Santanu The case of Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha in Assam is an example of people revolting against the old varna order and yet maintaining a Hindu identity. Here Sankaradeva's teachings came handy to built a new socio-religious system. The yuga dharma is 'naam' as per the tenets followed by SSS, as well as neo vaishnavite; while the reigning deities remain almost the same. The population of gods also maintained at 33 crores, on an average of 1 per 5 Hindus.
Somewhere "shastra"s have mentioned - 'xatya yugot dhyan, tretat tapp, dwaporot puja, kolit 'naam'. Buddhism, Islam and Christianity are mostly 'naam' based. I think Assam's transition to Islam will be very smooth. manoj On 3/27/06, Roy, Santanu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Saurav, > > Thanks for your knowledgeable note. > > Two observations: > > 1. There are probably quite a few historical instances where castes have > been fostered within a non-Aryan jati or community that has come into > contact with mainstream Hinduism at a late stage. Indeed, the process by > which an outside jati enters into mainstream Hindu society must logically > consist of at least two social processes. First, the way the existing > mainstream society - the upper castes - in particular, view the community in > question - an exogenous aspect. Second, the way the jati views itself and > reshapes & redefines its own social stratification using the adopted > language and mirrors of mainstream Hindu society -an endogenous aspect. > Indeed, these two processes need not be congruent. The relics of these > processes are found in several low caste untouchable communities that have > their own "Brahmins". To the mainstream outsider, they are all untouchable, > but to the insider there is a caste system within - a microcosm of the > society that lies above them. A similar structure is also observed with > respect to many tribes prior to the importing of Brahmins from mainstream > society. > > 2. The varna system, like many other aspects of Hindu society, is in > fundamental contradiction with modern society. The question in my mind is > not whether Hinduism can be reformed. The real question is how will Hindus > resolve these contradictions between what they ought to hold sacred and the > needs of actual material life in today's society. > > One option is to stand by the varna system and all other traditional mores, > to oppose liberal western values and in effect, do a fundamentalist jig. > > The other option is to gloss over and plainly deny the existence of all > these aspects (as many on this net do) and then to march forward with a very > selective view of Hinduism that is in consonance with modern society and > liberal values. The trouble with this approach is that in all honesty, you > cannot be very sure of what it is you are clutching on to & therefore, in > the long run, are bound to run into certain contradictions - perhaps as your > children question you.... > > A third option would be to abandon the grand tradition altogether and, in > effect, convert to religious orders that have their own philosphical systems > that, even though historically rooted in the grand narrative, actually offer > a distinct axiomatic system (Buddhism and Jainism were among the many such > early orders, as were some of the Vaishnava orders). The third option is > essentially fractious and inimical to the cause of a grand Hindu identity. > But it may well be the most honest and logical way out for those who seek a > religion. > > Santanu-da. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of xourov pathok > Sent: Mon 3/27/2006 4:37 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Assam] caste system > > a short note on the caste system: > > the varna system, which found its first mention in the > rig veda itself, has been the only unbroken tradition > of hinduism. gods have come and gone (from indra to > rudra to krishna), forms of worship has changed (from > yajnas to puja) but the varna system has persisted. > there is an oft repeated dictum, that hinduism did not > have a name for itself earlier. this is not true. > the name of the religion was varnashram dharma. the > varna system is the most defining aspect of hinduism. > > another dictum is that it divides. this also is > untrue. in fact the varna system makes it possible > for a jati to place itself in a readymade order. this > is important because there is no personal conversion > system in hinduism. instead entire jatis are > converted (by placing them in the varna system), like > the scythians and the koches were made hindus by > placing them in the kshatriya varna. this is > important. because it lets, say, a sarma or a barua > from assam relate in a some meaningful way with a > aiyar or an iyengar from tamil nadu. > > since the varna system is the most defining aspect of > hinduism, how can you remove or reform it out of the religion? > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > -- Manoj Kumar Das B 109 Gr Floor Rear Sarvodaya Enclave New Delhi 110017 India Tel: 91 11 26533824 Telefax: 91 11 26533829 Hand Phone: 91 9312650558 _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
