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Vedanta simplified Khushwant Singh | Nandu Somani, a friend of my years in Bombay, sent me a few books on different aspects of Hinduism by A Parathasarthy. I was reluctant to read them as I am generally reluctant to read books on religion. However, out of curiosity I picked The Eternities: Vedanta Treatise and was unable to put it down till I came to almost the middle of the book. It is the most lucid and easily comprehensible expose of the foundations of Hindu faith I had ever read. But in the middle I got stuck on two items in his learned exposition: genesis and justification of the caste system and his views on Ahimsa (non-violence). What he has written about them is unacceptable to me. So I am through only a part of the book which deals with them and mean to read it to the end. I take the liberty of pointing out where I think he has gone wrong. His explanation of the caste system is stereotype that it was based on merit—Brahmins for learning and scholarship, Kshtriyas for valour and martial skills, Vaishyas for expertise on trading and finance, Shudras for hard work like tilling the soil. He totally ignores the fifth class who are beneath the four and commonly described outcastes, Dalits or Bahujans. The Gita justifies caste divisions and warns people against dire consequences of mingling them. The caste system is basically ethnic and not merit based. Most of our religious reformers paid lip service to a casteless society but conformed to its norms. It is an evil institution and must be purged from our social system. Gandhiji was the first to do something practical to eradicate it but was only partially successful. I wish Parthasarathy had used strong language and denounced it sinful. Read more hard-hitting columns About Ahimsa he writes : "The concept of kindness has been gravely misconstrued in India. They blunder in following the spiritual doctrine of ahimsa – non-injury. And refuse to inflict any form of injury. They are more concerned about the act of kindness rather than the thought of kindness… The Hindus followed the doctrine of ahimsa blindly. They have abstained from injuring anybody irrespective of the consequences accruing there from. Even if it led to their destruction later. This fanatic approach to life has rendered the Hindu race passive and vulnerable to weakness that turned out to be a diabolic weapon in the hands of the oppressors and invaders. It was made use of to destroy the Indian tradition, culture and religion." Parthasarathy is weak on history. As a matter of fact our ancestors did resist invaders by use of arms. They were not defeated by ahimsa but greater military prowess of the invaders. Gandhiji who looked upon the Gita as his Bible declared ahimsa to be 'parmo dharma', the primary faith. It was not based on weakness or cowardice; it was based on courage, the like of which the world had not seen. Where soldiers and policemen armed with modern weapons failed, he, the naked faqeer succeeded. When murderers roamed the streets thirsting for human blood, he alone stirred their conscience and forced them to lay down their weapons. How can Parthasarathy or anyone else question the greatness of ahimsa as the supreme courage? -- Subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a BLANK email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
