Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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is stigmatized as a degrading occupation in the Code of Manu because
it is supposed to destroy life. This seems to have led to the division of
the Teli caste into two. The ones who press oil are treated as
untouchables, and the Telis who only sell oil will outcastes a member
who should venture to press it. 70 It is not our purpose to go into many
details. But it need to be stressed that the idea of pollution was given
a distinct religious significance. It spread a wide net-work which
directly downgraded existing castes, created new ones, and consolidated
social differentiation in the caste society by raising religiously (or
magically) tinged insurmountable barriers between different castes.
f) The theory of Avtars and the ‘karma’ theory : The Avtara
theory, or the theory of incarnations or the descent of God, was of
momentous importance in enabling Neo-Brahmanism to absorb other
systems. On the one hand, it helped Neo-Brahmanism to link itself
with Vedism, and on the other it permitted it to own the deities and to
assimilate the creeds, religious and cultures of the non-Aryan or
heterodox societies. Some of the developments and applications of
this theoryled to important social implications. Social reaction was
tagged on to the fair name of the Avtaras and their authority was
invoked to confer divine sanction for the caste-order and social
reaction. Lord Rama was said to have cut off the head of a Sudra for
the sole crime of indulging in religious rites not allowed to his caste. 71
Lord krishna was supposed to have asserted that he was the creator
of Chaturvarnya. 72 The association of the authority of Lord Krishna
and Lord Rama, the popular Avtaras of Vishnu, with the caste order
and the reactionary social usages gave great support to these institutions.
The Shastras and the other Brahmanical religious literature had, no
doubt, already claimed Vedic sanction for these. But Vedism had
ceased to be a living force in the post-Buddhist period, except as an
authority for owning formal allegiance. But, Lord Krishna and Lord
Rama, who as Avtaras were thought to have come in the garb of human
beings to uphold Dharma, had become living realities for the vast
multitudes who worshipped them. Sanction of the caste order by
these Avtaras, therefore, gave fresh sanction to this inequitous social
system.
The Karma theory, as applied by Brahmanism, not only