Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

All the same, social inequality was the very basis of the caste
order of society. Either the caste order had to change, or the moral
system had to accept and adopt the caste values. As the preservation
of the caste society remained the supreme consideration, ‘There was
no universally valid ethic, but only a strict status compartmentalization
of private and social ethic, disregarding the few absolute and general
ritualistic prohibitions (particularly the killing of cows)…. The doctrine
of Karma deduced from the principle of compensation for previous
deeds of the world, not only explained the caste organisation but the
rank of divine, human, and animal beings of all degrees. Hence it
provided for the co-existence of different ethical codes for different
status groups which not only differed widely but were often in sharp
conflict. This presented no problem. In principle there could be a
vocational dharma for prostitutes, robbers, and thieves as well as for
Brahmins and kings. In fact, quite sincere attempts at drawing these
extreme conclusion appeared. The struggle of man and man in all its
forms was as little a problem as his struggle with animals and the
gods, as was the existence of the positively ugly, stupid, and (from
the stand-point of the dharma of a Brahman or other twice-born)
positively objectionable. ’46
The ‘compartmentalization of ethics’ is just another name for
ethics of the caste order. The Brahmins used the Karma doctrine as
the key to justify the caste ethics. It made the people blind to the
immorality involved in the dichotomy of Indian ethics. The doctrine
of Ahisma had seeped down to the level of the masses; and, yet, there
was complete lack of reaction to the lot of the Sudras and the
untouchables, which was considered to be the result of their own sins
and doings. In any case, it is clear that the motive of preserving the
caste order and its values overweighed all other considerations.
Regarding the incident of Lord Rama cutting off the head of a Sudra,
Senart comments : ‘Insolence such as this threatens to upset the whole
equilibrium of public order, so essential is the maintenance of the
prerogatives which belong exclusively to the various castes. ’47
The concepts of justice and sin were likewise distorted. Rather
than being a dispenser of impartial justice, it was Brahman who
‘enacted the code of laws and taught it to him (Manu)’. Thus, in order
to invest the code of Manu, which laid the legal and
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