Why so much hatred towards Brahmin community? : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Why so much hatred towards Brahmin community?

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
Metro India (02-11-2015)

In this 21^st century, science has developed so extensively but still we are left with few unanswered questions. Why scientists have failed to find out the grass roots of human beings. Well, from the beginning few norms, rules, procedures, good and bad had happened for obvious reasons and still we as humans are following them. And it is not good to pull the illogical stuff from the practices that are inherited since ages.

The only thing that matters here is Dharma and how it should be guarded for the future generation is something we should look for. Rather than assessing whether Ramayana is of course or mere myth, we should learn about the Dharma and its anti from the epic. Nowhere in the epic was it mentioned that certain caste is a higher one as many personalities represented their respective communities.

Meanwhile in the recent times it has become a habit to blame the Brahmin community for no reasons. Ramayana has reasonable cause and people who do not notice this pictured it as an “Arya Brahmins Immoral Dharma.”  It is an insult to Brahmins for backing Dasarathi like how Lord Rama was evoked as unrighteous person. There are rumors that Brahmins brought the culture of making others touch their feet. We bow down before people respecting their wisdom, eldership and this is practice that is part of our Indian culture. Also this practice improves the bonding, respect and harmony in the society. It is written in the Manu Law that if we touch the feet of elderly persons their blessing would help us to grow into a well-mannered person.  Ignoring these facts, this practice is being claimed as something that Brahmins have brought to show their domination in the society.

Many, who knew nothing about Brahmins and its rich history, are making awful remarks on the community and treating them as second grade citizens. When Valmiki was penning Ramayana, we had Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shoodra in exercise. Though everyone is born as Shoodras, depending upon their lifestyle and habits, people were classified. And people who gained knowledge first were called as Brahmins. This was explained by none other than Sankaracharya. In this fast moving world, we have divided our work into various categories and hiring people based on the profile and this classification has no limit. This system is prevailing from the ancient times and countries like Egypt, Babylonia and China adopted this culture. Accordingly people were divided as Priests, Rulers and salves. Even ancient Iran’s ‘Pistri’ has four races.

Now the word ‘Caste’ is something we need to debate. Community and race are completely different from each other. It is not proper to treat a community with high regards or ill-mannered, if we belong to a particular caste. Brahmins were assigned the task of increasing the divine thought in the society and they were successful in their task. A clarification is needed here that, Brahmins are not responsible for the caste system nor they did encourage it. The society for its convenience sake, divided them based on the profession or occupation they selected.

The word ‘Brahman’ also means Yagna and people who perform this ritual were called Brahmins. Practices such as learning, teaching others, performing Yagnams, contribute and donate are things that Brahmins do on regular basis.  In the ancient times, every village used to have at least one Brahmin so that they would govern the happenings in the village. Such was the system then and today we are calling it as ‘Gram Panchayat.’ Brahmins were described as a combination of Aryas and tribals and they preserved ancient texts and its value is incomprehensible.

However, days gone when Brahmin led a respectable life in the society and there is a huge outrage over the community. It all started with the British rule who noticed the role played by the Brahmin community in keeping the people united. So they have introduced the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy which is prevailing even now. It is no exaggeration that only Brahmin can perform rituals like Karma but over the years, the benefits to the community are getting reduced. Brahmins just did not stuck to religious stuff they have evolved to solve the secular affairs too for peace and harmony. According to the Hindu Law, the first duty of Brahmin community is protect the society while constantly preaching and work for the upliftment of society. They should also master the Vedas and have a clear idea about Bhagavad Gita and related epics.

Under the British’s dominance in the country, at one point of time, Brahmins reached a level where they led the national movement and after the Independence, the Congress party which was in power for decades, Brahmins enjoyed many vital roles and key positions in the government. However, people who could not digest the growth of Brahmin community started agitating against the community. Especially down the South of the country, many agitations were reported against Brahmins. These agitations were only confined to limit the role of Brahmin community in the governmental and non-governmental affairs but the role of Vedic scholar and related roles did not have much impact. And gradually Brahmins were restricted to only performing rituals and other religious stuff. This led to decline of Brahmins politically, socially and financially. Attempts were also made to destabilize the entire community of Brahmins.

In the Independent India, like never before Brahmins have become a target by all. The dominance of Caste has rapidly increased and without the reference of caste, Political, social, religious, cultural affairs are not being looked into. The hatred towards Brahmin got converted into caste fight and people are openly abusing the other castes’. As a result Brahmin community became very weak in the society and the opportunities’ to them have declined.

The entire Brahmin community is now suffering although every citizen in the country has equal rights as per the Indian constitution. End