Swami Vivekananda on false notions of caste, aryan theory and more........

[Guest guest]

Namaskar,

 

I was going through the complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 4 and

came across an article "Aryans and Tamilians" where Swamiji speaks on:

 

1. Why the Brahmins( men of knowledge ) are considered as highest in the

social order of India , and not Kshatriyas ( Kings and warriors) as in all

other european countries.

 

2. Then a bit of explanation on the caste system and mention that it was not

on birth.

 

3. Then problems created brahmins arrogance and appeal to all brahmins and

non-brahmins to rise towards the right ideals then to fight over between

themselves.

 

4. Then a firm disapproval of the Aryan theory and a message to bridge the

north - south differences and He says " even taking for granted that both

these grand sub-divisions of Indian humanity came from outside the Western

frontier" ( Both here implies corrupted-caste system and north-south

divisions) and an appeal to rise out of this false notion .

 

5. Finally, a good article to be read slowly and in the right earnest

 

 

 

Aryans and Tamilians

 

By Swami Vivekananda

 

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda , Volume 4 , Pg.296

 

http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_4/vol_4_frame.htm

 

A veritable ethnological museum! Possibly, the half ape skeleton of the

recently discovered Sumatra link will be found on search here, too. The

Dolmens are not wanting. Flint implements can be dug out almost anywhere.

The lake-dwellers-at least the river-dwellers must have been abundant at one

time. The cave-men and leaf-wearers still persist. The primitive hunters

living in forests are in evidence in various parts of the country. Then

there are the more historical varieties-the Negrito Kolarian, the Dravidian,

and the Aryan. To these have been added from time to time dashes of nearly

all the known races, and a great many yet unknown-various breeds of

Mongoloids, Mongols, Tartars, and the so-called Aryans of the -philologists.

Well, here are the Persian, the Greek, the Yunchi, the Hun, the Chin, the

Scythian, and many more,- melted and fused, the Jews, Parsees, Arabs,

Mongols, down to the descendants of the Vikings and the lords of the German

forests, yet undigested-an ocean of humanity, composed of these race-waves

seething, boiling, struggling, constantly changing form, rising to the

surface, and spreading, and swallowing little ones, again subsiding-this is

the history of India.

 

In the midst of this madness of nature, one of the contending factions

discovered a method and, through the force of its superior culture,

succeeded in bringing the largest number of Indian humanity under its sway.

 

The superior race styled themselves the Aryas or nobles, and their method

was the Varnashramacharathe so-called caste. Of course the men of the Aryan

race reserved for themselves, consciously or unconsciously a good many

privileges ; yet the institution of caste has always been very flexible,

sometimes too flexible to ensure a healthy uprise of the races very low in

the scale of culture.

 

It put, theoretically at least, the whole of India under the guidance-not of

wealth, nor of the sword-but of intellect-intellect chastened and controlled

by spirituality. The leading caste in India is the highest of the Aryans -

the Brahmins.

 

Though apparently different from the social methods of other nations, on

close inspection, the Aryan method of caste will not be found so very

different except on two points:

 

The first is, in every other country the highest honour belongs to the

Kshatriya-the man of the sword. The Pope of Rome will be glad to trace his

descent to some robber baron on the banks of the Rhine. In India, the

highest honour belongs to the man of peace- the Sharman, the Brahmin, the

man of God.

 

The greatest Indian king would be gratified to trace his descent to some

ancient sage who lived in the forest, probably a recluse, possessing

nothing, dependent upon the villagers for his daily necessities, and all his

life trying to solve the problems of this life and the life hereafter. The

second point is, the difference of unit. The law of caste in every other

country takes the individual man or woman as the sufficient unit. Wealth,

power, intellect, or beauty suffices for the individual to leave the status

of birth and scramble up to anywhere he can.

 

Here, the unit is all the members of a caste community. Here, too, one has

every chance of rising from a low caste to a higher or the highest: only, in

this birth-land of altruism, one is compelled to take his whole caste along

with him.

 

In India, you cannot, on account of your wealth, power, or any other merit,

leave your fellows behind and make common cause with your superiors ; you

cannot deprive those who helped in your acquiring the excellence of any

benefit therefrom and give them in return only contempt. If you want to rise

to a higher caste in India, you have to elevate all your caste first, and

then there is nothing in your onward path to hold you back.

 

This is the Indian method of fusion, and this has been going on from time

immemorial. For in India, more than elsewhere, such words as Aryans and

Dravidians are only of philological import, the so-called craniological

differentiation finding no solid ground to work upon.

 

Even so are the names Brahmin, Kshatriya, etc. They simply represent the

status of a community in itself continuously fluctuating, even' when it has

reached the summit and all further endeavours are towards fixity of the type

by non-marriage, bv being forced to admit fresh groups, from lower castes or

foreign lands, within its pale.

 

Whatever caste has the power of the sword, becomes Kshatriya ; whatever

learning, Brahmin ; whatever wealth, Vaishya.

 

The groups that have already reached the coveted goal, indeed, try to keep

themselves aloof from the newcomers, by making sub-divisions in the same

caste, but the fact remains that they coalesce in the long run. This is

going on before our own eyes, all over India. Naturally, a group having

raised itself would try to preserve the privileges to itself. Hence,

whenever it was possible to get the help of a king, the higher castes,

especially the Brahmins, have tried to put down similar aspirations in lower

castes, b'y the sword if practicable. But the question is: Did they succeed?

Look closely into your Puranas and Upa-puranas, look especially into the

local Khandas of the big Puranas, look round and see what is happening

before your eyes, and you will find the answer.

 

We are, in spite of our various castes, and in spite of the modern custom of

marriage restricted within the sub divisions of a caste (though this is not

universal), a mixed race in every sense of the word.

 

Whatever may be the import of the philological terms "Aryan" and

"T'amilians:", even taking for granted that both these grand sub-divisions

of Indian humanity came from outside the Western frontier, the dividing line

had been, from the most ancient times, one of language and not of blood. Not

one of the epithets expressive of contempt for the ugly physical features of

the Dasyus of the Vedas would apply to the great Tamilian race ; in fact if

there be a toss for good looks between the Aryans and Tamilians, no sensible

man would dare prognosticate the result.

 

The super-arrogated excellence of birth of any caste in India is only pure

myth, and in no part of India has it, ,we are sorry to say, found such

congenial soil, owing to linguistic differences, as in the South.

 

We purposely refrain from going into the details of ;his social tyranny in

the South, just as we have stopped ourselves from scrutinising the genesis

of the various modern Brahmins and other castes. Sufficient for us to is

evident Madras note the extreme tension of feeling that between the Brahmins

and non-Brahmins of the Presidency.

 

We believe in Indian caste as one of the greatest social institutions that

the Lord gave to man. We also believe that though the unavoidable defects,

foreign persecutions, and, above all, the monumental ignorance and pride of

many Brahmins who do not deserve the name, have thwarted, in many ways, the

legitimate fructification of this most glorious Indian institution, it has

already worked wonders for the land of Bharata and is destined to lead

Indian humanity to its goal.

 

We earnestly entreat the Brahmins of the South not to forget the ideal of

India-the production of a universe of. Brahmins, pure as purity, good as God

Himself: this was at the beginning, says the Mahabharata, and so will it be

in the end.

 

Then anyone who claims to be a Brahmin should prove his pretensions, first

by manifesting that spirituality, and next by raising others to the same

status. On the face of this, it seems that most of them are only nursing a

false pride of birth ; and any schemer, native or foreign, who can pander to

this vanity and inherent laziness by fulsome sophistry, appears to satisfy

most.

 

Beware, Brahmins, this is the sign of death! Arise and show your manhood,

your Brahminhood, by raising the non-Brahmins around you-not in the spirit

of a master -not with the rotten canker of egotism crawling with

superstitions and the charlatanry of East and West-but in the spirit of a

servant. For verily he who knows how to serve knows how to rule.

 

The non-Brahmins also have been spending their energy in kindling the fire

of caste hatred--vain and useless to solve the problem-to which every

non-Hindu is only too glad to throw on a load of fuel.

 

Not a step forward can be made by these inter-caste quarrels, not one

difficulty removed; only the beneficent onward march of events would be

thrown back, possibly for centuries, if the fire bursts out into flames.

 

It would be a repetition of Buddhistic political blunders.

 

In the midst of this ignorant clamour and hatred, we are delighted to find

Pandit D. Savariroyan pursuing the only legitimate and the only sensible

course. Instead of wasting precious vitality in foolish and meaningless

quarrels, Pandit Savariroyan has undertaken in his articles an the

"Admixture of the Aryan with Tamilian" in the Siddhcinta Deepika, to clear

away not only a lot of haze, created by a too adventurous Western philology,

but to pave the way to a better understanding of the caste problem in the

South.

 

Nobody ever got anything by begging. We get only what we deserve. The first

step to deserve is to desire; and we desire with success what we feel

ourselves worthy to get.

 

A gentle yet clear brushing off of the cobwebs of the so-called Aryan theory

and all its vicious corollaries is therefore absolutely necessary,

especially for the South, and a proper self-respect created by a knowledge

of the past grandeur of one of the great ancestors of the Aryan race-the

great Tamilians.

 

We stick, in spite of Western theories, to that definition of the word

"Arya" which we find in our sacred books, and which includes only the

multitude we now call Hindus. This Aryan race, itself a mixture of two great

races, Sanskrit-speaking and Tamil-speaking, applies to all Hindus alike.

That the Shudras have in some Smritis been excluded from this epithet means

nothing, for the Shudras were and still are only the waiting Aryas-Aryas in

novitiate.

 

Though we know Pandit Savariroyan is walking over rather insecure ground,

though we differ from many of his sweeping explanations of Vedic names and

races, yet we are glad that he has undertaken the task of beginning a proper

investigation into the culture of the great mother of Indian civilisation-if

the Sanskrit-speaking race was the father.

 

We are glad also that he boldly pushes forward the Accado-Sumerian racial

identity of the ancient Tamilians. And this makes us proud of the blood of

the great civilisation which flowered before all others--compared to whose

antiquity the Aryans and Semites are babies.

 

We would suggest, also, that the land of Punt of the Egyptians was not only

Malabar, but that the Egyptians as a race bodily migrated from Malabar

across the ocean and entered the delta along the course of the Nile from

north to south, to which Punt they have been always fondly looking back as

the home of the blessed.

 

This is a move in the right direction. Detailed and more careful work is

sure to follow with a better study of the Tamilian tongues and the Tamilian

elements found in the Sanskrit literature, philosophy, and religion. And who

are more competent to do this work than those who learn the Tamilian idioms

as their mother-tongue?

 

As for us Vedantins and Sannyasins, we are proud of our Sanskrit-speaking

ancestors of the Vedas ; proud of our Tamil-speaking ancestors whose

civilisation is the oldest yet known ; we are proud of our Kolarian

ancestors older than either of the above-who lived and hunted in forests; we

are proud of our ancestors with flint implements-the first of the human

race; and if evolution is true, we are proud of our anaifial ancestors, for

they antedated man himself. We are proud that we are descendants of the

whole universe, sentient or insentient. Proud that we are born, and work,

and suffer-prouder still that we die when the task is finished and enter for

ever the realm where there is no more delusion.

 

 

 

--

devishakti_india

( divyabhakti )

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Namaste Devishakti-ji,

 

advaitin, devishakti_india

<devishaktiindia@g...> wrote:

> 4. Then a firm disapproval of the Aryan theory and a

> message to bridge the north - south differences and

> He says " even taking for granted that both these

> grand sub-divisions of Indian humanity came from outside

> the Western frontier"

 

 

The word 'arya' means 'noble'. It was used for those people that

followed the noble path of Vaidika Dharma. Aryas lived both within

the current boundaries of India and beyond it, but the land where

they were concentrated was Bharata Varsha. That is why it is

called 'Aryavarta'. Bharata Varsha or Aryavarta (at that time) was

defined as the land that stretched from Kanyakumari to Himalayas, and

from Gandhara to Brahma Desha.

 

Aryavarta was divided into two deshas called Dravida desha and Gowda

desha. Dravida desha was all that which lay south of Saurashtra, and

Gowda desha was all that which lay north of Saurashtra. Both Dravida

desha and Gowda desha were parts of Bharata Varsha or Aryavarta.

 

What many people may not know is that the Aryan invasion theory was

first suggested by an Indian named Ramprasad Chanda. It was then

picked up by Gordon Childe to give it somewhat the shape that it

later came to have. Meanwhile Ramprasad Chanda had his doubts about

his own hypothesis and he actually wrote against it, but the momentum

of the Aryan invasion theory had already picked up due to R.E.M

Wheeler and others. Even though it never was a theory, it came to

assume the guise of a theory and it is most unfortunate that the

Indians themselves picked it up and solidified its foundations.

 

Today the basis of the AIT (Aryan Invasion Theory) has been countered

by the OIT (Original Inhabitants Theory) on most of the points, but

there still remain two points on which the proponents of the AIT

(Aryan Invasion Theory) hold on to their grounds. These two points

are the linguistic argument and the horse argument. In my opinion,

the linguistic argument is sheer nonsense i.e., it is based on a

theory of lingusitics that has no idea of what language is, and

moreover the law of palatals on which the argument is spearheaded is

a case of perfect circular reasoning. The horse argument is a case of

using an absence to prove a thesis and it suffers from logical

insufficiency. Most historians are simply bad logicians.

 

Warm regards,

Chittaranjan

[Guest guest]

On 11/14/05, Sri Chittaranjan Naik wrote:

> Today the basis of the AIT (Aryan Invasion Theory) has been countered

> by the OIT (Original Inhabitants Theory) on most of the points, but

> there still remain two points on which the proponents of the AIT

> (Aryan Invasion Theory) hold on to their grounds.

 

While there are many controversies about the origin of Aryans, let us not

forget that there has never been any doubt about where their hearts lay.

Their songs sing glories of gangA, their poetry speaks of the beauty of

HimAlaya and their last wish is to die in kAshI. How does it matter if they

were born here or came from outside if their hearts know no other sacred

land?

The spontaneous ecstatic songs that burst through their lips in praise of

their motherland are a greater reality than any theory.

praNAm

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Chittaranjanji,

 

Namaste,

 

In another place Swamiji defines an aryan which is as

under:

 

I know that before I was born, my mother would fast

and pray and do hundreds of things which I could not

even do for five minutes. She did that for two years.

I believe that whatever religious culture I have, I

owe to that. It was consciously that my mother brought

me into the world to be what I am. Whatever good

impulse I have was given to me by my mother--and

consciously, not unconsciously.

 

"A child materially born is not an Aryan; the child

born in spirituality is an Aryan." For all this

trouble--because she has to make herself so pure and

holy in order to have pure children......

 

HARI OM TAT SAT

 

Yours in the Lord,

 

Br. Vinayaka.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--- Chittaranjan Naik <chittaranjan_naik

wrote:

> Namaste Devishakti-ji,

>

> advaitin, devishakti_india

> <devishaktiindia@g...> wrote:

>

> > 4. Then a firm disapproval of the Aryan theory and

> a

> > message to bridge the north - south differences

> and

> > He says " even taking for granted that both these

> > grand sub-divisions of Indian humanity came from

> outside

> > the Western frontier"

>

>

> The word 'arya' means 'noble'. It was used for those

> people that

> followed the noble path of Vaidika Dharma. Aryas

> lived both within

> the current boundaries of India and beyond it, but

> the land where

> they were concentrated was Bharata Varsha. That is

> why it is

> called 'Aryavarta'. Bharata Varsha or Aryavarta (at

> that time) was

> defined as the land that stretched from Kanyakumari

> to Himalayas, and

> from Gandhara to Brahma Desha.

>

> Aryavarta was divided into two deshas called Dravida

> desha and Gowda

> desha. Dravida desha was all that which lay south of

> Saurashtra, and

> Gowda desha was all that which lay north of

> Saurashtra. Both Dravida

> desha and Gowda desha were parts of Bharata Varsha

> or Aryavarta.

>

> What many people may not know is that the Aryan

> invasion theory was

> first suggested by an Indian named Ramprasad Chanda.

> It was then

> picked up by Gordon Childe to give it somewhat the

> shape that it

> later came to have. Meanwhile Ramprasad Chanda had

> his doubts about

> his own hypothesis and he actually wrote against it,

> but the momentum

> of the Aryan invasion theory had already picked up

> due to R.E.M

> Wheeler and others. Even though it never was a

> theory, it came to

> assume the guise of a theory and it is most

> unfortunate that the

> Indians themselves picked it up and solidified its

> foundations.

>

> Today the basis of the AIT (Aryan Invasion Theory)

> has been countered

> by the OIT (Original Inhabitants Theory) on most of

> the points, but

> there still remain two points on which the

> proponents of the AIT

> (Aryan Invasion Theory) hold on to their grounds.

> These two points

> are the linguistic argument and the horse argument.

> In my opinion,

> the linguistic argument is sheer nonsense i.e., it

> is based on a

> theory of lingusitics that has no idea of what

> language is, and

> moreover the law of palatals on which the argument

> is spearheaded is

> a case of perfect circular reasoning. The horse

> argument is a case of

> using an absence to prove a thesis and it suffers

> from logical

> insufficiency. Most historians are simply bad

> logicians.

>

> Warm regards,

> Chittaranjan

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

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