Racism through Advaita Philosophy

According to scholars racism developed in the world society only from the 19^th c.A.D. Even though the development of racism in the world is a recent phenomena, the root cause for this racism is Advaita philosophy which was developed in India in 9^th c.A.D. Another face of racism is casteism that can be seen in India for a long period of time. Casteism is also known as Varnashrama Dharma.

Varnashrama Dharma

Kundra explains the term 'Varna' as follows:

'It is now generally believed that first of all on the basis of 'Colour' there arose this question of caste between the white complexioned Aryans and the dark colored non-Aryans (or Dasyus). The very use of the word 'Varna' which means 'Colour' for caste by the Aryans would lend support to this theory of the origin of the caste system on the basis of color'(1)

There are fundamentally two distinct races in India, the native Dravidians and the immigrant Aryans. It has been historically proved that the Dravidians are the original inhabitants of India and the sons of Indian Soil. Hence, Aryans are obviously not the original inhabitants of India and they are various groups of foreigners who came into India from outside at various periods of time. They can be classified as follows:

1. The group of foreigners who came with religions
2. The group of foreigners who came without any religion.

The groups of foreigners who came with religions are Israelites, Jews, Zoroastrians, Syrian Christians, Muslims and European Christians. The Muslims captured the political power around 12th c. A. D. and the European Christians began to capture power around 18th c. A. D. in India. The group of foreigners who came without any religion are known as the Aryans.

The Dravidian king Brihathratha, a descendent of the Mauryan king Ashoka, was treacherously assassinated in the year 185 B.C. by his own Commander-in-Chief Pushyamitra Sunga, a foreigner, at the culmination of a silent war between the Dravidians and the foreigners. The Dravidian rule in the North came to an end and the foreign Sunga dynasty began to rule. The foreigners thus conquered the Dravidians and captured the political power in 2nd c. B.C.2.

After some years the Kanvas in 73 B.C treacherously conquered the Sunga rulers. The Kanvas were also foreigners. The Kanva dynasty came to an end in 28 B.C.3 Thus the Dravidians in the North came under the control of the foreign rulers for about 157 years.

Though the descendants of the Sungas and the Kanvas could rule only for a period of about 157 years, they strove cunningly to retain their hold over the Dravidians by extending their support voluntarily to the later invaders of India, viz. Sakas, Kushans and Huns when they came into power and gained their favor. These foreign rulers did not hesitate to make use of the 157 years of administrative experience of the Sungas and the Kanvas, in subjugating the Dravidians from gaining political power. These foreign rulers recognized the Sungas and the Kanvas as their counselors, and the Sungas and the Kanvas recognized these foreign rulers as 'Kshatriyas' which meant the rulers.

Another group of foreigners who already came to India for commercial purpose were also recognised by the Sungas and Kanvas and used by them to take control over the Dravidian commerce and trade. These foreigners who were involved in trade were later known as 'Vaishyas'. The descendants of Sunga and Kanva dynasties not only became counsellors of the foreign rulers and traders, but also took over the control of religion of the Dravidians by portraying themselves as Purohits. Their ancestors, as nomads, coming through Persia, had gathered much of the local forms of worship and songs. These were later given a written form and classified as the Vedas by Vedavyasa, a Dravidian. As the descendants of the Sungas and the Kanvas, they were once rulers of the country portrayed themselves as Purohits instead of Kshatriyas. In the book 'Indika' written by Megasthenes (350-290.B.C), there is no reference about casteism. Hence, the traces of the origin of casteism are only found in the later period when the Purohits started to organize the caste system under the guise of religion.

Amongst the foreigners, the Purohits, the descendants of Sungas and Kanvas and who later styled themselves as Brahmins after the period of Adisankara claim that they belong to the first caste and gave second place to the Kshatriyas and third place to the Vaishyas and these three groups of people were known as Aryans. The Aryans not only took control of the Dravidian political, religious and commercial powers but also divided the Dravidians into two classes, one called the Sudras (Slaves) and the others the Panchamas (Untouchables).

Amongst the Dravidians those who did not show much interest in the politics and did not have concern for whether Rama rules or Ravana rules, were known as the Sudras. They were made slaves to the other three so called upper classes. They were assigned the fourth place in the caste system.

'.... the fourth class (the sudras), whose sole duty it was 'to serve meekly' the other classes...4

Amongst the Dravidians those who did not accept the supremacy of the Aryans, but fought against them to defend their own culture, religion, language etc., so they were excluded from these four divisions in the caste system (Chathurvarna), and classified as the Panchamas - fifth caste (enemies or untouchables). Since they were enemies to the Aryans they were branded as untouchables. This caste system had finally reached its culmination during the Rajputs hegemony5 between the 7th and 12th c .A.D. Thus, while the Varnashrama Dharma system elevated the Aryans as Purohits, Kshatriyas,and Vaishyas, it degraded the Dravidians as Sudras and Panchamas.

The influx of various foreign invaders was conducive to the Aryan Brahmins and joined hands with them, to keep the Indians slaves forever. The following quotations expose the cruelty of the Huns and exposes the relationship that occurred between the new influx of foreign invaders and the foreigners who had already settled in India.

"—towards the middle of the 5th century A.D. they (Huns) poured in to India in large numbers. These Huns were very cruel people and were nothing short of demons. They took pleasure in looting the people, burning their villages and towns and slaughtering both men, women and children. Wherever they went, they carried fire and sword. They had no regards for any religion and any nation whatsoever." 6 "The Huns entered into matrimonial alliance with the Indians, and as a result of these intermarriages the racial composition of the Indian people was greatly affected and the number of castes increased many-folds.

Some historians, like Havell would suggest that the Huns and their intermarriages resulted in the origin of the Rajputs... 'The numerous Rajput clans of the present day are the result of many foreign elements which were assimilated by Indo-Aryan society from the fourth to the sixth centuries and in later times'.

The settlement of the Huns in India affected adversely the Indian society. 'They lowered the high ethical standards of Indo-Aryans and favored the growth of many vulgar superstitions'.

Not only this, the Hun occupation of India proved nothing less than a curse as far as its culture is concerned. Those barbarians butchered a large number of artists and scholars, burnt various literary works of great value and destroyed many big town and cities. They ruthlessly destroyed some of the unique specimens of art, architecture (including temples, viharas, monasteries and stupas) and literature. In this way the Hun occupation of India, culturally proved very disastrous for her."7

Thus the native Dravidian Indians who observed non-violence since they followed Jainism, Buddhism, Saivism and Vaishnavism which teach non-violence, tolerated the sufferings, tortures and murder cruelly rendered by the foreigners.

Also, in the name of religion, they imposed inhuman cruel rules on the Dravidian Indians and they emphasized that everyone should follow the Dharma of his caste (Varnashrama Dharma) and no one should violate this Dharma.

"If a man of the lowest caste injures a man of a higher caste with some particular part of his body, that very part of his body should be cut off; If a man raises his hand or a stick, he should have his hand cut off; if in anger he strikes with his foot, he should have his foot cut off. If a man of inferior caste tries to sit down on the same seat as a man of superior caste, he should be branded on the hip and banished, or have his buttocks cut off. If in his pride he spits on him, the king should have his two lips cut off; if he urinates on him, the penis; if he farts at him, the anus. If he grabs him by the hair, or by the feet, the beard, the neck, or the testicles, (the king) should unhesitatingly have his hands cut off."9

Their efforts amounted to formulating the political code that emerged into a full-fledged one (code of Manu) during this period (Huns) and the hierarchy of Caste system or Varnashrama Dharma was imposed meticulously into the society of Dravidian India.

The Aryan Brahmins preceived that the development of the Six-fold religion was detrimental to their supremacy in every hemisphere in Dravidian India. So, they made use of the concept of Advaita 'Aham Brahmasmi' ('I am God) as their trump card to make the Dravidians remain slaves politically as well as religiously for ever.

At first they succeeded in destroying Buddhism and then they succeeded in suppressing Jainism and finally they succeeded in subjugating the Six-fold religion under the Advaita philosophy by using their political influence.

Recently a Hindu religious leader said,

'When there is adharma, physical violence is okay at the body level but not at the mind level.'10

The religious minded Indians who are religious have accepted this evil concept since it is in the guise of religion, without knowing the conspiracy behind it, and till date they accept it. Hence they have become slaves in the name of religion and have accepted the caste discrimination as a Dharma. To impose this concept in the minds of the Indians for ever, the Sankara Mutts are working perfidiously in many ways through the Advaita concept.

Advaita Philosophy

The Indians were thus enslaved by the Aryan Brahmins who are the foreigners, and by the new influx of foreigners through the ages. In order to keep this slavery forever, the Aryan Brahmins not only utilized the political power but also took control of the religious power and this was a very effective medium for them to enslave the Indians forever.

They enslaved the Indian religion that is the Six-fold religion (Saivism, Vaishnavism, Saktham, Gowmaram, Ganapathyam and Sowram), through the Advaita philosophy, and after having subjugated the Six-fold religion, the Advaita philosophy acquired a religious colour.

They devised the Varnashrama Dharma concept under the guise of religion and philosophy and this has to be rightly termed the 'Brahman Concept'. The Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and the Sudras were deemed to have been come forth from the mouth, the arms, the thighs and the feet of the Brahman respectively. There was no place for Panchamas in the Brahman concept since they were the enemies to the Aryans. The Brahmins were at the top of this hierarchy, and after the emergence of Brahman concept, the Purohits styled themselves as Brahmins since the Brahman concept was their contribution to society.

This deceptive Brahman concept (Brahminism) was introduced by Adi Sankara, an Aryan Purohit under the name of 'Advaita' philosophy in the 9th c. A.D. By writing voluminous distorted commentaries to the works of the Dravidian Vedavyasa, he brought the 'Six-fold' Dravidian religion viz. Saivism, Vaishnavism, Saktham, Gowmaram, Kanapathyam and Sowram into the Brahman concept, and got them under the control of the Brahmins. This is presently known as Hindu religion.

'Aham Brahmasmi' is the basic concept of Advaita philosophy. According to Adi Sankara's Advaita, Aham Brahmasmi means 'I am God'. Adi Sankara who gave philosophical explanation to the casteism and devised this Advaita concept explains that 'all is God, and God is all and everything is the manifestation of Brahmam.' He also explains that though it can be said that all are Brahmam, it is a fact that Aryan Purohits (later known as Brahmins) alone can claim that they are Gods. Thus he elevated the Brahmins to the status of God. In order to protect and propagate this concept, Adi Sankara had established 4 Sankara Mutts (Joshi math (U.P.), Dwaraka (Gujarat), Puri (Orissa) and Sringeri (Karnataka) in the Four Corners of India and later on Kanchi Sankara Mutt was also established.

Adi Sankara's Advaita philosophy is anti-theism and it not only opposes God but also takes the position of God in making the people believe that Brahmins are Gods.

In the Six-fold religious temples Brahmins are the priests since they have captured the religious power and they are sitting in the temples like gods and claim that they are the gods of earth.

It is already pointed out that the Aryan Purohits incarcerated the Dravidians and the Dravidian religions through the Advaita concept.

The Aryan Brahmins wanted to maintain their power over the ruling authorities and others and they succeeded in their objective by utilizing the concept of cycle of birth, which does not occur in the Vedas or form a part of the Aryan belief, giving a religious color to it. Hence the Brahmins with an ulterior motive twisted the cycle of birth, which was devised by the Jains and the Buddhists with good intentions, on the basis of the beliefs of the Indians in order to enslave them forever. Till date they are perfidiously utilizing this concept to enslave the Dravidian Indians.

The people were made to believe that those who did good deeds in their previous birth are born as Brahmins and those who did evil deeds in their previous birth are born as lower castes and untouchables. Also they made the Dravidians or the Indians accept this concept without any contrition by saying that no one should be jealous on seeing the Brahmins and no one should feel sorry for seeing the untouchables who are ill treated and degraded since one being born in high caste or low caste is based on their deeds they did in their previous birth.

"By his very birth a priest is a deity even for the gods and the only authority for people in this world, for the Veda is the foundation in his matter." 8

The political leaders as well as the Six-fold religionists say that the caste discrimination should be extirpated from the society. But in their practical life they do not follow it and do not want any other caste to be superior to them. Hence they do not like to give liberation to the lower castes but like to suppress them.

This kind of satanic nature ('I am god' or 'I am superior to others') is seen not only amongst the Brahmins but also amongst other castes. Even amongst the untouchables, the most suppressed classes are not allowed to enjoy equal rights, even though every one says that casteism should be eradicated. They like to abolish the higher castes which are counted as superior to them and at the same time like to maintain their superiority over the lower castes by denying their basic rights.

Thus treating inhumanly the castes lower to them while speaking about the eradication of casteism is the devilish nature, and it is injected by Brahminism in the name of Advaita philosophy.

Even though the Dravidians form 88% of the Indian population, they are being perfidiously kept as slaves till date by the Brahmins who form only 4.6% of the Indian population, using this satanic concept, and the Dravidians who lived as the children of one mother and as loving brethren were segregated into hundreds of castes.

This shows the culmination of the efforts of the Advaitic concept and the cunningness of the Brahmins. This has been in practice till date even after 50 years of India's political liberation.

Owing to this satanic nature, the foreigners who came into India as a small group captured the political power and were able to subjugate the Indians with the help of the Brahmins. Thus the Indians have been living as slaves for a long period of time.

What are the means to emancipate the Indians from this pathetic condition?

Since this satanic concept has taken root in the minds of the Indians a drastic change has to take place in the Sankara Mutts which are the fountain heads of this concept which enslave the Indians and their Six-fold religion, to extirpate from the minds of the Indians.

Racism

Racism¹¹ in the world society as a well-developed theory is a fairly recent phenomenon. The Encyclopaedia Britannica states that,

The 18th century was predominantly environmentalist in its outlook; the science of that day tended to attribute social behavior either to climatic and geographical environment or to sociocultural factors. Racism as a widely accepted "scientific" theory of behavior did not appear until the 19th century, which was the age of racism par excellence. Although Charles Darwin himself was not a racist, his theory of biological evolution was extended to social evolution, giving birth to the theory of social Darwinism. Mankind was regarded as having achieved various levels of evolution, culminating in the white-European civilization. These stages of evolution were thought to be related to the innate genetic capabilities of the various peoples of the world. By the second half of the 19th century, racism was accepted as fact by the vast majority of Western scientists, and various forms of it were popularized through the writings of Joseph-Arthur, comte de Gobineau. Houston Stuart Chamberlian, Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Rosenberg, and Adolf Hitler.

A question naturally rises as to why racism arose in the world society in the 19th century, though it has been prevalent in India from about the 8th century, that is from the time of Adi Sankara. The answer is found in the fact that in 1794 William Jones started publishing his translation of Manu Dharma which was in Sanskrit into English. The British Dictionary of National Biography states,

As a great Jurist Jones understood that the power of England in India must rest on good administration, and that the first requisite was to obtain a thorough mastery of the existing systems of law in India, and to have them codified and explained. In short, in his own words, 'he purposed to be the Justinian of India' (TEIGNMOUTH, ii. 88). With this idea in his mind, he decided to prepare a complete digest of Hindu and Muhammadan law, as observed in India : and to assist him in the colossal labor he collected round him learned native pundits and Muhammadan lawyers. He did not live long enough to complete this task, but he was enabled to publish the first stages in his masterly rendering of the 'Institutes of Hindu Law, or the Ordinances of Menu (Manu), 1794.........

The Brahmins were quick to portray Manu Dharma as the Hindu law, and through the translation of William Jones this poison entered the society of the world from India. As stated earlier racism was accepted as fact by a vast majority by the second half of the 19th century and many European scholars under it's influence started identifying with the Brahmins. A.A. MacDonell in his book titled 'India's Past' (Oxford, At the Clarendon Press, 1927) writes,

"This work summarizes India's intellectual history, which in its various aspects has been the subject of my studies for slightly more than half a century (1875 to 1926). It sets forth in nine chapters the mental development of the most easterly branch of Aryan civilization since it entered India by land till it came in contact by sea with the most westerly branch of the same civilization after a separation of at least 3,000 years. The four centuries that have since elapsed (1498 to 1926) are here touched upon only as showing the most recent distribution of the Indian vernaculars and the rise of their literature, as well as the process by which the development of the purely indigenous period gradually became known to the new-comers from the west....These two civilizations, starting from a common source, have after a separation of at least 3,000 years again become united during the last four centuries, representing together a quarter of the total of the earth's inhabitants. During these four centuries the new-comers from the west have gained acquaintance with and recovered the history of India's past mental development. At this, as set forth in the following pages, will, I trust, contribute something to clearer mutual understanding by two civilizations which in their origin were one and the same".

Remember Hitler who identified himself with the mythical Aryan race and massacred the Jews, and the world is yet to recover from Nazism. Thus, racism is destructive to the world society and is on the rise again, and it is the responsibility of every person who has humanism to strive against this poison.

Conclusion

Since Manudharmasastra or Varnashrama Dharma which is the root cause of all racism is sustained by the Sankara Mutts using Advaita philosophy, our movement is striving against the Sankara Mutts in order to eradicate racism and casteism from the world society.

References

1. D.N. Kundra, History of India, Gur Das Kapur & Sons (p) Ltd.- Delhi - 1977- P.50.
2. Ibid, P.145
3. Ibid, P.147
4. (i) Manava Dharmashastra 1,91 (ii) Deva Asirvatham, Mooventhar Yaar?, Rama Devan Pathippagam, Tanjore-7, f.p. 1977, P.222
5. 5) M. Deivanayagam, Why Confrontation with Sankara Mutt? (In Tamil), Meipporul Pathippagam, Chennai - 1996 - Pp.7,8
6. D.N. Kundra, Op.Cit., P.197
7. Ibid, Pp.198-199
8. The Laws of Manu, Wendy Dongier, Brian K.Smith (Trans), Penguin Books, New Delhi, F.P.1991, chapter 11:85
9. Ibid, Chapter.8:279-283
10. This information was given by Dr. Alexander Harris, to us and he said that, it took place on May 7th, 1996 at the premises of Chinmaya Mission, No.2, 13th Avenue, Chetpet, Chennai, over a conflict that happened the previous day.
11. Dr. Alexander Harris, web site http://www.oocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2104 and http://www.angelfire.com/al/appiusforum

Dr. M. Deivanayagam
Dr. D. Devakala
The Revival Movement of Dravidian Religion

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