By Gautam Saha
In today’s India, we often hear about certain sections of society being abused or mistreated by upper caste members on the basis of caste and birthrights. The media frequently reports how dalits, a class of people who were considered untouchables since centuries, are constantly harassed and oppressed by persons of higher caste. Not a month passes without such incidents of social and economic oppression, deprivation of basic rights, physical assaults including rape and murder, tardy action by the police, etc; are not reported in the media. Most cases which occur in remote rural areas do not come to light at all.
Post independence, India has come a long way in raising the standard of all backward classes of people in society by abolishing the caste system and by trying to implement the rights and privileges listed in the Constitution. Most educated and sensitive Indians consider that the caste system was ill conceived and counterproductive. As we move into flatter social structures brought about by democracy, the information age, cultural intermingling, the empowerment brought about by education, and supposedly reduced economic disparities in materially advanced societies, we question the need or logic of this social classification. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita ( 4.13 ), the Lord states : “According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.” He clearly points out that this classification is based on not on birth but on the qualities, consciousness and abilities of an individual.
Modern Society – is it a Classless Society?
Political amendments, secular education, and media propaganda might have abolished the birth based caste system in India, but has it eliminated social disparities based on divisions altogether?
In a country where more than 450 million people live in poverty, around 50 billionaires account for 20 percent of India’s GDP and 80 percent of stock market capitalization, according to a 2009 Asian Development Bank report. According to a World Bank report, by 2015 an estimated 53 million people will live under extreme poverty. The USA, known for its passion for liberty and equal rights, is now witnessing a steady decline in financial parity. According to a 2007 study by the Pew Research Center, almost fifty percent of Americans feel that the country is divided along economic lines.
When India achieved independence, the government introduced reservations in educational institutions for persons belonging to backward castes, so that unequal economic progress could be somewhat moderated among all sections of society. Although the caste system has now become officially extinct, successive governments continue to increase the quota on reservations for political brownie points. Reserved category candidates occupy nearly 52% of government jobs today. 65 years after independence, people in the general category feel that they are being handicapped and subjugated. Regardless of merit, they face discrimination while seeking jobs.
Classless Society–a Utopian Dream
Though the caste system has caused various kinds of deprivation down the ages, the less privileged classes exist today in almost all the countries of the world.
Economists, social scientists, philosophers, writers and poets down the ages have talked about a utopia where every person has equal rights and responsibilities, and equal possessions. No one is too rich or too poor, and everyone lives in peace, harmony and equality. Karl Marx, in his thesis, Das Kapital, propounded his version of utopia, by advocating a single classless society and the means to attain it. His vision was almost poetic, and his intentions were unquestioned. But was his concept of a utopian society perfect or workable?
The rise and fall of the Soviet Union in the twentieth century, and the authoritarian regime we see in today’s China belies all protestations of a homologous classless society. There are deep divisions in Chinese society on the basis of socio economic imbalances they have failed to address so far, in spite of rapid economic growth. Today, if you visit Shanghai or Peking, China’s showcases to the world, you are not likely to spot a single Chinese farmer or workman, because these poorer sections of Chinese society do not deserve to be spotted by foreign tourists, since they might just explode the image that China wants to project to the world : All is well in China. Rural communities are ruthlessly put down in various isolated and far flung pockets of that vast country to give way to the diktats of party bosses, in the name of development and greater good for the greater number, a concept perpetuated by the existing system. The case of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, for having publicly questioned the system and its various delinquencies, is a pointer.
In Animal Farm, a brilliant satire penned by George Orwell, the animals, fed up of the perennial persecutions of their master, the farmer, and their hunger and abject conditions, revolted and threw out the farmer from the farm, and began to run the farm themselves. The revolution was successful. The catchphrase of the revolution was : all animals are equal. But as the years passed, the more cunning animals, the pigs, began to dominate the others and to ill treat other animals just like the farmer used to do. They very cleverly changed the slogan of the revolution to : all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. There can be no more eloquent statement on the communist experiment than this punchline by George Orwell.
Even in capitalist societies, the privileged classes have the best of everything, while persons from the lesser backgrounds, struggle, or are victimized or become second class citizens, on account of background. The law of the jungle applies, though might is replaced by money or political power.
In utilitarian traditional Islamist countries, social and economic disparities have crept in and stabilized over the centuries, creating great divides between the rich and the poor. The popular revolts and subsequent repressions across the Arab world are eye openers. A classless society, though aspired to, does not exist anywhere in the world.
Caste System and Class System
Hierarchy and designations continue to exist in modern society in some form or the other – in terms of monetary reward or authority. A large business enterprise needs multitudinous persons having different sets of skills, working in harmony towards realizing its goals. Similarly, different parts of the human body work in close cooperation to maintain it in good health and well being. The body cannot be well if any organ or part is unwell. The head, arms, stomach, liver, legs – each has a specific function to perform and cannot do another’s job. When disparate organs do their work perfectly, in coordination, the body is in sound health.
The Vedic system of dividing society based on an individual’s abilities and consciousness, known as the daivi varëäçrama institution, was directed towards reawakening humanity’s loving relationship with God, the ultimate goal of life. The brähmaëas, the head of the social order, would provide vision and direction to society. Although they were at the pinnacle, they led a simple and austere life and never exploited their position. The kñatriyas were royal kings and administrators, working under the brähmaëas, respectfully accepting their advice in all matters of state. They were heroic, religious and charitable. The vaiçyas were the mercantile community, entrusted with agriculture and cow protection, engaging in fair trade and commerce, without resort to corruption. The çüdras were laborers who assisted the other three classes by providing support services. Every individual worked towards common goals – a self sustaining, just, and spiritually enlivened society.
When the brahmana class gradually became easygoing, being sustained by society, they lost requisite brahminical qualifications, and degraded themselves into brahma bandhus, or disqualified brahmanas. Subsequently other sections of society also deteriorated from the social standard of progressive life. In due course, classes became castes. Individuals began to be labeled on the basis of their birth rather than their individual characteristics. In time, this metamorphism from social class based on individual abilities was transformed into caste, based on birth. It took centuries for this transformation to manifest, creating the time worn caste system that still exists in society and in our minds.
According to the daivi varëäçrama system, no one was considered high or low, based on his birth. Spiritually everyone, being a fragment of the Lord’s spiritual potency, is equal. The Vedic scriptures never state that the son of a brähmaëa is automatically a brähmaëa. A brähmaëa wasrecognized by his learning and saintly qualities, which he had to acquire during his lifetime. Similarly a kñatriya had to prove his chivalry and charitableness to be one. Necessary qualifications needed to be acquired. Similarly today, a person in a family of say, doctors, does not become a doctor unless he obtains the requisite education.
Caste System Not Restricted To India
In every country of the world, there are classes of men and social divisions, sometimes real, sometimes fetishist. There are peers or landed gentry in UK, those whose ancestors landed in the Mayflower in the US, and kulén brähmaëäs in India. Even in traditional Islamist societies, there are social structures, with inbuilt imbalances and injustices, irrespective of protestations to the contrary, resulting in the current widespread and popular uprising of the masses.
In most countries, whole sections of the populace, be they based on color of skin, tribe, area of origin, trade, economic level, language, ethnicity or religion, are discriminated against and form separate ethnic or social groups, which are recognized separately in government programs. Apartheid has only recently been dismantled. In all countries, there are different classes of men, based on social, ethnic or economic differences.
Vedic Society–Unity in Diversity
Each living being, or jiva, is an infinitesimal fragment of the Lord’s spiritual potency. Hence every living entity’s real identity is equal and eternal. Therefore, the daivi varnasrama system, being idealistic, could never have conceived any order wherein some living entities are inferior to others. It was spiritual in nature and centred around Krishna. In the knowledge that everyone was progressing towards Krishna, no one looked down on another. They were equal partners in their journey towards Krishna. The brähmaëas, kñatriyas, vaiçyas and çüdras lived in harmony and togetherness. No one was mutually exclusive. There was no conflict. They complimented each other’s skills. Each community was self sufficient and secure. Each of the four classes contributed what it was best equipped to do, and there was perfect balance of body and mind. The lifestyle and duty allocation enabled each individual to not only satisfy his material needs but also to realize his spiritual potential to the maximum and attain life’s most important goal. “By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. Now hear from Me how this can be done. By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, man can, in the performance of his own duty, attain perfection.” ( Srimad Bhagavad Gita 18.45-46 )
Over the centuries, the daivi outlook gradually metamorphosed into the asuric outlook. Designations became more important than the purpose behind the designations. Persons refused to part with the privileges their fathers had enjoyed due to their special qualifications. The connection to Krishna was lost, and only the designations remained, with no trace of spiritual consciousness. Society deteriorated, spiritually and sociologically, because Krishna was excluded. Only the asuric propensities remained in individuals, predominated by the modes of passion and ignorance, leading to degenerated society, and unfair charges leveled against Vedic culture.
Theoretically speaking, by reintroducing the concept of daivi varnasrama to supercede asuric varnasrama, society would be uplifted. Both Bhaktivinod Thakur and Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada, great acharyas in the lineage, advocated the daivi varnasrama system. Since every person is an equal in his journey towards Krishna, no one is less or more suitable as a candidate to obtain Krishna’s grace. The Lord states ( Srimad Bhagavad Gita 9.29 ) : “I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” A person’s present material role or designation only enables him to utilize his natural talents better, rather than unsuccessfully, or with disastrous results, if the wrong person were appointed to the wrong job, on the plea of establishing a classless society. If the animals in Animal Farm had established a commune under the daiva varnasrama system, the Orwellian punchline would have been : all animals are equal in the satisfaction of their material and spiritual needs.
We must recognize that every individual is different in his abilities, and thus dividing society based on occupational duties maximizes society’s output by giving each person the job he or she is best suited for, thus firstly maximizing individual outputs and hence therefore, total output. Just as we cannot have a modern office which is designationless, we cannot have a society where the specialized talent of every individual goes unutilized.
In our endeavor to remove social disparities, we tend to criticize social structures while ourselves acquiescing in them. Differences in human abilities are inevitable, and should be utilized for the maximum benefit to the individual and to society. Differences in human abilities will always lead to structures within society. Any perceived differentiation is a nomenclature of convenience and not meant to denigrate or elevate individuals, who are spiritually identical, and equals in the eyes of Krishna. The four divisions of daivi varëäçrama society based on training and consciousness, offers the best chance for removing glaring discrepancies in society as well as restoring spiritual consciousness which has nearly vanished from modern life.
Gautam Saha
While it is useful to see different authors stress of the need for VAD, we usually read idealised and theoretical reasons for it. What we really need is realistic and practical ways of implementing VAD, if it is at all feasible. Then we might believe it is viable. Otherwise, even the conception of VAD itself might seem utopian. At this stage it appears to be so. If anything, VAD is the closest humanity can get to utopia.
Animal Farm and Lord Of The Flies was required reading for us at school. These surface insights on human nature grappling with social order can be applicable to how human nature fares within a spiritual organisation like ours. When humans are beset with frailties, it is a wonder that we continue to maintain a worldwide movement meant for ‘revolution’ of a friendly kind. That sustaining power is spiritual.
This same spiritual power is required to change hearts and minds first, and creating an atmosphere suitable for ‘revolutionary’ VAD to kick start into action. However, in our observation of world events and history, we could also miss out on witnessing how the Lord’s natural social divisions are already in place. Perhaps we need the knack of identifying and working with existing human potential, rather than just merely plead for Daivi-varnasrama to happen.
China has prospered because it has uncovered its previously hidden Vaisya potential smothered by communism. If it appears that the caste system has been abolished, it is purely cosmetic, as the perverted sense of human division pervades all societies. Privileges and reward are commonly awarded to those ‘in-the-know.’ It is human nature. It differentiates where ‘good’ and ‘bad’ karma are expended. Even 5000 years ago there was poverty during Lord Krishna’s time.
Nowadays the byword seems to be ‘Equality.’ People generally abhor rigid communism, yet they are willing to embrace equality, which is a softer version of communism. Are we allowing this equality to infiltrate our adaptations of traditional Vedic culture? Or, are we practical realists who can utilise modern human ‘advantages’ to bolster our preaching edge?
Ys Kesava Krsna Dasa.