status of a caste in this Hindu hierarchical system of
castes.
This hierarchical organisation of the caste system is responsible for producing a
social psychology, which is noteworthy. In the first place it produces a spirit of rivalry
among the different castes for dignity. Secondly it produces an ascending scale of
hatred and descending scale of contempt.
This social psychology of mutual hatred and contempt is well illustrated by the
innumerable proverbs that are flying about in India. As examples I record a few of
them.[f21]
This spirit of hatred and contempt has not only found its place in proverbs but it
has found its place in Hindu literature also. I refer to a Scripture known as
the Sahyadrikhand. It is one of the Puranas which form a part of the Hindu Sacred
literature. But its subject matter is totally foreign to the subject matter of other
Puranas. It deals with the *origin of the different castes. In doing so it assigns noble
origin to other castes while it assigns to the Brahmin caste the filthiest origin. It was
a revenge on Manu. It was worst lampoon on the Brahmins as a caste.
The Peshwas very naturally ordered its destruction. Some survived the general
destruction.
I will just record one more fact before I put the question. Present day Hindus are
probably the strongest opponents of Marxism. They are horrified at its doctrine of
class struggle.But they forget that India has been not merely the land of class
struggle but she has been the land of class wars.
The bitterest class war took place between the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. The
classical literature of the Hindus abounds in reference to class wars between these
twoVarnas.
The first recorded conflict was between the Brahmins and King Vena. Vena was
the son of King Anga, of the race of Atri and was born of Sunitha, the daughter
of Mrityu (Death). This son of the daughter of Kala (death), owing to the taint derived
from his maternal grandfather, threw his duties behind his back, and lived in
covetousness under the influence of desire. This king established an irreligious
system of conduct; transgressing the ordinances of the Veda, he was devoted to
lawlessness. In his reign men lived without study of the sacred books and the gods
had no soma-libations to drink at sacrifices. `I' he declared, 'am the object, and the
performer of sacrifice, and the sacrifice itself; it is to me that sacrifice should be
presented, and oblation offered'. This transgressor of the rules of duty, who
arrogated to himself what was not his due, was then addressed by all the
greatrishis, headed by Marichi. 'We are about to consecrate ourselves for a
ceremony which shall last for many years, practice not unrighteousness, O
Vena : this is not the eternal rule of duty. Thou art in every deed
a Prajapati of Atri's race, and thou has engaged to protect thy subjects.' The foolish
Vena, ignorant of what was right, laughingly answered those great rishis who had so
addressed him ; ' Who but myself is the ordained of duty or whom ought I to obey?
Who on earth equals me in sacred knowledge, in prowess, in austere fervour, in
truth? Yes who are deluded and senseless know not that I am the source of all
beings and duties. Hesitate not to believe that I, if I willed, could burn up the earth, or
deluge it with water, or close up heaven and earth. ' When owing to his delusion and
arrogance Vena could not be governed then the mighty rishis becoming incensed,
seized the vigorous and struggling king, and rubbed his left thigh. From this thigh, so
rubbed, was produced a black man, very short in stature, who, I being alarmed,
stood with joined hands. Seeing that he was agitated, Atri said to him ' Sit
down' (Nishada). He became the founder of the race of the Nishadas, and also
progenitor of the Dhivaras (fishermen), who sprang from the corruption of Vena. So
two were produced from him the other inhabitants of the Vindhya range,
the Tukharas and Tumburas, who are prone to lawlessness. Then the mighty sages,
excited and incensed, again rubbed the right hand of Vena, as men do the Arani
wood, and from it arose Pritha, respondent in body, glowing like the
manifestedAgni." "The son of Vena (Pritha) then, with joined hands, addressed the
great Rishis: 'A very slender understanding for perceiving the principles of duty has
been given to me by nature; tell me truly how I must employ it. Doubt not that I shall
perform whatever thy shall declare to me as my duty, and its object '. Then those
gods and great I rishis said to him: ' Whatever duty is enjoined perform it without
hesitation, disregarding what though mayest like or dislike, looking on all creatures
with an equal eye, putting far from thy lust, anger, cupidity and pride. Restrain by the
strength of thin arm all those men who swerve from righteousness, having a
constant regard to duty. And in thought, act, and word take upon thyself, and
continually renew, the engagement to protect the terrestrial Brahman (Veda or
Brahmins?). . .. .. And promise that thou wilt exempts the Brahmans from
punishment, and preserve society from the confusion of Castes '. The son of Vena
then replied to the gods, headed by the rishis : ' The great Brahmans, the chief of
men, shall be reverenced by me '. `So be it,' rejoined those declare of the
Veda. Sukra, the depository of divine knowledge, became
his Purohita ; the Balakhilyas and Sarasvatyas his ministers; and the
venerable Garga, the great rishi, his astrologer.
The second recorded conflict took place between the Brahmins and
the Kshatriya king Pururavas. A brief reference to it occurs in the Adiparva of
theMahabharat.
Pururavas was born of lla. Ruling over thirteen islands of the ocean, and
surrounded by beings who were all superhuman, himself a man of great renown,
Pururavas, intoxicated by his prowess engaged in a conflict with the Brahmans, and
robbed them of their jewels, although they loudly remonstrated. Sanatkumara came
from Brahma's heaven, and addressed to him an admonition, which however, he did
not regard. Being then straightway cursed by the incensed rishis, he perished, this
covetous monarch, who, through pride of power, had lost his understanding. This
glorious being (virat), accompanied Urvasi, brought down for the performance of
sacred rites the fires which existed in the heaven of theGandharvas, properly
distributed into three.
A third collision is reported to have occurred between the Brahmins and
King Nahusha. The story is given in great details in the Udyogaparva of the
Mahabharat. It is there recorded:
"After his slaughter of the demon Vrittra, Indra became alarmed at the idea of
having taken the life of a Brahmin (for Vrittra was regarded as such), and hid himself
in waters. In consequence of the disappearance of the king of gods, all affairs,
celestial as well as terrestrial, fell into confusion. The rishis and Gods then applied to
Nahusha to be their king. After at first excusing himself on the plea of want of power,
Nahusha at length, in compliance with their solicitations, accepted the high function.
Up to the period of his elevation he had led a virtuous life, but he now became
addicted to amusement and sensual pleasure; and even aspired to the possession
of Indrani, Indra's wife, whom he had happened to see. The queen resorted to
the Angiras Vrihaspati, the preceptor of the Gods, who engaged to protect her.
Nahusha was greatly incensed on hearing of this interference; but the Gods
endeavoured to pacify him, and pointed out the immorality of appropriating another
person's wife. Nahusha, however, would listen to no remonstrance, and insisted that
in his adulterous designs he was not worse than Indra himself; "The
renowned Ahalya, a rish's wife, was formerly corrupted by Indra in her husband's
lifetime; why was he not prevented by you? And many barbarous acts, and
unrighteous deeds, and frauds were perpetrated of by old Indra; Why was he not
prevented by you?" The Gods, urged by Nahusha, then went to bring Indrani; but
Vrihaspati would not give her up. At his recommendation, however, she
solicited Nahusha for some delay, till she should ascertain what had become of her
husband. This request was granted. The Gods next applied to Vishnu on behalf
of Indra ; and Vishnu promised that if Indra would sacrifice to him, he should be
purged from his guilt, and recover his dominion, while Nahusha would be destroyed.
Indra sacrificed accordingly; and the result is thus told ; "Having divided the guilt
ofBrahmanicide among trees, rivers, mountains, the earth, women and the
elements, Vasava (Indra), lord of the Gods, became freed from suffering and sin,
and self governed."Nahusha was by this means, shaken from his place. But he must
have speedily regained his position, as we are told that Indra was again ruined, and
became invisible. Indraninow went in search of her husband; and by the help of
Upasriti (the Goddess of night and revealer of secrets) discovered him existing in a
very subtle form in the stem of a lotus growing in a lake situated in a continent within
an ocean north of the Himalaya. She made known to him the wicked intention of
Nahusha, and entreated him to exert his power, rescue her from danger, and
resume his dominion. Indra declined any immediate interposition on the plea
of Nahusha's superior strength; but suggested to his wife a device by which the
usurper might be hurled from his position. She was recommended to say to
Nahusha that "if he would visit her on a celestial vehicle borne by rishis, she would
with pleasure submit herself to him". The question of the Gods accordingly went to
Nahusha, by whom she was graciously received, and made this proposal:" I desire
for thee, king of the Gods, a vehicle hitherto unknown, such as neither Vishnu,
nor Rudra, nor the asuras, nor the rakshases employ. Let the eminent rishis, all
united, bear thee, lord, in a car; this idea pleases me". Nahusha receives favourably
this appeal to his vanity, and in the course of his reply thus gives utterance to his self
congratulation: "He is a personage of no mean prowess who makes the Munis his
bearers. I am a fervid devotee of great might, lord of the past, the future and the
present. If I were angry the world would no longer stand; on me everything
depends.... Wherefore, 0 Goddess I shall, without doubt, carry out what you
propose. The seven rishis, and all the Brahman rishis, shall carry me. Behold
beautiful Goddess, my majesty and my prosperity. "The narrative
goes on: "Accordingly this wicked being, irreligious, violent, intoxicated by the force
of conceit, and arbitrary in his conduct, attached to his car the rishis, who submitted
to his commands, and compelled them to bear him". Indrani then again resorts
to Vrihaspati, who assures her that vengeance will soon overtake Nahusha for his
presumption; and promises that he will himself perform a sacrifice with a view to the
destruction of the oppressor, and the discovery of Indra'slurking place. Agni is then
sent to discover and bring Indra to Vrihaspati ; and the latter, on Indra's arrival,
informs him of all that had occurred during his absence. While Indra
withKuvera, Yama, Soma, and Varuna, was devising means for the destruction
of Nahusha, the sage Agastya came up, congratulated Indra on the fall of his rival,
and proceeded to relate how it had occurred: "Wearied with carrying the sinner
Nahusha, the eminent divine rishis, and the spotless brahman-rishis asked that
divine personage Nahusha (to solve) a difficulty: 'Dost thou, Vasava, most excellent
of conquerors, regard as authoritative or not those Brahmana texts which are recited
at the immolation of king?' 'No', replied Nahusha, whose understanding was
enveloped in darkness. The rishis rejoined: 'Engaged in unrighteousness,
thou attainest not unto righteousness: these texts, which were formerly uttered by
great rishis, are regarded by us as authoritative. 'The (proceeds Agastya) disputing
with the munis, impelled by unrighteousness, touched me on the head with his foot.
In consequence of this the king's glory was smitten and his prosperity departed.
When he had instantly become agitated and oppressed with fear, I said to him, '
Since thou, O fool, condiments that sacred text, always held in honor, which has
been composed by former sages, and employed by Brahman-rishis, and hast
touched my head with thy foot, and employest the Brahma—like
and irresistable rishis as bearers to carry thee,—therefore, short of thy lustre and all
thy merit exhausted, sink down, sinner, degraded from heaven to earth. For then
thousand years thou shalt crawl in the form of a huge serpent. When that period is
completed, thou shalt again ascend to heaven. `So fell that wicked wretch from the
sovereignty of the Gods."
Next there is a reference to the conflict between King Nimi and the Brahmins. The
Vishnu Puran relates the story as follows :—
"Nimi had requested the Brahman-rishi Vasishtha to officiate at a sacrifice, which
was to last a thousand years, Vasishtha in reply pleaded a pre-engagement to Indra
for five hundred years, but promised to return at the end of that period. The king
made no remark, and Vasishtha went away, supposing that he had assented to this
arrangement. On his return, however, the priest discovered that Nimi had retained
Gautama (who was equal with Vasishtha a Brahman-rishi) and others to perform the
sacrifices ; and being incensed at the neglect to give him notice of what was
intended, he cursed the king, who was then asleep, to lose his corporeal form. When
Nimi awoke and learnt that he had been cursed without any previous warning, he
retorted, by uttering a similar curse on Vasishtha, and then died. In consequence of
this curse the vigour of Vasistha, however, received from them another body when
their seed had fallen from them at the sight of Urvasi. Nimi's body was embalmed.
At the close of the sacrifice which he had begun, the Gods were willing, on the
intercession of the priests, to restore him to life, but he declined the offer, and was
placed by the deities, according to his desire, in the eyes of all living creatures. It is
in consequence of this fact that they are always opening the
shutting. (nimishas means "the twinkling of the eye")." Manu mentions another
conflict between the Brahmins and King Sumukha. But of this no details are
available.
These are instances of conflict between the Brahmins and the Kshatriya Kings.
From this it must not be supposed that the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas as two
classes did not clash. That there were clashes between these two classes as
distinguished from conflicts with kings is abundantly proved by material the historic
value of which cannot be doubted. Reference may be made to three events.
First is the contest between two individuals Vishvamitra the Kshatriya and
Vasishtha the Brahmin. The issue between the two was whether a Kshatriya can
claim Brahmahood.The story is told in Ramayana and is as follows :-"There was
formerly, we are told, a king called Kusa, son of Prajapati, who had a son
called Kushanabha, who was father ofGadhi, the father of Visvamitra. The latter
ruled the earth for many thousand years. On one occasion, when he was making a
circuit of the earth, he came to Vasishtha's hermitage, the pleasant abode of many
saints, sages, and holy devotees, where, after at first declining he allowed himself to
be hospitably entertained with his followers. Visvamitra, however, coveting the
wondrous cow, which had supplied all the dainties of the feast, first of alt asked that
she should be given to him in exchange for a hundred thousand common cows,
adding that "she was a gem, that gems were the property of the king,
and that, therefore, the cow was his by right". On this price being refused the king
advances immensely in his offers, but all without effect.
He then proceeds very ungratefully and tyrannically, it must be allowed—to have
the cow removed by force, but she breaks away from his attendants, and rushes
back to her master, complaining that he was deserting her. He replied that he was
not deserting her, but that the king was much more powerful than he. She
answers, "Men do not ascribe strength to a Kshatriya; the Brahmins are stronger.
The Strength of Brahmins is divine, and superior to that of Kshatriya. Thy strength
is immeasurable. Visvamitra, though of great vigour, is not more powerful than thou.
Thy energy is invincible. Commission me, who have been acquired by
the Brahmanical power, and I will destroy the pride, and force, and attempt of this
wicked prince".
She accordingly by her bellowing creates hundreds of Pahlavas, who destroy the
entire host of Visvamitra, but are slain by him in their turn. Sakas and Yavans, of
great power and valour, and well armed, were then produced who consumed the
king's soldiers, but were routed by him. The cow then calls into existence by her
bellowing, and from different parts of her body, other warriors of various tribes, who
again destroyed Visvamitra's entire army, foot soldiers, elephants, horses, chariots,
and all. "A hundred of the monarch's sons, armed with various weapons, then
rushed in great fury on Vashistha, but were all reduced to ashes in a moment by
the blast of that sage's mouth. Vishvamitra, being thus utterly vanquished and
humbled, appointed one of his sons to be regent, and travelled to the Himalaya,
where he betook himself to austerities, and thereby obtained a vision
ofMahadeva, who at his desire revealed to him the science of arms in all its
branches, and gave him celestial weapons with which, elated and full of pride, he
consumed the hermitage of Vashishtha, and put its inhabitants to flight.
Vashishtha then threatens Vishvamitra and uplifts his Brahminical mace.
Vishvamitra too, raises his fiery weapon and calls out to his adversary to stand.
Vashishtha bids him to show his strength, and boasts that he will soon humble his
pride. He asks : "What comparison is there between a Kshatriya's might, and the
great might of a Brahman? Behold, thou contemptible Kshatriya, my divine
Brahmanical power".
The dreadful fiery weapon uplifted by the son of Gadhi was then quenched by the
rod of the Brahman, as fire is by water. Many and various other celestial missiles, as
the nooses of Brahma, Kala (time), and Varuna, the discus of Vishnu, and the trident
Siva, were hurled by Vishvamitra at his antagonist, but the son of Brahma swallowed
them up in his all-devouring mace. Finally, to the intense consternation of all the
Gods, the warrior shot off the terrific weapon of Brahma (Brahmastra) ; but this was
equally ineffectual against the Brahmanical sage. Vashishtha had now assumed a
direful appearance: 'Jets of fire mingled with smoke darted from the pores of his
body; the Brahminical mace blazed in his hand like a smokeless mundane
conflagration, or a second sceptre of Yama".
Being appeased, however, by the munis, who proclaimed his superiority to his
rival, the sage stayed his vengeance ; and Vishvamitra exclaimed with a
groan : 'Shame on a Kshatriya's strength ; the strength of a Brahman's might alone
is strength ; by the single Brahmanical mace all my weapons have been destroyed. '
No alternative now remains, to the humiliated monarch, but either to acquiesce in
this helpless inferiority, or to work out his own elevation to the Brahmanical order. He
embraces the latter alternative: "Having pondered well this defeat, I shall betake
myself, with composed senses and mind, to strenous austere fervour, which shall
exalt me to the rank of a Brahman". Intensely vexed and mortified, groaning and full
of hatred against his enemy, he travelled with his queen to the south, and carried his
resolution into effect; and we are first of all told that three
sonsHavishyanda, Madhusyanda, and Dridhanetra were born to him.
At the end of a thousand years Brahma appeared, and announced that he had
conquered the heaven of royal sages (Rajarshis) ; and, in consequence of his
austere fervour, he was recognised as having attained that
rank. Vishvamitra, however, was ashamed, grieved, and incensed at the offer of so
very inadequate a reward, and exclaimed: " I have practised intense austerity, and
the Gods and Rishis regard me only as a Rajarshi and not as a Brahman. "There is
conflict recorded between the same persons or different persons of the same name
though on a somewhat different issue.
King Trisanku, one of Ikshvaku's descendants, had conceived the design of
celebrating a sacrifice by virtue of which he should ascent bodily to heaven.
As Vashistha, on being summoned, declared that the thing was
impossible (asakyam), Trisanku travelled to the south, where the sage's hundred
sons were engaged in austerities, and applied to them to do what their father had
declined. Though he addressed them with the greatest reverence and humility, and
added that "the Ikshvaku regarded their family—priests as their highest resource in
difficulties, and that, after their father, he himself looked to them as
his tutelary deities "he received from the haughty priests the following rebuke for his
presumption :"Asakyam" "Fool, thou hast been refused by thy truth speaking
preceptor. How is it that, disregarding his authority, thou hast resorted to another
school (sakha). The family priest is the highest oracle of all the Ikshvakus', and
the command of that veracious personages cannot be transgressed. Vashishtha, the
divine Rishi, has declared that 'the thing cannot be'; and how can we undertake thy
sacrifice? Thou art foolish king; return to thy capital. The divine (Vashishtha) is
competent to act as priest of the three worlds; how can we shew him disrespect?"
Trisanku then gave them to understand that as his preceptor and "his preceptor's
sons had declined compliance with his requests, he should think of some other
expedient". In consequence of his venturing to express this presumptuous intention,
they condemned him by their imprecation to become a Chandala.
As this curse soon took effect, and the unhappy king's form was changed into that
of a degraded outcast, he resorted to Vishvamitra (who, as we have seen, was also
dwelling at this period in the south), enlarging on his own virtues and piety, and
bewailing his fate. Vishvamitra commiserated his condition, and promised to
sacrifice on his behalf, and exalt him to heaven in the same Chandala form to which
he had been condemned by his preceptor's curse. "Heaven is now as good as in thy
possession, since thou hast resorted to the son of Kusika". He then directed that
preparations should be made for the sacrifice, and that all the Rishis, including the
family of Vashishtha should be invited to the ceremony. The disciples of Vishvamitra,
who had conveyed his message, reported the result on their return in these
words : "Having heard your message, all the Brahmans are assembling in all the
countries, and have arrived, excepting Mahodaya (Vashishtha)? Hear what dreadful
words those hundred Vashishthas, their voices quivering with rage, have uttered :
" How can the Gods and Rishis consume the oblation at the sacrifice of that man,
especially if he be a Chandala, for whom a Kshatriya is officiating priest? How can
illustrious Brahmans ascend to heaven after eating the food of a Chandala, and
being entertained by Vishvamitra? "These ruthless words all Vashishthas, together
with Mahodaya, uttered, their eyes inflamed with anger.
Vishvamitra, who was greatly incensed on receiving this, message by a curse
doomed the sons of Vashishtha to be reduced to ashes, and reborn as degraded
outcasts(mritapah) for seven hundred births, and Mahodaya to become
a Nishada. Knowing that this curse had taken effect, Vishvamitra then after
eulogizing Trisanku, proposed to the assembled Rishis that the sacrifice should be
celebrated. To this they assented, being actuated by fear of the terrible sage's wrath.
Vishvamitra himself officiated at the sacrifices as vajakas ; and the other Rishis as
priests (Ritvijah) (with other functions) performed all the ceremonies. Vishvamitra
next invited the gods to partake of the oblations ; "When, however, the deities did not
come to receive their portions, Vishvamitra became full of wrath, and raising aloft
the sacrificial ladle, thus addressed Trisanku : 'Behold, O monarch, the power of
austere fervour acquired by my own efforts. I myself, by my own energy, will conduct
thy to heaven.
Ascend to that celestial region which is so arduous to attain in an earthly body. I
have surely earned SOME reward of my austerity '. "Trisanku ascended instantly to
heaven in the sight of Munis. Indra, however, ordered him to be gone, as a person
who, having incurred the curse of his spiritual preceptors, was unfit for the abode of
the celestials :—and to fall down headlong to earth. He accordingly began to
descend, invoking loudly, as he fell, the help of his spiritual
patron. Vishvamitra, greatly incensed, called out to him to stop: "Then by the power
of his divine knowledge and austere fervour created, like another Prajapati, other
Seven Rishis (a constellation so called) in the southern part of the sky. Having
proceeded to this quarter of the heavens, the renowned sage, in the midst of the
Rishis, formed another garland of stars, being overcome with fury. Exclaiming, 'I will
create another Indra, or the world shall have no Indra at all', he began, in his rage, to
call Gods also into being".
The Rishis, Gods, (Suras), and Asuras now became seriously alarmed and said to
Vishvamitra, in a concilliatory tone, that Trisanku, "as he had been cursed by his
preceptors, should not be admitted bodily into heaven, until he had undergone some
lustration". The sage replied that he had given a promise to Trisanku, and appealed
to the Gods to permit his portage to remain bodily in heaven, and the newly created
stars to retain their places in perpetuity. The Gods agreed that "these numerous
stars should remain, but beyond the Sun's path, and that Trisanku, like an immortal,
with his head downwards should shine among them, and be followed by
them", adding "that his object would be thus attained, and his renown secured, and
he would be like a dweller in heaven". Thus was this great dispute adjusted by a
compromise, which Vishvamitra accepted.[f22]
When all the Gods and rishis had departed at the conclusion of the sacrifice,
Vishvamitra said to his attendant devotees ; "This has been a great interruption (to
our austerities) which has occurred in the southern region : we must proceed in
another direction to continue our penances". He accordingly went to a forest in the
west, and began his austerities anew. Here the narrative is again interrupted by the
introduction of another story, that of king Ambarisha, king of Ayodhya, who was,
according to the Ramayana, the twenty eighth in descent from Ikshvaku, and the
twenty second from Trisanku.
Vishvamitra is nevertheless represented as flourishing contemporaneously
with both of these princes. The story relates that Ambarisha was engaged in
performing a sacrifice, when Indra carried away the victim. The priest said that this
ill-omened event had occurred owing to the king's bad administration ; and would
call for a great expiation, unless a human victim could be produced. After a long
search the royal rishi (Ambarisha) came upon the Brahmin-rishi Richika, a
descendant of Bhrigu, and asked him to sell one of his sons for a victim, at the price
of a hundred thousand cows. Richika answered that he would not sell his eldest
son; and his wife added that she would not sell the youngest : "Eldest sons," she
observed, "being generally the favourites of their fathers, and youngest sons of their
mothers". The second son, Sunassepa then said that in that case he regarded
himself as the one who was to be sold, and desired the king to remove him. The
hundred thousand cows, with ten millions of gold pieces and heaps of jewels, were
paid down, and Sunassepa was carried away. As they were passing
through Puskara, Sunassepa beheld his maternal uncleVishvamitra who was
engaged in austerities there with other rishis, threw himself into his arms, and
implored his assistance, urging his orphan, friendless, and helpless state, as claims
on the sage's benevolence. Vishvarnitra soothed him: and pressed his own sons to
offer themselves as victims in the room of Sunassepa. This proposition met with no
favour from Madhushanda and the other sons of the royal hermit, who answered
with haughtiness and derison : "How is it that thou sacrificest thine own sons,
and seekest torescue those of others? We look upon this as wrong, and like the
eating of one's own flesh".
The sage was exceedingly wrath at this disregard of his injunction, and doomed his
sons to be born in the most degraded classes, like Vashishtha's sons, and to eat
dog's flesh, for a thousand years. He then said to Sunassepa : "When thou art
bound with hallowed cords, decked with a red garland, and anointed with unguents,
and fastened to the sacrificial post of Vishnu, then address thyself to Agni, and sing
these two divine verses (gathas), at the sacrifice of Ambarisha ; then shall thou
attain the fulfilment of thy desire". Being furnished with the two gathas, Sunassepa
proposed at once to King Ambarisha that they should set out for their destination.
Then bound at the stake to be immolated, dressed in a red garment, "he celebrated
the two Gods, Indra and his younger brother (Vishnu), with the excellent verses.
The thousand-eyed (Indra) was pleased with the sacred hymn, and bestowed long
life on Sunassepa". King Ambarisha also received great benefits from this
sacrifice. Vishvamitra meanwhile proceeded with his austerities, which he prolonged
for a thousand years. "At the end of this time the Gods came to allot his reward; and
Brahma announced that he had attained the rank of a rishi, thus apparently
advancing an additional step. Dissatisfied, as it would seem, with this, the sage
commenced his task of penance anew. After a length of time he beheld the
nymph (Apsara)Menka, who had come to bathe in the lake of Pushkara.
She flashed on his view, unequalled in her radiant beauty, like lightning in a cloud.
He was smitten by her charms, invited her to be his companion in his hermitage, and
for ten years remained a slave to her witchery, to the great prejudice of his
austerities. At length he became ashamed of this ignoble subjection, and full of
indignation at what he believed to be a device of the Gods to disturb his
devotion ; and, dismissing the nymph with gentle accents, he departed for the
northern mountains, where he practised severe austerities for a thousand years on
the banks of the Kausiki river. The Gods became alarmed at the progress he was
making, and decided that he should be dignified with the appellation of
great rishi (Maharshi) ; and Brahma, giving effect to the general opinion of the
deities, announced that he had conferred that rank upon him. Joining his hands and
bowing his head, Vishvamitra replied that he should consider himself to have indeed
completely subdued his senses, if the incomparable title of Brahmin-rishi were
conferred upon him. Brahma informed him in answer, that he had not yet acquired
the power of perfectly controlling his senses ; but should make further efforts with
that view.
The sage then began to put himself through a yet more rigorous course of
austerities, standing with his arms erect, without support, feeding on air, in summer
exposed to five fires (i.e. one on each of four sides, and the sun overhead), in the
rainy season remaining unsheltered from the wet, and in winter lying on a watery
couch night and day. This he continued for a thousand years. At last Indra and the
other deities became greatly distressed at the idea of the merit he was storing up,
and the power which he was thereby acquiring; and the chief of the celestials
desired the nymph Rambha to go and bewitch him by her blandishments. She
expressed great reluctance to expose herself to the wrath of the
formidable muni, but obeyed the repeated injunction of Indra, who promised that he
and Kandarpa (the God of love) should stand by her, and assumed her most
attractive aspect with the view of overcoming the sage's impassability. He, however,
suspected this design, and becoming greatly incensed, he doomed the nymph by a
curse to be turned into stone and to continue in that state for a thousand years.
The curse took effect, and Kandarpa and Indra sunk away. In this way, though he
resisted the allurements of sensual love, he lost the whole fruit of his austerities by
yielding to anger; and had to begin his work over again. He resolved to check his
irresistibility, to remain silent, not even to breathe for hundreds of years ; to dry up
his body ; and to fast and stop his breath till he had obtained the coveted character
of a Brahmin. He then left the Himalaya and travelled to the east, where he
underwent a dreadful exercise, unequalled in the whole history of austerities,
maintaining silence, according to a vow, for a thousand years. At the end of this time
he had attained to perfection, and although thwarted by many obstacles, he
remained unmoved by anger. On the expiration of this course of austerity, he
prepared some food to eat; which Indra, coming in the form of a Brahmin, begged
that he would give him. Vishvamitra did so, and though he had done left for himself,
and was obliged to remain fasting, he said nothing to the Brahmin, on account of his
vow of silence."As he continued to suspend his breath, smoke issued from his head,
to the great consternation and distress of the three worlds."
The Gods, rishis, etc., then addressed Brahma. "The great muni Vishvamitra has
been allured and provoked in various ways, but still advances in his sanctity. If his
wish is not conceded, he will destroy the three worlds by the force of his austerity. All
the regions of the universe are confounded, no light anywhere shines; all the oceans
are tossed, and the mountains crumble, the earth quakes, and the
wind blows confusedly. We cannot, 0 Brahma, guarantee that mankind shall not
become atheistic..... Before the great and glorious sage of fiery form resolves to
destroy (everything) let him be propitiated. "The Gods, headed by Brahma, then
addressed Vishvamitra : 'Hail, Brahman rishi, we are gratified by the
austerity ; O Kausika, thou hast, through their intensity, attained to Brahmahood. O
Brahman, associated with the Maruts, confers on thee long life. May every blessing
attend thee ;depart where ever thou wilt.' The sage, delighted, made his obeisance
to the Gods, and said: ' If I have obtained Brahmahood, and long life, then let the
mystic monosyllable(ornkara) and the sacrificial formula (vashatkara) and
the Vedas recognise me in that capacity. And let Vashishtha, the son of Brahmin,
the most eminent of those who are skilled in the Kshatra-Veda, and the Brahma-
Veda (the knowledge of the Kshatriya and the Brahmnical disciplines), address me
similarly '..... Accordingly Vashishtha, being propitiated by the Gods, became
reconciled to Vishvamitra, and recognised his claim to all the prerogatives of a
Brahman rishi. .... Vishvamitra, too having attained the Brahmanical rank, paid all
honour to Vashishtha".
The second event has a reference to the slaughter of the Brahmins by
the Kshatriyas. It is related in the Adiparva of the Mahabharat from which the
following account is taken :—
"There was a King named Kritrvirya, by whose liberality the Bhrigus, learned in the
Vedas, who officiated as his priests, had been greatly enriched with corn and
money. After he had gone to heaven, his descendants were in want of money, and
came to beg for a supply from the Bhrigus, of whose wealth they were aware. Some
of the latter hid their money under ground, others bestowed it on Brahmins, being
afraid of the Kshatriyas, while others again gave these last what they wanted. It
happened, however, that a Kshatriya, while digging the ground, discovered some
money buried in the house of Bhrigu. The Kshatriyas then assembled and saw this
treasure, and, being incensed, slew in consequence all the Bhrigus, who they
regarded with contempt, down to the children in the womb. The widows, however,
fled to the Himalaya mountains. One of them concealed her unborn child in her
thigh. The Kshatriya, hearing of its existence from a Brahmani informant, sought to
kill it ; but it issued forth from its mother's thigh with lustre, and blinded the
persecutors. After wandering about bewildered among the mountains for a time, they
humbly supplicated the mother of the child for the restoration of their sight ; but she
referred them to her wonderful infant Aurva into whom the whole Veda, with its
six Vedangas, had entered as the person who (in retaliation of the slaughter of his
relatives) had robbed them of their eyesight, and who alone could restore it. They
accordingly had recourse to him, and their eyesight was restored. Aurva, however,
meditated the destruction of all living creatures, in revenge for the slaughter of the
Bhrigus. and entered on a course of austerities which alarmed both Gods, Asuras,
and men ; but his progenitors (Pitris) themselves appeared, and sought to turn him
from his purpose by saying that they had no desire to be revenged on
the Kshatriyas: "It was not from weakness that the devout Bhrigus overlooked the
massacre perpetrated by the murderous Kshatriyas.
When we became distressed by old age, we ourselves desired to be slaughtered
by them. The money which was buried by someone in a Bhrigu's house was placed
there for the purpose of exciting hatred, by those who wished to provoke the
Kshatriyas. For what had we, who were desiring heaven, to do with money? "They
added that they hit upon this device because they did not wish to be guilty of suicide,
and concluded by calling upon Aurva to restrain his wrath ; and abstain from the sin
he was meditating, "Destroy not the Kshatriyas. Oh, son, nor the seven worlds.
Suppress thy kindled anger which nullifies the power of austere fervour."
Aurva, however, replies that he cannot allow his threat to remain un-executed. His
anger, unless wreaked upon some other object, will, he says, consume himself. And
he argues on grounds of justice, expediency, and duty, against the clemency which
his progenitors recommend. He is, however, persuaded by the Pitris to throw the fire
of his anger into the sea, where they say it will find exercise in assailing the watery
element, and in this way his threat will be fulfilled."
The third event has reference to the slaughter of the Kshatriyas by the Brahmins.
This story is told in several places in the Mahabharat. The magnificent and
mighty Kartavirya,possessing a thousand arms, was lord of this whole world, living
in Mahishmati. This Haihaya of unquestioned valour ruled over the whole sea-girt
earth, with its oceans and continents. He obtained boons from the Muni
Dattatreya, a thousand arms whenever he should go into battle, power to make the
conquest of the whole earth, a disposition to rule it with justice and the promise of
instruction from the virtuous in the event of his going astray. "Then ascending his
chariot glorious as the resplendent Sun, he exclaimed in the intoxication of his
prowess, ' Who is like me in fortitude, courage, fame, heroism, energy, and vigour?'
At the end of this speech a bodiless voice in the sky addressed
him: 'Thou knowest not, 0 fool, that a Brahman is better than Kshatriya. It is with the
help of the Brahman that theKshatriya rules his subjects. ' Arjuna answers : ' If I am
pleased, I can create, or, if displeased, annihilate living beings; and no Brahman is
superior to me in act, thought or word. The first proposition is that the Brahmins are
superior: the second that the Kshatriyas are superior; both of these thou hast stated
with their grounds, but there is a difference between them (in point of force). The
Brahmins are dependent on the Kshatriyas and not the Kshatriyas on the
Brahmins, who wait upon them, and only make the Vedas a pretence. Justice, the
protection of the people, has its seat in the Kshatriyas. From them the Brahmins
derive their livelihood; how then can the latter be superior? I always keep in
subjection myself those Brahmins, the chief of all beings, who subsist on air and
sand who have a high opinion of themselves. For truth was spoken by that female
the Gayatri in the sky. I shall subdue all those unruly Brahmins clad in hides. No one
in the three worlds, god or man can hurl me from my royal authority; therefore I am
superior to any Brahman. Now shall I turn the world in which Brahmins have the
upper hand into a place where Kshatriyas shall have the upper hand; for no one
dares to encounter my force in battle. ' Hearing this speech of Arjun, the female
roving in the night became alarmed.
Then Vayu hovering in the air, said to Arjuna: 'Abandon this sinful disposition, and
do obeisance to the Brahmins. If thou shall do them wrong, thy kingdom shall be
convulsed. They will subdue thee; those powerful men will humble thee, and expel
thee from thy country. ' The King asks him, 'Who art thou?" Vayu replies, 'I am Vayu,
the messenger of the Gods. and tell thee what is for thy benefit. ' Arjuna rejoins, '
Oh, thou displayest today a great warmth of devotion to the Brahmins. But say that a
Brahman is like (any other) earth-horn creature. "
 This king came into conflict with Parsuram the son of a Brahman
sage Jamadagni. The history of this conflict is as follows:—
There lived a king of Kanyakubja, called Gadhi, who had a daughter
named Satyavati. The marriage of this princess to the rishi Richika, and the birth of
Jamadagni, are then told in nearly the same way as above narrated. Jamadagni and
Satyavati had five sons, the youngest of whom was the redoubtable Parasuram. By
his father's command he kills his mother (who, by the indulgence of impure desire,
had fallen from her previous sanctity), after the four elder sons had
refused this matricidal offence, and had in consequence been deprived of
reason bv their father's curse. At Parasuram's desire, however, his mother is
restored by his father to life, and his brothers to reason; and he himself is absolved
from all the guilt of murder ; and obtains the boon of invincibility and long life from his
father.
His history now begins to be connected with that of king Arjuna (or Kartavirya). The
latter had come to Jamadagni's hermitage, and had been respectfully received by
his wife; but he had requited this honour by carrying away by force the calf of the
sage's sacrificial cow, and breaking down his lofty trees. On being informed of this
violence, Parasuramawas filled with indignation, attacked Arjuna, cut off his
thousand arms, and slew him. Arjuna's sons, in return slew the peaceful
sage Jamadagni, in the absence of Parasuram.
Rama, after performing, on his return, his father's funeral obsequies, vowed to
destroy the whole Kshatriya race ; and execucted his threat by killing
first Arjun's sons and their followers. Twenty one times did he sweep away all
the Kshatriyas from the earth, and formed five lakes of blood in Samantpanchaka ; in
which he satiated the manes of theBhrigus, and beheld face to face (his
grandfather), Richika, who addressed himself to Rama. The latter gratified Indra by
offering to him a grand sacrifice, and gave the earth to the officiating priests. He
bestowed also a golden altar, ten fathoms long and nine high, on the
mighty Kasyapa.
This, by his permission, the Brahmins divided among themselves, deriving thence
the name of Khandavavanas. Having given away the earth to Kasyapa, Parasuram
himself dwells on the mountain Mahendra. Thus did enmity arise between him and
Kshatriyas, and thus was the earth conquered by Parasuram of boundless
might." The Kshatriyas who were slain by Parasuram are described in
the Dronaparvan of the Mahabharata as of various provinces, viz.,
Kasmiras, Daradas, Kuntis, Kshudrakas, Malavas, Angas, Vangas,
Kalingas, Videhas, Tamraliptakas, Marttikavatas, Sivis and other Rajanyas.
The means by which the Kshattriya race was restored is also told as part of this
story of annihilation of the Kshatriyas by the Brahmins. It is said :—
 "Having one and twenty times swept away all the Kshatriyas from the earth, the
son of Jamdagni engaged in austerities on Mahendra the most excellent of
mountains. After he had cleared the world of Kshatriyas, their widows came to the
Brahmins, praying for offspring. The religious Brahmins, free from any impulse of
lust cohabited at the proper seasons with these women, who in consequence
became pregnant, and brought forth valiant Kshatriya boys and girls, to continue
the Kshatriya stock. Thus was the Kshatriya race virtuously begotten by Brahmins
on Kshatriya women, and became multiplied and long lived. Thence there arose four
castes inferior to the Brahmins." No country has such a dismal record of class war
as Hindustan. It was the proud boast of the Brahmin Parsuram that he
exterminated the Kshatriyas twenty one times from the face of Hindustan and
recreated them by Brahmans cohabiting with the widows of the
Kshatriyas.
It must not be supposed that this Class War in India is a matter of ancient History.
It has been present all along. Its existence was very much noticeable
in Maharashtra during theMaratha Rule. It destroyed the Maratha Empire. It must not
be supposed that these class Wars were like ordinary wars which are a momentary
phenomena which come and go and which leave no permanent chasms to divide the
peoples of the different nations. In India the class war is a permanent phenomenon,
which is silently but surely working its way. It is a grain in the life and it has become
genius of the Hindus.
These facts it will not be denied are symptomatic in the sense they indicate health
and character. Do they suggest that there is fraternity among Hindus? In the face of
these facts I am sure it would be impossible to give an affirmative answer.
What is the explanation of this absence of fraternity among the Hindus? It is
Hinduism and its philosophy that is responsible for it. The sentiment of fraternity as
Mill said is natural but it is a plant, which grows only where the soil is propitious and
the conditions for its growth exist. The fundamental condition for the growth of the
sentiment of fraternity is not preaching that we are children of God or the realisation
that one's life is dependent upon others. It is too rational to give rise to a sentiment.
The condition for the growth of this sentiment of fraternity lies in sharing in the vital
processes of life. It is sharing in the joys and sorrows of birth, death, marriage and
food. Those who participate in these come to feel as brothers. Prof. Smith very
rightly emphasises the importance of sharing food as a prime factor in the creation of
community feeling when he says;
"The sacrificial meal was an appropriate expression of the antique ideal of religious
life, not merely because it was a social act and in which the God and his
worshippers were conceived as partaking together, but because, as has already
been said, the very act of eating and drinking with a man was a symbol and 4 a
confirmation of fellowship and mutual social obligations. The one thing directly
expressed in the sacrificial meal is that the God and his worshippers are common
sols but every other point in their mutual relations is included in what this involves.
Those who sit at meal together are united for all social effects; those who do not eat
together are aliens to one another, without fellowship in religion and without
reciprocal social duties".[f23]
There is no sharing among Hindus of joys and sorrows involved in the vital facts of
life. Everything is separate and exclusive. The Hindu is separate and exclusive all
through his life. A foreigner coming to India will not find men crying
Hindu Pani (water for Hindus) and Musalman Pani (water for Musalmans). He will
find Brahmin Coffee
Houses, Brahmin Eating-Houses, where no non-Brahmin Hindus can go. He will
find Brahmin Maternity Homes, Maratha Maternity Homes and Bhatia Maternity
homes although Brahmins, Marathas and Bhatias are all Hindus. If there is a birth at
the house of a Brahmin, no non-Brahmin will be invited nor will he feel the desire to
join. If there is marriage in the family of a Brahmin, no non-Brahmin will be invited
nor will he feel the desire to join if a Brahmin dies, no non-Brahmin will be invited to
join the funeral nor will he think it necessary to join in the procession. If there is a
festivity in the house of a Brahmin, no non-Brahmin will be called and no non-
Brahmin will feel any wrong about it. Joys and sorrows of one caste are not the joys
and sorrows of another. One caste has no concern with other castes. Even charity
has become caste bound. Among Hindus there is no public charity in the sense of its
benefit being open to all. You have Brahmin Charity for Brahmins. Within that you
have Chitpavan Brahmin Charity for Chitpavan Brahmins only. DeshasthaBrahmin
Charity for Deshastha Brahmins only, Karhada Brahmin Charity
for Karahda Brahmins only. You have Sarasvat Brahmin Charity. Within that you
have KudaldeshkarBrahmin Charity. One could go on with such
instances ad nauseum to show the exclusive character of Hindu Charity—rather
Charity among Hindus—for there is no such thing as Hindu Charity. Thus one Hindu
will share nothing with another Hindu while they are alive. But they will be separate
and exclusive even when they are dead. Some Hindus bury their dead. Some
Hindus burn their dead. But those bury will not share the same cemetery. Each will
appropriate a part of the cemetery to bury its dead. Those Who burn will not burn at
the same burning place. If they do, each will have a separate funeral pan.
Is there any wonder that the sentiment of fraternity is foreign to the Hindus? With a
complete refusal to share the joys and sorrows of life how can the sentiment of
fraternity take roots?
But the question of all questions is why do the Hindus refuse to share the joys and
sorrows of life? It needs no saying that he refuses to share because his religion tells
him not to share them. This conclusion need cause no surprise. For what does
Hinduism teach? It teaches not to inter-dine, not to intermarry, not to associate.
These don'ts constitute the essence of its teaching. All the shameful facts I have
referred to, to illustrate the separate and exclusive character of the Hindus is the
direct outcome of this philosophy ofHindusim. The philosophy of Hinduism is a direct
denial of fraternity.
This brief analysis of the Philosophy of Hinduism from the point of view of justice
reveals in a glaring manner how Hinduism is inimical to equality, antagonistic to
liberty and opposed to fraternity.
Fraternity and liberty are really derivative notions. The basic and fundamental
conceptions are equality and respect for human personality. Fraternity and liberty
take their roots in these two fundamental conceptions. Digging further down it may
be said that equality is the original notion and respect for human personality is a
reflection of it. So that where equality is denied, everything else may be taken to be
denied. In other words it was enough for me to have shown that there was no
equality in Hinduism. But as Hinduism has not been examined so far in the manner I
have done, I did not think it sufficient to leave it to implication that Hinduism was a
denial of Fraternity and Liberty as well.
There is one final observation with which I wish to conclude this discussion with the
profound observation of Lord Acton. The great Lord says that inequality has grown
as a result of historical circumstances. It has never been adopted as a creed. It is
obvious that in making this observation Lord Acton must have omitted to take note of
Hinduism. For in Hinduism inequality is a religious doctrine adopted and
conscientiously preached as a sacred dogma. It is an official creed and nobody is
ashamed to profess it openly. Inequality for the Hindus is a divinely prescribed way
of life as a religious doctrine and as a prescribed way of life, it has become incarnate
in Hindu Society and is shaped and moulded by it in its thoughts and in its doings.
Indeed inequality is the Soul of Hinduism.
Let me now turn to the examination of the philosophy of Hinduism from the point of
view of Utility.
This examination of Hinduism from this aspect need not be long and detailed. For
as Mill pointed out there is no necessary antagonism between justice and utility. In
other words what is unjust to the individual cannot be useful to society. Apart from
this we have before us the consequences of caste staring us in the face.
The ideal of caste was not mere ideal. The ideal was put into practice; was
therefore something real. So that, in the matter of the Chaturvarna the Hindus have
very faithfully followed the German Philosopher Nietszche who said "Realise the-
ideal and idealise the real".
The value of the ideal must be tested by its results. If experience therefore must be
the criterion then the ideal of Chaturvarna stands thrice condemned. Purely as a
form of social organisation it stands condemned. As a producer's organisation it
stands discredited. As an ideal scheme of distribution it has miserably failed. If it is
an ideal form of organisation how is it that the Hinduism has been unable to form a
common front. If it is an ideal form of production, how is it that its technique never
advanced beyond that of the primitive man. If it is an ideal form of distribution, how is
it that it has produced appalling inequality of wealth, immense wealth side by side
extreme poverty.
But I do not wish to dismiss the subject so summarily, for I know many Hindus who
claim great social utility to the institution of caste and praise Manu for having been
so wise and so thoughtful not only in devising it but in giving it a divine sanction.
This view of the caste is due to taking the separate aspects of caste separately.
One must take them in conjunction. The resultant social utility or distillate of caste
can be ascertained only by putting together the separate aspects of caste and judge
them in their combination. Following this line of attacking the problem, the following
conclusions follow: —
(1) Caste divides Labourers (2) Caste disassociates work from interest (3) Caste
disconnects intelligence from manual labour (4) Caste devitalises by denying to him
the right to cultivate vital interest and (5) Caste prevents mobilisation. Caste System
is not merely division of labour. IT IS ALSO A DIVISION OF LABOURERS. Civilised
society undoubtedly needs division of labour. But in no civilised society is division of
labour accompanied by this unnatural division of labourers into watertight
compartments. Caste System is not merely a division of labourers, which is quite
different from division of labour it is an hierarchy in which the divisions of labourers
are graded one above the other. In no other country is the division of labour
accompanied by this gradation of labourers. There is also a third point of criticism
against this view of the Caste System. This division of labour is not spontaneous, it
is not based on natural aptitudes. Social and individual efficiency requires us to
develop the capacity of an individual to the point of competency to chose and to
make his own career. This principle is violated in the Caste System in so far as it
involves an attempt to appoint tasks to individuals in advance, selected not on the
basis of trained original capacities, but on that of the social status of the parents.
Looked at from another point of view this stratification of occupations which is the
result of the Caste System is positively pernicious. Industry is never static. It
undergoes rapid and abrupt changes. With such changes an individual must be free
to change his occupations. Without such freedom to adjust himself to changing
circumstances it would be impossible for him to gain his livelihood. Now the Caste
System will not allow Hindus to take occupations where they are wanted if they do
not belong to them by heredity. If a Hindu is seen to starve rather than take to new
occupations not assigned to his Caste, the reason is to be found in the Caste
System. By not permitting readjustment of occupations, caste becomes a direct
cause of much of the unemployment we see in the country.
 As a form of division of labour the Caste System suffers from another serious
defect. The division of labour brought about by the Caste System is not a division
based on choice. Individual sentiment, individual preference has no place in it. It is
based on the dogma of predestination. Considerations of social efficiency would
compel us to recognise that the greatest evil in the industrial system is not so much
poverty and the suffering that it involves, as the fact that so many persons have
callings which make no appeal to those who are engaged in them. Such callings
constantly provoke one to aversion, ill will and the desire to evade. There are many
occupations in India which on account of the fact that they are regarded as degraded
by the Hindus provoke those who are engaged in it to aversion. There is a constant
desire to evade and escape from such occupations which arises solely because of
the blighting effect which they produce upon those who follow them owing to the
slight and stigma cast upon them by the Hindu religion.
The second mischief it dose is to dissociate intelligence from work and create
contempt for labour. The theory of the Caste is that a Brahmin who is permitted to
cultivate his intellect is not permitted to labour, indeed is taught to look down upon
labour. While the Shudra who is required to labour is not permitted to cultivate his
intelligence. The disastrous consequences of this have been well portrayed by
Mr. R.C.Dutt. [f24]..... barren. Wealth without education and wealth is brutal. Each is
necessary to every one. They are necessary for the growth of a man.
That the Brahmin should cultivate knowledge, Kshatriya should bear arms,
the Vaishya should trade and that the Shudra should serve is presented as a theory
of mutual interdependence found in the family. It is asked why should the Shudra
need trouble to acquire wealth when the three Varnas are there to support him; Why
need the Shudra bother to take to education when the Brahmin to whom he can go
when the occasion for reading or writing arises; Why need the Shudra worry to arm
himself because there is the Kshatriya to protect him? The theory
of Chaturvarnya understood in this sense may be said to look upon the Shudra as
the ward and the three Varnas as his guardians. Thus interpreted it is a
simple and alluring theory. Assuming this to be the correct view of the underlying
conception of Chaturvarnya it seems to me that the system is neither fool-proof nor
knave-proof. What is to happen if the Brahmins, Vaishyas and Kshatriyas fail to
pursue knowledge, to engage in economic enterprises and to be efficient soldiers
which are their respective functions? Contrary-wise, suppose that they discharge
their functions but flout their duty to the Shudra or to one another? What is to
happen to the Shudra if the three classes refuse to support him on fair terms or
combine to keep him down? Who is to safeguard the interests of the Shudra or for
the matter of that of the Vaishya and Kshatriya when the person who is trying to take
advantage of his ignorance is the Brahmin? Who is to defend the liberty of the
Shudra or that of the Brahmin and the Vaishya, when the person who is robbing him
of it is the Kshatriya? Inter-dependence of one class on another class is inevitable.
Even dependence of one class upon another may sometimes become allowable. But
why make one person depend upon another in the matter of his vital needs?
Education every one must have. Means of defence every one must have. These are
the paramount requirements of every man for his self-preservation. How can the
fact that his neighbour is educated and armed, help a man who is uneducated and
disarmed. The whole theory is absurd. These are the questions which the defenders
of Chaturvarnya do not seem to be troubled about. But they are very pertinent
questions. Assuming their conception of Chaturvarnya that the relationship between
the different classes is that of ward and guardian is the real conception underlying
Chaturvarnya, it must be admitted that it makes no provision to safeguard the
interests of the ward from the misdeeds of the guardian. Whether the relationship of
guardian and ward was the real underlying conception on which Chaturvarnya was
based there is no doubt that in practice the relation was that of master and servant.
The three classes, Brahmins, Kshatriyas andVaishyas although not very happy in
their mutual relationship managed to work by compromise. The Brahmin flattered
the Kshatriya and both let the Vaishya live in order to be able to live upon him. But
the three agreed to beat down the Shudra. He was not allowed to acquire wealth lest
he should be independent of the three Varnas. He was prohibited from acquiring
knowledge lest he should keep a steady vigil regarding his interests. He was
prohibited from bearing arms lest he should have the means to rebel against their
authority. That this is how the Shudras were treated by the Trayavarnikas is
evidenced by the Laws of Manu. There is no code of laws more infamous regarding
social rights than the Laws of Manu. Any instance from anywhere of social injustice
must pale before it. Why have the mass of people tolerated the social evils to which
they have been subjected? There have been social revolutions in other countries of
the world. Why have there not been social revolutions in India is a question which
has incessantly troubled me. There is only one answer which I can give and it is that
the lower classes of Hindus have been completely disabled for direct action on
account of this wretched system of Chaturvarnya. They could not bear arms and
without arms they could not rebel. They were all ploughmen or rather condemned to
be ploughmen and they were allowed to convert their ploughshares into swords.
They had no bayonets and therefore everyone who chose ploughs did sit upon
them. On account of the Chaturvarnya they could receive no education. They could
not think out or know the way to their salvation. They were condemned to be lowly
and not knowing the way of escape and not having the means of escape, they
became reconciled to eternal servitude which they accepted as their inescapable
fate. It is true that even in Europe the strong has not shrunk from the exploitation,
nay the spoliation of the weak but in Europe, the strong have never contrived to
make the weak helpless against exploitation so shamelessly as was the case in
India among the Hindus. Social war has been raging between the strong and the
weak far more violently in Europe than it has ever been in India. Yet the weak in
Europe has had in him freedom of military service his physical weapon, in suffrage
his political weapon and in education his moral weapon. Three weapons for
emancipation were never withheld by the strong from the weak in Europe. All these
weapons were however denied to the masses in India by Chaturvarnya. There
cannot be a more degrading system of social organisation than Chaturvarnya. It is
the system, which deadens, paralyses and cripples the people from helpful activity.
This is no exaggeration. History bears ample evidence. There is only one period in
Indian history, which is a period of freedom, greatness and glory. That is the period
of the Mourya Empire. At all other times the country suffered from defeat and
darkness. But the Mourya period was a period when Chaturvarnya was completely
annihilated, when the Shudras, who constituted the mass of the people came into
their own and became the rulers of the country. The period of defeat and darkness is
the period when Chaturvarnya flourished to the damnation of the greater part of the
people of the country.
Caste prevents mobilisation. Occasions arise when society must mobilise all its
resources to one end in order to save itself from a catastrophe. To take a
catastrophe like war, Society must mobilise all its resources for militarization. Every
one must do war. Every one must be a soldier. Is this possible under the theory of
caste? Obviously not. Indeed the destiny of a defeat which has been the lot of India
throughout history is due to caste. Caste prevented general mobilisation. Or the
extent of mobilisation was of a very limited character. Only the Kshatriyas were
expected to fight. The rest the Brahmins and the Vaishyas were not armed and the
Shudras who formed the large majority of the country were disarmed. The result was
that once the small class of Kshatriyas were defeated by a foreign foe. the whole
country fell at his feet. It could offer no resistance. It was not capable of resistance.
Indian wars have been mostly wars of single battles or single campaigns. This was
due to the fact that once the Kshatriyas fell everything fell. Why? Simply because
there was no general mobilisation and the theory deeply imbedded in the psychology
of the people.
If these conclusions are sound, how can a philosophy which dissects society in
fragments, which dissociates work from interest, which disconnects intelligence from
labour, which expropriates the rights of man to interests vital to life and which
prevented society from mobilising resources for common action in the hour of
danger, be said to satisfy the test of Social Utility.

The Philosophy of Hinduism therefore neither satisfies the test of social utility nor
does it satisfy the test of individual justice.
 The result of my analysis is so odd that it will surprise many. Astonished some may
even say that if the conclusions are so odd then there must be something wrong in
my analysis of the philosophy of Hinduism. I must meet this objection. To those who
refuse to accept my analysis I say that they find my analysis odd because they do
not have a correct notion what is central in the philosophy of Hinduism. If they do
they will feel no surprise at my conclusions.
This matter is so important that I must stop to explain it. It may be recalled that the
foregoing analysis of the religious revolution showed that religious ideals as forms of
divine governance for human Society fall into two classes, one in which Society is
the centre and the other in which the Individual is the centre. The same analysis
showed that for the former the appropriate test of what is good and what is right i.e.
the test of the moral order is utility while for the latter the test is justice. Now the
reason why the philosophy of Hinduism does not answer the test either of utility or of
justice is because the religious ideal of Hinduism for divine governance of human
society is an ideal, which falls into a separate class by itself. It is an ideal in which
the individual is not the centre. The centre of the ideal is neither individual nor
society. It is a class - the class of Supermen called Brahmins. Those who will bear
the dominant and devastating fact in mind will understand why the philosophy of
Hinduism is not founded on individual justice or social utility. The philosophy of
Hinduism is founded on a totally different principle. To the question what is right and
what is good the answer, which the philosophy of Hinduism gives, is remarkable. It
holds that to be right and good the act must serve the interest of this class of
supermen, namely, the Brahmins. Oscar Wilde said that to be intelligible is to be
found out. Manu is neither afraid nor ashamed of being found out. Indeed Manu
does not leave it to be found out. He expresses his view in resonant and majestic
notes as who are the Supermen and anything which serves the interest of the
Supermen is alone entitled to be called right and good. Let me quote Manu.
X. 3. "On account of his pre-eminence, on account of the superiority of his origin,
on account of his observance of (particular) restrictive rules, and on account of his
particularsanctification the Brahman is the Lord of (all) Varnas."
He proceeds to amplify his reasons and does so in the following characteristic
manner :—
1. 93. "As the Brahmana sprang from (Prajapati's i.e. Gods) mouth, as he was first-
born, and as he possesses the Veda, he is by right the lord of this whole creation"
1. 94. For the self existent (Svayambhu i.e.God), having performed austerities,
produced him first from his own mouth, in order that offerings might be conveyed to
the Gods and Manes and that this universe might be
preserved."
1. 95. "What created being can surpass him, through whose mouth the gods
continually consume the sacrificial viands and the manes the offerings to the dead?"
 1. 96. "Of created beings the most excellent are said to be those which are
animated ; of the animated, those who subsist by intelligence ; of the intelligent,
mankind ; and of themen, the Brahmanas".
Besides the reason given by Manu the Brahmin is first in rank because he was
produced by God from his mouth, in order that the offerings might be conveyed to
the Gods and manes. Manu gives another reason for the supremacy of the
Brahmins. He says :—
1. 98. "The very birth of a Brahmana is an eternal incarnation of the sacred Law
(Veda) ; for he is born to (fulfil) the sacred law, and becomes one
with Brahman (God)."
1. 99. "A Brahamana, coming into existence, is born as the highest on earth, the
lord of all created beings, for the protection of the treasury of the Law." Manu
concludes by saying that:—
1. 101. "The Brahman eats but his own food, wears but his own apparel, bestows
but his own in alms ; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the
Brahamana."Because according to Manu:—
II. 100. "Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmana ; on account
of the excellence of his origin the Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to it all." Manu
directs:—
VII. 36. "Let the King, after rising early in the morning, worship Brahmans who are
well versed in the three-fold sacred science and learned (in polity), and follow their
advice".
VII. 38. "Let him daily worship aged Brahmans who know the Veda and are
pure. . . . ."
VII. 37. "Let the king, having risen at early dawn, respectfully attend to Brahman,
learned in the three Vedas and in the science of ethics, and by their decision let him
abide."
VII. 38. "Constantly must he show respect to Brahmans, who have grown old, both
in years and in piety, who know the scriptures, who in body and mind are pure ; for
he, who honours the aged, will perpetually be honoured even by cruel demons."
IX. 313. "Let him not, although in the greatest distress for money, provoke
Brahmans to anger by taking their property ; for they, once enraged, could
immediately by sacrifices and imprecations destroy him with his troops, elephants,
horses and cars."

Finally Manu says :—

XI. 35. "The Brahman is (hereby) declared (to be) the creator (of the world),
the punisher, the teacher, (and hence) a benefactor (of all created beings) ; to him
let no man say anything unpropitious ; nor use any harsh words".
 • To conclude and complete the theory of supermen and of what is right and good
let me reproduce the following two texts from Manu :—
X. 122. But let a Shudra serve Brahmans, either for the sake of heaven or with a
view to both this life and the next, for he who is called the servant of a Brahman
thereby gains all his ends.
X. 123. The service of the Brahmana alone is declared to be an excellent
occupation for a Shudra; for whatever else besides this he may perform will bear no
fruit. And Manu adds :—
X. 129. No collection of wealth must be made by a Shudra, even though he be able
to do it ; for a Shudra who has acquired wealth gives pain to Brahman.
The above texts from Manu disclose the core and the heart of the philosophy of
Hinduism. Hinduism is the gospel of the superman and it teaches that what is right
for the superman is the only thing which is called morally right and morally good.
Is there any parallel to this philosophy? I hate to suggest it. But it is so obvious.
The parallel to this philosophy of Hinduism is to be found in Nietzsche. The Hindus
will be angry at this suggestion. It is quite natural. For the philosophy of Nietzsche
stands in great odium. It never took roots, In his own words he was "sometimes
deified as the philosopher of the aristocracy and squirearchy, sometimes hooted at,
sometimes pitied and sometimes boycotted as an inhuman being". Nietzsche's
philosophy had become identified with will to power, violence, denial of spiritual
values, superman and the sacrifice, servility and debasement of the common man.
His philosophy with these high spots had created a certain loathsomeness and
horror in the minds of the people of his own generation. He was utterly neglected if
not shunned and Nietzsche himself took comfort by placing himself among
the "posthumous men". He foresaw for himself a remote public, centuries after his
own time to appreciate him. Here too Nietzsche was destined to be disappointed.
Instead of there being any appreciation of his philosophy, the lapse of time has only
augmented the horror and loathing which people of his generation felt for Nietzsche.
This is principally due to the revelation that the philosophy of Nietzsche is capable of
producing Nazism. His friends have vehemently protested against such a
construction.[f25] But it is not difficult to see that his philosophy can be as easily
applied to evolve a super state as to superman. This is what the Nazis have done. At
any rate the Nazis trace their ancestry from Nietzsche and regard him as their
spiritual parent. Hitler has himself photographed beside a bust of Nietzsche ; he
takes the manuscripts of the master under his own special guardianship ; extracts
are chosen from Nietzsche's writings and loudly proclaimed at the ceremonies of
Nazism, as the New German Faith. Nor is the claim by the Nazis of spiritual ancestry
with Nietzsche denied by his near relations. Nietzsche's own cousin
Richard Ochler approvingly says that Nietzsche's thought is Hitler in action and that
Nietzsche was the foremost pioneer of the Nazi accession to power. Nietzsche's
own sister, few months before her death, thanks the Feurhar for the honour he
graciously bestows on her brother declaring that she sees in him that incarnation of
the "Superman” foretold by Zarathustra.
To identify Nietzsche, whose name and whose philosophy excites so much horror
and so much loathing; with Manu is sure to cause astonishment and resentment in
the mind of the Hindus. But of the fact itself there can be no doubt. Nietszche himself
has openly declared that in his philosophy he is only following the scheme of Manu.
In his Anti Christ this is what Nietzsche says :—
"After all, the question is, to what end are falsehoods perpetrated? The fact that, in
Christianity, `holy' ends are entirely absent, constitutes my objection to the means it
employs. Its ends are only bad ends; the poisoning, the calumniation and the denial
of life, the contempt of the body, the degradation and self pollution of man by virtue
of the concept of sin, - consequently its means are bad as well. My feelings are quite
the reverse, When I read the law book of Manu, an incomparably intellectual and
superior work, it would be a sin against the spirit even to mention in the same breath
with the Bible. You will guess immediately why; it has a genuine philosophy behind
it, in it, not merely an evil-smelling Jewish distillation of Rabbinism and superstition -
it gives something to chew even to the most fastidious psychologist. And, not to
forget the most important point of all, it is fundamentally different from every kind of
Bible: by means of it the noble classes, the philosophers and the warriors guard and
guide the masses; it is replete with noble values, it is filled with a feeling of
perfection, with saying yea to life, and triumphant sense of well-being in regard to
itself and to life, - the Sun shines upon the whole book. All those things which
Christianity smothers with its bottomless vulgarity; procreation, woman, marriage,
are here treated with earnestness, with reverence, with love and confidence. How
can one possibly place in the hands of children and women, a book that contains
those vile words : "to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let
every woman have her own husband. . . . . it is better to marry than to burn". And is it
decent to be a Christian so long as the very origin of man is Christianised, - that is to
say, befouled, by the idea of the immaculate conception?... I know of no book in
which so many delicate and kindly things are said to woman, as in the Law Book
of Manu ; these old grey-beards and saints have a manner of being gallant to
woman which, perhaps, cannot be surpassed. "The mouth of a woman", says Manu
on one occasion, "the breast of a maiden, the prayer of a child, and the smoke of the
sacrifice, are always pure". Elsewhere he says: "there is nothing purer than the light
of the Sun, the shadow cast by a cow, air water, fire and the breath of a
Maiden". And finally-perhaps this is also a holy lie:— "all the openings of the body
above the navel are pure, all those below the navel are impure. Only in a maiden is
the whole body pure."
 This leaves no doubt that Zarathustra is a new name for Manu and that Thus
Spake Zarathustra is a new edition of Manu Smriti.
If there is any difference between Manu and Nietzsche it lies in this. Nietzsche was
genuinely interested in creating a new race of men which will be a race of supermen
as compared with the existing race of men. Manu on the other hand was interested
in maintaining the privileges of a class who had come to arrogate to itself the claim
of being supermen. Nietzsche's supermen were supermen by reason of their
worth. Manu's supermen were supermen by reason of their birth. Nietzsche was a
genuine disinterested philosopher. Manu on the contrary was an hireling engaged to
propound a philosophy which served the interests of a class born in a group and
whose title to being supermen was not to be lost even if they lost their virtue.
Compare the following texts from Manu.
X. 81. "Yet a Brahman, unable to subsist by his duties just mentioned, may live by
the duty of a soldier; for that is the next rank."
X. 82. "If it be asked, how he must live, should he be unable to get a subsistence
by either of those employment ; the answer is, he may subsist as a mercantile man,
applying himself into tillage and attendance on cattle."

Manu adds :
IX. 317. "A Brahmana, be he ignorant or learned, is a great divinity, just as the fire,
whether carried forth (for the performance of a burnt oblation) or not carried forth, is
a great divinity".
IX.323. "Thus, though the Brahmans employ themselves in all (sorts) of mean
occupation, they must be honoured in every way; (for each of) them is a very
great deity".
Thus Manu's is a degraded and degenerate philosophy of superman as compared
with that of Nietzsche and therefore far more odious and loathsome than the
philosophy of Nietzsche.
This explains why the philosophy of Hinduism does not satisfy the test of justice or
of utility. Hinduism is not interested in the common man. Hinduism is not interested
in Society as a whole. The centre of its interest lies in a class and its philosophy is
concerned in sustaining and supporting the rights of that class. That is why in the
Philosophy of Hinduism the interests of the common man as well as of society are
denied, suppressed and sacrificed to the interest of this class of Supermen.
What is the value of such a religion to man ? Mr. Balfour in speaking on the merits
of positivism as Religion asked the positivists certain questions which are worth
recalling. He very pertinently asked ;
"What has (Positivism) to say to the more obscure multitude who are absorbed,
and well nigh overwhelmed, in the constant struggle with daily needs and narrow
cares; who have but little leisure or inclination to consider the precise role they are
called on to play in the great drama of `humanity' and who might in any case be
puzzled to discover its interest or its importance ? Can it assure them that there is no
human being so insignificant as not to be of infinite worth in the eyes of Him who
created the Heavens, or so feeble but that his action may have consequence of
infinite moment long after this material system shall have crumbled into
nothingness? Does it offer consolation to those who are bereaved, strength to the
weak, forgiveness to the sinful, rest to those who are weary and heavy laden? "
The same questions may be asked of Manu. The answer to each one of them must
be in the affirmative. In short the philosophy of Hinduism is such that it cannot be
called the Religion of humanity. That is why to use the language
of Balfour, Hinduism, if it penetrates, does not vitrify the inmost life of ordinary
humanity. Indeed if it does anything it paralyses it. There is in Hinduism no
nourishment for ordinary human souls, no comfort for ordinary human sorrow, no
help for ordinary human weakness. It leaves men in darkness face to face with the
unthinking energies of nature, which gives them birth to which after a few fruitless
struggles they succumb. Not less cruel than the crudest irreligious, does it leave
men divorced from all communions with God.
Such is the philosophy of Hinduism. It is Superman's heaven and the common
man's damnation.
I am conscious that my position regarding the philosophy of Hinduism will be
assailed from different sides. So contrary it is to the current views about it that it is
bound to be assailed. The attack may come from various sides.
It will be said that I am wrong in taking the Manu Smriti as the book of Hindu
religion and that the true gospel of Hinduism is contained in the Vedas and
the Bhagwat Gita.
I am sure no orthodox Hindu will be bold enough to repudiate the authority of Manu
Smriti as a book of Hindu Religion. Such a charge can be made only by some
reformed sects of Hinduism such as the Arya Samajists. But there can be no doubt
that this charge is not well founded. To refute this charge it is perhaps desirable to
explain[f26] how the Smritisobtained a place and position of authority among the
Hindus.
The Smritis originally were a collection of rules relating to social traditions, customs
and conventions approved of and recommended by those who were learned in the
Vedas. For a long time these rules existed only in the memory of those learned in
the Vedas, so they began to be called Smritis i.e. things which are remembered in
contrast to Vedas orShruti that is things which were heard. In the beginning the
Smritis even when they were codified were treated as rules of inferior value as
compared with the rules contained in the Vedas.
The difference in their authority and binding force was the result of the natural
difference between the trustworthiness of what is heard as compared to what is only
remembered. There was also another reason of this differentiation in the two sorts
of Dharma Shastra literature. This was based upon the status of their authors. The
authors of the Vedas wereRishis. The authors of the Smritis were only learned men.
The Rishis were superior in status and sanctity than those who were merely learned.
Consequently the Vedas were treated as more authoritative than the Smritis.
The consequence arising from this was well expressed in the Hindu theological
formula according to which if there was a conflict in the rules of two Vedas on the
same subject it meant option for a rule of Vedas cannot be deemed to be
inoperative. On the other hand, in a conflict between a rule of Shriti and a rule
of Smriti the rule of Shruti prevailedbecuse for the reasons stated above Smriti was
inferior in authority to the Shruti. But as pointed out by Prof. Altekar, the Smritis in
course of time came to be invested with the same authority as belonged to the
Vedas. Various means were adopted to accomplish this purpose. In the first place
the authors of the Smritis were elevated to the status ofRishis. The
early Dharma Shastra writers like Gautama, and Baudhayana were never given the
status of a Rishi. But Manu and Yajnavalkya are reckoned as Rishis. By this means
the status of the Smritis was equated to that of the Shrutis. The second means
adopted was to regard the Smriti as the record from memory of a Shruti which was
lost. Thus Smriti instead of being regarded as something quite different from Shruti
came to be regarded as akin to and indistinguishable from Shruti. The result of these
steps was a complete change in the rules regarding the authority of the two.
Originally if there was a conflict between a Smriti and a Shruti, the Shruti prevailed.
The new rule was that in case of conflict there was an option which meant that the
Smriti rule was as operative as the Rule of Shruti. This new rule has been expressly
laid down by Kumarila in his commentary on thePurvamimansa Sutra whereby the
Smritis were made as authoritative as Shrutis.
While originally Hindu Society was bound to the Vedas and could not follow any
rule which was contrary to the Vedas, the new rule altered the situation and left it to
the option of society either to follow the Shruti or the Smriti. But even this option was
later on taken away. This was done by making the study of the Smritis as
compulsory as that of the Shruti.
This was done gradually. In the first place it was suggested that the Shrutis and
Smritis are the two eyes of the Brahamana, if he is devoid of one he becomes a one-
eyed person. Then came the theory that Brahmanyam is possible only as the result
of a joint study of both the Vedas and the Smritis. Finally came the rule according to
which the study of the Smruti only was recognised and a contempt of the Smriti was
made a sin and a person guilty of it was declared to be condemned to be born as a
beast for 21 generations.
This is how the Smritis have been recognised as a source of Hindu Religion and
there is no doubt that, to quote Prof. Altekar, the Smritis ;
 "have played a great part in determining the features of many a social and socio-
religious institutions and customs and in moulding the development of modern
Hinduism."
It cannot therefore be maintained that I was wrong in taking Manu Smriti as
containing the philosophy of Hinduism.
This work of elevating the Smritis to the status of the Vedas was undertaken by the
Brahmins for a most selfish reason. The Smritis contain in all its wild and luxurious
growth the doctrine of Caste, the doctrine of the superiority of the Brahmins, their
rights and privileges, the doctrine of the subordination of
the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas and the doctrine of the degradation of
the Shudras. Such being the philosophy of the Smritis, the Brahmins were directly
interested in investing the Smritis with the authority which was claimed for the Vedas
and in which they ultimately succeeded to their advantage but to the ruination of the
whole country. But conceding—which orthodox and pious Hindu would do that the
Smritis do not contain the philosophy of Hinduism but that the same is to be found in
the Vedas and the Bhagwat Geeta the question is what difference would this make
in the result.
It seems to me that it matters very little whether one takes the Smritis, or the
Vedas or the Bhagwat Geeta.
Do the Vedas teach something, which is fundamentally different from what the
Smritis do? Does the Bhagwat Geeta run contrary to the injunctions of the Smritis. A
few illustrations will make the matter clear.
It is indisputable that the Vedas lay down the theory of Chaturvarna in what is
known as the Purushasukta. This Purushasukta recognises two basic principles. It
recognises the division of society into four sections as an ideal. It also recognises
that the ideal relationship between the four sections is inequality.
What the Bhagwat Geeta teaches is also beyond controversy. Its teaching may be
summarised in the following four pronouncements made by Krishna in the Bhagwat
Geeta.
(1) "I myself have created the arrangement known as Chaturvarna (i.e. the fourfold
division of society into four castes Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras)
assigning them different occupations in accordance with the native capacities. It is I
who am the maker of this Chaturvarna"— Gita. IV. 13
(2) "Even if it may be easier to follow the occupation of another Varna yet to follow
the occupation of one's own Varna is more meritorious, although one may not be
able to do it quite efficiently. There is bliss in following the occupation of one's own
Varna, even if death were to result in performing it ; but to follow the occupation of
another Varna is risky".—Geeta. HI. 35.
(3) "The educated should not unsettle the faith of the uneducated who have
become attached to their occupation. He himself should perform the occupation of
his Varna and make others perform theirs accordingly. An educated man may not
become attached to his occupation. But the uneducated and dull-minded people who
have become attached to their occupation should not be spoiled by the educated by
putting them on a wrong path by abandoning their own occupation"— Geeta III. 26,
29.
(4) "Oh, Arjun ! Whenever this religion of duties and occupations (i.e. this religion
of Chaturvarna) declines, then I myself will come to birth to punish those who are
responsible for its downfall and to restore it—Geeta IV, 7-8.
Such is the position of Geeta. What difference is there between it and
the Manu Smriti? Geeta is Manu in a nutshell. Those who run away from Manu
Smriti and want to take refuge in Geeta either do not know Gita or are prepared to
omit from their consideration that soul of Geeta which makes it akin to Manu Smriti.
Compare the teachings of the Veda, of the Bhagwat Geeta with what is contained
in the Manu Smriti which I have taken as the text for elucidating the philosophy of
Hinduism. What difference does one find? The only difference one can find is that
the Vedas and the Bhagwat Geeta deal with General Theory while the Smritis are
concerned in working out the particulars and details of that theory. But so far as the
essence is concerned all of them—the Smritis, the Vedas and the Bhagwat Geeta—
are woven on the same pattern, the same thread runs through them and are really
parts of the same fabric.
The reason for this is obvious. The Brahmins who were the authors of the whole
body of Hindu Religious Literature—except the Upanishad Literature—took good
care to inject the doctrines formulated by them in the Smritis, into the Vedas and the
Bhagwat Geeta. Nothing is to be gained in picking and choosing between them. The
Philosophy of Hinduism will be the same whether one takes the Manu Smriti as its
Gospel or whether one takes the Vedas and the Bhagwat Geeta as the gospel of
Hinduism.
Secondly it will be contended that Manu Smriti is a Book of Laws and not a code of
ethics and that what I have presented as a philosophy of Hinduism is only legal
philosophy and is not the moral philosophy of Hinduism.
My answer to this contention is simple. I hold that in Hinduism there is no
distinction between legal philosophy and moral philosophy. That is because in
Hinduism there is no distinction between the Legal and the Moral, the Legal being
also the Moral.
Not much evidence is necessary to support my contention. Take
the meaning[f27] of the word Dharma in the Rig Veda. The word Dharma occurs in
the Rig Veda 58 times. It is used in six different senses. It is used to denote (1)
Ancient custom, (2) Laws, (3) Any arrangement which maintains law and order in
society, (4) The course of nature, (5) The quality of a substance and (6) Duty of
good and evil. It will thus be seen that from the very beginning the word Dharma in
Hinduism has a two fold connotation. It means both law and moral. That is
one reason why in the philosophy of Hinduism there can be no distinction
between legal philosophy and moral philosophy.
This is not to say that the Hindus have no code of morality. To be sure they have.
But it is very pertinent to ask the nature and character of conduct, which the Hindu
Code of Ethics declares to be moral.
To have an idea of the nature of conduct which the Hindu thinks moral, it is better
to begin by recognising that there are three levels of conduct [f28], which must be,
distinguished. (1) Conduct arising from instincts and fundamental need (2) Conduct
regulated by standards of I society and (3) Conduct regulated by individual
conscience. Conduct on the first level, we do not call moral conduct. It is of course
not immoral; it is merely unmoral. It is governed by forces not as moral in purpose
but as valuable in result. The forces are biological or sociological or psychological.
These have purpose, such as to satisfy hunger, or to forge a weapon against an
enemy. But the end is one set up by our physical or instinctive nature. So long as
this is merely accepted as an inevitable end and not compared with others, valued,
and chosen, it is not properly moral. Conduct on the second level is no doubt social.
Wherever groups of men are living there are certain ways of acting which are
common to the group—"folkways". There are approved ways of acting, common to a
group, and handed down from generation to generation. Such approved ways of
acting are called the mores or the morals of the group. They imply the judgement of
the group that they are to be followed. The welfare of the group is regarded as in
some sense imbedded in them. It becomes the duty of the individual to follow them
and if any one acts contrary to them he is made to feel the group's disapproval. We
cannot strictly speaking call the conduct moral. Because the end is accepted as a
standard of `good' prescribed by society. If it had spoken of a moral conduct it is only
because it conforms to the mores or morals of the Society. It may be called
customary morality. Conduct on the third level is conduct, which alone is truly and
completely moral. That is because in it the Individual recognises the right
or chooses the good, and freely devotes himself heartily to its fulfilment. He does not
merely accept what is inevitable or follow what is approved by society. He values
and chooses the end and becomes personally responsible. His is reflective morality.
On what level does Hindu morality stand? Obviously it is not on the third level. This
means that a Hindu is social but not moral in the strict sense of the term. A Hindu
takes no responsibility for the ends he serves. He is a willing tool in the hands of his
society, content to follow. He is not a free agent afraid to differ. His notions of sin
give remarkable proof of his unmoral character. Institutes of Vishnu gives a list of
sins which are divided into nine classes:—
1. Deadly sins—atipataka. These are certain forms of incest, to be atoned for only
by burning.
 2. Great sins—mahapataka. These are killing a Brahman, drinking spirituous
liquor, stealing the gold of a Brahman, connection with a Guru's wife ; also social
intercourse with those guilty of such sins.
3. Minor sins of a similar character— anupataka. These include the killing of
certain other classes of persons, giving false evidence and killing a friend, stealing
lands or deposits of a Brahman, certain forms of incest and adultery.
4. Minor sins— upapataka. Sins of false statement, neglect of certain religious
duties, adultery, unlawful occupation, offences connected with marrying before an
elder brother &c., not paying one's debts to the Gods, and manes, atheism &c.
5. Sins effecting loss of caste jatibramsakara. Causing bodily pain to a Brahman,
smelling things, which should not be smelt, dishonest dealing, and certain unnatural
crimes.
6. Sins which degrade to a mixed caste samkarikarana. Killing domestic or wild
animals.
7. Sins which render one unworthy to receive alms— apatrikarana. Receiving
presents and alms from despicable persons, trade, money lending, lying, and
serving a Shudra.
8. Sins cause defilement— malavaha. Killing birds, amphibious animals, and
aquatic animals, worms and insects; eating nutmegs or other plants similar in their
effects to intoxicating liquors. 9. Miscellaneous sins— prakirnaka. Those not already
mentioned. This list of sins is not exhaustive but it, is long enough and illustrative
enough to give us the idea which underlies the Hindu notion of Sin. In the first place
it connotes the fall of man from a prescribed form of conduct. In the second place it
means to be defiled, to become unclean. This is the root meaning of the
term Patak. It means Patana (falling away) and it means Asowcha (being rendered
unclean). In either case sin according to Hindu notion is a decease of the soul. In the
first sense it is merely breach of a rule of external conduct. In the other sense it is a
defilement of the body to be cleaned and purified by both or by pilgrimage or by
sacrificial offering. But it is never the spiritual defilement, which is associated with
the harbouring of evil thoughts and purposes.
This shows the morality of the Hindu is purely social. This means that the level of
his morality is purely traditional and customary. There are two evils of customary
morality. In the first place there is no surety that it will always be charged with
sincerity and purity of motive. For it is only when morality penetrates to the deepest
springs of purpose and feeling in the individual that pretence will cease to find a
place in human behaviour. In the second place customary morality is an anchor and
a drag. It holds up the average man and holds back the man who forges ahead.
Customary morality is only another name for moral stagnation. This is true of all
cases where morality is only customary morality. But the customary morality of the
Hindus has an evil feature, which is peculiar to it. Customary morality is a matter of
meritorious conduct. Ordinarily this meritorious conduct is something, which is good
from the general or public point of view. But among the Hinduism the meritorious
conduct is not concerned with the worship of God or the general good of community.
Meritorious conduct in Hinduism is concerned with the giving of presents, of good
and of honour to the Brahmins. Hindu Ethics is worship of the superman.
What difference would it have made if I had taken Hindu Ethics as the basis for
deducing the philosophy of Hinduism? Most students of Hinduism forget that just as
in Hinduism there is no difference between law and Religion so there is no difference
between law and ethics. Both are concerned with the same thing namely regulating
the conduct of the low class Hindus to subserve the ends of high Caste
Hindus.
Thirdly it will be objected that I presented an altogether false picture of Hinduism in
as much as I have omitted to take into account the Upanishads which are the true
source of Hindu philosophy.
I admit that I have not taken the Upanishads into account. But I have a reason and
I believe very good reason for doing so. I am concerned with the philosophy of
Hinduism as a part of the philosophy of Religion. I am not concerned with Hindu
philosophy. If I were, it would have been necessary to examine the Upanishads. But
I am quite willing to deal with it so as to leave no doubt that what I have shown to be
the philosophy of Hinduism is the philosophy of Upanishads.
The philosophy of the Upanishads can be stated in very few words. It has been
well summarised by Huxley[f29] when he says that the Upanishad philosophy
agreed:—
"In supposing the existence of a permanent reality, or `substance', beneath the
shifting series of phenomena, whether of matter or of mind. The substance of the
cosmos was `Brahma', that of the individual man `Atman'; and the latter was
separated from the former only, if I may so speak, by its phenomenal envelope, by
the casing of sensations, thoughts and desires, pleasures and pains, which make up
the illusive phantasmagoria of life. This the ignorant, take for reality; their `Atman'
therefore remains eternally imprisoned in delusions, bound by the fetters of desire
and scourged by the whip of misery.
Of what use is this philosophy of the Upanishadas? The philosophy of
the Upanishadas meant withdrawal from the struggle for existence by resort to
asceticism and a destruction of desire by self-mortification. As a way of life it was
condemned by Huxley[f30] in scathing terms :—
"No more thorough mortification of the flesh has ever been attempted than that
achieved by the Indian ascetic anchorite; no later monarchism has so nearly
succeeded in reducing the human mind to that condition of impassive quasi-
somnambulism, which, but for its acknowledged holiness, might run the risk of being
confounded with idiocy."
 But the condemnation of the philosophy of the Upanishads is nothing as compared
to the denunciation of the same by Lala Hardyal[f31] :—
"The Upanishads claim to expound `that, by knowing which everything is known '.
This quest for ' the absolute ' is the basis of all the spurious metaphysics of India.
The treatises are full of absurd conceits, quaint fancies, and chaotic speculations.
And we have not learned that they are worthless. We keep moving in the old rut; we
edit and re-edit the old books instead of translating the classics of European social
thought. What could Europe be if
Frederic Harrison, Brieux, Bebel, Anatole France, Herve, Haekel, Giddings, and
Marshall should employ their time in composing treatises on Duns, Scotus and
Thomas Aquinas, and discussing the merits of the laws of the Pentateuch and the
poetry of Beowulf? Indian pundits and graduates seem to suffer from a kind of mania
for what is effete and antiquated. Thus an institution, established by progressive
men, aims at leading our youths through Sanskrit grammar to the Vadasvia the
Six Darshanas! What a false move in the quest for wisdom ! It is as if a caravan
should travel across the desert to the shores of the Dead Sea in search of fresh
water! Young men of India, look not for wisdom in the musty parchments of your
metaphysical treatises. There is nothing but an endless round of
verbal jugglary there. Read Rousseau and Voltaire, Plato and Aristotle, Haeckel and
Spencer, Marx and Tolstoi, Ruskin and Comte, and other European thinkers, if you
wish to understand life and its problems." But denunciations apart, did
the Upanishad philosophy have any influence on Hinduism as a social and political
system? There is no doubt that it turned out to be most ineffective and
inconsequential piece of speculation with no effect on the moral and social order of
the Hindus.
It may not be out of place to inquire into the reasons for this unfortunate result.
One reason is obvious. The philosophy of Upanishad remained incomplete and
therefore did not yield the fruit, which it ought to have done. This will be quite clear if
one asks what is the keynote of the Upanishads. In the words of Prof.
Max Muller[f32] the keynote of theUpanishads is `Know thy Self". The `Know thy Self
of the Upanishads, means, know thy true Self, that which underlies thin ego and find
it and know it in the highest, the eternal self, the One without a Second, which
underlies the whole world."
That Atman and Brahman were one was the truth, the great truth which the
Upanishads said they had discovered and they asked man to know this truth. Now
the reasons why the philosophy of Upanishads, became ineffective are many. I will
discuss them elsewhere. At this place I will mention only one. The philosophers of
Upanishads did not realise that to know truth was not enough. One must learn to
love truth. The difference between philosophy and religion may be put in two ways.
Philosophy is concerned with knowing truth. Religion is concerned with the love of
truth. Philosophy is static. Religion is dynamic. These differences are merely two
aspects of one and the same thing. Philosophy is static because it is concerned only
with knowing truth. Religion is dynamic because it is concerned with love of truth. As
has been well said by Max Plowman[f33] :—
". . . .Unless religion is dynamic and begets in us the emotion of love for
something, then it is better to be without any thing that we can call religion; for
religion is perception of truth and if our perception of truth is not accompanied by our
love for it then it were better not seen at all; The Devil himself is one who has seen
the truth only to hate it. Tennyson said "We must love the highest when we see it". It
does not follow. Seen in pure objectivity the highest repels by its difference and
distance; what we fear it, and what we fear we come to hate. . . . ."
This is the fate of all transcendental philosophies. They have no influence on the
way of life. As Blake said "Religion is politics and politics is Brotherhood. Philosophy
must become Religion that is it must become a Working Ethic. It must not remain
mere metaphysics. As Mr. Plowman says—
"If religion were a Metaphysic and nothing else, one thing is certain, it would never
be the concern of the simple and humble men.
"To keep it wholly in the realm of Metaphysic is to make non-sense of it. For belief
in religion as in something not directly and vitally effective of politics is ultimately
belief that is strictly speaking idiotic; because in the effective sense such a belief
makes no difference, and in the world of time and space what 'makes no
difference' does not exist."
It is for these very reasons that the philosophy of the Upanishads proved so
ineffective.
It is therefore incontrovertible that notwithstanding the Hindu Code of Ethics,
notwithstanding the philosophy of the Upanishads not a little not a jot did abate from
the philosophy of Hinduism as propounded by Manu. They were ineffective and
powerless to erase the infamy preached by Manu in the name of religion.
Notwithstanding their existence one can still say "Hinduism! Thy name is inequality!"

VI
Inequality is the soul of Hinduism. The morality of Hinduism is only social. It is
unmoral and inhuman to say the least. What is unmoral and inhuman easily
becomes immoral, inhuman and infamous. This is what Hinduism has become.
Those who doubt this or deny this proposition should examine the social
composition of the Hindu Society and ponder over the condition of some of the
elements in it. Take the following cases.
First as to the Primitive Tribes. In what state of civilisation are they ?
The history of human civilisation includes the entire period of human progress from
Savagery to Barbarism and from Barbarism to Civilisation. The transition from one to
other has been marked by some discovery or intention in some department of
knowledge of Art resulting in advancing the onward march of man.
The development of articulate speech was the first thing which, from the point of
view of human progress, divided man from the brute. It marks the first stage of
savagery. The Middle period of the state of savagery began with the knowledge of
the manufacture and use of fire. This wonderful discovery enabled man to extend his
habit almost indefinitely. He could leave his forest home, go to different and colder
climates, and increase his food supply by including flesh and fish. The next
discovery was the Bow and Arrow. This was the greatest achievement of primitive
man and marks the highest state of savage man. It was indeed a wonderful
implement. The possessor of this device could bring down the fleetest animal and
could defend himself against the most predatory.
The transition from Savagery to Barbarism was marked by the discovery of pottery.
Hitherto man had no utensils that could withstand the action of fire. Without utensils
man could not store nor could he cook. Undoubtedly pottery was a great civilising
influence.
The Middle State of Barbarism began when man learned to domesticate wild
animals. Man learned that captive animals could be of service to him. Man now
became a herdsman, no longer dependent for food upon the precarious chase of
wild animals. Milk procurable at all seasons made a highly important addition to his
dietary. With the aid of horse and camel he traversed wide areas hitherto
impassable. The captive animals became aids to commerce, which resulted in the
dissemination of commodities as well as of ideas.
The next discovery was of the Art of smelting iron. This marks the highest stage of
advancement of barbaric man. With this discovery man became a "tool-making
animal" who with his tool could fashion wood and stone and build houses and
bridges. This marks the close of the advancement made by barbaric man. The
dividing line which marks off Barbaric people from Civilised people, in the fullest
sense of the word Civilisation, is the art of making ideas tangible by means of
graphic signs— which is called the art of writing. With this man conquered time as
he had with the earlier inventions conquered space. He could now record his deeds
and his thoughts. Henceforth, his knowledge, his poetical dreams, his moral
aspirations might be recorded in such form as to be read not merely by his
contemporaries but by successive generations of remote posterity. For man his
history became safe and secure. This was the steepest assent and the climbing of it
marks the beginnings of civilisation. Stopping here for the moment let us ask in what
state of civilisation are the Primitive Tribes.
The name Primitive Tribes[f34] is expressive of the present state of people who are
called by that name. They live in small-scattered huts in forests. They live on wild
fruits, nuts and roots. Fishing and hunting are also resorted to for the purpose of
securing food. Agriculture plays a very small part in their social economy. Food
supplies being extremely precarious, they lead a life of semi-starvation from which
there is no escape. As to clothes they economise them to a vanishing point. They
move almost in a state of complete nakedness. There is a tribe, which is known as
“Bonda Porajas” which, means "Naked Porajas". Of these people it is said that the
women wear a very narrow strip which serves as a petticoat almost identical with
what is worn by the Momjak Nagas in Assam, the ends hardly meeting at the top on
the left thigh. These petticoats are woven at home out of the fibre of a forest tree.
Girls wear a fillet of beads and of palmyra leaf and an enormous quantity of beads
and neck ornaments extremely like those worn by many Komjak women. Otherwise
the women wear nothing. The women shave their heads entirely. . . . . Of
these Chenchus, a tribe residing near Farhabad in the Nizam's Dominions it is said
that "their houses are conical, rather slight in structure made of bamboo sloping to
the central point and covered with a thin layer of thatch..... They have very little,
indeed, in the way of material effects, the scanty clothes they wear, consisting of
a langoti and a cloth in the case of men, and a short bodice and a petticoat in the
case of women, being practically all, besides a few cooking pots and a basket or two
which perhaps sometimes contains grain. They keep cattle and goats and in this
particular village do a little cultivation, elsewhere subsisting on honey and forest
produce which they sell". Regarding the Morias, another Primitive tribe, it is stated
the men generally wear a single cloth round the waist with a slap coming down in the
front. They also have a necklace of beads and when they dance put on cock's
plumes and peacock's feathers in their turbans. Many girls are profusely tattooed,
especially on their faces, and some of them on their legs as well. The type of
tattooing is said to be according to the taste of the individual and it is done with
thorns and needles. In their hair many of them stick the feathers of jungle cocks and
their heads are also adorned with combs of wood and tin and brass.
These Primitive Tribes have no hesitation about eating anything, even worms and
insects, and, in fact, there is very little meat that they will not eat, whether the animal
has died a natural death or has been killed four days or more before by a tiger.
The next groups of the people he will come across are the Criminal
Tribes.
The Criminal Tribes live not in Forests as the Primitive Tribes do but in the plains in
close proximity to, and often in the midst of civilised life. Hollis in his "Criminal Tribes
of the United Provinces" gives an account of their activities. They live entirely by
crime. A few may be ostensibly engaged in agriculture, but this is only to cover up
their real activities. Their nefarious practices find largest scope in dacoity or robbery
by violence, but being a community organised for crime, nothing comes amiss to
them. On deciding to commit a dacoity in any particular locality spies are sent out to
select a suitable victim, study the general habits of the villagers, and the distance
from any effective aid, and enumerate the number of men and firearms. The raid
usually takes place at midnight. Acting on the information given by the spies, men
are posted at various points in the village and by firing off their guns attract attention
from the main gang which attacks the particular house or houses previously
appointed. The gang usually consists of 30 to 40 men.
It is essential to emphasis the great part played by crime in the general life of these
peoples. A boy is initiated into crime as soon as he is able to walk and talk. No doubt
the motive is practical, to a great extent, in so far as it is always better to risk a child
in petty theft, who, if he is caught, would probably be cuffed, while an adult would
immediately be arrested. An important part is also played by women, who, although
they do not participate in the actual raids, have many heavy responsibilities. Besides
being clever in disposing off stolen property the women of the Criminal Tribes are
experts in shop lifting.
At one time the Criminal Tribes included such well-organised Confederacies of
Professional Criminals as the Pindharies and the Thugs.
The Pindharies were a predatory body of armed gangsters. Their organisation was
an open military organisation of freebooters who could muster 20000 fine horse and
even more. They were under the command of brigand chiefs. Chitu one of the most
powerful commanders had under his single command 10000 horse, including 5000
good cavalry, besides infantry and guns. The Pindharies had no military projects for
employing their loose bands of irregular soldiery, which developed into bodies of
professional plunderers.The Pindharies aimed at no conquests. Their object was to
secure booty and cash for themselves. General loot and rapine was their
occupation. They recognised no rulers. They were subjects of none. They rendered
loyalty to none. They respected none, and plundered all, high and low, rich and poor,
without fear or compunction.
The Thugs[f35] were a well organised body of professional assassins, who, in gangs
of from 10 to 100 wandered in various guises throughout India, worked themselves
into the confidence of wayfarers of the wealthier class, and, when a favourable
opportunity occurred, strangled them by throwing a handkerchief or noose round
their necks, and then plundered and buried them. All this was done according to
certain ancient and rigidly prescribed forms and after the performance of special
religious rites, in which was the consecration of the package, and the sacrifice of
sugar. They were staunch worshippers of Kali, the Hindu Goddess of destruction.
Assassination for gain was with them a religious duty, and was considered a holy
and honourable profession. They had, in fact, no idea of doing wrong, and their
moral feelings did not come into play. The will of the Goddess, by whose command
and in whose honour they followed there calling, was revealed to them through a
very complicated system of omens.
 In obedience to these they often travelled even the distance of hundred miles in
company with, or in the wake of, their intended victims before a safe opportunity had
presented itself for executing their design; and when the deed was done, rites were
performed in honour of that tutelary deity, and a goodly portion of the spoil was set
apart for her. The Thugs had also a jargon of their own, as well as certain signs by
which its members recognised each other in the remotest part of India. Even those
who from age or infirmities could no longer take an active part in the operations used
to aid the cause as watchmen, spies or dressers of food. It was owing to their
thorough organisation, the secrecy and security with which they went to work, but
chiefly to the religious garb in which they shrouded their murders, that they could
continue for centuries to practise their craft. The extraordinary fact was
that Thugee was regarded as a regular profession by Indian Rulers of the day, both
Hindu and Mahomedans. The Thugs paid taxes to the state and the state left them
unmolested.
It was not until the British became rulers of the country that an attempt was made
to suppress the Thugs. By 1835, 382 Thugs were hanged and 986 were transported
or imprisoned for life. Even as late as 1879 the number of registered Thugs was 344
and the Thugee and the Dacoity department of the Government of India continued to
exist until 1904 when its place was taken by the Central Criminal Intelligence
Department. While it is not possible for the criminal tribes to live by organized bodies
of criminals, crime continues to be their main occupation.
Besides these two classes there is a third class which comprises a body of people
who are known as Untouchables.
Below the Untouchables there are others who are known
as unapproachable. Untouchables are those who cause pollution only if they touch.
The Unapproachable are those who cause pollution if they come within a certain
distance. It is said of the Nayadis—a people, who fall into the category of the
Unapproachable, "that they are the lowest caste among the Hindus—the dog-eaters.
They are the most persistent in their clamour for charity, and will follow at a
respectful distance, for miles together any person walking, driving or boating. If any
thing is given to them, it must be laid down, and after the person offering it has
proceeded a sufficient distance, the recipient comes timidly forward, and removes
it. "Of the same people Mr.Thurston says, "The subject (i.e. the Nayadis) whom I
examined and measured at Shoranus, though living only about three miles off, had,
by reason of the pollution which they traditionally carry with them to avoid walking
over the long bridge which spans the river, and follow a circuitous route of many
miles". Below the Unapproachable are theUnseeables. In the Tinnevelley District of
the Madras Presidency there is a class of unseeables called Purada Vannans. Of
them it is said, "that they are not allowed to come out during day time because their
sight is enough to cause pollution. These unfortunate people are `compelled' to
follow the nocturnal habits, leaving their dens after dark and scuttling home at the
false dawn like the badger, the hyena, the avordvark."
Consider the total population of these classes. The Primitive Tribes form a total of
25 million souls. The Criminal Tribes number 41/2 millions and the Untouchables
number 50 millions. This makes a grand total of 791/2 millions. Now ask how these
people could have remained in the state of moral, material, social and spiritual
degradation surrounded as they have been by Hinduism. Hindus say that their
civilisation is older than any civilisation, that Hinduism as a religion is superior to any
other religion. If this is so how is that Hinduism failed to elevate these people, bring
them enlightenment and hope; how is it that it failed even to reclaim them ; how is it
that it stood with folded hands when millions and millions were taking to life to
shame and crime? What is the answer to this? The only answer is that Hinduism is
overwhelmed with the fear of pollution. It has not got the power to purify. It has not
the impulse to serve and that is because by its very nature it is inhuman and
unmoral. It is a misnomer to call it religion. Its philosophy is opposed to very thing for
which religion stands.

[f1]See Article on `Philosophy' in Munro's Encyclopacdia of Education

The Philosophy of Religion. Oxf. pages 1-2.
[f3]Natural Theology as a distinct department of study owes its origin to Plato-see Laws.
[f4]A. E. Taylor. "The Faith of a Moralist" p. 19
[f5]The Religion of the Semites (1927)
[f6]Some students of the Philosophy of Religion seem to regard the study of the first two dimensions as all that the
field of Philosophy of religion need include. They do not seem to recognize that a consideration of the third dimension
is necessary part of the study of the Philosophy of Religion. As an illustration of this see the Article on Theology by
Mr. D. S. Adamas in Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics' Volume XII page 393. I dissent from this view.
The difference is probably due to the fact that I regard Philosophy of Religion as a normative study and as a
descriptive study. I do not think that there can be such a thing as a general Philosophy of Religion. I believe each
Religion has its particular philosophy. To me there is no Philosophy of Religion. There is a philosophy of a Religion.
[f7]That the idea of God has evolved from both these directions is well illustrated by Hinduism. Compare the idea of
Indra as God and the idea of Bramha as God.
[f8]Smith Ibid
[f9]Smith Ibid
[f10]1 Smith Ibid
[f11]1 Smith Ibid
[f12]Quoted by Crowby. Tree of Life, page 5.
[f13]1Two Moralities page.
[f14]For another interpretation of justice see .J. S. Mill— Utilitarianism.
[f15]Manu recognises seven kinds of slaves (VIII-415). Narada recognises fifteen kinds of slaves (V-25)
[f16]2The same rule is laid down by Yajnavalkya (11-183) whose authority is equal to that of Manu.
[f17]1 The following are the sixteen sacraments :—
[f18]1 So also are the women.
[f19]See my Essay "Manu on Caste—A puzzle". (This Essay has not been found in the papers received. —Editors.)
[f20]'See Laski Liberty in the Modern State.
[f21]The proverbs are not mentioned in the MS—Editors.
[f22]This is the story of Trisanku. It will have been observed, it differs materially from the one quoted above from
Harivansa : but brings out more distinctly the character of the conflict between Vashishtha and Vishvamitra.
[f23]1 The Religion of the Semites—p.269. 5
 [f24]Caste devitalises a man. It is a process of sterilisation. Education, wealth, labour are all necessary for every
individual if he is to reach a free and full manhood. Mere education without wealth and labour is * Quotation not given
in the MS.—Editors
[f25]For this as also for facts which follow see M.P.Nicolas. "From Nietzsche Down to Hitler" 1938.
[f26]See the interesting article by Prof. Altekar—on "The Position of Smritis as a Source of Dharma" in the Kane
Memorial Volume pp. 18-25.
[f27]What follows is taken from an article on the subject by Mr. Yeshwant Ramkrishna Date in a Marathi Magazine
called "Swadhaya' Double No. 7-8. First year pp. 18-21.
[f28]In this I am entirely following the analysis given by Crawley and Tufts in their volume on Ethics
[f29]Evolution and Ethics p. 63
[f30]Evolution and Ethics p. 64
[f31]Modern Review. July. 1912.
[f32]Hibbert lectures 1878, p. 317.
[f33]"The Nemesis of Ineffectual Religion"-Adelphi. January 1941.
[f34]This and other information is taken from Census of India 1931 Vol. I part
[f35]Encyclopaedia Britannica. 11th Ed. Vol. XXVI p. 896.
PART II India and the Pre-Requisites of Communism

India and The Pre-requisites of Communism

Contents

The Hindu Social Order: it’s Essential Principles

Why is Fraternity Essential?

What is Liberty and why is it essential in a free social order?

Does the Hindu social order recognise the individual?

Does the Hindu social order recognise fraternity?

What is it that has behind these rules regarding hyper- communality and hypergamy?

Does the Hindu Social Order Recognise Equality?

The Hindu Social order: its Unique Features

Symbols of Hinduism

_____________________________________________________________________

Editorial Note for the manuscript published in the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar:
Writings and Speeches, Vol. 3 by the Government of Maharashtra:
We are reproducing here the text of Chapter One and Two of ' The Hindu Social
Order '. This Chapter seems to be a part of the book entitled ' India and Communism '. From
the contents on the first page of the typed script, we find that Dr. Ambedkar had divided the
whole book " India and Communism " into three parts. The first part was captioned as ' The
Prerequisites of Communism '. This part was to have three Chapters but we could not find any
of these Chapters in Dr. Ambedkar's papers. So far as the part Two is concerned which is
titled " India and the Pre-requisites of Communism ", only Chapter Four entitled, " Hindu
Social Order "has been found in a well bound register. This Chapter has two sub-titles as
follows: —
 I—Hindu Social Order: Its Essential Principles, and II— The Hindu Social Order: Its
Unique Features. No other chapters on the subjects mentioned in the table of contents
of this book were found. In all, there are 63 foolscap-typed pages. —Editors.
_______________________________________________________________

CHAPTER

The Hindu Social Order: It’s Essential Principles

I
What is the character of the Hindu Social Order? Is it a free social order? To answer this
question, some idea of what constitutes a free social order is necessary. Fortunately, the
matter is not one of controversy. Since the days of the French Revolution there is no
difference as to the essentials of a free social order. There may be more but two are
fundamental. Generally speaking, they are two. The first is that the individual is an end in him
self and that the aim and object of society is the growth of the individual and the development
of his personality. Society is not above the individual and if the individual has to subordinate
himself to society, it is because such subordination is for his betterment and only to the extent
necessary.

The second essential is that the terms of associated life between members of society must
be regarded by consideration founded on liberty, equality and fraternity.

Why are these two essentials fundamental to a free social order? Why must the individual
be the end and not the means of all social purposes? For an answer to this question, it is
necessary to realise what we precisely mean when we speak of the human person. Why
should we sacrifice our most precious possessions and our lives to defend the rights of the
human person? No better answer to this question can be found than what is given by Prof.
Jacques Maritain. As Prof. Maritain in his essay on ' The Conquest of Freedom '[f1] says:-

" What do we mean precisely when we speak of the human person? When we say
that a man is a person, we do not mean merely that he is an individual, in the sense
that an atom, a blade of grass, a fly, or an elephant is an individual. Man is an
individual who holds himself in hand by his intelligence and his will; he exists not
merely in a physical fashion. He has spiritual super-existence through knowledge and
love, so that he is, in a way, a universe in himself, a microcosms, in which the great
universe in its entirety can be encompassed through knowledge.
By love he can give himself completely to beings who are to him, as it were, other selves.
For this relation no equivalent can be found in the physical world. The human person
possesses these characteristics because in the last analysis man, this flesh and these
perishable bones which are animated and activated by a divine fire, exists 'from the womb to
the grave ' by virtue of the existence itself of his soul, which dominates time and death. Spirit
is the root of personality. The notion of personality thus involves that of totality and
independence, no matter how poor and crushed a person may be, he is a whole, and as a
person subsistent in an independent manner. To say that a man is a person is to say that in
the depth of his being he is more a whole than a part and more independent than servile. It is
to say that he is a minute fragment of matter that is at the same time a universe, a beggar who
participates in the absolute being, mortal flesh whose value is external and a bit of
straw into which heaven enters. It is this metaphysical mystery that religious thought
designates when it says that the person is the image of God. The value of the person, his
dignity and rights, belong to the order of things naturally sacred which bear the imprint of the
Father of Being, and which have in him the end of their movement. " Why is Equality
essential? The best exposition of the subject is by Prof. Beard in his essay on ' Freedom in
Political Thought ' and I shall do no more than quote him. Says Prof. Beard[f2]: —

"The term 'Equality' is unfortunate, but no other word can be found as a substitute. Equality
means ' exactly the same or equivalent in measure, amount, number, degree, value, or
quality ". It is a term exact enough in physics and mathematics, but obviously inexact when
applied to human beings. What is meant by writers who have gone deepest into the subject is
that human beings possess, in degree and kind, fundamental characteristics that are common
to humanity. These writers hold that when humanity is stripped of extrinsic goods and
conventions incidental to time and place, it reveals essential characteristics so widely
distributed as to partake of universality. Whether these characteristics be called primordial
qualities, biological necessities, residues or any other name matters little. No one can
truthfully deny that they do exist. It is easy to point out inequalities in physical strength, in
artistic skill, in material wealth, or in mental capacity, but this too is a matter of emphasis. At
the end it remains a fact that fundamental Characteristics appear in all human beings. Their
nature and manifestations are summed up in the phrase ' moral equality '.

Emphasis must be placed on the term ' moral '. From time immemorial it has been the
fashion of critics to point out the obvious facts that in physical strength, talents, and wealth,
human beings are not equal. The criticism is both gratuitous and irrelevant. No rational
exponent of moral equality has even disputed the existence of obvious inequalities among
human beings, even when he has pointed out inequalities, which may be ascribed to tyranny
or institutional prescriptions. The Declaration of Independence does not assert that all men
are equal; it proclaims that they are ' created ' equal.

In essence the phrase ' moral equality ' asserts in ethical value, a belief to be sustained, and
recognition of rights to be respected. Its validity cannot be demonstrated as a problem in
mathematics can be demonstrated. It is asserted against inequalities in physical strength,
talents, industry, and wealth. It denied that superior physical strength has a moral right to kill,
eat, or oppress human beings merely because it is superior. To talents and wealth, the ideal
of moral equality makes a similar denial of right. And indeed few can imagine themselves to
have superior physical strength, talents and wealth will withhold from inferiors all moral rights.
In such circumstances government and wealth would go to superior physical strength; while
virtue and talents would serve the brute man, as accomplished Greek slaves served the
whims, passions and desires to Roman conquerors. When the last bitter word of criticism has
been uttered against the ideal of moral equality, there remains something in it which all,
except things, must accept and in practice do accept, despite their sheers and protests. A
society without any respect for human personalities is a band of robbers. "

Why is Fraternity essential?

Fraternity is the name for the disposition of an individual to treat men as the object of
reverence and love and the desire to be in unity with his fellow beings. This statement is well
expressed by Paul when he said ' Of one blood are all nations of men. There is neither Jew
nor Greek, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female; for yet are ail one in Christ Jesus. '
Equally well was it expressed when the Pilgrim Fathers on their landing at Plymouth
said: " We are knit together as a body in the most sacred covenant of the Lord. . . . by virtue of
which we hold ourselves tied to all care of each others' good and of the whole. " These
sentiments are of the essence of fraternity. Fraternity strengthens socialites and gives to each
individual a stronger personal interest in practically consulting the welfare of others. It leads
him to identify his feelings more and more with their good, or at least with an even greater
degree of practical consideration for it. With a disposition to fraternity he comes as though
instructively to be conscious of him as being one who of course pays a regard to others. The
good of others becomes to him a thing naturally and necessarily to be attended to like any of
the physical conditions of our existence. Where people do not feel that entire sympathy with
all others, concordance in the general direction of their conduct is impossible. For a person in
whom social feeling is not developed cannot but bring himself to think of the rest of his fellow-
beings as rivals struggling with him for the means of happiness when he must endeavour to
defeat in order that he may succeed in himself.

What is Liberty and why is it essential in a free social order?

Liberty falls under two classes. There is civil liberty and there is political liberty. Civil liberty
refers to (1) liberty of movement which is another name for freedom from arrest without due
process of law (2) liberty of speech (which of course includes liberty of thought, liberty of
reading, writing and discussion) and (3) liberty of action.

The first kind of liberty is of course fundamental. Not only fundamental it is also most
essential. About its value, there can be no manner of doubt. The second kind of liberty, which
may be called freedom of opinion, is important for many reasons. It is a necessary condition of
all progress intellectual, moral, political and social. Where it does not exist the status quo
becomes stereotyped and all originality even the most necessary is discouraged. Liberty of
action means doing what one likes to do. It is not enough that liberty of action should be
formal. It must be real. So understood liberty of action means effective power to do specific
things. There is no freedom where there are no means of taking advantage of it. Real liberty of
action exists only where exploitation has been annihilated, where no suppression of one class
by another exists, where there is no unemployment, no poverty and where a person is free
from the fear of losing his job, his home and his food as a consequence of his action.

Political liberty consists in the right of the individual to share in the framing of laws and in the
making and unmaking of governments. Governments are instituted for securing to men certain
unalienable rights such as life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Government must, therefore,
derive its powers from those whose rights it is charged with the duty to protect. This is what is
meant when it is said that the existence, power and authority of the Government must be
derived from the consent of the governed. Political liberty is really a deduction from the
principle of human personality and equality. For it implies that all political authority is derived
from the people that the people are capable of directing and controlling their public as well as
private lives to ends determined by themselves and by none else.

These two tenets of a free social order are integrally connected. They are non-separable.
Once the first tenet is admitted, the second tenet automatically follows. Once the sacredness
of human personality is admitted the necessity of liberty, equality and fraternity must also be
admitted as the proper climate for the development of personality.

II
How far does the Hindu social order recognise these tenets? The inquiry is necessary. For it
is only in so far as it recognises these tenets that it will have the title to be called a free social
order.

Does the Hindu social order recognise the individual? Does it recognise his distinctiveness
his moral responsibility? Does it recognise him as an end in himself, as a subject not merely of
disabilities but also of rights even against the State? As a starting point for the discussion of
the subject one may begin by referring to the words of the exodus whereJehova says
to Ezekiel:—

" Behold! All souls are mine; as the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the son is mine;
the soul that sinister, it shall die. .. .. the son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father, neither
shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
him, and the wickedness of the wicked upon him." Here is emphasised the distinctiveness of
the individual and his moral responsibility. The Hindu social order does not recognise the
individual as a centre of social purpose. For the Hindu social order is based primarily on class
or Varna and not on individuals. Originally and formally the Hindu social order recognised 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.
Countrywide, if an individual is suffering from a wrong, it is not because he by his conduct
deserves it. The disability is the disability imposed upon the class and if he is found to be
labouring under it, it is because he belongs to that class.

Does the Hindu social order recognise fraternity? The Hindus like the Christians and the
Muslims do believe that men are created by God. But while the Christians and the Muslims
accept this as the whole truth the Hindus believe that this is only part of the truth. According to
them, the whole truth consists of two parts. The first part is that men are created by God. The
second part is that God created different men from different parts of his divine body. The
Hindus regard the second part as more important and more fundamental than the first.

The Hindu social order is based on the doctrine that men are created from the different parts
of the divinity and therefore the view expressed by Paul or the Pilgrim Fathers has no place in
it. The Brahmin is no brother to the Kshatriya because the former is born from the mouth of
the divinity while the latter is from the arms. The Kshatriya is no brother to
theVaishya because the former is born from the arms and the latter from his thighs. As no
one is a brother to the other, no one is the keeper of the other.

The doctrine that the different classes were created from different parts of the Divine body
has generated the belief that it must be divine will that they should remain separate and
distinct. It is this belief which has created in the Hindu an instinct to be different, to be
separate and to be distinct from the rest of his fellow Hindus. Compare the following rules in
theManu Smriti regarding the Upanayan or the Investiture of a body with the sacred thread :—

II. 36. " In the eighth year after conception, one should perform the initiation (Upanayan) of
a Brahmani in the eleventh after conception (that) of a Kshatriya but in the twelfth that of a
Vaishya. "

II. 41. "Let students according to the order (of their castes), wear (as upper dressed) the
skins of black antelope, spotted deer, and he-goats and (lower garments) made of hemp, flex
or wool. "

II. 42. " The girdle of a Brahmana shall consist of a triple cord of Munga grass, smooth and
soft (that) of a Kshatriya, of a bowstring, made of Murva fibres (that) of a Vaishya of hempen
threads.
 II. 43. "If Munga grass (and soforth) be not procurable, (the girdles) may be made
of kusa, Asmantaka, and Belbaga (fibres) with a single threefold knot, or with three or five
(knots according to the custom of the family. "

II. 44. "The sacrificial string of a Brahmana shall be made of cotton (shall be) twisted to the
right, (and consist) of three threads, that of a Kshatriya of hempen threads, and that
of aVaishya of woolen threads.

II. 45. " A Brahamana shall carry according to sacred law a staff of Bilva or Palasa, a
Kshatriya of Vata or Khadira; and a Vaishya of Pillu or Udumbara. "

II. 46. " The staff of a Brahmana shall be made of such length as to reach the end of his hair;
that of a Kshatriya to reach his forehead ; and that of a Vaishya to reach the tip of his nose. "

II. 48. " Having taken a staff according to his choice having worshipped the Sun and walked
round the fire, turning his right hand towards it (the student) should beg alms according to the
prescribed rule. "

II. 49. " An initiated Brahmana should beg, beginning his request with the word
lady (bhavati); a Kshatriya placing the word lady in the middle, but a Vaishya placing it at the
end of the formula. "

On reading this one may well ask the reasons for such distinctions. The above rules refer to
students or what are called Bramhacharia ready to enter upon the study of the Vedas.Why
should there be these distinctions? Why should the ages of Upanayana of the Brahmin boy
differ from that of the Kshatriya or Vaishya? Why should their garments be of different kind?
Why should their materials of girdle cords be different? Why should the material of strings be
different? Why should their staves be of different trees? Why should their staves differ in
length? Why in uttering the formula for asking alms they should place the word ' Bhavathi ' in
different places? 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.

It is also the Hindu instinct due to the same belief never to overlook a difference if it does
exist but to emphasise it, recognise it and to blazon it forth. If there is caste its existence must
be signalised by a distinguishing headdress and by a distinguishing name. If there is a sect it
must have its head mark. There are 92 sects in India. Each has a separate mark of itself. To
invent 92 marks each one different from the other is a colossal business. The very
impossibility of it would have made the most ingenious person to give up the task. Yet,the
Hindus have accomplished it as may be seen from the pictorial representation of these marks
given by Moore in his Hindu Pantheon.
 The most extensive and wild manifestation of this spirit of isolation and separation is of
course the caste-system. It is understandable that caste in a single number cannot exist.
Caste can exist only in plural number. There can be castes. But there cannot be such a thing
as a caste. But granting that theoretically castes must exist in plural number how many castes
should there be ? Originally, there were four only. Today, how many are there? It. is estimated
that the total is not less than 2000. It might be 3000. This is not the only staggering aspect of
this fact. There are others. Castes are divided into sub-castes. Their number is legion. The
total population of the Brahmin castes is about a crore and a half. But there are 1886 sub-
castes of Brahmin caste!! In the Punjab alone, the Saraswat Brahmans are divided into 469
sub-castes. The Kayasthas of Punjab are divided into 890 sub-castes!! One could go on
giving figures to show this infinite process of splitting social life into small fragments. The
splitting process has made a social life quite impossible. It has made the castes split into such
small fragments that it has marital relationship consistent with the rule of excluded degrees
quite impossible. Some of the Baniya sub-castes count no more than 100 families. They are
so inter-elated they find it extremely difficult to marry within their castes without transgressing
the rules of consanguinity.

It is noteworthy that small excuses suffice to bring about this splitting of castes into sub-
castes. Castes become sub-divided into sub-castes by reason of change of location, change
of occupation, change in social practices, change due to pollution, changes due to increased
prosperity, changes due to quarrel and changes due to change of religion. Mr. Blunt has given
many instances to illustrate this tendency among the Hindus. There is no space to reproduce
all except one which shows how ordinary quarrels lead to the splitting one caste into sub-
castes. As stated by Mr. Blunt[f3]:—

" In Lucknow there was a sub-caste of Khatika consisting of three ghols or groups, known
as Manikpur, Jaiswala and Dalman. They inter-married, ate together, and met together
inpanchayat under the presidency of their Chaudharis or headmen. Twenty years ago each
group had one Chaudhri, but now Jaiswala have three and Manikpur two. The quarrel was as
follows. Firstly a woman (her ghol is not given) peddled fruit about the streets. The brethren
ordered her to desist from the practice, which is derogatory to the caste's dignity;women
should only sell in shops. Her husband and she proved contumacious; and finally their
own ghol, acting singly, outcaste the man.

The Dalmu ghol, however, dissenting from this action admitted the husband to communion
with themselves upon payment of a fine of Rs. 80 in lieu of excommunication. Secondly a man
(the ghol, again is not given) was excommunicated by his own ghol, acting alone; and while
his case was under trial, the Jaiswala Chaudhri invited him to dinner by mistake. Thereupon,
the three ghols, acting in concert, fined the Chaudhri Rs. 30. Lastly, fines had accumulated
and it was decided to hold a Katha (sacred recitation). The Dalmu Chaudhri said he preferred
to have his share of money; but the Manikpur Chaudhri (who seems to have kept the joint
purse) refused, taking up the attitude that there was going to be a Katha to which the Dalmu
people could come or not as they liked. The matter at this stage was brought into court;
meanwhile the three ghols ceased to inter-rnarry, so that oneendogamous sub-caste split into
three quarrels, ghol was pitted against ghol.

If in any caste a group should adopt some new or unusual worship of which other members
do not approve, one would expect that group to break off and become an endogamous sub-
caste. That such sub-castes are uncommon is due to the tolerance about what and with whom
he eats and whom he marries. We do, however, find that the Mahabhiras andPanchipriya sub-
castes amongst Telis, Koris and the Namakshalis amongst Barhais, Bhangis and Kadheras. "

How do these castes behave towards one another. Their guiding principle is ' be
separate ', ' do not intermarry ', ' do not inter-dine ' and ' do not touch '. Mr. Blunt1 has well
described the situation when he says:

" A Hindu sits down to a meal either alone or with his caste fellows. The women cannot eat
with the men; they wait till their lords have finished. So long as the meal or a part of it consists
of Kachcha food (as it usually does, since Chapatis appear at most meals), the man must dine
with the precautions of a magic ceremony. He sits within a square marked off on the
ground (chauka) inside which is the Chulha or cooking place. Should a stranger's shadow fall
upon this square, all food cooked within it is polluted and must be thrown away. In camp
Hindu servants may be seen, each well apart from the rest, each within his own chauka,
cooking his food upon his own mud oven and eating alone. .

" Rules regarding the acceptance of water are on the whole the same as those regarding the
acceptance of a pakka food, but with a tendency to greater laxity. The vessel in which the
water is contained affects the question. A high caste man will allow a low caste man to fill his
lota (drinking vessel) for him; but he will not drink from the lota of that low caste man. Or a
high caste man will give anybody (save Untouchables) a drink, by pouring water from his own
lota into that of the drinker; all the men employed at stations to supply railway travellers with
water are Barhais, Bans, Bharbhunjas, Halwais, Kahars, and Nais; and of course from higher
castes still.

Rules regarding smoking are stricter. It is very seldom that a man will smoke with anybody
but a caste fellow; the reason, no doubt is that smoking with a man usually involves smoking
his pipe, and this involves much closer contact even than eating food which he has prepared.
So stringent is this rule, indeed, that the fact that Jats, Ahirs, and Gujars will smoke together
has beer regarded as a ground for supposing that they are closely akin. Some castes,
the Kayastha for instance, differentiates between smoking in a fashion in which the hands are
closed round the pipe and the smoke is drawn in without putting the stem actually in the
mouth—and smoking in the usual way. Little need be said on the subject of vessels. There are
rules laying down what sort of vessels should be made, but they are rather religious than
social. Hindus must use brass or alloy (although the use of alloy is hedged about by numerous
and minute injunctions, and if such vessels become impure, the only remedy is to get them
remoulded). The risk of pollution makes it imperative for every man to have a few vessels of
his own. The minimum consists of a lota (drinking vessel), batna (cooking pot),
and thali (dish). Better class folk add a Katora (spoon) and Gagra(Water pot). For feasts, the
brotherhood usually keep a set of larger vessels of all kinds,which they end to the host; these
are bought with the proceeds of fines, and are commonproperty. "[f4]

What fraternity can there be in a social order based upon such sentiments? Far from
working in a spirit of fraternity the mutual relations of the castes are fratricidal. Class-
consciousness, class struggle and class wars are supposed to be ideologies, which came into
vogue from the writings of Karl Marx. This is a complete mistake. India is the land, which has
experienced class-consciousness, class struggle. Indeed, India is the land where there has
been fought a class war between Brahmans and Kshatriyas[f5] which lasted for several
generations and which was fought so hard and with such virulence that it turned but to be a
war of extermination.

It must not be supposed that the fratricidal spirit has given place to a spirit of fraternity. The
same spirit of separation marks the Hindu social order today as may be seen from what
follows:

Each class claims a separate origin. Some claim origin from a Rishi or from a hero. But in
each case it is a different Rishi or a different hero having nothing to do with the Rishisand
heroes claimed by other castes as their progenitors. Each caste is engaged in nothing but
establishing for itself a status superior to that of another caste. This is best illustrated by rules
of hyper commonality and rules of hyper gamy. As pointed out by Mr. Blunt[f6]:

" It is essential to realise that in respect of the cooking taboo, the criterion is the caste of the
person who cooks the food, not the caste of the person who offers it. It follows, therefore, that
a high caste Hindu can eat the food of a man of any caste, however low, if his host possesses
a cook of suitable caste. And that is why so many cooks are Brahmins. The Hindu draws a
distinction between kachcha food, which is cooked in water and pucca food, which is cooked
with ghee (clarified butter). This distinction depends on the principle that ghee, like all the
products of the sacred cow, protects from impurity, and since such protection is the object of
all food taboos, this convenient fiction enables the Hinduto be less particular in the case of
pucca food than of kachcha food, and to relax his restrictions accordingly: Speaking of hyper
gamy, Mr. Blunt[f7] says:—

"The custom of hyper gamy introduces an important modification into the marriage laws of
many castes. Where it prevails, the exogamous groups are classified according to their social
position; and whilst a group of highest rank will take brides from it, it will not give brides to a
group of lower rank. The law is found most highly developed amongst Rajputs but it is
observed by many other castes. . . .. Indeed amongst all Hindus there is probably
a tendency towards hyper-gamy. "

What is it that has behind these rules regarding hyper-communality and

hypergamy? Nothing else but the spirit of high and low. All castes are infested with
that spirit and there is no caste, which is free from it. The Hindu social order is a
ladder of castes placed one above the other together representing an ascending scale
of hatred and a descending scale of contempt.
This spirit has exhibited itself in the proverbs coined by one caste with the object of
lampooning another caste. It has given rise even to literature by authors of low castes
suggesting filthy origin of the so-called high caste. The Sahyadrikhand is the best illustration
of it. It is one of the Puranas, which form part of the Hindu sacred literature. It is a Puranaof a
style quite different from the traditional puranas. It deals with the origin of the different castes.
In doing so, it assigns noble origin to other castes while it assigns to the Brahmin caste the
filthiest origin.

Does the Hindu social order recognise equality? The answer must be in the negative. That
men are born equal is a doctrine, which is repugnant to the Hindu social order. In the spiritual
sense it treats the doctrine as false. According to the Hindu social order though it is true that
men are the children of Prajapati the Creator of the Universe, they are not equal on that
account. For, they were created from the different parts of the body of Prajapati. The
Brahmins were created from the mouth, the Kshatriyas from the arms, the Vaishyas from his
thighs and Shudras from his feet. The limbs from which they were created being of unequal
value the men thus created are as unequal. In the biological sense, the Hindu social order
does not bother to examine whether the doctrine is founded in a fact. If it was not a fact, i.e.,
men were not equal in their character and natural endowments of character and intelligence
so much the better. On the other hand, if it was a fact, i.e., men were equal in character and
natural endowments, so much the worse for the doctrine. The Hindu social order is indifferent
to the doctrine as a fact. It is equally indifferent to it as an ethical principle. It refuses to
recognise that men no matter how profoundly they differ as individuals in capacity and
character, are equally entitled as human beings to consideration and respect and that the
well-being of a society is likely to be increased if it so plans its organisation that, whether their
powers are great or small, all its members may be equally enabled to make the best of such
powers as they possess. It will not allow equality of circumstances, institutions and manner of
life. It is against equality temper.

III
If the Hindu social order is not based on equality and fraternity, what are the principles on
which it is based? There is only one answer to this question. Though few will be able to realise
what they are, there is no doubt as to their nature and effect on Hindu society.
The Hindu social order is reared on three principles. Among these the first and foremost is the
principle of graded inequality.

That the principle of graded inequality is a fundamental principle is beyond controversy. The
four classes are not on horizontal plane, different but equal. They are on vertical plane. Not
only different but unequal in status, one standing above the other. In the scheme of Manu, the
Brahmin is placed at the first in rank. Below him is the Kshatriya. Below theKshatriya is
the Vaishya. Below Vaishya is the Shudra and below Shudra is the Ati-shudra or the
Untouchable. This order of precedence among the classes is not merely conventional. It is
spiritual, moral and legal. There is no sphere of life, which is not regulated by this principle of
graded inequality.

One can substantiate this by numerous illustrations from the Manu Smriti. I will take four
illustrations to prove the point. They will be the law of slavery, law of marriage, law of
punishment and law of Samskaras and law of Sanyas. The Hindu law recognised slavery as a
legal institution. Manu Smriti recognised seven kinds of slaves. Narada Smriti recognised
fifteen kinds of slaves. These differences as to the number of slaves and the classes under
which they fall is a matter of no importance. What is important is to know who could enslave
whom. On this point, the following citations from the Narada Smriti and the Yajnavalkya Smriti
are revealing:

Narada Smriti : V. 39. " 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. "

Yajnavalkya Smriti: XVI. 183 (2). "Slavery is in the descending order of the Varnas and not
in the ascending order. "

Recognition of slavery was bad enough. But if the rule of slavery had been left free to take
its own course it would have had at least one beneficial effect. It would have been a levelling
force. The foundation of caste would have been destroyed. For under it, a Brahmin might have
become the slave of the Untouchables and the Untouchables would have become the masters
of the Brahmin. But it was seen that unfettered slavery was a principle and an attempt was
made to nullify it. Manu and his successors therefore while recognising slavery ordain that it
shall not be recognised in its inverse order to the Varna system. That means that a Brahmin
may become the slave of another Brahmin. But he shall not be the slave of a person of
another Varna, i.e., of the Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, or Ati-Shudra. On the other hand, a
Brahmin may hold as his slave anyone belonging to the four Varnas. A Kshatriya can have a
Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra and Ati-Shudra as his slaves but not one who is a Brahmin. A
Vaishya can have a Vaishya, Shudra and Ati-Shudra as his slaves but not one who is a
Brahmin or a Kshatriya. A Shudra can hold a Shudra and an Ati-Shudra, as his slaves but not
one who is a Brahmin, Kshatriya or a Vaishya. Ati-Shudra can hold an Ati-Shudra as his slave
but not one who is a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra.

Another illustration of this principle of graded inequality is to be found in the Laws of

marriage. Manu says :—

III. 12. " For the first marriage of the twice-born classes, a woman of the same class is
recommended but for such as are impelled by inclination to marry again, women in the direct
order of the classes are to be preferred. "

III. 13. " A Shudra woman only must be the wife of a Shudra; she and a Vaishya, of a
Vaishya; they two and a Kshatriya of a Kshatriya; those three and a Brahmani of a Brahmin. "
Manu is of course opposed to inter-marriage. His injunction is for each class to marry within
his class. But he does recognise marriage outside the defined class. Here again, he is
particularly careful not to allow inter-marriage to do harm to his principle of inequality among
classes. Like slavery he permits inter-marriage but not in the inverse order. A Brahmin when
marrying outside his class may marry any woman from any of the classes below him.
A Kshatriya is free to marry a woman from the two classes next below him, namely, the
Vaishya and Shudra but must not marry a woman from the Brahmin class which is above him.
A Vaishya is free to marry a woman from the Shudra class which is next below him. But he
cannot marry a woman from the Brahmin and the Kshatriya class which are above him.

The third illustration is to be found in the Rule of Law as enunciated by Manu. First as to
treatment to be given to witnesses. According to Manu, they are to be sworn as follows:

VIII. 87. " In the forenoon let the judge, being purified, severally call on the twice-born, being
purified also, to declare the truth, in the presence of some image, a symbol of the divinity and
of Brahmins, while the witnesses turn their faces either to the north or to the east. "

VIII. 88. " To a Brahmin he must begin with saying ' ' Declare '; to a Kshatriya, with
saying 'Declare the truth'; to a Vaishya admonishing him by mentioning his kine, grain or gold;
to a Shudra, threatening him with the guilt of every crime that causes loss of caste. "

Take the punishment of offences as laid down by Manu. To begin with, punishment for
defamation:

VIII. 267. "A soldier, defaming a priest, shall be fined a hundred panas; merchant thus
offending, a hundred and fifty, or two hundred; but for such an offence a mechanic or servile
man shall be whipped. "

VIII. 268. " A priest shall be fined fifty if he slanders a soldier; twenty-five if a merchant and
twelve if he slanders a man of the servile class. "

Take the offence of insults. The punishment prescribed by Manu is as follows:

 VIII. 270. " A Shudra who insults a Dvija with gross invectives, ought to have his tongue slit
for he sprang from the lowest part of Brahma. "

VIII. 271. "If he mentions their names and classes with contumely, as if he
says, ' Oh Devadatta, thou refuse of Brahmin '; an iron style, ten fingers long, shall be thrust
red into his mouth. "

VIII. 272. " Should he, through pride, give instructions to Brahmins concerning their duty; let
the king order some hot oil to be dropped into his mouth and his ear. " Punishment for the
offence of abuse. Manu says:

VIII. 276. " For mutual abuse by a Brahmin and a Kshatriya, this fine must be imposed by a
learned king; the lowest on the Brahmin and the middlemost on the soldier. "

VIII. 277. " A Vaishya and a Shudra must be punished exactly in the same manner
according to their respective castes, except the slitting of the tongue of the Shudras. This is
the fixed rule of punishment. " Punishment for the offence of assault. Manu propounds:

VIII. 279. " With whatever limb a Shudra shall assault or hurt a Dvija that limb of his shall be
cut off, this is in accordance of Manu. " Punishment for the offence of arrogance. According to
Manu:

VIII. 281. " A Shudra who shall insolently place himself on the same seat with a man of high
caste, shall either be branded on his hip and be banished or the King shall cause a gash to be
made on his buttock. "

VIII. 282. " Should he spit on him through pride, the king shall order both his lips to be
gashed; should he urine on him, his penis; should he break wind against him, his anus. "

VIII. 283. "If he seizes the Brahmin by the locks or likewise if he takes him by the feet, let the
king unhesitatingly cut off his hands, or by the beard, or by the throat or by the
scrotum." Punishment for the offence of adultery says Manu.

VIII. 359. " A man who is not a Brahmin who commits actual adultery ought to suffer
death; for the wives, indeed of all the four classes must ever be most especially guarded. "

VIII. 366. "A Shudra who makes love to a damsel of high birth, ought to be punished
corporally; but he who addresses a maid of equal rank, shall give the nuptial present and
marry her, if her father desires it. "

VIII. 374. " A Shudra having an adulterous connection with a woman of a twice-born class,
whether guarded at home or unguarded shall thus be punished in the following manner; if she
was unguarded, he shall lose the part offending and all his property; if guarded everything
even his life. "
 VIII. 375. " For adultery with a guarded Brahmin a Vaishya shall forfeit all his wealth after
imprisonment for a year; a Kshatriya shall be fined a thousand panas, and he be shaved with
the urine of an ass. "

VIII. 376. "But if a Vaishya or Kshatriya commits adultery with an unguarded Brahmin, the
king shall only fine the Vaishya five hundred panas and the Kshatriya a thousand. "

VIII. 377. " But even these two however, it they commit that offence with a Brahmani not
only guarded but the wife of an • eminent man, shall be punished like a Shudra or be burned
in a fire of dry grass or reeds. "

VIII. 382. " If a Vaishya approaches a guarded female of the Kshatriya or a Kshatriya a
guarded Vaishya woman, they both deserve the same punishment as in the case of an
unguarded Brahmin female. "

VIII. 383. " But a Brahmin, who shall commit adultery with a guarded woman of those two
classes, must be fined a thousand panas, and for the offending with a Shudra woman the fine
of a thousand panas on a Kshatriya or Vaishya. "

VIII. 384. " For adultery by a Vaishya with a woman of the Kshatriya classes, if guarded, the
fine is five hundred; but a Kshatriya for committing adultery on a Vaishya woman must be
shaved with urine or pay the fine just mentioned. " How strange is the contrast between Hindu
and non-Hindu criminal jurisprudence! How inequality is writ large in Hinduism as seen in its
criminal jurisprudence! In a Penal Code charged with the spirit of justice we find two things—-
a section dealing with defining the crime and a section prescribing a rational form
of punishment for breach of it and a rule that all offenders are liable to the
same penalty. In Manu, what do we find? First an irrational system of punishment. The
punishment for a crime is inflicted on the origin concerned in the crime such as belly, tongue,
nose, eyes, ears, organs of generation etc., as if the offending organ was sentiment having a
will for its own and had not been merely a survivor of human being. Second feature
of Manu's Penal Code is the inhuman character of the punishment, which has no proportion to
the gravity of the offence. But the most striking feature of Manu's Penal Code, which stands
out in all its nakedness, is the inequality of punishment for the same offence. Inequality
designed not merely to punish the offender but to protect also the dignity and to maintain the
baseness of the parties coming to a Court of Law to seek justice; in other words to maintain
the social inequality on which his whole scheme is founded.

The principle of graded inequality has been carried into the economic field. " From each
according to his ability; to each according to his need " is not the principle of Hindu social
order. The principle of the Hindu social order is: " From each according to his need. To each
according to his nobility. " [f8]Supposing an officer was distributing dole to a famine stricken
people. He would be bound to give greater dole to a person of high birth than he would to a
person of low birth. Supposing an officer was levying taxation. He would be bound to assess a
person of high birth at a lower rate than he would to a person of low birth. The Hindu social
order does not recognise equal need, equal work or equal ability as the basis of reward for
labour. Its motto is that in regard to the distribution of the good things of life those who are
reckoned as the highest must get the most and the pest and those who are classed as the
lowest must accept the least the worst.

Nothing more seems to be necessary to prove that the Hindu social order is based on the
principle of graded inequality. It pervades all departments of social life. Every side of social life
is protected against the danger of equality.

The second principle on which the Hindu social order is founded is that of fixate of
occupations for each class and continuance thereof by heredity. This is what Manu says about
occupations of the four classes.

"1. 87. But in order to protect this universe, He, the most resplendent one, assigned
separate (duties and) occupations, to those who sprang from his mouth, arms, thighs and feet.

1. 88. To Brahmanas he assigned teaching and studying (the Veda) sacrificing for their own
benefit and for others, giving and accepting (of alms).

1. 89. The Kshatriya he commanded to protect the people, to bestow gifts to offer sacrifices
to study (the Veda) and to abstain from attaching himself to sensual pleasures. "

" I. 90. The Vaishya to tend cattle to bestow gifts to offer sacrifices to study (the Veda) and
to abstain from attaching himself to sensual pleasures. "

I. 91. One occupation only the Lord prescribed to the Shudra, to serve meekly even these
(other) three castes. " These rules regarding the occupations of the different classes are
further amplified by Manu as will be seen from the following citations from his Smriti:

" I. 88. To Brahmans he (Swayambhu Manu) assigned the duties of reading the Veda, of
teaching it, of sacrificing, of assisting others to sacrifice, of giving alms if they be rich, and if
indigent of receiving of gifts.

I. 89. To defend the people, to give alms, to sacrifice, to read the Veda, to shun the
allurements of sensual gratification, are in a few words, the duties of a Kshatriya.

I. 90. To keep herds of cattle, to bestow largeness, to sacrifice, to read the scriptures, to
carry on trade, to lend at interest, and to cultivate land are prescribed or permitted to a
Vaishya.

I. 91. One principal duty the supreme Ruler assigns to a Shudra; namely, to serve the before
mentioned classes, without depreciating their worth.
 X. 74. Let such Brahmans as are intent on the means of attaining the supreme godhead,
and firm in their own duties, completely perform in order, the six following acts.

X. 75. Reading the Vedas, the teaching others to read them, sacrificing, and assisting others
to sacrifice, giving to the poor if themselves have enough, and accepting gifts from the
virtuous if themselves are poor, are the six prescribed acts of the firstborn class. "

"X. 76. But, among those six acts of a Brahman three are his means of
subsistence; assisting to sacrifice, teaching the Vedas and receiving gifts from a pure
handed giver.

X. 77. Three acts of duty cease with the Brahman and belong not to the Kshatriya, teaching
the Vedas, officiating at a sacrifice and thirdly receiving presents.

X. 78. Those three are also (by the fixed rule of law) forbidden to the Vaishya since Manu,
the Lord of all men, prescribed not those acts to the two classes, military and commercial.

X. 79. The means of subsistence peculiar to the Kshatriya are bearing arms, either held for
striking or missile; to the Vaishya, merchandise, attending on cattle, and agriculture; but with a
view to the next life, the duties of both are alms giving, reading and sacrificing. "

Every member must follow the trade assigned to the class to which he belongs. It leaves no
scope for individual choice, individual inclination. An individual under the Hindu social order is
bound to the profession of his ancestor. It is an inexorable law from which he cannot escape.

The principle does not stop with fixate of occupation. It grades the several occupations in
terms of respectability. This is what Manu says:—

" X. 80. Among the several occupations for gaining a livelihood the most commendable
respectively for the Brahmans, Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas are the teaching of
the Vedas,defending the people and trade.

The third principle on which the Hindu social order is founded is the fixation of people within
their respective classes. There is nothing strange or peculiar in the fact that the Hindu
social order recognises classes. There are classes everywhere and no society is without
them. Families, cliques, clubs, political parties, nay communities, gangs engaged in criminal
conspiracies, business corporations which prey upon the public are to be found in all societies
in all parts of the world. Even a free social order will not be able to get rid of the classes. What
a free social order aims to do is to prevent isolation and exclusiveness being regarded by the
classes as an ideal to be followed. For so long as the classes do not practise isolation and
exclusiveness they are only non-social in their relations towards one another. Isolation and
exclusiveness make them anti-social and inimical towards one another. Isolation
makes for rigidity of class consciousness, for institutionalising social life and for the
dominance of selfish ideals within the classes. Isolation makes life static, continues the
separation into a privileged and underprivileged, masters and servants.

Not so much the existence of classes as the spirit of isolation and exclusiveness which is
inimical with a free social order. What a free social order endeavours to do is to maintain
all channels of social endowment. This is possible only when the classes are free to share in
an extensive number of common interests, undertakings and expenses, have a large number
of values in common, when there is a free play back and forth, when they have an equable
opportunity to receive and to take from others. Such social contacts must and does dissolve
custom, makes for an alert and expanding mental life and not only occasion but also demand
reconstruction of mental attitudes. What is striking about the Hindu social orders is its ban on
free inter-change and inter-course between different classes of Hindu society. There is a bar
against inter-dining and inter-marriage. But Manu goes to the length of interdicting ordinary
social intercourse. Says Manu:

IV. 244. " He, who seeks to preserve an exalted rank, must constantly form connections with
the highest and best families, but avoid the worst and the meanest.

IV. 245. Since a priest, who connects himself with the best and the highest of men, avoiding
the lowest and worst, attains eminence ; but sinks by an opposite conduct, to the class of the
servile.

IV. 79. Not let him tarry even under the shade of the same tree with outcaste for the great
crimes, nor with Chindalas, nor with Puccasas, nor with idiots, nor with man proud of
wealth, nor with \\ashcrmcn and other vile persons, nor with Artyevasins.'" The Hindu social
order is opposed to fraternity, t does not admit the principle of equality. Far from recognising
equality it makes inequality its official doctrine. What about liberty? So far as choice of
occupation goes, there is none. Everyone has his occupation determined for him. Only thing
left to do is to carry it on. As to freedom of speech it exists. But it exists only for those who are
in favour of the social order. The freedom is not the freedom of liberalism which was
expressed by Voltaire when i.e. said "I wholly disapprove of what you say and will defend to
the death your right to say it. " This is clear from what Manu has to say about Logic and
dialectics.

"IV. 29-30. No guest must stay in his house without being honoured according to his ability,
with a seat, food, a couch, water, or roots and fruits.

Let him not honour even by greeting heretics, men who follow forbidden occupations, men
who live like cats, rogues, logicians (arguing against the Veda) and those who live like herons.

II. 10. But by Sruti (Revelation) is meant the Vedas and by Smriti (tradition) the Institutes of
the sacred law ; those two must not be called into question in any matter, since fromthose two
the sacred law shone forth.
 II. II. Every twice-born man, who, relying on the Institutes of dialectics, treats with contempt
those two sources (of the law), must be cast out by the virtuous as an atheist and ascorner of
the Veda.

II. 12. The Veda, the sacred tradition, the customs of virtuous men, and one's own pleasure,
they declare to be visibly the fourfold means of defining the sacred law. " The reasons for this
are made manifest by Manu who says:

II. 6. "The whole Veda is the (first) source of the sacred law, next the tradition and the
virtuous conduct of those who know the (Veda further) also the customs of holy men, and
(finally) self- satisfaction:

II. 7. Whatever law has been ordained for any (person) by Manu; that has been fully
declared in the Veda; for that (sage was) omniscient. "

In this freedom there is not freedom for dialecticians, no freedom for logicians to criticise the
social order which means there is no freedom at all.

What about liberty of action? In the sense of effective choice, there is no room for it in the
Hindu social order. The Hindu social order leaves no choice to the individual. It fixes his
occupation. It fixes his status. All that remains for the individual to do is to conform him self to
these regulations.

The same must be said with regard to political liberty. The Hindu social order does not
recognise the necessity of a representative government composed of the representatives
chosen by the people. Representative Government rests on the belief that people must be
governed by law and law can be made only by the representative of the people. The Hindu
social order recognises the first part of this thesis, which says that people must be governed
by law. But it denies the second part of the thesis, which says that law can be made only by
the representatives chosen by the people. The tenets of the Hindu social order is that the law
by which people are to be governed is already made and is to be found in theVedas. Nobody
has a right to add to and subtract from it. That being so. a representative assembly of the
people is unnecessary. Political liberty which is liberty to frame laws and to make and unmake
Government is futility for which there is no place in the Hindu social order.

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. The Hindu social order is a rigid order.
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.
 The Hindu Social Order: Its Unique Features

So far the discussions were confined to describing the essentials of the Hindu social order.
Besides its essentials, the Hindu social order has some unique features. These unique
features are as important as the essentials. No study of the Hindu social order, which does not
make any reference to them, can be regarded as complete or accurate.

What are these special features? The special features of the Hindu social order are three in
number. Of these three, the most striking is the worship of the superman. In this respect
the Hindu social order is nothing but Nietzsche's Gospel put in action. Nietzsche himself never
claimed any originality for his theory of the superman. He admitted and avowed that he
borrowed it from the Manu Smriti. In his treatise, called Anti-Christ this is what Nietzsche
said :—

" After all, the question is, to what end are falsehoods perpetrated? The fact that, in
Christianity, ' Holy ends are entirely absent, constitutes my objection to the means it employs.
Its ends are only bad ends; the poisoning, the calumniation and the denial of life, the contempt
of the body, the degradation and self-pollution of man by virtue of the contempt of sin,
consequently its means are bad as well. My feelings are quite the reverse when I read the law
book of Manu, an incomparably intellectual and superior work, which it would be a sin against
the spirit even to mention in the same breath with the Bible. You will guess immediately why it
has a genuine philosophy behind it. In it, not merely an evil smelling Jewish distillation
of Rabbinism and superstition it gives something to chew even to the most fastidious
psychologist. And, not to forget the most important point of all, it is fundamentally different
from the very kind of Bible; by means of it the noble classes, the philosophers and the warriors
guard and guide the masses; it is replete with noble values, it is filled with a feeling of
perfection with saying yea to life, triumphant sense of well-being in regard to itself and to
life, the Sun shines upon the whole book. All those things which Christianity smothers with its
bottomless vulgarity; procreation, women, marriages are here treated with earnestness, with
reverence, with love and confidence. How can one possibly place in the hands of children and
women, a book that contains those vile words; ' to avoid fornication let every man have his
wife, let every woman have her own husband. . . . It is better to marry than to burn. And is it
decent to be a Christian so long as the very origin of man is Christianised that is to
say, befouled, by the idea of the Immaculate Conception. "

Nietzsche never got any respectful or serious hearing in his own country. In his own words,
he was ' sometimes defied as the philosopher of the aristocracy and squiarchy,sometimes
hooted at, sometimes pitied and sometimes boycotted as an inhuman being. ' Nietzsche's
philosophy had become identified with will to power, will to violence and denial of spiritual
values, sacrifice, servility to and debasement of the common man in the interest of the
superman. His philosophy with these high spots had created a feeling of loathsomeness and
horror in the minds of the people of his own generation. He was utterly neglected if not
shunned and Nietzsche himself took comfort by placing himself among the ' posthumous men
'. He foresaw for himself a remote public, centuries after his own time to appreciate him. Here
too Nietzsche was destined to be disappointed. Instead of there being any appreciation of
his philosophy the lapse of time has only augmented the horror and loathing which people of
his generation felt for Nietzsche. Having regarded to the vile nature of Nietzsche's philosophy
some people may not be ready to believe that the Hindu social order is based on the worship
of the Superman.

Let the Manu Smriti speak on this point. This is what Manu says with regard to the position
of the Brahmin in the Hindu social order.

I. 93. " As the Brahmana sprang from Prajapati's (i.e. God's) mouth, as he was first-born,
and as he possesses the Veda, he is by right the Lord of this whole creation. "

I. 94. " For the self-existent (Swayambhu) i.e. God having performed austerities, produced
him first from his own mouth, in order that the offerings might be conveyed to the Gods and
Manes and that this universe might be preserved. "

I. 95. " What created being can surpass him, through whose mouth the Gods continually
consume the sacrificial viands and the Manes the offerings to the dead. "

I. 96. " Of created beings the most excellent are said to be those which are animated, of the
animated those who subsist by intelligence; of the intelligent mankind, and of the men
the Brahmans. "

Besides the reason given by Manu the Brahman is first in rank because he was produced by
God from his mouth, in order that the offerings might be conveyed to the Gods and manes,
Manu gives another reason for the supremacy of the Brahman. He says:

I. 98. " The very birth of a Brahmana is an eternal incarnation of the sacred law (Veda) for
he is born to (fulfil) the sacred law, and becomes one with Brahman (God.)"

I. 99. " A Brahmana coming into existence, is born as the highest on earth, the Lord of all
created beings, for the protection of the treasury of the law. " Manu concludes by saying that :

I. 101. "The Brahmana eats but his own food, wears but his own apparel, bestows but his
own in alms ; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the Brahmana. " Because
according to Manu :

I. 100. "Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmana ; on account of the
excellence of his origin the Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to it all. "
 Being a deity the Brahman is above law and above the king. Manu directs :

VII. 37. "Let the king, rising early in the morning, worship Brahmanas who are well-versed in
the threefold sacred science and learned (in polity) and follow their advice. "

VII. 38. " Let him daily worship aged Brahmans who know the Veda and are pure....." Finally
Manu says:

XI. 35. " The Brahman is (hereby) declared to be the creator (of the world), the punisher, the
teacher, (and hence) a benefactor (of all created beings) to him let no man say
anything unpropitious, nor use any harsh words." Manu ordains that:

X. 3. " From priority of birth, from superiority of origin, from a more exact knowledge of
scripture, and from a distinction in the sacrificial thread, the Brahman is the lord of all
classes. " The Brahmin or the Superman of the Hindu social order was entitled to certain
privileges. In the first place, he could not be hanged even though he might be guilty of
murder.[f9] Manu says:

VIII. 379. " Ignominious tonsure is ordained, instead of capital punishment, for a Brahmin
adulterer where the punishment of other classes may extend to loss of life. "

VIII. 380. "Never shall the king slay a Brahmin, though convicted of all possible crimes; let
him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his property secure, and his body unhurt. "

XI. 127. " For a Brahmin killing intentionally a virtuous man of the Kshatriya class, the
penance must be a fourth part of that ordained for killing a priest; for killing a Vaishya, only
aneighth; for killing a Shudra, who had been constant in discharging his duties a sixteenth
part. "

XI. 128. "But, if a Brahmin kills a Kshatriya without malice, he must, after a full performance
of his religious rites give the priests one bull together with a thousand cows. "

XI. 129. "Or he may perform for three years the penance for slaying a Brahmin, mortifying
his organs of sensation and action, letting his hair grow long, and living remote from the town,
with the root of a tree for his mansion. "

XI. 130. " If he kills without malice a Vaishya, who had a good moral character, he may
perform the same penance for one year, or give the priests a hundred cows and a bull. "

XI. 131. " For six months must he perform this whole penance, if without intention he kills a
Shudra, or he may give ten white cows and a bull to the priests. "

VIII. 381. "No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahmin; and the king,
therefore must not even form in his mind an idea of killing a priest. "
 VIII. 126. " Let the king having considered and ascertained the frequency of a similar
offence, the place and time, the ability of the criminal to pay or suffer and the crime itself,
cause punishment to fall on those alone, who deserve it. "

VIII. 124. "Manu, son of the self-existent, has named ten places of punishment, which are
appropriated to the three lower classes. but a Brahmin must depart from the realm unhurtin
any one of them. "

The Brahmin has been given by the Manu Smriti other privileges. In the matter of marriage
in addition to his marrying a woman of his own class he is entitled [f10] to enter into wedlock
with a woman of any of the classes lower to him without being bound to the woman by the tie
of marriage or conferring upon the children the right to his status or to his property.

He had the power to punish his wrongdoer without resort to court[f11].

He 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[f12]. If he discovers a hidden treasure he was free to appropriate the whole[f13] of it
without giving the usual share to the king ' since he was the lord of all ' and was entitled to
claim half [f14]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 [f15]. He was
exempt from taxation[f16]. He was entitled to compel the king to provide for his daily food and to
see that he did not starve[f17]. His property was free from the law of escheat[f18].

The superman of the Hindu Social order is not bound by the rules as to occupation if he is in
distress. Manu says:—

X. 81. "Yet a Brahman, unable to subsist by his duties just mentioned, may live by the duty
of a soldier; for that is the next in rank. "

X. 82. " If it be asked, how he must live, should he be unable to get a subsistence by either
of those employment; the answer is, he may subsist as a mercantile man, applying himself in
person to tillage and attendance on cattle. "

X. 83. " But a Brahman and a Kshatriya, obliged to subsist by the acts of a Vaishya, must
avoid with care, if they can live by keeping herds, the business of tillage, which gives great
pain to sentient creatures, and is dependent on the labour of others, as bulls and so forth. "

X. 84. " Some are of opinion, that agriculture is excellent but it is a mode of subsistence
which the benevolent greatly blame, for the iron mouthed pieces of wood not only wound the
earth, but the creatures dwelling in it. "
 X. 85. " If, through want of a virtuous livelihood, they cannot follow laudable occupations,
they may then gain a competence of wealth by selling commodities usually sold by merchants,
avoiding what ought to be avoided. "

X. 102. " The Brahman, having fallen into distress, may receive gifts from any person
whatever; for by no sacred rule can it be shown, that absolute purity can be sullied. "

X. 103. "From interpreting the Veda, from officiating at sacrifices or from taking presents,
though in modes generally disapproved, no sin is committed by priests in distress; for they are
as pure as fire or water. "

The privileges of the superman are not at all counterbalanced by an obligation towards the
common man. Indeed the superman has no duty towards the common man.

He is not bound to do charity for the uplift of the Common man. On the other hand, to
receive charity is the monopoly of the Superman. For any other person to receive charity is a
sin. To the Common man (Shudra) who is born to serve the Superman man, the Superman is
not at all required to be a good employer and is not bound to keep him well-fed, well clothed
and well-housed. His obligations in this behalf as laid down by Manu are stated below:

X. 124. "They must allot to him (Shudra) out of their own family property a suitable
maintenance after considering his ability, his industry and the number of those whom he is
bound to support. "

X. 125. "The remnants of their food must be given to him, as well as their old clothes, the
refuse of their grain, and their old household furniture.

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.

Manu insists on the Shudra doing nothing but service: X. 122. "But let a Shudra
serve Brahmans." X. 121. "If a Shudra unable to subsist by serving Brahmanas seeks a
livelihood, he may serve Kshatriyas, or he may also seek to maintain himself by attending on
a wealthy Vaishya. "

I. 91. "One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Shudra, to serve meekly even these
other three castes. " And why? Manu does not hesitate to give the reason. He says:

X. 129. "No superfluous collection of wealth must be made by a Shudra, even though he has
power to make it, since a servile man, who has amassed riches, becomes proud, and, by his
insolence or neglect, gives pain even to Brahmanas."
 The common man is not permitted to acquire learning. The following are the injunctions of
Manu:

I. 88. "To the Brahmanas he (the creator) assigned teaching and studying the Veda. "

I. 89. " The Kshatriya he (the creator) commanded to study the Veda. "

II. 116. " He who shall acquire knowledge of the Veda without the assent of his preceptor
incurs the guilt of stealing the scripture, and shall sink to the region of torment. "

IV. 99. " He (the twice-born) must never read the Veda. . . . in the presence of the Shudras. "

IX. 18. " Women have no business with the text of the Veda. " IX. 199. "A twice-born man
who has... (improperly) divulged the Veda (ie., to Shudras and women) commits sin, atones
for his offence, if he subsists a year on barley. " In those texts there are embodied three
distinct propositions. The Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas can study the Vedas.Of these
the Brahmans alone have the right to teach the Vedas But in the case of the Shudra he has
not only to study the Vedas but he should not be allowed to hear it read.

The successors of Manu made the disability of the Shudra in the matter of the study of the
Veda into an offence involving dire penalties. For instance, Gautama says:

III. 4. "If the Shudra intentionally listens for committing to memory the Veda, then his ears
should be filled with (molten) lead and lac; if he utters the Veda, then his tongue should be cut
off; if he has mastered the Veda his body should be cut to pieces. " To the same effect
is Katyayana.

The common man (Shudra) is not allowed the benefit of the sacrament of initiation. It is the
second birth that helps towards the moral and material advancement of the individual.

The common man is denied the right to have a name conveying dignity. Manu says:

II. 30. " Let the father perform or cause to be performed the Namadheya (the rite of name of
the child), on the tenth or twelfth (day after birth), or on a lucky lunar day in a
luckymuhurth under an auspicious constellation.

II. 31. "Let (the first part of) a Brahman's name (denote something) auspicious,
a Kshatriya name be connected with power, and a Vaishya with wealth, but
a Shudra's (express something) contemptible. "

II. 32. " (The second part of) a Brahman's name shall be a word implying happiness, of a
Kshatriya (a word) implying protection, of a Vaishya (a term) expressive of thriving and of a
Shudra's (an expression) denoting a service. "
 The Superman will not tolerate the Shudra to have the comfort of a high-sounding name. He
must be contemptible both in fact and in name.

A Hindu's life is divided into periods. The first period is called Brahmacharya, the stage of a
student. The second period is called Grahasthashram, the stage of married life. The
third period is called Vanasprastha, the stage of detachment from worldly life. The fourth
period is called Sanyasa which is complete severance from the affairs of the world which is
tantamount to civil death. The common man is denied the right of becoming a Sanyasi. It is
difficult to understand why. Obviously for the benefit of the Superman. A Shudra by becoming
a Sanyasi ceases to render service to Superman. A Shudra by becoming a Sanyasi reaches
God or Brahma which is an invasion of the privileges of the Superman.

The citations from Manu prove that the Hindu social order is openly and avowedly devised
and intended for the good of the Superman. In it everything is ordained for the Superman. The
Superman is the Brahmin and the common man is the Shudra. The Superman has rights and
no duties. Everything is at the disposal of the Superman, everything must be ascribed in the
interests of the Superman. The counterpart of the same feature is the degradation of the
common man. As against the Superman the common man has no right to life, liberty, property
or pursuit of happiness. He must be ready to sacrifice everything for the sustenance of the life
and dignity of the Superman. The Hindu social order prescribes that such sacrifice should be
made willingly by the common man. Indeed, it inculcates that the common man should
respond to such call for sacrifice in the interest of the Superman as his supreme duty.

Can there be any doubt that Zarathustra is a new name for Manu and that ' Thus spoke
Zarathustra ' is a new edition of the Manu Smriti?

If there is any difference between Manu and Nietzsche, it lies in this. Nietzsche was
genuinely interested in creating a new race of men which will be race of Superman as
compared with the existing race of men. Manu, on the other hand, was interested in
maintaining the privilege of a class who had come to arrogate to itself the claim of being
Superman. Nietzsche's Supermen were Supermen by reason of their worth. Nietzsche was a
genuine distinterested philosopher. Manu, on the contrary, was a hireling engaged to
propound a philosophy which served the interests of a class, born in a group and whose title
to being Superman was not to be lost even if they lost their virtue. Compare the following texts
from Manu.[f19]

X. 81. "Yet, a Brahmin, unable to subsist by his duties just mentioned, may live by
the duty of a soldier; for that is the next rank. "
X. 82. " If it be asked, how he must live, should he be unable to get a subsistence by either
of those employment; the answer is, he may subsist as a mercantile man, applying himself to
tillage and an attendance on cattle. " Manu adds:
 IX. 317. "A Brahmin, be he ignorant or learned, is a great divinity, just as the fire, whether
carried forth (for the performance of a burnt oblation) or not carried forth, is a great divinity. "

IX. 319. "Thus, though the Brahmins employ themselves in all (sorts) of mean occupation,
they must be honoured in every way; (for each of) them is a very great deity. "

Nietzsche's praise of the Manu Smriti is undeserved. For when he says that according to its
scheme " the noble classes, the philosophers and the warriors guard and guide the
masses ", he is either making a positively untrue statement or that he has not read it correctly.
Under the Manu Smriti the superman has rights against the common man but he has no
duties towards the common man.

Manu's degraded and degenerate philosophy of Superman as compared with that of

Nietzsche is therefore far more odious and loathsome than the philosophy of Nietzsche. Such
is the social order which the Hindus regard as a pearl without price and which Mr. Gandhi is
proud to offer as a gift from the Hindus to the world.

Another special feature of the Hindu social order relates to the technique devised for its
preservation. The technique is twofold.

The first technique is to place the responsibility of upholding and maintaining the social
order upon the shoulders of the King. Manu does this in quite express terms.

VIII. 410. " The King should order each man of the mercantile class to practise trade or
money-lending or agriculture and attendance on cattle; and each man of the servile class to
act in the service of the twice-born. "

VIII. 418. "With vigilant care should the King exert himself in compelling merchants and
mechanics to perform their respective duties; for, when such men swerve from their duty they
throw this world into confusion. "

Manu does not stop with the mere enunciation of the duty of the King in this behalf.
He wants to ensure that the King shall at all times perform his duty to maintain and
preserve the established order. Manu therefore makes two further provisions.
One provision is to make the failure of the King to maintain the established order an
offence for which the King became liable for prosecution and punishment like a
common felon. This would be clear from the following citations from Manu: —
VIII. 335. " Neither a father, nor a preceptor, nor a friend, nor a mother, nor a wife, nor a son,
nor a domestic priest must be left unpunished by the King if they adhere not with firmness to
their duty. "

VIII. 336. " Where another man of lower birth would be fined one pana, the King shall be
fined a thousand, and he shall give the fine to the priests, or cast it into the river, this is a
sacred rule. " The other provision made by Manu against a King who is either negligent or
opposed to the established order is to irvest the three classes,
Brahmins, Kshatriyas andVaishyas with a right to rise in armed rebellion against the King.

VIII. 348. " The twice-born may take arms, when their duty is obstructed by force; and when,
in some evil time, a disaster has befallen the twice-born classes. "

The Right of rebellion is given to the three higher classes and not to the Shudra. This is very
natural. Because it is only the three upper classes who would benefit by the maintenance of
this system. But supposing the Kshatriyas joined the king in destroying the system what is to
be done? Manu gives the authority to the Brahmins to punish all and particularly the
Kshatriyas.

XI. 31. " A priest, who well knows the laws, need not complain to the king of any grievous
injury; since, even by his own power, he may chastise those, who injure him. "

XI. 32. " His own power, which depends on himself alone, is mightier than the royal power,
which depends on other men; by his own might, therefore, may a Brahmin coerce his foes. "

XI. 33. " He may use without hesitation, the powerful charms revealed to Atharvan, and by
him to Angiras; for speech is the weapon of a Brahmin; with that he may destroy his
oppressors. "

IX. 320. " Of a military man, who raises his arm violently on all occasions against the priestly
class, the priest himself shall be the chastiser; since the soldier originally proceeded from
the Brahmin. " How can the Brahmins punish the Kshatriyas unless they can take arms? Manu
knows this and therefore allows the Brahmins to arm themselves to punish the Kshatriyas.

XII. 100. "Command of armies, royal authority, power of inflicting punishment, and sovereign
dominion over all nations, he only well deserves, who perfectly understands
the VedaSastra i.e., who is a Brahmin. "

The second technique devised for the maintenance and preservation of the established
order is quite different from the first. Really speaking, it is this, which constitutes a special
feature of the Hindu social order.

In the wake of the 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 opens, would
depend upon the rules, which govern the three pre-requisites of rebellion.

When the social order denies opportunity to rise, denies right to education and denies right
to use arms, it is in a position to prevent rebellion against the social order. Where on
the other hand, a social order allows right to education, and permits the use of arms, it cannot
prevent rebellion by those who suffer wrongs. Its only remedy to preserve the social order is
by suppression of rebellion by the use of force and violence. The Hindu social order has
adopted the first method. It has fixed the social status of the lower orders for all generations to
come. Their economic status is also fixed. There being no disparity between the two, there is
no possibility of a grievance growing up. It has denied education to the lower orders. The
result is that no one is conscious that his low condition is a ground for grievance. If there is
any consciousness it is that no one is responsible for the low condition. It is the result of fate.
Assuming there is a grievance, assuming there is consciousness of grievance, there cannot
be a rebellion by the lower orders against the Hindu social order because the Hindu social
order denies the masses the right to use arms. Other social orders such as those of the
Muslims or the Nazis, follow the opposite course. They allow equal opportunity to all. They
allow freedom to acquire knowledge. They allow the right to bear arms and take upon
themselves the odium of suppressing rebellion by force and violence. To deny freedom of
opportunity, to deny freedom to acquire knowledge, to deny the right of arms is a most cruel
wrong. Its results Manu mutilates and emasculates man. The Hindu social order is not
ashamed to do this. It has, however, achieved two things. It has found the most effective,
even though it be the most shameless method of preserving the established order. Secondly,
notwithstanding the use of

most inhuman means of killing manliness, it has given to the Hindus the reputation of being
very humane people. The Nazis had indeed a great deal to learn from the Hindus. If they had
adopted the technique of suppressing the masses devised by the Hindus they would have
been able to crush the Jews without open cruelty and would have also exhibited themselves
as humane masters.

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.
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 following verses from
the Bhagvat Gita and the Manu Smriti. Shri Krishna one of the Hindu Gods, whose word is the
Bhagvat Gita says:—

IV. 13. "I myself have created the arrangement of the four castes (into
Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras), consistently with the differences in their
qualities and actions. It is, I who am the Maker of it. "
 XVIII. 41-44. "0, Parantapa! the respective duties of
Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (tradesmen) and Shudras (menials) have
been individually fixed with reference to the qualities arising from their inherent natures, that
is, from Prakriti. The inherently natural duties of a Brahmin are peace, self-restrain, religious
austerities, cleanliness, and quietness, straightforwardness (humanity). Knowledge (that is,
spiritual knowledge). Vijnana (that is Imperial knowledge) and Astikya-budhi (that is belief in a
future world). The inherently natural duty (karma) of the Kshatriya is bravery, brilliance,
courage, intentness, not running away from the battle, generosity, and exercising authority
(over subject people) 'goraksya ' (that is the business of keeping cattle), and vanijya (that is,
trade) is the inherently natural duty of the Vaishya; and in the same way, service is the
inherently natural duty of the Shudra. "

Krishna forbids propaganda against the Hindu social order. He says:—

HI. 26. " As the ignorant act with attachment to action so a wise man wishing to keep the
people to their duties, should not shake the convictions of the ignorant who are attached to
action, but acting with devotion (himself) should make them apply themselves to all
action. . . . A man of perfect knowledge should not shake these men of imperfect knowledge in
their convictions. " When the Hindu social order breaks down, Krishna does not want the
people to undertake the work of reform. He asks them to leave the task to him. This is evident
from the following admonition contained in the Bhagvat Gita. Says Krishna :—

IV. 7-8. "0! Bharata, whenever Righteous less declines and Unrighteousness becomes
powerful, then I Myself come to birth. I take birth in different Yugas for protecting the
Righteous and destroying the Unrighteous and for establishing Righteousness. " It is not only
a special feature of the Hindu social order. It is an extraordinary feature. An examination of
consecrations will show that there are instances where society has consecrated inanimate
beings and inculcated on the minds of its members the religious belief that they are sacred.
There are cases where stones, rivers, trees are made Gods and Goddesses. There are
instances where society has consecrated living things and inculcated on the minds of
its members the religious belief that they are sacred. But there are no instances where a
particular social order has been consecrated by Religion and made sacred. The primitive
world had its clan order and its tribal order. But the clan or the tribal order was only a social
order and was never consecrated by religion and made sacred and inviolate. The ancient
world countries like Egypt, Persia, Rome, Greece, etc., each had its social order in which
some were free and some were slaves, some were citizens, some were aliens, some of the
race, some of another. This class order again was only a social order and was never
consecrated by religion and made sacred and inviolate. The modern world has its order, in
some it is Democracy, in some Fascism, in some Nazism and in some Bolshevism. But here
again the order is only social order. It is not consecrated by religion and made sacred and
inviolate.
 Nowhere has society consecrated its occupations—the ways of getting a living. Economic
activity has always remained outside the sanctity of religion. Hunting society was not without a
religion. But Hunting as an occupation was not consecrated by religion and made sacred.
Pastoral society was not without religion. But pastorage was not consecrated by religion and
made sacred. Farming as an occupation did not become consecrated by religion and made
sacred. Feudalism with its gradations, with its Lords, villains and serfs was a purely social in
character. There was nothing sacred about it.

The Hindus are the only people in the world whose social order—the relation of man to man
is consecrated by religion and made sacred, eternal and inviolate. The Hindus are the only
people in the world whose economic order—the relation of workman to workman, is
consecrated by religion and made sacred, eternal and inviolate.

It is not therefore enough to say that the Hindus are a people with a sacred code of religion.
So are the Zorastrians, Israelites, Christians and Muslims. All these have sacred codes. They
consecrate beliefs and rites and make them sacred. But they do not prescribe, nor do they
consecrate a particular form of social structure—the relationship between man and man in a
concrete form—and make it sacred inviolate. The Hindus are singular in this respect This is
what has given the Hindu social order its abiding strength to defy the ravages of \ time and
the onslaught of time.

The orthodox Hindu will accept this as an accurate description of the Hindu social order. It is
only the reformer who is likely to demur. He would say that since the advent of the British, this
is all a description of a dead past. One need not be perturbed by this view. For it contains a
fallacy. It omits to take note of the fact that institutions, which have died as creeds sometimes
continue, nevertheless survive as habits. No one can deny that the Hindu social order has
become the habit of the Hindus and as such is in full force.

CHAPTER

Symbols of Hinduism

Editorial note in the source publication:

There are 37 pages under this title. The chapter seems incomplete. However this
relates to the topic No. 7 of the original plan. All these pages are tagged along with the
pages of " India and Communism " into One register. We are reproducing the text of
this typed copy along with the table of contents written by Dr. Ambedkar. A photo copy
of the plan of a proposed book ' Can I be a Hindu ? ' is also reproduced from the
original (moth-eaten).—Editors
 PART III
Revolution and counter-Revolution

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India

______________________________________________

Contents

PART I
Chapter 1: Ancient India on Exhumation
Chapter 2: The Ancient Regime
Chapter 3: A Sunken Priesthood
Chapter 4: Reformers and Their Fate

PART II
Chapter 5: The Decline and Fall of Buddhism
Chapter 6: The Literature of Brahminism
Chapter 7: The Triumph of Brahminism

PART III
Chapter 8: The Morals of the House
Chapter 9: Krishna and His Gita
Chapter 10: Analytical Notes of Virat Parva and Udyog Parva
Chapter 11: Brahmins Versus Kshatriyas
Chapter 12: Shudras and the Counter-Revolution
Chapter 13: The Woman and the Counter-Revolution

________________________________________________________________
________________________
Editorial Note in the manuscript published in the Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 3 by the Government of
Maharashtra:
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had proposed to write a treatise, i.e., `Revolution and
Counter-Revolution in Ancient India'. The table of contents has been printed in
the chapter of schemes. He had originally planned to write seven books to be
included under this broad title. The Committee was able to find some pages and
few chapters in his collection. The chapters are also incomplete. After scrutiny,
the Committee came to a decision that `Revolution and Counter-Revolution in
Ancient India' is to be presented in this volume with the available
material though incomplete. Dr. Ambedkar considered the rise of Buddhism as
revolution. The Counter-Revolution pioneered by Brahmins' resulted into
decline and fall of Buddhism.
As such the following chapters are included under this title.
1. Ancient India on Exhumation
2. The Ancient Regime—The State of the Aryan Society
3. A Sunken Priesthood
4. Reformers and Their Fate
5. The Decline and Fall of Buddhism
6. The Literature of Brahminism
7. Triumph of Brahminism
8. The Morals of the House—Manusmruti or the Gospel of Counter-Revolution
9. Philosophic Defence of Counter-Revolution (Krishna and his Gita)
10. Analysis of Virat Parva and Uddyog Parva
11. Brahmins V/s Kshatriyas
12. The Shudras and the Counter-Revolution
13. The Women and the Counter-Revolution

The readers may compare these chapters with the proposed plan given in the
last chapters of Schemes.—Editors
________________________________________________________________
__________________

CHAPTER 1
Ancient India on Exhumation

There are two typed copies of this Chapter. Both of them contain additions and
corrections in the handwriting of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. After consideration,
we decided that the latter version should be included here. This essay,
consisting of three pages only, seems to be an introduction to a larger subject
Dr. Ambedkar probably had in his mind.—Editors.

Much of the ancient history of India is no history at all. Not that ancient India
has no history. It has plenty of it. But it has lost its character. It has been made
mythology to amusewomen and children. This seems to have been done
deliberately by the Brahminical writers. Take the word Deva. What does it
mean? Is the word Jana Vishesh representing a member of the human family?
It is made to appear superhuman agency. By this the pith of history contained in
it is squeezed out.
 Along with the word Deva occur the names of Yaksha, Gana,
Gandharva, Kinnars. Who were they? The impression one gets on reading
the Mahabharat and Ramayan is that they are imaginary beings who filled the
horizon but did not exist.
But the Yaksha, Gana, Gandharva, Kinnaras were also members of the human
family. They were in the service of the Devas. The Yakshas were guarding the
palaces. Ganaswere guarding the Devas. Gandharvas were amusing the Devas
by music and dancing. The Kinnaras were also in the service of the Gods. The
descendants of the Kinnaras are even now living in Himachal Pradesh.
Take the name Asura. The description of Asura given in the Mahabharat
and Ramayana make out as though hey belonged to non-human world. An
Asura is described to eat ten carts-load of food. They are monsters in size. They
sleep for six months. They have ten mouths. Who is a Rakshas? He too is
described as a non-human creature. In size, in his capacity for eating, in his
habits of life he resembled the Asura.
There is a plenty of references to the Nagas. But who is a Naga ? A Naga is
represented as a serpent or a snake. Can this be true ? Whether true or not, it is
so and Hindus believe it. Ancient Indian history must be exhumed. Without its
exhumation Ancient India will go without history. Fortunately with the help of
the Buddhist literature, Ancient Indian History can be dug out of the debris which
the Brahmin writers have heaped upon in a fit of madness.
The Buddhist literature helps a great deal to remove the debris and see the
underlying substance quite clearly and distinctly.
The Buddhist literature shows that the Devas were a community of human
beings. There are so many Devas who come to the Buddha to have their doubts
and difficulties removed. How could this be unless the Devas were human
beings
Again the Buddhist canonical literature throws a food of light on the puzzling
question of the Nagas. It makes a distinction between womb-born Nagas and
egg-born Nagas and thereby making it clear that the word Naga has two-fold
meaning. In its original sense it stood for the name of a human community.
The Asuras again are not monsters. They too are a Jan-Vishesh human
beings. According to Satpatha Bramhana, the Asuras are the
descendants of Prajapati the Lord of the creation. How they became evil spirits
is not known. But the fact is recorded that they fought against the Devas for the
possession of the earth and that they were overcome by the Devas and that they
finally succumbed. The point is clear that the Asuras were members of the
human family and not monsters.
With this exhumation of debris, we can see Ancient Indian History in a new
light.
 CHAPTER 2
The Ancient Regime : The State of the Aryan Society

This essay consists of II typed foolscap pages tagged into a file. From the last
sentence it appears that the Chapter is incomplete. —Editors

Buddhism was a revolution. It was as great a Revolution as the French

Revolution. Though it began as a Religious revolution, it became more than
Religious revolution. It became a Social and Political Revolution. To be able to
realise how profound was the character of this Revolution, it is necessary to
know the state of the society before the revolution began its course. To use the
language of the French Revolution, it is necessary to have a picture of the
ancient regime in India.
To understand the great reform, which he brought about by his teaching, it is
necessary to have some idea of the degraded condition of the Aryan civilisation
at the time when Buddha started on the mission of his life.
The Aryan Community of his time was steeped in the worst kind of
debauchery; social, religious and spiritual.
To mention only a few of the social evils, attention may be drawn to gambling.
Gambling had become as widespread among the Aryans as drinking.
Every king had a hall of gambling attached to his palace. Every king had an
expert gambler in his employment as a companion to play with. King Virat had in
his employmentKank as an expert gambler. Gambling was not merely a pastime
with kings. They played with heavy stakes. They staked kingdoms, dependants,
relatives, slaves, servants.*[f1] King Nala staked everything in gambling
with Paskkar and lost everything. The only thing he did not stake was himself
and his wife Damayanti. Nala had to go and live in the forest as a beggar. There
were kings who went beyond Nala. The Mahabharat[f2] tells how Dharma the
eldest of the Pandavas gambled and staked everything, his brothers and also
his and their wife Draupadi. Gambling was a matter of honour with the Aryans
and any invitation to gamble was regarded as an injury to one's honour and
dignity. Dharma gambled with such disastrous consequences although he was
warned beforehand. His excuse was that he was invited to gamble and that as a
man of honour, he could not decline such an invitation.
This vice of gambling was not confined to kings. It had infected even the
common folk. Rig-Veda contains lamentations of a poor Aryan ruined by
gambling. The habit of gambling had become so common in Kautilya's time that
there were gambling houses licensed by the king from which the king derived
considerable revenue.
 Drinking was another evil which was rampant among the Aryans. Liquors were
of two sorts Soma and Sura. Soma was a sacrificial wine. The drinking of the
Soma was in the beginning permitted only to
Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. Subsequently it was permitted only to
Brahmins and Kshatriyas. The Vaishyas were excluded from it and
the Shudras were never permitted to taste it. Its manufacture was a secret
known only to the Brahmins. Sura was open to all and was drunk by all. The
Brahmins also drank Sura. Shukracharya the priest to the Asuras drank so
heavily that in his drunken state he gave the life giving Mantra known to him only
and with which he used to revive theAsuras killed by the Devas—to Katch the
son of Brahaspati who was the priest of the Devas. The Mahabharat mentions
an occasion when both Krishna and Arjuna were dead drunk. That shows that
the best among the Aryan Society were not only not free from the drink habit but
that they drank heavily. The most shameful part of it was that even the Aryan
women were addicted to drink. For instance Sudeshna[f3] the wife of
King Virat tells her maid Sairandhri to go to Kichaka's palace and bring Sura as
she was dying to have a drink. It is not to be supposed that only queens
indulged in drinking. The habit of drinking was common among women of all
classes and even Brahmin women were not free from it. That liquor and dancing
was indulged in by the Aryan women is clear from the Kausitaki Grihya Sutra 1.
11-12, which says ; "Four or eight women who are not widowed, after having
been regaled with wine and food are to dance for four times on the night
previous to the wedding ceremony."
That the drinking of intoxicating liquor was indulged in by Brahmin women, not
to speak of women of the lower Varnas, as late as the seventh and eighth
centuries A.D. in the Central region of Aryavarta, is clear
from Kumarila Bhatta's Tantra-Vartika I (iii). 4, which states, "Among the people
of modern days we find the Brahmin women of the countries
of Ahicchatra and Mathura to be addicted to drinking". Kumarila condemned the
practice in the case of Brahmins only, but not of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas men
and women, if the liquor was distilled from fruits or flowers (Madhavi), and
Molasses (Gaudi) and not from grains (Sura).
The sexual immorality of the Aryan Society must shock their present day
descendants. The Aryans of pre-Buddhist days had no such rule of prohibited
degrees as we have today to govern their sexual or matrimonial relationship.
According to the Aryan Mythology, Brahma is the creator. Brahma had three
sons and a daughter. His one son Daksha married his sister. The daughters
born of this marriage between brother and sister were married some
to Kashyapa the son of Marichi the son of Brahma and some to Dharma the third
son of Brahma.[f4]
 In the Rig-Veda there is an episode related of Yama and Yami brother and
sister. According to this episode Yami the sister invites her brother Yama to
cohabit with her and becomes angry when he refuses to do so. [f5]
A father could marry his daughter. Vashishta married his own
daughter Shatrupa when she came of age. [f6]Manu married his
. [f8]
daughter IIa [f7] Janhu married his daughterJanhavi. Surya married his
[f9]
daughter Usha.
There was polyandry not of the ordinary type. The polyandry prevalent among
the Aryans was a polyandry when kinsmen cohabited with one
woman. Dhahaprachetani and his son Soma cohabited with Marisha the
[f10]
daughter of Soma.
Instances of grandfather marrying his granddaughter are not wanting. Daksha
gave his daughter in marriage to his father Brahma[f11] and from that marriage
was born the famous Narada. Dauhitra gave his 27 daughters to his father Soma
for cohabitation and procreation. [f12]The Aryans did not mind cohabiting with
women in the open and within sight of people. The Rishis used to perform
certain religious rites which were called Vamdevya vrata. These rites used to be
performed on the Yadnya bhumi. If any woman came there and expressed a
desire for sexual intercourse and asked the sage to satisfy her, the sage used to
cohabit with her then and there in the open on theYadnya bhumi. Instances of
this may be mentioned. The case of the sage Parashara had sexual intercourse
with Satyavati and also of Dirghatapa. That such a custom was common is
shown by the existence of the word Ayoni. The word Ayoni is understood to
mean of immaculate conception. That is not however the original meaning of the
word. The original meaning of the word Yoni is house. Ayoni means conceived
out of the house i.e. in the open. That there was nothing deemed to be wrong in
this is clear from the fact that both Sita and Draupadi were Ayonija. That this
was very common is clear from the fact that religious injunctions had to be
issued against such a practice[f13]
There was prevalent among the Aryans the practice of renting out their women
to others for a time. As an illustration may be mentioned the story
of Madhavi.[f14] The kingYayati gave his daughter Madhavi as an offering to
his Guru Galav. Galav rented out the girl Madhavi to three kings, each a period.
Thereafter he gave her in marriage toVishwamitra. She remained with him until a
son was born to her. Thereafter Galav took away the girl and gave her back to
her father Yayati.
Besides the practice of letting out women to others temporarily at a rent there
was prevalent among the Aryans another practice namely allowing procreation
by the best amongst them. Raising a family was treated by them as though it
was a breeding or stock raising. Among the Aryas there was a class of persons
called Devas who were Aryans but of a superior status and prowess. The
Aryans allowed their women to have sexual intercourse with any one of the class
of Devas in the interest of good breeding. This practice prevailed so extensively
that the Devas came to regard pre libation in respect of the Aryan Women as
their prescriptive right. No Aryan woman could be married unless this right of
pre-libation had been redeemed and the woman released from the control of the
Devas by offering what was technically called Avadan. The Laja Hoamewhich is
performed in every Hindu marriage and the details of which are given in
the Ashwalayan Grahya Sutra is a relic of this act of the redemption of the Aryan
woman from the right of pre-libation of the Devas. The Avadan in
the Laja Hoama is nothing but the price for the extinguishing of the right of the
Devas over the bride. The Saptapadiperformed in all Hindu marriages and which
is regarded as the most essential ceremony without which there is no lawful
marriage has an integral connection with this right of pre-libation of
the Devas. Saptapadi means walking by the bridegroom seven steps with the
bride. Why is this essential? The answer is that the Devas, if they were
dissatisfied with the compensation, could claim the woman before the seventh
step was taken. After the seventh step was taken, the right of the Devas was
extinguished and the bridegroom could take away the bride and live as husband
and wife without being obstructed or molested by the Devas.```
There was no rule of chastity for maidens. A girl could have sexual intercourse
with and also progeny from anybody without contracting marriage. This is
evident from the root meaning of the word Kanya which means a girl. Kanya
comes from the root Kam which means a girl free to offer herself to any man.
That they did offer themselves to any man and had children without contracting
regular marriage is illustrated by the case of Kunti and Matsyagandha. Kunti had
children from different men before she was married
toPandu and Matsyagandha had sexual intercourse with the
sage Parashara before she married to Shantanu the father of Bhishma.
Bestiality was also prevalent among the Aryans. The story of the sage Dam
having sexual intercourse with a female dear, is well known. Another instance is
that of Suryacohabiting with a mare. But the most hideous instance is that of the
woman having sexual intercourse with the horse in the Ashvamedha Yadna.
(INCOMPLETE)
CHAPTER 3
A Sunken Priesthood
This essay is numbered as Chapter III in the file of the Ancient Regime and
contains 16 foolscap-typed pages. This Chapter also seems to be left
incomplete.—Editors.
 The priestly profession in the ancient Aryan Society was monopolised by the
Brahmins. None except a Brahmin could become a priest. As custodians of
religion, the Brahmins were the guides of the people in moral and spiritual
matters. They were to set the standard for people to follow. Did the Brahmins act
up to the standard?Unfortunately, all the evidence we have, shows that the
Brahmins had fallen to the utmost depth of moral degradation.
A Shrotriya Brahmin was supposed not to keep with him a store of provision
lasting for more than a week. But they had systematically trampled upon this rule
and were addicted to the use of the things stored up ; stores, to wit, of foods,
drinks, clothing, equipages, bedding, perfumes, and curry-stuffs. The Brahmins
were addicted to visiting shows such as :—
(1) Nautch dances (nakkam).
(2) Singings of songs (gitam).
(3) Instrumental music (vaditam).
(4) Shows at fairs (pekham).
(5) Ballads recitations (akkhanam).
(6) Hand music (panisaram).
(7) The chanting of bards (vetals).
(8) Tam-tam playing (kumbhathunam).
(9) Fair scenes (sobhanagarkam).
(10) Acrobatic feats by Kandalas (Kandala-vamsa-dhopanam).
(11) Combats of elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, goats, rams,
cocks and quails.
(12) Bouts at quarter staff, boxing, wrestling. (13-16) Sham-fights, roll-calls,
manoeuvres, reviews.

They were addicted to games and recreations; that is to say,

(1) Games on boards with eight, or with ten rows of squares.
(2) The same games played by imagining such boards in the air.
(3) Keeping going over diagrams drawn on the ground so that one-steps only
where one ought to go.
(4) Either removing the pieces or men from a help with one's nail, or putting
them into a heap, in each case without shaking it. He who shakes the heap,
loses.
(5) Throwing dice.
(6) Hitting a short stick with a long one.
(7) Dipping the hand with the fingers stretched out in lac, or red dye, or flour
water, and striking the wet hand on the ground or on a wall, calling out `what
shall it be?' and showing the form required—elephants, horses .
(8) Games with balls.
 (9) Blowing through toy pipes made of leaves.
(10) Ploughing with toy ploughs.
(11) Turning summersaults.
(12) Playing with toy windmills made of palm leaves.
(13) Playing with toy measures made of palm leaves. (14, 15) Playing with toy
carts or toy bows.
(16) Guessing at letters traced in the air, or on a playfellow's back.
(17) Guessing the playfellow's thoughts.
(18) Mimicry of deformities.

They were addicted to the use of high and large couches ; that is to say:
(1) Moveable settees, high, and six feet long (Asandi).
(2) Divans with animal figures carved on the supports (Pallanko).
(3) Goat's hair coverings with very long fleece (Gonako).
(4) Patchwork counterpanes of many colours (Kittaka).
(5) White blankets (Patika).
(6) Woollen coverlets embroidered with flowers ( Patalika).
(7) Quilts stuffed with cotton wool (Tulika).
(8) Coverlets embroidered with figures of lions, tigers, & c., (Vikatika).
(9) Rugs with fur on both sides (Uddalom).
(10) Rugs with fur on one side (Ekantalomi).
(11) Coverlets embroidered with gems (Katthissam).
(12) Silk coverlets (Koseyyam).
(13) Carpets large enough for sixteen dancers (Kittakam). (14-16) Elephant,
horse and chariot rugs.
(17) Rugs of antelope skins sewn together (Aginepaveni).
(18) Rugs of skins of the plantain antelope.
(19) Carpets with awnings above them (Sauttarakkhadam).
(20) Sofas with red pillows for the head and feet". The Brahmins were addicted
to the use of means for adorning and beautifying themselves; that is to
say : Rubbing in scented powders on one's body, shampooing it, and bathing it,
patting the limbs with clubs after the manner of wrestlers, the use of mirrors,
eye-ointments, garlands, rouge, cosmetics, bracelets, necklaces, walking-sticks,
reed cases for drugs, rapiers, sunshades, embroidered slippers, turbans,
diadems, whisks of the yak tail and long-fringed white robes. The Brahmins were
addicted to such low conversation as these :
Tales of kings, of robbers, of ministers of state ; tales of war, of terrors, of
battles ; talk about foods and drinks, clothes, beds, garlands, perfumes ; talks
about relationships, equipages, villages, towns, cities and countries ; tales about
women, and about heroes ; gossip at street corners, or places whence water is
fetched ; ghost stories ; desultorytalk ; speculations about the creation of the
land or sea, or about existence and non-existence. The Brahmins were addicted
to the use of wrangling phrases: such as:
"You don't understand this doctrine and discipline, I do." "How should you
know about this doctrine and discipline?" "You have fallen into wrong views. It is
I who am in the right." " I am speaking to the point, you are not." "You are putting
last what ought to come first, and first what ought to come last."
"What you've ex-cogitated so long, that is all quite upset." " You are proved to
be wrong." " Set to work to clear your views." " Disentangle yourself if you can."
The Brahmins were addicted to taking messages, going on errands, and acting
as go-betweens; to wit, on kings, ministers of state, Kshatriyas, Brahmans, or
young men, saying: 'Go there, come hither, take this with you, bring that from
there.'
'The Brahmins were tricksters, drone out (of holy words for
pray), diviners, and exorcists, ever hungering to add gain to gain.'
The Brahmins earned their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts,
such as these:
(1) Palmistry—prophesying long life, prosperity, & c., (or the reverse from
marks on a child's hands, feet, & c.)
(2) Divining by means of omens and signs.
(3) Auguries drawn from thunderbolts and other celestial portents.
(4) Prognostication by interpreting dreams.
(5) Fortune-telling from marks on the body.
(6) Auguries from the marks on cloth gnawed by mice.
(7) Sacrificing to Agni.
(8) Offering oblations from a spoon. (9-13) Making offerings to gods of husks,
of the red powder between the grain and the husk, of husked grain ready for
boiling, or ghee and of oil.
(14) Sacrificing by spewing mustard seeds, & c., into the fire out
of one's mouth.
(15) Drawing blood from one's right knee as a sacrifice to the
gods.
(16) Looking at the knuckles, & c., and, after muttering a charm, divining
whether a man is well born of luck or not.
(17) Determining whether the site for a proposed house or pleasance, is luck
or not.
(18) Advising on customary law.
(19) Laying demons in a cemetery.
(20) Laying ghosts.
(21) Knowledge of the charms to be used when lodging in an earth house.
 (22) Snake charming.
(23) The poison craft.
(24) The scorpion craft.
(25) The mouse craft.
(26) The bird craft.
(27) The crow craft.
(28) Foretelling the number of years that man has yet to live.
(29) Giving charms to ward off arrows.
(30) The animal wheel.
The Brahmins earned their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts,
such as these:
Knowledge of the signs of good and bad qualities in the following things and of
the marks in them denoting the health or luck of their owners : to wit, gems,
staves, garments, swords, arrows, bows, other weapons, women, men, boys,
girls, slaves, slave-girls, elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, oxen, goats, sheep,
fowls, quails, iguanas, herrings, tortoises, and other animals.
The Brahmins, earned their living by wrong means of livelihood by low arts
such as soothe saying, to the effect that,
The chiefs will march out.
The home chiefs will attack and the enemies retreat.
The enemies' chiefs will attack, and ours will retreat.
The home chiefs will gain the victory, and ours will suffer defeat.
The foreign chiefs will gain the victory on this side, and ours will suffer defeat.
Thus will there be victory on this side, defeat on that. The Brahmins, while
living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of
livelihood, by such low arts as fore-telling:
(1) There will be an eclipse of the Moon.
(2) There will be an eclipse of the Sun.
(3) There will be an eclipse of a star (Nakshatra).
(4) There will be aberration of the Sun or the Moon.
(5) The Sun or the Moon will return to its usual path.
(6) There will be aberrations of the stars.
(7) The stars will return to their usual course.
(8) There will be a jungle fire.
(9) There will be a fall of meteors.
(10) There will be an earthquake.
(11) The god will thunder.
(12-15) There will be rising and setting, clearness and dimness of the Sun or
the Moon or the stars, or foretelling of each of these fifteen phenomena that they
will betoken such and such a result."
 The Brahmins earned their living by wrong means of the livelihood, by low arts,
such as these:
Foretelling an abundant rainfall.
Foretelling a deficient rainfall.
Foretelling a good harvest.
Foretelling scarcity of food.
Foretelling tranquillity.
Foretelling disturbances.
Foretelling a pestilence.
Foretelling a healthy season.
Counting on the fingers.
Counting without using the fingers Summing up large totals.
Composing ballads, poetising.
Casuistry, sophistry.
The Brahmins, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living
by wrong means of livelihood by low arts, such as:
(1) Arranging a lucky day for marriages in which the bride or bridegroom is
brought home.
(2) Arranging a lucky day for marriages in which the bride or bridegroom is
sent forth.
(3) Fixing a lucky time for the conclusion of treaties of peace (or using charms
to procure harmony).
(4) Fixing a lucky time for the outbreak of hostilities (or using charms to make
discord).
(5) Fixing a lucky time for the calling in of debts (or charms for success in
throwing dice).
(6) Fixing a lucky time for the expenditure of money (or charms to bring ill luck
to an opponent throwing dice).
(7) Using charms to make people lucky.
(8) Using charms to make people unlucky.
(9) Using charms to procure abortion.
(10) Incantations to keep a man's jaws fixed.
(11) Incantations to bring on dumbness.
(12) Incantations to make a man throw up his hands.
(13) Incantations to bring on deafness.
(14) Obtaining oracular answers by means of the magic mirror.
(15) Obtaining oracular answers through a girl possessed.
(16) Obtaining oracular answers from a god.
(17) The worship of the Sun.
(18) The worship of the Great One.
 (19) Bringing forth flames from one's mouth.
(20) Invoking Siri, the goddess of Luck. The Brahmins earned their living by
wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as these:
(1) Vowing gifts to a god if a certain benefit be granted.
(2) Paying such vows.
(3) Repeating charms while lodging in an earth house.
(4) Causing virility.
(5) Making a man impotent.
(6) Fixing on lucky sites for dwellings.
(7) Consecrating sites.
(8) Ceremonial rinsing of the mouth.
(9) Ceremonial bathing.
(10) Offering sacrifices.
(11-14) Administering emetics and purgatives.
(15) Purging people to relieve the head (that is by giving drugs to
make people sneeze).
(16) Oiling people's ears (either to make them grow or to heal
sores on them).
(17) Satisfying people's eyes (soothing them by dropping medicinal
oils into them).
(18) Administering drugs through the nose.
(19) Applying collyrium to the eyes.
(20) Giving medicinal ointment for the eyes.
(21) Practising as an oculist.
(22) Practising as a surgeon.
(23) Practising as a doctor for children.
(24) Administering roots and drugs.
(25) Administering medicines in rotation.
(INCOMPLETE)

CHAPTER 4
Reformers and Their Fate
This is a typed bound copy consisting of 87 pages. The Ambatta Sutta starts at
page 69 of the manuscript and after page 70, pages are numbered from A
to Z. The beginning of page 71 starts with Lohikka Sutta.—Editors.
1. Aryan Society. II. Buddha and Reform. III. I
It was Sir T. Madhava Raw who speaking of Hindu Society of his time said :
"The longer one lives, observes, and thinks, the more deeply does he feel that
there is no community on the face of the earth which suffers less from political
evils and more from self-inflicted or self-accepted or self-created, and therefore
avoidable evils, than the Hindu Community."
This view expresses quite accurately and without exaggeration the necessity
of social reform in Hindu Society.
The first Social Reformer and the greatest of them all is Gautama Buddha. Any
history of Social Reform must begin with him and no history of Social Reform in
India will be complete which omits to take account of his great achievements.
Siddhartha, surname Gautama, was born in the Sakya clan a.t Kapilvastu in
Northern India, on the borders of Nepal in 563 B.C. Tradition says he was a
prince. He received education fit for a prince, was married and had a son.
Oppressed by the evils and misery then prevalent in the Aryan Society he
renounced the world at the age of twenty-nine and left his home in search for
truth and deliverance. He became a mendicant and studied with two
distinguished teachers, but finding that their teachings did not satisfy him he left
them and became an ascetic. He gave up that also as being futile. By hard
thinking he got insight into things and as a result of this insight he formulated
his own
Dhamma. This was at the age of thirty-five. The remainder of his eighty years
he spent in spreading his Dhamma and founding and administering an order of
monks. He died about the year 483 B.C. at Kusinara surrounded by his devoted
followers.
To the carrying out of his mission, the Buddha devoted all his days after the
achievement of enlightenment. His time was divided between feeding the lamp
of his own spiritual life by solitary meditation—just as Jesus spent hours in lonely
prayer—and active preaching to large audiences of his monks, instructing the
more advanced in the subtle points of inner development, directing the affairs of
the Order, rebuking breaches of discipline, confirming the faithful in their virtue,
receiving deputation, carrying on discussions with learned opponents,
comforting the sorrowful, visiting kings and peasants, Brahmins and outcasts,
rich and poor. He was a friend of publicans and sinners, and many a public
harlot, finding herself understood and pitied, gave up her evil ways to take
refuge in the "Blessed One". Such a life demanded a variety of moral qualities
and social gifts, and among others a combination of democratic sentiments with
an aristocratic Savoir Faire which is seldom met with. In reading the dialogues
one can never forget that Gotama had the birth and upbringing of an aristocrat.
He converses not only with Brahmins and pundits but with princes and ministers
and kings on easy and equal terms. He is a good diner-out, with a fund of
anecdotes and apparently a real sense of humour, and is a welcome quest at
every house. A distinguished Brahmin is pictured as describing him thus :
 'The venerable Gotama is well born on both sides, of pure descent..... is
handsome, pleasant to look upon, inspiring trust, gifted with great beauty of
complexion, fair in colour, fine in presence, stately to behold, virtuous with the
virtue of the Arhats, gifted with goodness and virtue and with a pleasant voice
and polite address, with no passion of lust left in him nor any fickleness of mind.
He bids all men welcome, is congenial, conciliatory, not supercillious, accessible
to all, not backward in conversation. ' But what appealed most to the India of his
time, and has appealed most to India through the ages, is expressed by the
Brahmin in these words :
"The monk Gotama has gone forth into the religious life, giving up the great
clan of his relatives, giving up much money and gold, treasure both buried and
above ground. Truly while he was still a young man, without a grey hair on his
head, in the beauty of his early manhood he went forth from the household life
into the homeless state."
"Such a life as his, demanded not only pleasant manners, sympathy and
kindness, but firmness and courage. When the occasion required it, he could be
calmly severe with those who worked evil for the Order. Physical pain, he bore
not only with equanimity but with no diminution of his inner joy. Courage also
was needed and was found ; as, for example, in the Buddha's calm attitude
during Devadatta's various attempts to assassinate him, in facing threats of
murder, and in the conversion of the famous bandit in the Kingdom
of Kosala, whom all the countryside feared, and whom the Buddha visited, alone
and unarmed, in his lair, changing him from a scourge of the kindorn to a
peaceful member of the Order. Neither pain, danger, nor insults marred his
spiritual peace. When he was reviled he reviled not again. Nor was he lacking in
tender thoughtfulness for those who needed his comfort and support."
He was beloved of all. Repeatedly he is described or describes himself, as one
born into the world for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, for
the advantage, the good, the happiness of gods and men, out of compassion for
the world.
He left an indelible mark on the Aryan Society and although his name has
gone out of India the impression of his teaching still remains.
His religion spread like wild fire. It soon became the religion of the whole of
India. But it did not remain confined to India. It reached every corner of the then
known world. All races accepted it. Even the Afghans were once Buddhists. It
did not remain confined to Asia. There is evidence to show that Buddhism was
the religion of CelticBritain.[f15]What was the cause of this rapid spread of
Buddhism? 0n this point what Prof. Hopkins has said is worth quoting. This is
what he says:
"The cause, then, of the rapid spread of Buddhism at the beginning of its career
lies only in the conditions of its teaching and the influential backing of its
founder. It was the individual Buddha that captivated men ; it was the teaching
that emanated from him that fired enthusiasm ; it was his position as an
aristocrat that made him acceptable to the aristocracy, his magnetism that made
him the idol of the people. From every page stands out the strong, attractive
personality of this teacher and winner of hearts. No man ever lived so godless
yet so godlike. Arrogating to himself no divinity, despairing of future bliss, but
without fear as without hope, leader of thought but despising lovingly the folly of
the world, exalted but adored, the universal brother, he wandered among men,
simply, serenely, with gentle irony subduing them that opposed him, to
congregation after congregation speaking with majestic sweetness, the master
to each, the friend of all. His voice was singularly vibrant and eloquent; his very
tones convinced the hearer, his looks inspired awe. From the tradition it appears
that he must have been one of those whose personality alone suffices to make a
man not only a leader but also a god to the hearts of his fellows. When such a
one speaks he obtains hearers. It matters little what he says, for he influences
the motions, and bends whoever listens to his will. But if added to this
personality, if encompassing it. there be the feeling in the minds of others that
what this man teaches is not only a variety, but the very hope of their
salvation ; if for the first time they recognise in his words the truth that makes of
slaves free men, of classes a brotherhood, then it is not difficult to see wherein
lies the lightning like speed with which the electric current passes from heart to
heart. Such a man was Buddha, such was the essential of his teaching: and
such was the inevitable rapidity of Buddhistic expansion and the profound
influence of the shock that was produced by the new faith upon the moral
consciousness of Buddha's people."
To understand the great reform, which he brought about by his teaching, it is
necessary to have some idea of the degraded condition of the Aryan civilisation
at the time when Buddha started on the mission of his life.
The Aryan Community of his time was steeped in the worst kind of
debauchery: social, religious and spiritual.
To mention only a few of the social evils, attention may be drawn to gambling.
Gambling had become as widespread among the Aryans as drinking.
Every king had a hall of gambling attached to his palace. Every king had an
expert gambler in his employment as a companion to play with. King Virat had in
his employmentKank as an expert gambler. Gambling was not merely a pastime
with kings. They played with heavy stakes. They staked kingdoms, dependents,
relatives, sla.ves, servants.[f16] King Nala staked everything in gambling
with Paskkar and lost everything. The only thing he did not stake was himself
and his wife Damayanti. Nala had to go and live in the forest as a beggar. There
were kings who went beyond Nala. The Mahabharat[f17] tells how Dharma the
eldest of the Pandavas gambled and staked everything, his brothers and also
his and their wife Draupadi. Gambling was a matter of honour with the Aryans
and any invitation to gamble was regraded as an injury to one's honour and
dignity. Dharma gambled with such disastrous consequences although he was
warned beforehand. His excuse was that he was invited to gamble and that as a
man of honour he could not decline such an invitation.
This vice of gambling was not confined to kings. It had infected even the
common folk. Rig-Veda contains lamentations of poor Aryan ruined by gambling.
The habit of gambling had become so common in Kautilya's time that there were
gambling houses licensed by the king from which the king derived considerable
revenue.
Drinking was another evil which was rampant among the Aryans. Liquors were
of two sorts Soma and Sura. Soma was a sacrificial wine. The drinking of the
Soma was in the beginning permitted only to
Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. Subsequently it was permitted only to
Brahmins and Kshatriyas. The Vaishyas were excluded from it and
the Shudras were never permitted to taste it. Its manufacture was a secret
known only to the Brahmins. Sura was open to all and was drunk by all. The
Brahmins also drankSura. Shukracharya[f18] the priest to the Asuras drank so
heavily that in his drunken state he gave the life-giving Mantras—known to him
only and with which he used to revive the Asuras killed by the Devas—
to Katch the son of Brahaspati who was the priest of the Devas.
The Mahabharat mentions an occasion when both Krishna and Arjuna were
dead drunk. That shows that the best among the Aryan Society were not only
not free from the drink habit but that they drank heavily. The most shameful part
of it was that even the Aryan women were addicted to drink. For
instance Sudeshna[f19] the wife of king Virat tells her maid Sairandhri to go
to Kichaka's palace and bring Sura as she was dying to have a drink. It is not to
be supposed that only queens indulged in drinking. The habit of drinking was
common among women of all classes and even Brahmin women were not free
from it.[f20] That liquor and dancing was indulged in by the Aryan women is clear
from the Kausitaki Grihya Sutra 1. 1 1-12, which says, "Four or eight women
who are not widowed after having been regaled with wine and food are to dance
for four times on the night previous to the wedding ceremony."
Turning to the Aryan Society it was marked by class war and class
degradation. The Aryan Society recognised four classes, the
Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas andShudras. These divisions were not merely
horizontal divisions, all on a par with each other in the matter of social
relationship. These divisions, had become vertical, one above the other. Being
placed above or below there was both jealousy and rivalry among the four
classes. This jealousy and rivalry had given rise even to enmity. This enmity was
particularly noticeable between the two highest classes, namely, the Brahmins
and the Kshatriyas and there was a regular class war between the two, so
intense that it would delight the heart of any Marxian to read the descriptions
thereof. Unfortunately there is no detailed history of this class war between the
Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. Only a few instances have been recorded.
Vena, Pururavas, Nahusha, Sudas, Sumukh and Nimi were some of
the Kshatriya kings who came into the conflict with the Brahmins. The issues in
these conflicts were different.
The issue between Vena and the Brahmins was whether a King could
command and require the Brahmins to worship him and offer sacrifice to him
instead of the Gods. The issue between Pururavas and the Brahmins was
whether a Kshatriya King could confiscate the property of the Brahmin. The
issue between Nahusha and the Brahmins was whether a Kshatriya king could
order a Brahmin to do a servile job. The issue between Nimi and the Brahmins
was whether the king was bound to employ only his family priest at the sacrificial
ceremony. The issue between Sudas and the Brahmins was whether the king
was bound to employ only a Brahmin as a priest.
This shows how big were the issues between the two classes. No wonder that
the struggle between them was also the bitterest. The wars between them were
not merely occasional riots. They were wars of extermination. It is stated
that Parashuram a Brahmin fought against the Kshatriyas twenty-one times and
killed every Kshatriya.
While the two classes were fighting among themselves for supremacy, they
both combined to keep down the Vaishyas and the Shudras. The Vaishya was
a milch cow. He lived only to pay taxes. The Shudra was a general
beast of burden. These two classes existed for the sole purpose of making the
life of the Brahmins and Kshatriyas glorious and happy. They had no right to live
for themselves. They lived to make the life of their betters possible.
Below these two classes there were others. They were
the Chandalas and Shwappakas. They were not untouchables but they were
degraded. They were outside the pale of society and outside the pale of law.
They had no rights and no opportunities. They were the rejects of the Aryan
Society.
The sexual immorality of the Aryan Society must shock their present day
descendants. The Aryans of pre-Buddhist days had no such rule of prohibited
degrees, as we have today to govern their sexual or matrimonial relationship.
 According to the Aryan Mythology, Brahma is the creator. Brahma had three
sons and a daughter. His one son Daksha married his sister. The daughters
born of this marriage between brother and sister were married some
to Kashyapa the son of Marichi the son of Brahma and some to Dharma the third
son of Brahma.[f21]
In the Rig-Veda there is an episode related of Yama and Yami brother and
sister. According to this episode Yami the sister invites her brother Yama to
cohabit with her and becomes angry when he refuses to do so[f22].
A father could marry his daughter. Vashishta married his own
daughter Shatrupa when she came of age[f23]. Manu married his
[f24] [f25]
daughter Ila. Janhu married his daughterJanhavi . Surya married his
[f26].
daughter Usha There was polyandri not of the ordinary type. The polyandri
prevalent among the Aryans was a polyandri when Kinsmen cohabited with one
woman. Dhahaprachetani and his son Soma cohabited with Marisha the
[f27].
daughter of Soma
Instances of grandfather marrying his grand-daughter are not wanting. Daksha
gave his daughter in marriage to his father Brahma[f28] and from that marriage
was born the famous Narada. Dauhitra. gave his 27 daughters to his
father Soma for cohabitation and procreation[f29].
The Aryans did not mind cohabiting with women in the open and within sight of
people. The Rishis used to perform certain religious rites which were
called Vamdevya vrata.These rites used to be performed on
the Yadnya Bhumi. If any woman came there and expressed a desire for sexual
intercourse and asked the sage to satisfy her, the sage used to cohabit with her
then and there in the open on the Yadnya Bhumi. Instances of this may be
mentioned; the case of the sage Parashara who had sexual intercourse
withSatyavati and also of Dirghatapa. That such a custom was common is
shown by the existence of the word Ayoni. The word Ayoni is understood to
mean of immaculate conception. That is not however the original meaning of the
word. The original meaning of the word Yoni is house. Ayoni means conceived
out of the house i.e. in the open. That there was nothing deemed to be wrong in
this is clear from the fact that both Sita and Draupadi were Ayonija. That this
was very common is clear from the fact that religious injunctions had to be
issued against such a practice.[f30]
There was prevalent among the Aryans the practice of renting out their women
to others for a time. As an illustration may be mentioned the story
of Madhavi[f31] The kingYayati gave his daughter Madhavi as an offering to
his guru Galav. Galav rented out the girl Madhavi to three kings each a period.
Thereafter he gave her in marriage toVishwamitra. She remained with him until a
son was born to her. Thereafter Galav took away the girl and gave her back to
her father Yayati.
Besides the practice of letting out women to others temporarily at a rent, there
was prevalent among the Aryans another practice namely, allowing procreation
by the best amongst them. Raising a family was treated by them as though it
was a breeding or stock raising. Among the Aryas there was a class of persons
called Devas who were Aryans but of a superior status and prowess. The
Aryans allowed their women to have sexual intercourse with any one of the class
of Devas in the inerest of good breeding. This practice prevailed so extensively
that the Devas came to regard prelibation in respect of the Aryan women as their
prescriptive right. No Aryan woman could be married unless this right of
prelibation had been redeemed and the woman released from the control of the
Devas by offering what was technically called Avadan. The Laja Hoamewhich is
performed in every Hindu marriage and the details of which are given in
the Ashwalayan Grahya Sutra is a relic of this act of the redemption of the Aryan
woman from the right of prelibation of the Devas. The Avadan in the Laja Hoame
is nothing but the price for the extinguishment of the right of the Devas over the
bride. The Saptapadiperformed in all Hindu marriages and which is regarded as
the most essential ceremony without which there is no lawful marriage has an
integral connection with this right of prelibation of the Devas. Saptapadi means
walking by the bridegroom seven steps with the bride. Why is this essential? The
answer is that the Devas if they were dissatisfied with the compensation could
claim the woman before the seventh step was taken. After the seventh step was
taken, the right of the Devas was extinguished and the bridegroom could take
away the bride and live as husband and wife without being obstructed or
molested by the Devas.
There was no rule of chastity for maidens. A girl could have sexual intercourse
with and also progeny from anybody without contracting marriage. This is
evident from the root meaning of the word Kanya which means a
girl. Kanya comes from the root Kam which means a girl free to offer herself to
any man. That they did offer themselves to any man and had children without
contracting regular marriage is illustrated by the case
of Kunti and Matsyagandha. Kunti had children from different men before she
was married toPandu and Matsyagandha had sexual intercourse with the
sage Parashara before she was married to Shantanu the father of Bhishma.
Bestiality was also prevalent among the Aryans. The story of the sage Dam
having sexual intercourse with a female deer[f32] is well known. Another instance
is that of Suryacohabiting with a mare[f33].. But the most hideous instance is that
of the woman having sexual intercourse with the horse in
the Ashvamedha Yadna.
 The religion of the Aryan consisted of the Yadna or sacrifice. The sacrifice was
a means to enter into the godhead of the gods, and even to control the gods.
The traditional sacrifices were twenty-one in number divided into three classes
of seven each. The first were sacrifices of butter, milk, corn, etc. The second
class covered Soma sacrifices and third animal sacrifices. The sacrifice may be
of short duration or long duration lasting for a year or more. The latter was called
a Sattra. The argument in favour of the sacrifice is that eternal holiness is won
by him that offers the sacrifice. Not only a man's self but also his Manes stood to
benefit by means of sacrifice. He gives the Manes pleasure with his offering, but
he also raises their estate, and sends them up to live in a higher world[f34].
The sacrifice was by no means meant as an aid to the acquirement of
heavenly bliss alone. Many of the great sacrifices were for the gaining of good
things on earth. That one should sacrifice without the ulterior motive of gain is
unknown. Brahmanic India knew no thank offering. Ordinarily the gain is
represented as a compensating gift from the divinity, whom they sacrifice. The
sacrifice began with the recitation : " He offers the sacrifice to the god with this
text : 'Do thou give to me (and) I (will) give to thee ; do thou bestow on me (and)
I (will) bestow on thee'. "
The ceremony of the sacrifice was awe-inspiring. Every word was pregnant
with consequences and even the pronunciation of the word or accent was
fateful. There are indications, however, that the priest themselves understood
that, much in the ceremonial was pure hocus-pocus, and not of much
importance as it was made out to be.
Every sacrifice meant fee to the priest. As to fee, the rules were precise and
their propounds were unblushing. The priest performed the sacrifice for the fee
alone, and it must consist of valuable garments, kine, horses or gold—when
each was to be given was carefully stated. The priests had built up a great
complex of forms, where at every turn fees were demanded. The whole
expense, falling on one individual for whose benefit the sacrifice was performed,
must have been enormous. How costly the whole thing became can be seen
from the fact that in one place the fee for the sacrifice is mentioned as one
thousand cows. For this greed, which went so far that he proclaimed that he who
gives a thousand cows obtains all things of heaven. The priest had a good
precedent to cite, for, the gods of heaven, in all tales told of them, ever demand
a reward from each other when they help their neighbour gods. If the Gods seek
rewards, the priest has a right to do the same.
The principal sacrifice was the animal sacrifice. It was both costly and barbaric.
In the Aryan religion there are five sacrificial animals mentioned. In this list of
sacrificial animals man came first. The sacrifice of a man was the costliest. The
rules of sacrifice required that the individual to be slaughtered must be neither a.
priest nor a slave. He must be a Kshatriya or Vaishya. According to the ordinary
valuation of those times the cost of buying a man to be sacrificed was one
thousand cows. Besides being costly and barbaric, it must have been revolting
because the sacrificers had not only to kill the man but to eat him. Next to man
came the horse. That also was a costly sacrifice because the horse was a rare
and a necessary animal for the Aryans in their conquest of India. The Aryans
could hardly afford such a potent instrument of military domination to be offered
as sacrifice. The sacrifice must have been revolting in as much as one of the
rituals in the horse-sacrifice was the copulation of the horse before it was
slaughtered with the wife of the sacrificer.
The animals most commonly offered for sacrifice were of course the cattle
which were used by the people for their agricultural purposes. They were mostly
cows and bullocks.
The Yadnas were costly and they would have died out of sheer considerations
of expense involved. But they did not. The reason is that the stoppage
of Yadna involved the question of the loss of the Brahmin's fees. There could be
no fees if the Yadna ceased to be performed and the Brahmin would starve. The
Brahmin therefore found a substitute for the costly sacrificial animals. For a
human sacrifice the Brahmin allowed as a substitute for a live man, a man of
straw or metal or earth. But they did not altogether give up human sacrifice for
fear that this Yadna might be stopped and they should lose their fees. When
human sacrifice became rare, animal sacrifice came in as a substitute. Animal
sacrifice was also a question of expense to the laity. Here again rather than
allow the sacrifice to go out of vogue, the Brahmins came forward with smaller
animals for cattle just as cattle had been allowed to take the place of the man
and the horse. All this was for the purpose of maintaining the Yadna so that the
Brahmin did not lose his fees which was his maintenance. So set were the
Brahmins on the continuance of the Yadna that they were satisfied with merely
rice as an offering.
It must not however be supposed that the institution of substitutes of
the Yadnas of the Aryans had become less horrid. The introduction of
substitutes did not work as a complete replacement of the more expensive and
more ghastly sacrifice by the less expensive and the more innocent. All that it
meant was that the offering may be according to the capacity of the sacrificer. If
he was poor his offering may be rice. If he was well to do it might be a goat. If he
was rich it might be a man, horse, cow or a bull. The effect of the subsitutes was
that the Yadna was brought within the capacity of all so that the Brahmin reaped
a larger harvest of feast on the total. It did not have the effect of stopping animal
sacrifice. Indeed animals continued to be sacrificed by the thousands.
 The Yadna often became a regular carnage of cattle at which the Brahmins did
the work of butchers. One gets some idea of the extent of this carnage of
innocent animals from references to the Yadnas which one comes across
in Buddhist literature. In the Suttanipat a description is given of the Yadna that
was arranged to be performed byPasenadi, king of Kosala. It is stated that there
were tied to the poles for slaughter at the Yadna five hundred oxen, five hundred
bulls, five hundred cows, five hundred goats and five hundred lambs and that
the servents of the king who were detailed to do the jobs according to the orders
given to them by the officiating Brahmin priests were doing their duties with tears
in their eyes.
The Yadna besides involving a terrible carnage was really a kind of carnival.
Besides roast meet there was drink. The Brahmins had Soma as well as Sura.
The others had Sura in abundance. Almost every Yadna was followed by
gambling and what is most extraordinary is that, side by side there went on also
sexual intercourse in the open. Yadna had become debauchery and there was
no religion left in it. The Aryan religion was just a series of observances. Behind
these observances there was no yearning for a good and a virtuous life. There
was no hunger or thirst for rightousness. Their religion was without any spiritual
content. The hymns of the Rig Veda furnish very good evidence of the absence
of any spiritual basis for the Aryan religion. The hymns are prayers addressed by
the Aryans to their gods. What do they ask for in these prayers? Do they ask to
be kept away from temptation? Do they ask for deliverance from evil? Do they
ask for forgiveness of sins? Most of the hymns are in praise of Indra.
They praise him for having brought destruction to the enemies of the Aryans.
They praise him because he killed all the pregnant wives of Krishna, an Asura.
They praise him because he destroyed hundreds of villages of the Asuras. They
praise him because he killed lakhs of Dasyus. The Aryans pray to Indra to carry
on greater destruction among the Anaryas in the hope that they may secure to
themselves the food supplies of the Anaryas and the wealth of the Anaryas. Far
from being spiritual and elevating, the hymns of the Rig-Veda are saturated with
wicked thoughts and wicked purposes. The Aryan religion never concerned itself
with what is called a righteous life.
II

Such was the state of the Aryan Society when Buddha was born. There are
two pertinent questions regarding Buddha as a reformer who laboured to reform
the Aryan Society. What were the chief planks in his reform? To what extent did
he succeed in his reform movement? To take up the first question.
Buddha felt that for the inculcation of a good and a pure life, example was
better than precept. The most important thing he did was to lead a good and a
pure life so that it might serve as a model to all. How unblemished a life he led
can be gathered from the Brahma-Jala Sutta. It is reproduced below because it
not only gives an idea of the pure life that Buddha led but it also gives an idea of
how impure a life the Brahmins, the best among the Aryans led.
Brahma Jala Sutta
1. Thus have I heard. The Blessed One was once going along the high road
between Rajagaha and Nalanda with a great company of the brethren with about
five hundred brethren. And Suppiya the mendicant too was going along the high
road between Rajagaha and Nalanda with his disciple the
young Brahmadatta. Now just then Suppiya the mendicant was speaking in
many ways in dispraise of the Buddha, in dispraise of the Doctrine, in dispraise
of the Order. But young Brahmadatta, his pupil, gave utterance, in many ways,
to praise of the Buddha, to praise of the Doctrine, to praise of the Order. Thus
they two, teacher and pupil, holding opinions in direct contradiction of one to the
other, were following, step by step, after the Blessed one and the company of
the brethren.
2. Now the Blessed one put up at the royal rest house in
the Ambalatthika pleasance to pass the night, and with him the company
of the brethren. And so also did Suppiyathe mendicant, and with him his young
disciple Brahmadatta. And there, at the rest houses, these two carried on the
same discussion as belore.
3. And in the early dawn a number of the brethren assembled as they rose up.
in the pavilion ; and this was the trend of the talk that sprang up among them as
they were seated there. 'How wonderful a thing is it, brethren, and how strange
that the Blessed One, he who knows and sees, the Arahat the Buddha
Supreme, should so clearly have perceived how various are the inclination of
men! For see how while Suppiya the mendicant speaks in many ways in
dispraise of the Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Order, his own disciple, young
Brahmadatta, speaks, in as many ways, in praise of them. So do these two,
teacher and pupil, follow step by step after the Blessed One and the company of
the brethren, giving utterance to views in direct contradiction of one to the other.
4. Now the Blessed One. on realising what was the drift of their talk, went to
the pavilion, and took his seat on the mat spread out for him. And when he had
sat down he said : "What is the talk on which you are engaged sitting here and
what is the subject of the conversation between you?" And they told him all. And
he said:
5. Brethren, if outsiders should speak against me, or against the Doctrine, or
against the Order, you should not on that account either bear malice, or
suffer heart burning, or feel ill-will. If you, on that account, should be angry and
hurt, that would stand in the way of your own self-conquest. If, when others
speak against us, you feel angry at that, and displeased, would you then be able
to judge how far that speech of theirs is well said or ill? `That would not he so,
Sir.'
`But when outsiders speak in dispraise of me, or of the Doctrine, or of the
Order, you should unravel what is false and point it out as wrong, saying, "For
this or that reason this is not the fact, that is not so, such a thing is not found
among us, is not in us."
6. But also, brethren, if outsiders should speak in praise of me, in praise of
the Doctrine, in praise of the Order, you should not, on that account, be filled
with pleasure orgladness, or be lifted up in heart. Were you to be so that also
would stand in the way of your self-conquest. When outsiders speak in praise of
me, or of the Doctrine, or of the Order, you should acknowledge what is right to
be the fact saying: "For this or that reason this is the fact, that is so, such a thing
is found among us, is in us."
7. lt is in respect only of trifling things, of matters of little value, of mere
morality, that an unconverted man, when praising the Tathagata, would speak.
And what are such trifling, minor details of mere morality that he would praise?
(4) (The Moralities. Part 1).
8. "Putting away the killings of living things, Gotama the recluse holds aloof
from the destruction of life. He has laid the cudgel and the sword aside, and
ashamed of roughness, and full of mercy, he dwells compassionate and kind to
all creatures that have life. "It is thus that the unconverted man, when speaking
in praise of the Tathagata,might speak.
Or he might say: "Putting, away the taking of what has not been given, Gotama
the recluse lived aloof from grasping what is not his own. He takes only what is
given, and expecting that gifts will come, he passes his life in honesty and purity
of heart."
Or he might say: "Putting away in-chastity, Gotama the recluse is chaste. He
holds himself aloof, far off, from the vulgar practice, from the sexual act."
9. Or he might say: "Putting away lying words, Gotama the recluse holds
himself aloof from falsehood. He speaks truth from the truth he never
swerves ; faithful and trustworthy, he breaks not his word to the world".
Or he might say: "Putting away slander. Gotama the recluse holds himself
aloof from calumny. What he hears here he repeats not elsewhere to raise a
quarrel against the people here; what he hears elsewhere he repeats not here to
raise a quarrel against the people there. Thus does he live as a binder together
of those who are divided, an encourage of those who are friends, a peacemaker,
a lover of peace, impassioned for peace, a speaker of words that make for
peace."
 Or he might say: "Putting away rudeness of speech, Gotama the recluse holds
himself aloof from harsh language. Whatsoever word is blameless, pleasant to
the ear, lovely, reaching to the heart, urbane, pleasing to the people, beloved of
the people such are words he speaks."
Or he might say : "Putting away frivolous talk, Gotama the recluse holds
himself aloof from vain conversation. In season he speaks, in accordance with
the facts, words full of meaning, on religion, on the discipline of the Order.
He speaks, and at the right time, words worthy to be laid up in one's heart, fitly
illustrated, clearly divided, to the point."
10. Or he might say: "Gotama the recluse holds himself aloof from causing
injury to seeds or plants.
He takes but one meal a day, not eating at night, refraining from food after
hours (after midday).
He refrains from being a spectator at shows at fairs
with nautch dances, singing, and music.
He abstains from wearing, adorning, or ornamenting himself with garlands,
scents, and unguents.
He abstains from the use of the large and lofty beds.
He abstains from accepting silver or gold.
He abstains from accepting uncooked grain.
He abstains from accepting raw meat.
He abstains from accepting women or girls.
He abstains from accepting bondmen or bond-women.
He abstains from accepting sheep or goats.
He abstains from accepting fowls or swine.
He abstains from accepting elephants, cattle, horses and mare.
He abstains from accepting cultivated fields or waste.
He abstains from the acting as a go-between or messenger.
He abstains from buying and selling.
He abstains from cheating with scales or bronzes or measures.
He abstains from the crooked ways of bribery, cheating, and fraud.
He abstains from maiming, murder, putting in bonds, highway
robbery, dacoity, and violence."
Such are the things, brethren, which an unconverted man, when speaking in
praise of the Tathagata might say. '
Here ends the Kula Sila (the Short Paragraphs on Conduct).
II. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the injury of seedlings and
growing plants whether propagated from roots or cuttings or joints or buddings
or seeds—Gotarna the recluse holds aloof from such injury to seedlings and
growing plants. "
12. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of the things stored
up; stores, to wit, of foods, drinks, clothing, equipages, bedding, perfumes, and
curry-stuffs—Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such use of things stored up."
13. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to visiting shows ; that is to say,
(1) Nautch dances (nakkarn),
(2) Singings of songs (gitam)
(3) Instrumental music (vaditam)
(4) Shows at fairs (pekham)
(5) Ballads recitations (akkhanam)
(6) Hand music (paniseram)
(7) The chanting of bards (vetala)
(8) Tam-tam playing (kumbhathunam) (9) Fair scences (sobhanagarkarn)
(10) Acrobatic feats by Kandalas (Kandala-vamsa-dhopanam)
(11) Combats of elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, goats, rams.
Cocks and quails.
(12) Bouts at quarterstaff, boxing, wrestling.
(13)-(16) Sham-fights, roll-calls, manoeuvres, reviews. Gotama the recluse
holds aloof from visiting such shows." 14. Or he might say: "Whereas some
recluses andBrahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue
addicted to games and recreations, that is to say.
(1) Games on hoards with eight, or with ten rows of squares.
(2) The same games played by imagining such boards in the air.
(3) Keeping going over diagrams drawn on the ground so that one-steps only
where one ought to go.
(4) Either removing the pieces or men from a heap with one's nail or putting
them into a heap in each case without shaking it. He, who shakes the heap,
loses.
(5) Throwing dice.
(6) Hitting a short stick with a long one.
(7) Dipping the hand with the fingers stretched out in lac or red dye, or flour
water, and striking the wet hand on the ground or on a wall calling out 'What
shall it be?' and showing the form requires—elephants, horses etc.,
(8) Games with balls.
(9) Blowing through toy pipes made of leaves.
(10) Ploughing with toy ploughs.
(11) Turning summersaults.
 (12) Playing with toy windmills made of palm leaves.
(13) Playing with toy measures made of palm leaves.
(14, 15) Playing with toy carts or toy bows.
(16) Guessing at letters traced in the air, or on a playfellow's back.
(17) Guessing the playfellow's thoughts.
(I8) Mimicry of deformities. Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such games
and recreations."
15. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of high and large
couches: that is to say,
(1) Moveable settees, high, and six feet long (Asandi).
(2) Divans with animal figures carved on the supports (Pallanko).
(3) Goats' hair coverings with very long fleece (Ganako).
(4) Patchwork counterpanes of many colour (Kittaka).
(5) White blankets (Patika).
(6) Woollen coverlets embroidered with flowers (Patalika).
(7) Quilts stuffed with cottonwood (Tulika).
(8) Coverlets embroidered with figures of lions, tigers, &c., (Vikatika).
(9) Rugs with fur on both sides (Uddalomi).
(10) Rugs with fur on one side (Ekantalomi).
(11) Coverlets embroidered with gems (Katthissam).
(12) Silk coverlets (Koseyyam).
(13) Carpets large enough for sixteen dancers (Kuttakam).
(14-16) Elephant, horse, and chariot rugs.
(17) Rugs of antelope skins sewn together (Aginapaveni).
(18) Rugs of skins of the plantain antelope.
(19) Carpets with awnings above them (Sauttarakkhadam).
(20) Sofas with red pillows for the head and feet."
16. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of means for adorning
and beautifying themselves: that is to say:
Rubbing in scented powders on one's body, shampooing it, and bathing it
patting the limbs with clubs after the manner of wrestlers. The use of
mirrors, eye-ointments, garlands, rouge, cosmetics, bracelets,
necklaces, walking sticks, reed cases for drugs, rapiers, sunshades,
embroidered slippers, turbans, diadems, whisks of the yak's tail, and long-
fringed white robes. Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such means of
adorning and beautifying the person."
 17. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to such low conversation as
these:
Tales of kings, of robbers, of ministers of state, tales of war, of terrors, of
battles; talk about foods and drinks, clothes, beds, garlands, perfumes, talks
about relationships,equipages, villages, towns, cities, and countries. Tales
about women, and about heroes; gossip at street corners, or places whence
water is fetched: ghost stories; desultorytalk; speculations about the creation of
the land or sea, or about existence and non-existence.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low conversation."
18. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of wrangling phrases:
such as:
"You don't understand this doctrine and discipline, I do."
"How should you know about this doctrine and discipline?"
"You have fallen into wrong views. It is I who am in the right."
"I am speaking to the point, you are not."
"You are putting last what ought to come first, and first what ought to come
last."
"What you've excoriated so long, that's all quite upset."
"Your challenge has been taken up."
"You are proved to be wrong." "Set to work to clear your views."
"Disentangle yourself if you can."
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such wrangling phrases."
19. Or he might say, "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to taking messages, going on
errands, and acting as go-betweens; to wit, on kings, ministers of
state, Kshatriyas, Brahmans, or young men, saying. Go there, come-hither, take
this with you, bring that from thence.'
Gotama the recluse abstains from such servile duties." 20. Or he might
say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by
the faithful, are tricksters, droners out (of holy words for
pay), diviners, and exorcists, ever hungering to add gain to gain.
Gotam the recluse holds aloof from such deception and patter." Here ends
the Majjhima Sila (the Longer Paragraphs on Conduct).
21. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by
low arts, such as these:
(1) Palmistry—prophesying long life, prosperity, &c., (or the reverse), from
marks on a child's hands, feet, &c.
 (2) Divining by means of omens and signs.
(3) Auguries had drawn from thunderbolts and other celestial portents.
(4) Prognostication by interpreting dreams.
(5) Fortune telling from marks on the body.
(6) Auguries from the marks on cloth gnawed by mice.
(7) Sacrificing to Agni.
(8) Offering oblations from a spoon. (9-13) Making offerings to gods of husks,
of the red powder between the grain and the husk, of husked grain ready for
boiling, of ghee and of oil.
(14) Sacrificing by spewing mustard seeds, &c., into the fire out of one's
mouth.
(15) Drawing blood from one's right knee as a sacrifice to the gods.
(16) Looking at the knuckles, &c., and, after muttering a charm, divining
whether a man is well born of luck or not.
(17) Determining whether the site, for a proposed house or pleasance, is lucky
or not.
(18) Advising on customary law.
(19) Laying demons in a cemetery.
(20) Laying ghosts.
(21) Knowledge of the charms to be used when lodging in an earth house.
(22) Snake charming.
(23) The poison craft.
(24) The scorpion craft.
(25) The mouse craft.
(26) The bird craft.
(27) The crow craft.
(28) Foretelling the number of years that a man has yet to live.
(29) Giving charms to ward off arrows.
(30) The animal wheel.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
22. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans while living on
food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by
low arts, such as these:
Knowledge of the signs of good and bad qualities in the following things, and
of the marks in them denoting the health or luck of their owners to wit, gems,
staves, garments, swords, arrows, bows, other weapons, women, men, boys,
girls, slaves, slave-girls, elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, oxen, goats, sheep,
fowls, quails, iguanas, herrings, tortoises, and other animals.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
 23. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood by
low arts, such as sooth saying to the effect that:
The chiefs will march out.
The home chiefs will attack, and the enemies retreat.
The enemies' chiefs will attack, and ours will retreat.
The home chiefs will gain the victory, and ours will suffer defeat.
The foreign chiefs will gain the victory on this side, and ours will suffer defeat.
Thus will there be victory on this side, defeat on that.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
24. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by
such low arts as foretelling:
(1) There will be an eclipse of the Moon.
(2) There will be an eclipse of the Sun.
(3) There will be an eclipse of a Star (Nakshatra).
(4) There will be aberration or the Sun or the Moon.
(5) The Sun or the Moon will return to its usual path.
(6) There will be aberrations of the Stars.
(7) The Stars will return to their usual course.
(8) There will be a fall of meteors.
(9) There will be a jungle fire.
(10) There will be an earthquake.
(11) The God will thunder.
(12-15) There will be rising and setting, clearness and dimness of the Sun or
the Moon or the stars, or foretelling of each of these fifteen phenomena that they
will betoken such and such a result."
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts.
25. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of the livelihood,
by low arts, such as these:
Foretelling an abundant rainfall.
Foretelling a deficient rainfall.
Foretelling agood harvest.
Foretelling scarcity of food.
Foretelling tranquility.
Foretelling disturbances.
Foretelling a pestilence.
Foretelling a healthy season.
Counting on the fingers.
 Counting without using the fingers.
Summing up large totals.
Composing ballads, poetising, Casuistry, sophistry.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts." 26. Or he might
say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by
the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as:
(1) Arranging a lucky day for marriages in which the bride or bridegroom is
brought home.
(2) Arranging a lucky day for marriages in which the bride or bridegroom is
sent forth.
(3) Fixing a lucky time for the conclusion of treaties of peace (or using charms
to procure harmony)
(4) Fixing a lucky time for the outbreak of hostilities (or using charms to make
discord).
(5) Fixing a lucky time for the calling in of debts (or charms for success in
throwing dice).
(6) Fixing a lucky time for the expenditure of money (or charms to bring ill luck
to an opponent throwing dice).
(7) Using charms to make people lucky.
(8) Using charms to make people unlucky.
(9) Using charms to procure abortion.
(10) Incantations to keep a man's jaws fixed.
(11) Incantations to bring on dumbness.
(12) Incantations to make a man throw up his hands.
(13) Incantations to bring on deafness.
(14) Obtaining oracular answers by means of the magic mirror.
(15) Obtaining oracular answers through a girl possessed.
(16) Obtaining oracular answers from a god.
(17) The worship of the Sun.
(18) The worship of the Great One.
(19) Bringing forth flames from one's mouth.
(20) Invoking Siri, the goddess of Luck.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
27. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on
food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by
low arts, such as these:
(1) Vowing gifts to a god if a certain benefit be granted,
(2) Praying such vows.
(3) Repeating charms while lodging in an earth house.
(4) Causing virility.
 (5) Making a man impotent.
(6) Fixing on lucky sites for dwellings.
(7) Consecrating sites.
(8) Ceremonial rinsing of the mouth.
(9) Ceremonial bathing.
(10) Offering sacrifices.
(11-14) Administering emetics and purgatives.
(15) Purging people to relieve the head (that is by giving drugs to make people
sneeze).
(16) Oiling people's ears (either to make them grow or to heal sores on them).
(17) Satisfying people's eyes (soothing them by dropping medicinal oils into
them).
(I8) Administering drugs through the nose.
(19) Applying collyrium to the eyes.
(20) Giving medical ointment for the eyes.
(21) Practising as an oculist.
(22) Practising as a surgeon.
(23) Practising as a doctor for children.
(24) Administering roots and drugs.
(25) Administering medicines in rotation.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts.
"These brethren are the trifling matters, the minor details of morality, of which
the unconverted man, when praising the Tathagata, might speak.'
Here end the Long Paragraphs on Conduct.

Ill
This was indeed the highest standard for a moral life for an individual to follow.
So high a standard of moral life was quite unknown to the Aryan Society of his
day.
He did not stop merely with setting an example by leading a life of purity. He
also wanted to mould the character of the ordinary men and women in society.
For their guidance he devised a form of baptism which was quite unknown to the
Aryan Society. The baptism consisted in the convert to Buddhism undertaking to
observe certain moral precepts laid down by Buddha. These precepts are known
as Panch Sila or the five precepts. They are;
(1) Not to kill, (2) Not to steal, (3) Not to lie, (4) Not to be unchaste and (5) Not
to drink intoxicants.
These five precepts were of the laity.
For the Monks there were five additional precepts:
(6) Not to eat at forbidden times,
 (7) Not to dance, sing, or attend theatrical or other spectacles,
(8) To abstain from the use of garlands, scents, and ornaments,
(9) To abstain from the use of high or broad beds, and
(10) Never to receive money.
These Silas or precepts formed the moral code which it was intended should
regulate the thoughts and actions of men and women.
Of these the most important one was the precept not to kill. Buddha took care
to make it clear that the precept did not merely mean abstention from taking life.
He insisted that the precept must be understood to mean positive sympathy,
good will, and love for every thing that breathes.
He gave the same positives and extended content to other precepts. One of
the Buddha's lay followers once reported to him the teaching of a non-
Buddhist ascetic, to the effect that the highest ideal consisted in the absence of
evil deeds, evil words, evil thoughts, and evil life. The Buddha's comment upon
this is significant. "If, said he, "this were true, then every suckling child would
have attained the ideal of life. Life is knowledge of good and evil; and after that
the exchange of evil deeds, words, thoughts, and life, for good ones. This is to
be brought about only by a long and determined effort of the will”.
Buddha's teachings were not merely negative. They are positive and
constructive. Buddha was not satisfied with a man following his precepts. He
insisted upon encouraging others to follow them. For example in
the Auguttara Nikaya the Buddha is quoted as distinguishing between a good
man and a very good man by saying that one who abstains from killing, stealing,
in-chastity, lying and drunkenness may be called good ; but only he deserves to
be called very good who abstains from these evil things himself and also
instigates others to do the like..........
As has been well said the two cardinal virtues of Buddhism are love and
wisdom.
How deeply he inculcated the practice of love as a virtue is clear from his own
words. "As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her own child, her only
child, so also let every one cultivate: a boundless loving mind towards all beings.
And let him cultivate good will towards, the entire world, a boundless (loving)
mind above and below and across, unobstructed, without hatred, without enmity.
This way of living is the best in the world." So taught Buddha [f35].
"Universal pity, sympathy for all suffering beings, good will to every form of
sentient life, these things characterised the Tathagath (Buddha) as they have
few others of the sons of men ; and he succeeded in a most surprising degree in
handing on his point of view to his followers. "[f36]
Buddha held to the doctrine of wisdom as firmly as he did to the doctrine of
love. He held that moral life began with knowledge and ended with wisdom.
he "came to save the world, and his method for the accomplishment of this
end was the destruction of ignorance and the dissemination of knowledge as to
the true values of life and the wise way to live. "Buddha did not arrogate to
himself the power to save people. People had to do that for themselves. And the
way to save lay through knowledge. So much insistence did he place upon
knowledge that he did not think that morality without knowledge was virtue.
There are three things against which Buddha carried on a great campaign.
He repudiated the authority of the Vedas.......... Secondly he denounced
the Yudna as a form of religion. The attitude of Buddha towards Yadna is well
stated in theJatakamala in the form of a story. The story runs thus :
THE STORY OF THE SACRIFICE
Those hearts are pure do not act up to the enticement of the wicked. Knowing
this, pure-heartiness is to be striven after. This will be taught by the following:
Long ago the Bodhisattva. it is said, was a king who had obtained his kingdom
in the order of hereditary succession. He had reached this state as the effect of
his merit, and ruled his realm in peace, not disturbed by any rival, his
sovereignty being universally acknowledged. His country was free from any kind
of annoyance, vexation or disaster, both his home relations and those with
foreign countries being quite in every respect; and all his vessels obeyed his
commands.
1. This monarch having subdued the passions, his enemies, felt no inclination
for such profits as are to be blamed when enjoyed, but was with his whole heart
intent on promoting the happiness of his subjects. Holding virtuous
practice (dharma) the only purpose of his actions, he behaved like a Muni.
2. For he knew the nature of mankind, that people set a high value on imitating
the behaviour of the highest. For this reason, being desirous of bringing about
salvation for his subjects, he was particularly attached to the due performance of
his religious duties. 3. He practised almsgiving kept strictly the precepts of moral
conduct (sila), cultivated forbearance, strove for the benefit of the creatures. His
mild countenance being in accordance with his thoughts devoted to the
happiness of his subjects, he appeared like the embodied Dharma.
Now it once happened that though protected by his arm, his realm, both in
consequence of the faulty actions of its inhabitants and inadvertence on the part
of the angels charged with the care of rain, was afflicted in several districts by
drought and the troublesome effects of such a disaster. Upon this the king, fully
convinced that his plague had been brought about by the violation of
righteousness by himself or his subjects, and taking much to heart the distress
of his people, whose welfare was the constant object of his thoughts and cares,
took the advice of men of acknowledged competence, who were reputed for
their knowledge in matters of religion. So keeping counsel with the elders among
the Brahmans, headed by his family priest (purohita) and his ministers, he asked
them for some means of putting an end to that calamity. Now they believing a
solemn sacrifice as is enjoined by the Veda to be a cause of abundant rain,
explained to him that he must perform such a sacrifice of a
frightful character, inasmuch as it requires the massacre of many hundreds of
living beings. But after being informed of everything concerning such a slaughter
as is prescribed for the sacrifice, his innate compassion forbade him to approve
of their advice in his heart; yet out of civility, unwilling to offend them by harsh
words of refusal, he slipped over this point, turning the conversation upon other
topics. They, on the other hand, no sooner caught the opportunity of conversing
with the king on matters of religion, than they once more admonished him to
accomplish the sacrifice, for they did not understand his deeply hidden mind.
4. "You constantly take care not to neglect the proper time of performing your
different royal duties, established for the sake of obtaining the possession of
land and ruling it. The due order of these actions of yours is in agreement with
the precepts of Righteousness (dharma).
5. "How then is this that you who (in all other respects) are so clever in the
observance of the triad (of dharma, artha, and kama), bearing your bow to
defend the good of your people, are so careless and almost sluggish as to that
bridge to the world of the Devas, the name of which is 'sacrifice'?
6. " Like servants, the kings (your vassel) revere your commands, thinking
them to be the surest gage of success. Now the time is come, 0 destroyer of
your foes, to gather by means of sacrifice superior blessings, which are to
procure for you a shining glory.
7. `Certainly, that holiness which is the requisite for a dikshita is already yours,
by reason of your habitual practice of charity and your strictness in observing the
restraint (of good conduct). Nevertheless, it would be fit for you to discharge
your debt to the Devas by such sacrifices as are the subject matter of the Veda.
The deities being satisfied by duly and faultlessly performed sacrifice, honour
the creatures in return by (sending) rain. Thus considering, take to mind the
welfare of your subjects and your own, and consent to the performance of a
regular sacrifice which will enhance your glory.'
8. Thereupon he entered upon this thought: ' Very badly guarded is my poor
person indeed, being given in trust to such leaders. While faithfully believing and
loving the law, I should uproot my virtue of tender heartiness by reliance upon
the words of others. For, truly.'
9. Those who are reputed among men to be the best refuge are the very
persons who intend to do harm, borrowing their arguments from the Law.
Alas! Such a man, who follows the wrong path shown by them, will soon find
himself driven to straits, for he will be surrounded by evils.
 10. What connections may there be, forsooth, between righteousness and
injuring animals? How my residence in the world of the Devas or propitiation of
the deities have anything to do with the murder of victims?
II. The animal slaughtered according to the rites with the prescribed prayers,
as if those sacred formulas were so many darts to wound it, goes to heaven,
they say, and with this object it is killed. In this way that action is interpreted to
be done according to the Law. Yet it is a lie.
12.For how is it possible that in the next world one should reap the fruits of
what has been done by others? And by what reason will the sacrificial animal
mount to heaven, though he has not abstained from wicked actions, though he
has not devoted himself to the practice of good ones, simply because he has
been killed in sacrifice, and not on the ground of his own actions?
13. And should the victim killed in sacrifice really go to heaven, should we not
expect the Brahmans to offer themselves to be immolated in sacrifice? A similar
practice, however, is nowhere seen among them. Who, then, may take to heart
the advice proffered by these counsellors?
14. As to the Celestials, should we believe that they who are wont to enjoy the
fair ambrosia of incomparable scent, flavour, magnificence, and effective power,
served to them by the beautiful Apsaras, would abandon it to delight in the
slaughter of a pitiable victim, that they might feast on the omentum and such
other parts of his body as are offered to them in sacrifice?
Therefore, it is the proper time to act so and so.' Having thus made up his
mind, the king feigned to be eager to undertake the sacrifice; and in approval of
their words he spoke to them in this manner; 'Verily, well protected am I, well
gratified, having such counsellors as Your Lordships are, thus bent on securing
my happiness! Therefore I will have a human sacrifice (purushamedha) of a
thousand victims performed. Let my officials, each in his sphere of business, be
ordered to bring together the requisites necessary for that purpose. Let also an
inquiry be made of the most fitting ground whereon to raise the tents and other
buildings for the sattra. Further, the proper time for the sacrifice must be fixed
(by the astrologers) examining the auspicious lunar
days, karanas, muhurtas, and constellations.' The purohita answered; `In order
to succeed in your enterprise, Your Majesty ought to take the Avabhritha (final
bath) at the end of one sacrifice; after which you may successively undertake
the others. For if the thousand human victims were to be seized at once, your
subjects, to be sure, would blame you and be stirred up to great agitation on
their account.' These words of the purohita having been approved by the
(other) Brahmans, the king replied: ' Do not apprehend the wrath of the
people, Reverands. I shall take such measures as to prevent any agitation
among my subjects.'
 15. After this the king convoked an assembly of the townsmen and the lands
men, and said: 'I intend to perform a human sacrifice of a thousand victims. But
nobody behaving honestly is fit to be designated for immolation on my part. With
this in mind, I give you this advice. Whomsoever of you I shall henceforward
perceive transgressing the boundaries of moral conduct, despising my royal will
him I order to be caught to be a victim at my sacrifice, thinking such a one the
stain of his family and a danger to my country. With the object of carrying this
resolution into effect, I shall cause you to be observed by faultless and sharp-
sighted emissaries, who have shaken off sleepy carelessness and will report to
me concerning your conduct. '
16. Then the foremost of the assembly, folding their hands and bringing them
to their foreheads, spoke:
'Your Majesty, all your actions tend to the happiness of your subjects, what
reason can there be to despise you on that account? Even (God) Brahma
cannot but sanction your behaviour. Your Majesty, who is the authority of the
virtuous, be our highest authority. For this reason anything which pleases Your
Majesty must please us too. Indeed, you are pleased with nothing else but our
enjoyment and our good.'
After then, notables both of the town and the country had accepted his
command in this manner; the king dispersed about his towns and all over his
country, officers notified as such by their outward appearance to the people with
the charge of laying hold of the evil doers, and everywhere he ordered
proclamations to be made by beat of drum day after day, of this kind.
17. The King, a granter of security as he is, warrants safety to every one who
constantly cultivates honesty and good conduct, in short, to the
virtuous, yet, intending to perform a human sacrifice for the benefit of his
subjects, he wants human victims by thousands to be taken out of those who
delight in misconduct.
18. 'Therefore, whosoever henceforward, licentiously indulging in
misbehaviour, shall disregard the command of our monarch, which is even
observed by the kings, hisvassals, shall be brought to the state as a sacrificial
victim by the very force of his own actions, and people shall witness his
miserable suffering, when he shall pine with pain, his body being fastened to the
sacrificial post.'
When the inhabitants of that realms became aware of their king's careful
search after evil-doers with the aim of destining them to be victims at his
sacrifice-for they heard the most frightful royal proclamation day after day and
saw the king's servants, who were appointed to look out for wicked people and
to seize them. Appearing every now and then everywhere they abandoned their
attachment to bad conduct, and grew intend on strictly observing the moral
precepts and self-control. They avoided every occasion of hatred and enmity.
and settling their quarrels and differences, cherished mutual love and mutual
esteem. Obedience to the words of parents and teachers, a general spirit of
liberality and sharing with others, hospitality, good manners, modesty, prevailed
among them. In short, they lived as it was in the Krita Yuga.
19. The fear of death had awakened in them thoughts of the next world; the
risk of tarnishing the honour of their families had stirred their care of guarding
their reputation; the great purity of their hearts had strengthened their sense of
shame. These factors being at work, people were soon distinguished by their
spotless behaviour.
20. Even though every one became more than ever intends on keeping a
righteous conduct, still the king's servants did not diminish their watchfulness in
the pursuit of the evildoers. This also contributed to prevent people from falling
short of righteousness.
21. The king learning from his emissaries this state of things in his realm, felt
extremely rejoiced. He bestowed rich presents on those messengers as a
reward for the good news they told him, and enjoined his ministers, speaking
something like this :
22. The protection of my subjects is my highest desire, you know. Now they
have become worthy to be recipients of sacrificial gifts, and it is for the purpose
of my sacrifice that I have provided this wealth. Well, I intend to accomplish my
sacrifice in the manner, which I have considered to be the proper once. Let
every one who wishes for money, that it may be fuel for his happiness, come
and accept it from my hand to his heart's content. In this way the distress and
poverty, which is vexing our country, may be soon driven out. Indeed, whenever
I consider my own strong determination to protect my subjects and the great
assistance I derive from you, my excellent companions in that task, it often
seems to me as though those sufferings of my people, by exciting my anger,
were burning in my mind like a blazing fire.'
24. The ministers accepted the royal command and anon went to execute it.
They ordered alms-halls to be established in all villages, towns, and markets,
likewise at all stations on the roads. This being done, they caused all who
begged in order to satisfy their wants, to be provided day after day with a gift of
those objects, just as had been ordered by the king.
25. So poverty disappeared, and the people, having received wealth from the
part of the king, dressed and adorned with manifold and fine garments and
ornaments, exhibited the splendour of festival days.
26. The glory of the king, magnified by the eulogies of the rejoiced recipients of
his gifts, spread about in all directions in the same way, as the flower dust of the
lotuses carried forth by the small waves of a lake, extends itself over a larger
and larger surface.
27. And after the whole people, in consequence of the wise measures taken by
their ruler, had become intent on virtuous behaviour, the plagues and calamities,
overpowered by the growth of all such qualities as conduce to prosperity, faded
away, having lost their hold.
28. The seasons succeeded each other in due course, rejoicing everybody by
their regularity, and like kings newly established, complying with the lawful order
of things. Consequently the earth produced the various kinds of corn in
abundance, and there was fullness of pure and blue water and lotuses in
all water basins.
29. No epidemics afflicted mankind; the medicinal herbs possessed their
efficacious virtues more than ever; monsoons blew in due time and regularly; the
planets moved along in auspicious paths.
30. Nowhere there existed any danger to be feared, either from abroad, or
from within, or such as might be caused by dangerous derangement of the
elements. Continuing in righteousness and self-control, cultivating good
behaviour and modesty, the people of that country enjoyed as it were the
prerogatives of the Krita Yuga. By the power, then, of the king performing his
sacrifice in this manner in accordance with (the precepts of) the Law, the
sufferings of the indigent were put to an end together with the plagues and
calamities, and the country abounded in a prosperous and thriving population
offering the pleasing aspect of felicity. Accordingly people never wearied of
repeating benedictions on their king and extending his renown in all directions.
One day, one of the highest royal officials, whose heart had been inclined to
the (True) Belief, spoke thus to the king: "This is a true saying, in truth.
31. "Monarchs, because they always deal with all kinds of business, the
highest, the lowest, and the intermediate, by far surpass in their wisdom any
wise men.
"For, Your Majesty, you have obtained the happiness of your subjects both in
this world and in the next, as the effect of your sacrifice being performed in
righteousness, free from the blameable sin of animal-slaughter. The hard times
are all over and the sufferings of poverty have ceased, since men have been
established in the precepts of good conduct. Why use many words? Your
subjects are happy.
32. "The black antelope's skin which covers your limbs has the resemblance of
the spot on the bright Moon's surface, nor can the natural loveliness of your
demeanour behindered by the restraint imposed on you by your being
a dikshita. Your head, adorned with such hair-dress as is in compliance with the
rites of the diksha, possesses no less lustre than when it was embellished with
the splendour of the royal umbrella. And, last not least, by your largesse’s you
have surpassed the renown and abated the pride of the famous performer of a
hundred sacrifices.
33. "As a rule, Oh, you wise ruler, the sacrifice of those who long for the
attainment of some good, is a vile act, accompanied as it is by injury done to
living beings. Your sacrifice, on the contrary, this monument of your glory, is in
complete accordance with your lovely behaviour and your aversion to vices.
34. "Oh! Happy are the subjects who have their protector in you! It is certain
that no father could be a better guardian to his children." Another said:
35." If the wealthy practise charity, they are commonly impelled to do so by
the hopes they put in the cultivation of that virtue; good conduct too, may be
accounted for by the wish to obtain high regard among men or the desire of
reaching heaven after death. But such a practice of both, as is seen in your skill
in securing the benefit of others, cannot be found but in those who are
accomplished both in learning and in virtuous exertions. "In such a way, then,
those whose hearts are pure do not act up to the enticement of the wicked.
Knowing this, pure-heartiness is to be striven after." (In the spiritual lessons for
princes, also this is to be said: ' Who to his subjects wishing good, himself
exerts, Thus brings about salvation, glory, happiness. No other should be of a
king the businesses.
And it may be added as follows: '(The prince) who strives after material
prosperity, ought to act in accordance with the precepts of religion, thinking, a
religious conduct of his subjects to be the source of prosperity.'
Further this is here to be said: `Injuring animals never tends to bliss, but
charity, self-restraint, continence and the like have this power; for this reason he
who longs for bliss must devote himself to these virtues. `And also when
discoursing on the Tathagata : `In this manner the Lord showed his inclination to
care for the interests of the world, when he was still in his previous existences.')

IV
Another powerful attack against Yadna is contained in his discourses known
as Kutadanta Sutta. It is as follows :
THE WRONG SACRIFICE AND THE RIGHT
1. Thus have I heard. The Blessed One once, when going on a tour
through Magadha, with a great multitude of the brethren, with about five hundred
brethren, came to aBrahman village in Magadha called Khanumata. And there
at Khanumata he lodged in the Ambalatthika pleasance.
Now at that time the Brahman Kutadanta was dwelling at Khanumata, a place
teeming with life, with much grassland and woodland and water and corn, on a
royal domain presented him by Seniya Bimbisara the king of Magadha, as a
royal gift, with power over it as if he were the king.
And just then a great sacrifice was being got ready on behalf of Kutadanta the
Brahman. And a hundred bulls, and a hundred steers, and a hundred heifers,
and a hundred goats, and a hundred rams had been brought to the post for the
sacrifice.
2. Now the Brahmans and householders of Khanumata heard the news of
the arrival of the Samana Gotama. And they began to leave Khanumata in
companies and in bonds to go to the Ambalatthika pleasance.
3. And just then Kutandanta the Brahman had gone apart to the upper terrace
of his house for his siesta; and seeing the people thus to go by, he asked his
door-keeper the reason. And the doorkeeper told him.
4. Then Kutandanta thought: 'I have heard that the Samana
Gotarna understands about the successful performance of a sacrifice with its
threefold method and its sixteen accessory instruments. Now I don't know all
this, and yet I want to carry out a sacrifice. It would be well for me to go to
the Samana Gotama, and ask him about it. '
So he sent his doorkeeper to the Brahmans and householders
of Khanumata, to ask them to wait till he could go with them to call upon the
Blessed One.
5. But there were at that time a number of Brahmans staying at Khanumata to
take part in the great sacrifice. And when they heard this they went
to Kutadanta, and persuaded him on the same grounds as the Brahmans had
laid before Sonadanda, not to go. But he answered them in the same terms as
Sonadanda had used to those Brahmans. Then they were satisfied, and went
with him to call upon the Blessed One.
9. And when he was seated there Kutadanta the Brahman told the Blessed
One what he had heard, and requested him to tell him about success in
performing a sacrifice in its three modes and with its accessory articles of
furniture of sixteen kinds.
'Well then, O Brahman, give ear and listen attentively and I will speak.'
'Very well, Sir, `said Kutadanta in reply; and the Blessed One spoke as follows:
10. `Long ago, O Brahman, there was a king by name Wide-
realm (Maha Vigita), mighty, with great wealth and large property; with stores of
silver and gold, of aids to enjoyment, of goods and corn; with his treasure-
houses and his garners full. Now when King Wide-realm was once sitting alone
in meditation, he became anxious at the thought: "I have in abundance all the
good things a mortal can enjoy. The whole wide circle of the earth is mine by
conquest to possess. `Twere well if I were to offer a great sacrifice that should
ensure me weal and welfare for many days. "
 And he had the Brahman, his chaplain, called; and telling him all that he had
thought, he said: "Be I would faun, O Brahman, offer a great sacrifice-let the
venerable one instruct me how-for my weal and my welfare for many days."
11. Thereupon the Brahman who was chaplain said to the king: "The king's
country, Sirs, is harassed and harried. There are decoits abroad who pillages
the villages and townships, and who makes the roads unsafe. Were the king, so
long as that is so, to levy a fresh tax, verily his majesty would be acting wrongly.
But perchance his majesty might think. 'I'll soon put a stop to these scoundrels'
game by degradation and banishment, and fines and bonds and death! ' But
their license cannot be satisfactorily put a stop to. The remnant left unpunished
would still go on harassing the realm. Now there is one method to adopt to put a
thorough end to this disorder. Whosoever there be in the king's realm who
devote themselves to keeping cattle and the farm, to them let his majesty the
king give food and seed-corn. Whosoever there be in the king's realm who
devote themselves to trade, to them let his majesty the king give capital.
Whosoever there be in the king's realm who devote themselves to government
service, to them let his majesty the king give wages and food. Then those men
following each his own business, will no longer harass the realm; the king's
revenue will go up ; the country will be quiet and at peace ; and the populace,
pleased one with another and happy; dancing their children in their arms, will
dwell with open doors."
'Then King Wide-realm, O Brahman, accepted the word of his chaplain, and
did as he had said. And those men, following each his business, harassed the
realm no more. And the King's revenue went up. And the country became quiet
and at peace. And the populace pleased one with another and happy, dancing
their children in their arms, dwelt with open doors.'
12. `So King Wide-realm had his chaplain called, and said: "The disorder is at
an end. The country is at peace. I want to offer that great sacrifice—let the
venerable one instruct me how—for my weal and my welfare for many days."
' Then let his majesty the king send invitations to whomsoever there may be in
his realm who are Kshatriyas, vassals of his, either in the country or the
towns ; or who are ministers and officials of his, either in the country or the
towns ; or who are Brahmans of position, either in the country or the towns ; or
who are householders of substance, either in the country or the towns,
saying : "I intend to offer a great sacrifice. Let the venerable ones give their
sanction to what will be to me for weal and welfare for many days."
'Then King Wide-realm, O Brahman, accepted the word of his chaplain, and
did as he had said. And they each—Kshatriyas and ministers and Brahmans and
householders—made alike reply: "Let his majesty the king celebrate the
sacrifice. The time is suitable O King! " ' Thus did these four, as colleagues by
consent, become wherewithal to furnish forth that sacrifice,
13. `King Wide-realm was gifted in the following eight ways:
`He was well born on both sides, on the mother's side and on the father's, of
pure descent back through seven generations, and no slur was cast upon him,
and no reproach, in respect of birth.'
' He was handsome, pleasant in appearance, inspiring trust, gifted with great
beauty of complexion, fair in colour, fine in presence, stately to behold.'
' He was mighty, with great wealth, and large property, with stores of silver and
gold, of aids to enjoyment, of goods and corn, with his treasure-houses and his
garners full.'
' He was powerful, in command of an army, loyal and disciplined in four
divisions (of elephants, cavalry, chariots, and bow men), burning
up, methinks, his enemies by his very glory.'
' He was a believer, and generous, a noble giver, keeping open house, a well
in spring whence Samanas and Brahmans, the poor and the wayfarers, beggars,
and petitioners might draw, a doer of good deeds. '
`He was learned in all kinds of knowledge.' ` He knew the meaning of what had
been said, and could explain, " This saying has such and such a meaning, and
that such and such ".
' He was intelligent, expert and wise and able to think out things present or
past or future.
' And these eight gifts of his, too, became where withal to furnish forth that
sacrifice.'
14. `The Brahman, his chaplain was gifted in the following four ways :
' He was well born on both sides, on the mother's and on the father's, of pure
descent back through seven generations, with no slur cast upon him, and no
reproach in respect of birth.
' He was a student repeater who knew the mystic verses by heart, master of
the three Vedas, with the indices, the ritual, the phonology, and the exegesis (as
a fourth), and the legends as a fifth, learned in the idioms and the grammar,
versed in Lokayata (Mature-lore) and in the thirty marks on the body of a great
man.
' He was virtuous, established in virtue, gifted with virtue that had grown great.
' He was intelligent, expert, and wise; foremost, or at most the second, among
those who hold out the ladle. ' ' Thus these four gifts of his, too became
wherewithal to furnish forth that sacrifice.'
15. 'And further, O Brahman, the chaplain, before the sacrifice had begun,
explained to King Wide-realm the three modes:
 Should his majesty the King, before starting on the great sacrifice, feel any
such regret as : "Great, alas, will be the portion of my wealth used up herein, "let
not the king harbour such regret. Should his majesty the King, whilst he is
offering the great sacrifice, feel any such regret as : "Great, alas, will be the
portion of my wealth used up herein"let not the king harbour such regret. Should
his majesty the King, when the great sacrifice has been offered, feel any such
regret as "Great, alas, will be the portion of my wealth used up herein, "let not
the king harbour such regret.'
'Thus did the chaplain, O Brahman, before the sacrifice, had begun, explained
to King Wide-realm the three modes.'
16. `And further, 0 Brahman, the chaplain, before the sacrifice had begun, in
order to prevent any compunction that might afterwards in ten ways, arise as
regards those who had taken part therein, said : "Now there will come to your
sacrifice, Sire, men who destroy the life of living things, and men who refrain
therefrom, men who take what has not been given, and men who refrain
therefrom, men who speak lies, and men who do not—men who slander and
men who do not—men who speak rudely and men who do not—men who
chatter vain things and men who refrain therefrom—men who covet and men
who covet not—men who harbour illwill and men who harbour it not—men
whose views are wrong and men whose views are right. Of each of these let
them, who do evil, alone with their evil. For them who do well let your majesty
offer, for them, Sire, arrange the rites, for them let the king gratify, in them shall
our heart within find peace."
17. `And further, O Brahman, the chaplain, whilst the king was carrying out the
sacrifice, instructed and aroused and incited and gladdened his heart in sixteen
ways : "Should there be people who should say of the king, as he is offering the
sacrifice : 'King Wide-realm is celebrating sacrifice without having invited the
four classes of his subjects, without himself having the eight personal gifts,
without the assistance of a Brahman who has the four personal gifts.' Then
would they speak not acording to the fact. For the consent of the four classes
has been obtained, the king had the eight, and his Brahman has the four,
personal gifts. With regard to each and every one of these sixteen conditions the
king may rest assured that it has been fulfilled. He can sacrifice, and be glad,
and possess his heart in peace."
18. `And further, O Brahman, at that sacrifice neither were any oxen slain,
neither goats, nor fowls, nor fatted pigs, nor were any kinds of living creatures
put to death. No trees were cut down to be used as posts, no Dabha grasses
mown to strew around the sacrificial spot. And the slaves and messengers and
workmen there employed were driven neither by rods nor fear, nor carried on
their work weeping with tears upon their faces. Who so chose to help, he
worked ; who so chose not to help, worked not. What each chose to do he did;
what they chose not to do, that was left undone, With ghee and oil, and butter
and milk, and honey and sugar only was that sacrifice accomplished.
19. `And further, O Brahman, the Kshatriya vassels, and the ministers and
officials, and the Brahmans of position, and the householders of substance,
whether of the country or of the towns, went to King, Wide-realm, taking with
them much wealth, and said, "This abundant wealth, Sire, have we brought
hither for the king's use. Let his majesty accept it at our hands!"
"Sufficient wealth have I, my friends, laid up, the produce of taxation that is
just. Do you keep yours, and take away more with you! "
When they had thus been refused by the king, they went aside, and
considered thus one with the other: "It would not be seem us now, were we to
take this wealth away again to our own homes. King Wide-realm is offering a
great sacrifice. Let us too make an after-sacrifice!"
20. ` So the Kshatriyas established a continual largesse to the east of the
king's sacrificial pit, and the officials to the south thereof, and the Brahmans to
the west thereof, and the householders to the north thereof. And the things
given, and the manner of their gift, was in all respects like unto the great
sacrifice of King Wide-realm himself.'
`Thus, O Brahman, there was a fourfold co-operation, and King Wide-realm
was gifted with eight personal gifts, and his officiating Brahman with four. And
there were three modes of the giving of that sacrifice. This, 0 Brahman, is what
is called the due celebration of a sacrifice in its threefold mode and with its
furniture of sixteen kinds.
21. `And when he had thus spoken, those Brahmans lifted up their voices in
tumult, and said: "How glorious the sacrifice, how pure its
accomplishment! "But Kutadanta the Brahman sat there in silence.
Then those Brahmans said to Kutadanta : ' Why do you not approve the good
words of the Samana Gotarna as well-said?'
` I do not fail to approve ; for he who approves not as well-said that which has
been well spoken by the Samana Gotama, verily his head would split in twain.
But I was considering that the Samana Gotama does not say : "Thus have I
heard," nor "Thus behoves it to be," but says only, " Thus it was then, " or "It was
like that then". So I thought ;"For a certainty the Samana Gotama himself must
a.t that time have been King Wide-realm, or the Brahman who officiated for him
at that sacrifice. Does the Venerable Gotama admit that he who celebrates such
a sacrifice, or causes it to be celebrated, is reborn at the dissolution of the body,
after death, into some state of happiness in heaven ? "
'Yes, O Brahman, that I admit. And at that time I was the Brahman who, as
chaplain, had that sacrifice performed.'
 22. `Is there, O Gotama, any other sacrifice less difficult and less troublesome,
with more fruit and more advantage still than this? ' ' Yes, 0 Brahman, there is.'
'And what, 0 Gotama, may that be?'
`The perpetual gifts kept up in a family where they are given specifically to
virtuous recluses.'
23. 'But what is the reason, O Gotama, and what the cause, why such
perpetual giving specifically to virtuous recluses, and kept up in a family, are less
difficult and troublesome of greater fruit and greater advantage than that other
sacrifice with its three modes and its accessories of sixteen kinds ? '
' To the latter sort of sacrifice, 0 Brahman, neither will the Arhata go, nor such
as have entered on the Arhat way. And why not? Because in it beating with
sticks takes place, and seizing by the throat. But they will go to the former,
where such things are not. And therefore are such perpetual gifts above the
other sort of sacrifice.'
24. ' And is there, O Gotama, any other sacrifice less difficult, and less
troublesome, of greater fruit and of greater advantage than either of these.' '
Yes, 0 Brahman, there is.'' And what, 0 Gotama, may that be ? '
`The putting up of a dwelling place (Vihara) on behalf of the Order in all the
four directions.'
25. And is there, O Gotama, any other sacrifice less difficult and less
troublesome, of greater fruit and of greater advantage than each and all of these
three?' 'Yes, 0 Brahman, there is.' ' And what, 0 Gotama, may that be ? '
' He who with trusting heart takes a Buddha as his guide, and the Truth, and
the Order—that is a sacrifice better than open largeses, better than perpetual
alms, better than the gift of a dwelling place.'
26. 'And is there, O Gotama, any other sacrifice less difficult and less
troublesome, of greater fruit and of greater advantage than all these four?’
`When a man with trusting heart takes upon himself the precepts-abstinence
from destroying life; abstinence from taking what has not been
given ; abstinence from evil conduct in respect of lusts ; abstinence from lying
words; abstinence from strong, intoxicating, maddening drinks, the root of
carelessness, that is a sacrifice better than openlargesses, better than perpetual
alms, better than the gift of dwelling places, better than accepting guidance.'
27. `And is there, O Gotama, any other sacrifice less difficult and less
troublesome, of greater fruit and of greater advantage than all these five?' 'Yes,
O Brahman, there is.''And what, 0 Gotama, may that be?'
(The answer is the long passage from the Samana-phale Sutta 40, p. 62 (of
the text,) down to 75 (p. 74) on the First Ghana, as follows :
1. The Introductory paragraphs on the appearance of a Buddha, his preaching,
the conversion of ahearer, and his renunciation of the world.
 2. The Silas (minor morality).
3. The paragraph on Confidence.
4. The paragraph on 'Guarded is the door of his senses.'
5. The paragraph on ' Mindful and self possessed.'
6. The paragraph on Content.
7. The paragraph on Solitude.
8. The paragraph on the Five Hindrances.
9. The description of the First Ghana.) 'This, 0 Brahman, is a sacrifice less
difficult and less troublesome, of greater fruit and greater advantage than the
previous sacrifices,
(The same is then said the Second, Third, and Fourth Ghanas, in succession
(as in the Samannao-phalo Sutas 77-82) and of the Insight arising from
knowledge (ibid 83, 84), and further (omitting direct mention either way of 85-96
inclusive) of the knowledge of the destruction of the Asavas. the deadly
intoxications or floods (ibid. 97-98).
' And there is no sacrifice man can celebrate, 0 Brahman, higher and sweeter
than this.'
28. And when he had thus spoken, Kutadanta the Brahman said to the
Blessed One :
' Most excellent, 0 Gotama, are the words of thy mouth, most excellent ! Just
as if a man were to set up what has been thrown down, or were to reveal that
which has been hidden away, or were to point out the right road to him who has
gone astray, or were to bring a light into the darkness so that those who had
eyes could see external forms—just even so has the truth been made known to
me in many a figure by the Venerable Gotama. I, even I, betake myself to the
Venerable Gotama as my guide, to the Doctrine and the Order. May the
Venerable One accept me as a disciple, as one who, from this day forth, as long
as life endures has taken him as his guide. And I myself, O Gotama,will have the
seven hundred bulls, and the seven hundred steers, and the seven hundred
heifers, and the seven hundred goats, and the seven hundred rams set free. To
them I grant their life. Let them eat green grass and drink fresh water, and may
cool breezes waft around them.'
29. Then the Blessed One discoursed to Kutadanta the Brahman in due order;
that is to say, he spoke to him of generosity, of right conduct, of heaven, of the
danger, the vanity, and the defilement of lusts, of the advantages
of renunciation. And when the Blessed One became aware that Kutadanta the
Brahman had become prepared, softened, unprejudiced, upraised, and believing
in heart then did he proclaim the doctrine the Buddhas alone have won; that is to
say, the doctrine of sorrow, of its origin, of its cessation and of the Path. And just
as a clean cloth, with all stains in it washed away, will readily take the dye, just
even so did Kutadanta the Brahman, even while seated there, obtain the pure
and spotless Eye for the Truth. And he knew whatsoever has a beginning, in that
is inherent also the necessity of dissolution.
30. And then the Brahman Kutadanta, as one who had seen the Truth, had
mastered it, understood it, dived deep down into it. Who had passed beyond
doubt, and put away perplexity and gained full confidence, who had become
dependent on no other for his knowledge of the teaching of the Master,
addressed the Blessed One and said :
` May the venerable Gotama grant me the favour of taking his tomorrow meal
with me and also the members of the Order with him. '
And the Blessed One signified, by silence, his consent. Then the Brahman
Kutadanta, seeing that the Blessed One had accepted, rose from his seat, and
keeping his right towards him as he passed, he departed thence. And at
daybreak he had sweet food, both hard and soft, made ready at the pit prepared
for his sacrifice and had the time announced to the Blessed One: 'It is time, 0
Gotama and the meal is ready. ' And the Blessed One, who had dressed early in
the morning, put on his outer robe, and taking his bowl with him, went with the
brethren to Kutadanta's sacrificial pit, and sat down there on the seat prepared
for him. And Kutadanta the Brahman satisfied the brethren with the Buddha at
their head, with his own hand, with sweet food, both hard and soft, till they
refused any more. And when the Blessed One had finished his meal, and
cleansed the bowl and his hands, Kutadanta the Brahman took a low seat and
seated himself beside him. And when he was thus seated, the Blessed One
instructed and aroused
and incited and gladdened Kutadanta the Brahman with religious
discourse ; and then arose from his seat and departed thence.
V
Thirdly Buddha denounced the caste system. The Caste System in its present
form was not then existing. The bar against inter-dining and inter-marriage had
not then become operative. Things were flexible and not rigid as they are now.
But the principle of inequality which is the basis of the caste system had become
well established and it was against this principle that Buddha carried on a
determined and a bitter fight. How strongly was he opposed to the pretensions of
the Brahmins for superiority over the other classes and how convincing were the
grounds of his opposition are to be found in many of his dialogues. The most
important one of these is known as the AmbatthaSutta.

AMBATTHA SUTTA
(A young Brahman's rudeness and an old one's faith). 1. Thus have I heard.
The Blessed One when once on a tour through the Kosala country with a great
company of the brethren, with about five hundred brethern, arrived at a Brahman
village in Kosala named Ikkhanankala ; and while there he stayed in the
Ikkhanankala Wood.
Now at that time the Brahman Pokkharsadi was dwelling at Ukkattha, a spot
teeming with life, with much grassland and woodla.nd and corn, on a royal
domain, granted him by King Pasenadi of Kosala as royal gift, with power over it
as if he were the king.
2. Now the Brahman Pokkharasadi heard the news : `They say that
the Samana Gotama, of the Sakya clan, who went out from a Sakya family to
adopt the religious life, has now arrived, with a great company of the brethren of
his Order, at lkkhanankala, and is staying there in the lkkhanankala Wood. Now
regarding that venerable Gotama, such is the high reputation that has been
noised abroad. The Blessed One is an Arahat, a fully awakened one, abounding
in wisdom and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as
a guide to mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, a Blessed One,
a Buddha. He, by himself, thoroughly knows and sees, as it were, face to face
this universe, including the worlds above of the gods, the Brahmans, and
the Maras, and the world below with its recluses and Brahmans, its princes and
peoples, and having known it, he makes his knowledge known to others. The
truth, lovely in its origin, lovely in its progress, lovely in its consummation, doth
he proclaim, both in the spirit and in the letter, the higher life doth he make
known, in all its fullness and in all its purity. `And good is it to pay visits
to Arahats like that.' 3. Now at the time a young Brahman,an Ambattha, was a
pupil under Pokkharasadi the Brahman. And he was a repeater (of the sacred
words) knowing the mystic verses by heart, one who had mastered the
Three Vedas, with the indices, the ritual, the phonology, and the exegesis (as a
fourth), and the legends as a fifth learned in the idioms and the grammar, versed
in Lokayatasophistry and in the theory of the signs on the body of a great man—
so recognised an authority in the system of the threefold Vedic knowledge as
expounded by his master, that he could say of him: ' What I know that you know,
and what you know that I know. '.
4. And Pokkharasadi told Ambattha the news, and said : `Come now, dear
Ambattha, go to the Samana Gotama, and find out whether the reputation so
noised abroad regarding him is in accord with the facts or not, whether the
Samana Gotama is such as they say or not '. 5. `But how. Sir, shall I know
whether that is so or not ?' ' There have been handed down, Ambattha, in our
mystic verses thirty-two bodily signs of a great man,—signs which, if a man has,
he will become one of two things, and no other. If he dwells at home he will
become a sovereign of the world, a righteous king, bearing rule even to the
shores of the four great oceans, a conqueror, the protector of his people,
possessor of the seven royal treasures. And these are the seven treasures that
he has the Wheel, the Elephant, the Horse, the Gem, the Woman, the
Treasurer, and the Adviser as a seventh. And he has more than a thousand
sons, heroes, mighty in frame, beating down the armies of the foe. And he
dwells in complete ascendancy over the wide earth from sea to sea, ruling it in
righteousness without the need of baton or of sword. But if he go forth from the
household life into the house less state, then he will become a Buddha who
removes the veil from the eyes of the world. Now I, Ambattha, am a giver of the
mystic verses; you have received them from me. '
6. ' Very good Sir, said Ambattha in reply; and rising from his seat and paying
reverence to Pokkharasadi, he mounted a chariot drawn by mares, and
proceeded, with a retinue of young Brahmans, to the Ikkhanankala Wood. And
when he had gone on in the chariot as far as the road was practicable for
vehicles, he got down, and went on, into the park, on foot.
7. Now at that time a number of the brethren were walking up and down in the
open air. And Ambattha went up to them and said: 'where may the
Venerable Gotama be lodging now? We have come hither to call upon him.'
8. Then the brethren thought: This young Brahman Ambattha is of
distinguished family, and a pupil of the distinguished
Brahman Pokkharasadi. The Blessed One will not find it difficult to hold
conversation with such.' And they said to Ambattha : 'There Gotama is lodging,
where the door is shut, go quietly up and enter the porch gently, and give a
cough, and knock on the crossbar. The Blessed One will open the door for you.'
9. Then Ambattha did so. And the Blessed One opened the door, and
Ambattha entered in. And the other young Brahmans also went in; and they
exchanged with the Blessed One the greetings and compliments of politeness
and courtesy, and took their seats. But Ambattha, walking about, said something
or other of a civil kind in an off-hand way, fidgetting about the while, or standing
up, to the Blessed One sitting there.
10. And the Blessed One said to him ; 'Is that the way, Ambattha, that you
would hold converse with aged teachers, and teachers of your teachers well
stricken in years, as you now do, moving about the while or standing, with me
thus seated ? '
11. `Certainly not, Gotama. It is proper to speak, with a Brahman as one goes
along only when the Brahman himself is walking and standing to a Brahman who
stands, and seated to a Brahman who has taken his seat, or reclining to a
Brahman who reclines. But with shavelings, sham friars, menial black fellows,
the off scouring of our kinsman's heels—with them I would talk as I now do to
you.'
 ' But you must have been wanting something, Ambattha, when you come here.
Turn your thoughts rather to the object you had in view when you came. This
young Brahman Ambattha is ill bred, though he prides himself on his culture ;
what can this come from except from want of training?'
12. Then Ambattha was displeased and angry with the Blessed One at being
called rude; and at the thought that the Blessed One was vexed with him, he
said, scoffing, jeering, and sneering at the Blessed One: ' Rough is
this Sakya breed of yours, Gotama, and rude, touchy is this Sakya breed of
yours and violent. Menials, mere menials, they neither venerate, nor value, nor
esteem, nor give gifts to, nor pay honour to Brahmans. That, Gotama, is neither
fitting, nor is it seemly.' Thus did the young Brahman Ambattha for the first time
charge the Sakyas with being menials.
13. `But in what then, Ambattha, have the Sakyas given you offence? '
Once, Gotama, I had to go to Kapilvastu on some business or other
of Pokkharasadi's, and went into the Sakyas' Congress Hall. Now at that time
there were a number of Sakyas, old and young, seated in the hall on grand
seats, making merry and joking together, nudging one another with their fingers;
and for a truth, methinks, it was I myself that was the subject of their jokes; and
not one of them even offered me a seat. That, Gotama, is neither fitting, nor is it
seemly, that the Sakyas, menials, as they are, mere menials, should neither
venerate, nor value, nor esteem, nor give gifts to, nor pay honour to Brahmams."
Thus did the young Brahman Ambattha for the second time charge the Sakyas
with being menials.
14. ' Why a quail Ambattha, little hen bird tough she be, can say what she likes
in her own nest. And there the Sakyas are at their own home, in Kapilvastu. It is
not fitting for you to take offence at so trifling a thing.'
15. `There are these four grades, Gotama,—the nobles, the Brahmans, the
trades folk, and the work-people. And of these four, three—the nobles, the
trades folk, and workpeople—are, verily, but attendants on the Brahmans. So,
Gotama, that is neither fitting nor is it seemly, that the Sakyas, menials as they
are, mere menials should neither venerate, nor value, nor esteem, nor give gifts
to, nor pay honour to the Brahmans.'
1* Thus did the young Brahman Ambattha for the third time charged
the sakyes with being menials.
16. Then the Blessed One thought thus: ' This Ambattha is very set on
humbling the Sakyas with his charge of servile origin. What if I were to ask him
as to his own lineage.'And he said to him:
`And what family do you then, Ambattha, belong to?' ' Yes, but if one were to
follow up your ancient name and lineage, Ambattha, on the father's and the
mother's side, it would appear that the Sakyas were once your masters, and that
you are the offspring of one of their slave girls. But the Sakyas trace their line
back to Okkaka the kings.'
' Long ago, Ambattha, King Okkaka, wanting to divert the succession in favour
of the son of his favourite queen, banished his elder children-
Okkamukha, Karanda,Hatthinika, and Sinipura-from the land. And being thus
banished they took up their dwelling on the slopes of the Himalaya, on the
borders of a lake where a mighty oak tree grew. And through fear of injuring the
purity of their line they intermarried with their sisters.
Now Okkaka the king asked the ministers at his court : "Where, Sirs, are the
children now?"
'There is a spot, Sire, on the slopes of the Himalaya, on the borders of a lake,
where there grows a mighty oak (sako). There do they dwell. And lest they
should injure the purity of their line they have married their own (sakahi) sisters.'
' Then did Okkaka the king burst forth in admiration: "Hearts of oak (sakya) are
those young fellows! Right well they hold their own (parama sakya)! "
`That is the reason, Ambattha, why they are known as Sakyas. Now Okkaka
had slave girl called Disa. She gave birth to a black baby. And no sooner was it
born than the little black thing said, "Wash me, mother. Bathe me, mother. Set
me free, mother of this dirt. So shall I be of use to you."
Now, just as now, Ambattha, people call devils, "devils", so then they called
devils. "black fellows" (kanhe). And they said, "This fellow spoke as soon as he
was born.' Tis a black thing (Kanha) that is born, a devil has been born! " And
that is the origin, Ambattha, of the Kanhayanas. He was the ancestor of
the Kanhayanas. And thus is it, Ambattha, that if one were to follow up your
ancient name and lineae, on the father's and on the mother's side, it would
appear that the Sakyas were once your masters, and that you are the offspring
of one of their slave girls.'
17. When he had thus spoken the young Brahmans said to the Blessed One : '
Let not the Venerable Gotama, humble Ambattha too sternly with this reproach
of being descended from a slave girl. He is well born, Gotama, and of good
family; he is versed in the sacred hymns, an able reciter, a learned man. And he
is able to give answer to the Venerable Gotama in these matters.
18. Then the Blessed One said to them: Quite so. If you thought otherwise,
then it would be for you to carry on our discussion further. But as you think so,
let Ambattha himself speak.'
19. ' We do not think so ; and we will hold our peace. Ambattha is able to give
answer to the venerable Gotama in these matters.'
20. Then the Blessed One said to Ambattha the Brahman: `Then this further
question arises, Ambattha, a very reasonable one which even though
unwillingly, you should answer. If you do not give a clear reply, or go off upon
another issue, or remain silent, or go away, then your head will split in pieces on
the spot. What have you heard, when Brahmans old and well stricken in years,
teachers of yours or their teachers, were talking together, as to whence the
Kanhayanas draw their origin, and who the ancestor was to whom they trace
themselves back? '
And when he had thus spoken Ambattha remained silent. And the Blessed
One asked the same question again. And still Ambattha remained silent. Then
the Blessed One said to him: ' You had better answer, now, Ambattha. This is no
time for you to hold your peace. For whosoever, Ambattha, does not, even up to
the third time of asking,answer a reasonable question put by a Tathagata (by
one who has won the truth), his head splits into pieces on the spot.'
21. Now at that time the spirit who bears the thunderbolt stood over above
Ambattha in the sky with a mighty mass of iron, all fiery, dazzling, and aglow,
with the intention, if he did not answer, there and then to split his head in pieces.
And the Blessed One perceived the spirit bearing the thunderbolt, and so did
Ambattha the Brahman. And Ambattha on becoming aware of it,
terrified, startled, and agitated, seeking safety and protection and help from
the Blessed One, crouched down besides him in awe, and said : 'What was it
the Blessed One said ? Say it once again ! '
`What do you think. Ambattha? What have you heard, when Brahmans old and
well stricken in years, teachers of yours or their teachers, were talking
together, as to whence the Kanhayanas draw their origin, and who the ancestor
was to whom they trace themselves back?'
`Just so, Gotama, did I hear, even as the Venerable Gotama hath said. That is
the origin of the Kanhayana, and that the ancestor to whom they trace
themselves back.'
22. And when he had thus spoken the young Brahmans fell into tumult, and
uproar, and turmoil: and said : `Low born they say, is Ambattha the Brahman: his
family, they say is not of good standing: they say he is descended from a slave
girl: and the Sakyas were his masters. We did not suppose that
the Samana Gotama whose words are righteousness itself, was not a man to
be trusted! '
23. And the Blessed One thought: 'They go too far these Brahmans in their
depreciation of Ambattha as the offspring of a slave girl. Let me set him free
from their reproach.And he said to them : Be not too severe in disparaging
Ambattha the Brahman on the ground of his descent. That Kanha became a
mighty seer. He went into the Dekkanthere he learnt mystic verses, and
returning to Okkaka the king, he demanded his daughter Madda-rupi in
marriage, To him the king in answer said: "Who forsooth is this fellow who son of
my slave girl as he is asks for my daughter in marriage :" and angry and
displeased, he fitted an arrow to his bow. But neither could he let the arrow fly
nor could he take it off the string again.
Then the ministers and courtiers went to Kanha the seer, and said : "et the
king go safe, Sir, let the king go safe."
"The king shall suffer no harm. But should he shoot the arrow downwards, then
would the earth dry up as far as his realm extends." " Let the king, Sir, go safe,
and the country too." "The king shall suffer no harm, nor his land. But should he
shoot the arrow upwards, the god would not rain for seven years as far as his
realm extends."
" Let the king, Sir, go safe, and the country too." "The king shall suffer no harm
nor his land. But should he shoot the arrow upwards, the god would not rain for
seven years as far as his realm extends."
"Let the king, Sir, go safe, and the country too: and let the god rain."
"The king shall suffer no harm, nor the land either, and the god shall rain. But
let the king aim the arrow at his eldest son. The prince shall suffer no harm, not
a hair of him shall be touched."
'Then, O Brahmans, the ministers told this to Okkaka, and said: " Let the king
aim at his eldest son. He will suffer neither harm nor terror." And the king did so,
and no harmwas done. But the king, terrified at the lesson given him, gave the
man his daughter Madda-rupi as wife. You should not, 0 Brahmans, be too
severe to disparage Ambattha in the matter of his slave-girl ancestry. That
Kanha was a mighty seer.'
24. Then the Blessed One said to Ambattha : 'What think you, Ambattha?
Suppose a young Kshatriya should have connection with a Brahman maiden,
and from their intercourse a son should be born. Now would the son thus come
to the Brahman maiden through the Kshatriya youth receive a seat and water
(as token of respect) from the Brahmans? ` Yes, he would. Gotama.'
` But would the Brahmans allow him to partake of the feast offered to the dead.
or of the food boiled in milk. or of the offerings to the gods. or of food sent as a
present ? ' ` Yes. they would Gotama. '
`But would the Brahmans teach him their verses or not?’ 'They would
Gotama.' 'But would he be shut off or not from their women?' ' He would not
be shut off.'
` But would the Kshatriyas allow him to receive the consecration ceremony of
a Kshatriya?' 'Certainly not Gotama.'
Because he is not of pure descent on the mother's side.' 25. 'Then what think
you Ambattha? Suppose a Brahman youth should have connection with
a Kshatriya maiden,and from their intercourse a son should be born. Now would
the son come to the Kshatriya maiden through the Brahman youth receive a seat
and water (as token of respect) from the Brahmans ? ' 'Yes, he would, Gotama.'
 ' But would the Brahmans allow him to partake of the feast offered to the dead,
or of food boiled in milk, or of an offering to the gods, or of food sent as a
present? ' ' Yes, they would, Gotama.'
' But would the Brahmans teach him their verses or not ?' 'They would,
Gotama.'
' But would the Kshatriyas allow him to receive the consecration ceremony of a
Kshatriya. ' `Certainly not, Gotama.' 'Why not that ?'
' Because he is not of pure descent on the father's side.' 26. ' Then, Ambattha,
whether one compares women with women, or men with men,
the Kshatriyas are higher and the Brahmans inferior.
' And what think you, Ambattha ? Suppose the Brahmans, for some offence or
other, were to outlaw a Brahman by shaving him and pouring ashes over his
head, were to banish him from the land from the township. Would he be offered
a seat or water among the Brahmans ? ' ' Certainly not, Gotama.'
' Or would the Brahmans allow him to partake of the food offered to the dead,
or of the food boiled in milk, or of the offerings to the gods, or of food sent as a
present ? ' ' Certainly not, Gotama.'
' Or would the Brahmans teach him their verses or not ? ' `Certainly not,
Gotama.'
`And would he be shut off, or not, from their women ?' 'He would be shut off.'
27. `But what think you, Ambattha? If the Kshatriyas had in the same way
outlawed a Kshatriya and banished him from the land or the township, would he,
among the Brahmans, be offered water and a seat ? ' `Yes, he would, Gotama.'
' And would he be allowed to partake of the food offered to the dead, or of the
food boiled in milk, or of the offerings to the gods. or of food sent as a present ?'
`He would, Gotama.'
`And would the Brahmans teach him their verses ?' 'They would, Gotama?
`And would he beshut off, or not from their women ?' ' He would not, Gotama.'
` But thereby, Ambattha, the Kshatriya would have fallen into the deepest
degradation, shaven as to his head, cut dead with the ash-basket, banished
from land and townships. So that, even when a Kshatriya has fallen into the
deepest degradation, still it holds good that the Kshatriyas are higher, and the
Brahmans inferior.
28. ' Moreover it was one of the Brahma gods, Sanam-kumara, who uttered
this stanza.'
"The Kshatriya is the best of those among this folk who put their trust in
lineage.
But he who is perfect in wisdom and righteousness, he is the best among gods
and men."
 `Now this stana, Ambattha, was well sung and not ill sung by the
Brahma Sanam-kumara well said and not ill said full of meaning and not void
thereof. And I too approve it, ` I also ' Ambattha says:
"The Kshatriya is the best of those among this folk who put their trust in
lineage,
But he who is perfect in wisdom and righteousness, he is the best among gods
and men."

HERE ENDS THE FIRST PORTION FOR RECITATION

1. `But what Gotama is the righteousness and what the wisdom spoken of in
that verse?'
`In the supreme perfection in wisdom and righteousness, Ambattha. there is no
reference to the question either of birth, or of lineage, or of the pride which
says: " You are held as worthy as I ", or " You are not held as worthy as I". It is
where the talk is of marrying, or giving in marriage, that reference is made to
such things as that. For whosoever, Ambattha, are in bondage to the notions of
birth or of lineage, or to the pride of social position, or of
connection by marriage. They are far from the best wisdom andrighteousness. It
is only by having got rid of all such bondage that one can realise for himself that
supreme perfection in wisdom and in conduct.
2. `But what Gotama is that conduct, and what that wisdom ?' [Here
follow, under 'Morality' (Sila)]
The introductory paragraphs (40 42 of the 'Samanaphala' pp. 62. 63 of
the text) on the appearance of a Buddha, his preaching the conversion of a
hearer, and his renunciation of the world: then come,
1. The Silas above pp. 4-12 (8-27) of the text. Only the refrain differs. It runs
here, at the end of each clause, through the whole of this repeated passage:
`This is reckoned in him as morality.' Then under 'Conduct' (Karuna).
2. The paragraph on `Confidence,' above, p. 69 of the text 63. The refrain from
here onwards. This is reckoned to him as conduct.
3. The paragraph on `Guarded is the door of the senses' above. p. 70 of the
text, 64.
4. The paragraph on `Mindful and self-possessed,' above, p. 70 of the text 65.
5. The paragraph on `Content,' above. p. 71 of the text, 66.
6. The paragraph on `Solitude,' above, p. 71 of the text, 67.
7. The paragraphs on the ' Five Hindrances,' above pp, 71-2 of the text, 68-74.
8. The paragraphs on the `Four Rapt Contemplations' above, 73-76, pp. 75-82.
The refrain at the end of each of them (' higher and better than the last ') is here
of course, to be read not as higher fruit of the life of a recluse, but as higher
conduct.
 UNDER WISDOM (VIGGA)
9. The Paragraphs on `Insight arising from Knowledge' (Nana-
dassanam), above, p. 76 of the text, 83, 84. The refrain from here onwards is:
`This is reckoned in him as wisdom, and it is higher and sweeter than the last.'
10. The paragraphs on the ' Mental Image,'above, p. 77 of the text 85, 86.
11. The paragraphs on `Mystic Gifts' (lddhi), above, p. 77 of the text, 87, 88.
12. The paragrphs on the ' Heavenly Ear' (Dibbasota), above p. 79 of the text,
89, 90.
13. The paragraphs on ' Knowledge of the hearts of others ' (Kato-pariya-
nanam) above p. 79 of the text 91, 92.
14. The paragraphs on `Memory of one's own previous births' (Pubbe-nivasa-
anussati-nama) above, p. 81 of the text, 93, 94.
15. The paragraph on the `Divine Eye' (Dibbakakkhu), above, p. 82 of the text,
95, 96.
16. The paragraphs on the `Destruction of the Deadly
Floods' (Asavanam Khaya-nanam), above, p. 83 of the text. 97, 98.
' Such a man, Ambattha, is said to be perfect in wisdom, perfect in conduct,
perfect in wisdom and conduct. And there is no other perfection in wisdom and
conduct higher and sweeter than this.'
3. `Now, Ambattha, to this supreme perfection in wisdom and goodness there
are Four Leakages. And what are the four?’
`In case, Ambattha any recluse or Brahman, without having thoroughly
attained unto this supreme perfection in wisdom and conduct, with his yoke on
his shoulder (to carry fire-sticks, a water-pot, needles, and the rest of a
mendicant friar's outfit), should plunge into the depths of the forest, vowing to
himself: "I will henceforth be one of those who live only on fruits that have fallen
of themselves "— then, verily, he turns that out worthy only to be a servant unto
him that hath attained to wisdom and rightsouness.'
`And again, Ambattha in case any recluse or Brahman, without having
thoroughly attained unto this supreme perfection in wisdom and conduct, and
without having attained to living only on fruits fallen of themselves, taking
a hoe and a basket with him, should plunge into the depths of the forest, vowing
to himself: "I will henceforth be one of those who live only on bulbs and roots of
fruits." Then, verily he turns out worthy only to be a servant unto him who hath
attained to wisdom and righteousness.'
`And again Ambattha in case any recluse or Brahman without having
thoroughly attained unto this supreme perfection in wisdom and
conduct, and without having attained to living only on fruits fallen of themselves,
and without having attained to living only on bulbs and roots and fruits, should
build himself a fire shrine near the boundaries of some village or some town and
there dwell serving the fire-god, then verily he turns out worthy only to be a
servant unto him that hath attained to wisdom and righteousness.'
`And again Ambattha in case any recluse or Brahman without having
thoroughly attained unto this supreme perfection in wisdom and conduct, and
without having attained to living only on fruits fallen of themselves, and without
having attained to living only on bulbs and roots and fruits, and without having
attained to serving the fire-god, should build himself a foundered almshouse at a
crossing where four high roads meet, and dwell' there, saying to
himself: "Whosoever, whether recluse or Brahman shall pass here, from either
of these four directions, him will I entertain according to my ability and according
to my power—then, verily, he turns out worthy only to be a servant unto him who
hath attained to wisdom and righteousness.'
`These are the Four Leakage, Ambattha, to supreme perfection in
righteousness and conduct.'
4. `Now what think you, Ambattha? Have you, as one of a class of pupils under
the same teacher, been instructed in this supreme perfection of wisdom and
conduct ? '
Not that, Gotama. How little is it that I can profess to have learnt! How
supreme this perfection of wisdom and conduct! Far is it from me to have been
trained therein?’
'Then what think you, Ambattha? Although you have not thoroughly attained
unto this supreme perfection of wisdom and goodness, have you been trained to
take the yoke upon your shoulders. and plunge into the depths of the forest as
one who would fain observe the vow of living only on fruits fallen of
themselves ?' `Not even that, Gotama'.
`Then what think you Ambattha? Althougn you have not attained unto this
supreme perfection of wisdom and goodness, nor have attained to living on fruits
fallen of themselves, have you been trained to take hoe and basket, and plunge
into the depths of the forest as one who would fain observe the vow of living only
on bulbs and roots and fruits? ' 'Not even that, Gotama'
`Then what think you, Ambattha? Althougn you have not attained unto this
supreme perfection of wisdom and goodness, and have not attained to living on
fruits fallen of themselves, and have not attained to living on bulbs and roots and
fruits, have you been taught to build yourself a fire-shrine on the borders of
some village or some town. and dwell there as one who would fain serve the
fire-god ?' 'Not even that, Gotama.'
' Then what think you, Ambattha ? Although you have not attained unto this
supreme perfection of wisdom and goodness, and have not attained to living on
fruits fallen of themselves, and have not attained to living on bulbs and roots and
fruits, and have not attained to serving the firegod, have you been taught to build
yourself a four-dooredalmshouse at a spot where four high roads cross, and
dwell there as one who would fain observe the vow to entertain whosoever might
pass that way, from any of the four directions, according to your ability and
according to your power ?' ' Not even that, Gotama.'
5. ' So then you, Ambattha, as a pupil, have fallen short of due training, not
only in the supreme wisdom and conduct, but even in any one of the Four
Leakages by which the complete attainment thereof is debarred. And your
teacher too, the Brahman Pokkharasadi, has told you this saying : "Who are
these shavelings, sham friars, menial black fellows, the offscouring of our
kinsman's heels, that they should claim converse with Brahmans versed in the
threefold Vedic Lore! "he himself not having even fulfilled any one even of these
lesser duties (which lead men to neglect the higher ones). See, Ambattha, how
deeply your teacher the Brahman Pokkharasadi has herein done you wrong.'
6. 'And the Brhman Pokkharasadi Ambattha, is in the enjoyment of a grant
from Pasenadi, the king of Kosala. But the king does not allow him to come into
his presence. When he consults with him he speaks to him only from behind a
curtain. How is it, Ambattha, that the very King, from whom he accepts this pure
and lawful maintenance, KingPasendadi of Kosala, does not admit him to his
presence? See, Ambattha, how deeply your teacher the Brahman Pokkharasadi,
has herein done you wrong.'
7. ` Now what think you, Ambattha ? Suppose a king, either seated on the
neck of his elephant or on the back of his horse, or standing on the footrug of his
chariot, should discuss some resolution of state with his chiefs or princes, and
suppose as he left the spot and stepped on one side, a workman (Sudra) or the
slave of a workman should come up and. standing there, should discuss the
matter, saying: "Thus and thus said Pasendadi the King." Although he should
speak as the king might have spoken, or discuss as the king might have done,
would he thereby be the king, or even as one of his officers ? ' 'Certainly
not, Gotama.'
8. `But just so, Ambattha, those ancient poets (Rishis) of the Brahmans, the
authors of the verses, the utterers of the verses whose ancient form of words so
chanted, uttered, or composed the Brahmans of to-day chant over again and
rehearse, intoning or reciting exactly as has been intoned or recited—to
wit, Atthaka, Vamaka, Vamadeva,
Yamataggi, Angirasa, Bharadvaja, Vasettha, Vessamitta, Kassapa, and Bhagu
—though you can say : ' I as a pupil know by heart their verses `that you should
on that account by a Rishi, or have attained to the state of a Rishi—such a
condition of things has no existence! '
 9. `Now what think you, Ambattha? What have you heard when Brahmans. old
and well stricken in years, teachers of yours of their teachers, were talking
together—did those ancient Rishis whose verses you so chant over and repeat,
parade about well groomed, perfumed, trimmed as to their hair and beard
adorned with garlands and gems, clad in white garments, in the full possession
and enjoyment of the five pleasures of sense, as you and your teacher too, do
now ?' 'Not that, Gotama.'
' Or did they live, as their food, on boiled rice of the best sorts, from which all
the black specks had been sought out and removed, and flavoured with sauces
and curries of various kind as you, and your teacher too, do now ? ' `Not that,
Gotama.'
Or were they waited upon by women with fringes and furbelows round their
loins, as you, and your teacher too, do now?
` Or did they go about driving chariots, drawn by mares with plaited manes and
tails, using long wands and goads the while, as you and your teacher too, do
now?' 'Not thatGotama."
`Or did they have themselves guarded in fortified towns, with moats dug out
round them and crossbars let down before the gates, by men girt with long
swords, as you, and your teacher too, do now?’ ' Not that Gotama.'
10. `So then, Ambattha, neither are you a Rishi, nor your teacher, nor do you
live under the conditions under which the Rishis lived. But whatsoever it may be,
Ambattha, concerning which you are in doubt or perplexity about me, ask me as
to that, I will make it clear by explanation.'
11.. Then the Blessed One went forth from his chamber, and began to walk up
and down that Ambattha did the same. And as he thus walked up and down,
following the Blessed One, he took stock of the thirty-two signs of a great man,
whether they appeared on the body of the Blessed One or not. And he perceived
them all save only two. With respect to those two—the concealed member and
the extent of tongue—he was in doubt and perplexity, not satisfied not sure.
12. And the Blessed One knew that he was so in doubt. And he so arranged
matters by his Wondrous Gift that Ambattha the Brahman saw how that part of
the Blessed One that ought to be hidden by clothes was enclosed in a sheath.
And the Blessed One so bent round his tongue that he touched and stroked both
his ears, touched and stroked both his nostrils, and the whole circumstance of
his forehead he covered with his tongue.
And Ambattha, the young Brahman, thought: `The Samana Gotama is
endowed with the thirty-two signs of a great man, with them all, not only with
some of them.' And he said to the Blessed One : ' And now, Gotama, we would
fain depart. We are busy and have much to do.'
`Do Ambattha, what seemed to you fit.'
 And Ambattha mounted his chariot drawn by mares, and departed thence.
13. Now at that time the Brahman Pokkharasadi had gone forth from
Ukkattha with a great retinue of Brahmans, and was seated in his
own pleasance waiting there for Ambattha. And Ambattha came on to the
pleasance. And when he had come in his chariot as far as the path was
practicable for chariots, he descended from it, and came on foot to where
Pokkharasadi was, and saluted him, and look his seat respectfully on one side.
And when he was so seated, Pokkharasadi said to him.
14. `Well. Ambattha! Did you see the Blessed One ?' ' Yes, Sir, we saw him.'
`Well! is the Venerable Gotama so as the reputation about him I told you of
declares, and not otherwise. Is he such a one, or is he not ?'
`He is so, Sir, as his reputation declares, and not otherwise. Such is he, not
different. And he is endowed with the thirty-two signs of a great man, with all of
them, not only with some.' ' And did you have any talk, Ambattha, with
the Samana Gotama ?' 'Yes, Sir, I had.' 'And how did the talk go?'
Then Ambattha told the Brahman Pokkharasadi all the talk that he had with the
Blessed One.
15. When he had thus spoken, Pokkharasadi said to him : `Oh, you
wiseacre! Oh! you dullard! Oh! you expert, forsooth, in our
threefold Vedic Lore! A man, they say, who should carry out his business thus,
must, on the dissolution of the body, after death, be reborn into some dismal
state of misery and woe. What could the very points you pressed in your insolent
words lead up to, if not to the very disclosures the venerable Gotama made?
What a wiseacre, what a dullard : what an expert, forsooth, in our threefold
Vedic lore!' And angry and displeased, he struck out with his foot, and rolled
Ambattha over. And he wanted, there and then, himself to go and call on the
Blessed One.
1. But the Brahmanas there spake thus to Pokkharasadi: `It is much too late.
Sir, today to go to call on the Samana Gotama. The venerable Pokkharasadi can
do so tomorrow.
So Pokkharasadi had sweet food, both hard and soft, made ready at his own
house, and taken on wagons, by the light of blazing torches, out
to Ukkattha. And he himself went on to the Ikkhanankala Wood, driving in his
chariot as far as the road was practicable for vehicles and then going on foot, to
where the Blessed One was. And when he had exchanged with the Blessed One
the greetings and compliments of politeness and courtesy, he took his seat on
one side, and said to the Blessed One :
17. ' Has our pupil Gotama the young Brahman Ambattha, been here ? ' `Yes.
Brahman, he has.'
`And did you, Gotama, have any talk with him?’ ' Yes. Brahman, I had.'
 `And on what wise was the talk that you had with him ?' 18. Then the Blessed
One told the Brahman Pokkharasadi all the talk that had taken place. And when
he had thus spoken Pokkharasadi said to the Blessed One :
`He is young and foolish, Gotama, that young Brahman Ambattha. Forgive
him. Gotama''
`Let him be quite happy, Brahman, that young Brahman Ambattha' 19. And the
Brahman Pokkharasadi took stock, on the body of the Blessed One, of the thirty
two marks of a Great Being. And he saw them all plainly, save only two. As to
two of them the sheath concealed member and the extensive tongue he was still
in doubt and undecided. But the Blessed One showed them to Pokkharasadi,
even as he had shown them to Ambattha. And Pokkharasadi perceived
that the Blessed One was endowed with the thirty two marks of a Great
Being, with all of them, not only with some. And he said to the Blessed
One: `May the venerable Gotama grant me the favour of taking his tomorrow's
meal with me and also the members of the Order with him ' And the Blessed
One accepted, by silence, his request.
20. Then the Brahman Pokkharasadi seeing that the Blessed One had
accepted, had (on the morrow) the time announced to him : `It is time. Oh
Gotama, the meal is ready.' And the Blessed One who had dressed in the early
morning, put on his outer robe, and taking his bowl with him, went with the
brethren to Pokkharasadi's house, and sat down on the seat prepared for him.
And Pokkharasadi the Brahman. satisfied the Blessed One, with his own hand
with sweet food, both hard and soft, until he refused any more, and the
young Brahmans the members of the Order. And when the Blessed One had
finished his meal, and cleansed the bowl and his hands, Pokkharasadi took a
low seat, and sat down beside him.
21. Then to him thus seated the Blessed One discoursed in due order ; that is
to say he spoke to him of generosity, of right conduct, of heaven, of the danger,
the vanity, and the defilement of lusts, of the advantages of renunciation. And
when the Blessed One saw that Pokkharasadi the Brahman, had become
prepared, softened, unprejudiced, upraised, and believing in heart, then he
proclaimed the doctrine the Buddhas alone have won ; that is to say,
the doctrine of sorrow, of its origin, of its cessation, and of the Path. And just as
a clean cloth from which all stain has been washed away will readily take the
dye, just even so did Pokkharasadi the Brahman, obtain, even while sitting
there, the pure and spotless Eye for the Truth, and he knew: `Whatsoever has a
beginning in that is inherent also the necessity of dissolution.'
22. And then the Brahman Pokkarasadi as one who had seen the Truth, had
mastered it, understood it, dived deep down into it, who had passed beyond
doubt and put away perplexity and gained full confidence, who had become
dependent on no other man for his knowledge of the teaching of the Master,
addressed the Blessed One and said :
`Most excellent Oh Gotama (are the words of thy mouth), most
excellent! Just as if a man were to set up that which has been thrown down, or
were to reveal that which has been hidden away, or were to point out the right
road to him who has gone astray, or were to bring a light into the darkness so
that those who had eyes could see external forms,—just even so, Lord, has the
truth been made known to me, in many a figure, by the venerable Gotama. And
I, Oh Gotama, with my sons, and my wife, and my people, and my companions,
betake myself to the venerable Gotama as my guide, to the truth, and to the
Order. May the venerable Gotama accept me as a disciple, as one who from this
day forth, as long as life endures, has taken him as his guide. And just as the
venerable Gotama visits the families of others, his disciples at Ukkatha, so let
him visit mine. Whosoever there may be there, of Brahmans or their wives, who
shall pay reverence to the venerable Gotama or stand up in his presence, or
offer him a seat or water, or take delight in him, to him that will be for long, a
cause of weal and bliss.'
'It is well, Brahman, what you say.' Here ends the Ambattha Sutta.
VI
In the matter of his opposition to Caste, Buddha practised what he preached.
He did what the Aryan Society refused to do. In the Aryan Society the Shudra or
low caste man could never become a Brahman. But Buddha not only preached
against caste but admitted the Shudra and the low caste to the rank of
a Bhikku who held the same rank in Buddhism as the Brahman did
in Brahmanism. As Rhys Davis points out: (Quotation not given)
In the first place, as regards his own Order, over which alone he had complete
control, he ignores completely and absolutely all advantages or disadvantages
arising from birth, occupation, and social status, and sweeping away all barriers
and disabilities arising from the arbitrary rules of mere ceremonial or social
impurity.
One of the most distinguished members of his Order, the very one of them
who was referred to as the chief authority after Gotama himself, on the rules of
the Order, wasUpali, who had formerly been a barber. one of the despised
occupations. So Sunita, one of the brethren whose verses are chosen for
insertion in the Thera Gatha, was aPukkusa. one of the low tribes. Sati, the
profounder of a deadly heresy, was of the sons of the fisher folk, afterwards a
low caste, and even then an occupation, on account of its cruelty, particularly
abhorred. Nanda was a cowherd. The two Panthakas were born out of wedlock,
to a girl of good family through intercoure with a slave (so that by the rule laid
down in Manu 31. they were actually outcasts). Kapa was the daughter of
a deer-stalker, Punna and Punnika had been slave girls. Sumangalamata was
daughter and wife to workers in rushes, and Subha was the daughter of a smith.
More instances could doubtless be quoted and others will become known when
more texts are published.
It does not show much historical insight to sneer at the numbers as small, and
to suggest that the supposed enlightenment or liberality was mere pretence. The
facts speak for themselves; and the percentage of low-born members of the
Order was probably in fair proportion to the percentage of persons belonging to
the despised jatis and sippasas compared with the rest of the population. Thus
of the Theris mentioned in the Theri Gatha we know the social position of
sixty, of whom five are mentioned above that is, 81/2 per cent of the whole
number were base-born. It is most likely that this is just about the proportion
which persons in similar social rank bore to the rest of the population.
Just as Buddha levelled up the position of the Shudras and the low caste men
by admitting them to the highest rank namely that of Bhikkus, he also levelled up
the position ofwomen. In the Aryan Society women were placed on the
same position as the Shudras and in all Aryan literature women and Shudras are
spoken of together as persons belonging to the same status. Both of them were
denied the right to take Sanyas as Sanyas was the only way open to salvation.
Women and Shudras were beyond salvation. Buddha broke this Aryan rule in
the case of women as he did in the case of the Shudras. Just as a Shudra could
become a Bhikku so a woman could become a nun. This was taking her to the
highest status then conceivable in the eyes of the Aryan Society.
Another issue on which Buddha fought against the leaders of the Aryan
Society was the issue of the Ethies of teachers and teaching. The leaders of the
Aryan Society held the view that learning and education was the privilege of the
Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. The Shudras were not entitled to education.
They insisted that it would be danger to social order if they taught women or any
males not twice-born. Buddha repudiated this Aryan doctrine. As pointed out
by Rhys Davis on this question is "That everyone should be allowed to learn;
that everyone, having certain abilities, should be allowed to teach ; and that, if
he does teach, he should teach all to all ; keeping nothing back, shutting no one
out." In this connection reference may be made to the dialogue between Buddha
and the Brahman Lohikka and which is known as the Lohikka Sutta.
LOHIKKA SUTTA
(Some points in the Ethics of Teaching)
1. Thus have I heard. The Exalted One, when once passing on a tour through
the Kosala districts with a great multitude of the members of the Order, with
about five hundredBhikshus, arrived at Salavatika. (Village surrounded by a row
of Sala trees). Now at that time Lohikka the Brahman was established at
Salavatika, a spot teeming with life, with much grassland and woodland and
corn, on a royal domain granted him by King Pasenadi of Kosala, as a royal
gift, with power over it as if he were the king.
2. Now at that time Lohikka the Brahman was thinking of harbouring the
following wicked view; `Suppose that a Samana or a Brahmana have reached
up to some good state (of mind), then he should tell no one else about it. For
what can one man do for another? To tell others would be like the man who,
having broken through an old bond, should entangle himself in a new one. Like
that, I say, is this (desire to declare to others) ; it is a form of lust. For what can
one man do for another?'
Now Lohikka the Brahman heard the news: `They say that
the Samana Gotama, of the sons of the Sakyas, who went out from
the Sakya clan to adopt the religious life, has now arrived, with a great company
of the brethren of his Order, on his tour through the Kosala districts, at
Salavatika. Now regarding that venerable Gotama, such is the high reputation
that has been noised abroad : that Exalted One is an Arhat, fully awakened,
abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the
worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods
and men, an exalted one, a Buddha. He, by himself thoroughly knows, and sees
as it were face to face. This universe-including the worlds above of the gods,
the Brahmans and the Maras ; and the world below with
its Samanas and Brahmans. Its princes and peoples and having known it, he
makes his knowledge known to others. The truth, lovely in its origin, lovely in its
progress, lovely in consummation, doth he proclaim both in the spirit
and in the letter. The higher life doth he make known in all its fullness, and in
all its purity. And good is it to pay visists to Arhats like that.'
4. Then Lohikka the Brahman said to Bhesika the barber, 'Come now, good
Bhesika, go where the Samana Gotama is staying, and on your arrival, ask in
my name as to whether his sickness and indisposition as abated, as to his
health and vigour and condition of ease; and speak thus : "May the venerable
Gotama, and with him the brethren of the order, accept the tomorrow's meal
from Lohikka the Brahman."
5. 'Very well, Sir, 'said Bhesika the barber, acquiescing in the word of Lohikka
the Brahman and did so even as he had been enjoined. And the Exalted One
consented, by silence, to his request.
6. And when Bhesika the barber perceived that the Exalted One had
consented, he rose from his seat and passing the Exalted One with his right
hand towards him, went to Lohikka the Brahman, and on his arrival spake to him
thus :
 'We addressed that Exalted One. Sir. in your name, even as you commanded.
And the Exalted One hath consented to come.'
7. Then Lohikka the Brahman, when the night had passed made ready at his
own dwelling place sweet food, both hard and soft, a.nd said to Bhesika the
barber: 'Come now, good Bhesika, go where the Samana Gotama is staying,
and on your arrival, announce the time to him, saying : " It is time, O Gotama,
and the meal is ready."
' Very well, Sir ', said Bhesika the barber in assent to the words of Lohikka the
Brahman: and did so even as he had been enjoined.
And the Exalted One, who had robed himself early in the morning, went robed,
and carrying his bowl with him, with the brethren of the Order,
towards Salavatika.
8. Now, as he went, Bhesika the barber walked step by step, behind the
Exalted One. And he said to him :
'The following wicked opinion has occurred to Lohikka the Brahman
; "Suppose that a Samana or a Brahmana have reached up to some good state
(of mind), then he should tell no one else about it. For what can one man do for
another? To tell others would be like the man who, having broken through an old
bond, should entangle himself in a new one. Like that, I say, is this (desire to
declare to others) ; it is a form of lust", Twere well. Sir, if the Exalted One would
disabuse his mind thereof. For what can one man do for another ?'
'That may well be, Bhesika, that may well be.' 9. And the Exalted One went on
to the dwelling-place of Lohikka the Brahman, and sat down on the seat
prepared for him. And Lohikka the Brahman satisfied the Order, with the Buddha
at its head, with his own hand, with sweet food both hard and soft, until they
refused any more. And when the Exalted One had finished his meal, and had
cleansed the bowl and his hands, Lohikka the Brahman brought a low seat and
sat down beside him. And to him, thus seated the Exalted One spake as
follows:
` Is it true what they say, Lohikka, that the following wicked opinion has arisen
in your mind ; (and he set forth the opinion as above set I
forth)?' 'That is so Gotarna.'
10. 'Now what think you, Lohikka? Are you not etablished at Salavatika ? '
`Yes. that is so, Gotama.'
`Then suppose, Lohikka. one were to speak thus: "Lohikka the Brahman has
domain at Salavatika. Let him alone enjoy all the revenue and all the produce of
Salavatika, allowing nothing to anybody else! "Would the utterer of that speech
be danger-maker as touching the men who live in dependance upon you, or
not?' 'He would be danger-maker, Gotama'
 And making that danger, would he be a person who sympathised with their
welfare, or not?'
' He would not be considering their welfare, Gotama.' ' And not considering
their welfare, would his heart stand fast in love towards them. or in enmity ?' ' In
enmity. Gotama.'
' But when one's heart stands fast in enmity, is that unsound doctrine, or
sound?' ' It is unsound doctrine, Gotama.'
' Now if a man hold unsound doctrine, Lohikka, I declare that one of two future
births will be his lot, either purgatory or rebirth as an animal.'
11. `Now what think you Lohikka? Is not King Pasenadi of Kosala in
possession of Kasi and Kosala?' ' Yes. that is so. Gotama.'
`Then suppose, Lohikka. one were to speak thus : ' King Pasenadi of Kosala is
in possession of Kasi and Kosala. Let him enjoy all the revenue and all the
produce of Kasi and Kosala, allowing nothing to anybody else." Would the
utterer of that speech be a danger-maker as touching the men who live in
dependence on King Pasenadi of Kosala both you yourself and others or not ?'
' He would be danger-maker Gotama.'
`And making that danger, would he be a person who sympathised with their
welfare, or not?'
' He would not be considering their welfare, Gotarna.' ' And not considering
their welfare, would his heart stand fast in love toward them, or in enmity ?'
' 'In enmity,Gotama."
' But when one's heart stands fast in enmity, is that unsound doctrine, or
sound ? ' ' ' It is unsound doctrine, Gotama.' ' ' Now if a man hold
unsound doctrine,Lohikka, I declare that one
of two future births will be his lot, either purgatory or rebirth as an animal.
12 and 14. `So then, Lohikka, you admit that he who should say that you,
being in occupation of Salavatika, should therefore, yourself enjoy all
the revenue and produce thereof, bestowing nothing on any one else; and he
who should say that King Pasenadi of Kosala, being in power over Kasi and
Kosala, should therefore himself enjoy all the revenue and produce thereof,
bestowing nothing on any one else— would be making danger for those living in
dependence upon you ; or for those you and others living in dependence upon
the King. And that those who thus make danger for others, must be wanting in
sympathy for them. And that the man wanting in sympathy has his heart set fast
in enmity. And that to have one's heart set fast in enmity is unsound doctrine.
13 and 15. `Then just so, Lohikka, he who should say : " Suppose
a Samana or a Brahamana to have reached up to some good state (of mind),
then should he tell no one else about it. For what can one man do for another?
To tell others would be like the man who, having broken through an old bond,
should entangle himself in a new one. Like that, I say, is this desire to declare to
others, it is a form of lust ;"—just so he, who should say, thus, would be putting
obstacles in the way of those clansmen who, having taken upon themselves the
Doctrine and Discipline set forth by Him-who-has-won-the-Truth, have attained
to great distinction therein—to the fruit of conversion, for instance, or to the fruit
of once returning, or to the fruit of never returning, or even to Arhatship—he
would be putting obstacles in the way of those who are bringing to fruition the
course of conduct that will lead to rebirth in states of bliss in heaven. But putting
obstacles in their way he would be out of sympathy for their welfare ; being out
of sympathy for their welfare his heart would become established in enmity ; and
when one's heart is established in enmity, that is unsound doctrine. Now if a
man hold unsound doctrine, Lohikka, I declare that one of two future births will
be his lot, either purgatory or rebirth as an animal.
16. `There are these three sorts of teachers in the world, Lohikka, who are
worthy of blame ; And whosoever should blame such a one, his rebuke would be
justified, in accord with the facts and the truth, not improper. What are the three?
`In the first place, Lohikka, there is a sort of teacher who has not himself
attained to that aim of Samanaship for the sake of which he left his home and
adopted the homeless life. Without having himself attained to it he teaches a
doctrine (Dhamma) to his hearers, saying : " This is good for you, this will make
you happy." Then those hearers of his neither listen to him, nor give ear to his
words, nor become steadfast in heart through their knowledge thereof; they go
their own way, apart from the teaching of the master. Such a teacher may
be rebuked, setting out these facts, and adding : "You are like one who should
make advances to her who keeps repulsing him, or should embrace her who
turns her face away from him. Like that, do I say, is this lust of yours (to go on
posing as a teacher of men, no one heeding, since, they trust you not). For what,
then, can one man do for another ?"
'This, Lohikka, is the first sort of teacher in the world worthy of blame. And
whosoever should blame such a one, his rebuke would be justified, in accord
with the facts and the truth, not improper.
17. 'In the second place, Lohikka, there is a sort of teacher who has not
himself attained to that aim of Samanship for the sake of which he left his home
and adopted the homeless life. Without having himself attained to it he teaches a
doctrine to his hearers, saying : "This is good for you ;, that will make you
happy." And to him his disciples listen ; they give ears to his words ; they
become steadfast in heart by their understanding what is said ; and they go not
their own way, apart from the teaching of the master. Such a teacher may be
rebuked, setting out these facts and adding : "You are like a man who,
neglecting his own field, should take thought to weed out his neighbour's field.
Like that, do I say, is this lust of yours (to go on teaching others when you have
not taught yourself). For what, then, can one man do for another?"
This, Lohikka, is the second sort of teacher in the world worthy of blame. And
whosoever should blame such a one, his rebuke would be justified, in accord
with the facts and the truth not improper.
18. And again, Lohikka, in the third place, there is a sort of teacher who has
himself attained to that aim of Samanaship for the sake of which he left his home
and adopted the homeless life. Having himself attained it, he teaches the
doctrine to his hearers, saying : " This is good for you, that will make you happy."
But those hearers of his neither listen to him, nor give ear to his words, nor
become steadfast in heart through understanding thereof; they go their own way,
apart from the teaching of the master. Such a teacher may be rebuked, setting
out these facts, and adding; "You are like a man who, having broken through an
old bond, should entangle himself in a new one." Like that, do I say, is this lust of
yours (to go on teaching when you have not trained yourself to teach). For what,
then, can one man do for another?"
'This, Lohikka, is the third sort of teacher in the world worthy of blame. And
whosoever should blame such a one, his rebuke would be justified, in accord
with the facts and the truth, not improper. And these, Lohikka, are the three sorts
of teachers of which I spoke.'
19. 'And when he had thus spoken, Lohikka, the Brahman spake thus to the
Exalted One :
' But is there, Gotama, any sort of teacher not worthy of blame in the world ? '
' Yes, Lohikka, there is a teacher not worthy, in the world of blame.' ' And what
sort of a teacher, Gotama, is so ? ' (The answer is in the words of the exposition
set out above in the Samanna-phala, as follows :
1. The appearance of a Tathagata (one who won the truth), his preaching, the
conversion of a hearer, his adoption of the homeless state.
2. The minor details of mere morality that he practises.
3. The Confidence of heart he gains from this practice.
4. The paragraph on `Guarded is the door of his Senses.'
5. The paragraph on ' Mindful and Self-possessed.'
6. The paragraph on Simplicity of Life, being content with little.
7. The paragraphs on Emancipation, ill-temper, laziness, worry and perplexity.
8. The paragraph on the Joy and Peace that, as a result of this emancipation,
fills his whole being.
9. The paragraphs on the Four Raptures (Ghanas).
10. The paragraphs on the Insight arising from Knowledge (the
knowledge of the First Path).
 11. The paragraphs on the Realisation of the Four Noble Truths the
destruction of the Intoxications—lust, delusions, becomings, and ignorance—
and the attainment ofArhatship.) The refrain through and the closing paragraph
is : 'And whosoever the teacher be, Lohikka, under whom the disciple attains to
distinction so excellent as that, that, Lohikka is a teacher not open to blame in
the world. And whosoever should blame such a one, his rebuke would be
unjustifiable, not in accord either with the facts or with the truth, without good
ground.'
78. And when he had thus spoken, Lohikka the Brahman said to the Exalted
One :
`Just, Gotama, as if a man had caught hold of a man, falling over the
precipitous edge of purgatory, by the hair of his head and lifted him up safe back
on the firm land—just so have I, on the point of falling into purgatory, been lifted
back on to the land by the Venerable Gotama. Most excellent, 0 Gotama, are the
words of thy mouth, most excellent? Just as if a man were to set up what has
been thrown down, or were to reveal what has been hidden away, or were to
point out the right road to him who has gone astray, or were to bring a light into
the darkness so that those who had eyes could see external forms—just even so
has the truth been made known to me, in many a figure, by the Venerable
Gotama. And I, even I, betake myself to the Venerable Gotama as my guide, to
the Doctrine and to the Order. May the Venerable Gotama accept me as a
disciple ; as one who, from this day forth as long as life endures, has taken him
as his guide! '

Part II

[f1]Mahabharat— Vanaparva.
[f2]Mahabharat—Sabhaparva.
[f3]Vanaparva, Adh. XV. 10.
[f4]Mahabharat Adiparva. Adh. 66.
[f5]Rig. Veda.
[f6]Hari Vansha Adh. II.
[f7]Ibid. Adh. X.
[f8]Ibid Adh. XXVII,
[f9]Yask Nirutta Adh. V. Khanda VI.
[f10]Harivansha Adh. II.
[f11]Ibid. Adh. III
[f12]. lbid.
[f13]Mahabharat. Adi Parva—Adh. 193.
[f14]2 ibid. Udyoga Parva—Adh. 106-123.
[f15]l)r. Donald A. Mackenzie. 'Buddhism in Pre-Christian Britain, Blackie & Son. l.ondon, 1928.— Editors
[f16]1 Mahabharat Vanparva.
[f17]Ibid-Sabhaparva.
[f18]Mahabharat.
[f19]Ibid. Viratparva Ad. XV. 10.
[f20]That the drinking of intoxicating liquor was indulged in by Brahmin women, not to speak of women of the
lower Varnas, as late as the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. in the Central region of Aryavarta, is clear from
Kumarila Bhatta's Tantra-Vanika I (iii). 4. which states, "Among the people of modern days we find the Brahmin
women of the countries of Ahicchatra and Mathura to be addicted to drinking. "Kumarila condemned the practice in
the case of Brahmins only, but not of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas men and women if the liquor was distilled from fruits or
flowers (Madhavi). and Molasses (Gaudi) and not from grains (Sura).
[f21]Mahabharata Adiparva. Adh. 66.
[f22]Rig Veda.
[f23]Harivansha Adh. II. Ibid. Adh. X.
[f24]Ibid. Adh. X.
[f25]Ibid. Adh. XXVII.
[f26]Yask Nirukta Adh. V. Khanda VI.
[f27]Harivansha Adh. II.
[f28]Harivansha Adh. III.
[f29]Ibid.,
[f30]Mahabharat Adi Parva—Adh. 193.
[f31]Mahabharat Udyoga parva. Adh. 106-123.
[f32]Mahabharat Adhyaya 1-118.
[f33]Ibid., Adhyaya 66.
[f34]This is taken from Hopkins- The Religions of India.
[f35]Sutta Nipata
[f36]Pratt—Buddhism p. 49.

Is there anything peculiar in the social organisation of the Hindus? An unsophisticated Hindu
who is unaware of investigations conducted by scholars will say that there is nothing peculiar,
abnormal or unnatural in the organisation of the Hindu society. This is quite natural. People
who live their lives in isolation are seldom conscious of the peculiarities of their ways and
manners. People have gone on from generation to generation without stopping to give
themselves a name. But how does the social organisation of the Hindus strike
theoutsiders, the non-Hindus? Did it appear to them as normal and natural as it appears to the
Hindus?

Megasthenese who came to India as the ambassador of the Greek

King Seleukos Nickator to the Court of Chandragupta Maurya some time about the year 305
B.C. did feel that the social organisation of the Hindus was of a very strange sort. Otherwise,
he would not have taken such particular care to describe the peculiar feaures of the Hindu
social organisation. He has recorded: " The population of India is divided into seven parts. The
philosophers are first in rank, but form the smallest class in point of number. Their services
are employed privately by persons who wish to offer sacrifices or perform other sacred rites,
and also publicly by the kings at what is called the Great Synod, wherein at the beginning of
the new year all the philosophers are gathered together before the king at the gates, when
any philosopher who may have committed any useful suggestion to writing, or observed any
means for improving the crops and the cattle, or for promoting the public interests, declares it
publicly. If anyone is detected giving false information thrice, the law condemns him to be
silent for the rest of his life, but he who gives sound advice is exempted from paying any taxes
or contributions. The second caste consists of the husbandmen, who form the bulk of the
population, and are in disposition most mild and gentle. They are exempted from military
service, and cultivate their lands undisturbed by fear. They never go to town, either to take
part in its tumults, or for any other purpose. It therefore not infrequently happens that at the
same time, and in the same part of the country, men may be seen drawn up in array of battle,
and fighting at risk of their lives, while other men close at hand are ploughing and digging in
perfect security, having these soldiers to protect them. The whole of the land is the property of
the king, and the husbandmen till it on condition of receiving one-fourth of the produce.

The third caste consists of herdsmen and hunters, who alone are allowed to hunt, and to
keep cattle and to sell draught animals or let them out on hire. In return for clearing the land of
wild beasts and fowls, which devour the seeds sown in the fields, they receive an allowance of
grain from the king. They lead wandering life and live under tents.

The fourth class, after herdsmen and hunters, consists of those who work at trades, of those
who vend wares, and of those who are employed in bodily labour. Some of these pay tribute,
and render to the state certain prescribed services. But the armourmakers and shipbuilders
receive wages and their victuals from the king, for whom alone they work. The general in
command of the army supplies the soldiers with weapons, and the admiral of the fleet lets out
ships on hire for the transport both of passengers and merchandise.

The fifth class consists of fighting men, who when not engaged in active service, pass their
time in idleness and drinking. They are maintained at the king's expense, and hence they are
always ready, when occasion calls, to take the field, for they carry nothing of their own with
them but their own bodies.

The sixth class consists of the overseers, to whom is assigned the duty of watching all that
goes on, and making reports secretly to the king. Some are entrusted with the inspection of
the city, and others with that of the army. The former employs as their coadjutors the
courtezans of the city, and the latter the courtezans of the camp. The ablest and most
trustworthy men are appointed to fill these offices.
 The seventh class consists of the Councillors and assessors of the king. To them belong the
highest posts of government, the tribunals of justice, and the general administration of public
affairs.

No one is allowed to marry out of his own caste, or to exchange one profession or trade for
another, or to follow more than one business. An exception is made in favour of the
philosopher, who for his virtue is allowed this privilege. "

Alberuni who wrote an account of his travels in India some time about 1030 AD must have
been struck by the peculiarity of the Hindu social organisation. For he too has not omitted to
make a note of it in the record of impressions he made. He observed: --

"The Hindus call their castes varna i.e. colours, and from a genealogical point of view they
call them jataka i.e., births. These castes are from the very beginning only four.

1. The highest caste is the Brahmins of whom the books of the Hindus tell that they were
created from the head of Brahma. And a Brahma is only another name for the force called
nature, and the head is the highest part of the animal body, the Brahmans are the choice part
of the whole genus. Therefore the Hindus consider them as the very best of mankind.

II. The next caste is the Kshatriyas, who were created, as they say, from the shoulders and
hands of Brahma. Their degree is not much below that of the Brahman.

III. After them follow the Vaishyas, who were created from the thigh of Brahma.

IV. The Sudras, who were created from his feet. Between the latter two classes there is no
very great distance. Much, however, as these classes differ from each other, they live together
in the same towns and villages, mixed together in the same houses and lodgings.

After the Shudras follow the people called Antyaja, who render various kinds of services,
who are not reckoned amongst any caste, but only as members of a certain craft
orprofession. There are eight classes of them who freely intermarry with each other, except
the fuller, shoemaker and weaver, for no others would condescend to have anything to do with
them. These eight guilds are the fuller, shoemaker, juggler, the basket and shield maker, the
sailor, fisherman, the hunter of wild animals and of birds, and the weaver. The four castes do
not live together with them in one and the same place. These guilds live near the villages and
towns of the four castes, but outside them.

The people called Hadi, Doma (Domba), Candala, and Badhatau (sic) are not reckoned
amongst any caste or guild. They are occupied with dirty work, like the cleansing of the
villages and other services. They are considered as one sole class, and distinguished only by
their occupations. In fact, they are considered like illegitimate children; for according to
general opinion they descend from a Sudra father and a Brahmani mother as the children of
fornication; therefore they are degraded outcastes.

The Hindus give to every single man of the four castes characteristic names, according to
their occupations and modes of life, eg., the Brahman is in general called by this name as long
as he does his work staying at home. When he is busy with the service of one fire, he is
called ishtin; if he serves three fires, he is called Agnihotrin; if he besides offers an offering to
the fire, he is called Dikshita. And as it is with the Brahmana, so is it also with the other
castes. Of the classes beneath the castes, the Hadi are the best spoken of, because they
keep themselves free from everything unclean. Next follow the Doma, who play on
the lute and sing. The still lower classes practise as a trade killing and the inflicting of judicial
punishments. The worst of all are the Badhantan, who not only devour the flesh of dead
animals, but even of dogs and other beasts.

Each of the four castes, when eating together, must form a group of themselves, one group
not being allowed to comprise two men of different castes. If, further, in the group of the
Brahman there are two men who live at enmity with each other, and the seat of the one is by
the side of the other, they make a barrier between the two seats by placing a board between
them, or by spreading a piece of dress, or in some other way; and if there is only a line drawn
between them, they are considered as separated. Since it is forbidden to eat the remains of a
meal, every single man must have his own food for himself, for if anyone of the party who are
eating should take of the food from one and the same plate, that which remains in the plate
becomes, after the first eater has taken part, to him who wants to take as the second, the
remains of the meal as such is forbidden. "

Alberuni did not merely content himself with recording what struck him as peculiar in the
Hindu social organization. He went on to say:—

" Among the Hindus institutions of this kind abound. We Muslims, of course, stand entirely
on the other side of the question, considering all men as equal, except in piety; and thisis the
greatest obstacle which prevents any approach or understanding between Hindus and
Muslims. "

Duarte Barbosa who was a Portuguese official in the service of the Portuguese Government
in India from 1500 to 1571 has left a record of his impressions of Hindu society. This is what
struck him in. Speaking of the kingdom of Gujerat:

" And before this kingdom Guzerate fell into the hands of the Moors. A certain caste of
Heathen whom the Moors called Resbutos (Rajputs) dwelt therein, who in those days were
the knights and wardens of the land, and made war wheresoever it was needful. These men
kill and eat sheep and fish and all other kinds of food; in the mountains there are yet many of
the them, where they have great villages and obey not the king of Guzarate, but rather wage
daily war against him; who, do what he may, is yet not able to prevail against them, nor will do
so, for they are very fine horsemen, and good archers, and have besides divers
other weapons to defend themselves withal against the Moors, on whom they make war
without ceasing; yet have they no king nor lord over them. And in this kingdom there is
another sort of Heathen whom they call Baneanes, who are great merchants and traders.
They dwell among the Moors with whom they carry on all their trade. This people eat neither
flesh nor fish nor anything subject to death; they slay nothing, nor are they willing even to see
the slaughter of any animal; and thus they maintain their idolatry and hold it so firmly that it is
a terrible thing. For often it is so that the Moors take to them live insects or small birds, and
make as though to kill them in their presence, and the Baneanes buy these and ransom them,
paying much more than they are worth, so that they may save their lives and let them go. And
if the King or a Governor of the land has any man condemned to death, for any crime
which he has committed, they gather themselves together and buy him fromjustice, if they are
willing to sell him, that he may not die. And divers Moorish mendicants as well, when they
wish to obtain alms from this people, take great stones wherewith they beat
upon their shoulders and bellies as though they would slay themselves before them, to hinder
which they give them great alms that they may depart in peace. Others carry knives with
which they slash their arms and legs, and to these too they give large alms that they may
not kill themselves. Others go to their doors seeking to kill rats and snakes for them, and to
them also they give much money that they may not do so. Thus they are much esteemed by
the Moors. When these Baneanes meet with a swarm of ants on the road they shrink back
and seek for some way to pass without crushing them. And in their houses they sup by
daylight, for neither by night nor by day will they light a lamp, by reason of certain little flies
which perish in the flame thereof; and if there is any great need of a light by night they have a
lantern of varnished paper or cloth, so that no living thing may find its way in, and die in the
flame. And if these men breed many lice they kill them not, but when they trouble them too
much they send for certain men, also Heathen, who living among them and whom they hold to
be men of a holy life, they are like hermits living with great abstinence through devotion to
their gods. These men house them, and as many lice as they catch they place on their own
heads and breed them on their own flesh, by which they say they do great service to their Idol.
Thus one and all they maintain with great self restraint their law of not killing. On the other
hand they are great usurers, falsifiers of weights and measures and many other goods and of
coins ; and great liars. These Heathen are tawny men, tall and well-looking gaily attired,
delicate and moderate in their food. Their diet is of milk, butter, sugar and rice, and many
conserves of divers sorts. They make much use of dishes of fruit and vegetables and pot
herbs in their food. Wheresoever they dwell they have orchards and fruit gardens and many
water tanks wherein they bathe twice a day, both men and women; and they say when they
have finished bathing that they are clear of as many sins as they have committed up to that
hour. These Baneanes grow very long hair, as women do with us, and wear it twisted up on
the head and made into a knot, and over it a turban, that they may keep it always
held together; and in their hair they put flowers and other sweet scented things.

They use to anoint themselves with white sandalwood mixed with saffron and other scents.
They are very amorous people. They are clad in long cotton and silken shirts and areshod
with pointed shoes of richly wrought cordwain; some of them wear short coats of silk and
brocade. They carry no arms except certain very small knives ornamented with gold and
silver, and this for two reasons; first because they are men who make but little use of
weapons; and secondly, because the Moors defend them. "

And there is here another class of Heathen whom they call Brahmenes, who are priests
among them, and persons who manage and rule their houses of prayer and idol-worship,
which are of great size and have great revenues; and many of them also are maintained by
alms. In these houses are great numbers of wooden Idols, and others of stone and copper
and in these houses or monasteries they celebrate great ceremonies in honour of these idols,
entertaining them with great store of candles and oil lamps, and with bells after our fashion.
These Brahmans and Heathen have in their creed many resemblance to the Holy Trinity, and
hold in great honour the relation of the Triune Three, and always make their prayers to God,
whom they confess and adore as the true God, Creator and maker of all things, who is three
persons and one God, and they say that there are many other Gods who are rulers under him,
in whom also they believe. These Brahmans and Heathen wheresoever they find our
churches enter them and make prayers and adoration to our Images, always asking for Santa
Maria, like men who have some knowledge and understanding of these matters and they
honour the Church as is our manner, saying that between them and us there is little
difference. These men never eat anything subject to death, nor do they slay anything. Bathing
they hold to be a great ceremony and they say that by it they are saved." Speaking of the
Kingdom of Calicut, Barbosa says:—

" There is also in this same kingdom of Calicut a caste of people called Brahmenes who are
priests among them (as are the clergy among us) of whom I have spoken in anotherplace. "

" These all speak the same tongue, nor can any be a Brahmene except he be the son of a
Brahmene. When they are seven years of age they put over their shoulder a strip of two
fingers in breadth of untanned skin with the hair on it of a certain wild beast, which they
call Cryvamergam, which resembles a wild ass. Then for seven years he must not eat betel
for which time he continues to wear this strap. When he is fourteen years old they make him a
Brahmene, and taking off their leather strip they invest him with the cord of three strands
which he wears for the rest of his life as a token that he is a Brahmene. And this they do with
great ceremonial and rejoicing, as we do here for a cleric when he sings his first mass.
Thereafter he may eat betel, but no flesh or fish. They have great honour among the Indians,
and as I have already said, they suffer deaths for no cause whatsoever, their own headman
gives them a mild chastisement. They marry once only in our manner, and only the eldest son
marries, he is treated like the head of an entailed estate. The other brothers remain single all
their lives. These Brahmenes keep their wives well guarded, and greatly honoured, so that no
other man may sleep with them; if any of them die, they do not marry again, but if a woman
wrongs her husband she is slain by poison. The brothers who remain bachelors sleep with
the Nayre women, they hold it to be a great honour, and as they areBramenes no woman
refuses herself to them, yet they may not sleep with any woman older than themselves. They
dwell in their own houses and cities, and serve as clergy in the houses of worship, whither
they go to pray at certain hours of the day, performing their rituals and idolatries. "

" Some of these Brahmenes serve the kings in every manner except in arms. No man may
prepare any food for the King except a Brahmene or his own kin; they also serve as couriers
to other countries with letters, money or merchandise, passing wherever they wish to go in
safety and none does them any ill, even when the kings are at war. These Brahmenes are
learned in their idolatry and possess many books thereof. The Kings hold them in high
esteem."

" I have already spoken many times of the Naiyars and yet I have not hitherto told you what
manner of men they are. you are to know that in this land of Malabar there is another caste of
people called Nayars and among them are noble men who have no other duty than to serve in
war, and they always carry their arms where ever they go, some swords and shields, others
bows and arrows, and yet others spears. They all live with the King, and the other great
Lords; nevertheless all receive stipends from the King or from the great Lords with whom they
dwell. None may become a Nayar, save only he who is of Nayar lineage. They are very
free from stain in their nobility. They will not touch anyone of low caste. Nor eat nor drink save
in the house of a Nayar. These men are not married, their nephews (sister's sons) are their
heirs. The Nayar women of good birth are very independent, and dispose of themselves as
they please with Brahmenes and Nayars, but they do not sleep with men of caste lower than
their own under pain of death. When they reach the age of twelve years their mothers hold a
great ceremony.

When a mother perceives that her daughter has attained that age, she asks her kinsfolk and
friends to make ready to honour her daughter, then she asks of the kindred and especially of
one particular kinsman or great friend to marry her daughter; this he willingly promises and
then he has a small jewel made, which would contain a half ducat of gold, long like a ribbon,
with a hole through the middle which comes out on the other side, strung on a thread of white
silk. The mother then on a fixed day is present with her daughter gaily decked with many rich
jewels, making great rejoicing with music and singing, and a great assembly of people.

Then the kinsmen or friend comes bringing that jewel, and going through
certain forms, throws it over the girl's neck. She wears it as a token all the rest of her life, and
may then dispose of herself as she wills. The man departs without sleeping with her inasmuch
as he is her kinsman; if he is not, he may sleep with her, but is not obliged to do so.
Thenceforward the mother goes about searching and asking some young men to take her
daughter's virginity; they must be Nayars and they regard it among themselves as a disgrace
and a foul thing to take a woman's virginity. And when anyone has once slept with her, she is
fit for association with men.

Then the mother again goes about enquiring among other young Nayars if they wish to
support her daughter, and take her as a Mistress so that three or four Nayars agree with her
to keep her, and sleep with her, each paying her so much a day; the more lovers she has the
greater is her honour Each of one of them passes a day with her from midday on oneday till
midday on the next day and so they continue living quietly without any disturbance or quarrels
among them. If any of them wishes to leave her, he leaves her, and takes another and she
also if she is weary of a man, she tells him to go, and he does go, or makes terms with her.

Any children they may have stay with the mother who has to bring them up, for they hold
them not to be the children of any man, even if they bear his likeness, and they do not
consider them their children, nor are they heirs to their estates, for as I have already stated
their heirs are their nephews, sons of their sisters, (which rule whosoever will consider
inwardly in his mind will find that it was established with a greater and deeper meaning than
the common folk think) for they say that the Kings of the Nayars instituted it in order that the
Nayars should not be held back from their service by the burden and labour of rearing
children. "

" In this kingdom of Malabar there is also another caste of people whom they
call Biabares, Indian Merchants, natives of the land. They deal in goods of every kind both in
the seaports and inland, where ever their trade is of most profit. They gather to themselves all
the pepper and ginger from the Nayars and husbandmen and off times they buy the new
crops beforehand in exchange for cotton clothes and other goods, which they keep at the
seaports. Afterwards they sell them again and gain much money thereby. Their privileges are
such that the king of the country in which they dwell cannot execute them by legal process. "

" There is in this land yet another caste of folk known as Cuiavern. They do not differ from
the Nayars, yet by reason of a fault, which they committed, they remain separate from them.
Their business is to make pottery and bricks for roofing the houses of the Kings and idols,
which are roofed with bricks instead of tiles; only these, for as I have already said, other
houses are thatched with branches. They have their own sort of idolatry, and their separate
idols. "

" There is another Heathen caste which they call Mainatos, whose occupation is to wash
clothes for the Kings, Brahmenes and Nayars. By this they live, and may not take up any
other."
 " There is another lower caste than these which they call Caletis, who are weavers who
have no other way of earning save by weaving of cotton and silk clothes, but they are low
caste folk and have but little money, so that they clothe the lower races. They are apart by
themselves and have their own idolatry. "

" Besides the castes mentioned above, there are eleven others lower than they with whom
the others do not associate, nor do they touch them under pain of death; and there are great
distinctions between one and another of them, preserving them from mixture with one another.
The purest of all these low, simple folk they call Tuias. Their work is mainly that of tending
the palm-groves and gathering the fruit thereof, and carrying it away for wages on their backs,
for there are no beasts of burden in the land. "

" There is another caste still lower than these whom they call Manen (Mancu in the printed
text) who neither associate with others nor touch them, nor do the other touch them. They are
washermen for the common people, and makers of sleeping mats from which occupations all
but they are barred; their sons must perforce follow the same trade; they have their own
separate idolatry. "

"There is another caste in this land still lower whom they call Canaquas. Their trade is
making buckles and umbrellas. They learn letters for purposes of astronomy, they are great
astrologers, and foretell with great truth things that are to come; there are some lords who
maintain them for this cause."

"There is also another lower caste, also Heathens, called Ageres. They are masons,
carpenters, smiths, metal workers and some are goldsmiths, all of whom are of a common
descent, and a separate caste, and have their idols apart from other folk. They marry, and
their sons inherit their property, and learn their fathers' trade. " "There is another caste still
lower in this country called Mogeres, they are almost the same as the Tuias, but they do not
touch one another. They work as carriers of all things belonging to the Royal State when it
moves from one place to another, but there are very few of them in this land; they are a
separate caste; they have no marriage law; the most of them gain their living on the sea, they
are sailors, and some of them fishers; they have no idols. They are as well slaves of
the Nayars:

"There is another caste yet lower whom they call Monquer, fishers who have no other work
than fishing, yet some sail in the Moors' ship and in those of other Heathens, and they are
very expert seamen. This race is very rude, they are shameless thieves; they marry and their
sons succeed them, their women are of loose character, they sleep with anyone whosoever
and it is held no evil. They have their own idolatry. "
 " In this land of Malabar there is another caste of Heathen even lower than those, whom,
they call Betunes. Their business is salt-making and rice growing, they have no other
livelihood."

" They dwell in houses standing by themselves in the fields away from the roads, whither the
gentlefolk do not walk. They have their own idolatry. They are slaves of the Kings and Nayars
and pass their lives in poverty. The Nayars make them walk far away from them and speak to
them from a far off. They hold no intercourse with any other caste. "

" There is another caste of Heathen, even lower and ruder, whom they call Paneens, who
are great sorcerers and live by no other means. "

"There is another caste lower and ruder than they, named Revoleens a very poor folk, who
live by carrying firewood and grass to the towns, they may touch none, nor may any touch
them under pain of death. They go naked, covering only their private parts with scant and
filthy rags, the more part of them indeed with leaves of certain trees. Their women wear many
brass rings in their ears; and on their necks, arms and legs, necklaces and bracelets of
heads."

"And there is yet another caste of Heathens lower than these whom they call Poleas, who
among all the rest are held to be accursed and excommunicate; they dwell in the fields and
open campaigns in secret lurking places, whither folk of good caste never go save by
mischance, and live in huts very strut and mean. They are tillers of rice with buffaloes and
oxen. They never speak to the Nayars save from a far off, shouting so that they may hear
them, and when they go along the roads they utter loud cries that they may be let past, and
whosoever hears them leaves the road, and stands in the wood till they have passed by; and
if anyone whether man or woman, touches them, his kinsfolk slay them forthwith, and in
vengeance therefore they slay Poleas until they are weary without suffering any punishment. "

" Yet another caste there is even lower and baser called Parens, who dwell in the most
desert places away from all other castes. They have no intercourse with any person nor
anyone with them; they are held to be worse than devils, and to be damned. Even to see them
is to be unclean and outcaste. They eat yams and other roots of wild plants. They cover their
middles with leaves, they also eat the flesh of wild beasts. "

"With these end the distinctions between the castes of the Heathen, which are eighteen in
all, each one separate and unable to touch others or marry with them; and besides these
eighteen castes of the Heathen who are natives of Malabar, which I have now related to you,
there are others of outlandish folk merchants and traders in the land, where they possess
houses and estates, living like the natives yet with customs of their own. "

These foreigners were not able to give a full and detailed picture of caste. This is
understandable. For to every foreigner the private life of the Hindu is veiled and it is not
possible for him to penetrate it. The social organism of India, the play of its motive forces,
is moreover, regulated infinitely more by custom, carrying according to locality and baffling in
its complexity, than by any legal formula which can be picked out of a legal text book. But
there is no doubt that caste did appear to the foreigner as the most singular and therefore the
most distinguishing feature of Hindu society. Otherwise they would not have noted its
existence in the record they made of what they observed when they came to India.

Caste therefore is something special in the Hindu social organization and marks off the
Hindus from other peoples. Caste has been a growing institution. It has never been the same
at all times. The shape and form of Caste as it existed when Megashthenes wrote his account
was very different from what the shape and form it had taken when Alberunicame and the
appearance it gave to the Portuguese was different from what it was in the time of Alberuni.
But to understand caste one must have more exact idea of its nature than these foreigners are
able to give.

To follow the discussion of the subject of caste it is necessary to familiarise the reader with
some basic conceptions which underlie the Hindu Social Organisation. The basic conception
of social organisation which prevails among the Hindus starts with the rise of four classes
or Varnas into which Hindu society is believed to have become divided. These four classes
were named (1) Brahmins, the priestly and the educated class (2) Kshatriyas the military class
(3) The Vaishyas the trading class and (4) The Shudras the servantclass. For a time these
were merely classes. After a time what were only classes (Varnas) became Castes (Jatis) and
the four castes became four thousand. In this way the modern caste system was only the
evolution of the ancient Varna system.

No doubt the caste system is an evolution of the Varna system. But one can get no diea of
the caste system by a study of the Varna system. Caste must be studied apart from Varna.

II

An old agnostic is said to have summed up his philosophy in the following words:—

" The only thing I know is that I know nothing; and I am not quite sure that I know that "

Sir Denzil lbbetson undertaking to write about caste in the Punjab said that the words of this
agnostic about his philosophy expressed very exactly his own feelings regarding caste. It is
no doubt true that owing to local circumstances there does appear a certain diversity about
caste matters and that it is very difficult to make any statement regarding any one of the
castes. Absolutely true as it may be, as regards one locality which will not be contradicted
with equal truth as regards the same caste in some other area.
 Although this may be true yet it cannot be difficult to separate the essential and fundamental
features of caste from its non-essential and superficial features. An easy way to ascertain this
is to ask what are the matters for which a person is liable to be excluded from caste.
Mr. Bhattacharya has stated the following as causes for expulsion from caste. (1)
Embracing Christanity or Islam (2) Going to Europe or America (3) Marrying a widow (4)
Publicly throwing the sacred thread (5) Publicly eating beef, pork or fowl (6) Publicly
eatingkachcha food prepared by a Mahomedan, Christian or low caste Hindu (7) Officiating at
the house of a very low caste Shudra (8) By a female going away from home for immoral
purposes (9) By a widow becoming pregnant. This list is not exhaustive and omits the three
most important causes which entail expulsion from caste. They are (10) Intermarrying outside
caste (II) Inter dining with persons of another caste and (12) Change of occupation. The
second defect in the statement of Mr. Bhattacharya is that it does not make any distinction
between essentials and non-essentials. Of course, 'when a person is expelled from his caste
the penalty is uniform. His friends, relatives and fellowmen refuse to partake of his hospitality.
He is not invited to entertainment in their houses. He cannot obtain brides or bridegrooms for
his children. Even his married daughters cannot visit him without running the risk of
being excluded from caste. His priest, his barber and washermen refuse to serve him. His
fellow caste men severe their connection with him so completely that they refuse to assist him
even at the funeral of a member of his household. In some cases the man excluded
from caste is debarred access to public temples and to the cremation or burial ground.

These reasons for expulsion from caste indirectly show the rules and regulations of the
caste. But all regulations are not fundamental. There are many which are unessential. Caste
can exist even without them. The essential and unessential can be distinguished by asking
another question. When can a Hindu who has lost caste regain his caste ? The Hindus have a
system of Prayaschitas which are Penances and which a man who has been expelled from
caste must perform before he can be admitted to caste fellowship. With regard to these
Prayaschitas or Penances certain points must be remembered. In this first place, there are
caste offences for which there is no Prayaschita. In the second place, the Prayaschitas vary
according to the offence. In some cases the Prayaschitas involve a very small penalty. In
other cases the penalty involved is a very severe one.

The existence of a Prayaschita and the absence of it have a significance which must be
clearly understood. The absence of Prayaschita does not mean that anyone may committhe
offence with impunity. On the contrary it means that the offence is of an immeasurable
magnitude and the offender once expelled is beyond reclamation. There is no re-entry for him
in the caste from which he is expelled. The existence of a Prayaschita means that the offence
is compoundable. The offender can take the prescribed prayaschita and obtain admission in
the caste from which he is expelled.
 There are two offences for which there is no penance. These are (1) change from Hindu
Religion to another religion (2) Marriage with a person of another caste or another religion. It
is obvious if a man loses caste for these offences he loses it permanently.

Of the other offences the prayaschitas prescribed are of the severest kind, are two—(1)
interdining with a person of another caste or a non-Hindu and (2) Taking to occupation which
is not the occupation of the caste. In the case of the other offences the penalty is a light one
almost nominal.

The surest clue to find out what are the fundamental rules of caste and what caste consists
it is furnished by the rules regarding prayaschitas. Those for the infringement of which there is
no prayaschita constitute the very soul of caste and those for the infringement of which the
prayaschita is of the severest kind make up the body of caste. It may therefore be said without
any hesitation that there are four fundamental rules of caste. A caste may be defined as a
social group having (a) belief in Hindu Religion and bound by certain regulations as
to (b) marriage (c) food and (d) occupation. To this one more characteristic may be added
namely a social group having a common name by which it is recognised.

In the matter of marriage the regulation lays down that the caste must
be endogamous. There can be no intermarriage between members of different castes. This is
the first and the most fundamental idea on which the whole fabric of the caste is built up.

In the matter of food the rule is that a person cannot take food from and dine with any
person who does not belong to his caste. This means that only those who can intermarry can
also inter dine. Those who cannot intermarry cannot inter dine. In other words, caste is an
endogamous unit and also a communal unit.

In the matter of occupation the regulation is that a person must follow the occupation which
is the traditional occupation of his caste and if the caste has no occupation then he should
follow the occupation of his father.

In the matter of status of a person it is fixed and is hereditary. It is fixed because a person's
status is determined by the status of the caste to which he belongs. It is hereditary because a
Hindu is stamped with the caste to which his parents belonged, a Hindu cannot change his
status because he cannot change his caste. A Hindu s born in a caste and he dies a member
of the caste in which he is born. A Hindu may lose his status if he loses caste. But he cannot
acquire a new or a better or different status.

What is the significance of a common name for a caste ? The significance of this will be
clear if we ask two questions which are very relevant and a correct answer to each is
necessary for a complete idea of this institution of caste. Social groups are either organised or
unorganised. When the membership of the group and the process of joining and leaving the
groups, are the subject of definite social regulations and involve certain duties and privileges
in relation to other members of the group then the group is an organised group. A group is a
voluntary group in which members enter with a full knowledge of what they are doing and the
aims which the association is designed to fulfil. On the other hand, there are groups of which
an individual person becomes a member without any act of volition, and becomes subject to
social regulation and traditions over which he has no control of any kind.

Now it is hardly necessary to say that caste is a highly organised social grouping. It is not a
loose or a floating body. Similarly, it is not necessary to say that caste is an involuntary
grouping. A Hindu is born in a caste and he dies as a member of that caste. There is no Hindu
without caste, cannot escape caste and being bounded by caste from birth to death he
becomes subject to social regulations and traditions of the caste over which he has no control.

The significance of a separate name for a caste lies in this—namely it makes caste an
organised and an involuntary grouping. A separate and a distinctive name for a caste makes
caste asking to a corporation with a perpetual existence and a seal of separate entity. The
significance of separate names for separate castes has not been sufficiently realised by
writers on caste. In doing that they have lost sight of a most distinctive feature of caste. Social
groups there are and they are bound to be in every society. Many social groups in many
countries can be equated to various castes in India and may be regarded as their equivalent.
Potters, Washermen, Intellectuals, as social groups are everywhere.

But in other countries they have remained as unorganised and voluntary groups while in
India they have become organised and involuntary i.e., they have become castes because in
other countries the social groups were not given name while in India they did. It is the name,
which the caste bears which gives it fixate and continuity and individuality. It is the name
which defines who are its members and in most cases a person born in a caste carries the
name of the caste as a part of his surname. Again it is the name which makes it easy for the
caste to enforce its rules and regulations. It makes it easy in two ways. In the first place, the
name of the caste forming a surname of the individual prevents the offender in passing off as
a person belonging to another caste and thus escape the jurisdiction of the caste. Secondly, it
helps to identify the offending individual and the caste to whose jurisdiction he is subject so
that he is easily handed up and punished for any breach of the caste rules.

This is what caste means. Now as to the caste system. This involves the study of the mutual
relations between different castes. Looked at as a collection of caste, the caste system
presents several features, which at once strike the observer. In the first place there is no inter-
connection between the various castes, which form a system. Each caste is separate and
distinct. It is independent and sovereign in the disposal of its internal affairs and the
enforcement of caste regulations. The castes touch but they do not interpenetrate. The
second feature relates to the order in which one caste stands in relation to the other castes in
the system. That order is vertical and not horizontal.
 Such is the caste and such is the caste system. Question is, is this enough to know the
Hindu social organisation? For a static conception of the Hindu social organisation an idea of
the caste and the caste system is enough. One need not trouble to remember more than the
facts that the Hindus are divided into castes and that the castes form a system in which all
hang on a thread which runs through the system in such a way that while encircling and
separating one caste from another it holds them all as though it was a string of tennis balls
hanging one above the other. But this will not be enough to understand caste as a dynamic
phenomenon. To follow the workings of caste in action it is necessary to note oneother feature
of caste besides the caste system, namely class-caste system.

The relationship between the ideas of caste and class has been a matter of lively
controversy. Some say that caste is analogous to class and that there is no difference
between the two. Others hold that the idea of castes is fundamentally opposed to that of class.
This is an aspect of the subject of caste about which more will be said hereafter. For the
present it is necessary to emphasise one feature of the caste system which has not
been referred to herein before. It is this. Although caste is different from and opposed to the
notion of class yet the caste-system—as distinguished from caste—recognises a class system
which is somewhat different from the graded status referred to above. Just as the Hindus are
divided into so many castes, castes are divided into different classes of castes. The Hindu is
caste-conscious. He is also class conscious. Whether he is caste conscious or class
conscious depends upon the caste with which he comes in conflict. If the caste with which he
comes in conflict is a caste within the class to which he belongs he is caste conscious. If the
caste is outside the class to which he belongs he is class conscious. Anyone who needs any
evidence on this point may study the Non-Brahmin Movement in the Madras and the Bombay
Presidency. Such a study will leave no doubt that to a Hindu caste periphery is as real as
class periphery and caste consciousness is as real as class-consciousness.

Caste, it is said, is an evolution of the Varna system. I will show later on that this is
nonsense. Caste is a perversion of Varna. At any rate it is an evolution in the opposite
direction.But while caste has completely perverted the Varna system it has borrowed the class
system from the Varna system. Indeed the Class-caste system follows closely the class
cleavages of the Varna system.

Looking at the caste system from this point of view one comes across several lives of class
cleavage which run through this pyramid of castes dividing the pyramid into blocks of castes.
The first line of cleavage follows the line of division noticeable in the
ancient Chaturvarna system. The old system of Chaturvarna made a distinction between the
first threeVarnas, the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the fourth Varna namely
the Shudra. The three former were classes as the Regenerate classes. The Shudra was held
as the unregenerate class. This distinction was based upon the fact that the former was
entitled to wear the sacred thread and study the Vedas. The Shudra was entitled to neither
and that is why he was regarded as the unregenerate class. This line of cleavage is still in
existence and forms the basis of the present day class division separating the castes which
have grown out of the vast class of Shudras from those which have grown out of the three
classes of Brahmins, the kshatriyas and Vaishyas. This line of class cleavage is the one which
is expressed by the terms High Castes and Low Castes and which are short forms for the
High Class Castes and Low Class Castes.

Next after this line of cleavage there runs through the pyramid a second line of class
cleavage. It runs just below the Low Class Castes. It sets above all the castes born out of the
four Varnas i.e., the High Castes as well as the low castes above the remaining castes, which
I will merely describe as the ' rest '. This line of class cleavage is again a real one and follows
the well-defined distinction which was a fundamental principle of the Chaturvarna system. The
Chaturvarna system as is pointed out made a distinction between the four Varnas putting the
three Varnas above the fourth. But it also made an equally clear distinction between those
within the Chaturvarna and those outside the Chaturvarna. It had a terminology to express this
distinction. Those within the Chaturvarna—high or low, Brahmin or Shudra were
called Savarna i.e., those with the stamp of the Varna. Those outside the Chaturvarna were
called Avarna i.e., those without the stamp of Varna. All the castes which have evolved out of
the four varnas are called Savama Hindus—which is rendered English by the term Caste
Hindus—The ' rest ' are the Avarnas who in present parlance spoken of by- Europeans as
Non-caste Hindus i.e., those who are outside the four original castes or varnas.

Much that is written about the caste system has reference mostly to the caste-system
among the Savama Hindus. Very little is known about the Avarna Hindus. Who are these
Avarna Hindus, what is their position in Hindu Society, how are they related to
the Savarna Hindus are questions to which no attention has so far been paid. I am sure that
without considering these questions no one can get a true picture of the social structure the
Hindus have built. To leave out the Class cleavage between the Savarna Hindus and the
Avarna Hindus is to relate Grimm's Fairy Tale which leaves out the witches, the goblins and
the orges.

[f1]' Freedom—It’s meaning by Ruth Nanda Kishen. p. 214.

[f2]1Freedom—Its Meaning—pp. 11-13.

[f3]"The Caste system of Northern India" pp. 51-56.

[f4]In the Northern India the bar to eating together applies only when the food is kachcha food. In Southern
India the bar is complete and applies even when the food is pucca food. Kachcha food is food cooked in
water. Pacca food is food cooked in ghee.
[f5]See my book 'Who were the Shudras?'
[f6]1' The Caste system of Northern India ' pp. 89-90.
[f7]Ibid. ' The Caste system of Northern India '.
[f8]The illustrations given above are not merely drawn from imagination. They are acts of history. The
differentiation between high and low was recognised by law in the time of the Peshwas. The differentiation
about dole exists even now in the Bombay Presidency and was defended by a Congress Minister. These
Remarks are not applicable today—Editors.
[f9]This immunity was continued by the British Government up to 1837. It was in 1837 the Penal Law was
amended whereby the Brahman for the first time became liable to capita punishment for murder. The
immunity still exists in Indian States. In Travancore the Dewan who is a Brahmin adopted an ingenious
method of meeting public criticism of this continuance of this privilege. Instead of hanging the Brahmins he
abolished capital punishment altogether.
[f10]Manu III. 12-13 This privilege is recognised by Courts in India
[f11]Manu XI. 31—This privilege has been abolished,
[f12]Manu XI. 32.—This privilege no longer exists.

[f13]Manu VIII. 37.

[f14]Manu VIII. 38.

[f15]Manu IX. 323.

[f16]6 Manu VII. 133.

[f17]Manu VII. 134.

[f18]Manu IX. 189.

[f19]The correct description of the Brahmin would be the Super-most Superman. For below him and above
the common man there are the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas. But since the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas are
only superiors and not supermen it is unnecessary to change the nomenclature.

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India

______________________________________________

Contents

PART II
Chapter 5: The Decline and Fall of Buddhism
Chapter 6: The Literature of Brahminism
Chapter 7: The Triumph of Brahminism
 CHAPTER 5
The Decline and Fall of Buddhism.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had written "The Decline and Fall of Buddhism", as a part of the
treatise, `Revolution and Counter-Revolution '. We have found only 5 pages in our papers
which were not even corrected. Copy of this essay has been received
from Shri S. S. Rege, which shows some corrections in Dr. Ambedkar's handwriting. This
essay is of 18 typed pages which is included here.—' Editors.

The disappearance of Buddhism from India has been a matter of great surprize to
everybody who cares to think about the subject and is also a matter of regret. But it lives in
China, Japan, Burma, Siam, Annam, Indo-China, Ceylon and parts of Malaya-
Archipalego. In India alone, it has ceased to exist. Not only it has ceased to live in India but
even the name of Buddha has gone out of memory of most Hindus. How could such a thing
have happened ? This is an important question for which there has been no satisfactory
answer. Not only there is no satisfactory answer, nobody has made an attempt to arrive at a
satisfactory answer. In dealing with this subject people fail to make a very important
distinction. It is a distinction between the fall of Buddhism and the decline of Buddhism. It is
necessary to make this distinction because the fall of Buddhism is one, the reasons for
which are very different from those which brought about its downfall. For the fall is due to
quite obvious causes while the reasons for its decline are not quite so obvious.

There can be no doubt that the fall of Buddhism in India was due to the invasions of
the Musalmans. Islam came out as the enemy of the 'But'. The word 'But' as everybody
knows is an Arabic word and means an idol. Not many people however know what the
derivation of the word 'But' is 'But' is the Arabic corruption of Buddha. Thus the origin of the
word indicates that in the Moslem mind idol worship had come to be identified with the
Religion of the Buddha. To the Muslims, they were one and the same thing. The mission to
break the idols thus became the mission to destroy Buddhism. Islam destroyed Buddhism
not only in India but wherever it went.

Before Islam came into being Buddhism was the religion

of Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhar and Chinese Turkestan, as it was of the whole of
Asia.[f1] In all these countries Islam destroyed Buddhism. As Vicent Smith [f2]points out :
 "The furious massacre perpetrated in many places by Musalman invaders were
more efficacious than Orthodox Hindu persecutions, and had a great deal to do with
thedisapperance of Buddhism in several provinces (of India),"
Not all will be satisfied with this explanation. It does seem inadequate. Islam attacked
both, Bramhanism and Buddhism. It will be asked why should one survive and the other
perish. The argument is plausible but not destructive of the validity of the thesis. To admit
that Bramhanism survived, it does not mean that the fall of Buddhism was not due to the
sword of Islam. All that it means is that, there were circumstances which made it possible for
Bramhanism and impossible for Buddhism to survive the onslaught of Islam. Fortunately for
Bramhanism and unfortunately for Buddhism that was the fact.

Those who will pursue the matter will find that there were three special circumstances
which made it possible for Bramhanism and impossible for Buddhism to survive the calamity
of Muslim invasions. In the first place Bramhanism at the time of the Muslim invasions had
the support of the State. Buddhism had no such support. What is however more important is
the fact that this State support to Bramhanism lasted till Islam had become a quiet religion
and the flames of its original fury as a mission against idolatory had died out. Secondly
the Buddhist priesthood perished by the sword of Islam and could not be resusciated. On
the other hand it was not possible for Islam to annihilate the Bramhanicpriesthood. In the
third place the Buddhist laity was persecuted by the Bramhanic rulers of India and to escape
this tyranny the mass of the Buddhist population of India embraced Islam and renounced
Buddhism.

Of these circumstances there is not one which is not supported by history.

Among the Provinces of India which came under Muslim domination, Sind was the first. It
was ruled by a Shudra king. But the throne was usurped by a Bramhin who established his
own dynasty which naturally supported the Bramhanic religion a.t the time of the invasion
of Sind by Ibne Kassim in 712 A.D. The ruler of Sind was Dahir. This Dahir belonged to the
dynasty of Brahmin rulers.

Heuen Tsang had noticed that the Punjab was in his time ruled by
a Kshatriya Buddhist dynasty. This dynasty ruled Punjab till about 880 A.D. In that year the
throne was usurped by a Brahmin army commander by name Lalliya who founded the
Brahmin Shahi dynasty. This dynasty ruled the Punjab from 880 A.D. to 1021 A.D. It will
thus be seen that at the time when the invasions of the Punjab were commenced
by Sabuktagin and Mohammad, the native rulers belonged to the Bramhanic religion
and Jayapala (960-980 A.D.)Anandpal (980-1000 A.D.) and Trilochanpal (1000-21 A.D.) of
whose struggles with Sabuktagin and Mahammad we read so much were rulers belonging
to the Bramhanic faith.
 Central India began to be infested by Muslim invasions which commenced from the time of
Mohammad and continued under the leadership of Shahabuddin Ghori. At that time Central
India consisted of different kingdoms. Mewad (now known as Udepur) ruled by
the Gulohits, Sambhar (now divided into Bundi, Kota and Sirohi) ruled by
[f3]
the Chauhans,Kanauj ruled by the Pratihars, Dhar ruled by the
Parmars, Bundelkhand ruled by Chandellas, Anhilwad ruled by the Chavdas, Chedi ruled by
the Kalachuris. Now the rulers of all these kingdoms were Rajputs and the Rajputs for
reasons which are mysterious and which I will discuss later on had become
the staunchest supporters of the Bramhanic religion.

About the time of these invasions Bengal had fallen into two kingdoms, Eastern and
Western. West Bengal was ruled by the Kings of the Pal dynasty and East Bengal was ruled
by the Kings of the Sena dynasty.

The Palas were Kshatriyas. They were Buddhist but as Mr. Vadiya says[f4] "probably only
in the beginning or in name". As to the Sena kings there is a difference of
opinion. Dr.Bhandarkar says they were Brahmins who had taken to the military profession of
the Kshatriyas. Mr. Vaidya insists that the Sena Kings were Aryan Kshatriyas or Rajputs
belonging to the Lunar race. In any case there is no doubt that the Senas like the Rajputs
were supporters of the orthodox faith.[f5]

"South of the river Nerbudda, then existed about the time of the Muslim invasions
four kingdoms (1) The Deccan Kingdom of Western Chalukyas, (2) The Southern
Kingdom of the Cholas (3) The Silahara Kingdom in Konkan on the West Coast and
(4) The Ganga Kingdom of Trikalinga on the East Coast. These Kingdoms flourished
during 1000-1200A.D. which is the period of the Muslim invasions. There were under
them, certain feudatory Kingdons which rose to power in the 12th Century A.D. and
which became independent and powerful in the 13 the Century. They are
(1) Devagiri ruled by the Yadavas, (2) Warangal ruled by Kakatiyas (3) Halebid ruled
by Hoyasalas (4) Madura ruled by the Pandyasand (5) Travancore ruled by
the Cheras. All these ruling dynasties were followers of orthodox Brahmanism. The
Muslim invasions of India commenced in the year 1001 A.D. The last wave of these
invasions reached Southern India in 1296 A.D. when Allauddin Khilji subjugated the
Kingdom of Devagiri. The Muslim conquest of India was really not completed by
1296. The wars of subjugation went on between the Muslim conquerors and the
local rulers who though defeated were not reduced. But the point which requires to
bear in mind is that during this period of 300 years of Muslim Wars of conquests,
India was governed all over by princes who professed the orthodox faith
of Bramhanism.Bramhanism beaten and battered by the Muslim Invaders could look
to the rulers for support and sustenance and did get it. Buddhism beaten and
battered by the Muslim invaders had no such hope. It was an uneared for orphan
and it withered in the cold blast of the native rulers and was consumed in the fire lit
up by the conquerors.
The Musalman invaders sacked the Buddhist Universities
of Nalanda, Vikramasila, Jagaddala, Odantapuri to name only a few. They raised to the
ground Buddhist monasteries with which the country was studded. The Monks fled away in
thousands to Napal, Tibet and other places outside India. A very large number were killed
outright by the Muslim commanders. How the Buddhist priesthood perished by the sword of
the Muslim invaders has been recorded by the Muslim historians themselves. Summarizing
the evidence relating to the slaughter of the Budhist Monks perpetrated by the Musalman
General in the course of his invasion of Bihar in 1197 A.D. Mr. Vincent Smith says[f6] :

"The Musalman General, who had already made his name a terror by repeated plundering
expeditions in Bihar, seized the capital by a daring stroke. The almost contemporary
historian met one of the survivors of the attacking party in A.D. 1243, and learned from him
that the Fort of Bihar was seized by a party of only two hundred horsemen, who boldly
rushed the postern gate and gained possession of the place. Great quantities of plunder
were obtained, and the slaughter of the 'shaven headed Brahmans', that is to say
theBuddhist monks, was so thoroughly completed, that when the victor sought for some one
capable of explaining the contents of the books in the libraries of the monasteries, not a
living man could be found who was able to read them. 'It was discovered', we are told, 'that
the whole of that fortress and city was a college, and in the Hindi tongue they call a
college Bihar."

Such was the slaughter of the Buddhist priesthood perpetrated by the Islamic invaders.
The axe was struck at the very root. For by killing the Buddhist priesthood Islam killed
Buddhism. This was the greatest disaster that befell the religion of Buddha in India. Religion
like any other ideololgy can be attained only by propaganda. If propoganda fails, religion
must disappear. The priestly class, however detestable it may be, is necessary to the
sustenance of religion. For it is by its propoganda that religion is kept up. Without the priestly
class religion must disappear. The sword of Islam fell heavily upon the priestly class. It
perished or it fled outside India. Nobody remained to keep the flame of Buddhism burning.

It may be said that the same thing must have happened to the Brahmanic priesthood. It is
possible, though not to the same extent. But there is this difference between the constitution
of the two religions and the difference is so great that it contains the whole reason
why Brahmanism survived the attack of Islam and why Buddhism did not. This difference
relates to the constitution of the clergy.

The Bramhanic priesthood has a most elaborate organization. A clear and succinct
account of it has been given by the late Sir Ramkrishna Bhandarkar in the pages of the
Indian Antiquary.[f7]
 'Every Brahmanic family, ' he writes, ' is devoted to the study of a particular Veda,
and a particular Sakha (recension) of a Veda ; and the domestic rites of the family
are performed according to the ritual described in the Sutra connected with that
Veda. The study consists in getting by heart the books forming the particular Veda.
In Northern India, where the predominant Veda is the White Yagush and the Sakha
that of the Madhyandinas, this study has almost died out, except at Banaras, where
Brahmanic families from all parts of India are settled. It prevails to some extent
in Gujarat, but to a much greater extent in the Maratha country; and
in Tailangana there is a large number of Brahmans who still devote their life to this
study. Numbers of these go about to all parts of the country in search
of dakshina (fee, alms), and all well-to-do natives patronize them according to their
means, by getting them to repeat portions of their Veda, which is mostly the
Black Yagush, with Apastamba for their Sutra. Hardly a week passes here in
Bombay in which noTailangana Brahman comes to me to ask for dakshina. On each
occasion I get the men to repeat what they have learned, and compare it with the
printed texts in my possession.
'With reference to their occupation, Brahmans of each Veda are generally divided into two
classes, Grihasthas and Bhikshukas. The former devote themselves to a worldlyavocation,
while the latter spend their time in the study of their sacred books and the practice of their
religious rites.

'Both these classes have to repeat daily the Sandhya-vandana or twilight-prayers, the
forms of which are somewhat different for the different Vedas. But the repetition of
theGayatri-mantra 'Tat Savitur Vareynam' etc., five, then twenty eight, or a hundred and
eight times, which forms the principal portion of the ceremony, is common to all.

'Besides this, a great many perform daily what is called Brahmayagna, which on certain
occasions is incumbent on all. This for the Rig-Veda consists of the first hymn of the
firstmandal, and the opening sentences of the Aitareya Brahmana, the five parts of
the Aitereya Aranyaka, the Yagus-samhita, the Sama-samhita, the Atharva-
samhita, AsvalayanaKalpa Sutra, Nirukta, Khandas,
Nighantu, Jyotisha, Siksha, Panini, Yagnavalkya Smriti, Mahabharata, and the Sutras
of Kanada, Jaimini, and Badarayan.' The point to be remembered is that in the matter
of officiation there is no distinction between a Bhikshuka[f8] and
a Grahastha. In Brahmanism both are priest and the Grahastha is no less entitled to officiate
as a priest than a Bhikshu is. If a Grahastha does not choose to officiate as a priest, it is
because he has not mastered the mantras and the ceremonies or because he follows some
more lucrative vocation. Under Brahmanic dispensation every Brahmin who is not an
outcast has the capacity to be a priest. The Bhikshuka is an actual priest, a Grahastha is a
potential priest. All Brahmins can be recruited to form the army of Bramhanic priesthood.
Further no particular training or initiation ceremony is necessary for a Brahmin to act as a
priest. His will to officiate is enough to make him function as a priest. In Brahmanism the
priesthood can never become extinct. Every Brahmin is a potential priest of Brahmanism
and be drafted in service when the need be. There is nothing to stop the rake's life and
progress. This is not possible in Buddhism. A person must be ordained in accordance with
established rites by priests already ordained, before he can act as a priest. After the
massacre of the Buddhist priests, ordination became impossible so that the priesthood
almost ceased to exist. Some attempt was made to fill the depleted ranks of the Buddhist
priests. New recruits for the priesthood had to be drawn from all available sources. They
certainly were not the best. According to Haraprasad Shastri,[f9]

"The paucity of Bhiksus brought about a great change in the composition of the Buddhist
priesthood. It was the married clergy with families, who were called Aryas, that took the
place of the Bhiksus proper, and began to cater to the religious needs of
the Buddhists generally. They commenced attaining the normal status of
Bhiksus through the performance of some sacraments. (lntro.pp.l9.7,
quoting Tatakara Guptas' Adikarmaracana : 149, pp. 1207-1208). They officiated at the
religious ceremonies but at the same time, in addition to their profession of priesthood,
earned their livelihood through such avocations as those of a mason, painter, sculptor,
goldsmith, and carpenter. These artisan priests who were in later times larger in numbers
than the Bhiksus proper became the religious guides of the people. Their avocations left
them little time and desire for the acquisition of learning, for deep thinking, or for devotion
to Dhyana and other spiritual exercises. They could not be expected to raise the declining
Buddhism to a higher position through their endeavours nor could they check its course
towards its ruin through the introduction of salutary reforms." It is obvious that this new
Buddhist priesthood had neither dignity nor learning and were a poor match for the rival, the
Brahmins whose cunning was not unequal to their learning.[f10]

The reason why Brahmanism rose from the ashes and Buddhism did not, is to be
accounted for, not by any inherent superiority of Brahmanism over Buddhism. It is to
be found in the peculiar character of their priesthood. Buddhism died because its
army of priests died and it was not possible to create. Though beaten it was never
completely broken. Every Brahmin alive became priest and took the place of every
Brahmin priest who died.
As to the conversion to the faith of Islam by the Buddhist population as a cause of the fall
of Buddhism, there can hardly be much doubt.

In his Presidential address to the early Medieval and Rajput section of the Indian History
Congress held at Allahabad in 1938, Prof. Surendra Nath Sen very rightly observed that
there were two problems relating to the Medieval History of India for which no satisfactory
answers were forthcoming as yet. He mentiond two : one connected with the origin of the
Rajputs and the other to the distribution of the Muslim population in India. Referring to the
second, he said :

"But I may be permitted to deal with one question that is not wholly of antiquarian interest
today. The distribution of Muslim population in India demands some explanation. It is
commonly believed that Islam followed the route of conquest and the subjugated people
were forced to accept the faith of their rulers. The predominance of the Muslims in the
Frontier Province and the Punjab lends some colour to this contention. But this theory
cannot explain an overwhelming Muslim majority in Eastern Bengal. It is quite likely that the
North-Western Frontier Province was peopled by Turkish folks during the Kushan days, and
their easy conversion to Islam may be explained by racial affinity with the new conquerors;
but the Muslims of Eastern Bengal are certainly not racially akin to the Turks and the
Afghans, and the conversion of the Hindus of that region must have been due to other
reasons."[f11] What are these other reasons ? Prof. Sen then proceeds to lay bare these
reasons which are found in Muslim Chronicles. He takes the case of Sind for which there is
direct testimony and says :[f12]

"According to the Chachnama, the Buddhists of Sind suffered all sorts of indignities and
humiliations under their Brahman rulers, and when the Arabs invaded their country, the
Buddhists lent their whole hearted suport to them. Later on, when Dahir was slain and a
Muslim Government was firmly established in his country, the Buddhists found to their
dismay that, so far as their rights and privileges were concerned, the Arabs
were prapared to restore status quo ante bellum and even under the new order the Hindus
received a preferential treatment. The only way out of this difficulty was to accept Islam
because the converts were entitled to all the privileges reserved for the ruling classes. So
the Buddhists of Sind joined the Muslim fold in large numbers." Prof. Sen then adds this
significant passage :

"It cannot be an accident that the Punjab, Kashmir, the district around Behar Sharif, North-
East Bengal where Muslims now predominate, were all strong Buddhist Centres in thepre-
Muslim days. It will not be fair to suggest that the Buddhists succumbed more easily to
political temptations than the Hindus and the change of religion was due to the prospects of
the improvement of their political status."

Unfortunately the causes that have forced the Buddhist population of India to
abandon Buddhism in favour of Islam have not been investigated and it is therefore
impossible to say how far the persecution of the Brahmanic Kings was responsible
for the result. But there are not wanting indications which suggest that this was the
principal cause. We have positive evidence of two Kings engaged in the campaign of
persecuting the Buddhist population.
The first to be mentioned is Mihirkula. He belonged to the Huns who invaded India about
455 A.D. and established their kingdom in Northern India with Sakala, the modernSialkot in
the Punjab as the capital. Mihirkula ruled about 528 A.D. As Vincent Smith says :[f13] "All
Indian traditions agree in representing Mihirkula as a blood thirsty tyrant. `TheAttila of
India', stained to a more than ordinary degree with 'implicable cruelty' noted by historians as
characteristic of the Hun temperament."

Mihirkula, to use the language of Smith,[f14] :-"exhibited ferocious hostility against the
peaceful Buddhist cult, and remorselessly overthrew the stupas and monasteries, which he
plundered of their treasures".

The other is Sasanka, the King of Eastern India. He ruled about the first decade of the
seventh century and was defeated in a conflict with Harsha. In the words of
VincentSmith3[f15]

"Sansanka, who has been mentioned as the treacherous murderer

of Harsha's brother, and probably was a scion of the Gupta dynasty, was a
worshipper of Shiva, hating Buddhism, which he did his best to extirpate. He dug up
and burnt the holy Bodhi tree at Buddha Gaya, on which, according to
legend, Asoka had lavished inordinate devotion; broke the stone marked with the
footprints of Buddha at Pataliputra; destroyed the convents, scattered the monks,
carrying his persecutions to the foot of the Nepalese hills ". The seventh century
seems to be a century of religious persecution in India. As Smith points out : [f16]
"A terrible persecution of the cognate religion Jainism occurred in Southern India in
the seventh century".
Coming nearer to the time of the Muslim invasions, we have the instance of Sindh where
presecution was undoutedly the cause. That these persecutions continued upto the time of
the Muslim invasions may be presumed by the fact that in Northern India the Kings were
either Brahmins or Rajputs both of whom were anti Buddhists. That the Jains were
persecuted even in the 12th century is amply supported by history. Smith refers
to Ajayadeva, a Saiva King of Gujarat who came to the throne in A.D. 1174-6 and began his
reign by a merciless persecution of the Jains, torturing their leader to death. Smith adds,
"Several other well-established instances of severe persecution might be cited."

There is therefore nothing to vitiate the conclusion that the fall of Buddhism was due to
the Buddhist becoming coverts to Islam as a way of escaping the tyranny
of Brahmanism.The evidence, if it does not support the conclusion, at least makes it
probable. If it has been a disaster, it is a disaster for which Brahmanism must thank itself.

CHAPTER 6

Literature of Brahminism
 We have come across scattered pages of this essay, numbering from 6 to 14 and 17 to
39. These pages seem to be a continuation of the subject dealt with under the title'The
Decline and Fall of Buddhism'. Some of the pages are the first copies while the rest are the
carbon copies. There are 14 more pages dealing with the Vedanta Sutras
andBhagvat Gita. The size and quality of the paper on which 3 chapters i.e. (1) The Decline
and Fall of Buddhism, (2) The Literature of Brahminism and (3) Vedanta Sutras and
Bhagvat Gita are typed, appear to be similar but distinct from the size and quality of other
Chapters in this part.—Editors.

The facts which supply the reasons must be gleaned from the literature
of Brahmanism which grew up after its political trimuph under Pushyamitra.

The literature falls under six categories (1) Manu Smriti (2) Gita.
(3) Shankaracharya's Vedant (4) Mahabharat (5) Ramayana and (6) the Puranas. In
analysing this literature, I propose to bring out only such facts as are capable of being
suggested by inference, the reason or reasons for the decline of Buddhism.

There is nothing unusual or unfair in this. For literature is the mirror in which the life of a
people can be said to be reflected.

There is one point which I feel I must clear up. It relates to the period when this literature
came into existence. Not all will agree that the literature referred to came into being after the
revolution of Pushyamitra. On the contrary most Hindus, whether orthodox or not, learned or
not, have an inerradicable belief that their sacred literature is a very old one in point of time.
Indeed it seems to be an article of faith with every Hindu which necessitates a belief in a
very high antiquity of their sacred literature

As to the age of Manu I have given references to show that Manu Smriti was written
by Sumati Bharagava after 185 B.C. i.e. after the Revolution of Pushyamitra. I need say
nothing more on the subject.

The date of the Bhagavat Gita is a subject about which there has been a difference
of opinion.
Mr. Telang was of opinion that the Geeta must be older than the third century B.C. though
he was not able to say how much. Mr. Tilak. .........

In the opinion of Prof. Garbe,[f17] the Geeta as we have it, is different from what it originally
was. He agrees that the conviction that the Bhagwat Geeta has not reached us in its original
form but has undergone essential transformations, is now, however, shared by
many Indologists outside India. According to Prof. Garbe, one hundred and forty-six verses
in the Bhagwat Geeta are new and do not belong to the original Geeta. As to the date of its
composition Prof. Garbe says that it "cannot possibly be placed before the second
Century A.D."

Prof. Kausambi insists that the Geeta was composed in the reign of
King Baladitya. Baladitya belonged to the Gupta Dynasty which supplanted
the Andhra Dynasty in the year. ........ Baladitya came to the throne in the year 467 A.D. His
reasons for so late a date are two. Before Shankaracharya—who was born in 788 A.D. and
who died in 820 A.D.—wrote his commentary on the Bhagwat Geeta, it was an unknown
composition. It was certainly not mentioned in the Tatvasangraha by Shantarakshit who
wrote his treatise only 50 years before the advent of Shankaracharya. His second reason is
this. Vasubandhu was the originator of a school of thought known
as 'Vijnyan Vad'. The Bramha- Sutra-Bhashya contains a criticism of the Vijnyan Vad
of Vasubandu. The Geeta contains a reference[f18]to the Bramha-Sutra-Bhashya. The Geeta
must therefore be after Vasubandu and after the Bramha-Sutra-Bhashya. Vasubandhu was
the preceptor of the Gupta King Baladitya. That being so, the Geeta must have been
composed during or after the reign of Baladitya.

Nothing more need be said about the date of Shankaracharya. The age in which he lived
and wrote is now generally accepted. Something about his life needs to be said. But I will
reserve that for another place.

The question of determining the date of the composition of the Mahabharata is next to
impossible. Only an attempt to fix the period of its composition can be made.
TheMahabharat has undergone three editions and with each editor the title and subject
matter has changed. In its original form it was known as 'Jaya', Triumph.

This original name occurs even in the third edition both in the beginning as well as in the
end. The original edition of the book known as 'Jaya' was composed by one Vyas. In its
second edition it was known as Bharat. The Editor of this second edition was
one Vaishampayana. Vaishampayan's edition was not the only second edition of
the Bharata. Vyas had many pupils besides Vaishampayana ; Sumantu,
Jaimini, Paila and Shuka were his other four pupils. They all had learned at the feet of Vyas.
Each one of them produced his own. Thus there were four other editions of Bharata.
Vaishampayana recast the whole and brought out his own version. The third editor
is Sauti. He recast Vaishampayana'sversion of Bharata. Sauti's version ultimately came to
have the name of Mahabharata. The book has grown both in size and in the subject matter
aswell. The 'Jaya' of Vyas was amall work having not more than 8800 Shlokas. In the hands
of Vaishampayana it grew into 24000 verses. Sauti expanded it to contain 96836 Shlokas.
As to subject matter the original as composed by Vyas was only a story of the war between
the Kauravas and the Pandavas. In the hands of Vaishyampayana the subject became two-
fold. To the original story there was added the sermon. From a purely historical work, it
became a diadactic work aiming to teach a right code of social, moral and religious duties.
Sauti the last Editor made it an all-embracing repository of legendary lore. All the smaller
floating legends and historical stories which existed independently of the Bharata were
brought together by Sauti so that they might not be lost or that they may be
found togeher. Sauti had another ambition, that was to make the Bharata a storehouse of
learning and knowledge. This is the reason why he added sections on all branches of
knowledge, such as politics, geography, archary etc. Taking into account Sauti's habit of
repetition, it is no wonder that the Bharata in his hand became Mahabharata.

Now as to the date of its composition. There is no doubt that the war between the
Kauravas and the Pandavas is a very ancient event. But that does not mean that the
composition of Vyas is as old as the event or contemporaneous with the event. It is difficult
to assign specific dates to the different editions. Taking it as a whole Prof. Hopkinssays :[f19]

"The time of the whole Mahabharata generally speaking may then be from 200-
400 A.D. This, however, takes into account neither subsequent additions, such as we know
to have been made in later times, nor the various recasting in verbal form, which may safely
be assumed to have occurred at the hands of successive copyists."

But there are other circumstances which definitely point to a later date.

The Mahabharat contains a reference to the Huns. It was Skandagupta who fought the
Huns and defeated them in or about the year 455 A.D.. Notwithstanding this the invasions of
the Huns continued till 528 A.D. It is obvious that the Mahabharat was being written about
his time or therefter.

There are other indications which suggest a much later date. The Mahabharat refers to
the Mlenchhas or the Muslims. In the 190th Adhyaya of the Vana Parva of the Mahabharat
there is a verse 29 wherein the author says that "the whole world will be Islamic.
All Yadnas, rites and ceremonies and religious celebrations will cease". This is a direct
reference to the Muslims and although the verse speaks of what is to happen in the future,
the Mahabharat being a Purana must as in the case of the Purana be taken to speak of the
event that has happened. This verse so interpreted show that the Mahabharat was being
written after the date of the Muslim invasions of India. There are other references which
point to the same conclusion. In the same Adhyaya verse 59, it is said that "Oppressed by
the Vrashalas, the Brahmins struck with fear and finding no one to protect them, will roam all
over the world groaning and crying in agony".

The Vrashalas referred to in this verse cannot be the Buddhists. There is no particle of
evidence that the Brahmins were ever oppressed. On the contrary the evidence is that the
Brahmins, during the Buddhists regime, were treated with the same liberality as
the Buddhist Bhikshus. The reference to the Vrashalas means the uncultured must be to the
Islamic invaders.

There occur other verses in the same Adhyaya of the Vanaparva. They are 65, 66 and 67.
In these verses it is said that, "Society will become disarranged. People will
worshipYedukas. They will boycott Gods. The Shudras will not serve the twice-born. The
whole world will be covered with Yedukas. The Yug will come to an end."

What is the meaning of the term ' Yedukas '? By some it has been taken to mean a
Buddhist Chaitya. But according to Mr. Kausambi[f20] this is wrong. Nowhere either in the
Buddhist literature or in the Vedic literature is the word Yeduka used in the sense of
`Chaitya'. On the contrary according to the Amarkosh as commented upon
by MaheshwarBhatt the word Yeduka means a wall which contains a wooden structure to
give it strength. So understood Kausambi contends that the word Yeduka must mean
`Idgaha' of theMusalmans before which they say their prayers. If this is a correct
interpretation then it is obvious that parts of the Mahabharata were written after the invasion
of Mohammad Ghori.The first Muslim invasion took place in 712 A.D. under lbne Kassim. He
captured some of the towns in Northern India but did not cause much destruction. He was
followed by Mohammad of Gazni. He caused great destruction of Temples and Viharas and
massacred priests of both religions. But he did not engage himself in building Mosques or
Idgahas. That was done by Mohammad Ghori. From this it can be said that the writing of the
Mahabharata was not complete till 1200 A.D.

It seems that like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana has also gone through three editions.
There are two sort of references to the Ramayana in the Mahabharata. In one case the
reference is to 'Ramayana' without any mention of the author. In other the reference is to the
Ramayana of Valmilki. But the present Ramayana is not the Ramayana of Valmiki.[f21] In the
opinion of Mr. C. V. Vaidya[f22] :

"That the present Ramayana, even as it is approved and adopted by the searching
and all-respected commentator Kataka, is not the Ramayana originally written
by Valmiki, not even the most orthodox thinker will be disposed to doubt. Whoever
even cursorily reads the poem cannot but be struck with the inconsistencies, the
severances of connections,juxta-positions of new and old ideas which abound so
greatly in the present Ramayana, whether we take the Bengal or the Bombay text of
it. And one cannot but come to the conclusion that the Ramayana of Valmiki was
substantially reconstructed at some subsequent date."
As in the case of the Mahabharata there has been an accretion to the subject matter of the
Ramayana. Originally it was just a story of the war between Rama and Ravana over the
abduction of Rama's wife Sita by Ravana. In the second edition it became a story with a
sermon. From a purely historical work it also became a didactic work aiming to teach a right
code of Social, Moral and religious duties. When it assumed the form of a third edition it
was, again, like the Mahabharat, made a repository of legends, knowledge, learning,
philosophy and other arts and sciences.

With regard to the date of the composition of the Ramayana one proposition is well
established namely that the episode of Rama is older than the episode of the Pandus. But
that the composition of the Ramayana has gone on paripassu along with the composition of
the Mahabharata. Portions of Ramayana may be earlier than the Mahabharata. But there
can be no doubt that a great part of the Ramayana was composed after a great part of
the Mahabharata had already been composed.[f23]

(INCOMPLETE)

II
The literature from which I propose to draw upon consists of (1) The Bhagwat Geeta (2)
The Vedant Sutras (3) The Mahabharat (4) The Ramayana and (5) The Puranas. In
analysing this literature I propose to bring out only such facts as are capable of being
suggested by inference a reason or reasons for the decline of Buddhism.

Before proceeding to examine the subject matter of this lirerature I must deal with the
question of the period when this literature came into existence. Not all will agree that the
literature referred to came into being after the revolution of Pushyamitra. On the contrary
most Hindus whether orthodox or not, learned or not, have an in-eradicable belief that their
sacred literature is a very old one in point of time. Indeed it seems to be an article of faith
with every Hindu which necessitates a belief in a very high antiquity of their sacred literature.

(1) BHAGWAT GITA

Beginning with the Bhagwat Gita, the date of its composition has been a matter of
controversy. Mr. Telang[f24] was of opinion that we should "take the second century B.C. as
aterminous before which the Gita must have been composed". The late Mr. Tilak[f25] was
convinced that the date of the present Gita must be taken as not later than 500 years before
the Saka era" which means that the present Gita was composed somewhere
about. . . .. According to Prof. Garbe [f26]the date of the composition of the
Bhagwat Gitamust be placed somewhere between 200 and 400 A.D. There is another view
propounded by Mr. Kausambi and is based on quite indisputable data.

Prof. Kausambi insists that the Gita was composed in the reign
of Gupta King Baladitya. Baladitya belonged to the Gupta dynasty which supplanted
the Andhra Dynasty in the year..... Baladitya came to the throne in the year 467 A.D. His
reasons for so late a date for the composition of the Gita are two. Before Sankaracharya—
who was
born in 788 A.D. and who died in 820 A.D.—wrote his commentary on the Bhagwat Gita, it
was an unknown composition. It was certainly not mentioned in
the Tatvasangraha byShantarakshit who wrote his treatise only 50 years before the advent
of Sankaracharya. His second reason is this. Vasubandhu was the originator of a school of
thought known as'Vijnan Vad". The Brahma-Sutra-Bhashya contains a criticism of
the Vijnan Vad of Vasubandhu. The Gita contains a reference [f27] to the Brahma-Sutra-
Bhashya. The Gita must therefore be after Vasubandhu and after the Brahma-Sutra-
Bhashya. Vasubandhu was the preceptor of the Gupta King Baladitya. That being so the
Bhagwat Gita must have been composed or at any rate portions of Gita must have been
added to the original edition during or after the reign of Baladitya i.e. about 467 A.D.

While there is a difference of opinion regarding the date of the composition of the Bhagwat
Gita, there is no difference of opinion that the Bhagwat Gita has gone through many
editions. All share the conviction that the Bhagwat Gita has not reached us in its original
form but has undergone essential transformations at the hands of different editors who have
added to it from time to time. It is equally clear that the editors through whose hands it has
gone were not of equal calibre. As Prof. Garbe points out[f28]

"The Gita is certainly `no artistic work which the all comprehending vision of
a genious has created.' The pla.y of inspiration is indeed often times perceptible; not
seldom, however, there are merely high-sounding, empty words with which an idea
that has been already quite often explained, is repeated: and occasionally the
literary expression is exceedingly faulty. Verses are bodily taken over from
the Upanishad literature, and this is certainly what a poet filled with inspiration would
never have done. The workings ofSattva, Rajas and Tamas are systematized with a
truly Indian pedantry, and much indeed besides this could be brought forward to
prove that the Gita is not the product of a genuinely poetic creative impulse..."
Hopkins speaks of the Bhagwat Gita as characteristic in its sublimity as in its puerilities, in
its logic as in its want of it. . . .Despite its occasional power and mystic exaltation, the Divine
Song in its present state as a poetical production is unsatisfactory. The same thing is said
over and over again, and the contradictions in phraseology and meaning are
asnumnerous as the repetitions, so that one is not surprised to find it described as "the
wonderful song, which causes the hair to stand on end".

This is not to be rejected as the view of foreigners. It is fully supported by

Prof. Rajwade[f29] who goes to show that some of those who had a hand in the composition
of theBhagwat Gita were ignorant of the rules of grammar.

While all are agreed that there have been different editions of the Gita under different
editors, they are not agreed as to what parts of the Gita are original and what parts of the
Gita are additions subsequently made. In the opinion of the late Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat
the original Gita consisted only of 60 Shlokas. Humboldt was inclined to the view that
originally the Gita consisted of only the first eleven Adhyayas (chapters) and that 12 to 18
Adhyayas were subsequent additions made to the original. Hopkins" view is that the first
fourteen Adhyayas constitute the heart of the poem. Prof. Rajwade thinks that Adhyayas 10
and II are spurious. Prof. Garbe says that 146 verses in the Bhagwat Gita are new and do
not belong to the original Gita which means that more than one-fifth of the Gita is new.

Regarding the author of the Gita there is none mentioned. The Gita is a conversation
between Arjuna and Krishna which took place on the battle field, in which Krishna
propounds his philosophy to Arjuna. The conversation is reported
by Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kauravas. The Gita should have been a part of
the Mahabharata,for, the incident which formed the occasion for it, is natural to it, but it does
not find a place there. It is a seperate indepenent work. Yet there is no author to whom it is
attributed. All that we know, is that Vyas asks Sanjaya to report to Dhritarashtra the
conversation that took place between Arjuna and Krishna. One may therefore say that Vyas
is the author of the Gita.

(2) VEDANT SUTRAS

As has already been said, the Vedic lirerature consists of

the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishadas. From the point of their
subject matter, this literature falls into two classes (1) literature which deals with religious
observances and rites and ceremonies technically called Karma Kanda and (2) literature
which deals with the knowledge about God to use the Vedic equivalent;
the Bramhanas, technically called 'Gnanakanda'. The Vedas and the Bramhanas fall under
the first category of literature, while the Aranyakas and the Upanishadas fall under the
second.

This Vedic literature had grown to enormous proportions and what is important is that, it
had grown in a wild manner. Some system, some coordination was necessary to bring order
out of this chaos. As a result of the necessity for this coordination, there grew up a branch of
inquiry called "Mimansa" i.e. an inquiry into the connected meaning of sacred texts i.e.
the Vedic literature. Those who thought it necessary to undertake such a task
of systematization and coordination divided themselves into two schools, those
whosystematized the 'Karmakand" portion and these who systematized
the ''Gnanakand' portion of the Vedic literature. The result was that there grew up two
branches of theMimansa Shastra, one called Purva Mimansa and the other Ultara
Mimansa. As the names suggest, the Purva Mimansa deals with the early portion of the
Vedic literature namely the Vedas and the Bramhanas. That is why it is called Purva (early)
Mimansa. The Uttara Mimansa deals with the later portions of the Vedic literature namely
theAranyakas and Upanishads. That is why it is called Uttara (later) Mimansa.
 The literature connected with the two branches of the Mimansa Shastra is immense. Of
this, two collections of Sutras stand out as the principal and leading works in this field of
Mimansa. The authorship of one is attributed to Jaimini and that of the other is ascribed
to Badarayana. Jaimini's Sutras deal with 'Karmakanda"[f30] and Badarayan's deal
with'Gnanakand'.There is no doubt that there were prior to Jaimini and Badarayana, other
authors who had written treatises on these subjects. Nonetheless the sutras of Jaimini and
Badarayana are taken as the standard works on the two Branches of the Mimansa Shastra.

Although the Sutras of both relate to that branch of inquiry called Mimansa, Jaimini's
sutras are called Mimansa Sutras[f31] while those of Badarayana are
called VedantaSutras. The term 'Vedanta' is taken to mean "the end of the Veda", or the
doctrines set forth in the closing chapter of the Vedas which comprise the Upanishads and
as the Upanishads constitute "the final aim of the Vedas." The Sutras of Badarayana which
go to systematize and coordinate them have come to be called Vedanta Sutras, [f32]or the
doctrines set forth in the closing chapter of the Vedas which asked Sanjaya to report to. This
is the origin of the Vedanta Sutras.

Who is this Badarayana? Why did he compose these Sutras, and when did he compose
them? Beyond the name nothing is known about Badarayana. [f33] It is not even certain that it
is the real name of the author. There is a considerable uncertainty regarding the authorship
of these Sutras even among his chief commentators.

Some say that the author is Badarayana. Others say that the author of the Sutra
is Vyas. The rest say that Badarayana and Vyas are one and the same person. Such is the
bewildering conflict of opinion regarding the author of the Sutras.

Why did he compose these Sutras? That the Brahmins should undertake to systematize
the Karmakand portion of the Vedic literature one can quite understand. The Bramhinswere
deeply concerned with the Karmakand. Their very existence, their livelihood depended upon
the systematization of the Karmakand portion of the Vedic literature.

The Brahmins on the other hand had no interest in the 'Gnankand' portion of the Vedic
literature. Why should they have made an attempt to systematize it ? The question has not
even been raised. But it is an important question and the answer to that must also be very
important. Why the question is important and what the answer is I shall discuss later on.

There are two other questions with regard to the Vedanta Sutras. First is this. Is this work
theological in character or is it purely philosophical in its nature? Or is it an attempt to tie
down pure philosophy to the apron strings of established theology and thereby to make it
innocuous and harmless. The other question relates to the commentaries on the Vedanta
Sutras.
 There have been altogether five commentaries on the Vedanta Sutras by five eminent
men all of whom are called Acharyas (doctors of learning) by reason of their intellectual
eminence.

They are (1) Shankaracharya (788 A.D. to 820 A.D.), (2) Ramanujacharya (1017 A.D. to
1137 A.D.), (3) Nimbarkacharya (died about 1162 A.D.), (4) Madhavacharya (1197-1276
A.D.) and (5) Vallabhacharya (born 1417 A.D.).

The commentaries of these Acharyas on the Vedanta Sutras have become far more
important than the Vedanta Sutras.

The point of some significance is that on the text of one and the same collection of the
Vedanta Sutras, an attempt has been made by those five Acharyas to found five different
systems of thought.

According to Shankara, the Vedanta Sutras teach absolute monism. According

to Ramanuja, qualified monism. According to Nirnbarka, monodualism. According
to Madhava,dualism and according to Vallabha, pure monism. I will not discuss here what
these terms mean. All I want to say is why should five different schools should have arisen
as a result of five different interpretation of the same collection of Sutras. Is it a mere matter
of grammar ? Or is there any other purpose behind these several interpretations. There is
also another question which arises out of the plurality of commentaries. While there are five
different commentaries each propounding five different ways of looking at God and the
individual soul really speaking there are only two, the view taken by Shankaracharya and
the view taken by the other four. For though the four differ among themselves, they are all
united in their opposition to Shankaracharya on two points (1) The complete oneness
between God and individual soul and (2) the world is an illusion. Here comes the third
question. Why did Shankaracharya propound so unique a view of the Vedanta Sutras
of Badarayana? Is it the result of a critical study of the Sutras? Or is it a wishful
interpretation designed to support a preconceived purpose?

I am only raising this question. I don't propose to deal with them here. Here I am
concerned with the age of this literature, is it Pre-Buddhist or Post-Buddhist.

As to the date of the composition of the Vedanta Sutras the initial difficulty is that like
the Bhagwat Gita it has also gone through several recensions. According to some [f34] there
have been three recensions of the Vedanta Sutras. That being so nothing definite can be
said regarding the date of its composition. [f35] The views expressed are only approximations.
There can be no doubt that the Vedanta Sutras are composed after the rise of Buddhism for
the Sutras do allude to Buddhism. They must not be after Manu forManu refers to them in
his Smriti. Prof. Keith holds that they must have been written about 200 A.D. and
Prof. Jacobi believes that the Sutras must have been composed between 200 A.D. and 450
A.D.

(3) MAHABHARATA

The question of determining the date of the composition of the Mahabharata is next to
impossible. Only an attempt to fix the period of its composition can be made.
TheMahabharata has undergone three editions and with each editor the title and subject
matter has changed. In its original form it was known as 'Jaya' Triumph. This original name
occurs even in the third edition, both in the beginning as well as in the end. The original
edition of the book known as 'Jaya' was composed by one Vyas. In its second edition it was
known as Bharat. The editor of this second edition was one Vaishampayana.
Vaishampayana's Edition was not the only second edition of the Bharata. Vyas had many
pupils besides Vaishampayana; Sumantu, Jaimini, Paila and Shuka were his other four
pupils. They all had learned at the feet of Vyas. Each one of them produced his own edition.
Thus there were four other editions of Bharata. Vaishampayana recast the whole and
brought out his own version. The third Editor is Sauti. He recast Vaishampayana's version of
Bharata. Sauti's version ultimately came to have the name of Mahabharata.

The book has grown both in size and in the subject matter as well. The 'Jaya' of Vyas was
a small work having not more than 8,800 Shlokas. In the hands of Vaishampayana it grew
into 24,000 verses. Sauti expanded it to contain 96,836 Shlokas. As to subject matter, the
original as composed by Vyas was only a story of the war between the Kauravasand
the Pandavas. In the hands of Vaishampayana the subject became two-fold. To the original
story there was added the sermon. From a purely historical work it became adiadactic work
aiming to teach a right code of social, moral and religious duties. Sauti the last Editor made
it an all embracing repository of legendary lore. All the smaller floating legends and historical
stories which existed independently of the Bharata were brought together by Sauti so that
they might not be lost or that they may be found together. Sauti had another ambition, that
was to make the Bharata a storehouse of learning and knowledge. This is the reason why
he added sections on all branches of knowledge, such as politics, geography, archary etc.
Taking into account Sauti's habit of repetition it is no wonder that the Bharata in his hand
became Mahabharata.

Now as to the date of its composition. There is no doubt that the war between the
Kauravas and the Pandavas is a very ancient event. But that does not mean that the
composition of Vyas is as old as the event or contempraneous with the event. It is difficult to
assign specific dates to the different editions. Taking it as a whole Prof. Hopkins says: [f36]
 "The time of the whole Mahabharata generally speaking may then be from 200-
400 A.D. This, however, takes into account neither subsequent additions, such as we know,
to have been made in later times, nor the various recasting in verbal form, which may safely
be assumed to have occurred at the hands of successive copyists."

But there are other circumstances which definitely point to a later date.
The Mahabharata contains a reference to the Huns. It was Skandagupta who fought the
Huns and defeated them in or about the year 455. Notwithstanding this, the invasions of the
Huns continued till 528 A.D. It is obvious that the Mahabharata was being written about this
time or thereafter.

There are other indications pointed out by Mr. Kausarnbi [f37] which suggest a much later
date. The Mahabharata refers to the Mlenchhas or the Muslims. In the 190th Adhyaya of
the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, there is a verse 29 wherein the author says that "the
whole world will be Islamic. All Aryan rites and ceremonies and religious celebrations will
cease". This is a direct reference to the Muslims and although the verse speaks of what is to
happen in the future, the Mahabharata being a Purana must as in the case of thePurana be
taken to speak of the event has happened. This verse so interpreted show that the
Mahabharata was being written after the date of the Muslim invasions of India. There are
other references which point to the same conclusion. In the same Adhyaya verse 59 it is
said that "Oppressed by the Vrashalas, the Brahmins struck with fear, and finding no one to
protect them will roam all over the world groaning and crying in agony ".

The Vrashalas referred to in this verse cannot be the Buddhists. There is no particle of
evidence that the Brahmins were ever oppressed. On the contrary the evidence is that the
Brahmins during the Buddhist regimes were treated with the same liberality as the
Buddhist Bhikshus. The reference to the Vrashalas which means the uncultured must be to
the Islamic invaders. If that is so, then part of the Mahabharata was certainly composed
after the Muslim invasions of India began.

There occur other verses in the same Adhyaya of the Vanaparva which points to the same
conclusion. They are 65, 66 and 67. In these verses it is said that "Society will become
disarranged. People will worship Yedukas. They will boycott Gods. The Shudras will not
serve the twice born. The whole world will be covered with Yedukas. The Yug will come to
an end".

Great significance attaches to the term 'Yedukas'. By some it has been taken to mean a
Buddhist Chaitya, on the ground that Yeduka means bone and particularly the bones of
Buddha and subsequently Chaitya because a Chaitya contains the bones of the Buddha.
But according to Mr. Kausambi2 this is wrong. Nowhere either in the Buddhist lireratureor in
the Vedic literature is the word Yeduka used in the sense of 'Chaitya'. On the contrary,
according to Amarkosh as commented upon by Maheshwar Bhatt, the word Yeduka means
a wall which contains a wooden structure to give it strength. So
understood Kausambi contends that the word Yeduka must mean 'Idgaha' of
the Musalmans before which they say their prayers. If this is a correct interpretation then it is
obvious that part of the Mahabharata was written after the Muslim invasions, particularly
after those of MahamadGhori. The first Muslim invasion took place in 721 A.D. under
Ibne Kassim. He captured some of the towns in Northern India but did not cause much
destruction of Temples andViharas and massacred priests of both the religions. But he did
not engage himself in building Mosques or Idgahas. That was done by Mahamad Ghori. So
that, it can well be said, that the writing of the Mahabharata was going on till 1200 A.D.

RAMAYANA
It is a fact that like Mahabharata, the Ramayana has also gone through three editions.
There are two sorts of references to the Ramayana in the Mahabharata. In one case the
reference is to Ramayana without any mention of the author. The other reference is to
the Ramayana of Valmiki. But the present Ramayana is not the Ramayana of Valmiki.[f38] In
the opinion of Mr. C. V. Vaidya[f39] :

" That the present Ramayana, even as it is approved and adopted by the
searching and all-respected commentator Kataka, is not the Ramayana originally
written by Valmiki, not even the most orthodox thinker will be disposed to doubt.
Whoever even cursorily reads the poem, cannot but be struck with the
inconsistencies, the severances of connections, juxtapositions of new and old ideas
which abound so greatly in the present Ramayana, whether we take the Bengal or
the Bombay text of it. And one cannot but come to the conclusion that
the Ramayana of Valmiki was substantially reconstructed at some subsequent date."
As in the case of the Mahabharata, there has been an accretion to the subject matter of
the Ramayana. Originally it was just a story of the war between Rama and Ravana over the
abduction of Rama's wife Sita by Ravana. In the second edition it became a story with a
sermon. From a purely historical work, it also became a didactic work aiming to teach a right
code of Social, Moral and religious duties. When it

assumed the form of a third edition, it was again, like the Mahabharata, made a repository of
legends, knowledge, learning, philosophy and other arts and sciences.

With regard to the date of the composition of the Ramayana, one proposition is well
established namely that the episode of Rama is older than the episode of the Pandus. But
that the composition of the Ramayana has gone on peripassu along with the composition of
the Mahabharata. Portions of Ramayana may be earlier than the Mahabharata. But there
can be no doubt that a great part of the Ramayana was composed after a great part of the
Mahabharata had already been composed.[f40]
 PURANAS
[f41]
The Puranas today number 18. This is however not the original number. According to
traditions, there is no reason to doubt, there was only one Purana to start with. Tradition
alleges that this Purana was older than the Vedas. The Atharva Veda refers to
this Purana and the Bramhanda Puran says that it is more ancient than the Vedas. It was a
lore which the King was expected to know for the Satapada. Brarnhana says
the Adhvaryu was required to recite the Purana to the King on the 10th day of the Yajna.

The origin of the 18 Puranas is attributed to Vyas who it is said recast the original single
Purana and by additions and substractions made 18 out of one. The making of the
18Puranas is thus the second stage in the evolution of the Puranas. The edition of each of
these 18 Puranas as published or uttered by Vyas is called the Adi[f42] Purana i.e. the
original edition as brought out by Vyas. After Vyas composed these 18 Puranas, he taught
them to his disciple Romaharsana. Romaharsana prepared his own edition of
thePuranas and taught it to his six disciples. Romaharsana's edition of the Puranas thus
became the third edition of the Puranas. Of the six disciples of Romaharsana,
three:Kasyapa, Savarni and Vaisampayana, made three separate editions which may be
called the fourth edition of the Puranas which we call by their names. According to
theBhavishya Purana, the Puranas came to be revised sometime during the reign of
King Vikramaditya.[f43]

As to the subject matter of the Puranas. The Purana from the oldest time is a recognised
department of knowledge. For instance it was distinguished from Itihas or history.
ByItihas what was understood was past occurances connected with a ruling king.
By Akhyana was meant the recital of an event the occurance of which one had witnessed.
ByUpakhyana was meant the recital of something one has heard. Gat has meant songs
about dead ancestors and about nature and universe.

Kalpashudi[f44] are ancient ways of acting regarding Shraddha and Kalpa.[f45] The Purana
was distinguished from all these branches of knowledge. The Purana was concerned with
five subjects. (1) Sarga (2) Prati Sarga (3) Vamsha (4) Manvantar and
(5) Vamshacharitra. Sarga means creation of the universe, Pratisarga means the dissolution
of the Universe. Vamsha means Geneology, Manvantar means the Ages of the
different Manus, particularly the fourteen successive Manus who were the progenitors or
sovereigns of the Earth. Vamshacharitra means the account of royal dynasties.

There has been a considerable addition made in the scope and subject matter of the
Puranas. For the Puranas which we have are no longer confined to these subjects. In
addition to these subjects they contain other subjects which fall entirely outside their
prescribed scope. Indeed there has been such a change in the fundamental notion
regarding the scope of the Puranas so that some of them do not contain any treatment of
the regular subjects but deal wholly with the new or extra subjects. The extra subjects
include the following main topics :

(I) Smriti Dharma which include discussion of:

(1) Varnashrama-
dharma, (2) Achara, (3) Ahnika, (4) Bhashyabhasya, (5) Vivaha, (6) Asaucha, (7) Shradha (
8) Dravya-Suddhi (9) Pataka, (10) Prayaschitta, (II) Naraka, (12)Karma Vipaka and
(13) Yuga Dharma.

(II) Vrata Dharma—Observance of holy vows and holy days

(III) Kshetra Dharma—Pilgrimages to holy places and

(IV) Dana Dharma—Gifts to holy persons. In addition to this, there are two other topics the
new subject matter with which one finds the Puranas to be deeply concerned.

The first of these two topics relates to sectarian worship. The Puranas are votaries of a
particular deity and advocate the cause of a particular deity and the sect devoted to his
worship. Five[f46] Puranas advocate worship of Vishnu, Eight[f47] worship of
[f48] [f49]
Shiva, One worship of Brahma, One worship of Surya, Two worship of Devi and One
worship ofGenesh.

The second topic which the Puranas have made a part of their subject matter is the
history of the Avatars of the God. The Puranas make a distinction between
identification of two Gods and the incarnation of a God. In the case of identification,
the theory is that the God is one although he has two names. In the case of an
incarnation, God becomes another being of the man or brute and does something
miraculous. In reading this history of incarnations the fruitful source is Vishnu. For it
is only Vishnu who has taken Avatars from time to time and done miraculous deeds
and we find in the Puranas this new topic discussed in all its elaborate details.
It is no wonder if by the addition of these new subjects, the Puranas have been
transformed out of recognition.

There is one other matter regarding the authorship of the Puranas which is noteworthy. It
relates to the change in the authorship of the Puranas. Among the ancient Hindus, there
were two separate sections among the literary class. One section consisted of
the Brahmins and another section called Sutas who were non-Bramhins. Each was in
charge of a separate department of literature. The Sutas had the monopoly of the Puranas.
The Brahmins had nothing to do with the composition or the reciting of the Puranas. It was
exclusively reserved for the Sutas and the Brahmins had nothing to do with it. Though the
Sutas had specialized themselves in the making and the reciting of the Puranas, although
they had acquired a hereditary and a prescriptive right to compose and recite the Puranas,
there came a time when the Sutas were ousted from this profession by Brahmins who took it
into their own hands and made a monopoly of it in their own favour. Thus there was a
change in the authorship of the Puranas. Instead of the Sutas, it is the Brahmins who
became their authors[f50].

It is probably when the Puranas fell into the hands of the Brahmins that the Puranas have
been finally edited and recast to make room for the new subjects. The editing and recasting
has been of a very daring character. For in doing so they have added fresh chapters,
substituted new chapters for old chapters and written new chapters with old names. So that
by this process some Puranas retained their earlier materials, some lost their early
materials, some gained new materials and some became totally new works.

The determination of the date of the composition of the Puranas is a problem which has
hardly been tackled.All history written by the Brahmins is history without dates and the
Puranas are no exception. The date of the Puranas has to be determined by circumstantial
evidence co-related with events the dates of which are well settled. The dates of the
composition of the different Puranas have not been examined as closely as those of the
other parts of the Brahminic literature. Indeed scholars have paid no attention to the
Puranas at all certainly nothing like what they have done in the matter of the Vedic literature.
Mr. Hazara's is the only work I know of in which an attempt is made in the matter of
determining the date of the composition of the Puranas. I give below the dates of the
Puranas as found by him.

Puranas Date of Composition

1. Markendeya Between 200 and 600 A. D.

2. Vayu Between 200 and 500 A. D.

3. Bramhanda Between 200 and 500 A. D.

4. Vishnu Between 100 and 350 A. D.

5. Matsya Part about 325 A. D. Part about 1100 A. D.

6. Bhagwat Between 500 and 600 A. D

7. Kurma Between 550 and 1000 A. D.

8. Vamana Between 700 and 1000 A. D.

9. Linga Between 600 and 1000 A. D.

10. Varaha Between 800 and 1500 A. D.

11. Padma Between 600 and 950 A. D.

12. Brahanaradiya Between 875 and 1000 A. D.

13. Agni Between 800 and 900 A. D.

14. Garuda Between 850 and 1000 A. D.

15. Bramha Between 900 and 1000 A. D.

16. Skanda After 700 A. D.

17. Bramha Vaivrata After 700 A. D.

18. Bhavishya After 500 A. D.

No more. precise date can be fixed for the Puranas at any rate for the present. New
research in the field may narrow the higher and lower limits of their composition. The
difference will only be a difference of degree. It will not be one of subversion of Eras.

This short survey is enough to remove any doubt as to the age of this literature that it
is post-Buddhistic. The survey establishes one more point of great significance. This
literature arose during the period subsequent to the triumph of Brahmins under the
leadership of Pushyamitra. The survey brings out one other
point. Vyas writes Mahabharata.Vyas tells Bhagwat Gita, and Vyas also writes
the Puranas. Mahabharata contains 18 Parvas, the Gita has 18 Adhyayas and the Puranas
number 18. Is all this an Accident? Or is it the result of a design planned and worked out in
concert ? We must wait and see.

Ill

THE VEDANTA SUTRAS

The vedanta Sutras of Badarayana as has been pointed out already constitute a
department of study on the same line as the Karma Sutras of Jaimini. It is natural to ask how
the founders of these two schools of thought comfort themselves towards each other. When
one begins to inquire into the matter one comes across facts which are revealing. In the first
place as Prof. Belvalkar [f51]points out, 'the Vedanta Sutras are very closely modelled upon
the Karma Sutras' In the matter of methodology and terminology, Badarayana almost
slavishly follows Jaimini. He accepts Jaimini rules of interpreting the text of the Shruti. He
uses Jaimini's technical terms in the sense in which they have been used by Jaimini. He
uses the very illustrations which are employed by Jaimini.

This is a matter for small wonder. But what is not a matter for small wonder is the attitude
of the two schools towards each other in the matter of doctrine. Let me give an illustration.

Badarayana gives the following Sutras [f52] as illustrative of the position of Jaimini towards
the Vedanta.

2. Because (the Self) is supplementary (to sacrificial acts), (the fruits of the knowledge of
the Self) are mere praise of the agent, even as in other cases; thus says Jaimini.

"According to Jaimini the Vedas merely prescribe acts to attain certain purposes including
Liberation, and nothing more. He argues that the knowledge of the Self does not yield any
independent results, as Vedanta holds, but is connected with the acts through the agent. No
one undertakes a sacrificial act unless he is conscious of the fact that he is different from the
body and that after death he will go to heaven, where he will enjoy the results of his
sacrifices. The Text dealing with Self-knowledge serve merely to enlighten the agent and so
are subordinate to sacrificial acts. The fruits, however, which the Vedanta texts declare with
regard to Self-knowledge, are merely praise, even as texts declare such results by way of
praise, with respect to other matters. In short, Jaimini holds that by the knowledge that his
Self will outlive the body, the agent becomes qualified for sacrificial actions, even as other
things become fit in sacrifices through purificatory ceremonies. 3. Because we find (from the
scriptures such) conduct (of men of realization).

"Janaka, emperor of Videha performed a sacrifice in which gifts were freely

distributed" (Brih. 3.1.1.); "I am going to perform a sacrifice, Sirs" (Chh. 5.11.5.). Now
both Janakaand Asvapati were knowers of the Self. If by this knowledge of the Self they had
attained Liberation, there was no need for them to perform sacrifices. But the two texts
quoted show that they did perform sacrifices. This proves that it is through sacrificial acts
alone that one attains Liberation, and not through the knowledge of the Self, as
the Vedantianshold. 4. That (viz, that knowledge of the Self stands in a subordinate relation
to sacrificial acts) the scriptures directly declare, "That alone which is performed with
knowledge, faith and meditation becomes more powerful" (Chh. 1.1.10); This text clearly
shows that knowledge is a part of the sacrificial act. 5. Because the two (knowledge and
work) go together (with the departing soul to produce the results).

"It is followed by knowledge, work, and past experience "(Brih. 4.4.2.). This text shows that
knowledge and work go together with the soul and produce the effect which it is destined to
enjoy. Knowledge independently is not able to produce any such effect." 6. Because (the
scriptures) enjoin (work) for such (as know the purport of the Vedas).
 "The scriptures enjoin work only for those who have a knowledge of the
Vedas, which includes the knowledge of the Self. Hence knowledge does not independently
produce any result." 7. And on account of prescribed rules.

"Performing works here let a man wish to live a hundred years" (Is. 2.); "Agnihotra is a
sacrifice lasting up to old age and death:, for through old age one is freed from it or through
death" (Sat. Br. 12.4.1.1.). From such prescribed rules also we find that Knowledge stands
in a subordinate relation ro work.

What is the position of Badarayana towards Jaimini and Karma Kanda Shastras?

This is best illustrated by the reply which Badarayana gives to the attack by Jaimini
on Vedanta as formulated by Badarayana in the Sutras quoted above. The reply is
contained in the following Sutras :[f53]

8. But because (the scriptures) teach (the Supreme Self to be) other (than the
agent), Badarayana's (view is) correct; for that is seen (from the scriptures).

"Sutras 2-7 give the view of the Mimamsakas, which is refuted by Sutras 8-17.
The Vedanta texts do not teach the limited self, which is the agent, but the Supreme Self,
which is different from the agent. Thus the knowledge of the Self which the Vedanta texts
declare is different from that knowledge of the self which an agent possesses. The
knowledge of such a Self, which is free from all limiting adjuncts, not only does not help, but
puts an end to all actions. That the Vedanta texts teach the Supreme Self is clear from such
texts as the following; "He who perceives all and knows all" (Mu. 1.1.9.); "Under the mighty
rule of this immutable, O Gargi" etc. (Brih. 3.8.9.).

9. But the declarations of the Shruti equally support both views.

"This Sutra refutes the view expressed in Sutra 3. There it was shown that Janaka and
others even after attaining Knowledge were engaged in work. This Sutra says the scriptural
authority equally supports the view that for one who attained Knowledge there is no
work. "Knowing this very Self the Brahmanas renounce the desire for sons, for wealth, and
for the worlds, and lead a mendicant life" (Brih. 3.5.1.). "We also see from the scriptures
that knowers of the Self like Yajnavalkya gave up work." 'This much indeed is (the means of)
immortality, my dear'. Saying this Yajnavlkya left home" (Brih. 4.5.15). The work of Janaka
and others was characterized by non-attachment, and as such it was practically no work; so
the Mimarnsa argument is weak.

10. (The declaration of the scripture referred to in Sutra 4) is not universally true.

The declaration of the Shruti that knowledge enhances the fruit of the sacrifice does not
refer to all knowledge, as it is connected only with the Udgitha, which is the topic of the
section. (There is) division of knowledge and work, as in the case of a hundred (divided
between two persons).

"This Sutra refutes Sutra 5. "It is followed by knowledge, work, and past
experiences" (Brih. 4.4.2.). Here we have to take knowledge and work in a distributive
sense, meaning that knowledge follows one and work another. Just as when we say a
hundred be given to these two persons, we divide it into two halves and give each man fifty.
There is no combination of the two. Even without this explanation Sutra 5 can be refuted.
For the text quoted refers only to knowledge and work, which concern the transmigrating
soul, and not an emancipated soul. For the passage, "Thus does the man who desires
(transmigrate)" (Brih. 4.4.6.) shows that the previous text refers to the transmigrating self.
And of the emancipated soul Shruti says, "But the man who never desires (never
transmigrates)" etc. (Brih. 4.4.6.). 12. (The scriptures enjoin work) only on those who have
read the Vedas.

"This Sutra refutes Sutra 6. Those who have read the Vedas and known about the
sacrifices are entitled to perform work. No work is prescribed for those who have knowledge
of the Self from the Upanishads. Such a knowledge is incompatible with work. 13. Because
there is no special mention (of the Jaimini it does not (apply to him).

"This Sutra refutes Sutra 7. The text quoted there from the Isa Upanishad is a general
statement, and there is no special mention in it that it is applicable to a Jnani also. In the
absence of such a specification it is not binding on him.

14. Or rather the permission (to do work) is for praising (Knowledge).

"The injunction to do work for the knowers of the Self is for the glorification of this
Knowledge. The praise involved in it is this : A knower of the Self may work all his life, but on
account of this Knowledge he will not be bound by its effects. 15. And some according to
their choice (have refrained from all work).

"In Sutra 3 it was said that Janaka and others were engaged in work even after
Knowledge. This Sutra says that some have of their own accord given up all work. The point
is that after Knowledge some may choose to work to set an example to others, while others
may give up all work. There is no binding on the knowers of the Self as regards work.

16. And (the scriptures say that the) destruction (of all qualifications for work results from
Knowledge).

Knowledge destroys all ignorance and its products like agent, act, and result. "But when to
the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and
through what" etc., (Brih. 4.5.15). The knowledge of the Self is antagonistic to all work and
so cannot possibly be subsidiary to work. 17. And (Knowledge belongs) to those who
observe continence (i.e. to Sannyasis); because (this fourth Ashrarna is mentioned) in the
scriptures.

"The scriptures declare that Knowledge is gained in that stage of life in which continence
is prescribed, i.e. the fourth stage or Sannyasa Asrama. To a Sannayasin there is no work
prescribed except discrimination. So how can Knowledge be subservient to work? That
there is a stage of life called Sannyasa we find from the scriputures themselves in texts
like : "There are three branches of duty; sacrifice, study and charity are the first;. . . . All
these attain to the worlds of the virtuous; but only one who is firmly established in Brahman
attains immortality" (Chh. 2.33.1-2); "Desiring this world (the Self) alone monks renounce
their homes" (Brih. 4..4.22). See also Mu. 1.2.11 and Chh. 5.10.1. Everyone can take to this
life without being a householder etc. which shows the independence of Knowledge".

Many such Sutras can be found in Badarayana indicating the attitude of the two schools of
thought towards each other. But one is enough as it is so very typical. If one stops to
consider the matter the position becomes absolutely clear. Jaimini denounces Vedanta as a
false Shastra a snare and a delusion, something superficial, unnecessary and insubstantial.
What does Badarayana do in the face of this attack? He defends his own Vedanta Shastra.
What one would expect from Badrayana is denunciation of theKarmakanda of Jaimini as a
false religion. Badarayana shows no such courage. On the contrary he is very apologetic.
He concedes that Jaimini's Karmakanda is based on the Scriptures and cannot be
repudiated. All that he insists is that his Vedanta doctrine is also true because it has also the
support of the Scriptures. Some explanation is necessary for this attitude of Badarayana.

BHAGWAT GITA
The Bhagwat Gita forms part of the Bhishmaparvan of the great epic known as
the Mahabharat. The epic is mainly concerned with the struggle for sovereignty between
cousins, the Kauravas the sons of Dhritarashtra and the Pandavas the sons
of Pandu. Pandu was the younger brother of Dhritarashtra. But as Dhritarashtra was blind
the throne went toPandu. After Pandu's death there arises a dispute between his sons and
the sons of Dhritarashtra regarding the right of succession. The struggle for sovereignty
culminated in the battle of Kurukshetra (near modern Panipat). In this battle Krishna sides
with the Pandavas and acts as their guide, friend and philohopher,--nay acts as the
charioteer of Arjuna,one of the Pandava brothers and who plays the part of the chief warrior
in the battle on the side of the Pandavas.

The two armies of the Kauravas and the Pandavas were arrayed for battle on the field.
Arjuna in his chariot with Krishna as a driver comes and takes his place in front of the
Pandava army. Strong and valiant he gazes at the opposing army of the Kauravas and is
struck by the horror of the dreadful fratricidal war in which he will have to kill his cousins and
slay those whom he himself revers and to whom he is greatly attached and indebted, He
becomes dejected, lays down his weapons and refuses to fight. Krishna begins to argue
with him and provoke him to fight. This argument takes the form of a question and answer of
a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna at the end of which Arjuna agrees to fight.

At the opening of the Bhagwat Gita we find old Dhritarashtra questioning Sanjaya about
the battle. This is because Dhritarashtra the father of the Kauravas who though alive at the
time when the battle was fought was a blind man and could not see and know things for
himself. For the knowledge of the happenings he had to depend upon the reports of others.
Anticipating the difficulty of getting someone to tell Dhritarashtra the authentic
story, Vyas the author of the Mahabharata, it is said, bestowed on Sanjaya, the charioteer
ofDhritrashtra, the power of knowing all that takes place on the battlefield— even the
thoughts in men's minds- that he may make a faithful report to Dhritarashtra. That is why we
find the episode of Bhagwat Gita related as a reply by Sanjaya to questions by
Dhritarashtra. But the Gita is really a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna and is rightly
calledKrishana Arjuna Samvad.

In this Krishna-Arjuna-Samvad—which is the real name of the Bhagwat Gita— the main
question over which there was disagreement was to fight or not to fight. There was no other
question. This was the one and the only question which was the subject matter of discussion
and argument between the two. Starting from this point of view it is obvious that the Gita
could never have been intended by Krishna to be the occasion for moral instruction for the
general public or the doctrinal exposition of any religious system or the catechism attached
to any creed. Yet this is just what the Gita has come to be. Although the occasion was to
decide to fight or not to fight, the Gita is said to contain what his religious doctrine Krishna is
said to have preached to Arjuna.

The first question that crops up is who is this Krishna. To this one gets quite surprizingly a
variety of answers from the Gita itself. At the start Krishna appears as a mere man with a
completely human personality. He is a warrior by profession. He is a great warrior though he
had chosen[f54] the humble duty of driving the chariot of Arjuna. From man he grows into
superman directing and controlling the war and its frotunes. From superman he grows into a
demigod and dictator. When all his arguments fail to move Arjuna to fight, he simply orders
him to fight and the frightened Arjuna gets up and does his biddings. From demigod he rises
to the position of God and is spoken of as Ishwara.

This shows the growth of the personality of Krishna. But what is important is that in the
very same Gita, Krishna stands out a.s a representative of other forms of God. Four such
representative characters in which Krishna appears are clear to any one who happens to
read the Gita even casually.

Krishna is Vasudeo : Bhagwat Gita :

 Ch.X.37. Of the Vrishnis I am Vasudeva; of the Pandavas, Dhananjaya; and also for
the Munis, I am Vyasa; of the sages, Ushanas the sage. Krishna as Bhagwan :

Ch.X.12. The Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme Purifier, art Thou.
Krishna is an Avtar of Vishnu :

Ch.X.21. Of the Adityas, I am Vishnu; of luminaries, the radiant Sun; of the winds, I
am Marichi; of the asterisms, the Moon.

Ch.X1.24. On seeing Thee touching the sky, shining in many a colour, with mouths wide
open, with large fiery eyes, I am terrified at heart, and find no courage nor peace, 0 Vishnu.

XI.30. Swallowing all the worlds on every side with Thy flaming mouths, Thou art licking
Thy lips. Thy fierce rays, filling the whole world with radiance, are burning, 0 Vishnu. Krishna
is also an Avtar of Shankara :

X.23. And of the Rudras I am Shankara; of the Yakshas and Rakshasas the Lord of
wealth (Kuvera); of the Vasus I am Pavaka; and of mountains, Meru am 1.

Krishna is Bramhan :—

XV. 15. I am centered in the hearts of all; memory and perception as well as their loss
come from Me. I am verily that which has to be known by all the Vedas, I indeed am the
Author of the Vedanta, and the Knower of the Veda am 1.

XV. 16. There are two Purushas in the world,—The Perishable and the Imperishable. All
beings are the Perishable, and the Kutastha is called Imperishable.

XV. 17. But (there is) another, the Supreme Purusha, called the Highest Self, the
immutable Lord, who pervading the three worlds, sustains them.

XV. 18. As I transcend the Perishable and am above even the Imperishable, therefore am
I in the world and in the Veda celebrated as the Purushottama, (the Highest Purusha).

XV. 19. He who free from delusion thus knows Me, the Highest Spirit, he knowing all,
worships Me with all his heart, 0 descendant of Bharata.

Ask the next question, What is the doctrine that Krishna preaches to Arjuna? The doctrine
preached by Krishna to Arjuna is said to be the doctrine of salvation for the human soul.
While the question dealt with by Krishna is one relating to Salvation, Krishna teaches three
different doctrines of Salvation.

Salvation is possible by Dnyanmarg as propounded by Samkhya Yog.

 11.39. The wisdom of Self-realisation has been declared unto thee. Hearken thou now to
the wisdom of Yoga, endued with which, 0 son of Pritha, thou shalt break through the bonds
of Karma. Thus is the concluding verse of the discourse on Samkhya Yoga discussed in
Chapter II, verses 11-16 and 18-30.

(2) Salvation is possible by Karma marg,

V.2. Both renunciation and performance of action lead to freedom : of these performance
of action is superior to the renunciation of action.

(3) Salvation is possible by Bhakti Marg.

IX. 13. But the great souled ones, 0 son of Pritha, possessed of the
Divine Prakriti, knowing Me to be the origin of beings, and immutable, worship Me with a
single mind.

IX. 14. Glorifying Me always and striving with firm resolve, bowing down to Me in devotion,
always steadfast, they worship Me. IX. 15. Others, too, sacrificing by the Yajna of
knowledge (i.e. seeing the Self in all), worship Me the All Formed, as one, as distnct, as
manifold.

IX. 17. I am the Father of this world, the Mother, the Sustainer, the Grandfather; the
Purifier, the (one) thing to be known, (the syllable) 0m, and also the Rik Saman and Yajus.

IX.22. Persons who, meditating on Me as non-separate, worship Me in all beings, to them

thus ever jealously engaged, I carry what they lack and preserve what they already have.
There are two other features of the Bhagwat Gita which arrests one's attention.

(i) There is a sentiment of depreciation of the Vedas and Vedic rituals and sacrifices.

11.42-44. 0 Partha, no set determination is formed in the minds of those that are deeply
attached to pleasure and power, and whose disctimination is stolen away by the flowery
words of the unwise, who are full of desires and look upon heaven as their highest goal and
who, taking pleasure in the panegyric words of the Vedas, declare that there is nothing else.
Their (flowery) words are exuberant with various specific rites as the means to pleasure and
power and are the causes of (new) births as the result of their works (performed with desire).

11.45 The Vedas deal with the three Gunas, Be thou free, 0 Arjun, from the triad of the
Gunas, free from the apirs of opposites, ever balanced, free from (the thought of) getting
and keeping, and established in the Self.

11.46. To the Brahmana who has known the Self, all the Vedas are of so much use, as a
reservoir is, when there is a flood everywhere.
 IX.21. Having enjoyed the vast Swarga-world, they enter the mortal world, on the
exhaustion of their merit; Thus, abiding by the injunctions of the three (Vedas), desiring
desires, they (constantly) come and go.

INCOMPLETE

CHAPTER 7

The Triumph of Brahmanism : Regicide or the birth of Counter-Revolution

We have found only 3 typed pages under this title. Fortunately, a copy of the essay has
been spared by Shri S. S. Rege for being included in this hook. While examining the pages
we have noticed that the copy given by Mr. Rege also lacks page nos 3 to 7 and 9 to 17.
The total typed pages of this essay have been numbered 92 inclusive of the missing pages.
The title on the copy of Mr. Rege is the 'Triumph of Brahmanism'; whereas the first page of
the script in our papers is also entitled as ' Regicide or the Birth of Counter-Revolution '. The
classification of the subject into IX Chapters is noted in our copy whereas it is missing from
the copy of Mr. Rege. Both the titles and the classification are recorded in the handwriting of
Dr. Ambedkar. Hence, they are retained in this print. Incidentaly, the page nos 91017 were
found fagged in other file. All those papers have now been introduced at proper place. Thus
except page Nos. 4 to 7, the script is complete.—Editors.

I The Brahmanic Revolt against Buddhism. II Manu the apostle of Brahmanism. Ill
Brahmanism and the Brahmin's Right to rule and regicide. IV Brahmanism and the privileges
of Brahmins. V Brahmanism and the Creation of Caste. VI Brahmanism and the degradation
of the Non-Brahmins. VII Brahmnism and the Suppression of the Shudra. VIII Brahmanism
and the Subjection of Women. IX Brahmanism and the legalization of the social system.

Speaking about India, Prof. Bloomfield opens his lectures on the Religion of the Veda by
reminding his audience that "India is the land of religions in more than one sense. It has
produced out of its own resources, a number of distinctive systems and sects....

In another sense India is a land of religions. Nowhere else is the texture of life so much
impregnated with religious convictions and practices... "[f55]

These observations contain profound truth. He would have given utterance to truth
far more profound and arresting if he had said that India is a land of warring
religions. For indeed there is no country in which Religion has played so great a part
in its history as it has in the history of India. The history of India is nothing but a
history of a mortal conflict between— Buddhism and Brahmanism. So neglected is
this truth that no one will be found to give it his ready acceptance. Indeed there may
not be wanting persons who would repudiate any such suggestion.
Let me therefore briefly recount the salient facts of Indian history. For it is important that
everyone who was able to understand the history of India must know that it is nothing but
the history of the struggle for supremacy between Brahmanism and Buddhism.

The history of India is said to begin with the Aryans who invaded India, made it their home
and established their culture. Whatever may be the virtues of the Aryans, their culture, their
religion and their social system, we know very little about their political history. Indeed
notwithstanding the superiority that is claimed for the Aryans as against the Non-Aryans, the
Aryans have left very little their political achievements for history to speak of. The political
history of India begins with the rise of a non-Aryan people called Nagas, who were a
powerful people, whom the Aryans were unable to conquer, with whom the Aryans had to
make peace, and whom the Aryans were compelled to recognize as their equals. Whatever
fame and glory India achieved in ancient times in the political field, the credit for it goes
entirely to the Non-Aryan Nagas. It is they who made India great and glorious in the annals
of the world.

The first land mark in India's political history is the emergence of the Kingdom
of Magadha in Bihar in the year 642 B.C. The founder of this kingdom of Magadha is known
by the name of Sisunag2[f56] and belonged to the non-Aryan race of Nagas.

From the small beginning made by Sisunag, this Kingdom of Magadha grew in its extent
under the capable rulers of this Sisunag dynasty. Under Bimbisara the fifth ruler of this
dynasty the kingdom grew into an Empire and came to be known as the Empire
of Magadha. The Sisunag dynasty continued to rule the kingdom till 413 B.C. In that year
the reigning Emperor of the Sisunag Dyansty Mahananda was killed by an adventurer
called Nanda. Nanda usurped the throne of Magadha and founded the Nanda Dynasty.

This Nanda Dynasty ruled over the Empire of Magadha upto 322 B.C. The last Nanda king
was deposed by Chandragupta who founded the Maurya Dynasty. Chandragupta was
related[f57] to the family of the last ruling emperor of the Sisunag Dynasty so that it may be
said that the revolution effected by Chandragupta was really a restoration of
the NagaEmpire of Magadha.

The Mauryas by their conquests enormously extended the boundaries of this Empire of
Magadha which they inherited. So vast became the growth of this Empire under Ashoka,the
Empire began to be known by another name. It was called the Maurya Empire or the Empire
of Ashoka. (From here onwards page Nos. 4 to 7 of the MS are missing.)
 It did not remain as one of the many diverse religions then in vogue. Ashoka made it the
religion of the state. This of course was the greatest blow to Brahmanism. The Brahmins lost
all state partonage and were neglected to a secondary and subsidiary position in the Empire
of Ashoka.

Indeed it may be said to have been suppressed for the simple reason that Ashoka
prohibited all animal sacrifices which constituted the very essence of Brahmanic Religion.

The Brahmins had not only lost state partonage but they lost their occupation which mainly
consisted in performing sacrifices for a fee which often times was very substantial and which
constituted their chief source of living. The Brahmins therefore lived as the suppressed and
Depressed Classes2 [f58]for nearly 140 years during which the Maurya Empire lasted.

A rebellion against the Buddhist state was the only way of escape left to the suffering
Brahmins and there is special reason why Pushyamitra should raise the banner of revolt
against the rule of the Mauryas. Pushyamitra was a Sung by Gotra.

The Sungas were Samvedi Brahmins,3[f59] who believed in animal sacrifices

and soma sacrifices. The Sungas were therefore quite naturally smarting under the
prohibition on animal sacrifices throughout the Maurya Empire proclaimed in the very Rock
Edict by Ashoka.

No wonder if Pushyamitra who as a Samvedi Brahmin was the first to conceive the
passion to end the degradation of the Brahmin by destroying the Buddhist state which was
the cause of it and to free them to practise their Brahmanic religion.

That the object of the Regicide by Pushyamitra was to destroy Buddhism as a state
religion and to make the Brahmins the sovereign rulers of India so that with the political
power of the state behind it Brahmanism may triumph over Buddhism is borne out by two
other circumstances.

The first circumstance relates to the conduct of Pushyamitra himself. There is evidence
that Pushyamitra after he ascended the throne performed the Ashvamedha Yajna or the
horse sacrifice, the vedic rite which could only be performed by a paramount sovereign. As
Vincent Smith observes :

"The exaggerated regard for the sanctity of animal life, which was one of the most
cherished features of Buddhism, and the motive of Ashoka's most characterisitic legislation,
had necessarily involved the prohibition of bloody sacrifices, which are essential to certain
forms of Brahmanical worship, and were believed by the orthodox to possess the highest
saving efficacy. The memorable horse sacrifices of Pushyamitra marked an early stage in
the Brahmanical reaction, which was fully developed five centuries later in the time
of Samudragupta and his successors."
 Then there is evidence that Pushyamitra after his accession launched a violent and
virulent campaign of persecution against Buddhists and Buddhism.

How pitiless was the persecution of Buddhism by Pushyamitra can be gauged from the
Proclamation which he issued against the Buddhist monks. By this proclamation
Pushyamitra set a price of 100 gold pieces on the head of every Buddhist monk. [f60]

Dr. Haraprasad Shastri speaking about the persecution of Buddhists under

Pushyamitra says[f61] :

"The condition of the Buddhists under the imperial sway of the Sungas, orthodox
and bigotted, can be more easily imagined than described. From Chinese authorities it is
known that many Buddhists still do not pronounce the name of Pushyamitra without a
curse."

II
If the Revolution of Pushyamitra was a purely political revolution there was no need for
him to have launched a compaign of persecution against Buddhism which was not very
different to the compaign of persecution launched by
the Mahamad of Gazni against Hinduism. This is one piece of circumatantial evidence which
proves that the aim ofPushyamitra was to overthrow Buddhism and establish Brahmanism in
its place.

Another piece of evidence which shows that the origin and purpose of the revolution by
Pushyamitra against the Mauryas was to destroy Buddhism and establish Brahmanism is
evidenced by the promulgation of Manu Smriti as a code of laws.

The Manu Smriti is said to be divine in its origin. It is said to be revealed to man by Manu
to whom it was revealed by the Swayambhu (i.e. the Creator). This claim, as will be seen
from the reference already made to it, is set out in the Code itself. It is surprizing that
nobody has cared to examine the grounds of such a claim. The result is that there is a
complete failure to realise the significance, place and position of the Manu Smriti in the
history of India. This is true even of the historians of India although the Manu Smriti is a
record of the greatest social revolution that Hindu society has undergone. There can
however be no doubt that the claim made in the Manu Smriti regarding its authorship is an
utter fraud and the beliefs arising out of this false claim are quite untenable.

The name Manu had a great prestige in the ancient history of India and it is with the object
to invest the code with this ancient prestige that its authorship was attributed to Manu. That
this was a fraud to deceive people is beyond question. The code itself is signed [f62] in the
family name of Bhrigu as was the ancient custom. "The Text Composed by Bhrigu
(entitled) "The Dharma Code of Manu" is the real title of the work. The name Bhrigu is
subscribed to the end of every chapter of the Code itself. We have therefore the family
name of the author of the Code. His personal name is not disclosed in the Book. All the
same it was known to many. The Author of Narada Smriti writing in about the 4th
Century A.D.knew the name of the author of the Manu Smriti and gives out the secret.
According to Narada it was one Sumati Bhargava who composed the Code of Manu. Sumati
Bhargava is not a legendary name, and must have been historical person for
even Medhatithe[f63] the great commentator on the Code of Manu held the view that this
Manu was 'a certain individual'. Manu therefore is the assumed name of Sumati Bhargava
who is the real author of Manu Smriti.

When did this Sumati Bhargava compose this Code? It is not possible to give any precise
date for its composition. But quite a precise period during which it was composed can be
given. According to scholars whose authority cannot be questioned Sumati Bhargava must
have composed the Code which he deliberately called Munu Smriti between 170 B.C. and
150 B.C. Now if one bears in mind the fact that the Brahmanic Revolution
by Pushyamitra took place in 185 B.C. there remains no doubt that the code known
as ManuSmriti was promulgated by Pushyamitra as embodying the principles of Brahmanic
Revolution against the Buddhist state of the Mauryas. That the Manu Smriti forms the
Institutes of Brahmanism and are a proof that Pushyamitra Revolution was not a purely
personal adventure will be clear to any one who cares to note the following peculiarities
relating to the Manu Smriti.

First thing to be noted is that the Manu Smriti is a new Code of law promulgated for the
first time during the reign of Pushyamitra. There was a view once prevalent that there
existed a code known as the Manava-Dharma-Sutra and that what is known as Manu Smriti
is an adaptation of the old Manava Dharma Sutra. This view has been abandoned as there
has been no trace of any such work. Two other works existed prior to the present Manu
Smriti. One was known as Manava Artha Sastra, or Manava-Raja-Sastra or Manava-Raja-
Dharma-Sastra. The other work was known as Manava-Grihya-Sutra. Scholars have
compared the Manu Smriti. On important points the provisions of one are not only dissimilar
but are in every way contrary to the provisions contained in the other. This is enough to
show that Manu Smriti contains the new law of the new regime.

That the new regime of Pushyamitra was anti-Buddhist is betrayed by the open provisions
enacted in the Manu Smriti against the Buddhists and Buddhism. Note the following
provisions in Manu Smriti :—

IX. 225. ". . .. Men who abide in heresy . . . the king should banish from his realm."

IX. 226. "These robbers in disguise, living in the king's realm constantly injure the worthy
subject by the performance of their misdeeds."
 V. 89. "Libations of water shall not be offered to (the souls of) those who (neglect the
prescribed rites and may be said to) have been born in vain, to those born in consequence
of an illegal mixture of the castes, to those who are ascetics (of heretical sects) and to those
who have committed suicide."

V.90. (Libations of water shall not be offered to the souls of) women who have joined a
heretical sect.....

IV. 30. Let him (the householder) not honour, even by a greeting heretics.... logicians,
(arguing against the Veda).

XII. 95. "All those traditions and all those despicable systems of Philosophy, which are not
based on the Veda produce no reward after death, for they are declared to be founded on
Darkness.

XII. 96. "All those (doctrines), differing from the (Veda), which spring up and (soon) perish,
are worthless and false, because of modern date."

Who are the heretics to whom Manu refers and whom he wants the new king to banish
from his realm and the Householder not to honour in life as well as after death? What is this
worthless philosophy of modern date, differing from the Vedas, based on darkness and
bound to perish? There can be no doubt that the heretic of Manu is the Buddhist and the
worthless philosophy of modern date differing from the Vedas is
Buddhism. Kalluck Bhutt another commentator on Manu Smriti expressly states that the
references to heretics in these Shlokas in Manu are to the Buddhists and Buddhism.

The third circumstance is the position assigned to the Brahmins in the Manu Smriti. Note
the following provisions in Manu :—

I. 93. As the Brahmana sprang from (Bramha's) mouth, as he was the first born,and as he
possesses the Veda, he is by right the lord of this whole creation.

I. 96. Of created beings the most excellent are said to be those which are animated; of the
animated, those which subsist by intelligence; of the intelligent, mankind; and of men,
the Brahmans.

I. 100. Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Bramhans ; on account of the
excellence of his origin the Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to it all.

I. 101. The Brahmana eats but his own food, wears but his. own apparel, bestows but his
own in alms; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the Brahmana.
 X. 3. On account of his pre-eminance, on account of the superiority of his origin, on
account of his observance of (particular) restrictive rules, and on account of his
particularsanctification, the Brahmana is the lord of (all) castes.

XI. 35. The Bramhana is declared to be the creator of the world, the punisher, the teacher,
and hence a benefactor of all created beings; to him let no man say anything unpropitious,
nor use any harsh words.

Manu warns the King against displeasing the Bramhans in the following terms:—

IX. 313. Let him (the King) not, though fallen unto the deepest distress, provoke Bramhans
to anger; for they, when angered, could instantly destroy him together with his army and his
vehicles. Manu further proclaims,

XI. 31. A Bramhana who knows the law need not bring any (offence) to the notice of the
king; by his own power alone he can punish those men who injure him.

XI. 32. His own power is greater than the power of the king; The Bramhana, therefore,
may punish his foes by his own power alone.

This deification of the Brahmins, placing them even above the King would have been
impossible unless the King himself was a Brahmin and in sympathy with the view expressed
by Manu. Pushyamitra and his successors could not have tolerated these exaggerated
claims of the Brahmins unless they themselves were Brahmins interested in the
establishment of Bramhanism. Indeed it is quite possible that the Manu Smriti was
composed at the command of Pushyamitra himself and forms the book of the philosophy of
Bramhanism.

Taking all these facts into considerations there can remain no doubt; the one and only
object of Pushyamitra's revolution was to destroy Buddhism and re-establish Bramhanism.

The foregoing summary of the political history of India would have been quite unnecessary
for the immediate purpose of this chapter if I was satisfied with the way in which the history
of India is written. But frankly I am not satisfied. For too much emphasis is laid on the
Muslim conquest of India. Reels and reels have been written to show how wave after wave
of Muslim invasions came down like avalanche and enveloped the people and overthrew
their rulers. The whole history of India is made to appear as though the only important thing
in it is a catalogue of Muslim invasions. But even from this narrow point of view it is clear
that the Muslim invasions are not the only invasions worth study. There have been other
invasions equally if not of greater importance. If Hindu India was invaded by the Muslim
invaders so was Buddhist India invaded by Bramhanic invaders. The Muslim invasions of
Hindu India and the Bramhanic invasions of Buddhist India have many similarities.
The Musalman invaders of Hindu India fought among themselves for their dynastic
ambitions. The Arabs, Turks, Mongols and Afghans fought for supremacy among
themselves. But they had one thing in common—namely the mission to
destroy idolatory.Similarly the Bramhanic invadars of Buddhist India fought among
themselves for their dynastic ambitions. The Sungas, Kanvas and the Andhras fought for
supremacy among themselves. But they, like the Muslim invaders of Hindu India, had one
object in common that was to destroy Buddhism and the Buddhist Empire of
the Mauryas. Surely if Muslim invasions of Hindu India are worthy of study at the hands of
the historians, the invasions of Buddhist India by Bramhanic invaders are equally deserving
of study. The ways and methods employed by the Bramhanic invaders of Buddhist India to
suppress Buddhism were not less violent and less virulent than the ways and means
adopted by Muslim invaders to suppress Hinduism. From the point of view of the permanent
effect on the socia.l and spiritual life of the people, the Bramhanic invasions of Buddhist
India have been so profound in their effect that compared to them, the effect of Muslim
invasions on Hindu India have been really superficial and ephemeral. The Muslim invaders
destroyed only the outward symbols of Hindu religion such as temples and Maths etc. They
did not extirpate Hinduism nor did they cause any subversion of the principles or doctrines
which governed the spiritual life of the people. The effects of the Bramhanic invasions were
a thorough-going change in the principles which Buddhism had preached for a century as
true and eternal principles of spiritual life and which had been accepted and followed by the
masses as the way of life. To alter the metaphor the Muslim invaders only stirred the waters
in the bath and that too only for a while. Thereafter they got tired of stirring and left the
waters with the sediments to settle. They never threw the baby—if one can speak of the
principles of Hinduism as a baby—out of the bath. Bramhanism in its conflict with Buddhism
made a clean sweep. It emptied the bath with the Buddhist Baby in it and filled the bath with
its own waters and placed in it its own baby. Bramhanism did not care to stop how filthy and
dirty was its water as compared with the clean and fragrant water which flowed from the
noble source of Buddhism. Bramhanism did not care to stop how hideous and ugly was its
own baby as compared with the Buddhist baby. Bramhanism acquired by its invasions
political power to annihilate Buddhism and it did annihilate

Buddhism. Islam did not supplant Hinduism. Islam never made a thorough job of its
mission. Bramhanism did. It drove out Buddhism as a religion and occupied its place.

These facts show that Brahmanic invasions of Buddhist India have a far greater
significance to the Historian of India than the Muslim invasions of Hindu India can be said to
have produced. Yet very little space is devoted by historians to the vissicitudes which befell
Buddhist India built up by the Mauryas and even where that is done they have not cared to
deal in a pointed manner with questions that quite naturally arise : questions such as, who
were the Sungas, Kanavas and Andhras ; why did they destroy the Buddhist India which
was built up by the Mauryas, nor has any attempt been made to study the changes
that Brahmanism after its triumph over Buddhism brought about in the political and social
structure.

Failure to appreciate this aspect of India's history is due to the prevalence of some very
wrong notions. It has been commonly supposed that the culture of India has been one and
the same all throughout history; that Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism are
simply diffeent phases and that there has never been any fundamental antagonism between
them. Secondly it has been assumed that whatever conflicts have taken place in Indian
politics were purely political and dynastic and that they had no social and spiritual
significance. It is because of these wrong notions that Indian history has become a purely
mechanical thing, a record of one dynasty succeeding another and one ruler succeeding
another ruler. A corrective to such an attitude and to such a method of writing history lies in
recognition of two facts which are indisputable.

In the first place it must be recognized that there has never been such as a common
Indian culture, that historically there have been three Indias, Brahmanic India, Buddhist India
and Hindu India, each with its own culture. Secondly it must be recognized that the history of
India before the Muslim invasions is the history of a mortal conflict betweenBramhanism and
Buddhism. Any one who does not recognize these two facts will never be able to write a true
history of India, a history which will disclose the meaning and purpose running through it. It
is a corrective to Indian history written as it is and to disclose the meaning and purposes
running through it that I was obliged to re-cast the history of the Brahmanic invasions of
Buddhist India and the political triumph of Brahmanism over Buddhism.

We must therefore begin with the recognition of the fact : Pushyamitra's revolution was a
political revolution engineered by the Brahmins to overthrow Buddhism.

The curious will naturally ask what did this triumphant Brahmanism do? It is to this
question that I will now turn. The deeds or misdeeds of this triumphant Brahmanism may be
catalogued under seven heads (1) It established the right of the Brahmin to rule and commit
regicide. (2) It made the Bramhins a class of privileged persons. (3) It converted the Varna
into caste. (4) It brought about a conflict and anti-social feeling between the different castes.
(5) It degraded the Shudras and the women (6) It forged the system of graded inequality and
(7) It made legal and rigid the social system which was conventional and flexible.

To begin with the first.

The revolution brought about by Pushyamitra created an initial difficulty in the way of the
Brahmins. People could not be easily reconciled to this revolution. The resentment of the
public was well expressed by the poet Bana1[f64] when in referring to this revolution reviles
Pushyamitra as being base born and calls his act of regicide as Anarva. The act of
Pushyamitra was properly described by Bana as Anarya i.e. contrary to Aryan law. For on
three points the Aryan law at the date of Pushyamitra's revolution was well settled. The then
Aryan law declared (1) That Kingship is the right of the Kshatriya only. A Brahmin could
never be a king. (2) That no Brahmin shall take to the profession of Arms2[f65] and (3) That
rebellion against the King's authority was a sin. Pushyamitra in fostering the rebellion had
committed a crime against each of these three laws. He was Brahmin, and although a
Brahmin he rebelled against the King, took to the profession of Arms and became a King.
People were not reconciled to this usurption which constituted so flagrant a breach of the
law that the Brahmins had to regularize the position created by Pushyamitra. This the
Brahmins did by taking the bold step of changing the law. This change of law is quite
manifest from the Manu Smriti. I will quote the appropriate shlokas from the Code :

XII. 100. "The post of the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom, the very Headship of
Government, the complete empire over every one are deserved by the Brahmin." Here we
have one change in the law. This new law declares that the Brahmin has a right to
become Senapati (Commander of forces), to

conquer a kingdom, and to be the ruler and the Emperor of it.

XI. 31. A Brahmin, who well knows the laws, need not complain to the king of any grievous
injury; since, even by his own power, he may chastise those, who injure him.

XI. 32. His (Brahmin's) own power, which depends on himself alone is mightier than the
royal power, which depends on other men ; by his own might, therefore may a Brahmin
coerce his foes.

XI. 261-62. A Brahmin who has killed even the peoples of the three worlds, is completely
freed from all sins on reciting three times the Rig, Yajur or Sama.-Veda with
theUpanishadas." Here is the second change in the law. It authorized the Brahmin to kill not
only the king but to engage in a general massacre of men if they seek to do injury to his
power and position.

VIII. 348. "The twice born man may take arms, when the rightful occupation assigned to
each by Dharma is obstructed by force ; and when, in some evil time, a disaster has befallen
the twice-born classes."

IX. 320. Of a Kshatriya (Military man or king), who raise his arm violently on all occasions
against the Brahmins, Brahmin himself shall be the chastiser; since the soldier originally
proceeded from the Brahmin."

This is the third legal change. It recognized the right to rebellion and the right to regicide.
The new law is very delicately framed. It gives the right of rebellion to three higher classes.
But it is also given to the Brahmins singly by way of providing for a situation when
the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas may not be prepared to join the Brahmin in bringing about
a rebellion. The right of rebellion is well circumscribed. It can be exercised only when the
king is guilty of upsetting the occupations assigned by Manu to the different Varnas.

These legal changes were as necessary as they were revolutionary. Their object was to
legalize and regularize the position created by Pushyamitra by killing the last MauryaKing.
By virtue of these legal changes, a Brahmin could lawfully become a king, could lawfully
take arms, could lawfully depose or murder a king who was opposed to Chaturvarnaand
could lawfully kill any subject that opposed the authority of the Brahmin. Manu gave the
Brahmins a right to commit Barthalomeu if it became necessary to safeguard their interests.

In this way Brahmanism established the right of Brahmana to rule and set at rest whatever
doubt and dispute there was regarding the same. But that could hardly be enough for the
Brahmins as a whole. It may be a matter of pride but not of any advantage. There can be no
special virtue in Brahmin rule if the Brahmin was treated as common man along with the
Non-Brahmins having the same rights and same duties. Brahmin rule if it is to justify itself, it
must do so by conferring special privileges and immunities on the Brahmins as a class.
Indeed Pushyamitra's Revolution would have been an ill wind blowing no good if it had not
recognized the superior position of the Brahmins and conferred upon them special
advantages. Manu was alive to this and accordingly proceeds to create monopolies for
Brahmins and grant them certain immunities and privileges as may be seen from the Code.

First as to monopolies :

1. 88. To Brahmanas he assigned teaching and studying (the Veda) sacrificing for their
own benefit and for others, giving and accepting (of alms).

X. 1. Let the three twice-born castes (Varna), discharging their (prescribed) duties, study
(the Veda) ; but among them the Brahmana (alone) shall teach it, not the other two; that is
an established rule.

X. 2. The Brahmana must know the means of subsistence (prescribed) by law for all,
instruct others, and himself live according to (the law).

X. 3. On account of his pre-eminence, on account of the superiority of his origin, on

account of his observance of (particular) restrictive rules, and on account of his
particularsanctification, the Brahmana is the lord of (all) castes (varna).

X. 74. Brahmanas who are intent on the means (of gaining union with) Brahman and firm
in (discharging) their duties, shall live by duly performing the following six acts, (which are
enumerated) in their (proper) order.

X. 75. Teaching, studying, sacrificing for himself, sacrificing for others, making gifts and
receiving them are the six acts (prescribed) for a Brahamana.
 X. 76. But among the six acts (ordained) for him three are his means of subsistence, (viz.)
sacrificing for others, teaching, and accepting gifts from pure men.

X. 77. (Passing) from the Brahmana to the Kshatriya, three acts (incumbent) (on the
former) are forbidden, (viz.) teaching, sacrificing for others, and, thirdly, the acceptance of
gifts.

X. 78. The same are likewise forbidden to a Vaisya, that is a settled rule; for Manu, the
lord of creatures (Prajapati), has not prescribed them for (men of) those two (castes).

X. 79. To carry arms for striking and for throwing (is prescribed) for Kshatriyas as a means
of subsistence ; to trade, (to rear) cattle, and agriculture for Vaisyas; but their duties are
liberality, the study of the Veda, and the performance of sacrifices. Here are three things
which Manu made the monopoly of the Brahmin : teaching Vedas, performing Sacrifices and
receiving gifts.

The following are the immunities that were granted to the Brahmins. They fall into two
classes ; freedom from taxation and exemption from certain forms of punishment for crimes.

VII. 133. Though dying (with want), a king must not levy a tax on Srotriyas, and
no Srotriya residing in his kingdom, must perish from hunger.

VIII. 122. They declare that the wise have prescribed these fines for perjury, in order to
prevent a failure of justice, and in order to restrain injustice.

VIII. 123. But a just king shall fine and banish (men of) the three (lower)
castes (varna) who have given false evidence, but a Brahmana he shall (only) banish.

VIII. 124. Manu, the son of the Self-existent (Svayambhu), has named ten places on which
punishment may be (made to fall) in the cases of the three (lower) castes (varna); but a
Brahmana shall depart unhurt (from the country).

VIII. 379. Tonsure (of the head) is ordained for a Brahmana (instead of) capital
punishment; but (men of) other castes shall suffer capital punishment.

VIII. 380. Let him never slay a Brahmana, though he have committed all (possible) crimes;
let him banish such an (offender), leaving all his property (to him) and (his body) unhurt.
Thus Manu places the Brahmin above the ordinary penal law for felony. He is to be allowed
to leave the country withdraw a wound on him and with all property in proved offences of
capital punishment. He is not to suffer forfeiture of fine nor capital punishment. He suffered
only banishment which in the words of Hobbes was only a "Change of air" after having
committed the most heinous crimes. Manu gave him also certain privileges. A Judge must
be a Brahmin.
 VIII. 9. But if the king does not personally investigate the suits, then let him appoint a
learned Brahmana to try them.

VIII. 10. That (man) shall enter that most excellent court, accompanied by three assessors,
and fully consider (all) causes (brought) before the (king), either sitting down or standing.
The other privileges were financial

VIII. 37. When a learned Brahmana has found treasure, deposited in former (times), he
may take even the whole (of it) ; for he is master of everything.

VIII. 38. When the king finds treasure of old concealed in the ground, let him give one half
to Brahmanas and place the (other) half in his treasury.

IX. 323. But (a king who feels his end drawing nigh) shall bestow all his wealth,
accumulated from fines, on Brahmanas, make over his kingdom to his son, and then seek
death in battle.

IX. 187. Always to that (relative within three degrees) who is nearest to the
(deceased) Sapinda the estate shall belong ; afterwards a Sakulya shall be (the heir, then)
the spiritual teacher or the pupil.

IX. 188. But on failure of all (heirs) Brahmanas (shall) share the estate, (who are) versed in
the three Vedas, pure and self-controlled ; thus the law is not violated.

IX. 189. The property of a Brahmana must never be taken by the King, that is a settled
rule ; but (the property of men) of other castes the king may take on failure of all (heirs).

These are some of the advantages, immunities and privileges which Manu conferred upon
the Brahmins. This was a token of a Brahmin having become a king.

Supporters of Brahmanism—so strong is the belief in the excellence of Brahmanism that

there are no appologists for it as yet—never fail to point to the disabilities which Manu has
imposed upon the Brahmins. Their object in doing so is to show that the ideal placed by
Manu before the Brahmin is poverty and service. That Manu has placed certain disabilities
upon the Brahmins is a fact. But to conclude from it that Manu's ideal for a Brahmin is
poverty and service is a gross and deliberate concoction for which there is no foundation in
Manu.

To understand the real purpose which Manu had in imposing these disabilities, two things
must be borne in mind. Firstly the place Manu has assigned to the Brahmins in the general
scheme of society and secondly the nature of the disabilities. The place assigned by Manu
to the Brahmins is enunciated by him in unequivocal terms. The matter being important I
must quote again the Verses already quoted.
 1. 93. As the Brahmana sprang from (Brahman's) mouth, as he was the first born, and as
he possesses the Veda, he is by right the lord of this whole creation. Consider the nature of
the disabilities.

IV. 2. A Brahamana must seek a means of subsistence which either causes no, or at least
little pain (to others), and live (by that) except in times of distress.

IV. 3. For the purpose of gaining bare subsistence, let him

accumulate property by (following those) irreproachable occupations (which are
prescribed for) his (caste), without (unduly) fatiguing his body.

VIII. 337. In (a case of) theft the guilt of a Sudra sha.ll be eightfold, that of
a Vaishya sixteenfold, that of a Kshatriya two-and-thirty fold.

VIII. 338. That of a Brahamana sixty-four-fold, or quite a hundred-fold or (even) twice four-
and-sixty-fold; (each of them) knowing the nature of the offence.

VIII. 383. A Brahamana shall be compelled to pay a fine of one thousand (panas) if he has
intercourse with guarded (females of) those two (castes) ; for (offending with) a
(guarded) Sudra female a fine of one thousand (panas) (shall be inflicted) on a Kshatriya or
a Vaishya.

VIII. 384. For (intercourse with) an unguarded Kshatriya a fine of five hundred (panas shall
fall) on a Vaisya ; but (for the same offence) a Kshatriya shall be shaved with the urine (of a
donkey) or (pay) the same fine.

VIII. 385. A Brahamana who approaches unguarded females (of the) Kshatriya or Vaisya
(castes), or a Sudra female, shall be fined five hundred (panas); but (for intercourse with) a
female (of the) lowest (castes), one thousand.

Examining these disabilities against the background furnished by the place assigned to
him by Manu, it is obvious that the object of these disabilities was not to make the Brahmin
suffer. On the other hand it becomes clear that the object of Manu was to save the Brahmin
from falling from the high pennacle on which he had placed him and incurring the disgrace
of the non-Brahmins.

That the object of Manu was not to subject the Brahmins to poverty and destitute is clear
from other provisions from Manu-Smriti. In this connection reference should be made to the
rule contained in the Manu Smriti regarding the course of conduct a Brahmin should pursue
when he is in distres.

X. 80. Among the several occupations the most commendable are, teaching the
Veda for a Brahmana, protecting (the people) for a Kshatriya, and trade for a Vaisya.
 X. 81. But a Brahmana, unable to subsist by his peculiar occupations just mentioned, may
live according to the law applicable to Kshatriyas ; for the latter is next to him in rank.

X. 82. If it be asked, 'How shall it be, if he cannot maintain himself by either (of these
occupations?' the answer is), he may adopt a Vaisya's mode of life, employing himself in
agriculture and rearing cattle.

X. 83. But a Brahamana, or a Kshatriya, living by a Vaisya's mode of subsistence, shall

carefully avoid (the pursuit of) agriculture, (which causes) injury to many beings and
depends on others.

X. 84. (Some) declare that agriculture is something excellent, (but) that means of
subsistence is blamed by the virtuous ; (for) the wooden (implement) with iron point injures
the earth and (the beings) living in the earth.

X. 85. But he who, through a want of means of subsistence, gives up the strictness with
respect to his duties, may sell, in order to increase his wealth, the commodities sold
byVaisyas, making (however) the (following) exceptions.

It will be seen that the disabilities imposed upon a Brahmin last as long as he is prospering
by the occupations which belong to him as of right. As soon as he is in distress and his
disabilities vanish and he is free to do anything that he likes to do in addition to the
occupations reserved to him and without ceasing to be a Brahmin. Further whether he is in
distress or not is a matter which is left to the Brahmin to be decided in his own discretion.
There is therefore no bar to prevent even a prosperous Brahmin to supplement his earnings
by following any of the professions open to him in distress by satisfying his conscience.

There are other provisions in Manu Smriti intended to materially benefit

the Brahmanas. They are Dakshina and Dana. Dakshina is the fee which the Brahmin is
entitled to charge when he is called to perform a religious ceremony. Brahmanism is full of
rites and ceremonies. It is not very difficult to imagine how great must this source of income
be to every Brahmin: There was no chance of a priest being cheated of his fees. The
religious sense attached to Dakshina was a sufficient sanction for regular payment. But
Manu wanted to give the Brahmins the right to recover his fees.

XI. 38. A Brahamana who, though wealthy, does not give, as fee for the performance of
an Agnyadheya, a horse sacred to Prajapati, becomes (equal to one) who has not kindled
the sacred fires.

XI. 39. Let him who has faith and controls his senses, perform other meritorious acts, but
let him on no acount offer sacrifices at which he gives smaller fees (than those prescribed).
 XI. 40. The organs (of sense and action), honour, (bliss in) heaven, longevity, fame,
offspring, and cattle are destroyed by a sacrifice at which (too) small sacrificial fees are
given; hence a man of small means should not offer a (Srauta) sacrifice. He even goes to
the length of excusing a Brahmin by declaring that anything done by him to recover his fees
shall not be an offence under the law.

VIII. 349. In their own defence, in a strife for the fees of officiating priests and in order to
protect women and Brahmanas ; he who (under such circumstances kills in the cause of
right, commits no sin.

But it is the provision of Dana which makes a fruitful source of income to the Brahmins.
Manu exhorts the King to make Dana to Brahmins.

VII. 79. A King shall offer various (Srauta) sacrifices at which liberal fees (are distributed),
and in order to acquire merit, he shall give to Brahmanas enjoyments and wealth.

VII. 82. Let him honour those Brahmanas who have returned from their teacher's house
(after studying the Veda) ; for that (money which is given) to Brahmanas is declared to be an
imperishable treasure for kings.

VII. 83. Neither thieves nor foes can take it, nor can it be lost; hence an imperishable store
must be deposited by kings with Brahmanas.

XI. 4. But a king shall bestow, as is proper, jewels of all sorts, and presents for the sake of
sacrifices on Brahmanas learned in the Vedas.

This admonition by Manu to the King did not remain a mere hope for the Brahmin. For as
history shows that this exhortation was fully exploited by the Brahmins as the number
ofdana patras discovered by Archialogists indicate. It is astounding how the kings were
befooled by the Brahmins to transfer village after village to crafty, lazy and indolent
Brahmins. Indeed a large part of the wealth of the present day Brahmins lies in this swindle
practised by wily Brahmins upon pious but foolish kings. Manu was not content to let the
Brahmin prey upon the King for dana. He also allowed the Brahmin to prey upon the public
in the mattter of dana. This Manu does in three different ways. In the first place he exhorts
people to make gifts as a part of the duty owed by the pious to himself at the same time
pointing out that the highest dana to a Brahmin.:

VII. 85. A gift to one who is not a Brahmana (yields) the ordinary (reward); a gift to one
who calls himself a Brahmana, a double (reward); a gift to a well-read Brahmana, a hundred
thousandfold (reward); (a gift) to one who knows the Veda and the Angas (Vedaparanga), (a
reward) without end.
 VII. 86. For according to the particular qualities of the recipient and according to the faith
(of the giver) a small or a great reward will be obtained for a gift in the next world. In the next
place Manu declares that in certain circumstances dana to a Brahmin is compulsory.

XI. 1. Him who wishes (to marry for the sake of having) offspring, him who wishes to
perform a sacrifice, a traveller, him who has given away all his property, him who begs for
the sake of his teacher, his father, or his mother, a student of the Veda, and a sick man.

XI. 2 These nine Brahmanas one should consider as Snatakas, begging in order to fulfill
the sacred law; to such poor men gifts must be given in proportion to their learning.

XI. 3. To these most excellent among the twice-born, food and presents (of money) must
be given ; it is declared that food must be given to others outside the sacrificial enclosure.

XI. 6. One should give, according to one's ability, wealth to Brahmanas learned in the
Veda and living alone ; (thus) one obtains after death heavenly bliss.

The third method adopted by Manu to make the rule of Dana become a source of secure
and steady income is beyond question the most ingenuous one. Manu linked up danawith
penance. In the Scheme of Manu, an improper act may be a sin although not an offence or it
may be both a sin as well as an offence. As a sin its punishment is a matter for canonical
law. As an offence its punishment is a matter of secular law. As sin, the improper act is
called Pataka and the punishment for it is called Penance. In the Scheme of Manu every
Pataka must be expunged by the performance of a penance.

XI. 44. A man who omits a prescribed act, or performs a blameable act, or cleaves to
sensual enjoyments, must perform a penance.

XI. 45. (All) sages prescribe a penance for a sin unintentionally committed ; some declare,
on the evidence of the revealed texts, (that it may be performed) even for an intentional
(offences).

XI. 46. A sin unintentionally committed is expiated by the recitation of Vedic texts, but that
which (men) in their folly commit intentionally, by various (special) penances.

XI. 53. Thus in consequence of a remnant of (the guilt of former) crimes, are born idiots,
dumb, blind, deaf and deformed men, who are (all) despised by the virtuous.

XI. 54. Penances, therefore, must always be performed for the sake of purification,
because those whose sins have not been expiated, are born (again) with disgraceful marks.

The penances prescribed by Manu are many and the curious may refer to the
Manu Smriti itself for a knowledge of what they are. What is worthy of note is these
penances are calculated to materially benefit the Brahmin. Some penances take the form of
a simple dana to the Brahmin. Others prescribe the performance of some religious rites. But
as religious rites cannot be performed by anybody except by a Brahmin and that the
performance of religious rite requires the payment of fees the Brahmin alone can be the
beneficiary of the dana system.

It is therefore absurd to suggest that Manu wanted to place before the Brahmins the ideal
of humility, poverty and service. The Brahmins certainly did not understand Manu that way.
Indeed they believed that they were made a privileged class. Not only they believed in it but
they sought to extend their privileges in other directions a matter which will be discussed
later on. They were perfectly justified, in their view. Manu called the Brahmins the 'lords of
the earth' and he framed (the law) with such care that they shall remain so.

Having made full provision for Brahmin Rule and Brahmin dominance Manu next launches
out to transform society to suit his purposes.

The transformation of Varna into Caste is the most stupendous and selfish task in
which Brahmanism after its triumph became primarily engaged. We have no explicit record
of the steps that Brahmanism took to bring about this change. On the contrary we have a lot
of confused thinking on the relation between Varna and Caste. Some think that Varna and
Caste are the same. Those who think that they are different seem to believe that Varna
became caste when prohibition on intermarriage became part of the social order. All this, of
course, is erroneous and the error is due to the fact that Manu in transforming the Varna into
Caste has nowhere explained his ends and how his means are related to those ends. Oscar
Wilde has said that to be intelligible is to be found out. Manu did not wish to be found out.
He is therefore silent about his ends and means, leaving people to imagine them. For
Hindus the subject is important beyond measure. An attempt at clarification is absolutely
essential so that the confusion due to different people imagining differently the design of
Manu may be removed and light thrown on the way how Brahmanism proceeded to give a
wrong and pernicious turn to the original idea of Varna as the basis of society.

As I said Manu's ways are silent and subterranean and we cannot give the detailed and
chronological history of this conversion of Varna into Caste. But fortunately there are
landmarks which are clear enough to indicate how the change was brought about.

Before proceeding to describe how this change was brought about let me clear the
confusion between Varna and Caste. This can best be done by noting the similarities and
differences between the two. Varna and Caste are identical in their de jure connotation. Both
connote status and occupation. Status and occupation are the two concepts which are
implied both in the notion Varna as well as in the notion of Caste. Varna and Caste however
differ in one important particular. Varna is not hereditary either in status or occupation. On
the other hand Caste implies a system in which status and occupation are hereditary and
descend from father to son.
 When I say that Brahmanism converted Varna into Caste what I mean is that it made
status and occupation hereditary.

How was this transformation effected? As I said there are no foot prints left of the steps
taken by Brahmanism to accomplish this change but there are landmarks which serve to
give us a clear view of how the deed came to be done.

The change was accomplished by stages. In the transformation of Varna into Caste three
stages are quite well marked. The first stage was the stage in which the duration of Varna
i.e. of status and occupation of a person was for a prescrbied period of time only. The
second stage was a stage in which the status and occupation involved the Varna of a
person ensured during lifetime only. The third stage was a stage in which the status and
occupation of the Varna became hereditary. To use legal language the Estate conferred by
Varna was at the beginning an Estate for a term only. Thereafter it became a life Estate and
finally it became an Estate of inheritance which is tantamount to saying that Varna became
Caste. That these are the stages by which Varna was converted into Caste seems to have
ample support from tradition as recorded in the religious literature. [f66] There is no reason
why this tradition should not be accepted as embodying some thing that is quite genuine.
According to this tradition, the task of determining Varna of a person was effected by a body
of officers called Manu and Sapta Rishis. From the mass of people Manu selected those
who were fit to be Kshatriyas and Vaishas and the Sapta Rishis selected those who were fit
to be Brahmanas. After this selection was made by Manu and Sapta Rishis for being
Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishas, the rest that were not selected were called Shudras. The
Varna arrangement so determined lasts for one Yug i.e. a period of four years. Every fourth
year a new body of officers known by the same designation Manu and Sapta Rishi were
appointed for making a new selection. It happened that last time some of those who were
left to be fit only for being Shudras were selected for being Brahmins, Kshatriyas
and Vaishyas while some of those who were, elected last time for being Brahmins,
Kshatriyas and Vaishyas were left as being fit only of being Shudras. Thus the personnel of
the Varna changed. It was a sort of a periodical shuffling and selection of men to take up
according to their mental and physical aptitudes and occupations which were essential to
the life of the community. The time when the reshuffling of the Varnas took place was
called Manwantar which etymologically means change of Varna made by Manu. The
word Manwantar also means the period for which the Varna of an individual was fixed. The
word Manwantar is very rich in its contents and expresses the essential elements of the
Varna system which were two. First it shows that Varna was determined by an independent
body of people called Manu and Saptarshi. Secondly it shows that the Varna was for a
period after which a change was made by Manu [f67]. According to ancient tradition as
embodied in the Puranas the period for which the Varna of a person was fixed by Manu and
Saptarshi was a period of four years and was called Yug. At the end of the period of four
years there occured the Manwantar whereby every fourth year the list was revised. Under
the revision some changed their old Varna, some retained it, some lost it and some gained
it.[f68]

The original system seems to have in contemplation the determination of the Varna of
adults. It was not based on prior training or close scrutiny of bias and aptitude. Manu and
Saptarshi was a sort of a Board of Interview which determined the Varna of a person from
how he struck them at the interview. The determination of the Varna was done in a rough
and tumble manner. This system seems to have gone into abeyance. A new system grew
up in its place. It was known as the Gurukul system. The Gurukul was a school maintained
by a Guru (teacher) also called Acharya (learned man). All children went to this Gurukul for
their education. The period of education extended for twelve years. The child while at
Gurukul was known as Bramhachari. After the period of education was over there was
the Upanayan ceremony performed at the Gurukul by the Acharya.
The Upanayan ceremony was the most important ceremony. It was a ceremony at which the
Acharya determined the Varna of the student and sent him out in the world to perform the
duties of that Varna.Upanayan by the Acharyas was the new method of determining Varna
which came into vogue in place of method of determination by Manu and Saptarshi. The
new method was undoubtedly superior to the old method. It retained the true feature of the
old method namely that the Varna should be determined by a disinterested and independent
body. But it added a new feature namely training as a pre-requisite for assignment of Varna.
On the ground that training alone developes individual in the make up of a person and the
only safe way to determine the Varna of a person is to know his individuality, the addition of
this new feature was undoubtedly a great improvement.

With the introduction of the Acharya Gurukul system, the duration of the Varna came to be
altered. Varna instead of being Varna for a period became Varna for life. But it was not
hereditary.

Evidently Brahmanism was dissatisfied with this system. The reason for dissatisfaction
was quite obvious. Under the system as prevalent there was every chance of the Acharya
declaring the child of a Brahmin as fit only to be a Shudra. Brahmanism was naturally most
anxious to avoid this result. It wanted the Varna to be hereditary. Only by making the Varna
hereditary could it save the children of the Brahmins from being declared Shudra. To
achieve this Brahmanism proceeded in the most audacious manner one can think of.

Ill

Brahmanism made three most radical changes in the system of determing the Varna of the
child. In the first place the system of Gurukul as the place where training to the child was
given and its Varna was determined by the Guru at the end of the period of training was
abolished. Manu is quite aware of the Gurukul and refers to Guruvas[f69] i.e. training and
residence in the Gurukul under the Guru. But does not refer to it at all in connection with
the Upanayan. He abolishes the Guru as an authority competent to perform Upanayan by
omitting to make even the remotest reference to him in connection with Upanayan. In place
of the Guru Manu allows the Upanayan of the child to be performed by its father at
home. [f70] Secondly Upanayan was made into a Sanskara i.e. a sacrament. In olden times
Upanayan was like a convocation ceremony[f71] held by the Guru to confer degrees
obtained by students in his Gurukul in which certificates of proficiency in the duties of a
particular Varna were granted. In Manu's law that Upanayan was a complete change in the
meaning and purpose of this most important institution. Thirdly the relation of training to
Upanayan was totally reversed. In the olden system training came before Upanayan.

Under the Brahmanism Upanayan came before training. Manu directs that a child be sent
to the Guru for training but that is after Upanayan i.e. after[f72] his Varna is determined by
his father.

The principal change made by Brahmanism wa.s the transfer of authority from the Guru to
the father in the matter of performing Upanayan. The result was that the father having the
right to perform the Upanayan of his child gave his own Varna to the child and thus made
it hereditory. It is by divesting the Guru of his authority to determine the Varna and vesting it
in the father that Brahmanism ultimately converted Varna into Caste.

Such is the story of the transformation of Varna into Caste. The story of the transition from
one to the other is of course reconstructed. For the reasons already given it may not be
quite as accurate as one would wish it to be in all its details. But I have no doubt that the
stages and the ways by which Varna ceased to exist and caste came into being must be
some such as have been suggested in the foregoing discussion of the subject.

What object Brahmanism could have had in converting Varna into caste it is not difficult to
imagine. The object was to make the high status enjoyed by the Brahmins from ancient
times the privilege of every Brahmin and his progeny without reference to merits or to
qualifications. To put it differently the object was to elevate and ennoble every Brahmin,
however mean and worthless he may be, to the high status occupied by some of them on
account of the virtue. It was an attempt to ennoble the whole of the Brahmin Community
without exception.

That this was the object of Brahmanism is clear from Manu's ordinances. Manu knew that
making Varna hereditary, the most ignorant Brahmin[f73] will be elevated to the status
occupied by the most learned Brahmin. He feared that the former may not be respected as
much as the most learned, which was the object of this attempt at the ennoblement of the
whole class of Brahmins. Manu is very much concerned about the ignorant Brahmin—a new
thing and warns people against being disrespectful to an ignorant and mean Brahmin.
 IX. 317. A Brahmin, whether learned or ignornt, is a powerful divinity ; even as fire is
powerful divinity, whether consecrated or popular.

IX. 319. Thus although Brahmins employ themselves in all sorts of mean ocupations, they
must invariably be honoured ; for they are something transcendently divine.

Such a warning was unnecessary if the object was to ennoble the whole Brahmin class.
Here is a case where vice refuses to pay to virtue even the homage of hypocracy. Can there
be greater moral degeneracy than what is shown by Manu in insisting upon the worship of
the Brahmin even if he is mean and ignorant?

So much for the object of change from Varna to caste. What have been the consequences
of this change?

From the spiritual point of view the consequences have been too harmful to be
contemplated with equanimity. The harm done may perhaps be better realized by comparing
the position of the Brahmin as a priest resulting from the law of Manu with that of the law of
the clergy under the Church of England. There the clergy is subject to the criminal law as
every citizen is. But in addition to that he is always subject to Church Descipline Act. Under
the Criminal Law he would be punished if he officiated as a clergy without being qualified for
it. Under the Church Discipline Act he would be lia.ble to be disqualified as a clergy for
conduct which would be deemed to be morally wrong although it did not amount to a crime.
This double check on the clergy is held justifiable because learning and morality are
deemed to be quite essential for the profession of the clergy who are supposed to
administer to the spiritual needs of the people. Under Brahmanism the Brahmin who alone
can be the clergy need not possess learning or morality. Yet he is in sole charge of the
spiritual affairs of the people!! On the value of a creed which permits this, comment is
unnecessary.

From the secular point of view, the consequences of this transformation of Varna into
Caste has to introduce a most pernicious mentality among the Hindus. It is to disregard
merit and have regard only to birth. If one is descended from the high he has respect
although he may be utterly devoid of merit or worth. One who is of high birth will be superior
to the one who is of low birth although the latter may be superior to the former in point of
worth. Under Brahmanism it is birth that always wins, whether it is against birth or against
worth. Merit by itself can win no meads. This is entirely due to the dissociation of merits from
status which is the work of Brahmanism. Nothing could be better calculated to produce an
unprogressive society which sacrifices the rights of intelligence on the altar of aristocratic
privilege.
 Now the third deed in the catalogue of deeds done by Brahmanism after its triumph over
Buddhism. It was to separate the Brahmins from the result of the Non-Brahmin population
and to sever the different social strata of the Non-Brahmin population.

Pushyamitra's Brahmanic Revolution was undertaken for the purposes of restoring the
ancient social system of Chaturvarna which under the Buddhist regime was put into the
melting pot. But when Brahmanism triumphed over Buddhism it did not content itself with
merely restoring Charutvarna as it was in its original form. The system of Chaturvarna of
the Pre-Buddhist days was a flexible system and was an open to system. This was because
the Varna system had no connection with the marriage system. While
Chaturvarnarecognized the existence of four different classes, it did not prohibit inter-
marriage between them. A male of one Varna could lawfully marry a female of another
Varna. There are numerous illustrations in support of this view. I give below some instances
which refer to well known and respectable individuals which have acquired a name and
fame in the sacred lore of the Hindus.

1. Shantanu Kshatriya Ganga Shudra Anamik

2. Shantanu Kshatriya Matsyagandha Shudra Fisher woman

3. Parashara Brahmin Matsyagandha Shudra Fisher woman

4. Vishwamitra Kshatriya Menaka Apsara

5. Yayati Kshatriya Devayani Brahmin

6. Yayati Kshatriya Sharmishta Asuri- Non-Aryan

7. Jaratkaru Brahmin Jaratkari Nag Non-Aryan

Husband His Varna Wife Her Varna

Should anybody retain doubt on the question that the division of the society into classes
did not prohibit intermarriages between the four Varnas let him consider the geneologyof the
family of the great Brahmin sage Vyas.

GENEOLOGY OF VYAS
Varuna Mitra = Urvashi

Vashishtha = Akshamala
 Shakti =

Parashara = Matsyagandha

= Vyas

Brahminism with the ferocity of an outraged brute proceeded to put a stop to these
intermarriage between the different Varnas. A new law is proclaimed by Manu. It is in the
following terms :—

III. 12. For the first marriage of twice born men (wives) of equal caste are recommended.

III. 13. It is declared that a Sudra woman alone can be the wife of a Shudra.

III. 14. A Shudra woman is not mentioned even in any (ancient) story as the (first) wife of
a Brahmana or of a Kshatriya, though they lived in the (greatest) distress.

III. 15. Twice-born men who, in their folly, wed wives of the low (Sudra) caste, soon
degrade their families and their children to the state of Sudras.

111.16. According to Atri and to (Gautama) the son of Utathya. he who weds a Sudra
woman becomes an outcast, according to Saunaka on the birth of a son, and according
toBhrigu he who has (male) offspring from a (Sudra female, alone).

III. 17. A Brahmana who takes a Sudra wife to his bed, will (after death) sink into hell ; if he
begets a child by her, he will lose the rank of a Brahmana.

III. 18. The manes and the gods will not eat the (offerings) of that man who performs the
rites in honour of the gods, of the manes, and of guests chiefly with a (Sudra wife's)
assistance, and such (a man) will not go to heaven.

III. 19. For him who drinks the moisture of a Sudra's lips, who is tainted by her breath, and
who begets a son on her. no expiation is prescribed.

Brahmanism was not satisfied with the prohibition of intermarriage. Brahmanism went
further and prohibited interdining.

Manu lays down certain interdicts on food. Some are hygenic. Some are social. Of the
social the following are worthy of attention :

IV. 218. Food given by a king, impairs his manly vigour; by one of the servile class, his
divine light : by goldsmiths, his life ; by leathercutters, his good name.

IV. 219. Given by cooks and the like mean artizans, it destroys his offsprings : by a
washerman, his muscular strength ;
 IV. 221. That of all others, mentioned in order, whose food must never be tasted, is held
equal by the wise to the skin, bones, and hair of the head.

IV. 222. Having unknowingly swallowed the food of any such persons, he must fast during
three days; but having eaten it knowingly, he must perform the same harsh penance, as if
he had tasted any seminal impurity, ordure, or urine. I said that Brahmanism acted with the
ferocity of an outranged brute in undertaking the task of prohibiting intermarriage and
interdining. Those who have doubts in this matter ponder over the language of Manu.

Mark the disguest Manu shows with regard to the Shudra woman. Mark what Manu says
about the food of the Shudra. He says it is as impure as semen or urine.

These two laws have produced the caste system. Prohibition of intermarriage and
prohibition against interdining, are two pillars on which it rests. The caste system and the
rules relating to intermarriage and interdining are related to each other as ends to means.
Indeed by no other means could the end be realized.

The forging of these means shows that the creation of the caste system was end and aim
of Brahmanism. Brahmanism enacted the prohibitions against intemarriage and interdining.
But Brahmanism introduced other changes in the social system and if
the purposes underlying these changes are those which I suggest them to be, then it must
be admitted that Brahmanism was so keen in sustaining the caste system that it did not
mind whether ways and means employed were fair or unfair, moral or immoral. I refer to the
laws contained in the Code of Manu regarding marriage of girls and the life of widows.

See the law that Manu promulgates regarding the marriage of females.

IX. 4. Reprehensible is the father who gives not (his daughter) in marriage at the proper
time.

IX. 88. To a distinguished, handsome suitor of equal caste should a father give his
daughter in accordance with the prescribed rule, though she have not attained (the proper
age), i.e. although she may not have reached puberty.

By this rule Manu enjoins that a girl should be married even though she may not have
reached the age of puberty i.e. even when she is a child. Now with regard to widows Manu
promulgates the following rule.

V. 157. At her pleasure let her (i.e. widow) emaciate her body, by living voluntarily on pure
flowers, roots and fruits ; but let her not, when her lord is deceased, even pronounce the
name of another man.
 V. 161. But a widow, who from a wish to bear children, slights her deceased husband by
marrying again, brings disgrace on herself here below, and shall be excluded from the seat
of her lord (in heaven).

V. 162. Offspring begotten on a woman by any other than her husband, is here declared to
be no progeny of hers ; no more than a child, begotten on the wife of another man belongs
to the begetter; nor is a second husband any where prescribed for a virtuous woman.

This is the rule of enforced widowhood for a woman. A reference may also be made
to Sati or a widow who burns herself on the funeral pyre of her husband and thus puts an
end to her life. Manu is silent about it.

Yajnavalkya[f74] an authority nearly as great as Manu says, she must not live separately or
alone.

86. When deprived of her husband, she must not remain away from her father,
mother, son, brother, mother-in-law or from her maternal uncle; otherwise she might
become liable to censure. Here again Yajnavalkya does not suggest that a widow
become a Sati. But Vijnaneshwar, the author of Mitakshara a commentary on
Yajnavalkya Smriti makes the following observation in commenting on the
above Sloka.
"This is in the case of the alternative of leading a celibate life vide the text of
Vishnu[f75] : "After the death of the husband, either celibacy or ascending the (cremation) pile
after him."

Vijnaneshwar3 adds as his opinion that 'There is great merit in ascending the funeral pyre
after him.'

From this one can very easily and clearly see how the rule of Sati came to be
forged. Manu's rule was that a widow was not to remarry. But it appears from the statement
by Vijnaneshwar that from the time of the Vishnu Smriti a different interpretation began to
put on the ordinance of Manu. According to this new interpretation Manu's rule was
explained to be offering to the widow a choice between two alternatives: (1) Either burn
yourself on your husband's funeral pyre or (2) If you don't, remain unmarried. This of course
is totally false interpretation quite unwarranted by the clear words of Manu. Somehow it
came to be accepted. The date of the Vishnu Smriti is somewhere about the 3rd or 4th
Century. It can therefore be said that rule of Sati dates from this period.

One thing is certain, these were new rules. The rule of Manu that girl should be married
before she has reached puberty is a new rule. In Pre-Buddhistic Brahmanism4 marriages
were performed not only after puberty but they were performed when girls had reached an
age when they could be called grown up. Of this there is ample evidence. Similarly the rule
that a woman once she had lost her husband must not remarry is a new rule. In the Pre-
Buddhist Brahmanism there was no prohibition on widow remarriage. The fact that the
Sanskrit language contains words such as Punarbhu (woman who has undergone a second
marriage ceremony) and punarhhav (second husband) show that such marriages were quite
common under the Pre-Buddhist Brahmanism. [f76]With regard to Sati the position as to
when it arose,[f77] there is evidence to suggest that it existed in ancient times. But there is
evidence that it had died out and it was revived
after Brahmanism under Pushyamitra obtained its victory over Buddhism although it was
some time later than Manu.

Question is this, why these changes were made by the triumphant Brahmanism? What
did Brahmanism want to achieve by having girls married before they had become pubert,by
denying the widow to the right to marry again and by telling her to put herself to death by
immolating herself in the funeral pyre of her deceased husband? No explainations are
forthcoming for these changes. Mr. C. V. Vaidya who offers an explanation for girl
marriage says[f78] that girl marriage was introduced to prevent girls from joining
the Buddhistorder of nuns. This explanation does not satisfy me. Mr. Vaidya omits to take
into consideration another rule laid down by Manu—namely the rule relating to suitable age
for marriage. According to that rule.

IX. 94. A man. aged thirty, shall marry a maiden of twelve who pleases him, or a man of
twenty-four a girl eight years of age. The question is not why girl marriage was introduced.
The question is why Manu allowed so much discrepancy in the ages of the bride and the
bridegroom.

Mr. Kane[f79] has attempted an explanation of Sati. His explanation is that there is nothing
new in it. It existed in India in ancient times as it did in other parts of the world. This again
does not satisfy the world. If it existed outside India, it has not been practised on so
enormous a scale as in India. Secondly if traces of it are found in Ancient India in
theKshatriyas, why was it revived, why was it not universalized? There is no satisfactory
explanation. Mr. Kane's explanation that the prevalence of Sati by reference to laws of
inheritance does not appear to me very convincing. It may be that because under the Hindu
Law of inheritance as it prevailed in Bengal, women got a share in property. The relations of
the husband of the widow pressed her to be a Sati in order to get rid of a share may explain
why Sati wa.s practised on so large a scale in Bengal. But it does not explain how it arose
nor how it came to be practised in other parts of India.

Again with regard to the prohibition of widow remarriage, there is no explanation

whatsoever. Why was the widow, contrary to established practice, prohibited from marrying?
Why was she required to lead a life of misery? Why was she disfigured?

My explanation for girl marriage, enforced widowhood and Sati is quite different and I offer
it for what it is worth.[f80]
 "Thus the superposition of endogamy over exogamy means the creation of Caste. But this
is not an easy affair. Let us take an imaginary group that desire to make itself into a caste
and analyse what means it will have to adopt to make itself endogamous. If a group desires
to make itself endogamous, a formal injunction against intermarriage with outside groups will
be of no avail, especially if prior to the introduction of endogamy, exogamy were to be the
rule in all matrimonial relations. Again there is a tendency in all groups living in close contact
with one another to assimilate and amalgamate, and thus consolidate into a homogeneous
society. If this tendency be strongly counteracted in the interest of Caste formation, it is
absolutely necessary to circumscribe a circle without which people should not contract
marriages."

"Nevertheless this encircling to prevent marriages from without creates problems from
within which are not very easy of solution. Roughly speaking in a normal group the two
sexes are more or less evenly distributed, and generally speaking there is an
equality between those of the same age. But this equality is never quite realised in actual
societies. While to the group that is desirous of making itself into a caste the maintenance of
this equality between the sexes becomes the ultimate goal, for without this endogamy can
no longer subsist. In other words, if endogamy is to be preserved, conjugal rights from within
have to be provided for, else members of the group will be driven out of the circle to take
care of themselves in any way they please. But in order that the conjugal rights be provided
for from within, it is absolutely necessary to maintain a numerical equality between the
marriageable units of the two sexes within the group desirous of making itself into a Caste. It
is only through the maintenance of this equality that the necessary endogamy of the group
could be kept intact, and a very large disparity is sure to break it."

"The problem of Caste then ultimately resolves itself into one of repairing the
disparity between the marriageable units of the two sexes within it. The much
needed parity between the units could be realized only when a couple dies
simultaneously. But this is a rare contingency. The husband may die before the wife
and create a surplus woman who must be disposed of, else through intermarriage
she will violate the endogamy of the group. In like manner the husband may survive
his wife and be a surplus man whom the group, while it may sympathise with him for
the sad bereavement, has to dispose of, else he will marry outside the Caste and will
break the endogamy. Thus both the surplus man and the surplus woman constitute
a menace to the Caste if not taken care of, for, not finding suitable partners inside
their prescribed circle (and they cannot find any, for there are just enough pairs to go
round) very likely they will transgress the boundary, marry outside and import
population that is foreign to the Caste. Let us see what our imaginary group is
likely to do with this surplus man and surplus woman. We will first take up the case
of the surplus woman.She can be disposed of in two different ways so as to
preserve the endogamy of the Caste."
 "First : burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband and get rid of her. This,
however, is rather an impracticable way of solving the problem of sex disparity. In some
cases it may work, in others it may not. Consequently every surplus woman cannot thus
be disposed of, because it is an easy solution but a hard realization. However, the surplus
woman (widow) if not disposed of, remains in the group: but in her very existence lies a
double danger. She may marry outside the Caste and violate to endogamy or she may
marry within the Caste and through competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that
must be reserved for the potential brides in the Caste. She therefore is a menace in any
case and something must be done to her if she cannot be burned along with her deceased
husband."

"The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the rest of her life. So far as the
objective results are concerned burning is a better solution than enforcing widowhood.
Burning the widow eliminates all the three evils that a surplus woman is fraught with. Being
dead and gone she creates no problem of remarriage either inside or outside the Caste. But
compulsory widowhood is superior to burning because it is more practicable. Besides being
comparatively humane it also guards against the evils of remarriage as does burning ; but it
fails to guard the morals of the group. No doubt under compulsory widowhood the woman
remains and, just because she is deprived of her natural right of being a legitimate wife in
future, the incentive to bad moral conduct is increased. But this is by no means an
insuperable difficulty. She can be degraded to a condition where she could no longer be a
source of allurement."

"The problem of surplus man (—widower) is much more important and much more difficult
than that of the surplus woman in a group that desires to make itself into a Caste. From time
immemorial man as compared with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant figure
in every group and of the two sexes has greater prestige. With this traditional superiority of
man over woman his wishes have always been consulted. Woman on the other hand has
been an easy prey to all kinds of iniquitous injunctions, religious, social or economic. But
man as a maker of injunctions is most often above them all. Such being the case you cannot
accord the same kind of treatment to a surplus man as you can to a surplus woman in a
Caste."

"The project of burning him with his deceased wife is hazardous in two ways : first of all it
cannot be done, simply because he is a man. Secondly, if done, a sturdy soul is lost to the
Caste. There remain then only two solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say
conveniently because he is an asset to the group."

"Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more important, and the solution must
assure both these ends. Under these circumstances he may be forced, or I should say
induced, after the manner of the widow to remain a widower for the rest of his life. This
solution is not altogether difficult, for without there being any compulsion some are so
disposed as to enjoy self-imposed celibacy or may even take a further step of their own
accord to renounce the world and its joys. But, given human nature as it is, this solution can
hardly be expected to be realized. On the other hand, as is very likely to be the case, if he
remains in the group as an active participator in group activities, he is a danger to the
morals of the group. Looked at from a different viewpoint, ceilibacy though easy in cases
where it succeeds, is not so advantageous even then to the material prospects of the Caste.
If he observes genuine celibacy and renounces the world, he would not be a menace to the
preservation of Caste endogamy or Caste morals as undoubtedly would be, if he remained a
secular person. But as an ascetic celibate he is as good as burned, so far as the material
well being of his Caste is concerned. A Caste, in order that it may be large enough to afford
a vigorous communal life, must be maintained at a certain numerical strength. But to hope
for this and to proclaim celibacy is the same as trying to cure atrophy by bleeding.

"Imposing celibacy on the surplus man in the group therefore fails, both theoretically and
practically. It is in the interest of the Caste to keep him as a Grahastha (one who raises a
family) to use a Sanskrit technicality. But the problem is to provide him with a wife from
within the Caste. At the outset this is not possible, for the ruling ratio in a caste has to be
one man to one woman and none can have two chances of marriage, for in a Caste
thoroughly self enclosed there are always just enough marriageable women to go round for
the marriageable men. Under these circumstances the surplus man can only be provided
with a wife by recruiting a bride from the ranks of those not yet marriageable in order to tie
him down to the group. This is certainly the best of the possible solutions in the case of the
surplus man. By this, he is kept within the Caste. By this, this numerical depletion through
constant outflow is guarded against, and by this endogamy and morals are preserved.

"It will now be seen that the four means by which numerical disparity between the two
sexes is conveniently maintained are : (1) Burning the widow with her deceased
husband ;(2) Compulsory widowhood—a milder form of burning ; (3) Imposing celibacy on
the widower ; (4) Wedding him to a girl not yet marriageable. Though as I said above,
burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are of doubtful service to the
group in its endeavour to preserve its endogamy, all of them operate as means. But means
as forces, when liberated or set in motion create an end. What then is the end that these
means create? They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and endogamy,
according to our analysis of the various definitions of caste, are one and the same thing.
Thus the existence of these means means caste and caste involves these means."

"This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste in a system of castes. Let us

now turn to the castes in the Hindu Society and inquire into their mechanism. I need hardly
promise that there are a great many pitfalls in the path of those who try to unfold the past,
and caste in India to be sure is a very ancient institutiion. This is especially true where there
exist no authentic or written history or records or where the people, like the Hindus are so
constituted that to them Writing history is a folly, for the world is an illusion. But institutions
do live, though for a long time they may remain unrecorded and as often as not customs and
morals are like fossils that tell their own history. If this is true, our task will be amply
rewarded if we scrutinize the solution the Hindus arrived at to meet the problems of the
surplus man and surplus woman."

"Complex though it be in its general working the Hindu Society, even to a superficial
observer, presents three singular uxorial customs, namely :—

(i) Sati or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband.

(ii) Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allowed to remarry. (iii) Girl marriage.

In addition to these, one also notes a great hankering after Sannyasa (renunciation) on the
part of the widower, but it may in some cases be due purely LO psychic disposition.

"So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin of these customs is forth coming
even today. We have plenty of philosophy to
tell us why these customs were honoured. (Cf. A. K. Coomaraswamy— "Sati : a
Defence of the Eastern Woman" in the British Sociological Review Vol. VI 1913) Because it
is a"proof of the perfect unity of body and soul" between husband and wife and of "devotion
beyond the grave", because it embodied the ideal of wifehood which is well expressed
by Uma when she said"Devotion to her Lord is woman's honour, it is her eternal
heaven : and O Maheshwara", she adds with a most touching human cry, "I desire not
paradise itself if thou art not satisfied with me! " Why compulsory widowhood is honoured I
know not nor have I yet met with anyone who sang in praise of it, though there are a great
many who adhere to it. The eulogy in honour of girl marriage is reported by Dr. Ketkar to be
as follows : "A really faithful man or woman ought not to feel affection for a woman or a man
other than the one with whom he or she is united. Such purity is compulsory not only after
marriage, but even before marriage, for that is the only correct ideal of chastity. No maiden
could be considered pure if she feels love for a man other than to whom she might get
married. As she does not know whom she is going to get married to, she must not feel
affection for any man at all before marriage. If she does so, it is a sin. So it is better for a girl
to know whom she has to love, before any sexual consciousness has been awakened in
her". Hence girl marriage.

"This high-flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why these institutions were honoured,
but does not tell us why they were practised. My own interpretation is that they were
honoured because they were practised. Any one slightly -quainted with rise
of individualism in the 18th century will appreciate my remark. At all times, it is the
movement that is most important ; and the philosophies grow around it long afterwards to
justify it and give it a moral support. In like manner I urge that the very fact that these
customs were so highly eulogized proves that they needed eulogy for their prevalence.
Regarding the question as to why they arose, I submit that they were needed to create the
structure of caste and the philosophies in honour of them were intended to popularize them
or to gild the pill, as we might say, for they must have been so abominable and shocking to
the sense of the unsophisticated that they needed a great deal of sweetening. These
customs are essentially of the nature of means, though they are represented as ideals. But
this should not blind us from understanding the results that flow from them. One might safely
say that idealization of means is necessary and in this particular case was perhaps
motivated to endow them with greater efficacy. Calling means an end does not harm except
that it disguises its real character, but it does not deprive it of its real nature, that of a
means. You may pass a law that all cats are dogs, just as you can call a means an end. But
you can no more change the nature of means thereby than you can turn cats into dogs ;
consequently I am justified in holding that, regard them as ends or as means. Sati, enforced
widowhood and girl marriage are customs that were primarily intended to solve the problem
of the surplus man and surplus woman in a caste and to maintain its endogamy. Strict
endogamy could not be preserved without these customs, while caste without endogamy is
fake." According to my view girl marriage, enforced widowhood and Sati had no other
purpose than that of supporting the Caste System which Brahmanism was seeking to
establish by prohibiting intermarriage. It is difficult to stop intermarriage. Members of
different castes are likely to go out of their Caste either for love or for necessity. It is to
provide against necessity that Brahmanism made these rules. This is my explanation of
these new rules, made by Brahmanism. That explanation may not be acceptable to all. But
there can be no doubt that Brahmanism was taking all means possible to prevent
intermarriages between the different classes taking place.

Another illustration of this desire on the part of Brahmanism is to be found in the rule
regarding excommunication promulgated by Manu.

Manu says that a person who is excommunicated by his Caste is an outcast. [f81] According
to Manu an outcast is to be treated as though he was actually dead. Manu ordains that his
obsequies should be performed and lays down the mode and manner of performing these
obsequies of the outcast.

XI. 183. The Sapindas and Samanodakas of an outcast must offer (a libation of)
water (to him, as if he were dead), outside (the village), on an inauspicious day, in
the evening and in the presence of the relatives, officiating priests, and teachers.
XI. 184. A female slave shall upset with her foot a pot filled with water, as if it were for a
dead person ; (his Sapindas) as well as the Samanodakas shall be impure for a day and a
night. Manu however allows the outcast to return to Caste on performing penance as will be
seen from the following rules:
 XI. 187. But when he has performed his penance, they shall bathe with him in a holy pool
and throw down a new pot, filled with water.

XI. 188. But he shall throw that pot into water, enter his house and perform, as before, all
the duties incumbent on a relative.

XI. 189. Let him follow the same rule in the case of female outcasts; but clothes, food, and
drink shall be given to them, and they shall live close to the (family-) house.

But if the outcast was recalcitrant and impenitent Manu provides for his punishment.

Manu will not allow the outcast to live in the family house. Manu enjoins that

XI. 189. .....Clothes, food, and drink shall be given to them (i.e. the outcast members of the
family), and they shall live close to the (family) house.

III. 92. Let him (i.e. the householder) gently place on the ground (some food) for dogs,
outcasts, chandals, those aflicted with diseases that are punishments of former sins, crows
and insects. Manu declares that having social intercourse with an outcast is a sin. He warns
the Snataka

IV. 79. .....not (to) stay together with outcasts. IV. 213. .....Not (to eat food given) by
outcasts. To the householder Manu says :—

III. 151. Let him (i.e. the householder) not entertain at a Shradha.

III. 157. (A person) who forsakes his mother, his father, or a teacher without (sufficient)
reason, he who has contracted an alliance with outcasts either through the Veda or through
a marriage.

Manu ordains a social boycott of the outcast by penalizing those who associate with him.

XI. 181. He who associates himself for one year with an outcast himself becomes an
outcast ; not by sacrificing, reading the Veda, or contracting affinity with him, since by those
acts he loses his class immediately, but even by using the same carriage or seat, or by
taking his food at the same board.

XI. 182. He who associates with any one of those outcasts, must perform, in order to
atone for (such) intercourse, the penance prescribed for that (sinner).

Then there are penalties against an outcast who defies his caste and choses to remain an
outcast. Manu tells him what will be his penalty in the next world.

XII. 60. He who has associated with outcasts (will) become Brahmarakshas (i.e. an evil
spirit). Manu however was not prepared to leave the outcast with this. He proceeds to enact
penalty the severity of which cannot be doubted. The following are the penal sections of
Manu Smriti against an outcast.

III. 150. .....Those Brahmins who are .....outcasts .... .Athesists are unworthy (to
partake) of oblations to the gods and manes.

IX. 201. .....Outcast receive(s) no share (in inheritance). XI. 185. But thenceforward (i.e.
after the obsequies of the outcast have been performed) it shall be forbidden to converse
with him, to sit with him, to give him a share of the inheritance, and to hold with him such
intercourse as is usual among men;

XI. 186. And (if the outcast be the eldest) his right of primogeniture shall be withheld and
the additional share, due to the eldest son; and in his stead a younger brother, excelling in
virtue (i.e. who observes the rule of caste) shall obtain the share of the eldest.

Such is the law of Manu against an outcast. The severity of the penalties prescribed
against him is quite obvious. Its effect is to exclude him from all social intercourse, to
suspend him from every civil function, to disqualify him for all offices and to disable him from
inheriting any property. Under these pains and penalties the outcaste might as well be dead
which indeed Manu considers him to be, directing libations to be offered to the manes as
though he was naturally so. This system of privations and mortifications was enforced by
prescribing a similar fate to anyone who endeavoured to associate with an outcast. The
penalty was not confined to the: outcast. Nor was it restricted to males. Males and females
were both subject to the law of the outcast. Even their progeny was subject to penalty. The
law was extended to the son of the outcast. Born befo son was entitled to inherit
immediately, as though his father was dead. Born after excommunication he lost his right to
inherit, i.e. he became an outcast along with his father.

The laws of Manu regarding the outcast are of course devoid of justice and humanity.
Some might think that there is nothing very strange about them. That is because these laws
are very similar to the laws against apostacy and heresy to be found in all religious codes.
It is unfortunately a fact All religions—Except Buddhism— have used or misued the laws of
inheritance for enforcing adhesion and conformity to their codes. The conversion of a
Christian to Judaism or paganism or any other religion was punished by the
EmperorsConstantines and Jul Emperors Theodosius and Valentiniaus added capital
punishment, In case the apostle endeavoured to pervert others to the same inequity. This
was borrowed by all the European countries' who maintained a similar system
of penalities to enforce the Christian faith.

Such a view of the law of the outcast would be quite superficial. First of all the outcast is a
creation of Brahmanism. It is a necessary coeffieient of caste. Indeed once Brahmanism
was determined to create the caste system the law against the outcast was absolutely
essential. For only by punishing the outcast can the caste system be maintained. Secondly
there is a difference between the Christian or Mahomedan Law of Apostacy and
the Brahmanic law of caste. The disqualification under the Christian or Mahomedan law of
apostacy was restricted to want of religious belief or the profession of wrong religious belief.
Under the Brahmanic law the disqualification had no connection with belief or want of belief.
It was connected with the sanctity of a certain form of social organization namely Caste. It is
the act of going out of one's caste that was madepunishable. This is a very important
difference.

The Brahmanic law of the outcast as compared with the law of apostacy in other religions
shows that a belief in God is not essential to Brahmanism; that a belief in life after death is
not essential to Brahmanism ; that a belief in salvation either by good deeds or by a belief in
a prophet is not essential to Brahmanism; that a belief in the sacredness of the Vedas is
essential to Brahmanism. This is only one thing that is essential to Brahmanism. For it is
only breach of caste which is penalized. All else is left to violation.

Those who are not blind to these forces of integration will admit that this act of
Brahmanism in prohibiting intermarriage and interdining is nothing short of a
complete dismemberment of society. It is a deathknell to unity, an effective bar to
united action. As will be shown hereafter Brahmanism was keen on preventing
united action by Non-Brahmins to overthrow Brahmanism and that is why
Brahmanism brought about this segmentation of Indian Society. But the fatal effects
of a poison can never be confined to the limits of the original intention of the
perpetrator. The same thing has happened in the case of Caste. Brahmanism
intended to paralyse the Non-Brahmans for action against Brahmins, it did not
design that they as a nation should be paralysed for action against a foreign nation.
But the result of the poison of Caste has been they have become stricken for action
aga.inst Brahmanism as well as against foreigners. In other words Brahmanism in
instituting Caste system has put the greatest impediment against the growth of
nationalism.
In spite of what others say the Hindu will not admit that there is any thing evil in the Caste
system., and from one point of view he is right. There is love, unity and mutual aid among
members of a family. There is honour among thieves. A band of robbers have common
interests as respects to its members. Gangs are marked by fraternal feelings and intense
loyalty to their own ends however opposed they may be to the other gangs. Following this
up one can say that a Caste has got all the praiseworthy characteristics which a society is
supposed to have.

It has got the virtues of a family inasmuch as there is love unity and mutual aid. It has got
the honour known to prevail among thieves. It has got the loyalty and fraternal feeling we
meet with in gangs and it also possesses that sense of common interests which is found
among robbers.

A Hindu may take satisfaction in these praiseworthy characteristics of the Caste and deny
that there is anything evil in it. But he forgets that his thesis that Caste is an ideal form of
social organization is supportable on the supposition that each caste is entitled to regard
himself as an independent society, as an end in itself as nations do. But the theory
breaks down when the consideration pertains to Hindu Society and to the Caste-System
which goes with it.

Even in such a consideration of the subject the Hindu will not admit that the Caste system
is an evil. Charge Hinduism with the responsibility for the evils of the Caste-system and the
Hindu will at once retort. "What about the Class System in Europe?" Upto a point the retort
is good if it means that there exists nowhere that ideal society of the philosophers marked
by organic unity, accompanied by praiseworthy community of purpose, mutuality of
sympathy, loyalty to public ends and concern for general welfare. Nobody can havemuch
quarrel if the Hindu by way of analogy were to say that in every Society there are families
and classes marked by exclusiveness. suspicion, and jealousy as to those without: bands of
robbers, gangs. narrow cliques, trade unions. Employees' Associations. Kartels. Chambers
of Commerce and political parties. Some of these are held together by the interest and
plunder and others while aspiring to serve the public do not hesitate to prey upon it.

It may be conceded that everywhere de facto society whether in the past or in the present
is not a single whole but a collection of small groups devoted to diverse purposes as their
immediate and particular objectives. But the Hindu cannot take shelter under this analogy
between the Hindu caste system and the Non-Hindu Class system and rest there as though
there is nothing more to he said about the subject. The fact is there is a far bigger question
which the Hindu has still lo face. He must take note of the fact that although every society
consists of groups there are societies in which the groups are only non-social while there
are societies in which the groups are anti-social. The difference between a society with the
class system and a society with the caste system lies just in this namely the class system is
merely nonsocial but the caste system is positively anti-soicial.

It may be important to realize why in some societies the g,roup system produces only non-
social feeling and in some societies the group system produces anti-social feeling. No better
explanation of this difference can be given than the one given by professor
John Dewey. According to him every thing depends upon whether the groups are isolated or
associated, whether there is reciprocity of interest between them or whether there is lack of
reciprocity of interest. If the groups are associated, if there is a reciprocity of interest
between them the feeling between them will be only non-social. If the groups are isolated, if
there is no reciprocity between them the feeling between them will be anti-social. To quote
Professor Dewey[f82]:
 "The isolation and exclusiveness of a gang or clique brings its anti-social spirit into
relief. But this same spirit is found wherever one group has interests 'of its
own' which shut it out from full interaction with other groups, so that its prevailing
purpose is the protection of what it has got, instead of reorganization and progress
through wider relationships. It marks nations in their isolation from one
another; families which seclude their domestic concerns as if they had no connection
with a larger life; schools when sepa.rated from the interest of home and community;
the divisions of rich and poor; learned and unlearned. The essential point is that
isolation makes for rigidity and formal institutionalizing of life, for static and selfish
ideals within the group."
The question to be asked is not whether there are groups in a Society or whether the
Society is one single whole. The question to be asked is what degree of association,
cooperative intercourse and interaction exists among the different groups : how numerous
and varied are the interests which are consciously shared by them : how full and free is the
interplay with other forms of Association? A society is not to be condemned as body
because there are groups in it. It is to be condemned if the groups are isolated, each leading
an exclusive life of its own. Because it is this isolation which produces the anti-social spirit
which makes co-operative effort so impossible of achievement.

I his isolation among the classes is the work of Brahmanism. The principal steps taken by
it was to abrogate the system of intermarriage and interdining that was prevalent among the
four Varnas in olden times. This has already been discussed in an earlier section of this
chapter. There is however one part of the story that remains to be told. I have said the
Varna system had nothing to do with marriage. That males and females belonging to the
different Varnas could marry and did marry. Law did not come in the way of inter-
varna marriage. Social morality was not opposed to such marriages. Savarna marriage was
neither required by law nor demanded by Society. All marriages between different Varnas
irrespective of the question whether the bride was of a higher Varna than the bride-groom or
whether the bride-groom was of the higher Varna and the bride of the lower Varna were
valid. Indeed as Prof. Kane says the distinction between Anuloma and Pratiloma marriage
was quite unknown and even the terms Anuloma and Pratiloma were not in existence. They
are the creation of Brahmanism. Brahmanism put a stop to Pratiloma marriages i.e.
marriages between women of a higher Varna and men of lower Varna. That was a step in
the direction of closing the connection between the Varnas and creating in them an
exclusive and anti-social spirit regarding one another. But while the inter-connecting gate of
the Pratiloma marriage was closed the inter-connecting gate of Anuloma marriage had
remained open. That was not closed. As pointed out in the section on graded inequality
Anuloma marriage i.e. marriage between a male of the higher Varna and the female of
the lower Varna was allowed by Brahmanism to continue. The gate of Anuloma marriage
was not very respectable and was a one way gate only. still it was an interconnecting gate
by which it was possible to prevent a complete isolation of the Varnas. But even here
Brahmanism played what cannot but be called a dirty trick. To show how dirty the trick was it
is necessary first to state the rules which prevailed for determining the status of the child.
Under the rule existing from very ancient times the status of the child was determined by the
Varna of the father. I he Varna of the mother was quite unimportant. I he
following illustrations will place the point beyond doubt:

Father's Varna of Mother's Varna of Child's Varna

of Name father Name mother name child

1. Shantanu Kshatriya Ganga

Shudra Bhishma Kshatriya

(Anamik)

2. Shantanu Kshatriya Matsyagandha Shudra Vichitra

Virya Kshatriya

(Fisher)

3. Parashar Brahmin Matsyagandha Shudra Krishna-

Brahmin

(Fisher) Dwaipayana

4. Vishwamitra Kshtriya Menaka

(Apsara) Shakuntala Kshatriya

5.
Yayati Kshatriya Devayani Brahmin Yadu Kshatriya

6. Yayati Kshatriya Sharmishta Asuri

Druhya Kshatriya

(Nonaryan)

7. Jaratkaru Brahmin Jaratkari Nag. Asita Brahmin

(Nonaryan)

The rule was known as the rule of Pitra Savarnya. It would he interesting to consider
the effect of this rule of Pitra Savarnya on the Anuloma and Pratiloma systems of marriage.
 The effect on Pratiloma marriage would be that the children of mothers of the
higher Varnas would be dragged down to the level of the lower Varnas represented by their
fathers. Its effect on Anuloma marriage would be just the contrary. The children of mothers
of the lower Varnas would be raised up and absorbed in the higher Varnas of their fathers.

Manu stopped Pratiloma marriages and thereby prevented the higher from being dragged
to the status of the lower. However regrettable, not much damage was done by it so long
as the Anuloma marriage and the rule of Pitra Savarnya continued in operation. The two
together formed a very useful system. The Anuloma marriage maintained the inter-
connection and the Pitra Savarnya rule made the higher classes quite composite in their
make up. For they could not but help to he drawn from mothers of different
Varnas.Brahmanism did not want to keep this gate of intercommunication between the
Varnas open. It was bent on closing it. But it did it in a manner which is disreputable.

The straight and honourable way was to stop Anuloma marriage. But Brahmanism did not
do that. It allowed the system of Anuloma marriage to continue. What it did was to alter the
rule of determining the status of the child. It replaced the rule of Pitra Savarnya by the rule
of Matra Savarnya by which the status of the child came to be determined by the status of
the mother. By this change marriage ceased to be that means of intersocial communication
which it principally is. It relieved men of the higher Varna from the responsibility to their
children simply because they were born of a mother of lower Varna. It made Anuloma
marriage mere matter of sex. a humiliation and insult to the lower Varnas and a privilege
to the higher classes to lawfully commit prostitution with women of the lower classes. And
from a larger social point of view it brought the complete isolation among the Varnas which
has been the bane of Hindu Society. Notwithstanding all this the Orthodox Hindu still
believes that the caste system is an ideal system.

But why talk about the orthodox Hindus. There are among enlightened politicians and
historians. There are of course Indians both politicians and historians who vehemently deny
that the Caste system comes in the way of nationalism. They presume that India is a nation
and feel very much offended if anybody instead of speaking of the Indian Nation speaks
of the people of India. This attitude is quite understandable. Most of the politicians and
historians are Brahmins and cannot be expected to have the courage to expose the
misdeeds of their ancestors or admit the evils perpetrated by them. Ask any one the
question, is India a nation, and all in a chorus say, 'yes.' Ask for reasons, they will say that
India is a nation firstly because India has a geographical unity of the country and secondly
because of the fundamental unity of the culture. All this may be admitted for the sake of
argument and yet it is true to say that to draw an inference from these facts that India is a
nation is really to cherish a delusion. For what is a nation? A nation is not a country in the
physical sense of the country whatever degree of geographical unity it may posses. A nation
is not people synthesized by a common culture derived from common language, common
religion or common race.

To recall what I have said in another place "Nationality is a subjective psychological

feeling. It is a feeling of a corporate sentiment of oneness which makes those who are
charged with it feel that they are kith and kin. This national feeling is a double edged feeling.
It is at once a feeling of fellowship for one's own kith and an anti-fellowship feeling for those
who are not one's own kith. It is a feeling of "consciousness of kind" which binds together
those who are within the limits of the kindred and severs them from those who are outside
the limits of the kindred. It is a longing to belong to one's own group and a longing not to
belong to any other group. This is the essence of what is called a nationality and national
feeling. This longing to belong to one's own kindred as I said is a subjective psychological
feeling and what is important to bear in mind is that the longing to belong to one's own
kindred is quite independent of geography, culture or economic or social conflict.

There may be geographical unity and yet there may be no "longing to belong". There may
be no geographical unity and yet the feeling of longing to belong may be very intense. There
may be cultural unity and yet there may be no longing to belong. There may be economical
conflicts and class divisions and yet there may be an intense feeling of longing to belong.
The point is that nationality is not primarily a matter of geography culture or"..........

In the declinging[f83] days of the Vedic Regime, the Shudras as well as women had come to
occupy a very low position. The rising tide of Buddhism had brought about a great change in
the status of both. To put it briefly a Shudra under the Buddhist regime could acquire
property, learning and could even become a king. Nay he could even rise to the highest
rung of the social ladder occupied by the Brahmin in the Vedic Regime. The Buddhist order
of Bhikshus was counterpart of the Vedic order of Brahmins. The two orders, each within its
own religious system were on a par in the matter of status and dignity. The Shudra could
never aspire to be a Brahmin in the Vedic regime but he could become aBhikshu and
occupy the same status and dignity as did the Brahmin. For. while the Vedic order
of Bramhins was closed to the Shudra, the Buddhist order of Bhikshus was open to him and
many Shudras who could not become Brahmins under the Vedic Regime had become their
peers by becoming Bhikshus under Buddhism. Similar change is noticeable in the case of
women. Under the Buddhist regime she became a free person. Marriage did not make her a
slave. For marriage under the Buddhist rule was a contract. Under the Buddhist Regime she
could acquire property, she could acquire learning and what was unique, she could become
a member of the Buddhist order of Nuns and reach the same status and dignity as a
Brahmin. The elevation of the status of the Shudras and women was so much the result of
the gospel of Buddhism that Buddhism was called by its enemies as the Shudra religion (i.e.
the religion of the low classes).
 All this of course must have been very galling to the Brahmins. How very galling it must
have been to them is shown by the vandallic fury with which Bramhanism after its triumph
over Buddhism proceeded to bring about a complete demolition of the high status to which
the Shudras and women had been elevated by the revolutionary changes effected by
the vivifying gospel of Buddhism.

Starting with this background one shudders at the inhumanity and cruelty of the laws made
by Manu against the Shudras. I quote a few of them assembling them under certain general
heads.

Manu asks the householders of the Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaishya Class:

IV. 61. Let him not dwell in a country where the rulers are Shudra.....

This cannot mean that Brarnhana. Kashtriya and Vaishya should leave the country where
Shudra is a ruler. It can only mean that if a Shudra becomes a king he should be killed. Not
only a Shudra is not to be recognized as fit to be a king, he is not to be deemed as a
respectable person. For Manu enacts that:-

XI. 24. A Bramhin shall never beg from a Shudra property for (performing) a
sacrifice i.e. for religious purposes. All marriage ties with the Shudra were
proscribed. A marriagewith a woman belonging to any of the three higher classes
was forbidden. A Shudra was not to have any connection with a woman of the higher
classes and an act of adultery committed by a Shudra with her was
declared by Manu to be an offence involving capital punishment.
VIII. 374. A Shudra who has an intercourse with a woman of the higher caste
guarded[f84] or unguarded, shall be punished in the following manner if she was unguarded,
he loses the offending part. If she was guarded then he should be put to death and his
property confiscated.

Manu insists that a Shudra shall be servile, unfit for office, without education, without
property and as a contemptible person, his person and property shall always be liable to be
conscripted. As to office Manu prescribes.

VIII. 20. A Bramhana who is only a Brahmana by descent i.e. one has neither studied nor
performed any other act required by the Vedas may. at the king's pleasure, interpret the law
to him i.e. act as the judge, but never a Shudra (however learned he may be).

VIII. 21. The Kingdom of that monarch who looks on while a Shudra settles the law will
sink low like a cow in a morass.

VIII. 272. If a Shudra arrogantly presumes to preach religion to Bramhins the King shall
have poured burning oil in his mouth and ears.
 In olden times the study of the Vedas stood for education. Manu declare that the study of
the Vedas was not a matter of right but that it was a matter of privilege. Manu deprived the
Shudra of the right to study Veda. He made it a privilege of the three higher classes. Not
only did he debar the Shudra from the study of the Vedas but he enacted penalties against
those who might help the Shudra to acquire knowledge of the Veda. To a person who
is previleged to study the Vedas. Manu ordains that :

IV. 99. He must never read the Vedas...in the presence of the Shudras. and prescribes
that :-

III. 156. He who instructs Shudra pupils and he whose teacher is a Shudra shall become
disqualified tor being invited to Shradha. Manu's successor went much beyond him in the
cruelty of their punishment of the Shudra for studying the Veda. For instance Katyayana lays
down that if a Shudra overheard the Veda or ventured to utter a word of the Veda. the King
shall cut his tongue in twain and put hot molten lead in his cars.

As to property Manu is both ruthless and shameless. According to the Code of Manu :

X. 129. No superfluous collection of wealth must be made by a Shudra, even

though he has power to make it, since a servile man. who has amassed riches,
becomes proud, and, by his insolence or neglect, gives pain to Bramhans.
The reason for the rule is more revolting than the rule itself. Manu was of course not sure
that the prohibitory injunction will be enough to prevent the Shudra from acquiring wealth. To
leave no room for the Shudra to give offence to the Bramhins by his accumulation of wealth
Manu added another section to his code whereby he declared that :

VIII. 417. A Bramhana may seize without hesitation if he be in distress for his subsistence,
the goods of his Shudra. Not only is the property of a Shudra liable to conscription but the
labour of the Shudra. Manu declares, is liable to conscription. Compare the following
provision in Manu :

VIII. 413. A Bramhana may compel a Shudra, whether bought or unbought to do servile
work; for he is created by the creator to be the slave of a Bramhana.

A Shudra was required by Manu to be servile in his speech. How very servile he must be
can be seen from the following provisions in Manu :—

VIII. 270. A Shudra who insults a twiceborn man with gross invective, shall have his
tongue cut out; for he is of low origin.

VIII. 271. If he mentions the names and castes of the (twiceborn) with contumely, an iron
nail, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red hot into his mouth.
 Manu's object was to make the Shudra not merely a servile person but an altogether
contemptible person. Manu will not allow a Shudra the comfort of having a high sounding
name. Had Manu not been there to furnish incontrovertible proof it would be difficult to
believe that Bramanism could have been so relentless and pitiless in its persecution of the
Shudra. Observe Manu's law as to the names that the different classes can give to their
children.

II. 31. Let the first part of a Brahman's name denote something
auspicious, a Kshatriya's be connected with power, and a Vaishya's with wealth, but
a Shudra's express something contemptible.

II. 32. The second part of a Bramhan's name shall be a word implying happiness, of
a Kshatrya's a word implying protection, of a Vaisya's a term expressive of thriving and of a
Shudra's an expression denoting service.

The basis of all these inhuman laws is the theory enunciated by Manu regarding the
Shudra. At the outset of his Code, Manu takes care to assert it emphatically and without
blushing. He says :

I. 91. One occupation only, the Lord prescribed to the Shudra, to serve meekly these other
three castes (namely Bramhin, Kshatriya and Vaishya).

Holding that the Shudra was born to be servile, Manu made his laws accordingly so as to
compel him to remain servile. In the Buddhist regime a Shudra could aspire to be ajudge, a
priest and even a King, the highest status that he could ever aspire to. Compare with This
the ideal that Manu places before the Shudra and one can get an idea of what fate was to
be under Brahmanism :

X. 121. If a Shudra, (unable to subsist by serving Brahmanas), seeks a livelihood, he may

serve Kshartiyas, or he may also seek to maintain himself by attending on a
wealthyVaishya.

X. 122. But let a (Shudra) serve Brahmanas, either for the sake of heaven, or with a view
to both (this life and the next); for he who is called the servant of a Brahmana thereby gains
all his ends.

X. 123. The service of Brahmanas alone is declared (to be) an excellent occupation for a
Shudra: for whatever else besides this he may perform will bear him no fruit.

X. 124. They must allot to him out of their own family (property) a suitable maintenance,
after considering his ability, his industry, and the number of those whom he is bound to
support.
 X. 125. The remnants of their food must be given to him, as well as their old household
furniture.

Manu can hardly be said to be more tender to women than he was to the Shudra. He
starts with a low opinion of women. Manu proclaims :

11.213. It is the nature of women to seduce men in this (world); for that reason the wise
are never unguarded in (the company of) females.

II. 214. For women are able to lead astray in (this) world not only a fool, but even a learned
man, and (to make) him a slave of desire and anger.

II. 215. One should not sit in a lonely place with one's mother sister or daughter; for the
senses are powerful, and master even a learned man.

IX. 14. Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking), '(It is
enough that) he is a man', they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly.

IX. 15. Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural
heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be
guarded in this (world).

IX. 16. Knowing their disposition, which the Lord of creatures laid in them at the creation,
to be such, (every) man should most strenuously exert himself to guard them.

IX. 17. (When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed. (of their) seat
and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct.

The laws of Manu against women are of a piece with this view. Women are not to be free
under any circumstances. In the opinion of Manu :—

IX. 2. Day and night women must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families),
and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's
control.

IX. 3. Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her
sons protect (her) in old age: a woman is never fit for independence.

IX. 5. Women must particularly be gurded against evil inclinations, however trifling (they
may appear); for, if they are not guarded, they will bring sorrow on two families,

IX. 6. Considering that the highest duty of all castes, even weak husbands (must) strive to
guard their wives.
 V. 147. By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done
independently, even in her own house.

V. 148. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when
her lord is dead to her sons: a woman must never be independent.

V. 149. She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by
leaving them she would make both (her own and her husband's) families contemptible.
Woman is not to have a right to divorce.

IX. 45. The husband is declared to be one with the wife, which means that there could be
no separation once a woman is married. Many Hindus stop here as though this is the whole
story regarding Manu's law of divorce and keep on idolizing it by comforting their conscience
by holding out the view that Manu regarded marriage as sacrament and therefore did not
allow divorce. This of course is far from the truth. His law against divorce had a very different
motive. It was not to tie up a man to a woman but it was to tie up the woman to a man and to
leave the man free. For Manu does not prevent a man for giving up his wife. Indeed he not
only allows him to abandon his wife but he also permits him to sell her. But what he does is
to prevent the wife from becoming free. See what Manu Says :

IX. 46. Neither by sale nor by repudiation is a wife released from her husband.

The meaning is that a wife, sold or repudiated by her husband, can never become the
legitimate wife of another who may have bought or received her after she was repudiated. If
this is not monstrous nothing can be. But Manu was not worried by considerations of justice
or injustice of his laws. He wanted to deprive women of the freedom she had under the
Buddhistic regime. He knew, by her misuse of her liberty, by her willingness to marry
the Shudra that the system of the gradation of the Varna had been destroyed. Manu wa.s
outraged by her license and in putting a stop to it he deprived her of her liberty.

A wife was reduced by Manu to the level of a slave in the matter of property.

IX. 146. A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declared to have no property, the
wealth which they earn is (acquired) for him to whom they belong.

When she becomes a widow Manu allows her maintenance if her husband was joint and a
widow's estate in the property of her husband if he was separate from his family. But Manu
never allows her to have any dominion over property.

A woman under the laws of Manu is subject to corporal punishment and Manu allows the
husband the right to beat his wife.

VIII. 299. A wife, a son, a slave, a pupil, and a younger brother of the full blood, who have
committed faults, may be beaten with a rope or a split bamboo.
 In other matters woman was reduced by Manu to the same position as the Shudra.

The study of the Veda was forbidden to her by Manu as it was to the Shudra.

II. 66. Even for a woman the performance of the Sanskaras are necessary and they should
be performed. But they should be performed without uttering the Veda Mantras.

IX. 18. Women have no right to study the Vedas. That is why their Sanskars are performed
without Veda Mantras. Women have no knowledge of religion because they have no right to
know the Vedas. The uttering of the Veda Mantras is useful for removing sin. As women
cannot utter the Veda Mantras they are as unclean as untruth is.

Offering sacrifices according to Bramhanism formed the very soul of religion. Yet Manu will
not allow women to perform them. Manu ordains that:—

XI. 36. A woman shall not perform the daily sacrifices prescribed by the Vedas. XI. 37. If
she does it she will go to hell.

To disable her from performing such sacrifices Manu prevents her from getting the aid and
services of a Bramhin priest.

IV. 205. A Bramhan must never eat food given at a sacrifice performed by a woman.

IV. 206. Sacrifices performed by women are inauspicious and not acceptable to God. They
should therefore be avoided. Woman was not to have any intellectual persuits and nor free
will nor freedom of thought. She was not to join any heretical sect such as Buddhism. If she
continues to adhere to it, till death she is not to be given the libation of water as is done in
the case of all dead.

Finally a word regarding the ideal of life, Manu has sought to place before a woman. It had
better be stated in his own words :

V. 151. Him to whom her father may give her, or her brother with the father's permission,
she shall obey as long as he lives and when he is dead, she must not insult his memory.

V. 154. Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good

qualities, yet a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife.

V. 155. No sacrifice, no vow, no fast must be performed by women, apart from their
husbands; if a wife obeys her husband, she will for that reason alone be exalted in heaven.
Then comes the choicest texts which forms the pith and the marrow of this ideal which Manu
prescribes for the women :

V. 153. The husband who wedded her with sacred Mantras, is always a source of
happiness to his wife, both in season and out of season, in this world and in the next.
 V. 150. She must always be cheerful, clever in the management of her household affairs,
careful in cleaning her utensils, and economical in expenditure.

This the Hindus regard as a very lofty ideal for a woman!!! The severity of these laws
against Shudras and women show that the phenomenal rise of these classes during
theBuddhist regime had not only offended the Brahmins but had become intolerable to
them. It was a complete reversal of their sacred social order from top to bottom. The first
had become last and the last had become first. The laws of Manu also explain, the
determined way in which the Brahmins proceeded to use their political power to degrade the
Shudras and the women to their old status. The triumphant Bramhanism bega.n its
onslaught on both the Shudras and the women in pursuit of the old ideal namely servility
and Bramhanism did succeed in making the Shudras and women the servile classes,
Shudras the serfs to the three higher classes and women the serfs to their husbands. Of
the black deeds committed by Brahmanism after its triumph over Buddhism this one is the
blackest. There is no parallel in history for so foul deeds of degradation committed by a
class of usurpers in the interest of class domination. The collosal character of this deed of
degradation perpetrated by Barahmanism is unfortunately not fully realized. It is concealed
by those small monosyllablic words, Stri and Shudra. Let those who wish to get an idea of
the enormity of their deed think of the numbers that lie behind these two terms. What part of
the population do they apply to? The woman represents one half of the population. Of the
balance the Shudra represents not less than two third. The two together make up about
7590 of the total population. It is this huge mass of people that has been doomed by
Brahmanism to eternal servility and eternal degradation. It is because of the collosal scale of
degradation whereby 75% of her people were deprived of their right to life. liberty
and persuit of happiness that India became a decaying if not a dead nation.

The principle of graded inequality runs through the whole of the Manu Smriti. There is no
department of life in which he has not introduced his principle of graded inequality. For a
complete and thorough exposition of it, it would be necessary to reproduce the whole of
Manu Smriti. I will take only a few departments to illustrate how in the hands of Manu the
principle of graded inequality became imbedded in the social life. Take the field of marriage.
Observe the rule of Manu :—

III. 13. It is declared that a Shudra woman alone (can be) the wife of a Shudra, she and
one of his own caste (the wives) of a Vaishya, those two and one of his own caste the wives
of a Kshatriya, those three and one of his own caste (the wives of a Bramhan). Take the
rules of Manu regarding the treatment of guests:—

III. 110. But a Kshatriya (who comes) to the house of a Brahmana is not called a
guest (atithi), nor a Vaisya, nor a Shudra, nor a personal friend, nor a relative, nor the
teacher.
 III. 111. But if Kshatriya comes to the house of a Brahmana in the manner of a guest, (the
house-holder) may feed him according to his desire, after the above
mentionedBrahmanas have eaten.

III. 1 12. Even a Vaisya and a Shudra who have approached his house in the manner of
guests, he may allow to eat with his servants, showing (thereby) his compassionate
disposition. In the house of a Brahmana. nobody except a Brahmin is to have the honour of
being a guest.[f85] If the Kshatriya comes in the manner of a guest to the house of a Brahmin
he is to be fed after all the Brahmins are fed and if the Vaishyas and Shudras come in the
manner of guests they are to be fed after everybody is fed and only in the company of
servants.

Take the rules of Manu regarding Sanskaras : X. 126. A Shudra has no right to receive the
sacraments. X. 68. The law prescribes that neither of the two (that is those who belong to
mixed castes) shall receive the sacraments the first being excluded on account of lowness
of his origin of his parents was against the order of the castes.

II. 66. The whole series[f86] of sacraments must be performed for females also in order to
sanctify the body at the proper time and in the proper order, but without the recitaion of
sacred Vedic Mantras. Manu further lays down that :

VI. 1. A twice born Snataka, who has thus lived according to the law in the order of
householders, may, taking a firm resolution and keeping his organs in subjection, dwell in
the forest, duly (observing the rules given below).

VI. 33. But having thus passed the third part of (a man's natural term of) life in the forest,
he may live as an ascetic during the fourth part of his existence, after abandoning
allattanchment to worldly objects.

Even in law Manu introduces the principle of graded inequality. To take only two
illustrations, the law of defamation, abuse and the law of assault :

VIII. 267. A Kshatriya having defamed a Brahmana, shall be fined one

hundred (panas); A Vaisya one hundred and fifty or two hundred ; a Shudra shall suffer
corporal punishment.

VIII. 268. A Brahamna shall be fined fifty (panas) for defaming a Kshatriya ; in (the case of)
a Vaisya the fine shall be twenty five (panas), in (the case of) a Shudra twelve.

VIII. 269. For offences of twice born men against those of equal caste (varna, the fine shall
be) also twelve (panas) for speeches which ought not to be uttered, that (and every fineshall
be) double.
 VIII. 276. (For mutual abuse) by a Brahmana and a Kshatriya a fine must be imposed by a
discerning (king), on the Brahmana the lowest amercement, but on the Kshatriya the
middlemost.

VIII. 277. A Vaisya and a Shudra must be punished exactly in the same manner according
to their respective castes, but the tongue (of the Shudra) shall not be cut out: that is the
decision.

VIII. 279. With whatever limb a man of a low caste does hurt to (a man of the three)
highest (castes), even that limb shall be cut off: that is the teaching of Manu.

VIII. 280. He who raises his hand or a stick, shall have his hand cut off; he who in anger
kicks with his foot, shall have his foot cut off. Everywhere is the principle of graded
inequality. So ingrained it had become in the social system that the successors of Manu
were careful to introduce it where he had failed to give effect to it. For instance Manu had
had recognized the system of slavery. But had failed to prescribe whether the system of
slavery was or was not subject to the principle of graded order of insubordination.

Lest it should be understood that the law of graded inequality did not apply to slavery and
that a Brahmin may be a slave of the Shudra, Yajnavalkya at once proceeds to clear the
doubt. He expressly laid down that :-

"Slavery is in the descending order of the Varnas and not in the ascending order" (XIV.
183).

Vijnaneshwar in his commentary on Yajnavalkya makes it concrete by his illustrations

when he says :

"Of the Varnas such as the Brahmana and the rest, a state of slavery shall
exist Anulomyena, in the descending order. Thus, of a Brahmana, a Kshatriya and the rest
may become a slave; of a Kshatriya, the Vaishya and the Shudra; and of
a Vaishya, Shudra, thus the state of slavery shall operate in the descending order." Stated in
the language of equality and inequality, this means that the Brahmin is the highest because
he can be the slave of nobody but is entitled to keep a person of any class as his slave. The
Shudra is the lowest because everybody can keep him as his slave but he can keep no one
as his slave except a Shudra. The place assigned to the Kshatriya and the Vaishya
introduces the system of graded inequality. A Kshatriya while he is inferior to the Brahmin he
can be the slave of the Brahmin. While he is yet superior to the Vaishyas and
the Shudrasbecause he can keep them as his slaves; the Vaishyas and the Shudras have
no right to keep a Kshartiya as his slave. Similarly a Vaishya while he is inferior to
the Bramhins and the Kshatriyas, because they can keep him as their slave and he cannot
keep any one of them as his slave, he is proud that he is at least superior to the Shudra
because he can keep the Shudra as his slave while Shudra cannot keep the Vaishya as his
slave.

Such is the principle of graded inequality which Bramhanism injected into the bone and the
marrow of the people. Nothing worse to paralyze society to overthrow inequity could have
been done.

Although its effects have not been clearly noticed there can be no doubt that because of it
the Hindus have been stricken with palsy. Students of social organization have been content
with noting the difference between equality and inequality. None have realized that in
addition to equality and inequality there is such a thing as graded inequality. Yet inequality is
not half so dangerous as graded inequality. Inequality carried within itself the seeds of its
own destruction. Inequality does not last long. Under pure and simple inequality two things
happen. It creates general discontent which forms the seed of revolution. Secondly it makes
the sufferers combine against a common foe and on a common grievance. But the nature
and circumstances of the system of graded inequality leave no room for either of these two
things to happen. The system of graded inequality prevents the rise of general discontent
against inequity. It cannot therefore become the storm centre of revolution. Secondly the
sufferers under inequality becoming unequal both in terms of the benefit and the burden
there is no possibility of a general combination of all classes to overthrow the inequity. To
make the thing concrete the Brahmanic law of marriage is full of inequity. The right
of Brahmana to take a woman from the classes below him but not to give a woman to them
is in inequity. But the Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra will not combine to destroy it.
The Kshatriya resents this right of the Brahmana. But he will not combine with Vaishya or
the Shudra and that for two reasons. Firstly because he is satisfied that if the Brahman has
the right to take the right of three communities, the Kshatriya has the right to appropriate the
women of two communities. He does not suffer so much as the other two. Secondly if he
joins in a general revolution against this marriage-inequity in one way he will rise to the level
of the Bramhins but in another way all will be equal which to him means that
the Vaishyas and the Shudras will rise to his level i.e. they will claim Kshatriya women-
which means he will fall to their level. Take any other inequity and think of a revolt against it.
The same social psychology will show that a general rebellion against it is impossible.

One of the reasons why there has been no revolution against Brahmanism and its
inequities is due entirely to the principle of graded inequality. If is a system of permitting a
share in the spoils with a view to enlist them to support the spoils system. It is a system full
of low cunning which man could have invented to perpetuate inequity and to profit by it. For
it is nothing else but inviting people to share in inequity in order that they may all be
supporters of inequity.

There now remains to lift the curtain from the last act of this drama of Bramhanism.
 Bramhanism inherited from the Vedic past that system of Chaturvarna. The system
of Chaturvarna which the Hindus regard as the unique creation of their Aryan ancestors is in
no sense unique. There is nothing original about it. The whole ancient world had stumbled
into it. The Egyptians had it and the ancient Persians had it. Plato was so convinced about
its excellence that he presented it as ideal form of social organization. The ideal of the
Chaturvarna is faulty. The lumping together of individuals into a few sharply marked off
classes is a very superficial view of man and his powers. The Ancient Aryans as well as
Plato had no conception of the uniqueness of every individual, of his incommensurability
with others and of each individual forming a class of his own. They had no recognition of the
infinite diversity of active tendencies and combination of tendencies of which an individual is
capable. To them there were types offaculties or powers in the individual constitution and all
that is necessary for social organization is to classify them. All this isdemonstrably wrong.
Modern science has shown that lumping together of individuals into a few sharply marked
off classes each confined to one particular sphere does injustice both to the individual and
to Socicty. The stratification of Society by classes and occupations is incompatible with the
fullest utilization of the qualities which is so necessary for social advancement and is also
incompatible with the safety and security of the individual as well as of Society in general. [f87]

There is another mistake which the Ancient Hindus including Plato made. There is
probably some truth in saying that there is among human beings a dimorphism
or polyformismin human beings as, there is among insects, though in the former it is only
psychological while in the latter it is both physical as well as psychlolgical. But assuming that
there is a thing psychological dimorphism or polyformism among human beings, it is wrong
to separate them into those who are born to do one thing and others to do another, some
born tocommand i.e. to be masters and some born to obey i.e. to be slaves. It is wrong to
suppose that in a given person some qualities are present and others are absent. On the
contrary the truth is that all qualities are present in every person and this truth is not
diminished in any way by that, some tendency predominates to the extent of being the only
one that is apparent. So well established is this truth that a tendency which may
be dominant in a man at one time may be quite different from and even the direct opposite
of thetendency that may be dominant at another time. As Prof. Bergson[f88] in speaking of
the Nietsche's false antithesis of 'men' and 'slaves' observes :

"We have a clear vision of this (falsity) in times of revolution. Unassuming

citizens, upto that moment humble and obedient, wake up one fine day with pretentions to
be leaders of men". The cases of Mussolini and Hitler are a complete disproof of the theory
of the Aryans and of Plato.

This Vedic system of Chaturvarna, far from being an ideal system was made positively
worse by the changes which Bramhanism made and which have already been described.
Every one of them was mischievous in character is beyond question. The Buddhist order
of Bhikshus and the Vedic order of Brahmins were designed to serve the same purpose.
They formed the elite of their society whose function was to lead and guide society along the
right road. Although designed to discharge the same function the Budhist Bhikshuwas better
placed to discharged it was the Bramhin. That is because Buddha recognized
which nobody either before him or after him has done. Buddna realized that tor a person to
give a true lead to Society and he its trustworthy guide he must be intellectually free and
further, which is more important, to be intellectually free he must not have private property.
An elite charged with the care of his private property must fail to discharge his duty of
leading and guiding Society along the right road. Buddha therefore took care to include in
the Code of discipline for the Bhikshus a rule prohibiting a Bhikshu from holding
private property. In the Vedic order of Bramhins there was no such prohibition. A Bramhin
was free to hold property. This difference produced a profound difference on the character
and outlook of the Buddhist Bhikshu and the Vedic Bramhin. The Bhikshus formed an
intellectual class. The Bramhins formed on the other hand merely an educated class. There
is a great difference between an intellectual class and an ducated class. An intellectual class
has no limitations arising out of any affiliations to any class or to any interest. An educated
Class on the other hand is not an intellectual class although it has cultivated its intellect. The
reason is that its range of vision and its sympathy to a new ideology is circumscribed by its
being identified with the interest of the class with which it is affiliated.

The Bramhins from the very beginning therefore were inclined to be a purely educated
class, enlightened but selfish. This evil in the Vedic order of Bramhins was extreme by the
changes made in the old Vedic System. The right of the Brahmins to rule and the grant of
special privileges and immunities made them more selfish, and induced in them the desire
to use their education not for the advancement of learning but for the use of their community
and against the advancement of society.

All their energy and their education has been spent in maintaining their own privileges
against the good of the public. It has been the boast of many Hindu authors that the
civilization of India is the most ancient civilization in the world. They will insist that there was
no branch of knowledge in which their ancestors were not the pioneers. Open a book
like "The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology" by Prof. Benoy Kumar Sarkar, or a book
like "The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus" by Dr. Brajendranath Seal one is
overwhelmed with data touching upon the knowledge their ancestors had about various
scientific subjects. From these books it would appear that the ancient Indians knew
astronomy, astrology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, Medicine, minerology. Physics and
in the view of the mass of people even aviation. All this may be very true. The important
question is now how the ancient Indians discovered these positive sciences. The important
question is why did the ancient Indians cease to make any progress in the sciences in which
they were the pioneers? This sudden arrest in the progress of science in ancient India is as
astounding as it is deplorable. In the scientific world India occupies a position which even if it
be first among the primitive is certainly last among the civilized nation. How did it happen
that a people who began the work of scientific progress stopped, halted on the way, left in
its incohate and incomplete condition? This is a question that needs to be considered and
answered, not what the ancient Indians knew.

There is only one answer to the question and it is a very simple answer. In ancient India
the Bramhins were the only educated class. They were also the Class which was claiming to
be above all others. Buddha disputed their claim for supremacy and declared a war on the
Brahmins. The Brahmins acted as an Educated Class—as distinguished from an intellectual
class—would act under the circumstances. It abandoned all pursuits and engaged itself in
defending the claim of supremacy and the social, economic and political interests of its
class. Instead of writing books on Science, the Brahmins undertook to write Smritis. Here is
an explanation why the progress of science in India became arrested. Brahmins found it
more important and more imperative to write Smritis to repel the Buddhist doctrine of social
equality.

How many Smritis did the Brahmins write? Mr. Kane a great authority on
the Smriti literature has computed their number to be 128. And what for? The Smritis are
calledlawbooks which of course hide their nature. They are really treatises expounding the
supremacy of the Brahmins and their rights to special privileges. The defence
of Bramhanismwas more important than the progress of science. Bramhanism not only
defended its previlege:s but set about extending them in a manner that would cover every
descent man with shame. The Brahmins started particularly to expand the meaning of
certain privileges granted to them by Manu.

Manu had given the Bramhins the right to dana, gift. The dana was always intended to be
money or chattel. But in course of time the concept of dana was expanded so as to include
the gift of a woman which a Brahmin could keep as his mistress or who could be released
by the Bramhin on commutation[f89] of money payment.

Manu designated the Bramhins as Bhu-devas, lords of the Earth. The Bramhins enlarged
the scope of this statement and began to claim the right to sexual intercourse with women of
other classes. Even queens were not exempt from this claim. Ludovico Di Varthema who
came to India as a traveller in about 1502 A.D. records the following about the Brahmins of
Calicut :

"It is a proper, and the same time pleasant thing to know who these Brahmins are. You
must know that they are the chief persons of the faith, as priests are among us. And when
the King takes a wife, he selects the most worthy and the most honoured of
these Brahamins and makes him sleep the first night with his wife, in order that he may
deflower her."[f90] Similarly Hamilton[f91]another writer says:
 "When the Samorin marries, he must not cohabit with his bride till
the Nambourie (Nambudari Brahmin), or chief priest, has enjoyed her, and if he pleases, he
may have three nights of her company, because the first fruits of her nuptials must be an
holy oblation to the god she worships."

In the Bombay Presidency the priests of the Vaishnava sect claimed the right to deflower
the women of their sect. This gave rise to the famous Maharaja Libel case brought by the
chief priest of the Sect against one Karosondas Mulji in the High Court of Bombay in the
year 1869 which shows that the right to claim the benefit of the first night was certainly
effective till then.

When such a right to sexual cohabitation for the first night could be extended against the
generality of the lower classes the Brahmins did not hesitate to extend it. This they did
particularly in Malabar. There, Manu designated the Brahmins as Bhu-devas, lords of the
earth. The Brahmins enlarged the scope of this statement and began to claim the right of
promiscuous sexual intercourse with the women folk of the other Classes. This happened
particularly in Malabar. There[f92]

" The Brahman castes follow the Makatyam System that is the system by which
the child belongs to its father's family. They contract within their own caste regular
marriages, with all the ordinary legal and religious sanctions and incidents. But the
Brahmin men are also in the habit of entering into Sambandhan-Unions with women
of the lower castes." This is not all. Observe further what the writer has to say:
"Neither party to a Sambadhan Unions becomes thereby a member of the other family;
and the offspring of the Union belong to their mothers tharwad (family) and have no sort of
claim, so far as the law goes, to a share of their father's property or to maintenance
therefrom."

Speaking of the origin of this practice the author of the Gazetteer observes that the origin
of this institution :

"Is found in the claim of the Bhu-devas" or "Earth Gods" (that the Brahmanas) and on a
lower plain of the Kshatriyas or the ruling classes, to the first fruits of lower Caste
Womanhood, a right akin to the medieval droit de Seigneurie."

It is an understatement to say that it is only a right to first fruits as the 'right to the first
night' was called in the middle ages in Europe. It is more than that. It is a general right of the
Brahmin against the lower caste to claim any woman of that class for mere prostitution, for
the mere satisfaction of sexual appetite, without burdening the Brahmin to any of the
obligations of marriage.

Such were the rights which the Brahmins the spiritual precepts claimed against the
laity!! The Borgese Popes have been run down in history as the most debauched race of
spiritual preceptors who ascended the throne of Peter. One wonders whether they were
really worse than the Brahmins of India.

A purely intellectual Class, free to consider general good and having no interest of
a class to consider, such as the one contemplated by Buddha is not to be had
anywhere. For the limitations resulting from property on the freedom of intellect of
the elite have not been generally recognized until very recently. But this want of an
intellectual class has been made good in other countries by the fact that in those
countries each Strata of Society has its educated class. There is safety, if no definite
guidance, in the multiplicity of views expressed by different educated classes drawn
from different strata of society. In such a multiplicity of views there is no danger of
Society being misguided or misdirected by the views of one single educated class
drawn from one single class of society and which is naturally bound to place the
interest of its class before the interests of the country. By the change made
by Brahmanism India ceased to have safe and sure guidance of an intellectual class.
But what is worse is that the Hindus lost the safety and security which other peoples
have and which arises from the multiplicity of views expressed by various educated
classes drawn from different strata of Society.
By the denial of education to the Shudras, by diverting the Kshatriyas to
military persuits, and the Vaishyas to trade and by reserving education to themselves the
Brahmins alone could become the educated class—free to misdirect and misguide the
whole society. By converting Varna into Caste they declared that mere birth was a real and
final measure of the worth of a man. Caste and Graded inequality made disunity and discord
a matter of course.

All this disfigurement of the original Varna system would have been tolerable if it had
remained a mere matter of social practice. But Brahmanism was not content to leave the
matter there. It wanted to give the Chaturvarna in its changed and perverted form the force
of law. This new Chaturvarna the making of Brahmanism occupies in the Manu Smriti as the
Law of Persons and the Law of Family. Nobody can make a mistake about it. Manu made it
an offence for a person of a lower Caste to arrogate to himself the status of a higher Caste
or to pass off as a member of the higher Caste.

X. 96. A man of low caste who through covetousness lives by the occupations of a higher
one, the king shall deprive of his property and banish.

XI. 56. Falsely attributing to oneself high birth, giving information to the king (regarding a
crime), and falsely accusing one's teacher, (are offences) equal to slaying a Brahmana.Here
there are two offences, General Impersonation (X. 96) and impersonation by the Shudra (XI.
56). Note also the punishments how severe they are. For the first the punishment is
confiscation of property and banishment. For the second the punishment is the same as the
punishment for causing the death of a Brahmin.
 The offence of personation is not unknown in modern jurisprudence and the Indian Penal
Code recognizes it in section 419. But what is the punishment the Indian Penal Code
prescribes for cheating by personation? Fine, and if imprisonment, then 3 years or both.
Manu must be turning in his grave to find the British Government make so light of his law of
Caste.

Manu next proceeds to direct the king that he should execute this law. In the first place he
appeals to the King in the name of his pious duty :

VIII. 172. By preventing the confusion of Castes . . .. .the power of the King grows, and he
prospers in this world and after death. Manu perhaps knows that the law relating to the
confusion of Varna may not be quite agreeable to the conscience of the king and he avoids
enforcement. Consequently Manu tells the King how in the matter of the execution of the
laws the King should act :

VIII. 177. Therefore let the King not heeding his own likes and dislikes behave exactly
like Yama. i.e. he should be as impartial as Yama the Judge of the Dead.

Manu however does not wish to leave the matter to the King as a mere matter of pious
duty. Manu makes it a matter of obligation upon the King. Accordingly Manu lays down as a
matter of obligation that :

VIII. 410. The King should order a Vaishya to trade to lend money, to cultivate the land, or
to lend cattle, and the Shudra to serve the twice born Caste. Again Manu reverts to the
subject and say:

VIII. 418. The King should carefully compel Vaishyas and Sudras to perform the work
(prescribed) for them ; for if these two castes swerved from their duties they would throw this
whole world into confusion.

What if the Kings do not act up to this obligation. This law of Chaturvarna is so supreme in
the eyes of Manu that Manu will not allow himself to be thwarted by a King who will not keep
his obligation to maintain this law. Boldly Manu forges a new law that such a king shall
be disposed. One can imagine how dear Chaturvarna was lo Manu and toBrahmanism.

As I have said the Chaturvarna of the Vedic system was better than caste system was not
very favourable to the creation of a Society which could be regarded as one single whole
possessing the Unity of the ideal society. By its very theory the Chaturvarna has given birth
to four classes. These four classes were far from friendly. Often they were quarreling and
their quarrels were so bitter that they cannot but be designated as Class wars. All the same
this old Chaturvarna had two saving features which Brahminism mostselfishly removed.
Firstly there was no isolation among the Varnas. Intermarriage and interdining the two
strongest bonds for unity had full play. There was no room for the different Varnas to
develop that anti-social feeling which destroys the very basis of Society. While
the Kshatriyas fought against the Brahmins and the Brahmins fought against the Kshatriyas
there were not wanting Kshatriyas who fought against the Kshatriyas[f93] for the sake of
Brahmins and there were not wanting Brahmins [f94] who joined hands with Kshatriyas to put
down the Brahmins.

Secondly this old Chaturvarna was conventional. It was the ideal of the Society but it was
not the law of the State. Brahmanism isolated the Varnas and sowed the seed of
antagonism. Brahmanism made legal what was only conventional. By giving it a legal basis
it perpetrated the mischief. The Vedic Chaturvarna if it was an evil would have died out by
force of time and circumstances. By giving it the force of Law Brahmanism has made it
eternal. This is probably the greatest mischief that Brahmanism has done to Hindu Society.

In considering this question one cannot fail to notice that the obligation imposed upon the
King for the maintenance of the law of Chaturvarna which is another name for the system of
graded inequality does not require the King to enforce it against the Brahmins and the
Kshatriyas. The obligation is limited to the enforcement of the law against theVaishyas and
the Shudras. Having regard to the fact that Brahmanism was so intent on giving the system
the force of law the result has been very awkward to say the least about it. Notwithstanding
this attempt at legalization the system remained half legal and half conventional, legal as to
the Vaishyas and the Shudras and merely conventional as to Brahmins and Kshatriyas.

This difference needs to be accounted for. Was Brahmanism honest in its attempt to give
the system the force of law? Did it wish that each of the four Varnas be bound by it?The fact
that Brahmanism would not bind the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas by the law it made, shows
that in this business Brahmainsm was far from honest. If it believed in the system as ideal it
could not have failed to make it an universal binding force.

But there is more than dishonesty in this foul game. One can quite understand why the
Brahmins were left free and untramelled by the shackles of the law. Manu called them Gods
on earth and Gods must be above the law. But why were the Kshatriyas left free in the same
way as the Brahmins. He knows that the Kshatriyas will not humble themselves before the
Brahmins. He then proceeds to warn them, how the Brahmins can punish them if the
Kshatriyas show arrogance and plan rebellion.

IX. 320 When the Kshatriyas become in any way overbearing towards
the Brahmanas, the Brahmanas themselves shall duly restrain them; for the Kshatriyas
sprang from the Brahmanas.

IX. 321. Fire sprang from water, Kshatriya from Brahmanas, iron from stone ; the all-
penetrating force of those (three) has no effect on that whence they were produced.
 One might think that the reason why Manu does not impose a.n obligation upon the King
to enforce the law against the Kshatriya was because the Brahmins felt themselves quite
capable of dealing with Kshatriyas by their own prowess and without the aid of the King and
that they meant to put their sanctions against the Kshatriyas when the time came and
without fear of consequences. All this could not have been meant by Manu. For after
uttering this vows of vengeance, and threats and imprecations Manu suddenly come down
and begins to plead with the Kshatriyas for cooperation and common front with the
Brahmins. In a verse next after the verse in which he utters the threats and imprecations
against the Kshatriyas Manu pleads :

IX. 323. But (a king who feels his end drawing nigh) shall bestow all his wealth,
accumulated from fines on Brahmanas, make over his kingdom to his son and then seek
death in battle. From imprecations to supplication is a very queer cry. What is the
explanation of this anti-climax in the attitude of this strange behaviour of Manu towards the
Kshatriyas? What is the object of this cooperation between Brahmins and Kshatriyas?
Against whom is this common front to be? Manu does not explain. A whole history of a
thousand years must be told before this puzzle is solved and the questions satisfactorily
answered.

The history which furnishes the clue to the solution of this puzzle is the history of the class
wars between the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas.

Most of the orthdox Hindus are repelled by the doctrine of Class war which was
propounded by Karl Marx and would be certainly shocked if they were told that the history of
their own ancestors probably furnishes the most cogent evidence that Marx was searching
for support of his theory. Indeed there have been numerous class wars between Brahmins
and the Kshatriyas and only the most important of them have been recorded [f95] in the
ancient Hindu literature. We have record of the conflict between the Brahmins and the Kings
who were all Kshatriyas. The first of these conflicts was a conflict with King Vena, the
second with Pururavas, the third with Nahusha, fourth with Nimi and fifth
with Sumukha. There is a record of a conflict between Vashishtha a Brahmin
and Vishvamitra an ordinary Kshatriya and not a king. Then we have the record of the
wholesale massacre of the Brahmins of Bhrigu clan by the
Kshatriya decendants of Kratavirya and then we have the record of the whole class
of Kshatriyas exterminated by Parashuram acting on behalf of theBrahmanas. The issues
that brought them in conflict extended over a wide range and show how bitter and strained
must have been the feelings between Brahmins and Kshatriyas. There were conflicts over
the question whether the Kshatriya had a right to become a Brahmana. There were conflicts
over the question, whether the Brahmins were subject to the authority or not. There were
conflicts on the question who should salute first and who should give way to whom. The
wars were wars[f96] of authority, status and dignity.
 The results of these wars could not but be obvious to the Brahmins. Notwithstanding their
boastful utterances they must have realized that it was not possible for them to crush the
Kshatriyas and that notwithstanding the wars of extermination the Kshatriyas survived in
sufficient numbers to plague the Brahmins. One need not pay any attention to the filthy story
told by the Brahmins and alluded to by Manu that the Kshatriyas of the Manu's day were not
the original Kshatriyas but a race of new Kshatriyas begotten by the Brahmins upon the
widows of the old Kshatriyas who were massacred by Parashuram. Blackmailing is one of
the means which Brahmanism is never ashamed of using to advance its own purposes. The
fight of Brahmanism against the Kshatriyas was from the very beginning a fight between a
fool and a bully. Brahmanas were fighting against the Kshatriyas for the maintenance of
the Chaturvarna. Now it is this very Chaturvarna which allowed bayonets to the Kshatriyas
and denied them to the Brahmins. How under this theory could the Brahmin fight with the
Kshatriya with any hope of success? It could not have taken long for the Brahmins to realise
the truth—which Tallyrand told Napoleon—that it is easy to give bayonets but it is very
difficult to sit on them and that as Kshatriyas had bayonets and Brahmins none, war with the
Kshatriya was the way to ruin. These were the direct consequences of these wars between
the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. But there were others which could not have escaped the
attention of the Brahmins. While the Brahmins and Kshatriyas were fighting among
themselves nobody was left to check and keep the Vaishyas and the Shudras under control.
They were on the road of social equality almost nearing to the status of the Brahmins and
Kshatriyas. To Brahmanism the possibility of suppressing the Kshatriya was very remote
and the danger of being overtaken by Vaishyas and Shudras were real and very real.
Should the Brahmana continue to fight the Kshatriya and ignore the danger of the Vaishyas
and the Shudras? Or Should the Brahmana give up the hopeless struggle against
the Kshatriya and befriend him and make with him a common cause and suppress the
growing menace of the Vaishyas and Shudras? Brahmanism after it was exhausted in the
wars with the Kshatriyas chose the second alternative. It sought to befriend their worthwhile
enemies the Kshatriyas to work for a new ideal namely to enslave and exploit the two
classes below them namely the Vaishyas and the Shudras. This new ideal must have taken
shape some time when the SatpathaBrahmana came to be composed. It is in the Satpatha
Brahmana we find the new ideal expressed it was well established. The language in which it
is expressed, and the subject to which it is applied are so telling that I feel it should be
quoted in its original terms. Says the author of the Satpatha[f97] :

"They then make the beast return (to the Ahavaniya[f98]) the he-goat goes first of them,
then the ass, then the horse. Now in going away from this (Ahavaniya) the horse goes first,
then the ass, then the he-goat—for the horse corresponds to the Kshatra (nobility), the ass
to the Vaishya and Shudra, the he-goat to the Brahman and in-as-much as, in going from
here, the horse goes first, therefore the Kshatriya, going first, is followed by the three others
castes ; and in-as-much as, in returning from here, the he-goat goes first, therefore the
Brahman, going first, is followed by the three other castes. And in-as-rnuch as the ass does
not go first, either in going back from here, or in coming back from there, therefore the
Brahmana and Kshatriya never go behind the Vaishya and Sudra ; hence they walk thus in
order to avoid a confusion between good and bad. And, moreover, he thus encloses those
two castes (the Vaishyas and Sudra) on both sides by the priesthood and the nobility and
makes them submissive."

Here is the explanation of the puzzling attitude of Manu towards the Kshatriyas, attitude of
willing to wound but afraid to strike, of wishing to dictate but preferring to befriend.

It is these wars and the compromise that had taught Manu that it was no use trying to
coerce the Kshatriyas to submit to the domination of the Brahmin. It may be an ideal to be
kept up. But as practical politics it was an impossible ideal. Like Bismark.. Manu knew that
politics was the game of the possible. What was possible was to make a common cause
and to build up a common front between the Brhamins and the Kshatriyas against the
Vaishyas and the Shudras and this is what Manu did. The pity of it is that it was done in the
name of religion. This need not shock anybody who has studied the soul and spirit
of Brahmanism. With Brahmanism religion is a cloak to cover and hide its acquisitive politics.

Contents Part III

[f1] Modern researches go to show that Buddhism had spread over Europe and that the Celts in Britain were
Buddhist- See "Buddhism in pre-Christian Britain" by Donald A. Mackenzie.
[f2]Early History of India (1924) pages.
[f3]Nothing remains of Kanauj. It was completely destroyed by Mohammad although it was most gallantly defended
by Prithviraj.

[f4]2 History of Medieval Hindu India Vol. II. p. 142.

[f5]Ibid Vol. III. Chap. x.

[f6]1 Early History of India (1924) pp. 419-420.

[f7]Indian Antiquary 1874, p. 132 quoted by Max Muller, Hibbert Lectures (1878) pp. 162-164.

The Bhikshuks (under Bramhanism) are further sub-divided into (1) Vaidikas (2) Yajniks (3) Srotriyas and (4)
Agnihotris. Vaidikas are those who learn the Vedas by heart and repeat them without a mistake. Yajnikas are those
who perform Yajnas and other religious rites and ceremonies. Srortiyas are those who specialize in the art of
performing great sacrifices. Agnihotris are those who maintain the three sacrificial fires and perform the Ishtis
(fortnightly sacrifices) and Chaturmasyas (sacrifices to be performed every four months).
[f8]
[f9]1 Summary of his views by Narendra Nath law in Harprasad Shastri Memorial Valume pp. 363-64.
[f10]The reason why the new Buddhist priest could not leave their avocations and devote themselves wholly lo the
propogation of religion is because as Harprasad Shastri points out. "The decrease in the number of Buddhist laity
also resulted in the difficulty of Buddhist monks to receive alms. As a monk could not take alms from more than three
householders and could not visit the same household within a month for the same purpose. ninety household are
necessary to maintain a monk". Harprasad Shastri Memorial Volume, p.362.
[f11]'Early Career of Kanhoji Angria and other papers. pp. 188-89.
[f12]Ibid,. PP.188-89.

[f13]Early History of India (1924) p. 336.

[f14]Ibid p. 337.

[f15]Ibid p. 360.

[f16]Ibid F. N. p. 214.

[f17]See his "Introduction to the Bhagvatgeeta" English Translation by Prof.. Utgikar

[f18]Geeta Adhya XIII. Shloka 4.

[f19]Prof. Hopkins, "The Great Epic of India", p. 389.

[f20]Hindi Sanskriti Ani Ahimsa. p. 156.

[f21]Hopkins "The Great Epic of India", p. 62.
[f22]The Riddle of the Ramayana Chap. II. p. 6.
[f23]See the Appendix A to Hopkins "The Great Epic of India" for Parallel phrases in the two epics
[f24]Introduction to his translation ol the Bhagwat Gita in the "Sacred Books, of the Fast" Series.

[f25]Gita-Rahasya (Eng. Translation) Vol.II p.800. According to Mr. Tilak the original Gita must have been some
centuries earlier.

[f26]1 Introduction to the Bhagwat Gita English translation by Prof. Utgikar.

[f27]Gita Adhayaya XIII. Shloka. 4
[f28]Ibid p. 3.
[f29]Bhandarkar Memorial Volume
[f30]As a matter of fact the systematization of the Karmakand portion of the Vedic literature gave rise to two kinds of
works (1) Kalpa Sutras and (2) Purva Mimansa Sutras. The former give only a ahort and concise description of the
rituals enjoined in the Brahamanas; while the latter enunciate and support the general principle which the author of
the Kalpa Sutra must follow, if he wishes to render his rules strictly conformable to the teaching of the Vadas.
[f31]They are also called Purva Mimansa or Karma Mimansa.
[f32]They also go by various other names such as Uttara Mimansa Sutras. Brahma Sutras or Saririka Sutras or
Saririka Mimansa Sutras.

[f33]The same is true of Jaimini. As Kane says "Hardly anything is known about Jaimini. There is a Brahmana Srauta
Sutra and a Grihyasutra ascribed to Jaimini. But it is hardly likely that they are the works of the founder of the
Purvamimansa. In the tarpana in the Asvalayan Grihya Sutra Jaimini occurs along with Sumantu. Vaishyampayana.
In the Bhagwat Purana Jaimini is said to be the teacher of Sumantu and a promulgator of Samaveda. The
Panchatantra tells us that an elephant crushed to death Jaimini-the author of the Mimansa. "A brief sketch of the
Purva Mimansa System", p. 12.

[f34]See Belvalkar, Basu Mallick Lectures on Vedanta Lecture IV.

[f35]See Radhakrishnan—Indian Philosophy Vol. II p. 430 where the relevant evidence is collected together

[f36]Prof. Hopkins, "The Great Epic of India". p. 389.

[f37]Hindi Sanskriti Ani Ahimsa (Marathi)
[f38]Hopkins "The Great Epic of India", p. 62.
[f39]The Riddle of the Ramayana Chap. II. p. 6.
[f40]See the Appendix A to Hopkins "The Great Epic of India" for Parallel phrases in the two epics.
[f41]For the account of the Puranas which follows I have drawn upon Kale's Purananirikshana (Marathi) and
Partigar's Ancient Indian Historical Tradition.

[f42]Adi Purana does not mean a separate Purana of that name It means the first edition of each of the 18 Puranas.

[f43]Who is Vikramaditya? No one can say.

[f44]Mr. Hazara speaks of Kalpajokti (instead of Kalpashudhi) which means lore that has come down through ages—
see chronology of Puranas p. 4.
[f45]The word Kalpa is used in various senses. (1) Practicable. (2) Proper (3) Able. Competent. The word Kalpa is
else used in various senses (1) A Sacred rule (2) A prescribed alternative (3) Made of performing religious rites (4)
End of the world. Universal destruction. (5) A day of the Brahma Yuga (6) Medical treatment of the sick and (7) One
of the six Vedangas: that which lays down the ritual and prescribes rules for ceremonies and sacrificial acts.

[f46](l) Vishnu (2) Bhagwat (3) Narada (4) Vaman and (5) Garuda. 2'(1) Shiva
[f47]Brahma (3) Linga (4) Varaha (5) Skanda (6) Matsya (7) Kurma (8) Bramhanda.
[f48]Padma
[f49]Agni
[f50]Partiger.

[f51]Basu Mallick Lectures. p. 152

[f52]Swami Vireswarananda— Brahma Sutras (Advaita Ashram Edition 1936). pp. 408-411.
[f53]Swami Vireswaranand, Brahma Sutras, 411-416.
[f54]This is the result of an arrangement between him and Duryodhan leader of the Kauravas. Before the war
actually started Duryodhan apprroached Krishna to fight on the side of the Kauravas. Krishna gave him a choice,
have him or have his men the Yadavas. Duryodhan chose the Army of Yadavas. That is why Krishna and the
Yadavas fought on opposite sides.
[f55]The Religion of the Veda p. 1.
[f56]His name is also spelt as Sisunak.

[f57]Mr. Hari Krishna Deb: quoted by Smith. Early History of India (1924) p.44. F.N. 1.
[f58]The inferiority complex of the Brahmins under the Maurya Rule becomes apparent from the privileges asked for
them by Manu in the Manu Smriti. This inferiority complex must be due to their depressed condition.
[f59]See Harprasad Shastri in Buddhistic Studies (Ed. Law) Chapter XXXIV p. 819
[f60]Burnouf—L'introduction a L'Historie on Buddhisme Indien (2nd.Ed.) p. 388
[f61]Buddhistic Studies (Ed. by Law) Chapter XXXIV p. 820.
[f62]On this point see Jaiswal's Volume on Manu & Yajnavalkya
[f63]Commentary on Manu I.I.

[f64] 1 Harsha Charita. quoted by Smith (1924) p. 208.

[f65] 2 The rule was so strict that according to the Apastamba Dharmasutra 'A Brahman shall not take up a weapon
in his hand though he be only desirous of examining it.'It may be matter of some surprize how Pushyamitra who was
a Brahmin could have done a deed which could under the circumstances be expected only from a member of the
martial race. This difficulty is well explained by Harprasad Shastri. According to him the Sungas though Brahmins
were a martial race. Among the fighting Brahmans, two were distinguished among the rest. the Vishwamitras and
the Bharadvajas. The wife of Vishvamitra Brahmin proving barren, a Bharadvaj was requested by the ancient custom
of 'Niyoga' to beget a son on Vishvamitra's. The issue was Sung. He was the progenitor of a Gotra and
that Gotra took up the Samveda for their study. The Sungas were called a Dvayamushyam gotra i.e. a gotra issuing
from the two gotras. Vishvamitra and Bharadvaj both of which had taken to military occupation— See Buddhistic
Studies (Ed. by Law) Ch. XXXIV, p. 820.

[f66] I am here following the clues supplied by the investigations of Mr. Daphtary and Pradnayneshwar Yati. The
former's Dharma Rahasya and the latter's Chaturvarnya are very valuable as they are quite original in their point of
view. The subject of course needs to be further investigated along the lines suggested by them.

[f67] One can now sec why Sumati Bhargava called his code as the Code of Manu. He wanted to invest it with the
dignity and authority of the ancient law-giver Manu.
[f68]This is the only theory which can explain how some of the Mantras ol the Vedas are admitted to have been
made by Shudras, a question which in view of the statement ol Manu that the Shudras must not recite the Vedas, nor
hear them recited becomes a very puzzling question.

[f69]Manu II. 67 Where Manu.

[f70]Manu II. 36-37.

[f71]On this point see Pradnaneshwar Yati's booklet on Upnayan.

[f72]Manu II. 69.

[f73]Under the Varna there could be no ignorant Brahmin. The possibility of an ignorant Brahmin can arise only when
Varna becomes Caste i.e. when one becomes a Brahmin only by reason of birth.

[f74]The date of the Yajnavalkya Smriti is betwen 150-200 A.D.

[f75]Vishnu Smriti Ch. XXV 14.

[f76]See Kane-History of Dharmashastra. Vol. II. Part II Chapt.

[f77]The available evidence on Sati has been collected by Kane in his History of Dharmashastra Vol. II Part
I pp. 617-636.

[f78]3 History of India Vol. II. 4 History of Dharmashastra.

[f79]History of Dharmashastra.
[f80]They will be found in my paper on "Castes in India" which appeared in The Indian Antiquarry for May. 1917.

[f81]The outcast is quite different from un Untouchable as will be shown later

[f82]1Democrasy and Function p.99
[f83]By declining days I mean the period since when the Brahmins started disturbing the balance of Chaturvaryna
system by asserting their supremacy.
[f84]1Guarded means under the protection of relation, Unquarded means living alone
[f85]The word guest is used by Manu in a technical sense and means a Bramhana. who stays one night only see III.
102
[f86]Except Upanayan which is forbidden for women.
[f87]1 For further consideration of this subject see my tract on "Annibilation of Caste
[f88]Two sources of Morality" (Holt). p. 267.

[f89]I remember reading the report of case in which a Brahmin who had taken a married wife as Dana refused to
release her even though commut tion was offered by her husband.
[f90]The Travels of Ludovico Di Varthema" (Pub. Hakyt Society) Page 141. Varthema adds "Do not imagine that the
Brahmin goes willingly to perform this operation. The King is even obliged to pay him four hundred or five hudndred
ducats.
[f91]3A New Account of the East Indies (1744) Vol. 1. page 310.
[f92]1Gazetteer of Malahar and Anjengo District by Mr.C. A. Innes Vol. 1. p. 95

[f93]This is how I interpret the story of Parashuram's war against the Kshatriyas.
[f94]Buddhism was a revolt against Brahmins and Brhminism. Yet many of the early followers of Buddha & Buddhism
were Brahmins.
[f95]All this record has been collected by Prof. Muir in his Original Sanskrit Texts. Vo. 1.
[f96]See Hopkins History of the Ruling Races.
[f97]Eggeling Sathapatha Brahmana. Part III. pp. 226-27
[f98]Avavaniya.

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India

______________________________________________

Contents
PART III
Chapter 8: The Morals of the House
Chapter 9: Krishna and His Gita
Chapter 10: Analytical Notes of Virat Parva and Udyog Parva
Chapter 11: Brahmins Versus Kshatriyas
Chapter 12: Shudras and the Counter-Revolution
Chapter 13: The Woman and the Counter-Revolution
 CHAPTER 8

The Morals of the House

This is 61 page typed manuscript. This is a second copy hut it is having corrections and
modifications by Dr. Ambedkar himself. It is reproduced here taking all the corrections into
account. There is one separate file entitled 'Manu Smriti or the Gospel of Counter-
Revolution '. In that copy notes on Manu Smriti under various categories have been drawn.
However, all these notes have been found to be incorporated in this essay, 'Morals of the
House.' It is felt that the printing of these notes would be a mere repetition of this essay.
Hence, the said copy is not separately printed:

I
The morals of the Hindus and their religious creed are prescribed by the Smritis which
form a part of the Sacred literature of the Hindus. It is to the Smritis that one must go to
understand the Ethics and the Religion of the Hindus. The Smritis are by no means few in
number. A conservative estimate gives the total number of Smritis to be 108. The large
number of Smritis cannot however make our problem difficult. For though the Smritis are
numerous they do not differ in essentials. Indeed they repeat one another so closely that
reading the Smritis creates a most monotonous task. They are all derived from one common
source. That source is the Smriti of Manu otherwise known as Manava DharmaShastra. The
other Smritis are faithful repetitions of the Manu Smriti. A study of the Manu Smriti is
therefore quite sufficient to obtain an adequate conception of the moral standards and
Religious notions of the Hindus.

It may be said that Manu Smriti—and the same is true of the other Smritis—-is a Code of
Laws. It is not a book of Ethics nor is it a book of Religion and to take a book of Laws and to
treat it as though it is a book of Ethics and Religion is to confound Ethics, Religion and Law.

In the first place it is only in modern times that Law has been separated from Religion. In
all ancient Society, Law and Religion were one. As Prof. Max Muller[f1] points out that
though :—

"Law seems naturally to be the foundation of society, and the bond that binds a
nation together. Those who look below the surface have quickly perceived that law
itself, at least ancient law, derives its authority, its force, its very life from
religion. . . .. The belief that the lawgiver enjoyed some closer intimacy with the Deity
than ordinary mortals, pervades the ancient traditions of many nations. According to
a well known passage in Diodorus Siculus, the Egyptians believed their laws to have
been communicated to Menvis by Hermes; the Cretaus held that Minos received his
laws from Zeus, the Lacedaemonians that Lykurgus received his laws
from Apollon. According to the Arians, their lawgiver Zarathustrashad received his
Laws from the Good Spirit; According to the Stoe, Zamolixis received his laws from
the goddess Hestia; and according to the Jews, Moses received his laws from the
God las. "
No one has pointed out more forcibly than Sir Henry Mains [f2] that in ancient times religion
as a divine influence was underlying and supporting every relation of life and every social
institution when he says of Religion as :

"A supernatural presidency (which) is supposed to consecrate and keep together all the
cardinal institutions of those times, the state, the Race, and the Family ".

From this superntural presidency of Reigion, Law had not succeded in finding an escape
until at a later time when law finally breaks away from religion but not without leaving many
traces to show the link it had with Religion at the very beginning of human history.

Again it is only in modern times that a difference is being made between Religion and
Ethics. Religion and Ethics are inextricably and indissolubly bound together. Morality and
Ethics are essentially practical. As Prof. Jacks insists [f3] that the problem of Ethics is not
merely getting the Good understood but realised, not merely getting the Right placed on
scientific basis but done. Morality is a mere matter of defining what is good and what is right.
Prof. Jacks: rightly says :

"Whenver we embark on the study of morality without interest in its application I cannot but
think that it is not morality we are studying. Morality does not arise till the point of application
is reached. The effect of a moral theory launched upon the world is next to nothing unless
the application of it can be reinforced by powerful motives. The good life, as Aristotle pointed
out is a very difficult affair; difficult even when it goes no further than conformity to existing
conventions. But when the good life demands that existing standards must be transcended
how can this be effected without an immense liberation of power? Mere information as to
why men should do right has no effect against their natural tendencies to do wrong-it is no
match for the difficulties that beset good life. "

Unless some motive force comes to its aid morality remains inert. There can be no doubt
that what gives motive force to morality is Religion. It is a propelling force which creates, to
use again the language of Principal Jacks :

"Motives which are strong enough to overcome the enormous difficulties involved in living
the good life, even in its simpler forms, and adequate to maintain that continuous
improvement of the moral ideal."

Religion as a motive force reinforces the moral will in various ways. Sometimes it takes the
form of sanctions by laying down a scheme of rewards and punishments after death; some
times it makes rules of morality as the commandments of God; some times it invests these
rules with sanctity which evokes willing obedience. But these are only different ways in
which motive power generated by Religion helps to sustain moral life in action. Religion is
the dynamics which moves the wheels of morality.

If Ethics and Morality are duties then there can be no doubt that Manu Smriti is a book of
Ethics. Any one who takes the trouble to read the Smriti of Manu will have to admit that if
there is any subject which figures prominently in the book it is that of duties. Manu was the
first to syatematise and codify the duties to which a Hindu was
bound. He distinguishes between Varnashramadharmas and Sadharandharmas. The Var
nashramdharmas are the specific duties relating to one's station in life i.e. one's station as
determined by one's Varna or caste and one's Ashram or particular stage of life. The
Sadharandharmas are duties irrespective of one's age, caste or creed i.e. duties obligatory
on man as man and not as a member of a particular community or social class or as being
at a particular stage or period of life. The whole book deals with duties and with nothing
else.

Manu Smriti is thus a book of Law, Religion and Ethics rolled into one. It is Ethics because
it deals with duties of men. It is religion because it deals with Caste which is the soul of
Hinduism. It is Law because it prescribes penalties for breach of duties. In this view there is
nothing wrong in going to Manu Smriti to ascertain the moral standards and religious notions
of the Hindus.

That Manu Smriti is a book of Religion may not be quite obvious. That is because
Hinduism is a very illusive term. Different writers have defined it in various ways.
Sir D.lbbetson[f4] defines Hinduism as :

"A hereditary sacerdotalism with Brahmins for its devices, the vitality of which is preserved
by the social institution of caste and which include all shades and diversities of religion
native to India, as distinct from foreign importations of Christianity and Islam, and from the
later outgrowths of Buddhism, more doubtfully of Sikhism and still more doubtfully
of Jainism ". Sir J. A. Baines[f5] defined Hinduism as :—

"The large residium that is not Sikh, or Jain, or Buddhist or professedly Animistic, or
included in one of the foreign religions such as Islam, Mazdaism, Christianity,
or Hebraism."To Sir Edward Gait[f6] Hinduism :—

"is a complex congenies of creeds and doctrines. It shelters within its

portals monotheists, polytheists, and pantheists; Worshippers of the great God Siva
and Vishnu, or of their female counterparts, as well as worshippers of the divine
mothers, of the spirits of trees,rocks and streams and of the tutelary village deities;
persons who propitate their deity by all matter of bloody sacrifices, and persons who
will not only kill no living creature, but who must not even use the word "cut"; those
whose ritual consists mainly of prayers and hymns, and those who indulge in
unspeakable orgies in the name of religion".
This discription of complexity is full but is still incomplete. To the list must be added those
who revere the cow and those who eat it, those who worship natural forces, and those who
worship a single God; those who are worshippers of idols, demons, ghosts, ancestors,
saints and heroes.

Such are the answers given by the three Census Commissioners to the simple question
what is Hinduism. Others have not found it less difficult to answer the question. Consider
how Sir A. Lyall has fared in answering the question. In his "Rede Lecture" delivered at
Cambridge in 1891 he said[f7]:

"And if I were asked for a definition of Hinduism I could give no precise answer, I could not
define it concisely by giving its central doctrines and its essential articles of faith; as I might
do in describing of the great historical Religions. For the word Hindu is not exclusively a
religious denomination; it denotes also a country, and to certain degree a race. When we
speak of Christian, a Mahomedan, or a Buddhist, we mean a particular religious
community, in the widest sense, without distinction of race or place. When we talk of a
Russian or a Persian, we indicate country or parentage without distinction of creed. But
when a person tells me that he is a Hindu, I know that he means all three things together—
Religion. Parentage and Country." Speaking of Hinduism as a Religion Sir Alfred Lyall said
that:

"Hindism was a tangled mugle of disorderly superstitions, the collection of rights, worships,
beliefs, traditions and mythologies, that are sanctioned by the sacred books and ordinances
of the Brahmins and are propogated by Brahmanic teachings." Lastly I will quote
the defintion given by a Hindu Mr. G. P. Sen who not merely a Hindu but is a student of
Hinduism. In his book called 'Introduction to the study of Hinduism' Mr. Sen says :—

"Hinduism is what the Hindus, or a major portion of them in a Hindu Community do."

Is there then no principle in Hinduism which all Hindus no matter what their other
differences are, feel bound to render willing obedience? It seems to me there is and that
principle is the principle of Caste. There may be a difference of opinion as to which matters
constitute matters of essence so far as Hinduism is concerned. But there can be no doubt
that Caste is one and an essential and integral part of Hinduism. Every Hindu—if he is not
merely a statutory Hindu-believes in Caste and every Hindu-even one who prides himself on
being a statutory Hindu—has a Caste. A Hindu is as much born into caste as he is born in
Hinduism. Indeed a person connot be born in Hinduism unless he is born in a Caste.
Caste and Hinduism are inseparable. As Prof. Max Muller[f8] observes :
 "Modern Hinduism rests on the system of Caste as on a rock which no arguments can
shake."

It therefore follows that in so far as Manu lays down the creed of the Caste and in so far as
Hinduism at its core is the creed of Caste the Manu Smriti must be accepted as the Book of
Religion.

II
What are the Ethical and Religious norms prescribed by Manu for Hindus to observe and
follow?

To begin with, Manu divides Hindus into four varnas or social orders. He not only divides
Hindus into four orders he also grades them. The dollowing is his scheme of gradation.

X. 3. On account of his pre-eminence, on account of the superiority of his origin, on

account of his observance of(particular) restrictive rules, and on account of his
particularsanctification the Brahman is the Lord of (all) Varnas.

He procceds to amplify his reasons and does so in the following characteristic manner :—

1. 93. As the Brahmana sprang from (Prajapati's i.e.Gods) mouth, as he was first-born,
and as he possesses the Veda, he is by right the lord of this whole creation.

1. 94. For the self existent (Svayambhu i.e. God), having performed austerities, produced
him first from his own mouth, in order that the offerings might be conveyed to the Gods and
Manes and that this universe might be preserved.

1. 95. What created being can surpass him, through whose mouth the Gods continually
consume the sacrificial viands and the manes the offerings to the dead.

1. 96. Of created beings the most excellent are said to be those which are animated; of the
animated, those who subsist by intelligence: of the inteligent, mankind; and of the men,
the Brahmans.

Besides the reason given by Manu the Brahmin is first in rank because he was produced
by God from his mouth, in order that the offerings might be conveyed to the Gods and
manes. Manu gives another reason for the supremacy of the Brahmins. He says :—

1. 98. The very birth of a Brahmana is an eternal incarnation of the sacred Law (Veda); for
he is born to (fulfil) the sacred law, and become one with Brahman (God).

1. 99. A Brahamana, coming into existence, is born as the highest on earth, the lord of all
created beings, for the protection of the treasury of the Law. Manu concludes by saying
that :
 1. 101. The Brahmana eats but his own food, wears but his own apparel, bestows but his
own alms; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the
Brahmana." Becauseaccording to Manu :

1. 100. Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmana; on account of the
excellence of his origin the Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to it all.

It is really an understatement to say that according to Manu the Brahman is a lord of all
creation. For Manu gives a warning to the effect that :-

IX. 317. A Brahmana, be he ignorant or learned, is a great divinity, just as the fire, whether
carried forth (for the performance of a burnt oblation) or not carried forth, is a great divinity.

IX. 319. Thus, though the Brahmans employ themselves in all (sorts) of mean
occupations, they must be honoured in every way; (for each of) them is a very great deity.

Being a deity the Brahmin is above law and above the King. Manu directs :-

VII. 37. Let the King, after rising early in the morning, worship Brahmans who are well
versed in the threefold sacred science and learned (in polity), and follow their advice VII. 38.
Let him daily worship aged Brahmans who know the Veda and are pure...... Finally Manu
says :

XI. 35. The Brahman is (hereby) declared (to be) the creator (of the
world), the punisher, the teacher, (and hence) a benefactor (of all created beings); to him let
no man say anything unpropitions, nor use any harsh words.

In the Code of Manu there are rules regarding the different occupations which the different
orders are required to follow:

I. 88. To Brahmens he (Swayambhu Manu) assigned the duties of reading the Veda, of
teaching it, of sacrificing, of assisting others to sacrifice, of giving alms, if they the rich, and
if indiquent, of receiving of gifts.

I. 89. To defend the people, to give alms, to sacrifice, to read the Veda, to shun the
allurements of sensual gratifiction, are, in a few words, the duties of a Kshatriya.
I. 90. To keep herds of cattle, to bestow largeness, to sacrifice, to read the scriptures, to
carry on trade, to lend at interest, and to cultivate land are prescribed or permitted to
aVaisya.

1. 91. One principal duty the supreme Ruler assigns to a Sudra; namely, to serve the
before mentioned classes, without depreciating their worth.

X. 74. Let such Brahmans as are intent on the means of attaining the supreme Godhead,
and firm in their own duties, completely perform, in order, the six following acts:
 X. 75. Reading the Vedas, the teaching others to read them, sacrificing, and assisting
others, to sacrifice, giving to the poor if themselves have enough, and accepting gifts from
the virtuous if themselves are poor, are the six prescribed acts of the first born class;

X. 76. But, among those six acts of a Brahmin, three are his means
of susbsistence; assisting to sacrifice, teaching the Vedas, and receiving gifts from a pure
handed giver.

X. 77. Three acts of duty cease with the Brahman, and belong not to
the Kshatriya; teaching the Vedas, officiating at a sacrifice, and, thirdly, receiving presents.

X. 78. Those three are also (by the fixed rule of law) forbidden to
the Vaisya; since Manu, the Lord of all men, prescribed not those acts to the two classes,
military and commercial.

X. 79. The means of subsistence, peculiar to the Kshatriya, are bearing arms, either held
for striking or missile, to the Vaisya, merchandize, attending on cattle, and agriculture but
with a view to the next life, the duties of both are almsgiving, reading, sacrificing." Besides
prescribing rank and occupation Manu grants privileges to certain orders and imposes
penalties on certain orders. As to privileges those relating to marriage may be referred to
first. Manu says :

III. 12. For the first marriage of the twice born classes, a woman of the same class is
recommended but for such as are impelled by inclination to marry again, women in the
direct order of the classes are to be preferred :

III. 13. A Sudra woman only must be the wife of a Sudra; she and a Vaisya, of a Vaisya;
they two and a Kshatriya, of a Kshatriya; those three and a Brahmani of a Brahman. Then
there are privileges relating to occupations. These privileges stand out quite prominently
when Manu deals with the question as to what a person is to do when he is in distress :

X. 81. Yet a Brahmen, unable to subsist by his duties just mentioned, may live by the duty
of a soldier; for that is the next in rank.

X. 82. If it be asked, how he must live, should he be unable to get a subsistence by either
of those employments; the answer is, he may subsist as a mercantile man, applying himself
in person to tillage and attendance on cattle.

X. 83. But a Brahman and a Kshatriya, obliged to subsist by the acts of a Vaisya, must
avoid with care, if they can live by keeping herds, the business of tillage, which gives great
pain to sentient creatures, and is dependent on the labour of others, as bulls and so forth.
 X. 84. Some are of opinion, that agriculture is excellent, but it is a mode of subsistence
which the benevolent greatly blame, for the iron mouthed pieces of wood not only wound the
earth, but the creatures dwelling in it.

85. If through want of a virtuous livelihood, they cannot follow laudable occupations,they
may then gain a competence of wealth by selling commodities usually sold by merchants,
avoiding what ought to be avoided.

X. 86. They must avoid selling liquids of all sorts, dressed grain, seeds of tila, stones, salt,
cattle, and human creatures.

X. 87. All woven cloth dyed red, cloth made of sana, of cshuma-bark, and of wool, even
though not red; fruit, roots, and medicinal plants.

X. 88. Water, iron, poison, flesh-meat, the moon-plant, and perfumes of any sort; milk,
honey, butter milk, clarified butter, oil of tila, wax sugar, and blades of cusa grass;

X. 89. All beasts of the forest, as deer and the like, ravenous beasts, birds, and fish;
spirituous liquors, nili, or indigo, and lascha, or lac; and all beasts with uncloven hoofs.

X. 90. But the brahmen-husbandman may at pleasure sell pure tila-seeds for the purpose
of holy rites, if he keep them not long with a hope of more gain, and shall have produced
them by his own culture.;

X. 91. If he apply seeds of tila to any purpose but food, anoiting, and sacred oblations, he
shall be plunged, in the shape of a worm, together with his parents, into the ordure of dogs.

X. 92. By selling flesh-meat, lac or salt, a Brahmen immediately sinks low; by selling milk
three days, he falls to a level with a Sudra.

X. 93. And by selling the other forbidden commodities with his own free will, he assumes in
this world, after seven nights, the nature of a mere Vaisya.

X. 94. Fluid things may, however, be bartered for other fluids, but not salt for anything
liquid; so may dressed grain for grain undressed, and tila-seeds for grain in the husk, equal
weights or measures being given and taken.

X. 102. The Brahmen having fallen into distress, may receive gifts from any person
whatever; for by no sacred rule can it be shown, that absolute purity can be sullied.

X. 103. From interpreting the Veda, from officiating at sacrifices, or from taking presents,
though in modes generally disapproved, no sin is committed by priests in distress; lor they
are as pure as fire or water.
 Compare with this what Manu has to say with regard, to what the other Varnas can do in
an emergency, Manu says :

X. 96. A man of lowest class, who, through covetousness, lives by the acts of the highest,
let the king strip of all his wealth and instantly banish.

X. 97. His own office, though defectively performed, is preferable to that of another, though
performed completely; for he, who without necessity discharges the duties of another class,
immediately forfeits his own.

X. 98. A mercantile man, unable to subsist by his own duties, may descend even to the
servile acts of a Sudra, taking care never to do what ought never to be done; but, when he
has gained a competence, let him depart from service.

X. 99. A man of fourth class, not finding employment by waiting on the twice born, while
his wife and son are tormented with hunger, may subsist by handicrafts.

X. 121. If a Sudra want a subsistence and cannot attend priest, he may serve
a Kshatriya; or, if he cannot wait on a soldier by birth, he may gain his livelihood by serving
an opulent Vaisya.

X. 122. To him, who serves Brahmens, with a view to a heavenly reward, or even with
view to both this life and the next, the union of the word Brahmen with his name of servant
will assuredly bring success.

X. 123. Attendance on Brahmens is pronounced the best work of Sudra; whatever else he
may perform will comparatively avail him nothing.

X. 124. They must allot him a fit maintenance according to their own circumstances, after
considering his ability, his exertions, and the number of those, whom he must provide with
nourishment.

X. 125. What remains of their dressed rice must be given to him, and apparel which they
have worn, and the refuse of their grain, and their old household furniture.

X. 126. There is no guilt in a man of the servile class who eats leeks and other forbidden
vegetables; he must not have the sacred investiture; he has no business with the duty of
making oblations to fire and the like, but there is no prohibition against his offering dressed
grain as a sacrifice, by way of discharging his own duty.

X. 127. Even Sudras, who were anxious to perform their entire duty, and, knowing what
they should perform, imitate the practice of good men in the household sacraments, but
without any holy text, except those containing praise and salutations, are so far from
sinning, that they acquire just applause.
 X. 128. As a Sudra, without injuring another man, performs the lawful acts of the twice-
born, even thus, without being censured, he gains exaltation in this world and in the next.

X. 129. No superfluous collection of wealth must be made by a Sudra, even though he has
power to make it, since a servile man,

who has amassed riches, becomes proud, and, by his insolence or neglect, gives pain
even to Brahmens. He concludes :—

X. 130. Such, as have been fully declared, are the several duties of the four classes in
distress for subsistence, and, if they perform them exactly, they shall attain the highest
beatitude. The privileges to some were not merely social they were also financial,
Says Manu :—

VIII. 35. From the man, who shall say with truth, 'This property, which has been kept,
belongs to me', the king may take a sixth or twelfth part, for having secured it.

VIII. 36. But he, who shall say so falsely, may be fined either an eighth part of his own
property, or else in some small proportion to the value of the goods falsely claimed, a
justcalcultion having been made.

VIII. 37. A learned Brahmen, having found a treasure formerly hidden, may take it without
any deduction; since he is the lord of all.

VIII. 38. But of a treasure anciently deposited under ground, which any other subject or the
king has discovered, the king may lay up half in his treasury having given half to the
Brahmens.

IX. 323. Should the king be near his end through some incurable disease, he must bestow
on the priests all his riches, accumulated his kingdom to his son, let him seek death in
battle, or if there be no war, by abstaining from food.

VII. 127. Having ascertained the rates of purchase and sale, the length of the way, the
expenses of food and of condiments the charges of securing the goods carried, and the net
profits of trade, let the king oblige traders to pay taxes on their saleable commodities.

VII. 128. After full consideration, let a king so levy those taxes continually in his dominions,
that both he and the merchant may receive a just compensation for their several acts.

VII. 129. As the leech, the suckling calf, and the bee, take their natural food by little and
little, thus must a king draw from his dominions an annual revenue.

VII. 130. Of cattle, of gems, of gold and silver, added each year to the capital stock, a
fiftieth part may be taken by the king; of grain, an eighth part, a sixth, or a twelfth, according
to the difference of the soil, and the labour necessary to cultivate it. VII. 131. He may also
take a sixth part of the clear annual increase of trees, fleshmeat, honey, clarified butter,
perfumes, medical substances, liquids, flowers, roots, and fruit.

VII. 132. Of gathered leaves, pot-herbs, grass, utencils made with leather or cane, earthen
pots, and all things made of stone.

VII. 132. A king, even though dying with want, must not receive any tax from
a Brahman learned in the Vedas, nor suffer such a Brahmen, residing in his territories, to be
afflicted with hunger.

VII. 134. Of that king, in whose dominion a learned Brahmen is afflicted with hunger, the
whole kingdom will in a short time be afflicted with famine.

VII. 137. Let the king order a mere trifle to be paid, in the name of the annual tax, by the
meaner inhabitants of his realm, who subsist by petty traffic.

VII. 138. By low handicraftsmen, artificers, and servile men, who support themselves by
labour, the king may cause work to be done for a day in each month.

VIII. 394. Neither a blind man, nor an idiot, nor a cripple, nor a man full seventy years old,
nor one who confers great benefits on priests of eminent learning, shall be compelled by any
king to pay taxes.

X. 118. A military king, who takes even a fourth part of the crops of his realm at a time of
urgent necessity, as of war or invasion, and protects his people to the utmost of his power,
commits no sin :

X. 119. His peculiar duty is conquest, and he must not recede from battle; so that, while he
defends by his arms the merchant and husbandman, he may levy the legal tax as the price
of protection.

X. 120. The tax on the mercantile class, which in times of prosperity must be only a twelfth
part of their crops, and a fiftieth of their personal profits, may be an eighth of their crops in a
time of distress, or a sixth, which is the medium, or even a fourth in great public
adversity ; but a twentieth of their gains on money, and other moveables, is the highest
tax ;serving men, artisans, and mechanics. must assist by their labour, but at no time pay
taxes.

X. 187. To the nearest sapinda, male or female, after him in the third degree, the
inheritance next belongs ; then, on failure of sapindas and of their issue the samanodaca, or
distant kinsman, shall be the heir ; or the spiritual preceptor, or the pupil, or the fellow
student, of the deceased.
 IX. 188. On failure of all those, the lawful heirs are such Brahmens, as have read the three
Vedas, as are pure in body and mind, as have subdued their passions ; and they must
consequently offer the cake; thus the rites of obsequies cannot fail.

IX. 189. The property of a Brahmen shall never be taken as an escheat by the king; this is
a fixed law; but the wealth of the other classes, on failure of all heirs, the king may take. The
terms on which the different social orders should carry on their associated life has been
defined by Manu in a set of rules which form a very important part of the morals of the Hindu
House. Manu ordains that :

X. 3. From priority of birth, from superiority of origin, from a more exact knowledge of
scripture, and from a distinction in the sacrificial thread, the Brahmen is the lord of all
classes.

IX. 317. A Brahmen, whether learned or ignorant, is a powerful divinity ; even as fire is
powerful divinity, whether consecrated or popular.

IX. 319. Thus, although Brahmens employ themselves in all sorts of mean occupations,
they must invariably be honoured ; for they are something transcendently divine.

VII. 35. A king was created as the protector of all those classes and orders, who, from the
first to the last, discharge their several duties.

VII. 36. And all, that must be done by him, for the protection of his people, with the
assistance of good ministers, I will declare to you, as the law directs, in due order.

VII. 37. Let the king, having risen at early dawn, respectfully attend to Brahmen, learned in
the three Vedas, and in the science of ethics, and by their decision let him abide.

VII. 38. Constantly must he show respect to Brahmens, who have grown old, both in years
and in piety, who know the scriptures, who in body and mind are pure ; for he, who honours
the aged, will perpetually be honoured even by cruel demons :

IX. 313. Let him not, although in the greatest distress for money, provoke Brahmens to
anger by taking their prosperty ; for they, once enraged, could immediately by sacrifices and
imprecations destroy him with his troops, elephants, horses and cars.

Such was to be the relationship in the field of political life. For ordinary social intercourse
between the different Varnas Manu lays down the following rules :—

III. 68. A house-keeper has five places of slaughter, or where small living creatures may
be slain ; his kitchen-hearth, his grindstone, his broom, his pestle and mortar, his water-
pot ; by using which, he becomes in bondage to sin :
 III. 69. For the sake of expiating offences committed ignorantly in those places mentioned
in order, the five great sacraments were appointed by eminent sages to be performed each
day by such as keep house.

III. 70. Teaching and studying the scripture is the sacrament of the Veda ; offering cakes
and water, the sacrament of the Manes, an oblation to fire, the sacrament of the
Deities ;giving rice or other food to living creatures, the sacrament of spirits ; receiving
guests with honour, the sacrament of men.

III. 71. Whoever omits not those five great ceremonies, if he have ability to perform them,
is untainted by the sons of the five slaughtering places, even though he constantly reside at
home ;

111.84. In his domestic fire for dressing the food of all the Gods, after the prescribed
ceremony, let a Brahmen make an oblation each day to these following divinities. After it is
offered to the deities Manu directs :—

III. 92. The share of dogs, of outcasts, of dog-feeders, of sinful men, punished with
elephantiasis or consumption, of crows, and of reptiles, let him drop on the ground by little
and little. With regard to the rules of hospitality Manu directs the householder:

III. 102. A Brahmen, staying but one night as a guest, is called an atithi, since continuing
so short a time, he is not even a sojourner for a whole tithi, or day of the moon.

III. 98. But an offering in the fire of a sacerdotal mouth, which richly blazes with true
knowledge and piety, will release the giver from distress and even from deadly sin.

III. 107. To the highest guests in the best form, to the lowest in the worst, to the equal
equally, let him offer seats, resting places, couches; giving them proportionable attendance
when they depart; and honour, as long as they stay.

III. 110. A military man is not denominated a guest in the house of a Brahman; nor a man
of the commercial or servile class ; nor his familiar friend, nor his paternal kinsmen ; nor his
preceptor.

III. 111. But if a warrior come to his house in the form of a guest, let food be prepared for
him, according to his desire, after the beforementioned Brahmens have eaten.

III. 112. Even to a merchant or a labourer, approaching his house in the manner of guests,
let him give food, showing marks of benevolence at the same time with his domestics. On
social bearing of one class towards another Manu has laid down some very interesting
ordinances. He has an equation for social status :
 II. 135. The student must consider a Brahmen, though but ten years old, and
a Kshatriya, though aged a hundred years, as father and son ; as between those two, the
young Brahmen is to be respected as the father.

II. 136. Wealth, kindred, age, moral conduct, and, fifthly divine knowledge, entitle men to
respect ; but that which is last mentioned in order, is the most respectable.

II. 137. Whatever man of the three highest classes possesses the most of those five, both
in number and degree that man is entitled to most respect ; even a Sudra, if he have
entered the tenth decade of his age.

II. 138. Way must be made for a man in a wheeled carriage, or above ninety years old, or
afflicted with disease, or carrying a burthen ; for a woman ; for a priest just returned from the
mansion of his preceptor; for a prince, and for a bridegroom.

II. 139. Among all those, if they be met at one time, the priest just returned home and the
prince are most to be honoured ; and of those two, the priest just returned, should be treated
with more respect than the prince.

As illustrating the rules of social bearing a reference may be made to rules regarding
salutation:

II. 121. A youth who habitually greets and constantly reverses the aged, obtains an
increase of four things; life, knowledge, fame, strength.

II. 122. After the word of salutation, a Brahman must address an elder; saying, "I am such
an one," pronouncing his own name.

II. 123. If any persons, through ignorance of the Sanskrit language, understand not the
import of his name, to them should a learned man say, " It is I "; and in that manner he
should address all classes of women.

II. 124. In the salutation he should pronounce, after his own name, the vocative particle
`bhoh'; for the particle 'bhoh' is held by the wise to have the same property with names fully
expressed.

II. 125. A Brahmen should thus be saluted in return; "May'st thou live long, excellent
man", and at the end of his name, the vowel and preceding consonant should be
lengthened, with an acute accent, to three syllabic moments or short vowels.

II. 126. That Brahmen, who knows not the form of returning a salutation, must not be
saluted by a man of learning; as a Shudra, even so is he.

II. 127. Let a learned man ask a priest, when he meets him, if his devotion prospers, a
warrior, if he is unhurt; a merchant, if his wealth is secure; and one of the servile classes, if
he enjoys good health; using respectively the
words, cusalam, anamayam, ksheman and anarogyam.

The provisions laid down by Manu in relation to Religion and Religious Sacraments and
Sacrifice are worthy of note.

The ordinances of Manu relating to Sacraments and sacrifices are as follows :

III. 68. A house-keeper has five places of slaughter, or where small living creatures
may be slain; his kitchen-hearth, his grindstone, his broom, his pastle and mortar,
his water-pot; by using which, he become in bondage to sin.
III. 69. For the sake of expiating offences committed ignorantly in those places mentioned
in order, the five great sacraments were appointed by eminent sages to be performed each
day by such as keep house.

III. 70. Teaching and studying the scriptures is the sacrament of the Veda; offering cakes
and water, the sacrament of the Manes, an oblation to fire, the sacrament of the Deities;
giving rice or other food to living creatures, the sacraments of spirits; receiving guests with
honour, the sacrament of men.

III. 71. Whoever omits not those five great ceremonies, if he have ability to perform them,
is untainted by the sons of the five slaughtering places, even though he constantly reside at
home. Manu then proceeds to lay down that all are not entitled to the benefit of the
sacraments and all have not the same right to perform the sacrifices.

He defines the position of women and Shudras in the matter of Sacraments and sacrifices.
As to women Manu says :—

II. 66. The same ceremonies, except that of the sacrificial thread, must be duly performed
for women at the same age and in the same order, that the body may be made perfect; but
without any text from the Veda." As to Shudras, Manu says:—

X. 127. Even Shudras, who were anxious to perform their entire duty, and, knowing what
they should perform initate the practice of good men in the household sacraments, but
without any holy text, except those containing praise and salutation, are so far from sinning,
that they acquire just applause.

The investiture of a person with the sacred thread is a very important sacrament.

II. 36. In the eighth year from the conception of a Brahman., in the eleventh from that of
a Kshatriya, and in the twelfth from that of a Vaisya, let the father invest the child with the
mark of his class.
 II. 37. Should a Brahman, or his father for him, be desirous of his advancement in
sacred knowledge; a Kshatriya, of extending his power; or a Vaisya of engaging in
mercantile business; the investiture may be made in the fifth, sixth, or eighth years
respectively.
II. 38. The ceremony of investiture hallowed by the Gayatri must not be delayed, in the
case of a priest, beyond the sixteenth year; nor in that of a soldier, beyond the twenty
second; nor in that of a merchant, beyond the twenty fourth.

II. 39. After that, all youths of these three classes, who have not been invested at the
proper time, become vratyas, or outcasts, degraded from the Gayatri, and condemned by
the virtuous. As to the Gayatri it is a mantra and this is how Manu explains its importance :—

II. 76. Brahma milked out, as it were, from the three Vedas, the letter A, the letter U, and
the letter M which form by their coalition the triliteral monosyllable, together with three
mysterious words bhur, bhuvah, svah or earth, sky, heaven.

II. 77. From the three Vedas, also, the Lord of creatures, incomprehensibly exalted,
successively milked out the three measures of that ineffable text,beginning with the word
tad, and entitled Savitri or Gayatri.

II. 78. A priest who shall know the Veda, and shall pronounce to himself, both
morning and evening, that syllable, and that holy text preceded by the three words,
shall attain the sanctity which the Veda confers :
II. 79. And a twice born man, who shall a thousand times repeat those
three (om, the vyahritis, and the gayatri), apart from the multitude, shall be released in a
month even from a great offence, as a snake from his slough.

II. 80. The priest, the soldier, and the merchant, who shall neglect this mysterious text, and
fail to perform in due season his peculiar acts of piety, shall meet with contempt among the
virtuous.

II. 81. The great immutable words, preceded by the triliteral syllable, and followed by the
gayatri which consists of three measures, must be considered as the mouth, or principal part
of the Veda;

II. 82. Whoever shall repeat, day by day, for three years, without negligence, that sacred
text, shall hereafter approach the divine essence, move as freely as air, and assume an
ethereal form. II. 83. The triliteral monosyllable is an emblem of the Supreme, the
suppressions of breath with a mind fixed on God are the highest devotion; but nothing is
more exalted than theGayatri; a declaration of truth is more excellant than silence.
 II. 84. All rites ordained in the Veda, oblations to fire, and solemn sacrifices pass
away ; but that which passes not away, is declared to be the syllable om, thence
called acshara; since it is a symbol of God, the Lord of created beings.

II. 85. The act of repeating his Holy Name is ten times better than the appointed sacrifice;
an hundred times better when it is heard by no man ; and a thousand times better when it is
purely mental.

II. 86. The four domestic sacraments which are accompanied with the appointed sacrifice,
are not equal though all be united, to a sixteenth part of the sacrifice performed by a
repetition of the gayatri. This investiture is equivalent to a new birth.

II. 147. Let a man consider that as a mere human birth, which his parents gave him for
their mutual gratification, and which he receives after lying in the womb.

II. 148. But that birth which his principal acharya, who knows the whole Veda, procures for
him by his divine mother the gayatri, is a true birth ; that birth is exempt from age and from
death.

II. 169. The first birth is from a natural mother: the second, from the ligation of the zone ;
the third from the due performance of the sacrifice ; such are the births of him who is usually
called twice-born, according to a text of the Veda.

II. 170. Among them his divine birth is that, which is distinguished by the ligation of the
zone, and sacrificial cord ; and in that birth the Gayatri is his mother, and the Acharya, his
father. This sacrament is not permitted by Manu to Shudras and to women.

II. 103. But he who stands not repeating it in the morning and sits not repeating it in the
evening, must be precluded, like a Sudra, from every sacred observance of the twice born
class. Manu has not forgotten to mention rules relating to education and learning. Manu has
nothing to say about mass education. He does not see the utility of it and he does not see
the necessity of imposing any obligation upon the king or the state. He was merely
concerned with the learning of the sacred and Religious literature namely the Vedas.

Veda must be learned from a preceptor and with his assent. No one can read and study
the Vedas by himself. He will be guilty of theft if he did it.

II. 116. He who shall acquire knowledge of the Veda without the assent of his preceptor,
incurs the guilt of stealing the scripture and shall sink to the region of torment. But others
cannot study at all.

IX. 18. Women have no business with the texts of the Veda; thus is the law fully
settled ; having, therefore, no evidence of law, and no knowledge of expiatory texts, sinful
women must be as foul as falsehood itself; and this is a fixed rule.
 IV. 99. He must never read the Veda without accents and letters well pronounced ; nor
even in the presence of Sudras ; nor, having begun to read it in the last watch of the night,
must he, though fatigued, sleep again.

This prohibition applies to Vratyas or outcasts from the three higher classes.
For Manu says :

II. 40. With such impure men, let no Brahmen, even in distress for subsistence, ever form
a connexion in law, either by the study of the Veda, or by affinity.

Teaching Veda or performing of sacrifices for disqualified persons was prohibited by

Manu.

IV. 205. Never let a priest eat part of a sacrifice not begun with texts of the Veda, nor of
one performed by a common sacrificer, by a woman, or by an eunuch :

IV. 206. When those persons offer the clarified butter, it brings misfortune to good men,
and raises aversion in the deities, such oblations, therefore, he must carefully shun.

XI. 198. He, who has officiated at a sacrifice for outcasts, or burned the corpse of a
stranger, or performed rites to destroy the innocent, or made the impure sacrifice,
calledAhimsa, may expiate his guilt by three prajapatya penances. Take equality before
Law.

When they come as witnesses—according to Manu they are to be sworn as follows :

VIII. 87. In the forenoon let the judge, being purified, severally call on the twice-born, being
purified also, to declare the truth, in the presence of some image, a symbol of the divinity,
and of Brahmens, while the witnesses turn their faces either to the north or to the east.

VIII. 88. To a Brahmen he must begin with saying, "Declare;" to a Kshatriya, with
saying, " Declare the truth"; to a Vaisya, with comparing perjury to the crime of
stealing kine,grain, or gold; to a Sudra, with comparing it in some or all of the following
sentences, to every crime that men can commit.

VIII. 1 13. Let the judge cause a priest to swear by his veracity ; a soldier, by his horse, or
elephant, and his weapons; a merchant, by his kine, grain, and gold; a mechanic or servile
man, by imprecating on his own head, if he speak falsely, all possible crime; Manu also
deals with cases of witnesses giving false evidence. According to Manu giving false
evidence is a crime. Says Manu:

VIII. 122. Learned men have specified these punishments, which were ordained by sage
legislators for perjured witnesses, with a view to prevent a failure of justice and to restrain
iniquity.
 VIII. 123. Let a just prince banish men of the three lower classes, if they give false
evidence having first levied the fine ; but a Brahmen let him only banish." But Manu made
one exception:

VIII. 1 12. To women, however, at a time of dalliance, or on a proposal of marriage, in the

case of grass or fruit eaten by a cow, of wood taken for a sacrifice, or of a promise made for
the preservation of a Brahmen, it is deadly sin to take a light oath. As parties to
proceedings—Their position can be illustrated by quoting the ordinances of Manu relating to
a few of the importa.nt criminal offences dealt with by Manu. Take the offence of
Defamation. Manu says :

VIII. 267. A soldier, defaming a priest, shall be fined ahundred panas a merchant, thus
offending, an hundred and fifty, or two hundred : but, for such an offence, a mechanic or
servile man shall be whipped.

VIII. 268. A priest shall be fined fifty, if he slander a soldier; twenty five, if a merchant ; and
twelve, if he slander a man of the servile class. Take the offence of Insult—Manu says:

VIII. 270. A once-born man, who insults the twice-born with gross invectives, ought to have
his tongue slit ; for he sprang from the lowest part of Brahma.

VIII. 271. If he mention their names and classes with contumely as, if he
say, "Oh Devadatta, thou refuse of Brahmen", an iron style, ten fingers long, shall be thrust
red into his mouth.

VIII. 272. Should he, through pride, give instruction to priests concerning their duty, let the
king order some hot oil to be dropped into his mouth and his ear. Take the offence of
Abuse—Manu says:

VIII. 276. For mutual abuse by a priest and a soldier, this fine must be imposed by a
learned king; the lowest amercement on the priest, and the middle-most on the soldier.

VIII. 277. Such exactly, as before mentioned, must be the punishment for a merchant and
a mechanic, in respect of their several classes, except the slitting of the tongue; this is a
fixed rule of punishment. Take the offence of Assault—Manu propounds:

VIII. 279. With whatever member of a low-born man shall assault or hurt a superior, even
that member of his must be slit, or cut more or less in proportion to the injury; this an
ordinance of Manu.

VIII. 280. He who raises his hand or a staff against another, shall have his hand cut ; and
he, who kicks another in wrath, shall have an incision made in his foot. Take the offence of
Arrogance—According to Manu :
 VIII. 281. A man of the lowest class, who shall insolently place himself on the same seat
with one of the highest, shall either be banished with a mark on his hinder parts, or the king
shall cause a gash to be made on his buttock.

VIII. 282. Should he spit on him through pride, the king shall order both his lips to be
gashed; should he urine on him, his penis; should he break wind against him, his anus.

VIII. 283. If he seize the Brahmen by the locks, or by the feet, or by the beard, or by the
throat, or by the scrotum, let the king without hesitation cause incisions to be made in his
hands. Take the offence of Adultery. Says Manu:

VIII. 359. A man of the servile class, who commits actual adultery with the wife of a priest,
ought to suffer death ; the wives, indeed, of all the four classes must ever be most especially
guarded.

VIII. 366. A low man, who makes love to a damsel of high birth, ought to be punished
corporally; but he who addresses a maid of equal rank, shall give the nuptial present and
marry her, if her father please.

VIII. 374. A mechanic or servile man, having an adulterious connection with a woman of a
twice-born class, whether guarded at home or unguarded, shall thus be punished ; if she
was unguarded, he shall lose the part offending, and his whole substance ; if guarded, and a
priestless, every thing, even his life.

VIII. 375. For adultery with a guarded priestess, a merchant shall forfeit all his wealth after
imprisonment for a year; a soldier shall be fined a thousand panas, and be shaved with the
urine of an ass.

VIII. 376. But, if a merchant or soldier commit adultery with a woman of the sacerdotal
class, whom her husband guards not at home, the king shall only fine the merchant five
hundred, and the soldier a thousand ;

VIII. 377. Both of them, however, if they commit that offence with a priestess not only
guarded but eminent for good qualities, shall be punished like men of the servile class, or be
burned in a fire of dry grass or reeds.

VIII. 382. If a merchant converse criminally with a guarded woman of the military, or a
soldier with one of the mercantile class, they both deserve the same punishment as in the
case of a priestess unguarded.

VIII. 383. But a Brahmen, who shall commit dultery with a guarded woman of those two
classes, must be fined a thousand panas ; and for the like offence with a guarded woman of
the servile class, the fine of a soldier or a merchant shall be also one thousand.
 VIII. 384. For adultery with a woman of the military class, if unguarded, the fine of a
merchant is five hundred ; but a soldier, for the converse of that offence, must be shaved
with urine, or pay the fine just mentioned.

VIII. 385. A priest shall pay five hundred panas if he connect himself criminally with an
unguarded woman of the military, commercial, or servile class, and a thousand, for such a
connexion with a woman of vile mixed breed.

Turning to the system of punishment for offences Manu's Scheme throws an interesting
light on the subject. Consider the following ordinances :

VIII. 379. Ignominious tonsure is ordained, instead of capital punishment, for an adulterer
of the priestly class, where the punishment of other classes may extend to loss of life.

VIII. 380. Never shall the king slay a Brahmen, though convicted of all possible crimes: let
him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his property secure, and his body unhurt.

XI. 127. For killing intentionally a virtuous man of the military class, the penance must a
fourth part of that ordained for killing a priest ; for killing a Vaisya, only an eighth ; for killing
a Sudra, who had been constant in discharging his duties, a sixteenth part.

XI. 128. But, if a Brahmen kill a Kshatriya without malice, he must, after a full performance
of his religious rites, give the priests one bull together with a thousand cows.

XI. 129. Or he may perform for three years the penance for slaying a Brahmen, mortifying
his organs of sensation and action, letting his hair grow long, and living remote from the
town, with the root of a tree for his mansion.

XI. 130. If he kill without malice a Vaisya, who had a good moral character, he may
perform the same penance for one year, or give the priests a hundred cows and a bull.

XI. 131. For six months must he perform this whole penance, if without intention he kill
a Sudra ; or he may give ten white cows and a bull to the priests.

VIII. 381. No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahmen ; and the king,
therefore, must not even form in his mind an idea of killing a priest.

VIII. 126. Let the king having considered and ascertained the frequency of a similar
offence, the place and time, the ability of the criminal to pay or suffer and the crime itself,
cause punishment to fall on those alone, who deserve it.

VIII. 124. Manu, son of the Self-existent, has named ten places of punishment, which are
appropriate to the three lower classes, but a Brahmen must depart from the realm unhurt in
any one f them.
 VIII. 125. The part of generation, the belly, the tongue, the two hands, and, fifthly, the two
feet, the eye, the nose, both ears, the property, and, in a capital case, the whole body. On
the point of rights and duties relating to religious Sacraments and Sacrifices the views of
Manu are noteworthy :

II. 28. By studying the Veda, by religious observances, by oblations to fire, by the
ceremony of Traividya, by offering to the Gods and Manes, by the procreation of children, by
the five great sacraments, and by solemn sacrifices, this human body is rendered fit for a
divine state.

III. 69. For the sake of expiating offences committed ignorantly in those places mentioned
in order, the five great sacrements were appointed by eminent sages to be performed each
day by such as keep house.

III. 70. Teaching and studying the scripture is the sacrament of the Veda; offering cakes
and water, the sacrament of the Manes; an oblation to fire, the sacrament of the
Deities ;giving rice or other food to living creatures, the sacrament of spirits ; receiving
guests with honour, the sacrament of men.

III. 71. Whoever omits not those five great ceremonies, if he have ability to perform
them, is untained by the sins of the five slaughtering places, even though he
constantly reside at home. Such are the ordinances of Manu. Laws are never
complete enough to cover every point. There are always moot questions. Manu was
conscious of this and provides for such contingencies.
XII. 108. If it be asked, how the law shall be ascertained, when particular cases are not
comprised under any of the general rules, the answer is this : "That which well
instructedBrahmens propound, shall be held incontestible law."

XII. 109. Well instructed Brahmens are they, who can adduce occular proof from the
scripture itself, having studied, as the law ordains, the Vedas and their extended branches,
or Vedangas, Mimansa, Nyaya, Dharma, Shastra, Puranas.

XII. 113. Even the decision of one priest, if more cannot be assembled, who perfectly
knows the principles of the Vedas, must be considered as law of the highest authority ; not
the opinion of myriads, who have no sacred knowledge.

The Laws of Manu are eternal. Therefore there is no question of considering how changes
could be effected in them. The only question Manu had to consider was the upholding
and maintaining the system. Manu has laid down several provisions with this purpose in
view.

As to the preservation of the Social Code, Manu has made it the duty of the King to uphold
and maintain:
 VIII. 410. The king should order each man of the mercantile class to practice trade, or
money lending, or agriculture and attendance on cattle ; and each man of the servile class
to act in the service of the twice-born.

VIII. 418. With vigilant care should the king exert himself in compelling merchants and
mechanics to perform their respective duties ; for, when such men swerve from their duty,
they throw this world into confusion.

Failure to maintain was made an offence in the King punishable at Law.

VIII. 335. Neither a father, nor a preceptor, nor a friend, nor a mother, nor a wife, nor a
son, nor a domestic priest must be left unpunished by the king, if they adhere not with
firmness to their duty.

VIII. 336. Where another man of lower birth would be fined one pana, the king shall be
fined a thousand, and he shall give the fine to the priests, or cast it into the river, this is a
sacred rule.

Failure to uphold and maintain the system on the part of the king involved a forfeiture of
his right to rule. For Manu allows a right to rebel against such a King.

VIII. 348. The twice-born may take arms, when their duty is obstructed by force: and when,
in some evil time. a disaster has befallen the twice-born classes.

The right of rebellion is given to the three higher classes and not to the Shudra. This is
very natural. Because it is only the three upper classes who would benefit by the
maintenance of this system. But supposing the Kshatriyas joined the King in destroying the
system what is to be done? Manu gives the authority to the Brahmins to punish all and
particularly the Kshatriyas.

XI. 31. A priest, who well knows the laws, need not complain to the king of
any grievious injury; since, even by his own power, he may chastise those, who injure him.

XI. 32. His own power, which depends on himself alone, is mightier than the royal power,
which depends on other men ; by his own might, therefore, may a Brahman coerce his foes.

XI. 33. He may use, without hesitation, the powerful charms revealed to Atharvan, and by
him to Angiras ; for speech is the weapon of a Brahmen ; with that he may destroy his
oppressors.

IX. 320. Of a military man, who raises his arm violently on all occasions against the priestly
class, the priest himself shall be the chastiser; since the soldier originally proceeded from
the Brahmen." How can the Brahmins punish the Kshatriyas unless they can take arms?
Manu knows this and therefore allows the Brahmins to arm themselves to punish the
Kshatriyas.

XII. 100. Command of armies, royal authority, power of inflicting punishment, and
sovereign dominion over all nations, he only well deserves, who perfectly understands the
VedaShastra. So intent is Manu on the maintenance of the system of Chaturvarna that he
did not hesitate to make this fundamental change in it. For to ask a Brahman to take up
arms is a fundamental change as compared with the rule that was prevalent before Manu.
The prohibition against Brahmin handling arms was very strict. In
the Apastamba DharmaSutras which is prior to Manu the rule is laid down in the following
terms :

1.10, 29,6. A Brahmin shall not take up a weapon in his hand though he be only desirous
of examining it." Successor of Manu—Baudhayana—improved upon him, and laid down in
his Code of Laws :

II. 24, 18. For the protection of the Cows, Brahmins, or in the case of the confusion
of Varnas, Brahmins and Vaisyas (also) should take up arms, out of consideration for the
Dharma. and maintain the system at any cost.

CHAPTER 9

Essays on the Bhagwat Gita : Philosophic Defence of Counter-Revolution:

Krishna and His Gita

The first page of 'Essays on the Bhagvat Gita' is autographed by Dr. Ambedkar. Next 42
pages consist of analytical notes on Virat Parva and Uddyog Parva including the table of
contents on this subject. The table of contents is printed in the schemes. This file contains
two typed copies of an essay entitled 'Philosophic Defence of Counter-Revolution—Krishna
and His Gita '. The last sentence of this essay is left incomplete. The total number of typed
pages of this essay is 40 only. The notes on Viral Parva &Udyog Parva are printed in the
next chapters.—Editors.

What is the place of the Bhagwat Gita in the literature of ancient India? Is it a gospel of the
Hindu Religion in the same way as the Bible is of the Christian Religion? The Hindus have
come to regard it as their gospel. If it is a gospel, what does it really teach? What is the
doctrine it stands for? The variety of answers given to this question by students competent
to speak on the subject is really bewildering. Bohtlingk [f9]says:
 " The Gita contains by the side of many high and beautiful thoughts, not only a few weak
points ; contradictions (which the commentators have tried to pass over as excusable),
repetitions, exaggerations, absurdities and loathsome points."'

" Hopkins[f10] speaks of the Bhagvat Gita as a charactaristic work of the Hindu Literature in
its sublimity as in its puerilities, in its logic as in its want of it; ..... an ill-assorted cabinet of
primitive philosophical opinions." In his judgment:

"Despite its occasional power and music exaltation, the Divine song in its present state as
a poetical production is unsatisfactory. The same thing is said over again, and the
contradictions in phraseology and in meaning are as numerous as the repetitions, so that
one is not surprised to find it described as "the wonderful song, which causes the hair to
stand on end."

Holtzrnan[f11]says:

"We have before us (in the Bhagvat Gita) a Vishnuite revision of a pantheistic
poem."
Garbe[f12] observes :

"The whole character of the poem in its design and execution

is preponderatingly theistic. A personal God Krishna stands forth in the form of a human
hero, expounds his doctrine, enjoins, above all things, on his listener, along with the
performance of his duties, loving faith in Him and self-surrender:...... And by the side of this
God—(who is) delineated as personally as possible, and who dominates the whole poem—
stands out frequently the impersonal neutral Brahman, the Absolute, as the highest
principle. At one time Krishna says that He is the sole Highest God who has created the
world and all beings and rules over it all ; at another time, he expounds
the Vedantic doctrine of Brahman and maya-the Cosmic Illusion, and expounds as the
highest goal of human being that he be freed from the World-Illusion and become Brahman.
These two doctrines—the theistic and the pantheistic—are mixed up with each other, and
follow each other, sometimes quite unconnected and sometimes loosely connected. And it is
not the case that the one is represented as a lower, exoteric. (Text p. 9) and, (p. ) as the
higher esoteric doctrine. It is nowhere taught that the Theism is a preliminary step to the
knowledge of the reality or that it is its symbol, and that the pantheism of the Vedanta is the
(ultimate) reality itself ; but the two beliefs are treated of almost throughout as though there
was indeed no difference between them, either verbal or real." Mr. Telang says :[f13]

"There are several passages in the Gita which it is not very easy to reconcile with one
another ; and no attempt is made to harmonise them. Thus, for example, in stanza 16 of
Chapter VI I, Krishna divides his devotees into four classes, one of which consists of `men
of knowledge', whom, Krishna says, he considers 'as his own self'. It would probably be
difficult to imagine any expression which could indicate higher esteem. Yet in stanza 46 of
chapter VI, we have it laid down, that the devotee is superior not only to the mere performer
of penances, but even to the men of knowledge. The commentators betray their gnostic bias
by interpreting 'men of knowledge' in this latter passage to mean those who have acquired
erudition in the Shastras and their significations. This is not an interpretation to be
necessarily rejected. But there is in it a certain twisting of words, which, under the
circumstances here, I am not inclined to accept. And on the other hand, it must not be
forgotten, that the implications fairly derivable from Chapter IV, stanza 39 (pp. 62, 63), would
seem to be rather than knowledge is superior to devotion—is the higher stage to be reached
by means of devotion as the stepping stone. In another passage again at Gita,Chapter XII,
stanza 12, concentration is preferred to knowledge, which also seems to me to
be irreconcileable with Chapter VII, stanza 16. Take still another instance.
At Gita,Chapter B stanza 15, it is said, that 'Lord receives the sin or merit of none.' Yet at
Chapter V, stanza 24 Krishna calls himself the Lord and enjoyer," of all sacrifices and
penances. How, it may be well asked, can the Supreme Being 'enjoy that which he does not
even receive?' Once more at Chapter X, stanza 29, Krishna declares that 'none is hateful to
me, none dear.' And yet the remarkable verse at the close of Chapter XII seem to stand
in pointblank contradiction to that declaration. There through a most elaborate series of
stanzas, the burden of Krishna's eloquent sermon is 'such a one is dear to me.' And again in
those fine verses, where Krishna winds up his Divine Law, he similarly tells Arjuna,that he,
Arjuna, is 'dear' to Krishna. And Krishna also speaks of that devotee as 'dear' to him, who
may publish the mystery of the Gita among those who references Supreme Being.[f14] And
yet again, how are we to reconcile the same passage about none being 'hateful or dear' to
Krishna, with his own words at Chapter XVI, stanza 18 and following stanzas? The language
used in describing the 'demoniac' people there mentioned is not remarkable for sweetness
towards them, while Krishna says positively, ' I hurl down such people into demoniac
wombs, whereby they go down into misery and the vilest condition.' These persons are
scarcely characterized with accuracy 'as neither hateful nor dear' to Krishna. It seems to me,
that all these are real inconsistencies in the Gita, not such, perhaps, as might not be
explained away, but such, I think, as indicate a mind making guesses at truth, as Professor
Max Muller puts it, rather than a mind elaborating a complete and organized system of
philosophy. There is not even a trace of consciousness on the part of the author that these
inconsistencies exist. And the contexts of the various pasages indicate, in my judgment, that
a half-truth is struck out here and another half-truth there, with special reference to the
special subject then under discussion; but no attempt is made to organize the various half-
truths which are apparently incompatible, into a symmetericalwhole, where the apparent
inconsistencies might possibly vanish altogether in the higher synthesis."

These are the views of what might be called modern scholars. Turning to the view of the
orthodox Pandits, we again find a variety of views. One view is that the Bhagvat is not a
sectarian book. it pays equal respect to the three ways of salvation (1) Karma marge or the
path of works (2) Bhakti marga or the path of devotion and (3) Jnana marga or the path of
knowledge and preaches the efficacy of all three as means of salvation. In support of their
contention that the Gita respects all the three ways of salvation and accepts the efficacy of
each one of them, the Pandits point out that of the 18 Chapters of the Bhagvat Gita,
Chapters I to 6 are devoted to the preaching of the Jnana marga, Chapters 7 to 12 to the
preaching of Karma marga and Chapters 12 to 18 to the preaching of Bhakti marga and say
that this equal distribution of its Chapters shows that the Gita upholds all the three modes of
salvation.

Quite contrary to the view of the Pandits is the view of Shankaracharya and Mr. Tilak, both
of whom must be classed amongst orthodox writers. Shankaracharya held the view that the
Bhagvat Gita preached that the Jnana marga was the only true way of salvation. Mr.
Tilak[f15] does not agree with the views of any of the other scholars. He repudiates the view
that the Gita is a bundle of inconsistencies. He does not agree with the Pandits who say that
the Bhagvat Gita recognizes all the three ways of salvation. Like Shankaracharya he insists
that the Bhagvat Gita has a definite doctrine to preach. But he differs from Shankaracharya
and holds that the Gita teaches Karma Yoga and not Jnana Yoga.

It cannot but be a matter of great surprise to find such a variety of opinion as to the message
which the Bhagvat Gita preaches. One is forced to ask why there should be such
divergence of opinion among scholars? My answer to this question is that scholars have
gone on a false errand. They have gone on a search for the message of the Bhagvat Gita
on the assumption that it is a gospel as the Koran, the Bible or the Dhammapada is. In my
opinion this assumption is quite a false assumption. The Bhagvat Gita is not a gospel and it
can therefore have no message and it is futile to search for one. The question will no doubt
be asked : What is the Bhagvat Gita if it is not a gospel? My answer is that the
Bhagvat Gita is neither a book of religion nor a treatise on philosophy. What the
Bhagvat Gita does is to defend certain dogmas of religion on philosphic grounds. If on that
account anybody wants to call it a book of religion or a book of philosophy he may please
himself. But essentially it is neither. It uses philosophy to defend religion. My opponents will
not be satisfied with a bare statement of view. They would insist on my proving my thesis by
reference to specific instances. It is not at all difficult. Indeed it is the easiest task.

The first instance one comes across in reading the Bhagvat Gita is the justification of
war. Arjuna had declared himself against the war, against killing people for the sake of
property. Krishna offers a philosophic defence of war and killing in war. This philosophic
defence of war will be found in Chapter II verses II to 28. The philosophic defence of war
offered by the Bhagvat Gita proceeds along two lines of argument. One line of argument is
that anyhow the world is perishable and man is mortal. Things are bound to come to an end.
Man is bound to die. Why should it make any difference to the wise whether man dies a
natural death or whether he is done to death as a result of violence? Life is unreal, why shed
tears because it has ceased to be? Death is inevitable, why bother how if has resulted ? The
second line of argument in justification of war is that it is a mistake to think that the body and
the soul are one. They are separate. Not only are the two quite distinct but they differ in-as-
much as the body is perishable while the soul is eternal and imperishable. When death
occurs it is the body that dies. The soul never dies. Not only does it never die but air cannot
dry it, fire cannot burn it, and a weapon cannot cut it. It is therefore wrong to say that when a
man is killed his soul is killed. What happens is that his body dies. His soul discards the
dead body as a person discards his old clothes—wears a new ones and carries on. As the
soul is never killed, killing a person can never be a matter of any movement. War and killing
need therefore give no ground to remorse or to shame, so argues the Bhagvat Gita.

Another dogma to which the Bhagvat Gita comes forward to offer a philosophic defence
is Chaturvarnya. The Bhagvat Gita, no doubt, mentions that the Chaturvarnya is created by
God and therefore sacrosanct. But it does not make its validity dependent on it. It offers a
philosophic basis to the theory of Chaturvarnya by linking it to the theory of innate, inborn
qualities in men. The fixing of the Varna of man is not an arbitrary act says
the Bhagvat Gita. But it is fixed according to his innate, inborn qualities.[f16]

The third dogma for which the Bhagvat Gita offers a philosphic defence is
the Karma marga. By Karma marga the Bhagvat Gita means the performance of the
observances, such as Yajnas as a way to salvation. The Bhagvat Gita most stands out for
the Karma marga throughout and is a great upholder of it. The line it takes to defend Karma
yoga is by removing the excrescences which had grown upon it and which had made it
appear quite ugly. The first excrescence was blind faith. The Gita tries to remove it by
introducing the principle of Buddhi yoga[f17] as a necessary condition for Karma yoga.
Become Stihtaprajna i.e., 'Befitted with Buddhi' there is nothing wrong in the performance of
Karma kanda.The second excrescence on the Karma kanda was the selfishness which was
the motive behind the performance of the Karmas. The Bhagvat Gita attempts to remove it
by introducing the principle of Anasakti i.e., performance of karma without any attachment
for the fruits of the Karma. [f18]Founded in Buddhi yoga and dissociated from selfish
attachment to the fruits of Karma what is wrong with the dogma of Karma kand? this is how
the Bhagvat Gita defends the Karma marga.4 It would be quite possible to continue in this
strain, to pick up other dogmas and show how the Gita comes forward to offer a philosophic
defence in their support where none existed before. But this could be done only if one were
to write a treatise on the Bhagvat Gita. it is beyond the scope of a chapter the main purpose
of which is to assign to the Bhagvat Gita its proper place in the ancient Indian literature. I
have therefore selected the most important dogmas just to illustrate my thesis.
 Two other questions are sure to be asked in relation to my thesis. Whose are the Dogmas
for which the Bhagvat Gita offers this philosophical defence? Why did it become necessary
for the Bhagvat Gita to defend these Dogmas?

To begin with the first question, the dogmas which the Gita defends are the dogmas of
counter-revolution as put forth in the Bible of counter-revolution
namely Jaimini'sPurvamimamsa. There ought to be no difficulty in accepting this proposition.
If there is any it is largely due to wrong meaning attached to the word Karma yoga. Most
writers on the Bhagvat Gita translate the word Karma yoga as 'action' and the
word Janga yoga, as 'knowledge' and proceed to discuss the Bhagvat Gita as though it was
engaged in comparing and contrasting knowledge versus action in a generlized form. This is
quite wrong. The Bhagvat Gita is not concerned with any general, philosophical discussion
of action versus knowledge. As a matter of fact, the Gita is concerned with the particular and
not with the general. By Karma yoga or action Gita means the dogmas contained
inJaimini's Karma kanda and by Jnana yoga or knowledge it means the dogmas contained
in Badarayana's Brahma Sutras. That the Gita in speaking of Karma is not speaking of
activity or inactivity, quieticism or energism, in general terms but religious acts and
observances cannot be denied by anyone who has read the Bhagvat Gita. It is to life
the Gitafrom the position of a party pamphlet engaged in a controversy on small petty points
and make it appear as though it was a general treatise on matters of high philosophy that
this attempt is made to inflate the meaning of the words Karma and Jnana and make them
words of general import. Mr. Tilak is largely to be blamed for this trick of patriotic Indians.
The result has been that these false meanings have misled people into believing that the
Bhagvat Gita is an independent self-contained book and has no relation to the literature that
has preceded it. But if one were to keep to the meaning of the word Karma yoga as one
finds it in the Bhagvat Gita itself one would be convinced that in speaking of Karma yoga the
Bhagvat Gita is referring to nothing but the dogmas of Karma kanda as propounded
by Jaimini which it tries to renovate and strengthen.

To take up the second question : Why did the Bhagvat Gita feel it necessary to defend the
dogmas of counter-revolution? To my mind the answer is very clear. It was to save them
from the attack of Buddhism that the Bhagvat Gita came into being. Buddha preached non-
violence. He not only preached it but the people at large—-except the Brahmins—
had acepted it as the way of life. They had acquired a repugnance to violence. Buddha
preached against Chaturvarnya. He used some of the most offensive similes in attacking the
theory of Chaturvarnya. The frame work of Chaturvarnya had been broken. The order of
Chaturvarnya had been turned upside down. Shudras and women could
becomesannyasis, a status which counter-revolution had denied them. Buddha had
condemned the Karma kanda and the Yajnas. he condemned them on the ground
of Himsa or violence. He condemned them also on the ground that the motive behind them
was a selfish desire to obtain bonus. What was the reply of the counterrevolutionaries to this
attack? Only this. These things were ordained by the Vedas, the Vedas were infallible,
therefore the dogmas were not to be questioned. In the Buddhist age, which was the most
enlightened and the most rationalistic age India has known, dogmas resting on such silly,
arbitrary, unrationalistic and fragile foundations could hardly stand. People who had come to
believe in non-violence as a principle of life and had gone so far as to make it a rule of life—
How could they be expected to accept the dogma that the Kshatriya may kill without sinning
because the Vedas say that it is his duty to kill? People who had accepted the gospel of
social equality and who were remaking society on the basis of each one according to his
merits—how could they accept the chaturvarnya theory of gradation, and separation of man
based on birth simply because the Vedas say so? People who had accepted the doctrine of
Buddha that all misery in society is due to Tanha or what Tawny calls acquisitive instinct—
how could they accept the religion which deliberatly invited people to obtain boons by
sacrifices merely because there is behind it the authority of the Vedas? There is no doubt
that under the furious attack of Buddhism, Jaimini's counter-revolutionary dogmas were
tottering and would have collapsed had they not received the support which
the Bhagvat Gita gave them. The philosophic defence of the counter-revolutiona.ry doctrines
given by the Bhagwat Gita is by no means impregnable. The philosophic defence offered by
the Bhagvat Gita of the Kshtriya's duty to kill is to say the least puerile. To say that killing is
no killing because what is killed is the body and not the soul is an unheard of defence of
murder. This is one of the doctrines which make some people say that the doctrines make
one's hair stand on their end. If Krishna were to appear as a lawyer acting for a client who is
being tried for murder and pleaded the defence set out by him in the Bhagvat Gita there is
not the slightest doubt that he would be sent to the lunatic asylum. Similarly childish is the
defence of the Bhagvat Gita of the dogma of chaturvarnya. Krishna defends it on the basis
of the Guna theory of the Sankhya. But Krishna does not seem to have realized what a fool
he has made of himself. In the chaturvarnya there are four Varnas. But the gunas according
to the Sankhyas are only three. How can a system of four varnas be defended on the basis
of a philosophy which does not recognise more than three varnas? The whole attempt of the
Bhagvat Gita to offer a philosophic defence of the dogmas of counterrevolution is childish—
and does not deserve a moment's serious thought. None-the-less there is not the slightest
doubt that without the help of the Bhagvat Gita the counter-revolution would have died out,
out of sheer stupidity of its dogmas. Mischievous as it may seem, to the revolutionaries the
part played by the Bhagvat Gita, there is no doubt that it resuscitated counter-revolution and
if the counterrevolution lives even today, it is entirely due to the plausibility of the philosophic
defence which it received from the Bhagvat Gita— anti-Veda and anti-Yajna. Nothing can be
a greater mistake than this. As will appear from other portions of the Bhagvat Gita that it is
not against the authority of the vedas and shastras (XVI, 23, 24: XVII, I I, 13, 24). Nor is it
against the sanctity of the yajnas (III. 9-15). It upholds the virtue of both.
 There is therefore no difference between Jaimini's Purva Mimansa and the
Bhagvat Gita. If anything, the Bhagvat Gita is a more formidable supporter of counter-
revolution than Jaimini's Purva Mirnansa could have ever been. It is formidable because it
seeks to give to the doctrines of counter-revolution that philosophic and therefore permanent
basis which they never had before and without which they would never have survived.
Particularly formidable than Jaimini's Purva Mimansa is the philosophic support which the
BhagvatGita gives to the central doctrine of counterrevolution—namely Chaturvarnya. The
soul of the Bhagvat Gita seems to be the defence of Chaturvarnya and securing its
observance in practice, Krishna does not merely rest content with saying that Chaturvarnya
is based on Guna-karma but he goes further and issues two positive injunctions.

The first injunction is contained in Chapter III verse 26. In this Krishna says: that a wise
man should not by counter propaganda create a doubt in the mind of an ignorant person
who is follower of Karma kand which of course includes the observance of the rules of
Chaturvarnya. In other words, you must not agitate or excite people to rise in rebellion
against the theory of Karma kand and all that it includes. The second injunction is laid down
in Chapter XVIII verses 41-48. In this Krishna tells that every one do the duty prescribed for
his Varna and no other and warns those who worship him and are his devotees that they will
not obtain salvation by mere devotion but by devotion accompanied by observance of duty
laid down for his Varna. In short, a Shudra however great he may be as a devotee will not
get salvation if he has transgressed the duty of the Shudra—namely to live and die in the
service of the higher classes. The second part of my thesis is that the essential function of
the Bhagvat gita to give new support to Jaimini at least those portions of it which offer
philosophic defence of Jaimini's doctrines—has become to be written after Jaimini's Purva
Mimansa had been promulgated. The third part of my thesis is that this philosophic defence
of the Bhagvat Gita, of the doctrines of couter-revolution became necessary because of the
attack to which they were subjected by the revolutionary and rationalistic thought of
Buddhism.

I must now turn to the objections that are likely to be raised against the validity of my
thesis. I see one looming large before me. I shall be told that I am assuming that the
BhagvatGita is posterior in time to Buddhism and to Jaimini's Purva Mimansa and that this
asumption has no warrant behind it. I am aware of the fact that my thesis runs counter to the
most cherished view of Indian scholars all of whom, seem to be more concerned in fixing a
very ancient date to the compositon of the Bhagvat Gita far anterior to Buddhism and
toJaimini than in finding out what is the message of the Bhagvat Gita and what value it has
as a guide to man's life. This is particularly the case with Mr.Telang and Mr.Tilak. But
asGarbe[f19] observes "To Telang, as to every Hindu—how much so ever enlightened—it is
an article of faith to believe in so high an antiquity of the Bhagvat Gita and where such
necessities are powerful criticism indeed comes to an end." In the words of Prof. Garbe : -
 "The task of assigning a date to the Gita has been recognized by every one who has
earnestly tried to solve the problem, as being very difficult ; and the difficulties grow (all the
more) if the problem is presented two fold, viz., to determine as well the age of the original
Gita as also of its revision. I am afraid that generally speaking, we shall succeed in arriving,
not at any certainties, but only at probabilities in this matter."

What are the probabilities? I have no doubt that the probabilities are in favour of my thesis.
Indeed so far as I can see there is nothing against it. In examining this question, I propose
first to advance direct evidence from the Gita itself showing that it has been composed
after Jaimini's Purva Mimansa and after Buddhism.

Chapter III verses 9-13 of the Bhagvat Gita have a special significance. In this connection
it is true that the Bhagvat Gita does not refer to Jaimini by name: nor does it mention
Mimansa by name. But is there any doubt that in Chapter III verses 9-18 the Bhagvat Gita is
dealing with the doctrines formulated by Jaimini in his Purva Mimansa? Even
Mr.Tilak[f20] who believes in the antiquity of the Bhagvat Gita has to admit that here the Gita
is engaged in the examination of the Purva Mimansa doctrines. There is another way of
presenting this argument. Jaimini preaches pure and simple Karma yoga. The Bhagvat Gita
on the other hand preaches anasakti karma. Thus the Guta preaches a doctrine which is
fundamentally modified Not only the Bhagvat Gita modifies the Karma yoga but attacks the
upholders of pure and simple Karma yoga in somewhat severe terms.[f21] If the Gita is prior
to Jaimini one would expect Jaimini to take note of this attack of the Bhagvat Gita and reply
to it. But we do not find any reference in Jaimini to this anasakti karma yoga of the Bhagvat
Gita.

Why? The only answer is that this modification came after Jaimini and not before—
which is simply another way of saying that the Bhagvat Gita was composed
after Jaimini'sPurva Mimansa.
If the Bhagvat Gita does not mention Purva Mimansa it does mention by name the Brahma
Sutras[f22] of Badarayana. This reference to Brahma Sutras is a matter of great significance
for it furnishes direct evidence for the conclusion that the Gita is later than the Brahma
Sutras.

Mr. Tilak [f23]admits that the reference to the Brahma Sutras is a clear
and defniite reference to the treatise of that name which we now have. It may be pointed out
that Mr.Telang[f24] discusses the subject in a somewhat cavalier fashion by saying that the
treatise "Brahma Sutras" referred to in the Bhagvat Gita is different from the present treatise
which goes by that name. He gives no evidence for so extraordinary a proposition but relies
on the conjectural statement of Mr. Weber[f25]—given in a foot-note of his Treatise in Indian
Literature, again without any evidence—that the mention of Brhma Sutras in the
Bhagvat Gita "may be taken as an appellative rather than as a proper name." It would not be
fair to attribute any particular motives to Mr. Telang for the view he has taken on this point.
But there is nothing unfair in saying that Mr. Telang [f26]shied at admitting the reference to
Brahma Sutra because he saw that Weber had on the authority of Winternitz assigned
500 A.D. to the composition of the Brahma Sutras, which would have destroyed his
cherished theory regarding the antiquity of the Bhagvat Gita. There is thus ample internal
evidence to support the conclusion that the Gita was composed after Jaimini's Purva
Mimansa and Badarayana's Brahma Sutras.

Is the Bhagvat Gita anterior to Buddhism? the question was raised by Mr. Telang:

"We come now to another point. What is the position of the Gita in regard to the great reform
of Sakya Muni? The question is one of much interest, having regard particularly to the
remarkable coincidences between Buddhistic doctrines and the doctrines of the Gita to
which we have drawn attention in the footnotes to our translation. But the materials for
deciding the question are unhappily not forth coming. Professor Wilson, indeed, thought that
there was an allusion to Buddhism in the Gita.[f27] but his idea was based on a confusion
between the Buddhists and the Charvakas or materialists.[f28] Failing that allusion, we have
nothing very tangible but the unsatisfactory 'negative argument' based on mere non-mention
of Buddhism in the Gita. That argument is not quite satisfactory to my own mind, although,
as I have elsewhere pointed out,[f29] some of the ground occupied by the Gita is common to
it with Buddhism, and although various previous thinkers are alluded to directly or indirectly
in the Gita. There is, however, one view of the facts of this question, which appears to me to
corroborate the conclusion deducible by means of the negative argument here referred to.
The main points on which Budddha's protest againstBrahmanism rests, seem to be the true
authority of the Vedas and the true view of the differences of caste. On most points
of doctrinal speculation, Buddhism is still but one aspect of the older Brahmanism [f30]. The
various coincidences to which we have drawn attention show that, if there is need to show it.
Well now, on both these points, the Gita, while it does not go the whole length which
Buddha goes, itself embodies a protest against the views current about the time of its
composition. The Gita does not, like Buddhism, absolutely reject the Vedas, but it shelves
them. The Gita does not totally root out caste. It places caste on a less untenable basis.
One of two hypothesis therefore presents itself as a rational theory of these facts. Either the
Gita and Buddhism were alike the outward manifestation of one and the same spiritual
upheaval which shook to its centre the current religion, the Gita being the earlier and less
thorough going form of it ; or Buddhism having already begun to tell on Brahmanism, the
Gita was an attempt to bolster it up, so to say,at its least weak points, the weaker ones
being altogether abandoned. I do not accept the latter alternative, because I cannot see any
indication in the Gita of an attempt to compromise with a powerful attack on the old Hindu
system while the fact that, though strictly orthodox, the author of the Gita still undermines
the authority, as unwisely venerated, of the Vedic revelation; and the further fact, that in
doing this, he is doing what others also had done before him or about his time ; go, in my
opinion, a considerable way towards fortifying the results of the negative argument already
set forth. To me Buddhism is perfectly intelligible as one outcome of that play of thought on
high spiritual topics, which in its other, and as we may say, less thorough
going, manifestation we see in the Upanishads and the Gita[f31]."

I have quoted this passage in full because it is typical of all Hindu scholars.
Everyone of them is most reluctant to admit that the Bhagvat Gita is anyway
influenced by Buddhism and is ever ready to deny that the Gita has borrowed
anything from Buddhism. It is the attitude of Prof. Radhakrishnan and also
of Tilak. Where there is any similarity in thought between the Bhagvat Gita and
Buddhism too strong and too close to be denied, the argument is that it is borrowed
from the Upanishads. It is typical of the mean mentality of the counterrevolutionaries
not to allow any credit to Buddhism on any account.
The absurdity of these views must shock all those who have made a comparative study of
the Bhagvat Gita and the Buddhist Suttas. For if it is true to say that Gita is saturated
with Sankhya philosophy it is far more true to say that the Gita is full of Buddhist
ideas.[f32] The similarity between the two is not merely in ideas but also in language. A few
illustrations will show how true it is.

The Bhagvat Gita discusses Bramha-Nirvana.[f33] The steps by which one

reaches Bramha. Nirvana are stated by the Bhagvat Gita to be (1) Shraddha (Faith in
oneself); (2)Vyavasaya (Firm determination): (3) Smriti (Rememberance of the goal);
(4) Samadhi (Earnest contemplation) and (5) Prajna (Insight or True Knowledge). From
where has theGita borrowed this Nirvana theory? Surely it is not borrowed from
the Upanishads. For no Upanishad even mentions the word Nirvana. The whole idea is
peculiarly Buddhist and is borrowed from Buddhism. Anyone who has any doubt on the
point may compare this Bramha-Nirvana of the Bhagvat Gita with the Buddhist conception of
Nirvana as set out in theMahapari-nibbana Sutta, It will be found that they are the same
which the Gita has laid down for Bramha-Nirvana. Is it not a fact that the Bhagvat Gita has
borrowed the entire conception of Brmhma Nirvana instead of Nirvana for no other reason
except to conceal the fact of its having stolen it from Buddhism?

Take another illustration. In Chapter VII verses 13-20 there is a discussion as to who is
dear to Krishna; one who has knowledge, or one who performs karma or one who is
adevotee. Krishna says that the Devotees is dear to him but adds that he must have the true
marks of a Devotee. What is the charcter of a true Devotee? According to Krishna the true
devotee is one who practices (1) Maitri; (loving Kindness); (2) Karuna (compassion):
(3) Mudita (sympathizing joy) and (4) Upeksa (unconcernedness). From where has
theBhagvate Gita borrowed these qualifications of a perfect Devotee? Here again, the
source is Buddhism. Those who want proof may compare the Mahapadana Sutta,[f34] and
theTevijja Sutta[f35] where Buddha has preached what Bhavanas (mental attitude) are
necessary for one to cherish for the training of the heart. This comparison will show that the
whole ideology is borrowed from Buddhism and that too word for word.

Take a third illustration. In chapter XIII the Bhagvat Gita descusses the subject of Kshetra-
Kshetrajna. In verses 7-11 Krishna points out what is knowledge and what is ignorance in
the following language:

"Pridelessness (Humility), Unpretentiousness, Non-injury or Harmlessness, Forgiveness,

Straight-forwardness, (uprightness), Devotion to Preceptor, Purity, Steadiness, Self-
restraint, Desirelessness towards objects of sense, absence of Egoism, Reflection on the
suffering and evil of Birth, Death, decrepitude and disease, Non-attachment, Non-
identification of oneself with regard to son, wife and home and the rest, Constant even-
mindedness on approach of both (what is) agreeable and (what is) disagreeable unswerving
devotion to Me with undivided meditation of Me, Resort to sequestered spots
(contemplation, concentration, in solitude), Distaste for the society of worldly men, Incessant
application to the knowledge relating to self, Perception or realisation of the true purport of
the knowledge of the Tattvas (Samkhya Philosophy), all this is called'knowledge'; what
is Ajnana (Ignorance) which is the reverse thereof." Can anyone who knows anything of the
Gospel of Buddha deny that the Bhagvat Gita has not in these stanzas reproduced word for
word the main doctrines of Buddhism?

In chapter XIII verses 5, 6, 18, 19, the Bhagvat Gita gives a new metaphorical
interpretation of karmas under various heads (1) Yajnas (sacrifices); (2) Dana (Gifts);
(3) Tapas(penances); (4) Food and (5) Svadhyaya (Vedic study). What is the source of this
new interpretation of old ideas ? Compare with this what Buddha is reported to have said in
theMajjhina Nikaya 1, 286 Sutta XVI. Can anyone doubt that what Krishna says in verses
5,6, 18, 19 of chapter XVII is a verbatim reproduction of the words of Buddha?

These are only a few illustrations I have selected those of major doctrinal importance.
Those who are interested in pursuing the subject may take up the reference to similarities
between Gita and Buddhism given by Telang in the footnotes to his edition of
the Bhagvat Gita and satisfy their curiosity. But the illustrations I have given will be enough
to show how greatly the Bhagvat Gita is permeated by Buddhistic ideology and how much
the Gita has borrowed from Buddhism. To sum up the Bhagvat Gita seems to be
deliberately modelled on Buddhists Suttas. The Buddhists Suttas are dialogues. So is the
Bhagvat Gita. Buddha's religion offered salvation to women and Shudras. Krishna also
comes forward to offer salvation to women and Shudras. Buddhists say, "I surrender to
Buddha, to Dhamma and to Sangha." So Krishna says, "Give up all religions and surrender
unto Me." No parallel can be closer than what exists between Buddhism and Bhagvat Gita.
 IV
I have shown that Gita is later than Purva Mimansa and also later than Buddhism. I could
well stop here. But I feel I cannot. For there still remains one argument against my thesis
which requires to be answered. It is the argument of Mr. Tilak. It is an ingenious argument.
Mr. Tilak realizes that there are many similarities in ideas and in words between the
Bhagvat Gita and Buddhism. Buddhism being earlier than the Bhagvat Gita, the obvious
conclusion is that the Bhagvat Gita is the debtor and Buddhism is the creditor. This obvious
conclusion is not palatable to Mr. Tilak or for the matter of that to all upholders of counter-
revolution. With them it is a question of honour that counter-revolution should not be shown
to be indebted to Revolution. To get over this difficulty Mr. Tilak has struck a new line. He
points out the distinction between Hinayana Buddhism and MahayanaBuddhism and say,
that Mahayana Buddhism was later than Bhagvat Gita and if there are any similarities
between the Buddhism and Bhagvat Gita it is due to the borrowing by theMahayanist from
the Bhagvat Gita. This raises two questions. What is the date of the origin of the Mahayana
Buddhism? What is the date of the composition of the Bhagvat Gita?The argument of Mr.
Tilak is ingenious and clever. But it has no substance. In the first place, it is not original. It is
based on certain casual remarks made by Winternitz[f36] and byKern[f37] in foot-notes that
there are certain similarties between the Bhagvat Gita and the Mahayan Buddhism and that
there similarities are the result of Mahayana Buddhism borrowing its ideas from the Bhagvat
Gita. Behind these remarks there is no evidence of special research either on the part
of Winternitz, Kern or Mr. Tilak. All of them seem to be led away by the assumption that the
Bhagvat Gita is earlier than Mahayana Buddhism.

This leads me to examine the question of the date of the Bhagvat Gita particularly with
reference to the theory as put forth by Mr. Tilak. Mr. Tilak [f38] is of opinion that the Gita is part
of the Mahabharata and that both have been written by one and the same author
named Vyasa and consequently the date of the Mahabharata must be the date of the
Bhagvat Gita. The Mahabharata, Mr. Tilak argues, must have been written at least 500
years before the Shaka Era on the groung that the stories contained in the Mahabharata
were known to Megasthenes who was in India about 300 B.C. as a Greek ambassador to
the court of Chandragupta Maurya. The Shaka Era began in 78 A.D. On this basis it follows
that the Bhagvat Gita must have been composed before 422 B.C. This is his view about the
date of the composition of the present Gita. According to him, the original Gita must have
been some centuries older than Mahabharata If reliance be placed on the tradition referred
to in the Bhagvat Gita that the religion of the Bhagvat Gita was taught by Nara toNarayan in
very ancient times. Mr. Tilak's theory as to the date of the composition of the Mahabharata is
untenable. In the first place, it assumes that the whole of the Bhagvat Gita and the whole
of Mahabharat have been written at one stretch, at one time and by one hand. There is no
warrant for such an assumption, either in tradition, or in the internal evidence of these two
treatises. Confining the discussion to the Mahabharata the assumption made by Mr. Tilak is
quite opposed to well-known Indian traditions. This tradition divides the compostion of the
Mahabharata into three stages; (1) Jaya (2) Bharata and (3) Mahabharata and assigns to
each part a different author. According to this tradition Vyasa was the author of the 1st
edition so to say of the Mahabharata called 'Jaya'. Of the Second Edition
called 'Bharata' tradition assigns the authorship to Vaishampayana and that of the Third
Edition called Mahabharata to `Sauti'. That this tradition is well-founded has been confirmed
by the researches of Prof. Hopkins based on the examination of internal evidence furnished
by the Mahabharata. According to Prof. Hopkins[f39] there have been several stages in the
composition of the Mahabharata. As has been pointed out by Prof. Hopkins[f40] in the first
stage it was just a Pandu Epic consisting of plays and legends about heroes who took part
in the Mahabharata war without the masses of didactic material. Such a Mahabharata, says
Prof. Hopkins, may have come into existence between 400-200 B.C. The second stage was
the remaking of the epic by the inclusion of didactic matter and the addition
of Puranic material. This was between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. The third stage is marked
when (1) the last books were added to the composition as it stood at the end of the second
stage with the introduction of the first book and (2) the swollen Anushasana Parva was
separated from Shanti Parva and recognized as a separate book. This happened between
200 to 400 A.D. To these three stages Prof. Hopkins adds a fourth or a final stage of
occasional amplification which started from 400 A.D. onwards. In coming to this conclusion
Prof. Hopkins has anticipated and dealt with all the arguments advanced by Mr. Tilak such
as the mention of Mahabharata in Panini[f41]and in the Grihyasutras.[f42] The only new pieces
of evidence produced by Mr. Tilak which has not been considered by Prof. Hopkins are two.
One such piece of evidence consists of the statements which are reported to have been
recorded by Megasthenes, [f43]the Greek Ambassador to the court
[f44]
of Chandra Gupta Maurya, and the other is the astronomical evidence , in the Adi Parva
which refers to the Uttarayana starting with the Shravana constellation. The facts adduced
by Mr. Tilak as coming from Megasthenes may not be denied and may go to prove that at
the time of Megasthenes i.e., about 300 B.C. a cult of Krishna worship had come into
existence among the Sauraseni community. But how can this prove that the Mahabharata
had then come into existence? It cannot. Nor can it prove that the legends and stories
mentioned by Megasthenes were taken by him from the Mahabharata. For there is nothing
to militate against the view that these legends and stories were a floating mass of Saga and
that it served as a reservoir both to the writer of the Mahabharata as well as to Greek
Ambassador.

Mr. Tilak's astronomical evidence may be quite sound. He is right in saying [f45] that "it is
stated in the Anugita that Visvamitra started the enumeration of the constellation with
Shravana (Ma.Bha.Asva.44.2, and Adi.71.34). That has been interpreted by commentators
as showing that the Uttarayana then started with the Shravana constellation, and no other
interpretation is proper. At the date of the Vedanga-Jyotisa, the Uttarayana used to start with
the Sun in the Dhanistha constellation. According to astronomical calculations, the date
when the Uttarayana should start with the Sun in the Dhanistha constellation to about 1,500
years before the Saka era; and according to astronomical calculations, it takes about a
thousand years for the Uttarayana to start one constellation earlier. According to this
calculation, the date when the Uttarayana ought to start with the Sun in
the Shravanaconstellation comes to about 500 years before the Saka era.
This conculsion would have been proper if it was true that the Mahabharata was one whole
piece, written at one time by one author. It has, however, been shown that there is no
warrant for such an assumption. In view of this Mr. Tilak's astroncomical evidence cannot be
used to determine the date of the Mahabharata. It cam be used only to determine the date
of that part of the Mahabharata which is affected by it—in this case the Adi Parva of the
Mahabharata. For these reasons Mr. Tilak's theory as to the date of the composition of the
Mahabharata must fall to the ground. Indeed any attempt to fix a single date for a work like
the Mahabharata which is a serial story produced in parts at long intervals must be regarded
as futile. All that one can say is that the Mahabharata was composed between 400B.C. to
400A.D. a conclusion too broad to be used for the purpose which Mr. Tilak has in view.
Even this span seems to some scholars to be too narrow. It is contended[f46] that the
reference toEdukas in the 190th Adhyaya of the Vanaparva has been wrongly interpreted to
mean Buddhist Stupas when, as a matter of fact, it refers to the Idgahas created by the
Muslim invaders for Muslim converts. If this interpretation is correct it would show that parts
of the Mahabharata were written about or after the invasions of Mohammed Ghori.

Let me now turn to examine Mr. Tilak's theory as to the date of the composition of
the Bhagvat Gita. There are really two propositions underlying his theory. First is that the
Gita is part of the Mahabharata, both are written at one time and are the handiwork of one
man. His second proposition is that the Bhagvat Gita has been the same what it is today
from the very beginning when it first came to be written. To avoid confusion I propose to
take them separately.

Mr. Tilak's object in linking the Gita with the Mahabharata in the matter of its composition
is quite obvious. It is to have the date of the Mahabharata which he thinks is known
toderermine the date of the Bhagvat Gita which is unknown. The basis on which Mr. Tilak
has tried to establish an integral connection between the Mahabharata and the Bhagvat Gita
is unfortunately the weakest part of his theory. To accept that the Gita is a part of
the Mahabharata because the author of both is Vyasa- and this is the argument of
Mr.Tilak—is to accept a fiction for a fact. It assumes that Vyasa is the name of some
particular individual capable of being identified. This is evident from the fact that we have
Vyasa as the author of the Mahabharata, Vyasa as the author of the Puranas, Vyasa as the
author of Bhagvat Gita and Vyasa as the author of the Bramha Sutras. It cannot therefore
be accepted as true that the same Vyasa is the author of all these works separated as they
are by a long span of time extending to several centuries. It is well-known how orthodox
writers wishing to hide their identity get better authority for their works by the use of a
revered name were in the habit of using Vyasa as a nom-de-plume or pen name. If the
author of the Gita is a Vyasa he must be a different Vyasa. There is another argument which
seems to militate against Mr. Tilak's theory of synchroniety between the composition of the
Bhagvat Gita and the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata consists of 18 Parvas. There are also
18 Puranas. It is curious to find that Bhagvat Gita has also 18 Adhyayas. The question
is : Why should there be this parallelism? The answer is that the ancient Indian writers
regarded certain names and certain numbers as invested with great sanctity. The name
Vyasa and the number 18 are illustrations of this fact. But there is more in the fixation of 18
as the chapters of the Bhagvat Gita than is apparent on the face of it. Who set 18 as the
sacred number, the Mahabharata or the Gita? If the Mahabharata, then Gita must have
been written after the Mahabharata. If it is the Bhagvat Gita, then the Mahabharata must
have been written after the Gita. In any case, the two could not have been written at one
and the same time.

These considerations may not be accepted as decisive against Mr. Tilak's first proposition.
But there is one which I think is decisive. I refer to the relative position of Krishna in the
Mahabharata and in the Bhagvat Gita. In the Mahabharata, Krishna is nowhere represented
as a God accepted by all. The Mahabharata itself shows the people were not prepared even
to give him the first place. When at the time of the Rajasuya Yajna, Dharma offered to give
Krishna priority in the matter of honouring the guest, Shishupala—the near relation of
Krishna—protested and abused Krishna. He not only charged him with low origin, but also
with loose morals, an intriguer who violated rules of war for the sake of victory.
So abhorent but so true was this record of Krishna's foul deeds that when Duryodhan flung
them in the face of Krishna, the Mahabharata itself in the Gada Parva records that the Gods
in heaven came out to listen to the charges made by Duryodhan against Krishna and after
listening showered flowers as a token of their view that the charges contained the whole
truth and nothing but the truth. On the other hand, the Bhagvat Gita presented Krishna as
God omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, pure, loving, essence of goodness. Two such
works containing two quite contradictory estimates about one and the same personality
could not have been written at one and the same time by one and the same author. It is a
pity that Mr. Tilak in his anxiety to give a pre-Buddhist date to the composition of the
Bhagvat Gita should have completely failed to take note of these important considerations.

The second proposition of Mr. Tilak is equally unsound. The attempt to fix a date for the
composition of the Bhagvat Gita is nothing but the pursuit of a mirage. It is doomed to
failure. The reason is that the Bhagvat Gita is not a single book written by a single author. It
consists of different parts written at different times by different authors.

Prof. Garbe is the only scholar who has seen the necessity of following this line of inquiry.
Prof. Garbe hold that there are two parts of the Bhagvat Gita one original and one added. I
am not satisfied with this statement. My reading of the Bhagvat Gita leads me to the
conclusion that there have been four separate parts of Bhagvat Gita. They are so distinct
that taking even the present treatise as it stands they can be easily marked off.

(i) The original Gita was nothing more than a heroic tale told or a ballad recited by
the bards of how Arjuna was not prepared to fight and how Krishna forced him to engage in
battle, how Arjuna yielded and so on. It may have been a romantic story but there was
nothing religious or philosophical in it.

This original Gita will be found embedded in Chapter I, Chapter II, verses.. . .. and Chapter
XI verses 32-33 in which Krishna is reported to have ended the argument:

" Be my tool, carry out my will, don't worry about sin and evil resulting from fighting, do as I
tell you, don't be impudent.". This is the argument which Krishna used to compel Arjuna to
fight. And this argument of coercion and compulsion made Arjuna yield. Krishna probably
threatened Arjuna with brute force if he did not actually use it. The assumption ofVishva-
rupa by Krishna is only different way of describing the use of brute force. On that theory it is
possible that the chapter in the present Bhagvat Gita dealing with Vishva-rupa is also a part
of the original Bhagvat Gita.

(ii) The first patch on the original Bhagvat Gita is the part in which Krishna is spoken of
as Ishvara. the God of the Bhagvat religion. This part of the Gita is embedded in those
verses of the present Bhagvat Gita which are devoted to Bhakti Yoga.

(iii) The second patch on the original Bhagvat Gita is the part which introduces
the Sankhya and the Vedanta philosophy as a defence to the doctrines
of Purva Mimansa which they did not have before. The Gita was originally only a historical
Saga with the cult of Krishna came to be interwoven. The Philosophy portion of the
Bhagvat Gita was a later intrusion can be proved quite easily from the nature of the original
dialogue and the sequence of it.

In chapter I verses 20-47 Arjuna mentions those difficulties. In chapter II Krishna attempts
to meet the difficulties mentioned by Arjuna. There are arguments and counter arguments.
Krishna's first argument is contained in verse 2 and 3 in which Krishna tells Arjuna that his
conduct is infamous, unbecoming an Arya and that he should not play the part of an
effeminate which was unworthy of him. To this, Arjuna gives a reply which is embodied in
verses 4 to 8. In verses 4 to 5 he says, "how can I kill Bhishma and Drona who are entitled
to highest reverence: it would be better to live by begging than kill them. I do not wish to live
to enjoy a kindom won by killing old revered elders. " In verses 6 to 8 Arjuna says: "I do not
know which of the two is more meritorious, whether we should vanquish the Kauravas or
whether we should be vanquished by them. "Krishna's reply to this is contained in verses 11
to 39 in which he propounds (i) that grief is unjustified because things are
imperishable, (ii) that it is a false view that a man is killed when the atman is eternal and (iii)
that he must fight because it is the duty of the Kshatriya to fight. Any one who reads the
dialogue will notice the following points:

(1) The questions put by Arjuna are not philosophical questions. They are natural
questions put by a worldly man faced with worldly problems.

(2) Upto a point Krishna treats them as natural questions and returns to them quite natural
replies.

(3) The dialogue takes a new turn. Arjuna after having informed Krishna positively and
definitely that he will not fight, suddenly takes a new turn and expresses a doubt whether it
is agood to kill the Kauravas or be killed by them.This is a deliberate departure designed to
give Krishna a philosophical defence of war, uncalled for by anything said by Arjuna.

(4) Again there is a drop in the tone of Krishna from verses 31 to 38. He treats the
question as natural and tells him to fight because it is the duty of the Kshatriya to fight.

Anyone can see from this that the introduction of the Vedanta philosophy is quite unnatural
and therefore a later intrusion. With regard to the introduction of the Sankhya philosophy the
case is quite obvious. Often it is expounded without any question by Arjuna and whenever it
has been propounded in answer to a question that question has nothing to do with the war.
This shows that the philosophic parts of the Bhagvat Gita are not parts of the
original Gita but have been added later on and in order to find a place for them, new,
appropriate and leading questions have been put in the mouth of Arjuna which have nothing
to do with the mundane problems of war.

(iv) The third patch on the oriinal Bhagvat Gita consists of verses in which Krishna is
elevated from the position of Ishwara to that of Parmeshwara. This patch can be easily
detected as being chapters X and XV where Krishna says: (Quotation not mentioned) ..........
As I said, to go in for a precise date for the composition of the Bhagvat Gita is to go on a
fool's errand and that if an attempt in that direction is to be of any value, effort must be
directed to determine the date of each patch separately. Proceeding in this way it is possible
that what I have called the original unphilosophic Bhagvat Gita was part of the first edition of
the Mahabharata called Jaya. The first patch on the original Bhagvat Gita in which Krishna
is depicted as Ishvara must be placed in point of date sometimes later
than Megasthenes when Krishna was only a tribal God.[f47] How much later it is not possible
to say. But it must be considerably later. For it must be remembered that the Brahmins were
not friendly to Krishnaism in the beginning. In fact they were opposed to it.[f48] It must have
taken some time before the Brahmins could have become reconciled to Krishna worship. [f49]

The second patch on the original Bhavat Gita. having reference

to Sankhya and Vedanta must for reason already given be placed later than the Sutras
of Jaimini andBadarayana. The question of the date of these Sutras has carefully been
examined by Prof. Jacobi[f50]. His conclusion is that these Sutras were composed sometime
between 200 and 450A.D.

The third patch on the original Bhagvat Gita in which Krishna is raised
into Parmeshvara must be placed during the reign of the Gupta Kings. The reason is
obvious. Gupta kings made Krishna-Vas.udev their family deity as their opponents
the Shaka kings had made Mahadeo their family deity. The Brahmins to whom religion has
been a trade, who were never devoted to one God but came forward to worship the deity of
the ruling race thought of pleasing their masters by making their family deity into a high and
mighty Parmeshvar.If this is correct explanation then this patch on the
original Bhagvat Gita must be placed between 400 and 464 A.D.

All this goes to confirm the view that the attempt to place the Bhagvat Gita prior in point of
time to Buddhism cannot succeed. It is the result of wishful thinking on the part of those who
have inherited a positive dislike to Buddha and his revolutionary gospel. History does not
support it. History proves quite abnormally that at any rate those portions of the
Bhagvat Gita which have any doctrinal value are considerably later in point of time to
the Buddhist canon and the Sutras of Jaimini and Badarayana.

The discussion of the dates not only proves that the Bhagvat Gita is later
than Hinayana Buddhism but is also later than Mahayana Buddhism. The impression
prevails that Mahayana Buddhism is later in origin. It is supposed to have come into being
after A.D. 100 when Kanishka held the third Buddhist Council to settle the dissension in the
Buddhist Church. This is absolutely a mistake.[f51] It is not true that after the Council a new
creed of Buddhism came into existence. What happened is that new names of abuse came
into existence for parties which were very old. As Mr. Kimura has shown the Mahayanist is
simply another name for the sect of Buddhists known as Mahasanghikas. The sect
ofMahasanghikas had come into being very much earlier than is supposed to be the case. If
tradition be believed the sect had come into being at the time of the First Buddhist Council
held at Pataliputra 236 years after the death of Buddha i.e., 307 B.C[f52]for settling the
Buddhist canon and is said to have led the opposition to the Theravad sect of Buddhism
which later on came to be stigmatized as Hinayana (which means those holding to the low
path). There could hardly be any trace of Bhagvat Gita when the Mahasanghikas later
known as Mahayanists came into being.

Apart from this what have the Mahayanists borrowed from the Bhagvat Gita? Indeed what
can they borrow from the Bhagvat Gita? As Mr. Kimura points out the doctrine of every
school of Buddhism is mainly concerned at least with three doctrines: (1) Those which deal
with cosmic existence; (2) Those which deal with Buddhology; and (3) Those which deal
with conception of human life. Mahayana is no exception to this. Except probably
on Buddhology the Mahayanists could hardly use the Bhagvat Gita to draw upon So
different is the aproach of the two on the other doctrines and even this possibility is excluded
by the factor of time.

The foregoing discussion completely destroys the only argument that could be urged
against my thesis—namely that the Bhagvat Gita is very ancient, pre-Buddhistic in origin
and therefore could not be related to Jaimini's Purva Mimansa and treated as an attempt to
give a philosophic defence of his counter-revolutionary doctrines.

To sum up, my thesis is three-fold. In other words it has three parts. First is that the
Bhagvat Gita is fundamentally a counter-revolutionary treatise of the same class
as Jamini'sPurva Mimansa—the official Bible of counter-revolution. Some writers relying on
verses 40-46 of Chapter II hold the view that the Bhagvat Gita is

{In all the copies available with us, the essay has been left here incomplete, as is seen
from the above sentence—Editors.)

CHAPTER 10

Analytical Notes of Virat Parva & Udyog Parva

VIRAT PARVA

1. The spies sent by Kauravas to search for the existence of the Pandavas return
to Duryodhan and tell him that they are unable to discover them. They ask his permission as
to what to do Virat Parva, Adhya. 25.

2. Duryodhan asks for advice from his advisers. Kama said send other
spies. Dushasan said they might have gone beyond the sea. But search for them.—Ibid. —
Adhya. 26.

3. Drona said the Pandavas are not likely to be defeated or destroyed. They may be living
as Tapasis. therefore send Siddhas and Brahamins as spies— Ibid. Adhya 27.

4. Bhishma supports Drona—Ibid Adhya. 28.

5. Kripacharya supported Bhishma and added—Pandavas are great enemies. But wise
man does not neglect even small enemies. While they are in Agnyatavasa you should go on
collecting armies from now.— Ibid Adhya. 29.

6. Then Susharma King of Trigarth raised quite a different subject. He said

that Kichaka who was the Senapati of King Virat I hear dead, King Virat is to give us great
trouble. Kichaka having been dead Virat must have become very weak. Why not invade the
Kingdom of Virat? This is the most opportune time. Kama also supported Susharma. Why
worry about the Pandavas, these Pandavas are without wealth, without army and fallen.
Why bother with them? They might have even been dead by now. Give up the search and
let undertake the project of Susharma—Ibid Adhya. 30.

7. Susharma's invasion of Vairat. Susharma carries away the cows of Virat. The cow
herds go and inform Virat of this and ask him to pursue Susharma and rescue the cows.—
Ibid Adhya. 31.

8. Virat became ready for war. In the meanwhile Shatanik the younger brother of Virat
suggested that instead of going alone he

might take with him Kank (Sahadeo) Ballava (Yudhishtira) Santipal

(Bhima) and Granthik (Nakula) to help him to fight Susharma. Virat agreed and they all
went—Ibid. Adhya. 31.

9. War between Shusharma and Virat—Ibid Adhya. 32.

10. Yudhishthira rescues Virat.—Ibid. Adhya. 33.

11. Announcement in the Virat Nagari that their King is safe.— Ibid Adhya. 34.

ENTRY IN VIRAT NAGARI BY KAURVAS

12. While King Virat went
after Susharman Duryodhan with Bhishma, Drona, Kama, Krapa, Ashvashthama, Sha
kuni, Dushashana, Vivinshati, Vikarna, Chitrasen,Durmukha, Dushala and
other warriers entered the Virat Nagari and captured the cows of Virat and were going away.
The cowherds came to the palace of King Virat and gave the news. They need not find the
King but they found his son Uttar. so they gave him the news.—Ibid Adhya. 35.

13. Uttar began to boast saying he was superior to Arjuna and would do the job. But his
complaint was that there was no one to act his Sarathi. Draupadi went and told him
thatBrahannada was at one time the Sarathi of Arjuna. Why not ask him? He said he had no
courage and requested Draupadi to make the request. Why not ask your younger
sisterManorama. So he told Manorama to bring Brahannada—Ibid Adhya. 36.

14. Manorama takes Brahannada to his brothers and Uttara persuades him to be his
Sarathi. Brahannada agreed and took the Rath of Uttara in front of the Kauravas—
Ibid.Adhya. 37.
 15. On seeing the army of the Kauravas Uttara left the Rath and started running away.
Arjuna stopped him. The Kauravas seeing this began to suspect that the man might be
Arjuna. Arjuna told him not to be afraid—Ibid Adhya. 38.

16. Arjuna took his Ratha to the Shami tree. Seeing this Drona said he must be Arjuna.
Hearing this the Kauravas were greatly upset. But Duryodhana said if Drona is right it is
good for us. Because it is before the thirteenth year that the Pandavas will have been
discovered and they will have to suffer Vanavas again for 12 years.—Ibid Adhya. 39.

17. Arjuna asks Uttara to climb the Shami tree and to take down the weapons.—
Ibid Adhya. 40.

18. Uttara's doubts about the corpse on the Shami Tree—Ibid Adhya. 41.

19. Uttara's excitement after seeing the weapons—Ibid Adhya. 42.

20. Arjuna's description of the weapons.—Ibid Adhya. 43.

21. Uttara's Inquiry regarding the whereabouts about the Pandavas.—Ibid Adhya. 44.

22. Climbing down of Uttara from the tree—Ibid Adhya. 45.

23. The Rath with Vanar Symbol. Drona becomes sure that he is Arjuna. Bad omens seen
by the army of the Kauravas.—Ibid Adhya. 46.

24. Duryodhan encourages the soldiers who were frightened by Drona's saying that it was
Arjuna. Kama's slander of Drona and proposal to Duryodhan to remove Drona as
aCommander-in-Chief.— Ibid Adhya. 47.

25. Boasting by Kama and Pratijna to defeat Arjuna— Ibid Adhya. 48.

26. Krapacharya's admonition to Kama not to brag and boast. War is regarded as bad by
the Shastras—Ibid Adhya. 49.

27. Ashvasthama abuses Kama and Duryodhan because of their slander of Drona—
Ibid Adhya. 50.

28. Ashavashthama abused Kama and Duryodhan for speaking ill of Drona. Kama
replied, 'after all I am only a Suta.,' But Arjuna has behaved as bad as Rama behaved
towards Vali—Ibid Adhya. 50.

29. Ashvashthama was quieted by Bhisma, Drona and Krapa, Duryodhan and Kama
tendered apology to Drona— -Ibid Adhya. 51. 30. Bhishma's decision that the Pandavas
have completed 13 years.—ibid Adhya. 52.

31. Arjuna has defeated the army of the Kauravas.— Ibid Adhya. 53.
 32. Arjuna defeats Kama's Bhrata. Arjuna defeats Kama and Kama runs away—
Ibid Adhya. 54.

33. Arjuna destroys the army of the Kauravas and breaks the Rath of Kripacharya—Ibid
Adhya. 55.

34. Gods came out in heaven to witness the fight between Arjuna and the army of the
Kauravas—Ibid Adhya. 56.

35. Battle between Krapa and Arjuna and the running away of Krapa.—Ibid Adhya. 57.

36. Battle between Drona and Arjuna and running away of Drona.—Ibid Adhya. 58.

37. Battle between Ashavashthama and Arjuna—Ibid Adhya. 59.

38. Battle between Kama and Arjuna, defeat of Kama—Adhya. 60.

39. Attack on Bhishma by Arjuna—Ibid Adhya. 61.

40. Arjuna kills the Kauravas soldiers—Ibid Adhya. 62.

41. Defeat of Bhishma and his running away from the Battle-field— Ibid Adhya. 64.

42. Fainting of the soldiers of the Kauravas. Bhishmas telling them

to return home.—Ibid Adhya. 66.

43. Kaurava soldiers surrendering to Arjuna from Abhay. Uttar and Arjuna return
to Virat Nagari— Ibid Adhya. 67.

44. Virat enters his capital and his people honouring him.— Ibid Adhya. 68.

45. The Pandavas enter the King's Assembly.—Ibid Adhya. 69.

46. Arjuna introduces his other brothers in Virat.-- Ibid Adhya. 71.

47. Marriage between Arjuna's son and the daughter of Virat.— -lbid Adhya. 72.

48. Thereafter the Pandavas leave Virat Nagari and live in Upaplowya Nagari— Ibid
Adhya. 72.

49. Arjuna thereafter brought his son Abhimanyu, Vasudev, and Yadav from Anrut Desh—
lbid Adhya. 72.

50. Friends of Yudhisthir such as Kings Kashiraj and Shalya came with
two Akshauhini army. Similarly Yagyasen Drupadraj came with
one Akshauhini. Draupadi's all sons Ajinkya, Shikhandi, Drustadumna also came .—
Ibid 72.

UDYOGAPARVA
1. After the marriage of Abhimanyu the Yadavas and the Pandavas met in the Sabha of
King Virat. Krishna addresses them as to what is to be done about the future. We must do
what is good both Kauravas and Pandavas. Dharma will accept anything—even
one villaga—by Dharma. Even if he is given the whole kingdom by Duryodhana he will not
accept it. Upto now the Pandavas have observed Niti. But if the Kauravas observe Aniti the
Pandavas will not hesitate to kill the Kauravas. Let nobody be afraid on account of the fact
that the Pandavas are a minority. They have many friends who will come to their rescue. We
must try to know the wishes of the Kauravas. I suggest that we should send
amessanger to Duryodhan and ask him to give part of the Kingdom to the Pandavas.—
Udyog Parva, Adhya. 1.

2. Balaram supports the proposal of Krishna but added that it was the fault of Dharma
knowing that he was losing at the hands of Shakuni. Therefore instead of fighting with the
Kauravas get what you can by negotiation.—lhid, Adhya. 2.

3. Satyaki got up and condemned Balaram for his attitude— Ibid, Adhya. 3.

4. Drupad supports Satyaki. Drupad agrees to send his Purohit as a messanger—

Ibid, Adhya. 4.

5. Krishna supports Drupad and goes to Dwarka. Kings invited by Drupad and Virat arrive.
Similarly Kings invited by Duryodhan arrive.—lhid. Adhva. 5.

6. Drupada instructs his purohit how to speak in the assembly and deal with the issue.—
Ibid Adhya. 6.

7. Arjuna and Duryodhana both go to Dwarka to ask for his aid in the war. He said I will
help you both. I can give my army to one and I can join one singly. Choose what you
want.Duryodhan chose the army. Arjuna choose Krishna.—Ibid Adhya. 7.

8. Coming of Shalya to the Pandavas with alarge army. Duryodhan thinks him lower.
Meeting of Shalya and Pandavas. Pandavas request Shalya to discourage Kama in the war.
Agreement of Shalya.— Ibid. Adhya. 8.

9. Adhya. 9—Irrelevant. 1

10. Adhya. 10—Irrelevant.

11. Adhya. II—Irrelevant.

 12. Adhya. 12—Irrelevant.

13. Adhya. 13—Irrelevant.

14. Adhya. 14—Irrelevant.

15. Adhya. 15—Irrelevant.

16. Adhya. 16—Irrelevant.

17. Adhya. 17—Irrelevant.

18. Adhya. 18—Irrelevant.

19. Adhya—Satyaki comes to Pandvas with his army and Bhagadatta went to
Duryodhana.

20. Adhya. 20—The Purohit of Drupada enters the Kauravas Sabha. The Purohit said that
the Pandvas are prepared to part evil deeds of the Kauravas and make a compromise with
them. He told them that the Pandavas have a large army yet they wish to compromise.

21. Adhya. 21—Bhishma supports the Purohit. Kama objects. Dispute between Bhishma
and Kama. Dhratrarashtra suggests that Sanjaya be sent for negotiation on their behalf.

22. Adhya. 22—Dhratrarashtra sends Sanjaya to go to the Pandvas and give his blessings
and say what you think best for the occasion and which will not advance enmity between the
two.

23. Adhya. 23—Sanjaya's going to the Pandvas.

24. Adhya. 24—Conversation betwen Sanjaya and Yudhistira.

25. Adhya. 25—Sanjaya condemns war.

26. Adhya. 26—Dharma says 'I am prepared to compromise if the Kauravas give us our
Kingdom of Indraprastha.

27. Adhya. 27—It is Adharma to kill Gurujan and obtain a Kingdom. If the Kauravas refuse
to give you any kingdom without war you had better live by begging in the Kingdom
ofVrishni and Andhakas.

28. Adhya. 28—Says, Dharma Blame us Sanjaya if you think we

have acted or acting against Dharma. Sanjaya says I want Swadharma

or Sama.
29. Adhya. 29—Krishna's address to Sanjaya why war is legitimate

and asks him to go and tell his views to Dhratarashtra.

30. Adhya. 30—Sanjaya returns to Kauravas and tells Duryodhana

to war. Duryodhan either to return Indraprastha to the Pandavas or

be ready for war.

31. Adhya. 30—Sanjaya tells Duryodhan to live and let live. If he

cannot give Indraprastha let him give us five villages.

32. Adhya. 31—Sanjaya reaches Dratrarashtra at night and tells

him I will give you the message of Dharma in the morning.

33. Adhya. 32—Dhratarashtra is uneasy and wants to know the

message Sanjaya brought. So he sends for Sanjaya immediately.

Sanjaya gives him the message and says settle the dispute by g:iving

them their share of the Kingdom.

34. Adhya. 34—Dhratarashtra calls for Vidura and asks his advice.

His advice is, give the Pandavas their portion of the Kingdom.

35. Adhya. 35—Irrelevant.

36. Adhya. 36—Irrelevant. Vidur says make the two sides friends.

37. Adhya. 37—Irrelevant.

38. Adhya 38—Irrelevant.

39. Adhya. 39—Dhratarashtra tells Vidura I cannot give up

Duryodhan although he is bad.

40. Adhya. 40—Vidura describes Chaturvarna.

41. Adhya. 41—Dhratarashtra asks Vidur about Brahma. He says I

can't because I am a Shudra. Then comes Sanat-Sujata.

42. Adhya. 42—Conversation between Dhratarashtra & Sanat

 Sujata on Brahma Vidya.

43. Adhya. 43—Dialogue between Sanat Sujat and Dhratarashtra

on the same subject.

44. Adhya. 44—Sanat Sujata on Brahma Vidya.

45. Adhya. 45—Sanat Sujata preaches yoga.

46. Adhya. 46—Sanat Sujat on Atma.

47. Adhya. 47—Kauravas come to the Sabha to hear the message

brought by Sanjaya.

48. Adhya. 48—Sanjaya delivers the message. (Particularly that part

which was given by Arjuna?)

49. Adhya. 49—Praise of Arjuna & Krishna by Bhishma. Kama

gets angry. Drona supports Bhisma and advices compromise.

50. Adhya. 50—Dhratarashtra asks Sanjaya who are the allies of

the Pandvas & their strength. Sanjaya taunts, gets up answers.

51. Adhya. 51—Dhratarashtra thinks of the prowess of Bhismna and sighs.

52. Adhya. 52—Dhratarashtra thinks of the prowess of Arjuna and sighs.

53. Adhya. 53—Dhratarashtra thinks of the prowess of Dharma and his friends. He tells
his sons to compromise with the Pandavas.

54. Adhya. 54—Sanjaya predicts the defeat of the Kauravas.

55. Adhya. 55—Duryodhan says Pandavas cannot defeat us because our forces are
greater.

56. Adhya. 56—Sanjaya describes the disposition of the army made by the Pandavas.

57. Adhya. 57—Sanjaya describes how Pandavas have designed to kill the warriors of
the Kauravas. Duryodhan says he is not affraid of the Pandvas defeating the Kauravaswho
have a larger army.

58. Adhya. 58—Dhratarashtra tells Duryodhan not to fight. Duryodhan takes oath not to
swerve from battle. Dhratarashtra weeps.
 59. Adhya. 59—Dhratarashtra tells Sanjaya to tell him what conversation took place
between Krishna & Arjuna.

60. Adhya. 60—Dhratarashtra tells Duryodhan that the Devas will help the Pandavas and
will ruin the Kauravas.

61. Adhya. 61—Duryodhan says he is not afraid of that.

62. Adhya. 62—Kama says he alone is capable of killing Arjuna.

63. Adhya. 63—Duryodhan says he is fighting relying on Kama & not

on Bhishma, Drona etc.

64. Adhya. 64—Vidura tells Duryodhan give up enmity.

65. Adhya. 65—Dratarashtra admonishes Duryodhan.

66. Adhya. 66—Sanjaya tells Dratarashtra the message of Arjuna.

67. Adhya. 67—The kings who had assembled in the hall of the Kauravas return to their
homes. Vyas and Gandhari come with Vidur. Vyas told Sanjaya to tell Dhratarashtra every
thing he knows about the real Swarup of Krishna & Arjuna.

68. Adhya. 68—Sanjaya tells Dhratarashtra about Krishna.

69. Adhya. 69—Dhratarashtra tells Duryodhan to surrender to Krishna. Refusal of

Duryodhan. Gandhari abuses Duryodhan.

70. Adhya 70—Different names of Krishna & their origin.

71. Adhya 71—Dhratarashtra surrenders to Krishna.

72. Adhya. 72—Conversation between Yudhistira and Krishna. Yudhistir says Sanjaya told
him not to rely on Dhratarashtra. Yudhistir stresses the importance of property Speaks
of (Kshatradharma) & the necessity of observing it Krishna proposes to go to the Kauravas.
Yudhistir does not like the idea but says to what you think is the best.

73. Adhya. 73—Krishna tells Dharma the secret which has in mind. Don't use soft speech
with the Pandvas tells Krishna to Dharma. There are plenty of reasons why you should not
make any compromise with the Kauravas. Emphasizes how
the Kauravas disgraced Draupadi. Therefore Oh ; Dharma do not hesitate to kill them.

74. Adhya. 74—Bhishma tells Krishna to use soft speech with the Kauravas.

75. Adhya. 75—Krishna redicules Bhima.

 76. Adhya. 76—Bhima makes up his mind to fight.

77. Adhya. 77—Krishna tells Bhima the difference between Daiva and Paurush.

78. Adhya. 78—Arjuna tells Krishna to adopt Shama—failing war can be considered.

79. Adhya. 79—Krishna's talk to Arjun. I will try to bring about a settlement by peace. If
that is not possible be ready for war. I will not communicate
to Duryodhan Dharma'swillingness to accept five villages.

80. Adhya. 80—Nakul tells Krishna to do the best.

81. Adhya. 81—Sahadev meets Krishna and tells him to bring about a war with the
Kauravas. Satyaki said that all warriors assembled here agree with the view of Sahadeo.

82. Adhya. 82—Draupadi meets Krishna & tells him that she will not be satisfied unless
Duryodhan is punished. Krishna gives her assurance.

83. Adhya. 83—Last meeting between Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna makes the best effort
for Shama. Yudhishtir tells Krishna to give assurances to Kunti. Krishna starts on his
mission.

84. Adhya. 84—Good & Bad omens to Krishna on his way to Hastinapura.

85. Adhya. 85—Duryodhana creates Resting places for Krishna's journey

to Hastinapur. Krishna arrives in Hastinapura.

86. Adhya. 86—Dhratarashtra tells Vidura what gifts are to be offered to krishna.

87. Adhya. 87—Vidur tells Dhratarashtra that he cannot separate Krishna from
the Pandavas.

88. Adhya. 88—Duryodhan says Krishna is worship. But this is not the time to worship
him. Bhishma tells Duryodhan to make a compromise with Pandavas. Duryodhan desires to
look up Krishna. Bhishma's strong opposition to Duryodhana.

89. Adhya. 89—Krishna's entry into Hastinapur. Meeting with Dhratarashtra. His stay with
Vidura.

90. Adhya. 90—Meeting between Kunti and Krishna—Kunti's sorrow. Krishna consoles
her. Kunti tells Krishna— (1) Tell my sons to fight for their kingdom. (2) I am sorry
forDraupadi.

91. Adhya. 91—Kauravas invite Krishna to dinner. Krishna's refusal. Krishna goes for meal
to Vidur.
 92. Adhya. 92—Vidur tells Krishna that he does not like his going among the Kauravas.

93. Adhya. 93—Krishna tells Vidura not all the Kauravas can hurt him. I have come only
because Shama is Punnyakarak.

94. Adhya. 94—Krishna enters the assembly Hall of the Kauravas.

95. Adhya. 95—Krishna's address to the Assembly. He told them pandavas are ready for
both peace as well as war. Give them half their kingdom.

96. Adhya. 96—Jamadgni tells a story against arrogance.

97. Adhya. 97-105—Matali Akhyan.

98. Adhya. 106—Narada's advice to Duryodhana.

99. Adhya. 106-123— Galava Akhyan.

100. Adhya. 124—Dratarashtra tells Krishna to advise Duryodhana.

101. Adhya. 125—Bhishma's advice

to Duryodhan.Drona's support. Vidura's condemnation of
Duryodhana. Dhratarashtra's advice.

102. Adhya. 126—Bhishma & Drona advice Duryodhana a second time.

103. Adhya. 127—Duryodhana announces not to give anything to the Pandavas.

104. Adhya. 128—Krishna condemns Duryodhana. Duryodhan leaves the

Assembly. Dushyasana's speech. Krishna warns Bhishma.

104. Adhya. 129—Dhratarashtra asks Vidur to bring Gandhari to the Assembly.

Duryodhan comes back—Gandhari asks him to give half the Kingdom to Pandavas.

104. Adhya. 130—Duryodhana leaves the assembly. His intention to kill

Krishna. Satyaki informs Dhratarashtra of this secret plot. Srikrishna's speech. Dhratarashtra
calls back Duryodhana to the assembly, warns him. Vidur's condemnation.

105. Adhya. 131—Bhagwana's Vishwarup Darshan Dhratarashtra

gets Divya Chakshu? Krishna leaves the assembly and goes to. Kunti.

106. Adhya. 132—Krishna tells Kunti what happened in the assembly. Kunti tells Krishna
war is natural to Kshatriyas. There is no better Dharma than that.

107. Adhya. 133—Kunti tells Krishna the story of Vidula to reinforce her point.

108. Adhya. 134—Vidula's story.

 109. Adhya. 135—Vidula's story.

110. Adhya. 136—Vidula's story.

III. Adhya. 137—Kunti's advice to her sons. Krishna's advice to Kama and his departure
to Upapalavya Nagari.

112. Adhya. 138—Advice to Duryodhana by Bhishma & Drona.

113. Adhya. 139—Bhishma's sorrow. Drona again advises Duryodhana.

114. Adhya. 140—Conversation between Dhratarashtra and Sanjaya. Krishna advices

Kama.

115. Adhya. 141—Kama's reply to Krishna.

116. Adhya. 142—Krishna's assurance to Kama that the Pandava's will win.

117. Adhya. 143—Kama sees bad omens. His determination to finish Pandavas. His going
home.

118. Adhya. 144—Conversation between Vidura and Pratha. Knows Duryodhana is

determined to fight. Kunti's sorrow. Her wish to tell Kama his origin. Kunti goes to the bank
of the river.

119. Adhya. 145—Kunti meets Kama and tells him his origin and request him to join the
Pandavas.

120. Adhya. 146—Surya supports the proposal of Kunti. Kama rejects it. Promises to save
all the Pandavas except Arjuna.

121. Adhya. 147—Krishna goes to Pandavas. Yudhistir asks what happened in

the Kaurava Sabha.

122. Adhya. 147, 148, 149, 150—Krishna relates the whole story.

123. Adhya. 151—Appointment of Senapati for the Pandavas Army. Entry of Pandava's
Army in Kurushetra.

124. Adhya. 152—Description of Pandavas arrangement for supply to the Army.

125. Adhya. 153—Arrangement on Kaurava's side. Our army must enter Kurushetra
tomorrow early morning.

126. Adhya. 154—Dharma's fear of fall from his moral rectitude by going to war. Krishna
satisfied him. Arjuna said you must fight.
 127. Adhya. 155—Description of Duryodhan's army.

128. Adhya. 156—Bhishma is made Senapati of the Kaurava's army. Kama is offended.
His decision not to take command till Bhishma is dead. Kaurava's Army enters Kurushetra.

129. Adhya. 157—Krishna becomes commander of Pandava's Army.

130. Balrarn goes on Pilgrimage saying I do not like the Kauravas destroyed.

131. Adhya. 158—Rukmi neither wanted by Arjuna nor by Duryodhana goes home.

132. Adhya. 159—Conversation between Sanjaya and Dhratarashtra. He blames

Dhratarashtra.

133. Adhya. 160—Pandava's Army on the bank of the Hiranyavati river. Duryodhan sends
offensive messages to Pandavas and Krishna saying fight if you can.

134. Adhya. 161. Uluka goes with the messages.

135. Adhya. 162—Angry Pandavas send back angry messages. They give order that the
war will start tomorrow.

CHAPTER 11

Brahmins Versus Kshatriyas

This manuscript consists of 43 foolscap typed pages. All the loose pages are tagged. The
original title, 'Brahmins and Kshatriyas and the Counter-Revolution ' has been modified in
Dr. Ambedkar's hand-writing as 'Brahmins Versus Kshatriyas ' on the title page. The essay
seems to be complete.—Editors.

The sacred literature of the Hindus contains many cases of conflicts between the
Brahmins and the Kshatriyas and even of sanguinary wards between the two.

The first case reported was that of the King Vena. Vena was a Kshatriya King. His conflict
with the Brahmins has been referred to in various authorities. The following account is taken
from the Harivansa.

"[f53]There was formerly a Prajapati (lord of creatures), a protector of righteousness,

called Anga, of the race of Atrai, and resembling him in power. His son was the Prajapati
Vena, who was but indifferently skilled in duty, and was born of Sunitha, the daughter
of Mrityu. This son of the daughter of Kala (Death), owing to the taint derived from his
maternal grand-father, threw his duties behind his back, and lived in covetousness under the
influence of desire. This king established an irreligious system of conduct ; transgressing the
ordinances of the Veda, he was devoted to lawlessness. In his reign men lived without study
of the sacred books and without the Vashatkara, and the gods had no some-libations to
drink at sacrifices."

No sacrifice or oblation shall be offered,—such was the ruthless determination of that

Prajapati, as the time of his destruction approached. 'I', he declared, 'am the object, and the
performer of sacrifice, and the sacrifice itself; it is to me that sacrifice should be presented,
and oblations offered.' This transgressor of the rules of duty, who arrogated to himself what
was not his due, was then addressed by all the great Rishis, headed by Marichi : "We are
about to consecrate ourselves for a ceremony which shall last for many years;practise not
unrighteousness, of Vena ; this is not the eternal rule of duty. Thou art in every deed
a Prajapati of Atri's race and thou hast engaged to protect thy subject. `The foolish Vena,
ignorant of what was right, laughingly answered those great Rishis who had so addressed
him: "Who but myself is the ordainer of duty? or whom ought I to obey? Who on earth
equals me in sacred knowledge, in process, in austere fervour, in truth? Ye who are deluded
and senseless know not that I am the source of all beings and duties. Hesitate not to believe
that I, if I willed, could turn up the earth, or deluge it with water, or close up heaven and
earth.' When owing to his delusion and arrogance Vena could not be governed, then the
mighty Rishis becoming licensed, seized the vigorous and struggling king, and rubbed his
left thigh. From this thigh, so rubbed, was produced a black man, very short in stature, who,
being alarmed, stood with joined hands. Seeing that he was agitated, Atri said to him 'Sit
down' (Nishida). He became the founder of the race of theNishadas, and also progenitor of
the Dhivaras (Fishermen), who sprang from the corruption of Vena.'

The second case is that of Pururavas. Pururavas is another Kshatriya King, son of Ila and
grandson of Manu Vaivasvata. He came in conflict with the Brahmans the following account
of which appears in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata :

" [f54]Subsequently the wise Pururavas was born of lla who, as we have heard was both
his father and his mother. Ruling over thirteen islands of the ocean, and surrounded by
beings who were all superhuman, himself a man of great renown, Pururavas, intoxicated by
his prowess, engaged in a conflict with the Brahmans, and robbed them of their jewels,
although they loudly remonstrated. Sanatkumara came from Brahma's heaven, and
addressed to him an admonition, which however, he did not regard. Being then straightway
cursed by the incenses Rishis, he perished, this covetous monarch, who, through piece of
power, had lost his understanding." The third and a somewhat serious conflict was that
between King Nahusha and the Brahmins. Nahusha is the grandson of Pururavas. The story
is told in two places in the Mahabharata once in the Vanaparvan and a second time in
the Udyogaparvan. The following account is taken from the Udyogaparvan of the
Mahabharata:

" [f55]After his slaughter of the demon Vritta, Indra became alarmed at the idea of having
taken the life of a Brahman (for Vritta was regarded as such) and hid himself in the waters.
In consequence of the disappearance of the king of the gods, all affairs, celestial as well as
terrestrial, fell into confusion. The Rishis and gods then applied to Nahusha to be their king.
After the first excusing himself on the plea of want of power, Nahusha at length, in
compliance with their solicitations, accepted the high function. Upto the period of his
elevation he had led a virtuous life, but he now became addicted to amusement and sensual
pleasure, and even aspired to the possession of Indrani, Indra's wife, whom he had
happened to see. The queen resorted to the Angiras Vrihaspati, the preceptor of the gods,
who engaged to protect her. Nahusha was greatly incensed on hearing of this
interference ; but the gods endeavoured to pacify him, and pointed out the immorality of
appropriating another person's wife. Nahusha, however, would listen to no remonstrance,
and insisted that in his adulterous designs he was no worse than Indra himself."

"The renowned Ahalya, a rishi's wife, was formerly corrupted by Indra in her husband's
lifetime. Why was he not prevented by you? And many barbarous acts, and unrighteous
deeds, and frauds were perpetrated of old by Indra; Why was he not prevented by you?"
The gods, urged Nahusha, then went to bring Indrani; but Vrihaspati would not give her up.
At his recommendation, however, she solicited Nahusha for some delay, till she should
ascertain what had become of her husband. This request was granted." Indrani now went in
search of her husband ; and by the help of Upasruti (the goddess of night and revealer of
secrets) discovered him existing in a very subtile form in the stem of a lotus growing in a
lake situated in a continent within an ocean north of the Himalayas. She made known to him
the wicked intentions of Nahusha, and entreated him to exert his power, rescue her from
danger, and resume his dominion. Indra declined any immediate interposition on the plea
of Nahusha's superior strength ; but suggested to his wife a device by which the usurper
might be hurled from his position. She was recommended to say to Nahusha that "if he
would visit her on a celestial vehicle borne by Rishis, she would with pleasure submit herself
to him."

"I desire for thee, king of the gods, a vehicle hitherto unknown, such as neither Vishnu,
nor Rudra, nor the Asuras, nor the Rakshases employ. Let the eminent Rishis, all united,
bear thee, lord, in a car: this idea pleases me." Nahusha receives favourably this appeal to
his vanity, and in the course of his reply thus gives utterance to his self-congratulation :"He
is a personage of no mean prowess who makes the Munis his bearers. I am a fervid
devotee of great might, lord of the past, the future, and the present. If I were angry the world
would no longer stand ; on me everything depends.......... Wherefore, 0 goddess, I shall,
without doubt, carry out what you propose. The seven Rishis, and all the Brahman-
rishis, shall carry me. Behold, beautiful goddess, my majesty and my prosperity." The
narrative goes on : "Accordingly this wicked being, irreligious, violent, intoxicated by the
force of conceit, and arbitrary in his conduct, attached to his car the Rishis who submitted to
his command, and compelled them to bear him." Indrani then again resorts
to Vrihaspati,who assures her that vengeance will soon overtake Nahusha for his
presumption, and promises that he will himself perform a sacrifice with a view to the
destruction of the oppressor, and the discovery of Indra's lurking place. Agni is then sent to
discover and bring Indra to Vrihaspati ; and the latter, on Indra's arrival, informs him of all
that had occurred during his absence. While Indra,
with Kuvera, Yama, Soma and Varuna was devising means for the destruction of Nahusha,
the sage Agastya came up, congratulated Indra on the fall of his rival, and proceeded to
relate how it had occurred :

"Wearied with carrying the sinner Nahusha the eminent divine-rishis, and the
spotless Brahman-rishis, asked that divine personage Nahusha (to solve) a difficulty; "Dost
thou, OVasava, most excellent of conquerors, regard as authoritative or not
those Brahmana texts which are recited at the immolation of kine? " 'No', replied Nahusha,
whose understanding was enveloped in darkness. The Rishis rejoined : 'Engaged in
unrighteousness, thou attainest not unto righteousness : these texts, which were formerly
uttered by great Rishis, are regarded by us as authoritative.`Then (proceeds Agastya)
disputing with the Munis, Nahusha, impelled by unrighteousness, touched me on the head
with his foot. In consequence of this the king's glory was smitten and his prosperity
departed. When he had instantly become agitated and oppressed with fear, I said to
him, 'Since thou, O fool,contemnest that sacred text, always held in honour, which has been
composed by former sages, and employed by Brahman-rishis, and has touched my head
with thy foot, andemployest the Brahma—like the irresistible Rishis as bearers to carry
thee,—therefore, shorn of thy lusture, and all thy merit exhausted, sink down, sinner,
degraded from heaven to earth. For ten thousand years thou shalt crawl in the form of a
huge serpent. When that period is completed, thou shalt again ascend to heaven. `So fell
that wicked wretch from the sovereignty of the gods. Happily, 0 Indra, we shall now prosper,
for the enemy of the Brahmans has been smitten. Take possession of the three worlds, and
protect their inhabitants, O husband of Sachi (Indrani) subduing thy senses, overcoming
thine enemies, and celebrated by the great Rishis."

The fourth case is of King Nimi. Nimi was one of the sons of Ikshvaku. The facts of
his conflict with the Brahmans are related in the Vishnu Purrana which says :
"[f56]Nimi had requested the Brahman Rishi Vashistha to officiate at a sacrifice, which was
to last a thousand years. Vashistha in reply pleaed a pre-engagement to Indra for five
hundred years, but promised to return at the end of that period. The king made no remark,
and Vashistha went away, supposing that he had assented to his arrangement. On his
return, however, the priest discovered that Nimi had retained Gautama (who was, equally
with Vashistha, a Brahmin-rishi) and others to perform the sacrifice ; and being incensed at
the neglect to give him notice of what was intended, he cursed the king, who was then
asleep, to lose his corporeal form. When Nimi awoke and learnt that he had been cursed
without any previous warning, he retorted by uttering a similar curse on Vashistha, and then
died. Nimi's body was emblamed. At the close of the sacrifice which he had begun, the
gods, were willing, on the intercession of the priests, to restore him to life, but he declined
the offer; and was placed by the deities, according to his desire, in the eyes of all living
creatures. It is in consequence of this that they are always opening and
shutting (nimisha means "The twinkling of the eye").

The fifth case relates to the conflict

between Vashishtha and Vishvamitra. Vashishtha was a Brahmin
priest. Vishavamitra was a Kshatriya. His great ambition was to become a Brahmin.
The following episode reported from the Ramayana explains the reasons why he
became anxious to become a Brahmin.
"[f57]There was formerly, we are told, a king called Kusa, son of Prajapati, who had a son
called Kusanabha, who was father of Gadhi, the father of Vishvamitra. The latter ruled the
earth for many thousand years. On one occasion, when he was making a circuit of the earth,
he came to Vashishtha's hermitage, the pleasant abode of many saints, sages, and holy
devotees, where, after all first declining, he allowed himself to be hospitability entertained
with his followers by the son of Brahma. Vishvamitra, however, coveting thewonderous cow,
which had supplied all the dainties of the feast, first of all asked that she should be given to
him in exchange for a hundred thousand common cows, adding that "she was a gem, that
gems were the property of the King, and, therefore, the cow owas his by right." On this price
being refused, the King advances immensely in his offers, but all without effect. He then
proceeds very ungratefully, and tyrannically, it must be allowed—-to have the cow removed
by force, but she breaks away from his attendants, and rushes back to her master,
complaining that he was deserting her. He replies that he was not deserting her, but that the
king was much more powerful than he. She answers, 'Men do not ascribe strength to
a Kshatriya : the Brahmans are stronger. The strength of Brahmins is divine, and superior to
that of Kshatriyas. Thy strength is immeasurable. Vishvamitra,though of great vigour, is not
more powerful than thou. Thy energy is invincible. Commission me, who have been
acquired by thy Brahmanical power, and I will destroy the pride, and force, and attempt of
this wicked prince." She accordingly by her bellowing creates hundred of Pahalvas, who
destroy the entire host of Vishvamitra, but are slain by him in their
turn. Sakas and Yavanas, of great power and valour, and well armed, were then produced,
who consumed the king's soldiers, but were routed by him. The cow then calls into existence
by her bellowing, and from different parts of her body, other warriors of various tribes, who
again destroyed Vishvamitra's entire army, foot soldiers, elephants, horses, chariots, and all.
A hundred of the monarch's sons, armed with various weapons, then rushed in great fury
on Vashishtha, but were all reduced to ashes in a moment by the blast of that sage's mouth.
Vishvamitra, being thus utterly vanquished and humbled, appointed one of his sons to be
regent, and travelled to the Himalaya, where he betook to austerities, and thereby obtained
a vision of Mahadeva, who at his desire revealed to him the science of arms in all its
branches, and gave him celestial weapons with which, elated and full of price, he consumed
the hermitage of Vashishtha, and put its inhabitants to flight.

Vashishtha then threatens Vishvamitra and uplifts his Brahmanical mace. Vishvamitra, too,
raises his fiery weapon and calls out to his adversary to stand. Vashishtha bids him to show
his strength and boasts that he will soon humble his pride. He asks: "What comparison is
there between a Kshatriya's might and the might of a Brahman? Behold, thou contemptible
Kshatriya, my divine Brhmanical power.' The dreadful fiery weapon uplifted by the son
of Gadhi was then quenched by the rod of the Brahman, as fire is by water." Many and
various other celestial missiles, as the nooses of Brahma, Kala (Time), and Varuna, the
discuss of Vishnu, and the trident of Shiva, were hurled by Vishvamitra at his antagonist, but
the son of Brahma swallowed them up in his all-devouring mace. Finally, to the intense
consternation of all the gods, the warrior shot off the terrific weapon of Brahma ; but this was
equally ineffectual against the Brahmanical sage. Vashishtha had now assumed a direful
appearance. "Jets of fire mingled with smoke darted from the pores of his body ; the
Brahmanical mace blazed in his hand like a smokeless mundane conflagration, or a second
sceptre of Yama." Being appeased, however, by the munis,who proclaimed his superiority to
his rival, the sage stayed his vengeance ; and Vishvamitra exclaimed with a groan: "Shame
on a Kshatriya's strength : the strength of aBrahman's might alone is strength ; by the single
Brahmanical mace all my weapons have been destroyed."

No alternative now remains to the humilated monarch, but either to acquiesce in this help
less inferiority, or to work out his own elevation to the Brahmanical order. He embraces the
latter alternative : " Having pondered well this defeat, I shall betake myself, with composed
senses and mind, to strenuous austere fervour, which shall exalt me to the rank of
aBrahman."Intensely vexed and mortified, groaning and full of hatred against his enemy, he
travelled with his queen to the south, and carried his resolution into effect. At the end of a
thousand years Brahma appeared, and announced that he had conquered the heaven of
royal sages (rajarshis): and, in consequence of his austere fervour, he was recognised as
having attained that rank."

The conflict seems to have begun in the reign of King Sudas who belonged to the line
of Ikshavaku. Vashishtha was the hereditary priest of King Sudas. For some reason which is
not very clearly stated Sudas appointed Vishvamitra as his family priest. This brought about
a conflict between Vishvamitra and Vashishtha. This conflict once started raged on for a
long time.
 The conflict between the two took a peculiar turn. If Vishvamitra was involved in a dispute
Vashishtha came into the fray and sided with his opponent. If Vishvamitra was involved in
dispute Vashishtha entered into fray and sided with Vishvamitra as opponent. It was a case
of one persecuting the other.

The first such episode is that of Satyavrata otherwise called Trishanku. The story as told in
the Harivamsha is as follows :

" [f58]Meanwhile Vashishtha, from the relation subsisting between the

King (Satyavrata's father) and himself, a disciple and spiritual preceptor, governed the city
of Ayodhya, the country, and the interior apartments of the royal palace.
But Satyavrata, whether through folly or the force of destiny, cherished constantly an
increased indignation againstVashishtha, who for a (proper) reason had not interposed to
prevent his exclusion from the royal power by his father. 'The formulas of the marriage
ceremonial are only binding,'said Satyavrata, 'when the seventh step has been taken, and
this had not been done when I seized the damsel : still Vashishtha, who knows the precepts
of the law, does not come to my aid.' Thus Satyavrata was incensed in his mind against
Vashishtha, who however, had acted from a sense of what was right. Nor did Satyavrata
understand (he propriety of) that silent penance imposed upon him by his father..... When he
had supported this arduous rite, (the supposed that) he had redeemed his family position.
The venerable muniVashishtha did not, however, (as has been said) prevent his father from
setting him aside, but resolved to install his son as King. When the powerful prince
Satyavrata had endured the penance for twelve years, he beheld, when he was without
flesh to eat, the milch cow of Vashishtha which yielded all objects of desire ; and under the
influence of anger ;delusion, and exhaustion, distressed by hunger, and failing in the ten
duties he slew.......... and both partook of her flesh himself, and gave it to Vishvamitra's sons
to eat. Vashishtha hearing of this, became incensed against him", and imposed on his the
name of Trisanku as he had committed three sins. On his return home, Vishvamitra was
gratified by the support which his wife had received, and offered Trisanku the choice of a
boon. When this proposal was made, Trisanku chose the boon of ascending bodily to
heaven. All apprehension from the twelve year's drought being now at an end, the muni
(Vishvamitra) installed Trisanku in his father's kingdom, and offered sacrifice on his behalf.
The mighty Kausika then, in spite of the resistance of the gods and of Vashishtha,[f59] exalted
the king alive to heaven." 2. As stated in the Harivamsa :

" [f60] In consequence of the wickedness which had been committed, Indra did not
rain for a period of twelve years. At that time Vishvamitra had left his wife and
children and gone to practise austerties on the sea-shore. His wife, driven to
extremity by want. was on the point of selling her second son for a hundred cows, in
order to support the others ; but this arrangement was stopped by the interventions
of Satyavrata, who liberated the son when bound, and maintained the family by
providing them with the flesh of wild animals ; and according to his father's
injunction, consecrated himself for the performance of a silent penance for twelve
years." The next episode in which they appear on opposite sides is that
of Harishchandra the son of Trisanku. The story is told in the Vishnu Purana and in
the Markendeya Purana. This is how the story runs:
"On one occasion, when hunting the king heard a sound of female lamentation which
proceeded, it appears, from the sciences who were becoming mastered by the austerely
fervid sage Vishvamitra, in a way they had never been before by anyone else ; and were
consequently crying out in alarm at his superiority. In fulfilment of his duty as a Kshatriya to
defend the weak, and inspired by the god Ganesha, who had entered into him,
Harishchandra exclaimed. "What sinner is this who is binding fire in the hem of his garment,
while, I, his lord. am present, resplendent with force and fiery vigour?' He shall to-day enter
on his long sleep, pierced in all his limbs by arrows, which, by their discharge from my bow,
illuminate all the quarters of the firmament." Vishvamitra was provoked by this address. In
consequence of his wrath the Sciences instantly perished, and Harishchandra, trembling like
the leaf of an Asvattha tree. submissively represented that he had merely done his duty as a
king, which he defined as consisting in the bestowl of gifts on eminent Brahmins and other
persons of slender means, the protection of the timid, and war against enemies. Vishvamitra
hereupon demands a gift as a Brahman intent upon receiving one. The king offers him
whatsoever he may ask : Gold, his own son, wife. body, like kingdom, good fortune. The
saint first requires the present for the Rajasuya sacrifice. On this being promised, and still
more offered, he asks for the empire of the whole earth, including everything but
Harishchandra himself, his wife and son. and his virtue which follows its posses or
wherever he goes." "Harishchandra joyfully agrees. Vishvamitra then requires him to strip off
all his ornaments, to clothe himself in the bark of trees, and to quit the kingdom with his
wife Saviya (Taramati) and his son. When he is departing the sage stops him and demands
payment of his yet unpaid sacrificial fee. The king replies that he has only the persons of his
wife his son, and himself left. Vishvamitra insists that he must nevertheless pay: and
that "unfulfilled promises of gifts to Brahmans bring destruction." The unfortunate prince,
after being threatened with a curse, engages to make the payment in a month ; and
commences his journey with a wife unused to such fatigues, amid the universal
lamentations of his subjects. While he lingers, listening to their affectionate remonstrances
against his desertion of his kingdom, Vishvamitra, comes up and being incensed at the
delay and the King's apparent hesitation, strikes the queen with his staff, as she is dragged
on by her husband. Harishchandra then proceeded with his wife and little son to Benares,
imagining that this divine city, as the special property of Siva, could not be possessed by
any mortal. Here he found the relentless Vishvamitr waiting for him, and ready to press his
demand for the payment of his sacrificial gift, even before the expiration of the full period of
grace. In this extremity Saivya the queen suggests with asobbing voice that her husband
should sell her. On hearing this proposal Harishchandra swoons, then recovers, utters
lamentations, and swoons again, and his wife, seeing his said condition, swoon also. While
they are in a state of unconsciousness, their famished child exclaims in distress, " O father,
father, give me bread ; O mother, mother give me food : hunger overpowers me and my
tongue is parched." At this moment Vishvamitra returns, and after recalling Harishchandra to
consciousness by spinkling water over him, again urges payment of the present. The king
again swoons, and is again restored. The sag threatens to curse him if his engagement is
not fulfilled by sunset. Being now pressed by his wife, the King agrees to sell her ading,
however, "If my voice can utter such a wicked word, I do not what the most inhuman
wretches cannot perpetrate." He then goes into the city and in selfacusing language offers
his queen for sale as a slave. A rich old Brahman offers to buy her at a price corresponding
to her value, to do his household work. Seeing his mother dragged away, the child ran after
her, his eyes dimmed with tears, and crying 'mother'. The Brahman purchaser kicked him
when he came up; but he would not let his mother go, and continued crying 'mother,
mother.' The queen then said to the Brahman, ' Be so kind, my master, as to but also this
child, as without him I shall prove to thee but a useless purchase. Be thus merciful to me in
my wretchedness, unite me with my son, like a cow to her calf." The Brahman agrees: "Take
this money and give me the boy." After the Brahman had gone out of sight with his
purchases, Vishvamitra again appeared and renewed his demands ; and when the
afflicted Harishchanda offered him the small sum he had obtained by the sale of his wife and
son, he angrily replied, "If, miserable Kshatriya, thou thinkest this a sacrificial gift befitting my
deserts, thou shall soon beheld the transcendent power of my ardent austere fervour, of my
spotless Brahmanhood of my terrible majesty, and of my holy
study. Harishchandra promises an additional gift, andVishvamitra allows him the remaining
quarter of the day for its liquidation. On the terrified and afflicted prince offering himself for
sale, in order to gain the mean of meeting this cruel demand, Dharma (Righteousness)
appears in the form of a hideous and offensive Chandala, and agrees to buy him at his own
price, large or small. Harishchandra declines such a degrading servitude, and declares that
he would rather be consumed by the fire of his persecutor's curse than submit to such a
fate. Vishvamitra however again comes onThe scene, asks why he does not accept the
large sum offered by the Chandala ; and, when he pleads in excuse his descent from the
solar race, threatens to fulminate a curse against him if he does not accept that method of
meeting his liability. Harishchandra implores that he may be spared this extreme of
degradation, and offers to becomeVishvamitra's slave in payment of the residue of his debt;
whereupon the sage rejoins, "If thou art my slave, then I sell thee as such to the Chandala
for a hundred millions of money."

"The Chandala, delighted, pays down the money, and carries off Harishchandra, bound
beaten, confused and afflicted, to his own place of abode. Harishchandra is sent by the
Chandala to steal grave clothes in a cemetary and is told that he will receive two-
sixths goind to his masters, and one-sixth to the King. In this horrid spot, and in this
degrading occupation, he spent in great misery, twelve months, which seemed to him like a
hundred years. He then falls asleep and has a series of dreams suggested by the life he had
been leading. After he awoke, his wife came to the cemetary to perform the obsequies of
their son, who had died from the bite of a serpent. At first the husband and wife did not
recognize each other, from the change in appearance which had been brought upon them
by their miseries. Harishchandra however, soon discovered from the tenor of her
lamentations that it is his wife, and falls into a swoon; as the queen does also when she
recognizes her husband. When consciousness returns, they both break out into
lamentations, the father bewailing in a touching strain the loss of his son, and the wife the
degradation of the King. She then falls on his neck, embraces him, and asks "whether all
this is a dream, or a reality, as she is utterly be wildered ", and adds, that "if it be a reality,
then righteousness is unvailing to those who practise it." After hesitating to devote himself to
death on his son's funeral pyre without receiving his master's leave, Harishchandra. resolves
to do so, braving all the consequences, and consoling himself with the hopeful anticipation:
"If I have given gifts, and offered sacrifices an gratified my religious teachers, then may I be
reunited with my son and with thee (my wife) in another world."The queen determines to die
in the same manner. When Harishchandra., after placing his son's body on the funeral pile,
is meditating on the Lord Shri Narayan krishna, the supreme spirit, all the gods arrive,
headed by Dharma (righteousness), and accompanied by Vishvamitra. Dharma entreats the
king to desist from his rash intention; and Indra announces to him that he, his wife, and son
have conquered heaven by their good works. Amrosia, the antidote of death, and flowers
are rained by the god from the sky ; and the king's son is restored to life and the bloom of
youth. The king, adorend with celestial clothing and garlands, and the queen, embrace their
son. Harishchandra, however declares that he cannot go to heaven till he has received his
master the Chandala's permission, and has paid him a ransom. Dharma then reveals to the
king that it was he himself who had miraculously assumed the form of a Chandala. The king
next objects that he cannot depart unless his faithful subjects, who are shares in his
merits, are allowed to acompany him to heaven, at least for one day. This request is granted
by Indra; and after Vishvamitra has inaugurated Rohitasva the king's son to be his
successor, Harishchandra, his friends and followers, all ascend in company to heaven. Even
after this great consummation, however, Vashishtha, the family-priest of Harishchandra,
hearing, at the end of a twelve years' abode in the waters of the Ganges, an account of all
that has occured, becomes vehementaly incensed at the humiliation inflicted on the
excellent monarch, whose virtues and devotion to the gods and Brahmans he celebrates,
declares that his indignation had not been so great roused even when his own hundred sons
had been slain by Vishvamitra, and in the following words dooms the latter to be
transformed into crane. Wherefore that wicked man, enemy of the Brhmans, smitten by my
curse, shall be expelled from the society of intelligent beings, and losing his understanding
shall be transformed into a Vaka." Vishvamitra reciprocates the curse, and changes
Vashishtha into a bird of the species calledAri. In their new shapes the two have a furious
fight. the Ari being of the portentous heiht of two thousand yojanas = 18,000 miles, and the
Vaka of 3090 yojanas. The first assail each other with their wings ; then the Vaka smites his
antagonist in the same manner, while the Ari strikes with his talons. Falling mountains,
overturned by the blasts of wind raised by the flapping of their wings, shake the whole earth,
the waters of the ocean overflow, the earth itself, thrown off its perpendicular slopes
downwards patala, the lower regions. Many creatures perish by these various convulsions.
Attracted by the dire disorder, Brahma arrives, attended by all the gods, on the spot, and
command the comptants to desist from their fray. They were too fiercely infuiriated to regard
this injunction; but Brahma put an end to the conflict by restoring them to their natural forms,
and conselling them to be reconciled.

The next episode in which they came in as opponents is connected with Ambarish King
of Ayodhya.
1
[f61]The story relates that Ambarisha was engaged in performing a sacrifice,
when Indra carried away the victim. The priest said that this ill-omened event had occurred
owing to the king's had administration, and would call for a great expiation, unless a human
victim could be produced. After a long search the royal rishi (Ambarisha) came upon
theBrahman-rishi Richika, a descendent of Bhrigu, and asked him to sell one of his sons for
a victim, at the price of a hundred thousand cows. Richika answered that he would not sell
his eldest son; and his wife added that she would not sell the youngest: eldest sons" she
observed, "being generally the favourites of their fathers, and youngest sons of their
mothers." The second son, Sunassena, then said that in that case he regarded himself as
the one who was to be sold, and desired the king to remove him. The hundred thousand
cows, with ten millions of gold pieces and heaps of jewels, were paid down,
and Sunassepa carried away. As they were passing through Pushkara Sunassepa beheld
his maternal uncle Vishvamitra who was engaged in austerities there with other rishis, threw
himself into his arms, and implored his assistance, urging his orphan friendless, and
helpless state, as claims on the sage's benevolence.

"Vishvamitra soothed him: and pressed his own sons to offer themselves as victim in the
room of Sunassepa. This proposition met with no favour from Madhushyanda and the other
sons of the royal hermit, who answered with haughtiness and derision: "How is that
thou sacrificest thine own sons, and seekest to rescue those of others? We look upon this
as wrong, and like the eating of one's own flesh." The sage was exceedingly wroth at this
disregard of his injunction, and doomed his sons to be born in the most degraded classes,
like Vashishtha's sons, and to eat dog's flesh, for a thousand years. He then said to
Sunassepa : When thou art bound with hallowed cords, decked with a red garland,
and annointed with unguents, and fastened to the sacrificial post of Vishnu, then address
thyself to Agni, and sing these two divine verses (gathas), at the sacrifice
of Ambarisha ;then shalt thou attain the fulfilment." Being furnished with the
two gathas, Sunassepa proposed at once to king Ambarisha that they should set out for
their destination. When bound at the stake to be immolated, dressed in a red garment, " he
celebrated the two gods, Indra and his younger brother (Vishnu), with the excellent verses.
The thousand-eyed (Indra) was pleased with the secret hymn, and bestowed long life on
Sunassepa." The last episode recorded in which the two appear as opponents is connected
with KingKalmashapada. The episode is recorded in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata.

" [f62]Kalmashapada was a King of the race Ikshvaku. Vishvamitra wished to be employed
by him as his officiating priest; but the king preferred Vashishtha." It happened, however,
that the king went out to hunt, and after having killed a large quantity of game, he became
very much fatigued, as well as hungry and thirsty. Meeting Saktri, the eldest
ofVashishtha's hundred sons, on the road, he ordered him to get out of his way. The priest
civilly replied : "The path is mine, 0 King; this is the immemorial law; in all observances the
king must cede the way to the Brahman." Neither party would yield, and the dispute waxing
warmer, the king struck the muni with his whip. The muni, resorting to the usual expedient of
offended sages, by a curse doomed the king to become a man eater. "It hapened that at that
time enmity existed between Vishvamitra and Vashishtha on account of their respective
claims to be priest to Kalmashapada." Vishvamitra had followed the king; and approached
while he was disputing with Saktri. Perceiving, however, the son of his rival Vashishtha,
Vishvamitra made himself invisible, and passed them, watching his opportunity. The king
began to implore Saktri's clemency: but Vishvamitra wishing to prevent their reconciliation,
commanded a Rakshasa (a man-devouring demon) to enter into the king. Owing to the
conjoint influence of the Brahma-rishi's curse, and Vishvamitra'scommand, the demon
obeyed the injunction. Perceiving that his object was gained, Vishvamitra left things to take
their course, and absented himself from the country. The king having happened to meet a
hungry Brahman, and sent him, by the hand of his cook (who could procure nothing else),
some human flesh to eat, was cursed by him also to the same effect as by Saktri. The curse,
being now augmented in force, took effect, and Saktri himself was the first victim, being
eaten up by the King. The sarne fate befell all the other sons of Vashishtha at the instigation
of Vishvamitra. Perceiving Saktri to be dead, Vishvamitra again and again incited
the Rakshasa against the sons of Vashishtha; and accordingly the furious
demon devoursed those of his sons who were younger than Saktri as a lion eats up the
small beasts of the forest. On hearing of the destruction of his sons
byVishvamitra, Vashishtha supported his affliction, as the great mountain sustains the earth.
He meditated his own destruction, but never thought of exterminating the Kausikas. This
divine sage hurled himself from the summit of Meru, but fell upon the rocks as if on a heap
of cotton. Escaping alive from his fall, he entered a glowing fire in the forest; but the fire,
though fiercely blazing, not only failed to burn him, but seemed perfectly cool. He next threw
himself into the sea with a heavy stone attached to his neck; but was cast up by the waves
on the dry land. He then went home to his hermitage; but seeing it empty and desolate, he.
was again overcome by grief and went out; and seeing the river Vipasa which
was swolen by the recent rains and sweeping along many trees torn from its banks, he
conceived the design of drowning himself into its water, he accordingly tied himself firmly
with cords, and threw himself in, but the river severing his bonds, deposited him unbound
(vipasa) on dry land; whence the name of the stream, as imposed by the sage. He
afterwards saw and threw himself into the dreadful Satadru (Sutlej), which was full of
alligators, etc., and derived its name rushing away in a hundred directions on seeing
theBrahman brilliant as fire. In consequence of this he was once more stranded; and seeing
he could not kill himself, he went back to his hermitage." There are only particular instances
of their general enmity towards each other. This general enmity was of a mortal kind so
much so that Vishvamitra wanted even to murder Vashishtha. This is related in
the Shalyaparva of the Mahabharata. Says the author of the Mahabharata :

"[f63]There existed a great enmity, arising from rivalry in their austerities, between
Vishvamitra and the Brahman rishi Vashishtha. Vashishtha had an extensive hermitage
inSthanutirtha, to the east of which was Vishvamitra's......... These two great ascetics were
every day exhibiting intense emulation in regard to their respective austerities. But
Vishvamitra, beholding the might of Vashishtha, was the most chagrined; and fell into deep
thought. The idea of this sage, constant in duty(!) was the following: 'This river Sarasvatiwill
speedily bring to me on her current the austere Vashishtha, the most eminent of
all mutterers of prayers. When that most excellent Brahman has come, I shall most
assuredly kill him.`Having thus determined, the divine sage Vishvamitra, his eyes reddened
by anger, called to mind the chief of rivers. She being thus the subject of his thoughts,
became very anxious, as she knew him to be very powerful and very irascible. Then
trembling palid, and with joined hands, the Sarasvati stood before the chief of munis. Like a
woman whose husband has been slain, she was greatly distressed; and said to him, 'What
shall I do?' The incensed muni replied, 'Bring Vashishtha hither speedily, that I may slay
him. 'The lotus-eyed goddess, join ing her hands trembled in great fear, like a creeping plant
agitated by the wind ".......... Vishvamitra, however, although he saw her condition, repeated
his command. "The Sarasvati, who knew how sinful was his design, and that the might
of Vashishtha was unequalled, went trembling, and in great dread of being cursed by both
the sages, to Vashishtha, and told him what his rival had sa.id. Vashishtha seeing her
emaciated, pale, and anxious, spoke thus: 'Deliver thyself, O chief of rivers; carry me
unhesitatingly to Vishvamitra, lest he curse thee'. Hearing these words of the merciful sage,
the Sarasvati considered how she could act most wisely. She reflected, 'Vashishtha has
always shown me great kindness; I must seek his welfare.' Then obsering the Kausika sage
praying and sacrificing on her brink, she regarded that as a good opportunity, and swept
away the bank by the force of her current. In this way the son
of Mitra and Varuna (Vashishtha) was carried down; and while he was bieng borne along,
he thus celebrated the river: 'Thou, O Sarasvati, issuest from the lake of Brahma,
and pervadest the whole world with thy excellent streams. Residing in the sky,
thou dischargest water into thecolouds. Thou alone art all waters. By these we study.' 'Thou
art nourishment, radiance, fame, perfection, intellect, light. Thou art speech; thou
art Svaha; this world is subject to thee. Thou, in fourfold form, dwellest in all
creatures '..........

Beholding Vashishtha brought near by the Sarasvati, Vishvamitra searched for a weapon
with which to make an end of him. Perceiving his anger, and dreading
lestBrahmanicide should ensue, the river promptly carried away Vashishtha in an easterly
direction; thus fulfilling the commands of both sages, but eluding Vishvamitra. Seeing
Vashishtha so carried away, Vishvamitra, impatient, and enraged by vexation, said to her : '
Since thou, O chief of rivers, hast elued me, and hast receded, roll in waves of blood
acceptable to the chief of demons," (which are fabled to gloat on blood). "The Sarasvati,
being thus cursed, flowed for a year in a stream mingled with blood. . . .. Rakshasas came
to the place of pilgrimage, where Vashishtha had been swept away, and revealed in drinking
to satiety the bloody stream in security, dancing and laughing, as if they had conquered
heaven." Some rishis who arrived at the spot some time after were horrified to see the
blood-stained water, and the Rakshasas quaffing it, and "made the most strenuous efforts to
rescue the Sarasvati."

The foregoing cases relate to individual conflicts between a particular Brahmin and a
particular Kshatriya. The cases which follow are cases of class or communal conflicts
between Brahmins on the one hand and the Kshatriyas on the other. They are not mere
conflicts. Nor is it correct to say that they were like communal riots. They were class wars
undertaken by one community with the avowed intention of exterminating the other root and
branch. Two such class wars of extermination have been recorded in the Mahabharat.The
first is a war of the Haihaya Kshatriyas on the Bhargava Brahmins. It occurred in the reign of
the Haihaya King Kritavirya. The following is the description of this war in theAdiparvan of
the Mahabharat.

"[f64]There was a king named Kritavirya, by whose liberality the Bhrigu, learned in
the Vedas, who officiated as his priest, had been greatly enriched with corn, and money.
After he had gone to heaven, his descendants were in want of money, and came to beg for
a supply from the Bhrigus, of whose wealth they were aware. Some of the latter hid their
money under ground, others bestowed it on Brahmans, being afraid of the Kshatriyas, while
others again gave these last what they wanted. It happened, however, that a Kshatriya,
while digging the ground, discovered some money buried in the house of a Bhrigu. The
Kshatriyas then assembled and saw this treasure, and, being incensed, slew in
consequence all the Bhrigus, whom they regarded with contempt, down to the children in
the womb. The widows, however, fled to the Himalaya mountains. One of them concealed
her unborn child in her thigh. The Kshatriyas, hearing of its existence from
a Brahmani informant, sought to kill it; but it issued forth from its mother's thigh with lustre,
and blindedthe persecutors. After wandering about bewildered among the mountains for a
time, they humbly supplicated the mother of the child for the restoration of their sight; but
she referred them to her wonderful infant Aurva into whom the whole Veda, with its
six Vedangas, had entered, as the person who (in retaliation of the slaughter of his relatives)
had robbed them or their eye-sight, and who alone could restore it. They accordingly had
recourse to him, and their eye-sight was restored. Aurva, however, meditated the
destruction of all living creatures, in revenge for the slaughter of the Bhrigus, and entered on
a course of austerities which alarmed both gods, asuras, and men; but his
progenitors (Pitris)themselves appeared, and sought to turn him from his purpose by saying
that they had no desire to be revenged on the Kshatriyas : It was not from weakness that the
devout Bhrigus overlooked the massacre perpetrated by the murderous Kshatriyas. When
we became distressed by old age, we ourselves desired to be slaughtered by them. The
money which was buried by someone in a Bhrigu's house was placed there for the purpose
of exciting hatred, by those who wished to provoke the Kshatriyas. For what had we, who
were desiring heaven, to do with money?" They add that they hit upon this device because
they did not wish to be guilty of suicide, and concluded by calling upon Aurva to restrain his
wrath; and abstain from the sin he was meditating, "Destroy not the Kshatriyas, O son, nor
the seven worlds. Suppress thy kindled anger which nullifies the power of austere-fervour."
Aurva, however, replies that he cannot allow his threat to remain unexecuted. His anger,
unless wreaked upon some other object, will, he says, consume himself. And he argues on
grounds of justice, expediency, and duty, against the clemency which his progenitors
recommend. He is, however, persuaded by the Pitris to throw the fire of his anger into the
sea, where they say it will find exercise in assailing the watery element, and in this way his
threat will be fulfilled." The second class war and which was also a war of extermination
was declared by the Bhargava Brahmins on the Haihaya Kshatriyas. In this the leader of
Bhargava Brahmins was one Parashuram. The story of the birth of Parashuram is described
in the Vishnu Purana in the following terms:

" [f65]Gadhi's daughter Satyavati had been given in marriage to an

old Brahman called Richika, of the family of Bhrigu. In order that his wife might bear a son
with the qualities of a Brahman, Richika had prepared for her a dish of Charu (rice, barley,
and pulse, with butter and milk) for her to eat; and a similar mess for her mother, calculated
to make her conceive a son with the character of a warrior. Satyavati's mother, however,
persuaded her to exchange messes. She was blamed by her husband on her return home
for what she had done. I quote the words of the original:

"Sinful woman, what improper deed is this that thou has done? I beheld thy body of a very
terrible appearance. Thou hast certainly eaten the Charu prepared for thy mother. This was
wrong. For into that Chari I had infused all the endowments of heriosm, vigour,
and roce, whilst into thine I had introduced all these qualities of quietude, knowledge,
andpatnence which constitute the perfection of a Brahmin. Since thou hast acted in
contravention of my design a son shall be born to thee who shall live the dreadful, martial,
and murderous life of a Kshatriya and thy mother's offspring shall exhibit the peaceful
disposition and conduct of a Brahman." As soon as she had heard this, Satyavati fell down
and seized her husband's feet, and said, 'My lord, I have acted from ignorance; show
kindness to me, let me not have a son of the sort thou hast described; if thou pleasest, let
me have a grandson of that description. `Subsequently she bore Jamadagni, and her
mother gave birth to Vishvamitra. Satyavati became the river called Kausiki. Jamadagni
weddedRenuka, the daughter of Renu, of the family of Ikshvaku; and on her he begot a son
called Parasurama." The following additional details about Parshuram's family history is
given in the Venaparvan of the Mahabharata :

" [f66]Jamadagni and Satyavati had five sons, the youngest of whom was
the repubtable Parasurama. By his father's command he kills his mother (who by the
indulgence of impure desire, had fallen from her brevious sanctity), after the four elder sons
had refused this matricidal offen, and had in consequence been deprived of reason by their
father's curse. At Parasurama's desire however, his mother is restored by his father to life,
and his brothers to reason; and he himself is absolved from all the guilt of murder; and
obtains the boon of invincibility and long life from his father." This second class war took
place in the reign of the Haihaya king Arjuna the son of King Kartavirya. To understand it
correctly it is necessary to devide it into two parts for there are two stages in it. The trouble
began with the Brahmans claiming certain prerogatives and powers exclusively for
themselves and King—Arjuna scouting them in most contemptuous terms. As
the Anushasanparvan of the Mahbharata puts it.

" [f67]Then ascending his chariot glorious as the resplendent sun, he exclaimed in the
intoxication of his prowess, ' Who is like me in fortitude, courage, fame, heriosm, energy,
and vigour?' At the end of this speech a bodiless voice on the sky addressed
him: 'Thou knowest not, O fool, that a Brahman is better than a Kshatriya. It is with the help
of the Brahman that the Kshatriya rules his subjects. Arjuna answers 'If I am pleased, I can
create, or, if displeased, annihilate, living beings; and no Brahman is superior to me in act,
thought, or word. The first proposition is that the Brahmans are superior; the second that
the Kshatriyas are superior: both of these thou hast stated with their ground, but there is a
difference between them. The Brahmans are dependent on the Kshatriyas, and not
the Kshatriyas on the Brahmans; and the Kshatriyas on the Brahmans; and
the Kshatriyas are eaten up by the Brahmans, who wait upon them and only make
the Vedas a pretence. Justice the protection of the people, has its seat in
the Kshatriyas. From them the Brahmans derive their livelihood: how then can the latter be
superior? I always keep in subjection to myself those Brahmans, the chief of all beings, who
subsist on alms, and who have a high opinion of themselves. For truth was apoken by that
female the Gayatri in the sky. I shall subdue all those unruly Brahmans clad in hides. No one
in the three worlds, god or man can hurl me from my royal authority; wherefore I am superior
to any Brahman." On hearing this Vayu comes and says to Arjuna :

"[f68]Abandon this sinful disposition, and to obeisance to the Brahmans. If thou shalt do
them wrong, thy kingdom shall be convulsed. They will subdue thee; those powerful men will
humble thee, and expel thee from thy country' The king asks him, 'who art thou? Vayu
replies, 'I Vayu, the messenger of the gods, and tell thee what is for thy benefit'. Arjuna
rejoins, 'Oh thou displayest to-day a great warmth of devotion to the Brahmans. But say that
a Brahman is like (any other) earth-born creature. Or say that this most excellent Brahman is
something like the wind. But fire is like the waters, or the sun, or the sky.' Vayu then
adduces various instances in which the superiority of the Brahmins has
beenmainfested. Arjuna then drops his hostility against the Brahmins and becomes their
friend. In the Anushasanparva he is reported to have said :

"[f69] I live altogether and always for the sake of the Brahmans. I am devoted to the
Brahmans, and do obeisance to them continually. And it is through the favour
of Dattatreya (A Brahman) that I have obtained all this power and high renown, and that I
have practised righteousness."

It is in the second stage that Parashuram comes on the scene

and extreminates the Kshatriyas. The story is told in the Shantiparvan in the
following terms :
"[f70] Being of a meek, pious, kind and charitable turn of mind, the valiant Arjuna thought
nothing of the curse; but his sons, who were of an arrogant and barbarous disposition,
became the cause of its resulting in his death. Without their father's knowledge they took
away Jamadagni's calf; and in consequence Parasurama attacked Arjuna and cut off his
arms." His son retaliated by killing Jamadagni. Parashurama incensed at the slaughter of his
father, having vowed in consequence to sweep away all Kshatriyas from the earth, seized
his weapons; and slaying all the sons and grandsons of Arjuna, with thousands of
the Haihayas, he turned the earth into a mass of ensanguined mud. Having thus cleared the
earth of Kshatriyas, he became penetrated by deep compassion and retired to the forest.
After some thousands of years had elapsed, the hero, naturally irascible, was taunted
by Paravsu, the son of Raibhya and grandson of Visvamitra, in a public assembly in these
words: 'Are not these virtuous men, Pratardana and the others, who are assembled at the
sacrifice in the city of Yayati,—are they not Kshatriyas? Thou hast failed to execute thy
threat, and vainly boastest in the assembly. Thou has withdrawn to the mountain from fear
of those valiant Kshatriyas, while the earth has again become overrrun by hundred of their
race. `Hearing these words, Rama seized his weapons. The hundreds of Kshatriyas who
had before been spared had now grown powerful kings. These, however, Parasurama now
slew with their children, and all the numerous infants then unborn as they came into the
world. Some, however, were preserved by their mothers." Those who are curious to know
the subsequent history of the Kshatriyas might be interested in the following extract from
the Adiparvan.

" [f71]Having one and twenty time swept away all the Kshatriyas from the earth, the son of
Jamadagni engaged in austerities on Mahendra the most excellent of mountains. After he
had cleared the world of Kshatriyas, their widows came to the Brahmans, praying for
offspring. The religious Brahmans, free from any impulse of lust cohabited at the proper
seasons with these women, who in consequence became pregnant, and brought forth
valiant Kshatriya boys and girls, to continue the Kshatriya stock. Thus was the Kshatriya
race virtuously begotten by Brahmans on Kshatriya women, and became multiplied and
long-lived, thence arose four castes inferior to the Brahmans." These instances of enmity
were accompanied by challenges from one side to the other which shows how high were the
tempers running on both sides. The conduct of king Nimi in yoking the Brahmins to his
chariot and making them drag it like horses show how determined the Kshatriyas were to
humiliate the Brahmans. The challenges uttered by Arjuna Kartavirya against the Brahmins
indicates his determination to level them down. The Brahmins on their side were not slow to
take up this challenge and send counter challenges to the kshatriyas not to provoke the
Brahmins. This is very clear from the way Vayu the messenger or Ambassador of the
Brahmins talks to Arjuna Kartivirya after he had issued his challenge to the Brahmans. Vayu
tells Arjuna how the Brhmans Atri made sea water saltish by urinating in it,
how Dandakas were overthrown by the Brahmans, how the Kshatriyas of
theTalajaughas were destroyed by a single Brahmin Aurva; The striking power of the
Brahmins is not only superior to that of the Kshatriya it is superior to that of the Devas and
Vayu proceeds to tell Arjuna some of the victories achieved by the Brahmins over the
Devas. He tells him how Varuna ran away with Bhadra the daughter of Soma and the wife of
theBrahman Utathya of the race of Angiras how Utathya by his curse caused the earth to be
dried up and how Varuna as a consequence submitted to Utathya and returned his wife.
He tells him how once the Devas were conquered by the Asuras and the Danavas, how
deprived of all oblations, and stripped of their dignity they came to the earth went to the
Brahmin Agastya and applied to him for protection and how Agastya scorched the Danavas
from heaven and earth and made him fly to the South and reinstated the Devas in their
dominion. He tells Arjuna how once the Adityas were performing a sacrifice and while
engaged in it were attached by Danvas called Khalims, who came in ten in thousands to
slay them, how the Adityas went to Indra and how Indra himself attached by the Daityas not
being able to render help to the Adityas went to the Brahmin Vashishtha for help and
howVashishtha taking mercy on the Adityas saved them by burning the Danavas alive. He
next tells Arjuna how the Danavas once fought with the Devas, how by enveloping them in
dreadful darkness the Danavas slaughtered the Devas, how the Devas implored the
Brahmin Atri to become the moon and dispell the glown around the sun which Atri did
thereby saved the Devas from the Danvas. The last episode of Brahmin prowess which
Vayu tells Arjuna is how the Brahmin Chyavana compelled Indra to admit the Ashwins to
equal rank and drink Soma with them as a token of equality and how when Indra refused he
took away both the earth and heaven from them and how he created a Demon Mada and
put theDevas including Indra into his mouth and how he compelled Indra to admit
the Ashwins to equal rank and drink Soma with them and how Indra ultimately surrendered
to Chyavana.

Vayu did not merely recount these exploits of the Brahmins. He did something more.
Every time he gave Arjuna an instance of the power of the Brahmins he ended by asking
Arjuna pointed questions such as "Can you tell me of any Kshatriya who was superior to him
(i.e. the Brahmins hero of the story)[f72]. "Declare on your part, any Kshatriya who has been
superior to him, "Tell me of any Kshatriya superior to Atri."

This class war between the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas must have gone on for
ages. In the light of this the attitude of Manu towards this Class War comes as very
strange. Consider the following verses from the Manu Smriti :
IV. 135. "Let him who desires prosperity, indeed, never despise a Kshatriya, a snake, and
a learned Brahmana, be they ever so feeble."

IV. 136. "Because these three, when treated with disrespect, may utterly destroy him;
hence a wise man must never despite them."

X. 322. "Kshatriyas prosper not without Brahmans, Brahmans prosper not without
Kshatriyas; Brahmans and Kshatriyas, being closely united, prosper in this (world) and in the
next." Here there is a clear attempt on the part of Manu to close the ranks. Against whom
did Manu want the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas to close their ranks? Was this an attempt to
forget and forgive or was the motive to combine them in a conspiracy to achieve some
unholy purpose. What were the circumstances that forced Manu to advise the Brahmins to
forget their age old enmity with Kshatriyas and seek the helping hand? The circumstances,
must have been very hard and very pressing. For there was no room left for
areapproachment between the two. The Brahmins had hurled a terrible insult against the
Kshatriyas and had wounded their price by saying quite openly that the Kshatriyas were the
illegitimate children of Brahmins begotten by them on Kshatriya widows. The next offensive
thing that the Brahmins had done to wound the feelings of the Kshatriyas was to extract
from the latter a confession that the Brahmins were superior to the Kshatriyas in military
prowess and had made Bhishma say :

"'The prowess of the Brahmans can destroy even the gods. Those wise beings beholdall
these worlds. To them it is indifferent whether they are perfumed with sandal wood or
deformed with mire, whether they eat or fast, whether they are clad in silk, or in sack cloth or
skins. They can turn what is not divine into what is divine, and the converse; and can in their
anger create other worlds with their guardians. They are the gods of the gods; and the
cause of the cause. The ignorant Brahman is a god, whilst a learned Brahman is yet more a
god, like the full ocean."

All this makes this sudden climb down by the Brahmins, this stoping down to win over
the Kshatriyas very mysterious. What can be the key to this mystery?

CHAPTER 12

Shudras and the Counter-Revolution

This is a 21-page foolscap typed manuscript. The cover page is having a title 'Shudras
and the Counter-Revolution' and the text on next page starts with the same title. All these
pages were loose and tagged together. Unfortunately, only 21 pages are available and the
latter pages seem to be lost.— Editors.

The laws of Manu relating to the Status of the Shudra make a very interesting reading for
the simple reason that they have moulded thed psychology of the Hindus and determined
their attitude towards the Shudras who forms at the present and at all times the most
numerous part of Hindu society. They are set out below under separate heads so that it may
be possible for the reader to have a complete idea of the status given by Manu to the
Community of Shudras.

Manu asks the householders of the Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaishya Class :

IV. 61. Let him not dwell in a country where the rulers are Shudra. A Shudra is not to be
deemed as a respectable person. For Manu enacts that:

XI. 24. A Brahmin shall never beg from a Shudra property for (performing) a sacrifice i.e.
for religious purpose. All marriage ties with the Shudra were proscribed. Marriage with a
woman belonging to any of the three other classes was forbidden. A Shudra was not to have
any connection with a woman of the higher classes and an act of adultery committed by a
Shudra with her was declared by manu to be an offence involving capital punishment.

VIII. 374. A Shudra who has an intercourse with a woman of the higher caste
guarded[f73] or unguarded, shall be punished in the following manner :

If she was unguarded, he loses the offending part. If she was guarded then he should be
put to death and his property confiscated.

As to office Manu prescribes.

 VIII. 20. A Brahmana who is only a Brahmana by decent i.e. one who has neither studied
nor performed any other act required by the Vedas may, at the king's pleasure,
interpretthe law to him i.e. act as the Judge, but never a Shudra (however learned he may
be).

VIII. 21. The kingdom of that monarch who looks on while a Shudra settles the law will sink
low like a cow in a morass.

VIII. 272. If a Shudra arrogantly presumes to preach religion to Brahmins the King shall
have poured burning oil in his mouth and oars.

In the matter of acquiring learning the knowledge Manu ordains as follows :

III. 156. He who instructs Shudra pupils and he whose teacher is a Shudra shall become
disqualified for being invited to a Shudra.

IV. 99. He must never read the Vedas. . . . . in the presece of the Shudras.

Manu's successors went much beyond him in the cruelty of their punishment of the Shudra
for studying the Veda. For instance Katyayana lays down that if a Shudra overheard the
Veda or ventured to utter a word of the Veda the King shall cut his tongue in twain and pour
hot molten lead in his ears. As to right to property by the Shudra Manu enjoins as follows :

X. 129. No superfluous collection of wealth must be made by a Shudra, even though he

has power to make it, since a servile man, who has amassed riches, becomes proud, and,
by his insolence or neglect, gives pain to Brahmans.

VIII. 417. A Brahmanas may seize without hesitation if he be in distress for his
subsistence, the goods of his Shudra. The Shudra can have only one occupation. This is
one of theinexhorable Laws of Manu. Says Manu :

1. 91. One occupation only, the Lord prescribed to the Shudra, to serve meekly these
other three castes (namely Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishyas).

X. 121. If a Shudra, (unable to subsist by serving Brahmans) seeks a livelihood, he may

serve Kshatriyas, or he may also seek to maintain himself by attending on a wealthyVaisya.

X. 122. But let (Shudra) serve Brahmans, either for the sake of heaven, or with a view to
both (this life and the next); for he who is called the servant of a Brahmana thereby gains all
his ends.

X. 123. The service of Brahmanas alone is declared (to be) an excellent occupation for a
Shudra for whatever else besides this he may perform will bear him no fruit. Service
byShudra is not left by Manu to be regulated as a free contract. If the Shudra refuses to
serve there is a provision for conscription which runs as follows :
 VIII. 413. A Brahmana may compel a Shudra, whether bought or unbought to do servile
work; for he is created by the creator to be the slave of a Brahmana.

X. 124. They must allot to him out of their own family (property) a suitable maintenance,
after considering his ability, his industry, and the number of those whom he is bound
tosuport.

X. 125. The remnants of their food must be given to him, as well as their old household
furniture.

A Shudra is required by Manu to be servile in his speech and manner towards the other
classes.

VIII. 270. A Shudra who insults a twice-born man with gross invective, shall have his
tongue cut out; for he is of low origin.

VIII. 271. If he mentions the names and castes of the (twice-born) with contumely, an iron
nail, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red hot into his mouth.

Manu is not satisfied with this. He wants this servile status of the Shudra to be expressed
in the names and surnames of persons belonging to that community. Manu says :

II. 31. Let the first part of a Brahman's name denote something auspicious,
a Kshatriya's be connected with power and a Vaishya's with wealth, but a Shudra's, express
something contemptible.

II. 32. The second part of a Brahman's name shall be a word implying happiness; of a
Kshatriya's word implying protection; of a Vaishya's a term expressive of thriving and of a
Shudra's an expression denoting services.

What was the position of the Shudra before Manu? Manu treats the Shudra as though he
was an alien Non-Aryan not entitled to the social and religious privileges of the Aryan.
Unfortunately the view that the Shudra was a Non-Aryan is too readily accepted by the
generality of the people. But there can be no doubt that this view has not the slightest
foundation in the literature of the ancient Aryans.

Reading the Religious literature of the ancient Aryans one comes across the names of
various communities and groups of people. There were first of all the Aryans with their
fourfold divisions of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Besides them and apart
from them there were (i) Asuras (ii) Suras
or Devas (iii)Yakshas (iv) Gandharvas (v)Kinnars (vi) Charanas (vii) Ashvins and (viii) Nisha
das. The Nishadas were a jungle people primitive and uncivilized. The
Gandharvas, Yakshas, Kinnars, Charanas and Ashvins were professional classes and not
communities. The word Asura is generic name given to various tribes known by their tribal
names of Daityas, Danavas, Dasyus, Kalananjas, Kaleyyas, Kalins, Nagas, Nivata-
Kavachas, Paulomas, Pishachas and Raxasas. We do not know if the Suras
and Devas were composed of various tribes as the Asuras were. We only know the leaders
of the Deva Community. The well known amongst them were Brahma,
Vishnu Rudra, Surya, Indra, Varuna, Soma etc.

Due mostly to the ignorant interpretations of Sayanacharya some very curious beliefs
prevail even among the best informed people about these communities namely the Aryans,
the Asuras and the Devas and their inter-relation and their consanguinity. It is believed that
the Asuras were not a human species at all. They are held to have been ghosts and goblins
who plagued the Aryans with their nocturnal visitations. The Suras or Devas are understood
to be poetic deifications of nature's forces. With regard to the Aryans the belief is that they
were a fair race with sharp nose and had a great deal of colour prejudice. As to the Dasyus
it is asserted that a Dasyu is only another name for a Shudra. The Shudrasit is said formed
the aboriginals of India. They were dark and flat nosed. The Aryans who invaded India
conquered them and made them slaves and as a badge of slavery gave them the name
Dasyu which it is said comes from the word Das[f74] which means a slave.

Every one of these beliefs is unfounded. The Asuras and Suras were communities of
human beings as the Aryans were. The Asuras and Suras were descended from a common
father Kashapa. The story is that Daksha Prajapati had 60 daughters, of them thirteen were
given in marriage to Kashapa. Diti and Aditi were two among the 13 of Kashapa'swives.
Those born to Diti were called Asuras and those born to Aditi were called Suras or Devas.
The two faught a long and a bloody battle for the soverignty of the world. This no doubt is
mythology and mythology though it is history in hyperbole is still history.

The Aryans were not a race. The Aryans were a collection of people. The cement that held
them together was their interest in the maintenance of a type of culture called Aryan culture.
Any one who accepted the Aryan culture was an Aryan. Not being a race there was no fixed
type of colour and physiognomy which could be called Aryan. There was no dark and flat
nose people for the Aryans to distinguish themselves from[f75]. The whole of this edifice of
colour prejudice as being factors for division and antagonism between Aryans and the Dasyus is
based upon a wrong meaning given to the two words Varna and Anas which are used with reference
to the Dasyus. The word Varna is taken to mean colour and the word Anas is taken to mean without
nose. Both these meanings are erroneous. Varna means Caste or group and Anas if read as An-
As means uncultivated speech. That statement that the Aryans had a colour prejudice which
determined their social order is arrant nonsense. If there were any people who were devoid of
colour prejudice it is the Aryans and that is because there was no dominant colour to distinguish
themselves.

It is wrong to say that the Dasyus were non-Aryans by race. The Dasyus were not a pre-
Aryan race of aboriginals of India. The Dasyus were members of the Aryan community who
were deprived of the title of Arya for opposing some belief or cult which was an essential
part of the Aryan Culture. How this belief that the Dasyus were Non-Aryans by race could
have arisen it is difficult to understand. In the Rig Veda (X. 49) Indra says : "I (Indra) have
killed with my thuderbolt for the good of the man, known as Kavi. I have protectedKupa by
adopting means of protection. I took up the thunderbolt for killing Susna. I have deprived the
Dasyus of the appellation of Arya."

Nothing can be more positive and definite than this statement of Indra that the Dasyus
were Aryans. Further and better proof of this fact can be had in the impeachment of Indra for
the various atrocities he had committed. In the list of atrocities for which Indra was
impeached there was one charge namely the killing of Vratra. Vratra was the leader of the
Dasyus. It is unthinkable that such a charge could be framed against Indra if the Dasyus
were not Aryans.

It is erroneous to believe that the Shudras were conquered by the Aryan invaders. In the
first place the story that the Aryans came from outside India and invaded the natives has no
evidence to support it. There is a large body of evidence that India is the home of the
Aryans. In the second place there is no evidence anywhere of any wa.rfare having taken
place between Aryans and Dasyus but the Dasyus have nothing to do with the Shudras. In
the third place it is difficult to believe that the Aryans were a powerful people capable of
much military prowess. Any one who reads the history of the Aryans in India in their relation
to the Devas will be reminded of the relationship that subsisted between the Viellensand
their lords during the feudal times. The Devas were the feudal lords and the Aryans were
the Villens. The innumerable sacrifices which the Aryans performed have the look
offudal dues paid to the Deva. This servility of the Aryans to the Devas was due to the fact
that without the help and the protection of the Devas they could not withstand the assualtsof
the Asuras. It is too much to presume that so effete a people could have conquered the
Shudras. Lastly there was no necessity to conquer the Shudra. Thy were Aryans in the only
sense in which the word Aryan is used, namely, the upholders of the Aryans Culture. Two
things are clear about the Shudras. Nobody has ever contended that they were dark and flat
nosed. Nobody has contended that they were defeated or enslaved by the Aryans. It is
wrong to treat the Dasyus and Shudras as one and the same. As a people they may be the
same. But culturally they were quite different.The Dasyus were Non-Aryans in the sense
they had fallen away and rebelled against the Aryan culture. The Shudras on the other hand
were Aryans i.e. they were believers in the Aryan way of life. The Shudra was accepted as
an Aryan and as late as Kautilya's Artha Shastra was addressed an Arya.

The Shudra was an intergral, natural and valued member of the Aryan Society is proved
by a prayer which is found in the Yajur Veda[f76] and which is offered by the Sacrificer. It runs
as follows : "......... 0 Gods
 Give lustre to our holy priests, set lustre in our ruling chiefs, Lustre
to Vaisyas, Sudras : Give, through lustre; Lustre unto me." It is a remarkable prayer,
remarkable because it shows that the Shudra was a member of the Aryan
Community and was also a respected member of it.
That the Shudras were invited to be present at the coronation of the King along with
Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas is proved by the description given in the Mahabharata of
the coronation of Yudhisthira the eldest brother of the Pandavas. Shudra took part in the
consecration of the King. According to ancient writer called Nilkantha speaking of the
coronation ceremony expressly says : "that the four chief Ministers,
Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra consecra.ted the new king. Then the leaders of
each Varna and by the Castes lower still consecrated him with the holy water. Then followed
acclamation by the twice-born. In the post-vedic period preceding Manu there was group of
the representatives of the people called the Ratnis. The Ratnis played a significant part in
the investiture of the King. The Ratnis were so called because they held the Ratna (jewel)
which was a symbol of sovereignty. The king received his sovereignty only when the Ratnis
handed over to him the jewel of sovereignty and on receiving his sovereignty the King went
to the house of each of the Ratnis and made an offering to him. It is a significant fact that the
Shudra was one of the Ratnis.

Shudras were members of the two political Assemblies of ancient times namely
the Janapada and Paura and as a member of this he was entitled to special respect even
from a Brahmin. That the Shudra in the Ancient Aryan Society had reached a high political
status is indisputable. They could become ministers of State. The Mahabharat bears
testimony to this. Enumerating the different classes of ministers within his memory the writer
of the Mahabharata mentions a list[f77] of 37 Ministers of whom four are Brahmins,
eightKshatriyas, twenty one Vaishyas, three Shudras and one Suta.

Shudras did not stop with being ministers of State. They even became Kings. The story of
Shudras which is given in the Rig Veda stands in cruel contrast with the views expressed
by Manu regarding the eligibility of the Shudra to be a King. The reign of Sudas if referred to
at all is referred only in connection with the terrible contest
betweenVashishtha and Vishvamitra as to who should become the purohit or Royal priest of
King Sudas. The issue involved in the contest was as to the right to officiate as the Purohit
or the King. Vashishtha who was a Brahmin and who was already an officiating priest of
Sudas claimed that a Brahmin alone could become the Purohit of a King while Vishvamitra
who was a Kshatriya contended that a Kshatriya was competent for that office. Vishvamitra
succeeded and in his turn became the Purohit of Sudas. The contest is indeed memorable
because the issue involved in it is very crucial although the result has not been a permanent
deprivation of the Brahmins. But there can be no doubt the story is probably the best piece
of social history that is to be found in the ancient literature. Unfortunately nobody has taken
serious notice of it. Nobody has even asked who this King was. Sudas was the son
of Paijavana and Paijavana is the son of Devodas who was the King of Kasi i.e. Benares.
What was the Varna of Sudas? Few would believe if they were told that King Sudas was a
Shudra. But that is a fact and it can be proved by the testimony of the
Mahabharata[f78] where in the Santipurva a reference is made to this Paijavana. It is stated
that Paijavana was a Shudra. In the light of this the story of Sudas sheds new light on the
status of the Shudra in the Aryan Society. It shows that a Shudra could be a reigning
monarch. It also shows that both the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas not only saw no
humiliation in serving a Shudra King but they with each other to secure his patronage
and were ready to perform vedic ceremonies at his house.

It cannot be said that there were no Shudra Kings in later times. On the contrary history
shows that the two dynasties which preceded Manu were dynasties of Shudras Kings.
The Nandas who ruled from B.C.413 to B.C. 322[f79] were Shudras.
The mauryas who succeded the Nandas and who ruled from 322 B.C, to 183 B.C.[f80] were
also Shudras.What more glaring piece of evidence can there be to show the high dignity
enjoyed by the Shudra than to point to the case of Asoka who was not merely the Emperor
of India but a Shudra and his Empire was the Empire built by the Shudras.

On the question of the right of the Shudra to study the Vedas a reference may be made to
the Chhandogya Upanished (V. 1.2). It relates the story of one Janasruti to whom
VedaVidya was taught by the preceptor Raikva. This Janasruti was a Shudra. This story if it
is a genuine story leaves no doubt that there was a time when there was no bar against the
Shudra in the matter of studying the Vedas.

Not only was Shudra free to study the Vedas but there were Shudras who had reached the
status of Rishis and has been composers of the Hymns of the Vedas. The story of
theRishi Kavasha Aliusha[f81] is very illuminating. He was a Rishi and the author of several
hymns of the Tenth Book of the Rig-Veda.[f82]

On the question of the spiritual eligibility of the Shudra to perform the Vedic ceremonies
and sacrifies the following data may be presented. Jaimin[f83] the author of
the PurvaMimansa mentions an ancient teacher by name Badari—whose work is lost as an
exponent of the view that even Shudra could perform Vedic sacrifices.
The Bharadvaja SrautaSutra (v. 28) admits that there exists another school of thought which
holds that a Sudra can consecrate the three sacred fires necessary for the performance of a
Vedic Sacrifice. Similarly the Commentator of the Katyayana Srauta Sutra (I & 5) admits that
there are certain Vedic texts which lead o the inference that the Shudra was eligible to
perform Vedic rites. In the Satpath Brahmana (1. 1.4.12) there is enunciated a rule of
etiquette which the priest officiating at the performance of a sacrifice is required to observe.
It relates to the mode in which the priest should address the Haviskut (the person
celebrating the sacrifice) calling upon him to begin the ceremony. The rule says:
 "Now there are four different forms of this call, viz. 'Come hither' (Ehi) in the case of a
Brahmana; 'approach' (Agahi) and 'hasten hither' (Adarva) in the case of a Vaishya and a
member of the Military caste and 'run hither' (Adhava) in that of a Shudra." In
the Satpatha Brahman[f84] there is evidence to show that the Shudra was eligible to perform
the SomaYaga and to partake of the divine drink Soma. It says that in the Soma Yaga in
place of a 'payovrata' (vow to drink milk only) Mastu (whey) is prescirbed for the Shudra. In
another place the same Satapatha Brahmana[f85]says :

"There are four classes, the Brahmin, Rajanya, Vaishya and Sudra. There is no one of
these who dislikes Soma. If any one of them however should do so, let there be
anatonment." This means that the drinking of Soma was not only permissible but it was
compulsory on all including the Shudra. But in the story of the Ashvins there is definite
evidence that the Shudra had a right to the divine drink of Soma. The Ashvins as
the story[f86] goes once happened to behold Sukanya when she had just bathed and when
her person was bare. She was young girl married to a Rishi by name Chyavana who at the
time of marriage was so old as to be dying almost any day. The Ashvins were captivated by
the beauty of Sukanya and said "accept one of us for your husband, it behoveth thee not to
spend thy youth fruitlessly."

She refused saying "I am devoted to my husband." They again spoke to her and this time
proposed a bargain—" We two are the celestial physicians of note. We will make thy
husband young and graceful. Do thou then select one of us as thy husband." She went to
her husband and communicated to him the terms of the bargain. Chyavana said to
Sukanya "Do thou so" and the bargain was carried out and Chyavana was made a young
man by the Ashwins. Subsequently a question arose whether the Ashwins were entitled to
Soma which was the drink of the Gods. Indra objected saying that the Ashwins
were Shudras and therefore not entitled to Soma. Chyavana who had received perpetual
youth from the Ashwins set aside the contention and compelled Indra to give them Soma.

All these provisions can have no meaning unless the Shudra was in fact performing
the Vedic ceremonies to which they relate—there is evidence to show that a Shudra woman
took part in the Vedic sacrifice known as the Ashwamedha.[f87]

With regard to the Upanayana ceremony and the right to wear the sacred thread there is
nowhere an express prohibition against the Shudra. On the other hand in
the SansakaraGanapati there is an express provision declaring the Shudra to be eligible
for Upanayan.[f88] The Shudra though belonging to a lower class was nonetheless a free
citizen in days before Manu cannot be gainsaid. Consider the following provisions
in Kautilya's Artha Shastra :

"The selling or mortgaging by kinsmen of the life of a Sudra who is not a born slave, and
has not attained majority, but is an Arya in birth shall be punished with a fine of 2 panas."
 "Deceiving a slave of his money or depriving him of the privileges he can exercise as an
Arya (Aryabhava), shall be punished with half the fine (levied for enslaving the life of an
Arya)."

"Failure to set a slave at liberty on the receipt of a required amount of ransom shall be
punished with a fine of 12 panas; putting a slave under confinement for no
reason(samrodhaschakaranat) shall likewise be punished.

"The offspring of a man who has sold himself off as a slave shall be an Arya. A slave shall
be entitled without prejudice to his master's work but also the inheritance he has received
from his father."

Why did Manu suppress the Shudra?

This riddle of the Shudra is not a simple riddle. It is a complex one. The Aryans were for
ever attempting to Aryanize the Non-Aryans i.e. bringing them within the pale of the Aryan
Culture. So keen were the Aryans on Aryanization that they had developed a religious
ceremony for the mass conversion of the Non-Aryans. The ceremony was called Vratya-
stoma. Speaking of the Vratya-Stoma Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Shastri says :

"The ceremony by which these Vratyas were purified, and which is described in
the Pancavimsa Brahmana differed at least in one particular from other great ceremonies of
theVedic times, namely, while other ceremonies had only one sacrificer and his wife in the
hall of sacrifice, this ceremony had thousands of sacrificers. One of them, the wisest, the
richest or the most powerful acted as Grahapati or Patriarch and the rest simply followed
him. The Grahapati had to pay a higher Daksina or fee than the rest."

"I consider this to be a device by which thousands and thousands of Vratyas were
admitted to the society of the Rsis by one ceremony, and such ceremonies were of frequent
occurrence, thus admitting hordes after hordes of nomadic Aryans into settled habits. The
purified Vratyas were not allowed to bring their possessions in Vratya life with them in
settled life. They had to leave them to those who remained Vratyas still or do the so-called
Brahmins of the Magadha-desa, which, as I have elsewhere shown, was mostly inhabited by
men whom the Rsis looked down upon."

"But when the Vratyas were admitted to settled life, they were admitted as fully equals.
The Rsis used to eat food cooked by them, and they used to eat food cooked by
the Ris.They were taught all the three Vidyas, Sama, Rk, and Yajus, and they were allowed
to study the Vedas, and teach them, and to sacrifice for themselves and for others, that is,
they were considered as fully equal. Not only were they treated as fully equal but they
attained the highest proficiency of a Rsi. Samans were revealed to them, and
even Rks. One of the purified Vratyas, Kausitaki was allowed to collect Brahmans of the Rig-
Veda, which collection still goes under his name."
 The Aryans were not only converting to their way of life the willing non-Aryans they
were also attempting to make converts from among the unwilling Asuras who were
opposed to the Aryans, their cult of sacrifice, their theory of Chaturvarna and even to
their Vedas which according to the mythology the Asuras stole away from
the Aryas. The story of Vishnu rescuing Pralhad by killing his father the Asura
called Hiranya Kashapu on the ground that Pralhad was willing to be converted to
the Aryan Culture while Hiranya Kashapu was opposed to it is an illustration in point.
Here are instances of Non-Aryans being naturalized and enfranchized. Why was an
opposite attitude taken against the Shudra? Why was the Shudra fully naturalized
and fully enfranchized, denaturalized and disfranchized?
The treatment given to the Nishadas gives a point to this riddle which should not be
overlooked. The Ancient Sanskrit Literature is full of reference to the five tribes. They are
described under various appellations [f89] such as Panch-Krishtayah, Panch-
Kshitayah, Panch-Kshityas Manushyah, Panch-Charshanayah, Panch-Janah, Panchi-
janya viz.,Pancha-Bhuma, Panchajata. There is a difference of opinion as to what these
terms denote. Sayanacharya the Commentator of Rig Veda says that these expressions
refer to thefour Varnas and the Nishads. The Vishnu Purana gives the following story about
the Nishads :

"7. The Maiden named Sunitha, who was the first born of Mrityu (Death) was given as wife
to Anga; and of her Vena was born."

8. This son of Mrityu's daughter, infected with the taint of his maternal grandfather, was
born corrupt, as if by nature.

9. When Vena was inaugurated as king by the eminent rishis, he caused this proclamation
to be made on the earth; "Men must not sacrifice, or give gifts, or present oblations. Who
else but myself is the enjoyer of sacrifices? I am for ever the lord of offerings.'

10. Then all the rishis approaching the king with respectful salutations, said to him in a
gentle and conciliatory tone :

11.' Hear, O King, what we have to say :

12. We shall worship Hari, the monarch of the Gods, and the lord of all sacrifices with
a Dirghasattra (prolonged sacrifice), from which the highest benefits will accrue to your
kingdom, your person and your subjects. May blessing rest upon you? You shall have a
share in the ceremony.

13. Vishnu the Lord of sacrifices Male, being propitiated by us with this rite, will grant all
the objects of your desire. Hari, the Lord of Sacrifices, bestows on those kings in whose
country he is honoured with oblation everything that they wish." Vena replied : "What other
being is superior to me? Who else but I should be adored? Who is this person called Hari,
whom you regard as the Lord of sacrifice? Brahma Janardana, Rudra, lndra, Vayu, Yama,
Ravi (the Sun) Agni, Varuna, Dhatri, Pushan, Earth, the Moon,— these and the other gods
who curse and bless are all present in king's person: for he is composed of all the gods.
Knowing this. ye must act in conformity with my commands. Brahmans ye must neither give
gifts, nor present oblations nor sacrifices.

14. As obedience to their husbands is esteemed the highest duty of women, so is the
observance of my orders incumbent upon you." The Rishis answered. ' Give permission
great kings: let not religion perish: this whole world is but a modified form of oblations.

15. When religion perishes the whole world is destroyed with it, When Vena although thus
admonished and repeatedly addressed by the eminent rishis, did not give his permission,
then all the munis, filled with wrath and indignation, cried out to one another, "Slay, slay the
sinner."

16. This man of degraded life, who blasphemes the sacrified Male, the god, the Lord
without beginning or end, is not fit to be lord of the earth.' So saying the munis smote with
blades of kusa grass consecrated by texts this king who had been already smitten by his
blasphemy of the divine being and his other offences. The munis afterwards beheld dust all
round, and asked the people who were standing near what that was.

17. They were informed: "In this country which has no king, the people being distressed,
have become robbers, and have begun to seize the property of others.

18. It is from these robbers rushing impetuously, and plundering other men's goods, that
this great dust is seen?" Then all the munis, consulting together, rubbed with force the thigh
of the king, who was childless, in order to produce a son. From his thigh when rubbed there
was produced a man like a charred log, with flat face, and extremely short.

19. "What shall I do," cried the man, in distress, to the Brahmans. They said to him, "Sit
down (nishida); and from this he became a Nishada.

20. From his sprang the Nishadas dwelling in the Vindhya mountains, distinguished by
their wicked deeds.

21. By this means the sin of the king departed out of him; and so were
the Nishads produced, the offspring of the wickedness of Vena."

This is a mythological origin of the Nishads. But it conta.ins historical facts. It proves that
the Nishads were a low, primitive jungle tribe living in the forests of the Vindhya mountains,
that they were a wicked people i.e. opposed to the Aryan Culture. They invented a
mythology for explaining their origin and connecting them with the Aryan Society. All this
was done in order to support the inclusion of the Nishads into the Aryan fold though not in
the Aryan Society. Now there is nowhere any sort of disabilities imposed upon Nishads a
low, uncivilized and foreign tribe. Question is why were the disabilities imposed upon
the Shudra, who was civilized and an Arya?

CHAPTER 13

The Woman and the Counter-Revolution

There is one copy with a title 'The Woman and the Counter-Revolution '. There is another
copy of the same text with a title, ' The Riddle of the Woman '. The Editorial Boardfelt that
this essay would be appropriate in this Volume rather than in the volume of Riddles in
Hinduism '.—Editors.

Manu can hardly be said to be more tender to women than he was to the Shudra. He
starts with a low opinion of women. Manu proclaims :

II. 213. It is the nature of women to seduce men in this (world): for that reason the wise are
never unguarded in (the company of) females.

II. 214. For women are able to lead astray in (this) world not only a fool, but even a learned
man, and (to make) him a slave of desire and anger.

II. 215. One should not sit in a lonely place with one's mother, sister or daughter; for the
senses are powerful, and master even a learned man.

IX. 14. Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking); '(It is
enough that) he is a man', they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly.

IX. 15. Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural
heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however, carefully they may
be guarded in this (world).

IX. 16. Knowing their disposition, which the Lord of creatures laid in them at the creation,
to be such, (every) man should most strenuously exert himself to guard them.

IX. 17. (When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of their) seat
and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct.

The laws of Manu against women are of a piece with this view. Women are not to be free
under any circumstances. In the opinion of Manu:
 IX. 2. Day and night women must be kept in dependence by the males (of their families),
and, if they attach themselves to sexual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control.

IX. 3. Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her
sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence.

IX. 5. Women must particularly be guarded against evil inclinations, however trifling (they
may appear); for, if they are not guarded, they will bring sorrow on two families.

IX. 6. Considering that the highest duty of all castes, even weak husbands (must) strive to
guard their wives.

IV. 147. By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done
independently, even in her own house.

V. 148. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when
her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent.

V. 149. She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by
leaving them she would make both (her own and her husband's) families contemptible.
Woman is not to have a right to divorce.

IX. 45. The husband is declared to be one with the wife, which means that there could be
no separation once a woman is married. Many Hindus stop here as though this is the whole
story regarding Manu's law of divorce and keep on idolizing it by comforting their conscience
by holding out the view that Manu regarded marriag,e as sacrament and therefore, did not
allow divorce. This of course is far from the truth. His law against divorce had a very different
motive. It was not to tie up a man to a woman but it was to tie up the woman to a man and to
leave the man free.

For Manu does not prevent a man from giving; up his wife. Indeed he not only allows him
to abandon his wife but he also permits him to sell her. But what he does is to prevent the
wife from becoming free. See what Manu says:

IX. 46. Neither by sale nor by repudiation is a wife released from her husband.

The meaning is that a wife, sold or repudiated by her husband, can never become the
legitimate wife of another who may have bought or received her after she was repudiated. If
this is not monstrous nothing can be. But Manu was not worried by consideration of justice
or injustice of his law. He wanted to deprive woman of the freedom she had under the
Buddhistic regime. He knew that by her misuse of her liberty, by her willingness to marry
the Shudra the system of the gradation of the Varna had been destroyed. Manu was
outraged by her license and in putting a stop to it he deprived her of her liberty.
 A wife was reduced by manu to the level of a slave in the matter of property.

IX. 416. A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declared to have no property; the
wealth which they earn is (acquired) for him to whom they belong.

When she becomes a widow Manu allows her maintenance, if her husband was joint, and
a widow's estate in the property of her husband, if he was separate from his family. But
Manu never allows her to have any dominion over property.

A woman under the laws of Manu is subject to corporal punishment and Manu allows the
husband the right to beat his wife.

VIII. 299. A wife, a son, a slave, a pupil and a younger brother of full blood, who have
committed faults, may be beaten with a rope or a split bamboo. In other matters woman was
reduced by Manu to the same position as the Shudra.

The study of the Veda was forbidden to her by Manu as it was to the Shudra.

II. 66. Even for a woman the performance of the Sanskaras are necessary and they should
be performed. But they should be performed without uttering the Veda Mantras.

IX. 18. Women have no right to study the Vedas. That is why their Sanskars are performed
without Veda Mantras. Women have no knowledge of religion because they have no right to
know the Vedas. The uttering of the Veda Mantras is useful for removing sin. As women
cannot utter the Veda Mantras they are as unclean as untruth is.

Offering sacrifices according to Brahmanism formed the very soul of religion. Yet Manu will
not allow women to perform them. Manu ordains that :

XI. 36. A woman shall not perform the daily sacrifices prescribed by the Vedas.

XI, 37, If she does it she will go to hell.

To disable her from performing such sacrifices Manu prevents her from getting the aid and
services of a Brahmin priest.

IV. 205. A Brahman must never eat food given at a sacrifice performed by a woman.

IV. 206. Sacrifices performed by women are inauspicious and not acceptable to God. They
should therefore be avoided. Woman was not to have any intellectual persuits nor free will,
nor freedom of thought. She was not to join any heretical sect such as Buddhism. If she
continues to adhere to it till death she is not to be given the libation of water as is done in
the case of all dead.
 Finally a word regarding the ideal of life, Manu has sought to place before a woman. It had
better be stated in his own words :

V. 151. Him to whom her father may give her, or her brother with the father's permission,
she shall obey as long as he lives and when he is dead, she must not insult his memory.

V. 154. Though destitute or virtue, or seeking pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good

qualities, yet a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife.

V. 155. No sacrifice, no vow, no fast must be performed by women, apart from their
husbands; if a wife obeys her husband, she will for that reason alone be exalted in heaven.
Then comes the choicest texts which forms the pith and the marrow of this ideal which Manu
prescribes for women:

V. 153. The husband who wedded her with sacred Mantras, is always a source of
happiness to his wife, both in season and out of season, in this world and in the next.

V. 150. She must always be cheerful, clever in the management of her household affairs,
careful in cleaning her utensils, and economical in expenditure.

This the Hindus regard as a very lofty ideal for a woman! Compare with this the position of
the woman before the days of Manu.

That a woman was entitled to Upanayan is clear from the Atharva Veda where a girl is
spoken of as being eligible for marriage having finished her Brahmacharya. From
theShrauta Sutras it is clear that women could repeat the Mantras of the Vedas and that
women were taught to read the Vedas. Panini's Ashtaadhyai bears testimony to the fact that
women attended Gurukul and studied the various Shakhas of the Veda and became expert
in Mimansa. Patanjali's Maha Bhashya shows that women were teachers and taught Vedas
to girl students. The stories of women entering into public discussions with men on most
abstruse subjects of religion, philosophy and metaphysics are by no means few. The story
of public disputation
between Janaka and Sulbha, between Yajnavalkya and Gargi, between Yajnavalkya and M
aitrei and between Shankaracharya and Vidyadharishows that Indian women in pre-
Manu's time could rise to the highest pinnacle of learning and education.

That women in pre-Manu days were highly respected cannot be disputed. Among
the Ratnis who played so prominent a part in the coronation of the King in Ancient India was
the queen and the King made her an offering [f90] as he did to the others. Not only the king
elect did homage to the Queen, he worshipped his other wives of lower castes [f91]. In the
same way the King offers salutation after the coronation ceremony to the, ladies of the
chiefs of the shremes (guides[f92]).
 In the days of Kautilya women[f93] were deemed to have attained their age of majority at 12
and men at 16. The age of majority was in all probability the age of marriage. That the
marriages were post puberty marriages is clear from Baudhayanas' Grihya Sutras[f94]where
an expiatory ceremony is specially prescribed in the case of a bride passing her menses on
the occasion of her marriage.

In Kautilya there is no law as to age of consent. That is because marriages were post
puberty marriages and Kautilya is more concerned with cases in which a bride or a
bridegroom is married without disclosing the fact of his or her having had
sexual intercouse before marriage with another person or maiden in menses having had
sexual intercouse. In the former case Kautilya says[f95] :

"Any person who has given a girl in marriage without announcing her guilt of having laid
with another shall not only be punished with a fine but also be made to return
the Sulkaand Stridhana. Any person receiving a girl in marriage without announcing the
blemishes of the bridegroom shall not only pay double the above fine, but also forfeit the
Sulka and Stridhana (he paid for the bride). In regard to the latter case the rule in
Kautilya[f96] is :

"It is no offence for a man of equal caste and rank to have connection with a maiden who
has been unmarried three years after her first menses. Nor is it an offence for a man, even
of different caste, to have connection with a maiden who has spent more than three years
after her first menses and has no jewellery on her person."

Unlike Manu Kautilya's idea is monogamy. Man can marry more than one wife only under
certain conditions. They are given by Kautilya in the following terms1 :

"If a woman either brings forth no (live) children, or has no male issue, or is barren, her
husband shall wait for eight years (before marrying another). If she bears only a dead child,
he has to wait for ten years. If she brings forth only females, he has to wait for twelve years.
Then if he is desirious to have sons, he may marry another. In case of violating this rule,
he shll be made to pay her not only Sulks, her property (Stridhana) and an adequate
monetary compensation (adhivedanika martham), but also a fine of 24 panas to the
Government. Having given the necessary amount of Sulka and property (Stridhana) even to
those women who have not received such things on the occasion of their marriage with him,
and also having given his wives the proportionate compensation and an adequate
subsistence (vrutti), he may marry any number of women; for women are created for the
sake of sons."

Unlike Manu in Kautilya's time women could claim divorce on the ground of mutual enmity
and hatred.
 "A woman, hating her husband, cannot dissolve her marriage with him against his will. Nor
can a man dissolve his marriage with his wife against her will. But from mutual enmity,
divorce may be obtained (parasparam dveshanmokshah). If a man, apprehending danger
from his wife, desires divorce (mokshamichchhet), he shall return to her whatever she was
given (on the occasion of her marriage). If a woman, under the apprehension of danger from
her husband, desires divorce, she shall forfeit her claim to her property." A wife can
abandon her husband if he is a bad character.

" A woman who has a right to claim maintenance for an unlimited period of time shall be
given as much food and clothing (grasacchadana) as necessary for her, or more than
isneessary in proportion to the income of the maintainer (yathapurushapari-vapam va). If the
period (for which such things are to be given to her with one-tenth of the amount in addition)
is limited, then a certain amount of money, fixed in proportion to the income of the
maintainer, shall be given to her; so also if she has not been given her Sulka, property, and
compensation (due to her for allowing her husband to re-marry). If she places herself under
the protection of any one belonging to her father-in-law's family (Svasurakula), or if she
begins to live independently, then her husband shall not be sued (for her maintenance).
Thus the determination of maintenance is dealt with."

In the days of Kautilya there was no ban on woman or a widow remarrying :

"On the death of her husband a woman, desirous to lead a pious life, shall at once receive
not only her endowment and jewellery (sthapyabharanam), but also the balance of Sulka
due to her. If after obtaining these two things she re-married another, she shall be caused to
pay them back together with interest (on their value). If she is desirous of a second
marriage (kutumbarkama), she shall be given on the occasion of her re-
marriage (nivesakale) whatever either her father-in-law or her husband or both had given to
her. The time at which women can re-marry shall be explained in connection with the
subject of long sojourn of husbands.

"If a widow marries any man other than of her father-in-law's

selection (svasurapratilomyenanivishta), she shall forfeit whatever had been given to her by
her father-in-law and her deceased husband.

"The kinsmen (gnatis) of a woman shall return to her old father-in-law whatever property of
her own she had taken with her while re-marrying a kinsman. Whoever justly takes a woman
under his protection shall equally protect her property. No woman shall succeed in her
attempt to establish her title to the property of her deceased husband, after she re-marries.

"if she lives a pious life, she may enjoy it (dharmakama bhunjita). No woman with a son or
sons shall (after re-marriage) be at liberty to make free use of her own
property(stridhana); for that property of hers, her sons shall receive. "If a woman after re-
marriage attempts to take possession of her own property under the plea of maintaining her
sons by her former husband, she shall be made to endow it in their name. If a woman has
many male children by many husbands, then she shall conserve her property in the same
condition as she had received from her husbands. Even that property which has been given
her with full powers of enjoyment and disposal, a remarried woman shall endow in the name
of her sons.

"A barren widow who is faithful to the bed of her dead husband may, under the protection
of her teacher, enjoy her property as long as she lives; for it is to ward off calamities that
women are endowed with property. On her death, her property shall pass into the hands of
her kinsman (Dayada). If the husband is alive and the wife is dead, then her sons and
daughters shall divide her property among themselves. If there are no sons, her daughters
shall have it. In their absence her husband shall take that amount of money (sulka) which he
had given her, and her relatives shall re-take whatever in the shape of gift or dowry they had
presented her. Thus the determination of the property of a woman is dealt with."

"Wives who belong to Sudra, Vaisya, Kshatriya or Brahman caste, and who have not
given birth to children, should wait as long as a year, two, three and four years respectively
for their husba.nds who have gone abroad for a short time; but if they are such as have
given birth to children, they should wait for their absent husbands for more than a year. If
they are provided with maintenance, they should wait for twice the period of time just
mentioned. If they are not so provided with, their well-to-do gnatis should maintain them
either for four or eight years. Then the gnatis should leave them to marry, after taking what
had been presented to them on the occasion of their marriages. If the husband is
a Brahman,studying abroad, his wife who has no issue should wait for him for ten years; but
if she has given birth to children, she should wait for twelve years. If the husband is a
servant of the king, his wife should wait for him till her death; but even if she bears children
to a savarna husband (i.e. a second husband belonging to the same gotra as that of the
former husband), with a view to avoid the extinction of her race, she shall not be liable to
contempt thereof (savarnatascha prajata na ' pavadam labheta). If the wife of an absent
husband lacks maintenance and is deserted by well-to-do gnatis, she may re-marry one
whom she likes and who is in a position to maintian her and relieve her misery."

Unlike Manu every precaution was taken to guarantee economic independence to a

married woman. This is clear from the following provisions in Kautilya's Arthashastra relating
to wife's endowment and maintenance :

"Means of subsistence (vruti) or jewellery (abadhya) constitutes what is called the property
of a woman. Means of subsistence valued at above two thousand shall be endowed (in her
name). There is no limit to jewellery. It is no guilt for the wife to make use of this property in
maintaining her son, her daughter-in-law, or herself, whenever her absent husband has
made no provision for her maintenance. In calamities, disease and famine, in warding off
dangers and in charitable acts, the husband, too, may make use of this property. Neither
shall there by any complaint against the enjoyment of this property by mutual consent by a
couple who have brought forth a twin. Nor shall there be any complaint if this property has
been enjoyed for three years by those who are wedded in accordance with the customs of
the first four kinds of marriage. But the enjoyment of this property in the cases
of Gandharva and Asura marriages shall be liable to be restored together with interest on it.
In the case of such marriages as are called Rakshasa and Paisacha, the use of this property
shall be dealt with as theft. Thus the duty of marriage is dealt with."

"A woman who has a right to claim maintenance for an unlimited period of time shall
be given as much food and clothing (grasachhadan) as is necessary for her, or more than is
necessary in proportion to the income of the maintainer (yatha-
purushaparivapam va). If the period (for which such things are to be given to her with one-
tenth of the amount in addition) is limited, then a certain amount of money, fixed in
proportion to the income of the maintainer, shall be given to her; so also if she has not been
given her sulka,property, and compensation (due to her for allowing her husband to re-
marry). If she places herself under the protection of any one belonging to her father-in-law's
family(svasurkula), or if she begins to live independently, then her husband shall not be
sued (for her maintenance). Thus the determination of maintenance is dealt with." Surprising
as it may appear in Kautilya's time a wife could bring an action in a court of law against her
husband for assault and defamation.

In short in pre-Manu days a woman was free and equal partner of man. Why
did Manu degrade her?

Contents

[f1]Science of Religion, pages 150-151.

[f2]Ancient Law p. 6.
[f3]"Morals and Religion"-Hibbert Journal Vol. XIX. pp. 615-621.
[f4]Punjab Census Report 1881. para 214.
[f5]Census of India. Report 1881. p. 158.
[f6]Census of India. Report 1911 p. 114.
[f7]Asiatie Studies Vol.II pp. 287-88.
[f8]Science of Religion, p. 28.
[f9]Quoted bv Garbe in his Introduction to the Bhagvat Gita (Indian Antiquary 1918 Supplement).
[f10]Religion of India pp. 390-400.
[f11]Quoted by Garbe.
[f12]Introduction to Bhagvat Gita.

[f13]Bhagvat Gita (S.F..B.) Introduction p. II.

[f14]And see, too. Chapter VII. stanza 17. where the man of knowledge is declared to be 'dear' to Krishna.
[f15]See His Gita Rahasya (2nd edition) vol. II. Chapter XIV. passim.
[f16]Bhagvat Gita IV. 13.

[f17]Bhagvat Gita II. 39-53.

[f18]Bhagvat Gita II. 47. "This is well summed up in Bhagvat Gita II. 48.
[f19]Introduction (Indian Antiquary Supplement) p. 30.

[f20]Gita Rahasya Vol. II. 916-922.

[f21]Bhagvat Gita II. 42-46 and XVIII 66.

[f22]Bhagwat Gita XIII. 4

[f23]Gita Rahasya II. p. 749.
[f24]Bhagvat Gita (S.B.E.) Introduction p. 31.

[f25]History of Indian Literature p. 242 f.n.

[f26]On the other hand. it may be said that Mr. Tilak readily admitted the reference because it was his opinion that
Brahma Sutras were a very ancient treatise see Gita Rahasya Vol. II.

[f27]Essays on Sanskrit Literature. Vo. III p. 150.

[f28]See our remarks on this point in the Introductory Essay to our Gita in verse p. II seq
[f29]Introduction to Gita in English verse p. v. seq.

[f30]Cr. Max Muller's Hibbert Lectures. p. 137 Webet's Indian Literature, pp. 288. 289: and Rhys Davids' excellent
little volume on Buddhism. p. 151: and see also p. 83 of Mr. Davids' book.

[f31]Cf.Weber's History of Indian Literature, p. 285. In Mr. Davids' Buddhism, p. 94 we have a noteworthy extract
frorn a standard Buddhistic work. touching the existence of the soul. Compare that with the corresponding doctrine in
the Gita. It will be found that the two are at one in rejecting the identity of the soul with the senses &c. The Gita then
goes on lo admit a soul separate from these. Buddhism rejects that also. and sees nothing but the senses.

[f32]On this point compare Bhagvat Gila by S. D. Budhiraja M.A.. L.L.B.. Chief Judge. Kashmere. At every point the
author has attempted to draw attention to textual similarities between the Gita and Buddhism.
[f33]Max Muller Mahapari-Nibbana Sutta p. 63.
[f34]See Mahapadana Sutta p.
[f35]Tevijja Sutta p.

[f36]History of Indian Literature (English Translation) Vol. II p. 229 foot-note.

[f37]Manual of Indian Buddhism p. 122 foot-note
[f38]1 Gita Rahasya Vol II. p. 791-800.

[f39]The Great Epic of India p. 398.

[f40]The Great Epic of India p. 398.

[f41]The Great Epic of India p. 395.

[f42]Ibid p. 390.

[f43]Gita Rahasya II p. 79.

[f44]Gita Rahasya II p. 789.

[f45]Ibid p. 789.
[f46]Dharmanand Kausambi — Hindi Sanskriti ani Ahimsa (Marathi) p 156.
[f47]Dr. Bhandarkar in his 'Saivism and Vaishnavism ' says. " If the Vasudeva Krishna worship prevailed in the time
of the first Maurya it must have originated long before the establishment of the Maurya dynasty."This is an
unexceptionable statement. But it seems to me that a distinction must be made between Krishna as a tribal God and
Krishna as an universalized Ishwara. The date for the first may be what Dr. Bhandarkar suggests but the same
cannot be the dale for the second. In the Gita we are concerned with the second.
[f48]See Shamshastri Memorial Volume.
[f49]The opposition to Krishnaism has been expressed by so late a person as Shankaracharya
[f50]The dates of the Philosophical Sutras of the Brahmans-in the journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. XXXI
1911.
[f51]On the whole subject see—A Historical study of the terms Hinayana and Mahayana and the origin of Mahayana
Buddhism—by Ryukan Kimura, Cal. University 1927.

[f52]This is if the date of Buddha's death is taken to be 543 B.C. and would be 217 B.C. if the date of his death is
taken to be 453 B.C.

[f53]Muir Vol. I, p. 302-303.

[f54]Muir Vol. I, p. 307.

[f55]Muir Vol. I, p. 310-313.
[f56]Muir Vol. I, pp. 316.
[f57]Muir Vol. I, pp. 397-400.
[f58]Muir Vol. 1. pp. 377-378.
[f59]As stated in another place in the Harivamsa Trisanku had been expelled from his home by his father for the
offence of carrying off the young wife of one of the citizens under the influence of a criminal passion and Vashishtha
did not interfere to prevent his banishment. It is to this that the text refers.
[f60]Muir Vol. 1. pp. 376-77.

[f61] 1 Muir Vol. 1. pp. 405-407.

[f62]Muir Vol. I, pp. 415-417.

[f63]Muir Vol. I, pp. 420-422.
[f64]Muir Vol. I, pp. 448-449.

[f65]Muir Vol. I, pp. 349-350.

[f66]Muir Vol. I, pp. 450.

[f67]Muir Vol. I, pp. 454.

[f68]Muir Vol. 1. pp. 454.

[f69]Muir Vol. 1. pp. 473

[f70]Muir Vol. I, pp. 454-55.

[f71]Muir Vol. I, pp. 451-452.

[f72]Muir Vol. I, pp. 473-474.

[f73]Guarded means under the protection of some relation. Unguarded means living alone
[f74]1 According to Nirukta. Das means to destroy
[f75]On the whole of this subject see a brilliant discussion by Mr. Satvalekar in Purusharth Vol. XIII. p.
[f76].......... White Yujur Veda p. 200.
[f77]Jaiswal—Hindu Polity Part II. p. 148.

[f78]Muir Sanskrit Texts Vol. 1. p. 366.

[f79]Figures are incorporated by Editor as they are they are not in the M.S.— Editors
[f80]Figures are incorporated by Editors as they are not in the MS.—Editors.

[f81]1Aitereya Brahmana Vol. II. p. 112.

[f82]Max-Muller—Ancient Sanskrit Literature 1860p.58.

[f83]See Kane—History of Dharmashastras.

[f84]Quoted by Kane—History of Dharamshastra

[f85]Quoted by Muir Sanskrit Texts 1. p. 367.
[f86]V. Fausboil Indian Mythology pp. 128-134
[f87]Jaiswal Indian Polity Part II. p. 17.

[f88]Referred to by Max-Muller in Ancient Sanskrit Literature - (1860) - p. 207.

[f89]Source not quoted.— Editors.

[f90]Jaiswal; Indian Polity, Part II, p. 16.

[f91]Ibid. Part II, p. 17.

[f92]Ibid. p. 82.

[f93]Sham Shastri, Kautilya's Arthashastra, p. 175.

[f94]Baudhyayana, 1. 7. 22.

[f95]Sham Shastri. Kautilya's Arthashastra, p. 222.

[f96]Ibid. p. 259.
PART IV

CHAPTER 18.

Buddha or Karl Marx

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________

Contents

I. THE CREED OF THE BUDDHA

II. THE ORIGINAL CREED OF KARL MARX

III. WHAT SURVIVES OF THE MARXIAN CREED
IV. COMPARISON BETWEEN BUDDHA AND KARL MARX
V. THE MEANS
VI. EVALUATION OF MEANS
VII. WHOSE MEANS ARE MORE EFFICACIOUS

VIII. WITHERING AWAY OF THE STATE

___________________________________________________________________________
___________

Editorial Note in the source publication: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and
Speeches, Vol. 3:
The Committee found three different typed copies of an essay on Buddha and Karl Marx in
loose sheets, two of which have corrections in the author’s own handwriting. After scrutinising
these, this essay is compiled incorporating the corrections. The essay is divided into sub-topics
as shown below: Introduction

1. The Creed of the Buddha

2. The Original Creed of Karl Marx

3. What survives of the Marxian Creed?

4. Comparison between Buddha and Karl Marx

5. Means

6. Evaluation of Means

7. Whose Means are More Efficacious?

 8. Withering away of the State

— Editors.

___________________________________________________________________________
____________

A comparison between Karl Marx and Buddha may be regarded as a joke. There need be no
surprise in this. Marx and Buddha are divided by 2381 years. Buddha was born in 563 BC and
Karl Marx in 1818 AD Karl Marx is supposed to be the architect of a new ideology-polity a new
Economic system. The Buddha on the other hand is believed to be no more than the founder of
a religion, which has no relation to politics or economics. The heading of this essay " Buddha or
Karl Marx " which suggests either a comparison or a contrast between two such personalities
divided by such a lengthy span of time and occupied with different fields of thought is sure to
sound odd. The Marxists may easily laugh at it and mayridicule the very idea of treating Marx
and Buddha on the same level. Marx so modern and Buddha so ancient! The Marxists may say
that the Buddha as compared to their master must be just primitive. What comparison can there
be between two such persons? What could a Marxist learn from the Buddha? What can Buddha
teach a Marxist? None-the-less a comparison between the two is a attractive and instructive
Having read both and being interested in the ideology of both a comparison between them just
forces itself on me. If theMarxists keep back their prejudices and study the Buddha and
understand what he stood for I feel sure that they will change their attitude. It is of course too
much to expect that havingbeen determined to scoff at the Buddha they will remain to pray. But
this much can he said that they will realise that there is something in the Buddha's teachings
which is worth their while to take note of.

I THE CREED OF THE BUDDHA

The Buddha is generally associated with the doctrine of Ahimsa. That is taken to be the be-all
and end-all of his teachings. Hardly any one knows that what the Buddha taught is
something very vast: far beyond Ahimsa. It is therefore necessary to set out in detail his tenets. I
enumerate them below as I have understood them from my reading of the Tripitaka :

1. Religion is necessary for a free Society.

2. Not every Religion is worth having. 3. Religion must relate to facts of life and not to theories
and speculations about God, or Soul or Heaven or Earth.
 4. It is wrong to make God the centre of Religion.

5. It is wrong to make salvation of the soul as the centre of Religion.

6. It is wrong to make animal sacrifices to be the centre of religion.

7. Real Religion lives in the heart of man and not in the Shastras.

8. Man and morality must be the centre of religion. If not, Religion is a cruel superstition.

9. It is not enough for Morality to be the ideal of life. Since there is no God it must become the
Jaw of life. 10. The function of Religion is to reconstruct the world and to make it happy and not
to explain its origin or its end.

11. That the unhappiness in the world is due to conflict of interest and the only way to solve it
is to follow the Ashtanga Marga.

12. That private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another.

13. That it is necessary for the good of Society that this sorrow be removed by removing its
cause.

14. All human beings are equal.

15. Worth and not birth is the measure of man.

16. What is important is high ideals and not noble birth.

17. Maitri or fellowship towards all must never be abandoned. One owes it even to one's
enemy.

18. Every one has a right to learn. Learning is as necessary for man to live as food is.

19. Learning without character is dangerous.

20. Nothing is infallible. Nothing is binding forever. Every thing is subject to inquiry and
examination. 21. Nothing is final.

22. Every thing is subject to the law of causation.

23. Nothing is permanent or sanatan. Every thing is subject to change. Being is always
becoming.

24. War is wrong unless it is for truth and justice.

25. The victor has duties towards the vanquished. This is the creed of the Buddha in a
summary form. How ancient hut how fresh! How wide and how deep are his teachings!
 II THE ORIGINAL CREED OF KARL MARX

Let us now turn to the creed of Karl Marx as originally propounded by him. Karl Marx is no
doubt the father of modern socialism or Communism but he was not interested merely in
propounding the theory of Socialism. That had been done long before him by others. Marx was
more interested in proving that his Socialism was scientific. His crusade was as much against
the capitalists as it was against those whom he called the Utopian Socialists. He
disliked them both. It is necessary to note this point because Marx attached
the greatestimportance to the scientific character of his Socialism. All the doctrines which Marx
propounded had no other purpose than to establish his contention that his brand of Socialism
was scientific and not Utopian.

By scientific socialism what Karl Marx meant was that his brand of socialism
was inevitable and inescapable and that society was moving towards it and that nothing could
prevent its march. It is to prove this contention of his that Marx principally laboured. Marx's
contention rested on the following theses. They were:—

(i) That the purpose of philosophy is to reconstruct the world and not to explain the origin of
the universe.

(ii) That the force which shapes the course of history are primarily economic.

(iii) That society is divided into two classes, owners and workers. (iv) That there is always a
class conflict going on between the two classes.

(v) That the workers are exploited by the owners who misappropriate the surplus value, which
is the result of the workers' labour.

(vi) That this exploitation can be put an end to by nationalisation of the instruments of
production i.e. abolition of private property.

(vii) That this exploitation is leading to greater and greater impoverishment of the workers.

(viii) That this growing impoverishment of the workers is resulting in a revolutionary spirit
among the workers and the conversion of the class conflict into a class struggle.

(ix) That as the workers outnumber the owners, the workers are bound to capture the State
and establish their rule, which he called the dictatorship of the proletariat.

(x) These factors are irresistible and therefore socialism is inevitable.

I hope I have reported correctly the propositions, which formed the original basis of Marxian
Socialism.
 III WHAT SURVIVES OF THE MARXIAN CREED

Before making a comparison between the ideologies of the Buddha and Karl Marx it is
necessary to note how much of this original corpus of the Marxian creed has survived; how
much has been disproved by history and how much has been demolished by his opponents.

The Marxian Creed was propounded sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. Since
then it has been subjected to much criticism. As a result of this criticism much of the ideological
structure raised by Karl Marx has broken to pieces. There is hardly any doubt that Marxist claim
that his socialism was inevitable has been completely disproved. The dictatorship of the
Proletariat was first established in 1917 in one country after a period of something like seventy
years after the publication of his Das Capital the gospel of socialism. Even when the
Communism—which is another name for the dictatorship of the Proletariat—came to Russia, it
did not come as something inevitable without any kind of human effort. There was a revolution
and much deliberate planning had to be done with a lot of violence and blood shed, before it
could step into Russia. The rest of the world is still waiting for coming of the Proletarian
Dictatorship. Apart from this general falsification of the Marxian thesis that Socialism is
inevitable, many of the other propositions stated in the lists have also been demolished both by
logic as well as by experience. Nobody now I accepts the economic interpretation of history as
the only explanation of history. Nobody accepts that the proletariat has been progressively
pauperised. And the same is true about his other premises.

What remains of the Karl Marx is a residue of fire, small but still very important. The residue in
my view consists of four items:

(i) The function of philosophy is to reconstruct the world and not to waste its time in explaining
the origin of the world. (ii) That there is a conflict of interest between class and class.(iii) That
private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another through
exploitation.

(iv) That it is necessary for the good of society that the sorrow be removed by the abolition of
private property.

IV COMPARISON BETWEEN BUDDHA AND KARL MARX

Taking the points from the Marxian Creed which have survived one may now enter upon a
comparison between the Buddha and Karl Marx.
 On the first point there is complete agreement between the Buddha and Karl Marx. To show
how close is the agreement I quote below a part of the dialogue between Buddha and the
Brahmin Potthapada.

"Then, in the same terms, Potthapada asked (the Buddha) each of the following questions:

1. Is the world not eternal?

2. Is the world finite?

3. Is the world infinite?

4. Is the soul the same as the body?

5. Is the soul one thing, and the body another?

6. Does one who has gained the truth live again after death ?

7. Does he neither live again, nor not live again, after death ? And to each question the
exalted one made the same reply: It was this.

"That too, Potthapada, is a matter on which I have expressed no opinion ".

28. " But why has the Exalted One expressed no opinion on that ? " (Because) 'This question
is not calculated to profit, it is not concerned with (the Dhamma) it does not redound even to the
elements of right conduct, nor to detachment nor to purification from lust, nor to quietude, nor to
tranquillisation of heart, nor to real knowledge, nor to the insight (of the higher stages of the
Path), nor to Nirvana. Therefore it is that I express no opinion upon it. " On the second point I
give below a quotation from a dialogue between Buddha andPasenadi King of Kosala:

" Moreover, there is always strife going on between kings, between ' nobles, between
Brahmins, between house holders, between mother and son, between son and father, between
brother and sister, , between sister and brother, between companion and companion. . ." '
Although these are the words of Pasenadi, the Buddha did not deny that they formed a true
picture of society.

As to the Buddha's own attitude towards class conflict his

doctrine ''. of Ashtanga Marga recognises that class conflict exists and that it is ; the class
conflict which is the cause of misery.

On the third question I quote from the same dialogue of Buddha with Potthapada;

" Then what is it that the Exalted One has determined? " " I have expounded,
Potthapada, that sorrow and misery exist! " I have expounded, what is the origin of
misery. I haveexpounded what is the cessation of misery: I have expounded what is
method by which one may reach the cessation of misery.

30. 'And why has the Exalted One put forth a statement as to that?'

' Because that questions Potthapada, is calculated to profit, is concerned with

the Dhamma redounds to the beginnings of right conduct, to detachment, to
purification from lusts, to quietude, to tranquillisation of heart, to real knowledge, to
the insight of the higher stages of the Path and to Nirvana. Therefore is
it, Potthapada that I have put forward a statement as to that. '
That language is different but the meaning is the same. If for misery one reads
exploitation Buddha is not away from Marx.
On the question of private property the following extract from a dialogue between
Buddha and Ananda is very illuminating. In reply to a question by Ananda the
Buddha said:
"I have said that avarice is because of possession. Now in what way that is so,
Ananda, is to be understood after this manner. Where there is no possession of
any sort or kind whatever by any one or anything, then there being no possession
whatever, would there, owing to this cessation of possession, be any appearance
of avarice? " 'There would not. Lord".
'Wherefore, Ananda, just that is the ground, the basis, the genesis, the cause of avarice,
to wit, possession.

31. 'I have said that tenacity is the cause possession. Now in what way that is
so, Ananda, is to be understood after this manner. Were there no tenacity of any
sort or kind whatever shown by any one with respect to any thing, then there being
whatever, would there owing to this cessation of tenacity, be any appearance of
possession? ' 'There would not. Lord.'
'Wherefore, Ananda, just that is the ground, the basis, the genesis, the cause of
possession, to wit tenacity. ' On the fourth point no evidence is necessary. The
rules of theBhikshu Sangh will serve as the best testimony on the subject.
According to the rules a Bhikku can have private property only in the following
eight articles and no more. These eight articles are: —
1 I

2. } Three robes or pieces of cloth for daily wear.

3. I

4. A girdle for the loins.

5. An alms-bowl.
 6. A razor.

7. A needle.

8. A water strainer.

Further a Bhikku was completely forbidden to receive gold or silver for fear that
with gold or silver he might buy some thing beside the eight things he is permitted
to have.
These rules are far more rigorous than are to be found in communism in Russia.

V THE MEANS

We must now come to the means. The means of bringing about Communism, which the
Buddha propounded, were quite definite. The means can he decided into three parts.
Part Iconsisted in observing the Pancha Silas. The Enlightenment gave birth to a new gospel,
which contains the key to the solution of the problem, which was haunting him.

The foundation of the New Gospel is the fact that the world was full of misery and
unhappiness. It was fact not merely to be noted but to be regarded as being the first and
foremost in any scheme of salvation. The recognition of this fact the Buddha made the starting
point of his gospel.

To remove this misery and unhappiness was to him the aim and object of the gospel if it is to
serve any useful purpose.

Asking what could be the causes of this misery the Buddha found that there could be only two.

A part of the misery and unhappiness of man was the result of his own misconduct. To
remove this cause of misery he preached the practice of Panch Sila.

The Panch Sila comprised the following observations: (1) To abstain from destroying or
causing destruction of any living things (2) To abstain from stealing i.e. acquiring or keeping by
fraud or violence, the property of another: (3) To Abstain from telling untruth: (4) To abstain from
lust: (5) To abstain from intoxicating drinks.

A part of the misery and unhappiness in the world was according to the Buddha the result of
man's inequity towards man. How was this inequity to be removed ? For the removal of man's
inequity towards man the Buddha prescribed the Noble Eight-Fold Path. The elements of the
Noble Fight-Fold Path are:
 (1) Right views i.e. freedom from superstition: (2) Right aims, high and worthy of the intelligent
and earnest men; (3) Right speech i.e. kindly, open, truthful: (4) Right Conduct i.e. peaceful,
honest and pure; (5) Right livelihood i.e. causing hurt or injury to no living being; (6) Right
perseverance in all the other seven; (7) Right mindfulness i.e. with a watchful and active mind;
and (8) Right contemplation i.e. earnest thought on the deep mysteries of life.

The aim of the Noble Eight-Fold Path is to establish on earth the kingdom of righteousness,
and thereby to banish sorrow and unhappiness from the face of the world.

The third part of the Gospel is the doctrine of Nibbana. The doctrine of Nibbana is an integral
part of the doctrine of the Noble Eight-Fold Path. Without Nibbana the realisation of the Eight-
Fold Path cannot be accomplished.

The doctrine of Nibbana tells what are the difficulties in the way of the realisation of the Eight-
Fold Path.

The chiefs of these difficulties are ten in number. The Buddha called them the
Ten Asavas, Fetters or Hindrances.

The first hindrance is the delusion of self. So long as a man is wholly occupied with himself,
chasing after every bauble that he vainly thinks will satisfy the cravings of his heart, there is no
noble path for him. Only when his eyes have been opened to the fact that he is but a tiny part of
a measureless, whole, only when he begins to realise how impermanent a thing is his temporary
individuality can he even enter upon this narrow path.

The second is Doubt and Indecision. When a man's eyes are opened to the great mystery of
existence, the impermanence of every individuality, he is likely to be assailed by doubt and
indecision as to his action. To do or not to do, after all my individuality is impermanent, why do
anything are questions, which make him indecisive or inactive. But that will not do in life. He
must make up his mind to follow the teacher, to accept the truth and to enter on the struggle or
he will get no further.

The third is dependence on the efficacy of Rites and Ceremonies. No good resolutions,
however firm will lead to anything unless a man gets rid of ritualism: of the belief that any
outward acts. any priestly powers, and holy ceremonies, can afford him an assistance of any
kind. It is only when he has overcome this hindrance, that men can be said to have fairly
entered upon the stream and has a chance sooner or later to win a victory.

'' The fourth consists of the bodily passions... The fifth is ill will towards other individuals. The
sixth is the suppression of the desire for a future life with a material body and the seventh is the
desire for a future life in an immaterial world.
 The eighth hindrance is Pride and nineth is self-righteousness. These are failings which it is
most difficult for men to overcome, and to which superior minds are
peculiarly liable aPraisaical contempt for those who are less able and less holy than
themselves.

The tenth hindrance is ignorance. When all other difficulties are conquered this will even
remain, the thorn in the flesh of the wise a.nd good, the last enemy and the bitterest foe of man.

Nibbana consists in overcoming these hindrances to the pursuit of the Noble Eight-Fold Path.

The doctrine of the Noble Eight-Fold Path tells what disposition of the mind which a person
should sedulously cultivate. The doctrine of Nibbana tells of the temptation or hindrance which a
person should earnestly overcome if he wishes to trade along with the Noble Eight-Fold Path

The Fourth Part of the new Gospel is the doctrine of Paramitas. The doctrine
of Paraimitas inculcates the practice of ten virtues in one's daily life.

These are those ten virtues—d) Panna (2) Sila (3) Nekkhama (4) Dana(5) Virya(6) Khanti(7)
Succa(8) Aditthana(9) Mettaa-nd (10) Upekkha.

Panna or wisdom is the light that removes the darkenss of Avijja, Moha or Nescience. The
Panna requires that one must get all his doubts removed by questioning those wiser than him
self, associate with the wise and cultivate the different arts and sciences which help to develop
the mind.

Sila is moral temperament, the disposition not to do evil and the disposition to do good; to be
ashamed of doing wrong. To avoid doing evil for fear of punishment is Sila. Sila means fear of
doing wrong. Nekkhama is renunciation of the pleasures of the world. Dana means the giving of
one's possessions, blood and limbs and even one's life for the good of the others without
expecting anything in return.

Virya is right endeavour. It is doing with all your might with thought never turning back,
whatever you have undertaken to do.

Khanti is forbearance. Not to meet hatred by harted is the essence of it. For hatred is not
appeased by hatred. It is appeased only by forbearance.

Succa is truth. An aspirant for Buddha never speaks a lie. His speech is truth and nothing but
truth.

Aditthana is resolute determination to reach the goal. Metta is fellow feeling extending to all
beings, foe and friend, beast and man.

Upekka is detachment as distinguished from indifference. It is a state of mind where there is

neither like nor dislike. Remaining unmoved by the result and yet engaged in the pursuit of it.
 These virtues one must practice to his utmost capacity. That is why they are
called Paramitas (States of Perfection).

Such is the gospel the Buddha enunciated as a result of his enlightenment to end the sorrow
and misery in the world.

It is clear that the means adopted by the Buddha were to convert a man by changing his moral
disposition to follow the path voluntarily.

The means adopted by the Communists are equally clear, short and swift. They are (1)
Violence and (2) Dictatorship of the Proletariat.

The Communists say that there are the only two means of establishing communism. The first
is violence. Nothing short of it will suffice to break up the existing system. The other is
dictatorship of the proletariat. Nothing short of it will suffice to continue the new system.

It is now clear what are the similarities and differences between Buddha and Karl Marx.
The differences are about the means. The end is common to both.

VI EVALUATION OF MEANS

We must now turn to the evaluation of means. We must ask whose means are superior and
lasting in the long run. There are, however some misunderstandings on both sides. It is
necessary to clear them up. Take violence. As to violence there are many people who seem to
shiver at the very thought of it. But this is only a sentiment. Violence cannot be altogether
dispensed with. Even in non-communist countries a murderer is hanged. Does not hanging
amount to violence? Non-communist countries go to war with non-communist countries. Millions
of people are killed. Is this no violence? If a murderer can be killed, because he has killed a
citizen, if a soldier can be killed in war because he belongs to a hostile nation why cannot a
property owner be killed if his ownership leads to misery for the rest of humanity? There is no
reason to make an exception in favour of the property owner, whyone should regard private
property as sacrosanct.

The Buddha was against violence. But he was also in favour of justice and where justice
required he permitted the use of force. This is well illustrated in his dialogue
with SinhaSenapati the Commander-in-Chief of Vaishali. Sinha having come to know that the
Buddha preached Ahimsa went to him and asked:

"The Bhagvan preaches Ahimsa. Does the Bhagvan preach an offender to be given freedom
from punishment? Does the Bhagvan preach that we should not go to war to save ourwives, our
children and our wealth? Should we suffer at the hands of criminals in the name of Ahimsa.?"
 " Does the Tathagata prohibit all war even when it is in the interest of Truth and Justice?"

Buddha replied. You have wrongly understood what I have been preaching. An offender must
be punished and an innocent man must be freed. It is not a fault of the Magistrate if he punishes
an offender. The cause of punishment is the fault of the offender. The Magistrate who inflicts the
punishment is only carrying out the law. He does not become stained withAhimsa. A man who
fights for justice and safety cannot be accused of Ahimsa. If all the means of maintaining peace
have failed then the responsibility for Himsa falls on him who starts war. One must never
surrender to evil powers. War there may be. But it must not be for selfish ends...."

There are of course other grounds against violence such as those urged by Prof.
John Dewey. In dealing with those who contend that the end justifies the means is morally
perverted doctrine, Dewey has rightly asked what can justify the means if not the end ? It is only
the end that can justify the means.

Buddha would have probably admitted that it is only the end which would justify the means.
What else could? And he would have said that if the end justified violence, violence was a
legitimate means for the end in view. He certainly would not have exempted property owners
from force if force were the only means for that end. As we shall see his means for the end were
different. As Prof. Dewey has pointed out that violence is only another name for the use of force
and although force must be used for creative purposes a distinction between use of force as
energy and use of force as violence needs to be made. The achievement of an end involves the
destruction of many other ends, which are integral with the one that is sought to be destroyed.
Use of force must be so regulated that it should save as many ends as possible in destroying
the evil one. Buddha's Ahimsa was not as absolute as the Ahimsa preached by Mahavira the
founder of Jainism. He would have allowed force only as energy. The communists preach
Ahimsa as an absolute principle. To this the Buddha was deadly opposed.

As to Dictatorship the Buddha would have none of it. He was born a democrat and he died
a democrat. At the time he lived there were 14 monarchical states and 4 republics. He belonged
to the Sakyas and the Sakya's kingdom was a republic. He was extremely in love
with Vaishali which was his second home because it was a republic. Before
hisMahaparinirbban he spent his Varshavasa in Vaishali. After the completion of his Varshavasa
he decided to leave Vaishali and go elsewhere as was his wont. After going some distance he
looked back on Vaishali and said to Ananda. "This is the last look of Vaishali which
the Tathagata is having ". So fond was he of this republic.

He was a thorough equalitarian. Originally the Bhikkus, including the Buddha himself, wore
robes made of rags. This rule was enunciated to prevent the aristocratic classes from joining
the Sangh. Later Jeevaka the great physician prevailed upon the Buddha to accept a robe,
which was made of a whole cloth. The Buddha at once altered the rule and extended it to all the
monks.
 Once the Buddha's mother Mahaprajapati Gotami who had joined the Bhikkuni Sangh heard
that the Buddha had got a chill. She at once started preparing a scarf for him. After having
completed it she took to the Buddha and asked him to wear it. But he refused to accept it saying
that if it is a gift it must be a gift to the whole Sangh and not to an individual member of the
Sangh. She pleaded and pleaded but he refused to yield.

The Bhikshu Sangh had the most democratic constitution. He was only one of the Bhikkus. At
the most he was like a Prime Minister among members of the Cabinet. He was never a dictator.
Twice before his death he was asked to appoint some one as the head of the Sangh to control
it. But each time he refused saying that the Dhamma is the Supreme Commander of the Sangh.
He refused to be a dictator and refused to appoint a dictator.

What about the value of the means? Whose means are superior and lasting in the long run?

Can the Communists say that in achieving their valuable end they have not destroyed other
valuable ends? They have destroyed private property. Assuming that this is a valuable end can
the Communists say that they have not destroyed other valuable end in the process of
achieving it? How many people have they killed for achieving their end. Has human life no
value ? Could they not have taken property without taking the life of the owner ?

Take dictatorship. The end of Dictatorship is to make the Revolution a permanent revolution.
This is a valuable end. But can the Communists say that in achieving this end they have not
destroyed other valuable ends ? Dictatorship is often defined as absence of liberty or absence
of Parliamentary Government. Both interpretations are not quite clear. There is no liberty even
when there is Parliamentary Government. For law means want of liberty. The difference
between Dictatorship and Parliamentary Govt. lies in this. In Parliamentary Government every
citizen has a right to criticise the restraint on liberty imposed by the Government. In
Parliamentary Government you have a duty and a right; the duty to obey the law and right
to criticise it. In Dictatorship you have only duty to obey but no right to criticise it.

VII WHOSE MEANS ARE MORE EFFICACIOUS

We must now consider whose means are more lasting. One has to choose between
Government by force and Government by moral disposition.

As Burke has said force cannot be a lasting means. In his speech on conciliation with America
he uttered this memorable warning:
 " First, Sir, permit me to observe, that the use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue
for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not
governed which is perpetually to be conquered. "

" My next objection is its uncertainty. Terror is not always the effect of force, and an armament
is not a victory. If you do not succeed, you are without resource, for, conciliation failing, force
remains; but force failing, no further hope of reconciliation is left. Power and authority are
sometimes bought by kindness; but they can never be begged as alms by an impoverished and
defeated violence.

A further objection to force is that you impair the object by your very endeavours to preserve
it. The thing you fought for is the thing, which you recover, but depreciated, sunk, wasted and
consumed in the contest. "

In a sermon addressed to the Bhikkus the Buddha has shown the difference between the rule
by Righteousness and Rule by law i.e. force. Addressing the Brethren he said:

(2) Long ago, brethren, there was Sovereign overlord named Strongtyre, a king ruling in
righteousness, lord of the four quarters of the earth, conqueror, the protector of his people. He
was the possessor of the celestial wheel. He lived in supremacy over this earth to its ocean
bounds, having conquered it, not by the courage, by the sword, but by righteousness.

(3) Now, brethren, after many years, after many hundred years. after manu thousand years,
king Strongtyre command a certain man, saying:

"Thou should est see, Sir, the Celestial Wheel has sunk a little, has slipped down from its
place, bring me word. "

Now after many many hundred years had slipped down from its place On seeing this he went
to King Strongtyre and said: "Know. sir, for a truth that the Celestial Wheel has sunk, has
slipped down from its place. "

The king Strongtyre, brethren, let the prince his eldest son be sent for and speak thus:

' Behold, dear boy, my Celestial Wheel has sunk a little, has slipped down from its place. Now
it has been told me; If the Celestial Wheel of a wheel turning King shall sink down, shall slip
down from its place, that king has not much longer to live. I have had my fill of human
pleasures; 'It's time to seek after divine joys, Come, dear boy, take thou charge over this earth
bounded by the ocean. But I, shaving, hair and beard, and donning yellow robes, will go
forth from home into the homeless state.

So brethren. King Strongtyre, having in due form established his eldest son on the throne,
shaved hair and bearded, donned yellow robes and went forth from home into homeless state.
But on the seventh day after the royal hermit had gone forth, the Celestial Wheel disappeared.
 (4) Then a certain man went to the King, and told him, saying: Know, 0 King, for a truth, that
the Celestial Wheel has disappeared!

Then that King, brethren, was grieved thereat and afflicted with sorrow. And he went to the
royal hermit, and told him, saying, Know, sir, for a truth, that the Celestial Wheel has
disappeared.

And the anointed king so saying, the royal hermit made reply. Grieve thou not, dear son, that
the Celestial Wheel has disappeared, nor be afflicted that the Celestial Wheel has disappeared.
For no paternal heritage of thin, dear son, is the Celestial Wheel. But verily, dear son, turn thou
in the Ariyan turning of the Wheel-turners. (Act up to the noble ideal of duty set before
themselves by the true sovereigns of the world). Then it may well be that if thou carry out the
Ariyan duty of a Wheel-turning Monarch, and on the feast of the moon thou wilt for,
with bathed head to keep the feast on the chief upper terrace, to the Celestial Wheel will
manifest, itself with its thousand spokes its tyre, navel and all its part complete. (5) 'Put what,
sire is this Ariya duty of a Wheel-turning Monarch?' This, dear son, that thou, leaning on the
Norm (the law of truth and righteousness) honouring, respecting and revering it, doing homage
to it, hallowing it, being thyself a Norm-banner, a Norm-signal, having the Norm as thy
master, should provide the right watch, ward, and protection for thine own folk, for the army, for
the nobles, for vassals, for brahmins and house holders, for town and country dwellers, for the
religious world, and for beasts and birds. Throughout thy kingdom let no wrongdoing prevail.
And whosoever in thy kingdom is poor, to him let wealth be given.

' And when dear son, in thy kingdom men of religious life, renouncing the carelessness arising
from intoxication of the senses, and devoted to forbearance and sympathy, each mastering self,
each claiming self, each protecting self, shall come to thee from time to time, and question the
concerning what is good and what is bad. what is criminal and what is not, what is to be done
and what is to be left undone, what line of action will in the long run work for weal or for woe,
thou shouldest hear what they have to say and thou shouldest deter them from evil, and bid
them take up what is good. This, dear son, is the Ariyan duty of a sovereign of the world.'

' Even so, ' sire, answered the anointed king, and obeying, and carried out the Ariyan duty of a
sovereign lord. To him, thus behaving, when on the feast of the full moon he had gone in the
observance with bathed head to the chief upper Terrance the Celestial Wheel revealed itself,
with its thousand spokes, its tyre. its naval, and all its part complete. And seeing this is occurred
to the king: ' It has been told me that a king to whom on such a occasion the Celestial Wheel
reveals itself completely, becomes a Wheel-turning monarch. May I even I also become a
sovereign of the world.'

(6) Then brethren, the king arose from his seat and uncovering his robe from one shoulder,
took in his left hand a pitcher, and with his right hand sprinkled up over the Celestial Wheel,
saying: ' Roll onward, O Lord Wheel! Go forth and overcome, O
Lord Wheel ! ' Then, brethren, the Celestial Wheel rolled onwards towards the region of the
East. and after it went the Wheel-turning king, and with him his army, horses and chariots and
elephants and men. And in whatever place, brethren, the wheel stopped, there the king, the
victorious war-lord, took up his abode, and with him his fourfold army. Then the all, the rival
kings in the region of the East came to the sovereign king and said 'Come, O mighty king!
Welcome, O mighty king! All is thine, O mighty King! Teach us, O mighty king! '

The king, the sovereign war-lord, speak thus: 'Ye shall slay no living thing. Ye shall not take
that which has not been given. Ye shall not act wrongly touching bodily desires. Ye shall speak
no lie. Ye shall drink no maddening drink. Enjoy your possessions as you have been wont to
do.'

(7) Then, brethern, the Celestial Wheel, plunging down to the Eastern ocean, rose up out
again, and rolled onwards to the region of the south.... (and there all happened as had
happened in the East). And in like manner the Celestial Wheel, plunging into Southern ocean,
rose up out again and rolled onward to the region of the West. . . and of the North: and there too
happened as had happened in the Southern and West.

Then when the Celestial Wheel had gone forth conquering over the whole earth to its
ocean boundary, it returned to the royal city, and stood, so that one might think it fixed, in front
of the judgement hall at entrance to the inner apartments of the king, the Wheel-turner, lighting
up with its glory the facade of the inner apartments of the king, the sovereign of the world.

(8) And a second king. brethern, also a Wheel-turning monarch,. . . and a third. . . and a
fourth. . . and a fifth. . . and a sixth. . . and a seventh king, a victorious war-lord, after many
years, after many hundred years, after many thousand years, command a certain man,
saying:

'If thou should'est see, sirrah, that the Celestial Wheel has sunk down, has slid from its place,
bring me word.' 'Even so, sire.' replied the man.

So after many years, after many hundred years, after many thousand years, that man saw
that the Celestial Wheel had sunk down, had become dislodged from its place. And so seeing
he went to the king, the warlord, and told him.

Then that king did (even as Strongtyre had done). And on the seventh day after the royal
hermit had gone forth the Celestial Wheel disappeared.

Then a certain man went and told the King. Then the King was grieved at the disappearance
of the wheel, and afflicted with grief. But he did not go to the hermit-king to ask concerning,
the Ariyan Duty of sovereign war-lord. But his own ideas, forsooth, he governed his people; and
they so governed differently from what they had been. did not prosper as they used to do under
former kings who had carried out the Arivan duty of a sovereign king.
 Then, brethren, the ministers and courtiers, the finance officials, the guards and door keepers
and they who lived by sacred verses came to the King and speak thus:

'Thy people, O king. whilst thou governest them by thine own ideas differently from the way to
which they were used when former kings were carrying out the Arivan Duty prosper not. Now
there are in thy kingdom ministers and courtiers, finance officers, guards and custodians, and
they who live by sacred verses—both all of us and others—who keep the knowledge of the
Ariyan duty of the sovereign king. to ! O king. do thou ask us concerning it: to thee thus asking
will we declare it.'

9. Then, brethren, the king, having made the ministers and all the rest sit down
together, asked them about the Ariyan duty of Sovereign war-lord. And they declared it unto
him. And when he had heard them, he did provide the due watch and ward protection, but on
the destitute he bestowed no wealth and because this was not done, poverty became
widespread.

When poverty was thus become rife, a certain man took that which others had not given him,
what people call by theft. Him they caught, and brought before the king, saying: 'This man, O
king has taken that which was not given to him and that is theft'.

Thereupon the king speak thus to the man. 'Is it true sirrah, that thou hast taken what no man
gave thee, hast committed what men call theft.' It is true, O king.' 'But why?'

'O king, I have nothing to keep me alive.' Then the king bestowed wealth on that man,
saying: 'With this wealth sir, do thou both keep thyself alive, maintain thy parents, maintain
children and wife, carry on thy business.' 'Even so, O king,' replied the man.

10. Now another man, brethren, took by theft what was not given him. Him they caught and
brought before the king and told him., saying: 'this man, O king, hath taken by theft what was
not given him'.

And the king (spoke and did even as he had spoken and done to the former man.)

II. Now men heard brethren, that to them who had taken by theft what was not given them, the
King was giving wealth. And hearing they thought, let us then take by theft what has not been
given us.

Now a certain man did so. And him they caught and charged before the king who (as before)
asked him why he had stolen. 'Because, O king I cannot maintain myself. Then the king
thought: If I bestow wealth on anyone so ever who has taken by theft what was not given him,
there will be hereby and increase of this stealing. Let me now put final stop to this and inflict
condign punishment on him, have his head cut off!
 So he bade his man saying ' now look ye! bind this man's arms behind him with a strong rope
and tight knot, shave his head bald, lead him around with a harsh sounding drum, from road to
road, from cross ways to cross ways, take him out by the southern gate and to the south of the
town, put a final stop to this, inflict on him uttermost penalty, cut of his head.'

' Even so, O king ' answered the men, and carried out his commands.

12. Now men heard, brethren, that they who took by theft what was not given them were thus
put to death. And hearing they thought, let us also now have sharp swords made ready for
themselves, and them from whom we take what is not given us—what they call them— let us
put a final stop to them, inflict on them uttermost penalty., and their heads off.

And they got themselves sharp swords, and came forth to sack village and town and city, and
to work highway robbery. And then whom they robbed they made an end of, cutting off their
heads.

13. Thus, brethren, from goods not being bestowed on the destitute poverty grieve rife; from
poverty growing rife stealing increased, from the spread of stealing violence grew space, from
the growth of violence the destruction of life common, from the frequency of murder both the
span of life in those beings and their comeliness also (diminished).

Now among humans of latter span of life, brethren, a certain took by theft what was not given
him and even as those others was accused before the king and questioned if it was true that he
had stolen. 'Nay, O king,' he replied, 'they are deliberately telling lies.' 14. Thus from goods not
being bestowed on the destitute, poverty grew rife... stealing... violence... murder... until lying
grew common.

Again a certain man reported to the king, saying ' such and such a man, O king! has taken by
theft what was not given him '— thus speaking evil of him.

15. And so, brethren, from goods not being bestowed on the destitute poverty grew rife...
stealing... violence... murder... lying... evil speaking grew abundant.

16. From lying there grew adultery.

17. Thus from goods not being bestowed on the destitute,

poverty... stealing... violence... murder... lying... evil speaking. . . immorality grew rife.

18. Among (them) brethren, three things grew space incest, wanton greed and perverted lust.

Then these things grew apace lack of filial piety to mother and father, lack of religious piety to
holy men, lack of regard for the head of the clan.

19. There will come a time, brethren, when the descendants of those humans will have a life-
span of ten years. Among humans of this life span, maidens of five years will be of a
marriageable age. Among such humans these kinds of tastes (savours) will disappear; ghee,
butter, oil of tila, sugar, salt. Among such humans kudrusa grain will be the highest kind of food.
Even as to-day rice and curry is the highest kind of food, so will kudrusa grain will be then.
Among such humans the ten moral courses of conduct will altogether disappear, the tenimmoral
courses of action will flourish excessively; there will be no word for moral among such humans,
the ten moral courses of conduct will altogether disappear, the ten immoral courses of action will
flourish excessively, there will be no word for moral among such humans—far less any moral
agent. Among such humans, brethren, they who lack filian and religious piety, and show no
respect for the Head of the clan—'tis they to whom homage and praise will be given, just as to-
day homage and praise are given to the filial minded, to the pious and to them who respect the
heads of their clans.

20. Among such humans, brethren, there will be no (such thoughts of reverence as are a bar
to intermarriage with) mother, or mother's sister, or mother's sister-in-law, or teacher's wife, or
father's sister-in-law. The world will fall into promiscuity, like goats and sheep, fowls and swine,
dogs and jackals.

Among such humans, brethren keen mutual enmity will become the rule, keen ill-will, keen
animosity, passionate thoughts even of killing, in a mother towards her child, in a child towards
its father, in brother to brother, in brother to sister, in sister to brother. Just a sportsman feels
towards the game that he sees, so will they feel.

This is probably the finest picture of what happens when moral force fails and brutal force
takes its place. What the Buddha wanted was that each man should be morally so trainedthat
he may himself become a sentinel for the kingdom of righteousness.

VIII WITHERING AWAY OF THE STATE

The Communists themselves admit that their theory of the State as a permanent dictatorship
is a weakness in their political philosophy. They take shelter under the plea that the State will
ultimately wither away. There are two questions, which they have to answer. When will it wither
away? What will take the place of the State when it withers away? To the first question they can
give no definite time. Dictatorship for a short period may be good and a welcome thing even for
making Democracy safe. Why should not Dictatorship liquidate itself after it has done its work,
after it has removed all the obstacles and boulders in the way of democracy and has made the
path of Democracy safe. Did not Asoka set an example? He practised violence against
the Kalingas. But thereafter he renounced violence completely. If our victor’s to-day not only
disarm their victims but also disarm themselves there would be peace all over the world.

The Communists have given no answer. At any rate no satisfactory answer to the question
what would take the place of the State when it withers away, though this question is more
important than the question when the State will wither away. Will it. be succeeded by Anarchy?
If so the building up of the Communist State is an useless effort. If it cannot be sustained except
by force and if it results in anarchy when the force holding it together is withdraws what good is
the Communist State. The only thing, which could sustain it after force is withdrawn, is Religion.
But to the Communists Religion is anathema. Their hatred to Religion is so deep seated that
they will not even discriminate between religions which are helpful to Communism and religions
which are not; The Communists have carried their hatred of

Christianity to Buddhism without waiting to examine the difference between the two. The
charge against Christianity levelled by the Communists was two fold. Their first charge against
Christianity was that they made people other worldliness and made them suffer poverty in this
world. As can be seen from quotations from Buddhism in the earlier part of this tract such a
charge cannot be levelled against Buddhism.

The second charge levelled by the Communists against Christianity cannot be levelled against
Buddhism. This charge is summed up in the statement that Religion is the opium of the people.
This charge is based upon the Sermon on the Mount which is to be found in the Bible. The
Sermon on the Mount sublimates poverty and weakness. It promises heaven to the poor and
the weak. There is no Sermon on the Mount to be found in the Buddha's teachings. His teaching
is to acquire wealth. I give below his Sermon on the subject toAnathapindika one of his
disciples.

Once Anathapindika came to where the Exalted One was staying. Having come he made
obeisance to the Exalted One and took a seat at one side and asked 'Will the Enlightened One
tell what things are welcome, pleasant, agreeable, to the householder but which are hard to
gain.'

The Enlightened One having heard the question put to him said ' Of such things the first is to
acquire wealth lawfully.'

'The second is to see that your relations also get their wealth lawfully.'

'The third is to live long and reach great age.' 'Of a truth, householder, for the attainment
of these four things, which in the world are welcomed, pleasant agreeable but hard to gain,
there are also four conditions precedent. They are the blessing of faith, the blessing of
virtuous conduct, the blessing of liberality and the blessing of wisdom.

The Blessing of virtuous conduct which abstains From taking life, thieving, unchastely, lying
and partaking of fermented liquor.

The blessing of liberality consists in the householder living with mind freed from the taint of
avarice, generous, open-handed, delighting in gifts, a good one to be asked and devoted to the
distribution of gifts.
 Wherein consists the blessing of Wisdom? He know that an householder who dwells with
mind overcome by greed, avarice, ill-will, sloth, drowsiness, distraction and flurry, and also
about, commits wrongful deeds and neglects that which ought to be done, and by so doing
deprived of happiness and honour.

Greed, avarice, ill will, sloth and drowsiness, distraction and flurry and doubt are stains of the
mind. A householder who gets rid of such stains of the mind acquires great wisdom, abundant
wisdom, clear vision and perfect wisdom.

Thus to acquire wealth legitimately and justly, earn by great industry, amassed by strength of
the arm and gained by sweat of the brow is a great blessing. The householder makes himself
happy and cheerful and preserves himself full of happiness; also makes his parents, wife, and
children, servants, and labourers, friends and companions happy and cheerful, and preserves
them full of happiness. The Russians do not seem to be paying any attention to Buddhism as an
ultimate aid to sustain Communism when force is withdrawn.

The Russians are proud of their Communism. But they forget that the wonder of all wonders is
that the Buddha established Communism so far as the Sangh was
concerned withoutdictatorship. It may be that it was a communism on a very small scale but it
was communism I without dictatorship a miracle which Lenin failed to do.

The Buddha's method was different. His method was to change the mind of man: to alter his
disposition: so that whatever man does, he does it voluntarily without the use of force or
compulsion. His main means to alter the disposition of men was his Dhamma and the constant
preaching of his Dhamma. The Buddhas way was not to force people to do what they did not
like to do although it was good for them. His way was to alter the disposition of men so that they
would do voluntarily what they would not otherwise to do.

It has been claimed that the Communist Dictatorship in Russia has wonderful achievements to
its credit. There can be no denial of it. That is why I say that a Russian Dictatorship would be
good for all backward countries. But this is no argument for permanent Dictatorship. Humanity
does not only want economic values, it also wants spiritual values to be retained. Permanent
Dictatorship has paid no attention to spiritual values and does not seem to intend
to. Carlyle called Political Economy a Pig Philosophy. Carlyle was of course wrong. For man
needs material comforts" But the Communist Philosophy seems to be equally wrong for the aim
of their philosophy seems to be fatten pigs as though men are no better than pigs. Man must
grow materially as well as spiritually. Society has been aiming to lay a new foundation was
summarised by the French Revolution in three words, Fraternity,Liberty and Equality. The
French Revolution was welcomed because of this slogan. It failed to produce equality. We
welcome the Russian Revolution because it aims to produce equality. But it cannot be too much
emphasised that in producing equality society cannot afford to sacrifice fraternity or liberty.
Equality will be of no value without fraternity or liberty. It seems that the three can coexist only if
one follows the way of the Buddha. Communism can give one but not all.