The Caste Question in Hindu Scriptures

By DHRUBA CHAKRAVARTI

Caste was a colonial conspiracy imposed by the British Raj as THE social system of Hindus.  Modern Indian politicians embrace castes because they find it useful for creating and maintaining vote banks. Caste is eroding Hindu culture. Our fight against caste is based on debating with the help of Hindu Scriptures, which we call Shastrartha. This book serves as a Shastrartha against caste. Even though this book does not extensively cover the teachings, it still touches on all the main points that I am aware of. I intended to reintroduce you to varna, jati, kula, varna-sankara, svabhava svadhama, and varna-sharama dharma as they are presented in the Scriptures. I imagined that I was speaking directly to my reader, and I hope he or she will take this seriously. Caste affects every Hindu, so we all must get involved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DHRUBA CHAKRAVARTI
• Release date: Feb 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224791101

DHRUBA CHAKRAVARTI

Dhruba Chakravarti received his Ph.D. in 1990 in Biochemistry from the University of Calcutta, India. He has been writing on Hindu Dharma for decades, and this is his second book. He enjoys Photography.

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CHAPTER 1

The Power of Shastrartha

Pundits of the past used to travel to villages and debate with whoever was willing. Those debates were called Shastrarthas. You may have the impression that those Shastrathas used to be just Pundit talk, and common people would attend just to cheer their own, not really to understand anything they were saying. I have to tell you a story from our recent past.

You know about Sati-daha-pratha, right? How some people came up with the scheme to burn a widow in the funeral pyre of her dead husband, so that they could usurp their property? And how they would claim that they were acting according to Sanatana Kulin dharma? Of course, that is just nonsense. There is no such dharma. Anyway, remember that Raja Rammohan Roy went to England to pester Queen Victoria to pass a law banning sati-daha-pratha?  And how the queen eventually did pass that law? And with that one stroke of her pen, sati-daha magically ended?

The queen did pass the law, but that law remained in the books in England. It had no effect in India. So, who stopped Sati-daha? Pundit Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar did. Whenever he heard that such people were trying to burn a widow, he would hurry there with a Scripture called the Parashara Samhita and show them a verse that says that the widowed woman has a right to re-marry. This is that verse.

नष्टे मृते प्रव्रजिते क्लीबे च पतिते पतौ।

पञ्चस्वापस्तु नारीणां पतिरन्यो विधीयते॥ 4.30

Translation: When the husband is fallen, dead, gone or impotent; under these five circumstances, the women are allowed to re-marry.

The widow-burners could not argue that they were following any sort of Sanatana dharma. Because Vidyasagar proved that they were depriving the widowed women of their dharmic rights. Vidyasagar had to carry this Scripture with him a few times to stop them, but he quickly silenced all. That is how Sati-Daha ended. Vidyasagar engaged in shastrartha with them.  He also used this verse to restart widow marriage. Yes, Vidyasagar did argue further with them, but this was the main point.

Why did Rammohan Roy fail? He aimed to reform Hindu dharma, but he lacked expertise in the scriptures. You may say, who are you to criticize Rammohan Roy? I may not possess a great scholarship, but I believe I can identify a genuine scholar.  A true scholar must understand our revered rishis and munis, think like them, and make conclusions like them. Only people of such caliber are our great scholars.

If he had embraced the Sanatana way of thinking, he would have realized that he could have prevented Sati-daha, just as Pundit Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar did,