Guest guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 The idea to create Indology lists A,B,C,D resembles to much the idea of four varnas. IMVHO. Dmitri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 Does not Sri Krishna Paramatma talk of 4 varNas in his Gita address? Gita Krishna, possibly created from impulses from Iran and related to the Bodhisattva Maitreya, plays very minor role among the popular bhakti saints - Srivaishnava Alvars. In India, the varNa theory of BhG remained in closed circles. With the spread of Sanskrit to Europe, IE studies, Gita gained wide popularity among Indian masses who are told, "see Westerners are studying Gita!". There are endless philosophical explanations what varNa really means, and why the hierarchy must be maintained, often quoting the BhG. Regards, N. Ganesan INDOLOGY, dmitrinet wrote: > The idea to create Indology lists A,B,C,D > resembles to much the idea of four varnas. > > IMVHO. > > Dmitri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 Indeed, we have Boston Brahmins you see! VA INDOLOGY, naga_ganesan@h... wrote: > > Does not Sri Krishna Paramatma talk of 4 varNas in his Gita address? > Gita Krishna, possibly created from impulses from Iran > and related to the Bodhisattva Maitreya, plays > very minor role among the popular bhakti saints - Srivaishnava Alvars. > > In India, the varNa theory of BhG remained in closed circles. > With the spread of Sanskrit to Europe, IE studies, > Gita gained wide popularity among Indian masses who are told, > "see Westerners are studying Gita!". > > There are endless philosophical explanations what varNa > really means, and why the hierarchy must be maintained, > often quoting the BhG. > > Regards, > N. Ganesan > > INDOLOGY, dmitrinet wrote: > > The idea to create Indology lists A,B,C,D > > resembles to much the idea of four varnas. > > > > IMVHO. > > > > Dmitri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 I'm reading an interesting article by a Syracuse Brahmin - Aghehananda Bharati (Louis Fischer, Austria who served in the WW also). The learned Shakta monk gives insights on a curious modern urban phenomenon of "denying" caste. A. Bharati, The denial of Caste in modern urban parlance, p. 507-523, P. Hockings (ed.), Dimensions of Social life, Essays in honor of David G. Mandelbaum, 1987 On page 511, Aghehananda Bharati mentions Gandhi & Gita: " Most importantly, however, it is the "caste deniers" who, in a very real sense, "run" India; they represent the official culture, they control education, the press, and they are highly articlulate about this particular segment of India's culture which sees itself as progresive. It never ceased to amaz me that Mahatma Gandhi, in his quest for the alleviation of caste-caused problems (1964 et passim), kept insisting that the Bhagavadgiitaa contained caste-denying or caste-rejecting teachings. Now Gandhi did not read Sanskrit, his first acquaintance with that text was Annie Besant's rendition in the Theosophical Society edition (1923). But even in that poor Englsih translation, there can be no two ways of reading the teacher's exhortation not to give up "work with which you are born" (svakarmaja); with regard to social structure and societal traditions, the text is highly conservative, and says a lot about and for caste-by-birth. The GItA is not a canonical text. Canonical texts like the PuruSasUkta of course "establish" the varNa system, " Regards, N. Ganesan INDOLOGY, VAgarwalV@c... wrote: > Indeed, we have Boston Brahmins you see! > > VA > > INDOLOGY, naga_ganesan@h... wrote: > > > > Does not Sri Krishna Paramatma talk of 4 varNas in his Gita address? > > Gita Krishna, possibly created from impulses from Iran > > and related to the Bodhisattva Maitreya, plays > > very minor role among the popular bhakti saints - Srivaishnava > Alvars. > > > > In India, the varNa theory of BhG remained in closed circles. > > With the spread of Sanskrit to Europe, IE studies, > > Gita gained wide popularity among Indian masses who are told, > > "see Westerners are studying Gita!". > > > > There are endless philosophical explanations what varNa > > really means, and why the hierarchy must be maintained, > > often quoting the BhG. > > > > Regards, > > N. Ganesan > > > > INDOLOGY, dmitrinet wrote: > > > The idea to create Indology lists A,B,C,D > > > resembles to much the idea of four varnas. > > > > > > IMVHO. > > > > > > Dmitri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 INDOLOGY, naga_ganesan@h... wrote: > > I'm reading an interesting article by a Syracuse Brahmin > - Aghehananda Bharati (Louis Fischer, Austria who served > in the WW also). The learned Shakta monk gives insights on > a curious modern urban phenomenon of "denying" caste. Of all the indologists -Indians or Westerners or Japanese or others - I have read, late Swami Aghehananda Bharathi has been the most perceptive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 > I'm reading an interesting article by a Syracuse Brahmin > - Aghehananda Bharati (Louis Fischer, Austria who served Leopold Fischer. > > On page 511, Aghehananda Bharati mentions Gandhi & Gita: > " Most importantly, however, it is the "caste deniers" who, > in a very real sense, "run" India; they represent the official > culture, they control education, the press, and they are highly I thought this should be welcomed by progressive, rational people. But wait, those who deny caste tend to be of upper castes, so if they have to step aside, they first have to renounce their denial and begin by acknowledging caste. If they acknowledge caste, they are not going to step aside and give up their privileges. It is a classic Catch-22 situation. So, who would you rather have running the country, caste deniers or caste upholders? While on the subject, note that the Hindutva organizations accept people of all castes, whereas more traditional Hindus do not. The Hindutvavadins are not doing this to gain credibility in the eyes of scholars. They are doing it because they believe that caste can be denied in a Hindutva reality. In the midst of unsavory politics, scholars tend to ignore contemporary social realities. Although I should think that politics and society go hand in hand. Best regards, Vidyasankar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2001 Report Share Posted June 13, 2001 INDOLOGY, vsundaresan@h... wrote: > > But wait, those who deny caste tend to be of upper castes, so if > they have to step aside, they first have to renounce their denial > and begin by acknowledging caste. If they acknowledge caste, they > are not going to step aside and give up their privileges. It is a > classic Catch-22 situation. Yes, generally high caste people in the South put the blame on Aryans (/Brahmins) for caste creation. They are usually urban, went to english-medium schools and are vegetarian. Regards, N. Ganesan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.