Throwing out the God child along with the caste bathwater

This post is in response to an article I read on the NDTV website, originally by Subhashini Ali. A little search on Google lead me to a Wikipedia article on the lady which suggests that she is an atheist. Now I strongly believe in individual freedoms and hence her being an  atheist or theist is none of my concern. However as an atheist or as a rationalist, as many an atheist would like to call himself or herself one wishes there was a little more research that went in before condemning the Bhagavad Gita.

The caste system today is an evil which needs to be eradicated, no doubt in that. It is frequently and well-said that we do not cast our vote but vote our caste. Further it is a well-known fact that politicians of all religions often subscribe to narrow religious views to pander to their constituencies, or who they think are their constituents. However what is to be understood is that there is a difference between morality, spiritualism and religiosity. We do not need to deride divinity at every available opportunity.

The article in essence says that the Bhagavad Gita was blatantly casteist. By extension Hinduism is blatantly casteist. I would like to strongly contest this. My sources are given at the bottom of the page. I hope that this serves as a beginning of my readers' own research into the realities of Indian culture, religion and spirituality. In a later post I will show from personal experience how differences/similarities are exploited by certain agents in our society today.

A confession - the quoted sources are quite exhaustive and I myself have not gone through all of them. A lot of the material below has been copied from the sources referenced below.

1. First of all sloka I am not sure what Ms Ali is referring to when she talks about 1.44 in the Gita. The sloka referenced here is completely different!

2. ChaaturvarNyam mayaa srushTam guNa karma vibhaagashah (Gita 4:13) - the four castes have been created on the basis of qualities and deeds. Mind you, not by birth.

3. Who is a so-called Brahmin? - Brahma jaanaati iti braahmanah - he who knows Brahman (Supreme Godhead, NOT a personal God) is a so-called Brahmin.

4. janmana jayate sudrah
    samskarad bhaved dvijah
    veda-pathad bhaved vipro

    brahma janati brahmanah

 

This is a little more contentious. By birth one is born a sudra, by samskaara one becomes a twice-born. Here samskaara may mean ceremony also. One can generalize it to mean culture also. By chanting Vedas one can become a learned one. Some of the greatest exponents, for example Suta muni, were so-called Sudras.

5. sudre tu yad bhavel laksma
dvije tac ca na vidyate
na vai sudro bhavec chudro
brahmano na ca brahmanah

 

"If the characteristics of a brahmana are found in a sudra and not in a brahmana, that sudra should not be known as a sudra, and that brahmana should not be known as a brahmana." (Mahabharata, Vana Parva, Chapter 180)

6. sudra-yonau hi jatasya
sad-gunanupatisthatah
arjave vartamanasya
brahmanyam abhijayate

"If a person born in a sudra family has developed the qualities of a brahmana, such as satya [truthfulness], sama [peacefulness], dama [self-control] and arjava [simplicity], he attains the exalted position of a brahmana." (Mahabharata, Vana Parva, Chapter 211)

 

7. sthito brahmana-dharmena
brahman yam upajiva ti
ksatriyo vatha vaisyo va
brahma-bhuyah sa gacchati
ebhis tu karmabhir devi
subhair acaritais tatha
sudro brahmanatam yati
vaisyah ksatriyatam vrajet
na yonir napi samskaro
na srutam na ca santatih
karanani dvijatvasya
vrttam eva tu karanam

"If one is factually situated in the occupation of a brahmana, he must be considered a brahmana, even if born of a ksatriya or vaisya family.
"O Devi, if even a sudra is actually engaged in the occupation and pure behavior of a brahmana, he becomes a brahmana. Moreover, a vaisya can become a ksatriya.
"Therefore, neither the source of one's birth, nor his reformation, nor his education is the criterion of a brahmana. The vrtta, or occupation, is the real standard by which one is known as a brahmana." (Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva, Chapter 163) 

 

 

Sources:

http://www.indiadivine.org/content/topic/1240895-reference-for-a-shloka/

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Caste_System6.htm