"Dalits: Culture, Counter-culture and Dalits", Religion and Society, Vol. XXXII, No. 2, 1986. Swami Anand Thirth, Untouchability: Gandhian Solution on Trial, CISRS/ISPCK, Delhi, 1987; Towards a Dalit Theology, ed. M.E. Prabhakar, CISRS/ISPCK, Delhi, 1989, and many similar publications.
Women
"The Law, the Oppressed and Women," Religion and Society, Vol. XXXI, No.1, 1984; "Economic and Property Rights of Women," Religion and Society, Vol. XXXV, No. 1, 1988; "Religions and Women's Status," Religion and Society, Vol. XXXII, No.2, 1985, and many similar publications.
↩D.D. Kosambi describes the historical process in the following words:
"The higher gods have one or more wives, children sometimes half-animal like Ganesa-with attendants who may be goblins. The gods ride different animals or birds, once tribal totems. The divine family and entourage is an historical phenomenon marking the emergence of a unified society out of different tribal elements which were formerly not united. To justify such combination, the Brahmin books (Puranas which claim immemorial antiquity but were written or rewritten to order, generally between the sixth and twelfth centuries A.D.) record fabricated myths. Then comes a higher stage of deep theology and a feudal court of the gods. This is in turn superseded by some philosophical interpretation, mysticism and perhaps social reform. Such are the principal stages, characteristic of Indian religious thought; the element of consistency and logic is unfortunately all too rare in such 'thinking', which never faces reality or gives a clear record of simple facts. The process of combining originally different gods is not continuous; it was repeated in parallel cycles all over the country as diverse local cults were assimilated along with their followers. The organisation of the gods followed that of contemporary human society in a cruder way."
"The people who were absorbed along with these cults managed to retain their identity and, to some extent their previous clannish aloofness. This was accomplished by caste and always encouraged by unemployed Brahmins, who would then serve as priests for the group. The caste group would not normally take cooked food from or with other castes, nor intermarry with them." D.D. Kosambi, pp.48-50. The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline, Vikas Publishing House, 1987 edition. Cf. also Ibid., pp.168-171.
↩Political and economic subjugation of tribal groups happened in history in a variety of ways, either through outright military conquest or through assimilation of tribals into the Brahmanical caste system by conferring on the tribal chief the status of a Kshatriya. Both the study of Brahmanical scriptures and historic-ethnographic study of particular caste groups (tribal groups) reveal the process at work in history and that development of Brahminisation meant growth of caste structure within the tribe and among the tribes. I quote here two passages from D.D. Kosambi, the first describes hiranya garbha a kind of baptism ceremony by which Kshatriya status was conferred on tribal chiefs, and the second the social purpose of the Brahmanical sacrificial system:
"Several southern kings of tribal origin boast of having had the 'Golden Womb' (hiranya garbha) ceremony performed. This is carefully described in some Puranas. A large vessel of gold was prepared into which the chieftain would be inserted doubled up, like the foetus in a womb. The Brahmin ritual for pregnancy and childbirth was then chanted by the hired priests. The man emerged from the 'womb of gold' as if reborn, having also acquired a new caste, or even a caste for the first time; this was not the caste of the rest of the tribe when they were absorbed into society, but one of the classical four castes, usually Kshatriya, with the gotra of the Brahmin priest. Some of the 'reborn' medieval kings might claim the Brahmin and Kshatriya caste at once, like the Satavahana Gotamiputra. The Brahmin priests received the golden vessel as part of their fee, which made everyone happy. All the later kings, even some Buddhists, insist that they support the four caste system (catuvarnya), through some of them claimed descent from Nagas, or from the semi-Naga Asvatthaman of the Mahabharata, or some monkey king of the Ramayana. All this amounted to keeping down a newly created set of Vaisyas and Sudras by Brahmin precept and Kshatriya arms. The chief, with the backing of a few nobles freed from tribal law, would become ruler over his former tribe while the ordinary tribesmen merged into a new peasantry. Sometimes the Brahmin went further than discovering some respectable genealogy for the chief in the epics or Puranas, and beyond writing such ancestries into the record. That is, the Brahmin would even marry into the tribe, which could normally create new tribal Brahmins. Occasionally, as in Central India around the sixth century, the mixed descendants might rule the tribe. King Lokanatha of Bengal boasts a bit later of such mixed descent from a Brahmin father and a tribal clan chieftainess (gotra-devi). The first Indo-Chinese kingdom was similarly founded by a Brahmin adventurer named Kaundinya, whose superior prowess with the bow cowed local tribesmen and enabled him to wed the local 'Naga' chieftainess, Soma. Aboriginal matriarchy made such unions quite simple. Sometimes a regular balance was struck, as in Malabar, where the Nair caste originates from mothers of the local matriarchal population by fathers of patriarchal Nambudiri Brahmin caste. Both groups still retain their separate institutions." (D.D. Kosambi, The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline, pp.171-172.)
"The fire sacrifices became far too cumbersome for any but the professional priesthood. The ostensible major purpose of sacrifice remained success in warfare, both of which had become correspondingly heavier. A far more powerful secondary purpose appeared, namely repression of the inner struggle of new classes. The Vaisya (settler, husbandman) and the Sudra (helots), are to be exploited for the advantage of the ruling warrior caste, the Kshatriya with the Brahmin priest's help. The struggle with the Vaisya was earlier reflected in the Rigvedic strife between the collective Maruts and their chief, Indra. We are later told that these Maruts are the peasantry (vis); Indra eats them up as the king the peasants. One of the major purposes of the sacrifice was to make the other three castes obedient to the Kshatriya rulers (TS 2.5.10). The Aitareya Brahmana says (AB 7.29), 'Like a Vaisya tributary to another, to be eaten by another, to be oppressed at will... Like a Sudra... the servant of another, to be removed at will, to be slain at will.' The two lower castes are to be enclosed, both on the outward and return ceremonial rounds at the sacrifice, between the warrior and the priest castes, to make them submissive (SB 6.4.4.13). The effect, and to some extent even the conscious purpose, (as the reference to the lower caste proves) was to control the new class structure that had developed within the tribe. Sometimes the associated internal conflicts were externalised in warfare. After this the basic class nature of caste need hardly be doubted, though it was still class on a primitive level of production." In this historical process class nature of the priesthood emerges. "The constant fighting and round of sacrifices increased the Brahmin's sacrificial fees." (D.D. Kosambi, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History, p.100.)
Process of Economic Subjugation
The accumulation of wealth by priests, started in the Vedic period gathered momentum in the Maurya and intensified by the time of the Guptas, leading to a semi-feudal economic situation. R.S. Sharma describes it as: The most striking development was the practice of making land grants to the Brahmins, a custom which was sanctified by the injunctions laid down in the Dharmasastras, the didactic portions of the Epics, and the Puranas; the Anusasana parva of the Mahabharata devotes a whole chapter to the praise of making gifts of land (bhumidana-prasansa). The early Pali texts of the pre-Mauryan period refer to the villages granted to Brahmanas by the rulers of Kosala and Magadha. The same is the case with earliest epigraphic record of a land grant, a Satavahana inscription of the first century B.C., which refers to the grant of a village, a gift in the Asvamedha Sacrifice." Ibid., pp.168-171; R.S. Sharma, Indian Feudalism, p.1-2.)
"Later such grants confer on the donee's administrative control of the villages, rights over hidden treasures (mines), power to rule the cultivators and artisans." R.S. Sharma continues: "The Gupta period furnishes atleast half a dozen instances of grants of apparently settled villages made to the Brahmanas by the big feudatories in Central India, in which the residents, including the cultivators and artisans, were expressly asked by their respective rulers not only to pay the customary taxes to the donees, but also to obey their commands. In two other land grants of post-Gupta times royal commands were issued to government officials employed as Sarvadhyaksha, and also to regular soldiers and umbrella-bearers, that they should not cause any disturbance to the Brahmanas. All this provides clear evidence of the surrender of the administrative power of the state." (R.S. Sharma, Indian Feudalism, pp.1-4.)
A similar process of land grants to Brahmins existed also in South India as the South Indian historian K.A. Nilakanta Sastri writes: "This grant may be said to start the series of Brahmadayas or gifts to Brahmans, which increase in number and importance through the centuries and confirm the decline of both Buddhism and Jainism." (K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India, Oxford University Press, Fourth Edition, Seventh Impression, p.101; see also, p.102.) But this historical process should not be understood merely as a kind of spiritual overlordship of the Brahmins founded on their economic stronghold cultivated assiduously through the centuries.
Prof. Elamkulam Kunjanpillai has already pointed out the paramilitary character of training received by Brahmin scholars. Prof. M.G.S. Narayanan, the present member secretary of the Indian Council of Historical Research argues, "From the Pallava period onwards the scholarly and warlike bands of Cattas and Bhattas organised in salais or gahtikas played a vital role in promoting and maintaining the new monarchies, thus accelerating the process of Aryanisation of South India. It is my view that the semi-religious paramilitary body of Catter must be placed alongside the semi-political paramilitary body of the Caver suicide squads known by different names in different parts of India to have a more integrated picture of spiritual and secular organisation which sustained society through the turbulent periods of anarchy in early medieval India. Their elucidation will probably expose the hidden foundations of Indian feudalism." (Prof. M.G.S. Narayanan in his foreword to Brahmin Settlements in Kerala, Historical Studies, by Kesavan Veluthat, Sandhya Publications, Calicut University, 1978.)
In short, the historical process through which Brahmin upper caste elitism or as some authors call it "Hindu imperialism," came about was religio-cultural, economic and politico-military.
The role of military power or violence is evident from the beginning of our civilisation. Here are some examples: "O Indra, Soma, burn the Asuras (indigenous). Burn, crush them, crush, torture them who increase in tens and hundreds in dark forests, cut them into pieces. Let their children die and let the earth swallow their generation," Atharva Veda, 8.4.
↩Religious and social privileges enjoyed by Pariahs in South India. Gastar Oppert writes in his monumental work The Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa or India, published in 1893:
"In Mysore the Holiya or Holeya takes the place of the Pariah. The word Holiya may be another form for Pulaiya, unless we assume that the 'l' in Holiya is a change from 'r' and connect the word Holiya with 'Pariah'. However despised a position the Pariah and the Holiya occupy in the places where they live, they have preserved and still cherish, as the Mhar and Bhar do, the memory of former greatness and they regard themselves as the original owners of the soil. Political revolutions, about which we now know nothing, have most probably been the cause of their subversion by other kindred Dravidian tribes. Yet, considering the unstable nature of the Indian states, the continual disturbances and fighting which give to Indian history such an unpleasant and unsatisfactory appearance, there seems nothing peculiar in the claims advanced by those Pariahs, who are in reality the descendants of the original inhabitants. The Pariah calls himself to this day the elder brother of the Brahmin, claiming in this manner precedence over the Brahmin. The Brahmins on the other hand ascribe the origin of the Pariahs, Candalas, and other low castes to the alliances of Brahmin women with low-caste men, or to the curse which sages, like Visvamitra, were so fond of uttering against their own flesh and blood, or against anyone who was unfortunate enough to come across them at an inauspicious moment. The legend of the curse on Visvamitra's sons is interesting, as it ascribes to them the origin of some wild tribes like the Andhras, Pundras, Sabras, and Pulindas. The Pariahs have, according to the Nanaretti, eighteen titles like the Vellalars and possess also the same insignia.
The chief goddess of the Pariahs is called Attal or Animal, (mother) and she represents Parvati as mother of the earth, while as Pidari she resembles Kali through her evil inclinations. Different personifications of Parvati and Kali are variously named, as Velattal (Elattal), Nagattal, Egattal, Cemattal, Mariattal or Mariyamman, Angalagiman, Ellamman, Pungamman (Pungattal), and so on. Temples are found everywhere in South India, and she is generally the village goddess. Mariyamman, the goddess who inflicts and removes small-pox and other diseases, is found among the Gauda-Dravidians of the whole of India.
The feasts of these goddesses extend over a week and last occasionally sixteen days. During the whole of this time a Pariah is kept clothed and fed in the temple as the accepted bridegroom of the goddess. High across the streets festoons of margosa leaves are hung, and on the last day, while pots filled with water are carried by the people and the idol is taken in procession around the streets of the village, tom-toms are beaten in honour of the Pariah bridegroom, and after he has fasted and bathed, he gets a new cloth dyed with saffron, and the priest fastens a quarter anna piece to the right hand of the goddess and another to that of the Pariah. This ceremony is called Kappu."
"The name Velattal is commonly explained as mother of Subramanya, from Vel and Attal. Nagattal, is said to signify the same from Nagan (Subramanya) and Attal. Some Tamil scholars however do not favour this explanation. When revered in these forms Parvati or Kanyakumari is regarded as a Pariah woman or Matangi.
The Pariahs enjoy even now in many places, privileges, the origin of which cannot be explained except by admitting the existence of substantial reasons, which have long been forgotten. A Pariah ties to this day the tali round the neck of Egattal, the tutelary goddess of Black Town in Madras. The Pariah, who acts as the bridegroom, arrives at the temple about ten days before the feast commences and is treated as described above. At Perambur, near Madras, the same deity is called Cemattal, mother of safety. In Mysore, a Holiya is generally the priest of the village goddess, and the Kulvadi or Pariah headman of the village community is regarded as the real proprietor of the village. At Melkote, a Holiya presents to Selvapillai, or utsava idol, which is so called as it is carried in procession at the festival, a branch of the Cami or Vahni tree to be used as an arrow for his bow at the hunting festival (parivettai), and while the idol is moving in procession, a Pariah huntsman lets a hare run across the road in front of the car that the god may shoot at it; this done, the idol returns in grand procession to the temple. The Pariah receives a reward (paritosikan) a garland, the flowers of which are distributed among the heads of the large conflux of Pariahs. This hunting festival is called in Malayalam Pallivetta, or royal hunt. It is just possible that pari and palli are identical words. The Holiyas pull the car at Melkote and are not debarred from approaching it. They pull also the ropes of the cars at Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam, Srivilliputtur, and at other places. In fact, they do so wherever there are big temples. To obviate any unpleasantness arising on such occasions, it is laid down, as a rule, that the touch of Pariahs and outcastes who come to revere the deity, does not pollute.
Devalayasamipasthan devasevartham agatanThe Holiyas are permitted in Melkote to enter the Tirunarayana temple on three days of the year. The Brahmins ascribe this privilege to the circumstance that a poor but pious Pariah had observed that a cow approached every day a whiteants' hole and let her milk drop into it. He searched and discovered that the image of Selvapillai was concealed in it. In consequence, the Pariah took compassion on the cow and supplied her daily with fodder. The great Vaisnava reformer, Bhagavad Ramanujacharya, had at the same time been dreaming of this Selvapillai image, and the Pariah showed it to him. As a reward for this act of piety, Ramanujacharya allowed the Pariahs to enter the temple in future for three days of the year. Others say that this favour was granted because the Pariahs had protected him in their paraceri, when he was pursued. Very likely, the privilege is of older origin. A similar custom prevails in Kadiri.
It is most peculiar that the origin of the famous Jagannatha temple is also closely connected with the low caste Pariahs. A Savara mountaineer, called Basu, worshipped in secret the blue stone image of Jagannatha, to obtain which the powerful king of Malwa, Indradyumna, had despatched Brahmins to all quarters of the world. One of them penetrated at last into the wilderness where Basu lived. Basu detained the Brahmin, made him marry his daughter, and led him after some time blindfolded to the place where the image of Jagannatha was lying concealed. The Brahmin worshipped the god, and, after the lapse of some time, was able to communicate his discovery to the king. As the king was very proud of his power, the god Jagannatha, in order to punish his pride, did allow him to build the temple, but did not manifest himself personally to Indradyumna. This favour was granted to him after prolonged delay, and it was only with the help of the Savara that the image could finally be obtained and removed. Until very recently, pilgrims of all castes and outcastes frequented Puri and partook of their meals together, as the presence of Jagannatha is said to destroy all distinctions of caste, race, and faith; but now outcastes are no longer allowed to enter the sanctuary and to join in the eating of holy food, though the food prepared and sanctified at Puri can be eaten by Brahmins anywhere, even in the presence of the lowest people. The descendants of Basu are thus debarred from worshipping personally their own divinity.
Many Pariahs have attained high renown as poets and saints. Take for example, Tiruvalluva Nayanar, the author of the Kural and his so-called sister, the famous poetess, Avvai, the Vaisnava Alvar Tirupan, the author of the work beginning with Amalan Adipiran, who was brought up by Pariahs and the Saiva saint Nandan, who was a Pariah. A Kuruba robber, Tirumangaiannan, became afterwards a celebrated Vaisnava Alvar.
These and many other instances can be adduced to prove the once flourishing condition of the new, despised, lowest classes. Such examples existed all over the country in the south, information about which needs to be collected.
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