Cultural Osmosis, Fore word to a book on Indian Folklore

Y. Sudershan Rao, M.A., Ph.D. # 5-11-643

Professor of History (Rtd), Srinagar Rd No 4

Formerly Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Vidyaranyapuri

Kakatiya University, Warangal, India Hanamkonda

Former Member of ICHR, New Delhi. 506 009

Preface

The Indian sub-continent or Bharatakhanda, from Himalayas to Cape Kanyakumari forming a holy ‘Inverted Triangle’, is a world by itself. This land, now known as South Asia in Western academic parlance, is not a ‘museum’ of cultures. It is in reality an abode of living communities of diverse cultures evolving to perfection, sharing the natural and physical resources without mutual conflicts from times immemorial. The rich diversity in ethnic cultures exhibits a very wide range, from mere anthropological to highly spiritual. Simple living, non-exploitative means of livelihood, well organized family life, unswerving filial commitments, spirit of sacrifice, quest for life beyond death and overall attitudes of self reliance and self respect are some of the basic characteristics common to all Indian communities – tribal, semi-tribal or marginal and civilised. The customs, traditions and beliefs of these communities are based on the faith that they all hail from One and the same origin which they might prefer to identify with one or the other cosmic or natural phenomenon. From the tribal communities’ unquestioning belief in the existence of Supreme Power to the highly speculative and philosophical thought of Brahman as reflected in the Vedanta, the Indian psyche could be understood as reflecting various dimensions of a common theme. This common psyche perhaps enabled various communities to live in peace and exchange their cultural traits for mutual benefit.

This South Asia Region now politically divided into seven independent States (known as SARC countries) can boast of a unique status for its unbroken and ever expanding civilization backed by a very high Culture. The beginnings of this Cultured civilization can not however be traced historically. However, the secret of its continuity could be understood from its nature of peaceful assimilation of diverse cultural trends in its main stream without dissolving their cultural identities. Thus, a solid cultural mosaic has formed in this Region with the voluntary participation of all cultures-- classical, folk or tribal. The arts and crafts of ‘little’ or ‘great’ traditions have equally enriched the civilization and culture of this land.

Studies in Indian folklore reveal cultural assimilation while preserving the sensitivities of various ‘little’ traditions. The sincere efforts of the ancient sages to reach out to the masses could be found in the development of folk arts for enlightenment through entertainment. While the Vedanta and Sastras were meant to serve the intellectual class, the Puranas were written for the benefit of common man. These Puranas are not lesser on any count than the Vedic literature. They are popular histories and each one of the major Purana is an encyclopedia by itself. Thus they are the storehouses of knowledge. They impart education, propagate Dharma and teach wisdom to all sections of people from a common platform. This effort has been continuously pursued by the ‘great’ tradition to help grow the ‘little’ while preserving their typical characteristics and art forms.

The Puranas are followed by the Epics which constituted major content of the folk art performances. Buddhist and Jain traditions also attempted to reach the common man in the contemporary folk languages. Dharma has been the under-current of all these literary and art forms, both classical and folk. Satguru Dr Sivananda Murty (Bheemunipatnam, A.P.) while explaining the phenomenon in his simple and sweet but thought-provoking words, says that the Supreme Intelligence descends in myriad forms to help the ascent of man. This is symbolically presented as a “Triangle in an Inverted Triangle” in the Vedic lore. Thus the classical knowledge and folk art forms were integrated to facilitate the ‘Cultural Osmosis’. The diminishing number of tribes and tribal population in India from the remotest past to the present could mainly be ascribed to this natural process. As civilization became widespread, many hill-tribes and forest communities were naturally attracted to join the main stream. The development of modern vernaculars in medieval times has further hastened this process of assimilation. For, select folk art forms are employed to preserve the pride and culture of each community through their own historical narratives describing their origins to confirm that they were branched out of the same stem.

The holistic and all inclusive character of the ‘great’ tradition was considered a major threat to the invading armies and alien cultures. Modern European colonists resorted to brutal annihilation of aboriginal tribes and native cultures in Americas and Australia. The English had applied persuasive methods of conversion of masses to Western culture and religion in South Asia. Two centuries of British rule developed many a crack in the Indian Cultural Mosaic. ‘Leave them alone’ policy of the Raj in respect of tribal communities stalled the process of assimilation and the gaps were, thus, widened. And the post independent era has further widened the cleavages. The rich diversity, which was once a uniting force, has turned out to be the weakness of Indian culture. The smaller units have turned out to be mutually antagonistic and collectively defiant to the uniting spirit of the age-old Culture. To assuage the wounds inflicted by the British Imperialists on Indian culture and civilization, the truth-seeking historians have to work with all seriousness to take up studies based on Indian folklore which may be considered ‘live’ historical data. I think the present work serves this purpose. I congratulate Dr P. Sadanandam for presenting his studious research work in a lucid style. May the Almighty bless him with long life in perfect health backed by all resources to continue his further academic research in this direction!

Dallas, TX, ----- Y. Sudershan Rao

United States,

July 8, 2007

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Problems of Indian Chronology- Date of Mahabharata War

Human Empowerment Conference

(Sponsored by Sanantanadharma Foundation)

Dallas, Texas

12-14 Oct 2007

Indian Chronology – Problems and Perspectives

(A Note)

---Y. Sudershan Rao[*]

Prof of History (Rtd)

Kakatiya University,

Warangal,A.P.India

Modern genre of history which is two centuries old by now insists on two prerequisites, time-space coordinates, to situate any event or person in a historical context. The heuristics of any available evidence conforming to these coordinates will distinguish a historical fact. These determinants of authenticity of a historical record are borrowed from the principles governing the commercial and property transactions of the medieval and early modern Europe. The ‘instruments’ of commercial nature will directly and materially affect the concerned individuals and/or their succeeding one or two generations. Therefore, the genuineness of the document in question is subjected to scrutiny and if necessary corroborative evidence is also required in resolving the legal disputes arising out of such transactions. The application of these principles to the impersonal matters like historical inquiries without any discretion complicates the issues rather than solving them. One can not deny the existence of his forefathers preceding four or five generations because he does not know their names, the dates of their births and deaths or the locations where they lived. For the history of the recent past, these two coordinates may appear to be more relevant as the recent happenings have direct bearing on the present and near future. We get different types of source material for writing about a recent happening. A historian can make use of corroborative sources to attempt a historical narration. European history being relatively recent, the time-space determinants may hold validity to an extent. When we are attempting to write the history of the civilizations and the peoples of remotest past whose antiquity can not be traced, a historian should use his discretion applying commonsense, reason and logic, as the basic tenets of scientific method of inquiry while examining the available historical source material to bring out the essence of the remote history for the benefit of mankind.

Bharat Varsha, the Indian sub-continent or South Asia, is endowed with voluminous record – oral, literary and archaeological – of the history of not only its people and their culture but the history of entire Creation and its secrets. The rich oral tradition which has come down to us through infinite number of generations defy our estimation of its origin in every respect because it speaks of mind boggling reckoning of Time and infinite creations. Veda is believed to be eternal. It is a revealed knowledge. The revelations of great sages are handed down to us as oral tradition. The classification of this knowledge, Veda, was attempted by Sage Veda Vyaasa whose times are connected with the great event, the Battle of Kurukshetra. Sage Vyaasa had much higher objectives for this classification than making it a chronological account. Most of the mantras included in the ‘Samhitas’ of the four books of Veda being common, the Sage has benefited the humanity with the Knowledge being presented in four different ways for varied purposes. The sage had given each version of the Veda to one of his able disciples for preservation and propogation. Modern historian assigns different periods for the origin of Rigveda and other Vedas citing certain changes in society to legitimize the Linear theory. When the author of these four versions of Veda was one and the same, it is a matter of simple commonsense that these books (oral) are contemporaneous.

Sage Vyaasa also gave us the PuraaNa which speaks of the history of many creations and major events therein, both Cosmic and mundane. The genealogies of Rishis and major dynasties of rulers are given in the PuraaNa which Sage Vyaasa has recorded as handed down to him by his father, Sage Paraashar. Sage Paraashar got this knowledge of remote history as a revelation. Out of this one body of PuraaNa (Vishnu PuraaNa?), eighteen Maha PuraaNaas were composed during Mahabharata times. The major content and characteristics of these PuraaNaas being the same, each PuraaNa is endowed with some peculiarities of its own in its presentation and emphasis given to a major concept or phenomenon. Subsequently, many subsidiary puraaNaas, Saastras, Darshanas, Sutra and Kaavya literature were composed in different periods of time and published through oral transmission. The PuraaNic literature has been updated periodically. Though the origin of PuraaNic literature could be dated to Mahabharata and immediately after Mahabharata times, we can not fix up the exact time when the literature was made available in written form for the first time. Since the material used for writing is of perishable nature, even the earliest manuscript found by us turns out to be the latest written version of the original work. The modern scientific dating methods might at best help us estimating the approximate date of an artifact or manuscript (conditions apply!). A historian with unprejudiced sense of reasoning would only say that the dating of the available copy can hardly determine the date of the original work.

Bharat has no parallel in the world in respect of the quality, quantity, antiquity and continuity of its knowledge store. Vedic and PuraaNic literature give us very valuable data for tracing the history from the remotest past to the recent times. It may not be possible to assign a fixed date for every event or episode of the remote past which of course serves no purpose. But on that score the episode can not be dismissed as fictitious. The episodes in the Vedic and PuraaNic literature should not be blindly taken in its literal sense. They are encoded narratives. The solution for a riddle posed in one episode cited in one PuraaNa could be found elsewhere in the same work or in some other PuraaNa. It needs a mega view of the whole literature to understand and interpret an episode. So micro-studies should be attempted with only macro-understanding. Every ancient work, though specializes in any Sastra (science), or Dharma (conduct), or Art (music, dance or fine arts), or Itihasa (history) is encyclopedic in its nature and gives the benefit of a bird’s eye view of the universal knowledge and the Sanatana Dharma. Thus, every ancient work, irrespective of its special focus on an area, is capable of giving universal consciousness to a sincere seeker. In ancient Indian knowledge system, a specialty did not mean ignorance of the rest as we understand the specializations today. Holistic view was the order of the day. Therefore the problem should not be studied in isolation.

Further, every ancient work was aiming at raising the conscious level of its clientele from the mundane to the Ultimate through the known to the Beyond. The Dharma as a Sutra (thread) runs through all the ancient literary forms. The essence of Vedic thought is given in PuraaNas and Itihaasas for mass consumption as educative entertainment. Sanatana Dharma, the basis of the Vedic thought and PuraaNic knowledge, is explained through the Epics as live narratives. In view of the mega time scale, the ancients have divided the eternal Time in Yugas, Mahayugas, Manvantaras and Kalpas. With the help of PuraaNic genealogies and the astronomical data available from the Mahabharata, many scholars have attempted to fix the date of Mahabharata War with negligible variations. These studies would confirm that the Great Event took place around 3000 BC. Now, it is not difficult to arrive at a reasonable time-frame for the Mahabharata which draws a line between the remote and recent past. Modern historian, free from prejudices, can fairly reconstruct Indian Chronology taking the date of the Great War as the sheet anchor. Since the chronology is the spine of the body of history, the gaps or missing links may be covered with logical interpretation of the valuable data from the ancient literature.

Heuristics and hermeneutics employed in the modern Historical Method for studying ancient societies of remote past, when associated with common sense, reasoning and logic would help resolve many misunderstandings and misconceptions entrenched in the present historical writings. What is basically required of a modern historian is a positive approach to knowing truth.

---

[*] He owes his understanding of the subject to Sathguru Sivananda Murty ji, Bheemunipatnam, A.P. India.

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Indian Culture and Post Modernism

UGC National Seminar on

INDIAN CULTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF

POSTMODERNISM AND GLOBALISATION

Kakatiya University, Warangal

(2^nd and 3^rd December 2001)

Key-Note address

Y.Sudershan Rao

Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences,

Kakatiya University

India with its unbroken civilisation since times unknown has no parallel in the world. The Veda is the most ancient knowledge of the Creation and the Evolution of souls, which is handed down to the mortals by the ancient sages of this land. The purpose and the ultimate goal of life are well defined and various paths have been suggested in the Veda for the benefit of humankind. Therefore, our ancient civilisation reflects a fine blend of materialism and spiritualism in proper proportions so that a man can enjoy this life with peace and prosperity based on eternal principles of Dharma and lead himself to his destined goal i.e. Liberation. Here, the Knowledge of the creation already exists with the creation and that could be realised by a serious pursuant. Thus Indian culture which has evolved through the ages has a strong foundation in the Veda and the values acceptable to all times and all men without any distinction. Though India has diverse geographical conditions blooming a rich variety of material cultures with different stages of development, the purpose of life and values of living molded Indian mind which projected a strong bond of unity. Thus ancient Indian culture strove to unite people appreciating various shades of material cultures within its broad framework. These small or ‘little’ traditions or strands are interwoven into the main stream as many tributaries join to make a great river, which finally flows into the ocean.

In sharp contrast to the Indian situation, the ancient Greek philosophers peeped into the future and tried to visualize ideal political institutions in the absence of any knowledge base for their imaginations. Even after two millennia, none of them have been realised in any part of the world. The concept of Universalism, which the Europeans have stretched too long through a religion, the Christianity, broke the Christendom into two halves, East and West from its very initiation. Later, Europe broke into warring fragments of politico-religious sections which styled themselves as nation states at the end of the medieval period. Religion, which makes people believe in a single path rejecting a second, divides people. Such religion disregards the individual’s freedom to choose a path of his like. The coming of Islam resulted in religious wars between the West Asia and East Europe finally resulting in the fall of the Eastern Christendom. It’s heavy fallout on the Western Europe, as is generally known as the Renaissance, broke Western Christendom into pieces. However, Islam could not make inroads into the Western Europe forming its own religious states barring one feeble attempt in Portugal. The Christianity and Islam, both, are single path religions. Therefore one could not tolerate or accommodate the other. However, Catholicism fell due to internal combustion as a result of Reformation and Counter -Reformation Movements.

The Muslim incursions into India were not so devastating as in other parts of the world because Indian culture with its strong base of tolerance and liberal character could withstand the rude shocks. By then, Indian culture had already produced many a religious thought and developed a number of philosophical schools based on various understandings of the working of Creation. Indian polities from ancient times were guided by the universal principles of Dharma, which are commonly acceptable to all religious or philosophical schools. We did not know religious states or theocratic states in ancient India. When the religious turmoil in the wake of Muslim incursions had settled down for once, Islam remained in India as one another path recognized and tolerated by the main stream, which is now generally known as the Hindu. During the medieval period, these two diverse states, one Islamic, a religious state, and the other, the Hindu, a state avowed to Dharma, coexisted. Both retained their identities. Only the modern European concepts of nationalism and liberal democracy divided the country.

The dawn of modern period in Europe pushed forward the principles of reason and humanism. Reason severely attacked the faith. Humanism led to exploitation of nature for the only benefit of the humankind. Empiricism ruled the roost disregarding all the time tested traditions. Nationalism, Liberalism, Socialism, Fascism, Totalitarianism, Communism, so on and so forth, rose like new religions in Europe each one making tall or exclusive claims of relevance and totally rejecting the others. These political religions divided the people into rival and warring sections. These new religions stood on the economic premise and propound economic solutions to all problems of man. Further these new religious prophets, unlike the ancient Greeks who looked into future, turned to the past. To suit to their political philosophies, each one of them romanticized the past with their wild guess. Since each one of them was interested to build an empire out of his romantic idea, various theories of the origin of state were proposed without any concrete evidence. The economic basis on which the new political systems are evolved has led to Colonialism and Imperialism resulting in the two devastating World Wars. The Cold War, that followed, divided the world into mutually suspecting blocks and thus, all the modern political systems proved to be defective.

In a way, Postmodernism attempts to destroy all these modern edifices which are supposed to have been built with imaginary pack of cards. But one major problem with it is that it also rejects all those theories, which are practised and time tested. This new phenomenon creates chaos and further cleavages in the society promoting divisive tendencies like casteism, minority issues etc. Postmodernism dismisses any common understanding or generalisations. With this, what modern historiography has tried to reconstruct our past proposing various generalizations and theories will be rejected as mere fiction and so also our ancient knowledge bank. Thus Postmodernism goes to the other extreme of modernism. Now the present world is caught between these two mutually conflicting and contradicting schools of thought. Secondly, Globalisation is another phenomenon, which tries to influence every walk of life everywhere on the globe. Particularly, on the cultural side, it is trying to push the world into a uniform pattern not only in respect of what we wear or eat or drink but also in the matters of art, music and dance. The evil effects on the national economy will be far insignificant when compared to the damage done to the cultures in the world due to the impact of Globalisation. Perhaps, it is time to think and act taking clues from the ancient Indian culture, which was based on sound knowledge and experience for a better world order.

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The Ganga, Jnanavahini

The Jnaana Vaahini Gangaa

Y. Sudershan Rao*

Prof of History

Kakatiya University, Warangal

Andhra Pradesh, India

It is often commented by the rationalists and others, as to why the Hindus have great reverence for the River Gangaa; why is it more special once in every twelve years (Pushkara); how a dip in its water cleanses the sin, if so, why the pebbles or fish or other species in the river are not liberated. Many religious practices are not known or understood by all ordinary followers (laymen) in any religious community. All do not have right attitude and sufficient time to devote to study the scriptures and the philosophy behind, which may take years of rigorous training. Modern ‘intellectual’ having no formal education and training in the field of religion and philosophy, pass uncritical comments to tarnish the holy image. First of all, a non-believer, the so-called ‘rationalist’ or ‘secularist’, does not have a locus-standi to question a believer as far as it doesn’t infringe his right to be otherwise. The dialogue between reason and faith is unending. Reason governs the mundane world where as faith is related to the world beyond. Logic connecting these two planes is however double-edged.

In Bhaarat, many Rishis who were already Jnaanis did severe penance to unravel the mysteries of Creation for the benefit of entire humanity. The Saastraas and commentaries have come to bring those revelations to the intellectual level so that a serious seeker can understand and practice the methods. Customs and rituals are designed based on Saastraas to bring the benefits for common use by the laity. Religious practices, customs and rituals in Bhaarat have always been reframed, redesigned and transformed to suit the time and clime by the ‘learned’ wise. Religion in Bhaarat was never static. The Hindus if it terms the people of Bhaarat never had an ‘ism’ as non-Hindus call it today as Hinduism. Even the present religion of the Hindus is a multipath approach to the single Godhead. Bharateeya culture has recognized the freedom of every individual to choose his own path for his spiritual journey.

The Hindu religious practices, customs, vratas or festivals and rites have a scientific base. Our Vedas reveal the secrets of cosmic phenomenon and the knowledge is well recognized by the modern scientists as Vedic Cosmology or Vedic Astronomy. The Days or the Tithis, the Nakshatraas, the twelve Grahas, the Samvatsaraas, the holy days (the Parva dinaas), the eclipses, the moon’s movement, for that matter all the Hindu religious practices are related to one or the other secrets connected to some important astronomical or cosmic event in the Universe. Therefore the Hindu religious practices could be understood at four levels depending on the receptive capabilities of a follower. The levels of (i) practitioner (Vedic), (ii) seeker (Upanishadic), (iii) knower (Puraanic) and lastly (iv) the laity (Itihaasic) may seem to be different but the assured result of all these pursuits is one and the same.

The Pushkaram is a periodic cosmic phenomenon happening every 12 years to a holy river, the foremost being the entry of Brihaspati into the constellation of Kumbha, which signifies Kumbhamela (popularly connected to Khseerasaagara Manthan, a great Cosmic event describing the process of Creation) causing Pushkara to the holy river Gangaa. We have twelve holy rivers recognized in our country, Bhaarat, which undergo Pushkaram for every 12 years by turn. Brihaspati enters into 12 constellations in about 12 years and each river signifies one such holy event. This would facilitate the people at different places to have the benefit of taking holy dip in the river flowing nearby once in every 12 years during its Pushkaram. It is not necessary to go to a distant place to have the holy dip if one can’t afford it. The Gangaa on the earth is a jnaana vahini, which was brought down from the Milky Way on to the earth by Bhagiratha for the benefit of humanity. To wash the sin of his forefathers was only a nimitham (secondary). It is a great cosmic event and the Gangaa associated with Brihaspati, the symbol of wisdom, has the efficacy to wash any amount of sin of any number of people for all times to come. This is not an unfounded belief. Bhagiratha could have washed away the sin of his erring forefathers through his ardent tapas or any other already known rituals. But the technology involved in bringing down the pious waters on to the earth was meant for all those who could not do any serious effort to wash off their sin and become eligible to attain Jnaana. In ancient times, religion was not used for personal ends. They were aiming at the welfare of the entire mankind. Mythically Pushkaram signifies the entry of Pushkara into the river water along with all gods and goddesses, which makes the water of that river pure for another 12 years. The entire year is considered holy to have the dip because earthly one-year amounts to only one divine day. This is another cosmic secret.

The second question is: Why are the fish and the pebbles in Gangaa not attaining Moksha? The Vedic learning reveals that the plant is simply a life-matter without a ‘jiva’, the experiencer. The animal has an experiencer, ‘jiva’’ but without an awareness of its existence. Man alone is endowed with a ‘jiva’ along with self-awareness. The rationalist should at least have known that the lifeless things (like pebbles) couldn’t have ‘jiva’. The very term ‘jiva’ indicates an entity associated with life. Even among men, those who strongly desire for Moksha alone will attain it. Fire purifies the physical body and water washes away his mental state and then Jnana descends and dissolves his ‘self’. What remains is a positive Zero, the Brahman. Mother Gangaa, the Bhageerathi, does all the three in one holy dip if one leads his later life in that state of Brahmana. The Gangaa is pure irrespective of the fact whether its water is clean or otherwise. Purity is different from cleanliness. Should we not keep it clean is of course a vital question. Every one of us should feel our responsibility, more so the modern rationalist who should also account for the indiscriminate growth of industry at the expense of nature.

* * * * *

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* The author owes his understanding to his Guruji, Satguru Sivananda Murty, Bheemunipatnam, A.P. India

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Indian Caste system

INDIAN CASTE SYSTEM: A REAPPRAISAL

SUDERSHAN RAO, YELLAPRAGADA

About the author:

Sudershan Rao, Yellapragada is a senior professor of history in the Department of History & Tourism Management, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India. He has been serving for over three decades in the University system holding various administrative and academic positions like, Head, Dean of Social Sciences, Chairman of Board of Studies and Chairman of University Forum for Social Studies. He was awarded National fellowship by the University Grants Commission, Govt. of India, during 1993-95 for his project on 'Understanding Indian History - Search for an alternative' and currently nominated to the Indian Council of Historical Research, Ministry of HRD, and Govt of India. 

Preface

I have spoken regarding this essay of mine in a recent interview and felt it is relevant to include it here to provide context and clarification:

Ms Poonam Pandey  Interviewing Prof Y Sudershan Rao, Chairman, ICHR, 14 Aug 2015 Navbharat Times (Hindi)

Q.  What are your views on caste system of India? You have praised this practice in your blog "Indian Caste System: A Reappraisal"?

A: This is again a misconception of my note on the Caste System which I uploaded into my blog way back in 2007. It is not a comprehensive research paper. This was written in response to a request of an NRI who expressed some doubts on Indian social systems. I made a clear distinction between Caste System and Casteism, the former was ancient and the latter relates to present. Caste System was different from Varna System. Caste identifies families pursuing various occupations and obligations in a social organization whereas Varna was individualistic and its goal is spiritual evolution. Caste, in course of time, became a rigid structure owing to its economic foundations, but Varna has been ever flexible. In historical period, Caste and Varna are mixed up and what we find today both the strands made a twine. While the Varna System was claimed to have been found as a manifestation of Virat Purusha during much later Sukta period,  according to our ancient literature, Caste System has no such claims. It was an evolved system as an answer to the then given circumstances or social or civilizational developments. Any human system evolves in a historical process. As a System it had its own advantages or disadvantages. The ancient System in course of time gathered negative features and became redundant as all human institutions and systems. Similarly, the ‘system’ has transformed into rigid ‘ism’ as rigid as a religion. This created many discriminations between man and man culminating itself into a horrible crime against humanity. It is further strengthened and  misused in the electoral politics. I don’t think any wise man, much less a student of history, would appreciate continuance of ‘Casteism’ any further. If any one seriously reads my note and raises questions, it is my duty to clarify my stand

                                                                                                                       14 Aug 2015

                                                                                                                        Prof. Y.Sudershan Rao

                               

                                       Caste System :  A Reappraisal

Caste system as all other social and economic systems has come under fire in the modern times. With the changes in the political structure from at least medieval times, Indian religion, which is popularly known as Hinduism, was threatened of its very existence during the Muslim invasions at the wake of the second millennium. However, Islam could not make a heavy impact on the demographical texture of India, because after three hundred years of Muslim rule, the rulers pursuing alien religion had to strike a compromise with the Hindu subjects. Hindus at large exhibited preparedness to lay even their lives or pay heavy penalties for pursuing their Dharma as it is said in the Bhagawad Gita that even death might be preferred for being steadfast in one's own dharma. Most of the questionable social customs in the Indian society as pointed out by the English educated Indian intellectuals and the Western scholars could be traced to this period of Muslim rule in north India spanning over seven centuries. During this period, to save the honor of their women and dharma at large, medieval Pundits rewrote sastras with some stringent conditions, which attracted the condemnation and criticism of the present intellectuals who could not see through the historical reasons for such interpolations,

The ancient Rishis have given us the law codes to suit to the prevailing conditions of those respective periods of time. But these Smrithis were not the legal codes enforceable by law of the land. They were supposed to guide the people in matters of the personal, family and societal conduct of an individual like the present day Directive Principles of the State Policy of Indian Republic.

The questions and condemnations of the modern scholars on Indian Caste System can be classified under the following heads:

a) Caste being inherited by birth in the family where the individual has

no choice preventing upward mobility of the communities in the

social system.

b) Caste compels one to continue to take up the occupation of his

father.

c) Restrictions connected with dining and arranging marriages with in

the caste.

d) Inequalities perpetuated for generations in respect of social and

economic status.

e) 'Inhuman' social customs like untouchability.

f) Restrictions in respect of access to 'education' and the Holy

Scriptures or the religions practiced by the elite sections of the

population.

The Caste system as such is based on social classification which is a common feature of all organized civil societies round the world but not unique to India alone. The feature could be found in all ancient civilizations of the World since about 4^th cen B.C as we find in the proto-historical civilizations of, Sumeria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and India. Of all these known civilized societies, only Indian and Chinese civilizations are surviving to date. Of the two, Indian civilization is much older as evident from its world's oldest literature, which was preserved and handed down to generations in oral tradition. The 'continuity and change' is the underlying principle of Indian culture, which has contributed to the survival of its various social systems along with its civilization, and culture. Indian tradition is the outcome of the selfless service of the ancient Rishis. The uniqueness of Indian situation lies in the fact that Indian civilization has developed on a strong cultural base, generally known as Sanathana Dharma. (Sanathana means a system which is 'eternal but ever fresh' and Dharma the 'appropriateness of action' which has to satisfy certain parameters like, right attitude, correct perspective, unity of purpose and proper timing of action).

As all man-made institutions and systems, Indian Caste system also came into existence in the evolutionary process of the civilization to answer certain requirements of complicated living of the people based on material compulsions. The system was working well in ancient times and we do not find any complaint from any quarters against it. It is often misinterpreted as an exploitative social system for retaining economic and social status of certain vested interests of the ruling class applying the Marxist jargon which has no respect for the ancient systems and philosophy whether Indian or the other. Some institutions in course of time become redundant when they outlive their need. Indian Caste system, which has evolved to answer the requirements of civilization at a later phase of development of culture, was integrated with the Varna system as enunciated in the ancient scriptures and Dharmasastras.

The Varna System classifies functions and attitudes of a human being addressing entire humanity. The basic qualities and attitudes of an individual are governed by the composition of his mental framework with different proportions of sattva, rajas and tamas, the trigunas (We do not have equivalents to these Indian terms in other languages. Sattva may indicate an attitude of peaceful disposition, rajas, an attitude of dynamism and tamas, a state of ignorance. Since these are the basic characteristics of every human being, there cannot be any change at any point of time in human nature. The institutions built on the economic or political philosophies will not last long as the political power and wealth (representing in the divine personification as Goddess Lakshmi) are unstable and migratory in nature. So they cannot build stable and lasting systems. But Indian Varna system as it is based on the general characteristics of humanity does not change according to the time and clime. However, Indian caste system, which is more connected to the social and material life of people, will undergo change on the peripherals while retaining the basic framework based on the Varna system.

The Varna classification and Caste system are not one and the same. They differ in respect of aims and functions in many ways. The caste system classifies the community while the Varna classifies the functions of an individual. Varna leads one to Moksha (the liberation of the soul) while Caste system is meant for the material and human resource management of a civilized society. There is flexibility in the interchange of Varna as we have several examples in the ancient literature of individuals born in Shudra castes acquiring Brahma Jnana (the Ultimate Knowledge). The Caste system is rigid in the sense that one does not lose his caste even after changing his profession or occupation owing to family tie-ups. Caste system retains and preserves the family culture through the generations. Caste system is further strengthened with religious bond as each family belongs to respective religious customs or traditions within the larger Hindu fold. Therefore one is born in a family belonging to a caste while Varna is acquired by the individual through his effort. Change of occupation does not entitle one to a higher Varna. No one is barred from acquiring Brahma Jnana, no matter to what cast he might belong. We have several examples from Ramayana and Mahabharatha. Vidura though a Brahma Jnani, is considered Shudra while Drona being a Brahmin was in royal service. Drona is considered a fallen Brahmin for accepting joining the service of a king but he was not considered a Kshatriya. Karna being Anga Raja was not welcome into Kshatriya fold though he was born to an unmarried Kshatriya girl, because of his antecedents and questionable birth. According to the Dharmasastras all individuals are born as Shudra and they acquire the Varna through Samskaaras or training or tapas. The modern and Western intellectuals have not properly understood and misinterpreted the Varna and the Caste as one and the same. The caste system finds no sanctity from the ancient scriptures. Indian philosophical schools only addressed the individual and through him the society. The Varna addresses the individual while caste addresses the community. Therefore, one's caste is not lost with the change in occupation or economic status. However, one is free to choose his occupation irrespective of his caste. The foreign ruling tribes, which came to stay here for historical and political reasons, managed to acquire Kshatriya status by using force and through nominal Samskaaras. Otherwise, one has to join the Shudra fold and move upward.

The misunderstandings of the system may be ascribed to misreading of the Texts of Dharmasastras and the impact of the modern 'democratic' and electoral politics. Ancient system of caste organization has been turned into casteism, which negates the very purpose of the system. The matters relating to marriage, common dining and personal occupation are mainly family preferences in a Hindu society, which every member of the family is expected to honor the commitment. Individual's disagreement is only exceptional. Indian culture aims at molding an individual psyche to surrender and sacrifice his personal preferences to uphold family traditions, customs and commitments. As far as dining is concerned, except Brahmins and Vysyas (merchant community), the rest have no difficulty to have mixed common dining since the Brahmins and Vysyas prefer vegetarian food. Demand for cleanliness and choice of food, choice of company to dine together cannot be curtailed in a civilized society. Though there are no specific injunctions preventing common dining among the members of the same caste, individual's social and economic status and personal choices would not allow all of them to mix freely, Similarly, marriage is considered vital to maintain and continue the family as a basic unit of the society. A disciplined family honoring the unity of leadership of the eldest of the family and to secure the protection and general interests of each member of the family is a prerequisite for a disciplined society and the well being of every citizen. Even within the caste, a father wants to get satisfied on many counts and family considerations outweigh personal choices in fixing a match. That is only in the larger interests of his family. Indian marriage is not an affair of likes and dislikes of two individuals irrespective of their gender whether they are homosexual or heterosexual (since we see in the modern times legalizing marriages between the same sex as the pinnacle of individual freedom). In Indian system one is not just married to another but one is married into another family. It is not matching of two individuals but in a marriage two families with their respective bandwagons of relatives and friendly families are matched. But in the ancient times, there were eight kinds of marriages and inter-caste marriages, known as anuloma and viloma (low caste groom marrying the higher caste bride and vice versa) were not uncommon. If such marriages were not permitted, how could there be more than 300 castes (or sub-castes) during the Kautilya's period.(4th cen B.C).Mahabharatha tells us that there were no injunctions prohibiting inter caste marriages. Even a great Kshatriya like Bhima had married a tribal woman Hidimbi and got a son through her who had also fought in the Great War with all the honors of a great warrior. We come across only post-puberty marriages in ancient Indian literature. Even selection of groom by a girl of marriageable age, known as Swayamwara was in vogue. Sati (self immolation of widow) prevalent only among the Kshatriya ruling families was also optional. but not compulsory. Madri, second wife of Pandu Raja committed Sati more out of guilt for causing her husband's death than out of compulsion while Kunti, the first wife of Pandu, opted out to live. A careful study of scriptures and the ancient literature of Itihasaas and Puraanaas would help understand the nuances of Indian culture. Most of the present day social evils in the Indian society are not deep rooted but their origin can be traced only from the historical period, more from the historical developments of the last millennium when Indian culture received rude shocks under the unsympathetic alien rule.

With the radical changes in the production sector resulting in dominating commercialism and growing consumerism, the world is seemingly transforming into a single and uniform mode of cultural pattern. Indian society is also rapidly changing outwardly to suit to the times, which would help the society to lose what was thrust on it in the recent past. The social evils connected to Indian society as ascribed to it by modern intellectuals are fast fading. But the roots of positive aspects of Indian culture are so deep that the merits of ancient systems would be rejuvenated. This would not only benefit Indian society but also help the world community to live a meaningful and purposeful life, which is, of course, not a distant future.

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Spirituality and Indian Nationalism

ICHR National Seminar on

“Philosophical Foundations of Indian Nationalism”

At Nehru Memorial Library, New Delhi

(28 Feb-2 Mar 2003)

Spirituality and Indian Nationalism – A Case study

Y. Sudershan Rao[*]

Spirituality is not only unique to Indian culture but also distinguishes Indian character from those of the other nations in the world. Since times immemorial, the Indian culture though accommodating small amends in its physical aspects necessitated by the demands of time and clime stands on a broad frame work of four basic columns with four sub columns each, namely, the four Vedas, four Purusharthas, four Ashramas and four Varnas. Each Veda, again, has four sub divisions, namely, Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad which constitute basic mantras, rituals, philosophy of the rituals and the wisdom based on inquiry in to the secrets of being, respectively. Thus, the fourth part of each Veda constitutes spiritual knowledge of the great sages. On the same lines, among the four Purusharthas, viz., Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, the ultimate aim of the life of an individual relates to spirituality. Among the four Ashramas, viz., Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa, the fourth Ashrama of a man is devoted to the spiritual pursuits. So also, of the four Varnas which show the four different types of functions of four main parts of body of an individual, the functions of the intellect represented by ‘face’ of an individual lead to spiritual progress. Basic knowledge (Veda) and the way of life according to dharma are acquired by an individual during his brhamacharya ashram by serving (the service is represented by the feet of an individual) his Master. Later he enters Grihastha ashram and earns resources to fulfill his desires as represented by the functions of one’s stomach following prescribed rituals stated in Brahmanas. After reaching a stage of contentment with the fulfillment of desires adhering to the principles of dharma and practicing the scriptural procedures, he should be courageous (varna representing the shoulders for bravery) to leave the worldly life and adopt Vanaprastha ashrama. Towards the evening of his life, he endeavors to attain Brahminhood through the Upanishadic wisdom and spiritual experience which may further lead him to the ultimate goal, the Moksha. Thus, all these aspects are meant to evolve an individual passing through a material life. In this path of graded progression, no stage or no function or no aspiration or no part of knowledge are either overstated or understated. Each one of them is given equal importance according to the situation an individual is placed in. Therefore, Indian culture is built on a sound foundation of knowledge, dharma, brahmacharya and the dignity of physical labor while its surface structure rests on the other two aspects of each branch. Top of all these constitutes wisdom, vairagya, brahminhood and moksha. Thus spirituality in India stands on a concrete objective base supported by well formulated design for material living. Spirituality evolves the object into abstract through a graded and well guarded path. It does not reject comfortable living or sensual pleasures or denounce the social or political responsibilities of a person as long as he continues to live in the society. Everything has a proper place in Indian culture.

The Speaking Tree

Veda Varna Ashrama Purushartha

Upanishad Brahman Sanyasa Moksha

(Wisdom) (Intellect) (Vairagya) (Liberation) Spiritual

Aranyaka Kshatriya Vanaprastha Kama

(Philosophy) (Bravery) (Jijnasa) (Contentment) Psychical

Brahmana Vaishya Grihastha Artha Objective

(Rituals) (Production) (Obligations) (Resources for

fulfillment)

Samhitha Shudra Brahmacharya Dharma Foundation

(Knowledge) (Obedience) (Learning) (Conduct)

The entire structure is designed for an individual who has realised that his life has a goal and that his living has a purpose. Thus Indian culture is aimed at culturing an individual rather than stratifying the society. However, there is no injunction that one should follow only this gradual path for the salvation. One could also develop a detached attitude towards the worldly pleasures or comforts and engage himself in the service of his fellowmen or country as a path for his liberation. Despite numerous paths, this spirit of inquiry into the phenomenon of being, which is known as Jijnasa, shaped the Indian psyche and characterized Indian culture unique. Since all life is only material, even the sages or sanyaasis living in the forests for their spiritual pursuits also did not shun their obligations to the society in the hour of need. There are many instances in the Puranas and the epics that such Rishis had not only interfered to depose a bad ruler and punish him for his misdeeds as common man’s life became miserable but also installed a good ruler or a new dynasty of rulers or caused the birth of such great rulers or founders of a good dynasty.

In the historical period, there are several such occasions where great spiritual personalities or conscientious intellectuals took the lead to set the things right in the polity when it failed to protect the Dharma for an orderly society. The overthrow of the mighty and headstrong Nandas of Magadh was successfully monitored by Acharya Chanakya. There is a legend in the Telugu folklore that a spiritual minded Brahmin caused the birth of Salivahana, the founder of the Satavahana Empire, marrying a potter’s woman. The imperial Kakatiya line started with the installation of Rudradeva by a Saiva saint according to literary and epigraphical sources. It is an established fact that sage Vidyaranya played a significant role in the founding of Vijayanagara Empire. Even in the establishment of Bahamani Empire, it is said that a Brahman gentleman had a role to play. It is of course well known that Samartha Rama Das was a great source of inspiration and guidance to Chatrapathi Sivaji in building up a Maratha Empire. All these great inspirers who opted to stay behind the curtain did not take any advantage for themselves nor continued to stay put beyond the time that their presence was required. Discharging their obligation to the society when their involvement was warranted with a spirit of detachment to the mundane world for their temporary selfish benefits has been a healthy sign of the Indian society. This has also paved the way for the mass participation in the national struggle for freedom under the inspiration of such leaders who took the mantle in their hands when the situation demanded and opted to go into oblivion after the achievement of the cause.

For the national awakening in India, many such personalities came to the fore front of the struggle and led the people. Swami Dayanada Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Bala Gangadhar Tilak, Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi, Annie Besant, Jyothiba Phule, Narayanaguru and the list goes endless. In the cases of ancient monarchial system, any one spiritual master could deliver the goods. But Indian colonial State under the British imperialism offered a complex political situation requiring a concerted action involving general public who were not politically conscious in the modern parlance who were stretched over the length and breadth of this sub continent. Awakening Indian people and mobilizing them for an effective political action needed various strategies. This had also necessitated the rise of regional movements, caste movements and socio-religious reform movements originating at different places and spreading to the other regions. Each region offered some peculiarities and warranted a different strategy of its own. Surprisingly, the writings and speeches of some spiritual personalities like Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswathi and others also inspired the youth to adopt terrorist strategies. Tilak’s interpretation of Bhagawad Gita gave rise to extremist politics.

A Case of Hyderabad state:

Hyderabad state too had its own peculiarities. The rule of the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, turned communal by the early 1930s besides being a feudal autocratic state from the beginning, which did not permit any political mobilization in the state. Therefore the movement for political awakening of the masses wore the mask of a cultural movement. The resentment against the Nizam’s rule could not apparently surface till the founding of the Andhra Jana Sangha in early 1920s as a self respect movement of the Telugu speaking people in the state. The Library movement which was started in the wake of 20^th century received a fillip with this language movement. Andhra Maha Sabha emerged by 1930s taking a clear political stand by passing resolutions for economic demands under a cultural garb. But it was termed as an annual fair. The Arya Samaj also started its activities on the religious front but it received a serious threat from the communal nature of the state. Therefore, it could not make rapid strides in the mobilization of people. Moreover, the Suddhi movement undertaken by it took the communal overtones and nvited the wrath of the Ittehad ul Muslimeen, which in course of time built a militant Razakar contingent. The Razakars had grown into an extra constitutional authority in the state enjoying the state patronage. The Nizam’s government was zealously guarding the state from the influence of the national movement that is taking a definite shape in the British India. Under these circumstances, Swami Ramananda Tirtha, a sanyasi, took the reins of Hyderabad State Congress, a banned political organization even before it was born formally.

The Role of Swami Ramananda Tirtha:

Swami Ramananda Tirtha, before he took to sanyasa was known as Venkatesh bhava Rajo Khedgikar, was born on 3^rd October 1903 into a lower middle class Brahmin family in Chinnamalli Jagir of Sindigi village in Gulbarga district (which is now in Karnataka state). His father, Bhavu Rao, was leading almost an ascetic life and the responsibility of maintaing the family fell on his mother, Yashu Bai. Under the influence of his father, he also developed a taste to ascetic way of life. He was engaged in philosophical discussions and yogic practices from a very tender age. He was meeting Sadhus and learning yoga and penance. He was in High School at Sholapur when he joined the Non-cooperation Movement in response to Gandhiji’s call. After the Movement was withdrawn, he resumed his studies and did his B.A. from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapith, Poona. He wrote a thesis on ‘The Evolution of Democracy’ for his M.A. Thus, he equipped himself with the modern western education and acquired thorough knowledge of Western Political Thought. During his College days in Poona, he was attracted towards Bala Gangadhar Tilak and his Home Rule Movement. Mourning the sad demise of Tilak on 1 August 1920, he pledged to himself, “From this moment onward, I shall dedicate myself to the service of the mother land. I shall go the way of renunciation and shall be a life long Brahmachari”. He stood by his pledge steadfastly until he passed away on 22 January 1972. For sometime, he was also attracted to trade union movement inspired by his paternal uncle, R.A. Khedgikar, who was his guardian since his boyhood. He also worked under N. M. Joshi, the Father of Trade Union Movement in India, when the workers were facing miserable effects of Economic Depression in the late 1920s as a result of the First World War. But his sudden ill health brought him out of the Trade Union activities. Later, he opened a school on Gurukul type and continued to run it till he took informal sanyasa on 14 January 1930 and felt that his life’s ambition was fulfilled. He accepted the Nature as his Guru. A Sanyasi, who did not reveal his name to him, left great impression on his mind. He was formally initiated on 14 January 1932 into sanyasa,(known as vidwath sanyasa) by Swami Narayana, a karma yogi stationed at Lucknow, who was a direct disciple of Swami Rama. He entered into active political mobilization while working for Arya Samaj and Maratha and Kannada Parishads. He came to limelight with the Hyderabad Educational Conferences particularly the Second Educational Conference which he himself organised in 1937-38 at Latur in Aurangabad District. He joined the political struggle with the founding of Hyderabad State Congress in 1938 and remained its President through out the freedom struggle in Hyderabad. Being himself a sanyasi, he even advocated use of violence as a strategy to be adopted by the Congress to fight the Razakars. After independence, he did not aspire for any berth in the government and withdrew voluntarily from power politics though he served two terms as Member of Parliament from 1952 to 1962 and took up constructive programmes to uplift the downtrodden.

Observation:

The case of Swami Ramananda Tirtha is a role model depicting spiritual foundations of Indian Nationalism. Spirituality did not shun its responsibility to meet the demands of the time and the spiritualists favourably responded to the call of the land and its people. After they found that their role was no more necessary, they voluntarily withdrew themselves from active politics. The Karma Yoga of Bhagavad Gita inspired many such sanyaasis to join the mainstream struggle with a sense of detachment. Those, who renunciated the world for themselves, took active roles in the struggle. The nature of the freedom struggle unlike individual political intervention of ancient and medieval sages at the hour of need drew more such individuals to lead the long drawn popular movement against the foreign rule.

References:

Kishan Rao, V Swami Ramananda Tirtha and the Hyderabad

Freedom Struggle, Shri Sai Publishrs, Warangal, 1988

Tirtha, Swami Ramanada Memoirs of Hyderabad Freedom Struggle,

Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 1967

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[*] Professor of History, Kakatiya University, Warangal (506 009) e-mail : y_bharadwaj@hotmail.com

The author owes his understanding of the ancient Indian cultural and spiritual ethos to Sadguru Sri Sivanada Murty, Bheemunipatnam, A.P. However, he owns the entire responsibility for all his shortcomings in understanding and expression.

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Buddhism and Modern society

National Seminar on

‘Buddhism & Modern Society’

On behalf of the Department of History & Tourism Management and on my personal behalf, it gives me immense pleasure to extend you all a hearty welcome to this National Seminar on “Buddhism and Modern Society” (Relevance, Problems and Perspectives). This seminar is organised by us with the major financial support of the Indian Council of Historical Research, Govt of India, the UG.C Unit of Kakatiya University and the Dept of Culture, Govt of Andhra Pradesh.

The dynamics of Indian culture and civilisation based on the seemingly opposite principles of ‘continuity and change’ drew the attention of the modern scholars both foreign and native to undertake serious research on many of its aspects since the past two centuries. The pre-independence scholars were classified as imperial and nationalistic, whereas the post independence scholars subscribing to many sectional interests are divided into numerous groups. Different interpretations from the perspectives of Marxist, Subaltern, Dalit, Gender etc., have come to light on the already established facts making the issues more complicated and controversial than before. Indian culture has accommodated the rise of many religions since ancient past from time to time. Of all these ancient religions of India, Jainism and Buddhism took the shape of formal religions by the beginning of the first millennium A.D. conforming to the principles of modern religion. Buddhism became more popular soon because of many favourable factors. The foremost of these factors could be obviously ascribed to the nature of the path shown by the Buddha which is known as the Middle Path i.e., a path which was easily understood and followed by one and all without any exclusive rights or privileges for any community or individual based on his/her birth. Buddhism was not only popular in India, it rose to the status of an international religion adopted by neighboring countries and the countries of South-east Asia, Central Asia etc.

Buddhism had influenced every aspect of human life like Art, Literature, architecture in these countries besides their respective religions. Buddhism which stood steadfastly for Dhamma has a universal appeal and its strict moral codes are relevant to all times. But Buddhism lost its vigour and vitality by seventh and eighth centuries A.D. on account of many historical reasons. As a natural process, the Buddhism spread with by branching off like Hinayaana, Mahayaana, Vajrayaana. In India, it is finally absorbed by the dominant Hindu religion. However, Buddhism continue to live in the essence of later Indian religions which came up in India like medieval Saivism and Vaishnavism and the Bhakti philosophy. The spread of Islam in other parts of Asia has wiped out Buddhism which preached Non-Violence and Peaceful Co-existence for attaining Nirvaana. Buddhism could not withstand militant Islam in those regions. The spread of Christianity supported by imperialist powers in the modern times also became a major threat for the existence of Buddhism which is basically a simple atheistic religion.

The modern times are witnessing unforeseen challenges to the peaceful co-existence of various communities besides the individual freedom to pursue one’s own path of salvation. Materialism and Consumerism have reached an all time high mark in its negative countenance blowing away all the niceties of our so far well guarded cultural and religious values. It is time that the intellectuals professing various schools of philosophy to interact with another and address the issues relating to the values like tolerance, mutual respect, love, spirit of sacrifice and understanding to promote human dignity, righteousness and justice.

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