Ambedkar-Philosophy of Hinduism

AMBEDKAR'S PHILOSOPHY OF HINDUISM AND CONTEMPORARY CRITIQUES
PROF. M. M. NINAN
The Hindu justification and explanation of Varna (wiki)
Varna is a Sanskrit term varṇa (वण) is derived from the root vṛ, meaning "to cover, to envelop" (compare vṛtra).
Derived meanings include "kind, sort, character, quality". Contemporary students of Hindu society understand
Varna as an ancient fourfold arrangement of socioeconomic categories called the varnas, which is traced back to
an oral tradition preserved in the Rigveda (dating perhaps from between 1500 and 1200 bce)
One might argue that Hinduism is a belief system wedded to the idea that a well ordered society is composed of
four castes: Brahmins (priestly or scholarly caste), Kṣatriya (martial or royal caste), Vaiśyas (merchant caste) and
Sūdras (labor caste). This argument is fallacious for primarily two reasons. First, caste (“varna,” or more commonly
“jāti”) is an Indian phenomenon that is not restricted to Hindu sections of society. It has been argued that the
approving use of the term “Brahmin” in Buddhist and Jain texts shows that even these socially critical movements
were comfortable with a caste structured society as long as obligations and privileges accorded to the various
castes were justly distributed (cf. Dhammapada ch. XXVI; cf. Sūtrakṛtānga I.xii.11-21).
Second, caste is not philosophically important to many schools that are conventionally understood under the
heading of “Hindu philosophy.” Some philosophical schools, such as Yoga, seem to be implicitly critical of life in
conventional society guided by the values of social and ecological domination, while other schools, such as Advaita
Vedānta, are openly critical of the idea that caste morality has any relevance to a spiritually serious aspirant
Varna is not to be confused with the jāti. Varna is roughly similar to western class system of middle, aristocrat,
business and working classes and is an artificial/intellectual classification of society while jāti along with kula is a
more natural classification and is roughly or exactly the same as clan/tribe/kinship similar to what is followed in
most central Asian, middle eastern, African, south east Asian cultures and perhaps in the west as well until modern
age and still in some parts.
The Portuguese term caste was adopted during the British times to represent ones social status based on their jati
and varna as over the years the varna was being applied to refer to a people/jati rather than an individual due to
restriction on social mobility due to various reasons including large influx of foreigners and alien conquests etc. with
rare exceptions of individual or clan status changing.
Also people who could not assimilate into the mainstream society were outcast as they were not accounted in the
system later known as harijans or more recently dalits. These were mostly nomads, hunter gatherer tribes,
refugees, anti-social/dacoit tribes and socially and lawfully ostracised peoples during a certain age or time
but eventually never were given a chance to assimilate back into the mainstream after adopting a more mainstream
lifestyle perhaps due to continuous strife, conquests and uncertainty over a 1000 years, until recently during the
modern age under the British and free Indian Governments, that they are being attempted to assimilate again into
the mainstream.
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