Ambedkar-Philosophy of Hinduism

AMBEDKAR'S PHILOSOPHY OF HINDUISM AND CONTEMPORARY CRITIQUES
PROF. M. M. NINAN
However, as Alain Danielou, son of French aristocracy, author of numerous books on philosophy, religion, history
and arts of India, says: "Caste system has enabled Hindu civilization to survive all invasions and to develop
without revolutions or important changes, throughout more than four millennia, with a continuity that is
unique in history. Caste system may appear rigid to our eyes because for more than a thousand years
Hindu society withdrew itself from successive domination by Muslims and Europeans. Yet, the greatest
poets and the most venerated saints such as Sura Dasa, Kabir, Tukaram, Thiruvalluvar and Ram Dasa;
came from the humblest class of society."
In the words of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, " In spite of the divisions, there is an inner cohesion among the
Hindu society from the Himalayas to the Cape Comorin."
Caste system has been exploited against the Hindus, for the last two centuries by the British, Christian
Missionaries, Secular historians, Communists, Muslims, Pre and Post-Independence Indian politicians and
Journalists for their own ends. One way to discredit any system is to highlight its excesses, and this only adds to
the sense of inferiority that many Indians feel about their own culture. Caste system is often portrayed as the
ultimate horror, in the media, yet social inequities continue to persist in theoretically Egalitarian Western Societies.
The Caste system is judged offensive by the Western norms, yet racial groups have been isolated, crowded into
reserves like the American Indians or Australian Aborigines, where they can only atrophy and disappear.
This chapter is not a justification of the abuse of caste system, rather it is a collection of interesting information.
Caste system has enabled Hindu civilization to survive all invasions and made Indian society stronger. Caste
system served a purpose, performed certain functions, and met the needs appropriate to the times in history.
India's caste norms may once have had a rationale; but the norms are outlived today. Caste system is not stagnant
and is undergoing changes under the impact of modernization. Caste system should undergo reforms in the
social arena so that unjustified discrimination and abuse is eliminated.
The caste system was never a tenet of the Hindu faith. ..........
Again in the Bhagawad Gita, sloka 29, Chapter 9, Lord Krishna says,
“I look upon all creatures equally; none are less dear to me and none more dear. But those who worship me with
love live in me, and I come to life in them.”
Lord Krishna as saying, in response to the question— "How is Varna (social order) determined?"
"Birth is not the cause, my friend; it is virtues which are the cause of auspiciousness. Even a chandala (lower caste)
observing the vow is considered a Brahman by the gods."
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