Varnashramam

A social evil, that need to be eliminated. A villain for social equality. Fanaticism Dictionary
 which is still deep rooted in Indian culture. This is the impression on Varnashramam. What is the need for such a cruel and evil practice? Who formulated this? and for why? Let's try to understand viciousness and conspiracy behind this.

The word Varnashramam is a combination of two Sanskrit words Varna + Ashram, in which Ashram means stages and Varna predominantly means color, and also means order, class or type. Given that, varnashramam probably refers to Stages of a Class, which further means, classification of a person (or society) based on their occupation or profession. What is the necessity of such classification? Is there really a necessity?

As long as, man decides to live alone, there seems to be no necessity for such differentiation, as it is, his life and he chooses how to live. However, the moment when two (at least) people decide to come closure to live as a society, arises the need for governing rules. As an individual one can smoke/drink publicly, this liberty is not challenged until an another person enters that space. As an individual one can enjoy the liberty to the fullest, but as an socialite one is forced to compromise in exercising their liberty to the fullest.

Society also requires sections for maintain its scalability, reliability and maintainability, and below they are as per modern social science:

1) Producers : Society requires a team of producers for its Food and Shelter needs, Just like working ants in ants colony, this section gives energy to the society. They comprise of Farmers, Weavers, Artisans, Carpenters and all kinds of producers and service enablers. They form the base for any society. They are the working group.

2) Distributors : The products and services produced by the producers, need to be distributed across the society, so that the society expands evenly on all sides, rather, bulging on few sides making the rest weaker and feeble. Moreover, this section plays a vital role in supply chain management and maintaining demand and supply cycle. Which is crucial for any society to be stable.

3) Protectors : It is natural, to have both good and bad in a society. After all, society is a group of people, who pledged to live together for some common benefits. Under such contract, the stronger might take advantage of the weaker, stronger not only means physical strength or power, but also positions in society. Say, producers, let's take two types of producers, one who produces Rice and other who produces Salt. One who produces Rice has more physical strain than the one who produce Salt, as the former needs to plough, sow, irrigate, weeding, pesticiding, safeguarding yield from animals and birds, harvest, process, store and sell, where as latter, has to irrigate sea water and leave the rest to sun, collect and sell. However the demand for salt is higher than the demand for rice, as people have other alternatives for rice, like millets, wheat and all, but for salt no alternative. Given that, the salt producer can demand high value.

Hence comes the need of an administrator, who controls the price index, and regulates the demand and supply cycle from distributors as well. They are also protect the society from other rival societies by training personnel for any sort of attacks. Hence the above two sections will fund this class and it is called taxes, as they cannot take care of themselves, when they are already engaged in taking care of others.   

4) Scholars : They research and provide necessary skills for the other sections as improvement process. They help in intellectual evolution, move mankind (society) to the next level. Hence the above 3 sections will fund this class and it is known as grants or donations.


These sections are based on physical and mental health, and also at times, out of wish and interest. Prodigies with good mental power, become scholars, with good physical power, become protectors, with good analytical skills, maketh them Distributors and some are really hardworking and they fall in producers category.

Family Business:

A doctor expects his son to be a doctor,  an Administrator expects his son to be an IAS officer as well, a politician wants his son to take this throne, and all these are considered absolutely perfect. They try every means to remove the obstacles or competitions from other sects or groups to maketh their son their heir for their empire.

Discrimination:
A non-Dharmic doctor, plays nook and cranny to get rid of his sons competitor, if his son is not competent enough. Similarly a politician, and it is very obvious in Indian politics, for more than 5-6 decades, Congress/DMK is headed only by founder family members as others are either incompetent or ineligible. 

Also, it becomes difficult for the other group to compete with those whose family is already in that stream/profession/business, as they are few steps ahead and also at times it adds up to the improvement. Teacher teaches his son better than other students, It is quite natural for any human to expect his offspring to perform best.  Any smart and intelligent person will expect and train his offsprings to be better in this field and this crookness is unavoidable, as long as father believes no dharma (not religion/faith, its about righteousness). Over period of time the profession/business becomes the identity of the family. This leads to discrimination from family to society.

What is has to do with Varnashramam?
All the four sections mentioned above, are respectively called as below by in Varnashramam
1) Producers - Sudras
2) Distributors - Vaishias
3) Protectors - Kshatriyas
4) Scholars - Brahmanas.

Only terminology changes. Varna was never based on birth as it was based on profession, Parasuram become Kshatriya even though he born in Brahmin family. Kaushika a Kshatriya become a Brahmin and known as Viswamitra, Valmiki a sudra become a Brahmana, Veda Vyasa a sudra become a Brahmana and so on. During the medieval period, varna was classified based on birth, when profession become family business,  farmer son  as farmer, a potter son as potter, king son as king, scholar son as scholar and so on. This continued for some time, till the point where, started getting imposed, that farmer son should only become a farmer, potter son should be only a potter and so on.

Modern day discrimination is not based on varna, it is more based on social and economical status, the equality of liberal dreams is mirage, and it cannot happen, as one cannot treat an Honorable judge and heinous culprit as same, as it halts the evolution. As it was in early days, discrimination should be based on deeds and neither be based on profession or socio-economic status.

Arakshan (Reservation)

Reservation the very term make hue and cry, especially reservation for back ward community is not a term any more but a fuel to communal riots. That’s exactly what pictured in the Movie Arakshan, the story line is good, indeed a bold step to show society the dark side of the reservation, however it seems (I believe) Director has lost that courage during the screen play or maybe I misunderstood about the storyline.

From the story line it seems, that it intended to explain about how the bright students, just because they born in forward community but economically backward unable to do higher studies in government institutions, with far better percentage they are not able to see themselves in those institutions, where as a dull student from a backward community but economically forward finds himself in the seats of those institutions, but the screenplay played a totally different role, as if the wealthiest (as always forward community, as if all forward communities are world’s richest) are agitated and will do anything to suppress Reservations. This is what my understanding about the movie, as my intention today is not write the review for the movie but about reservation, you can comment/review my understanding of the movie after watching (grasping) the same.

Even before I talk about the importance of the Reservation, as there were so many debates on the same, in all those debates the team who wants to support the reservation, has keenly shown that their intention is not for the betterment of the community but keep them as salves under their foot forever. I’m rude here as I’m not good at sweet coating, before giving supportive arguments for my claim, let me ask you few questions. In an 1000 meters race, a winner is declared after completing 1000 meters or just 800 meters, just try to implement the reservation here, if SC/ST 600 meters, MBC  700 Meters, BC 800 Meters, OBC 900 Meters  and FC 1100 meters,  for a 1000 meters race. Engineers and doctors with below average percentage can only provide below average service.  This reservation has led to brain drain, when an MCOM with 95% is a clerk, where his superintendent is a BCOM with 40%, when promotions and designations are based on reservation, how one can expect efficiency. Where once medicine was a service now it is service industry, in order to get certified in medicine one has to spent several lakhs in private college as he can’t get into public intuitions because of reservation, after completing the course there is no vacancy in public hospitals.  With average percentage, we know the service we get in public hospitals, that’s the reason the private hospitals are flourishing, again, not all private hospitals flourish and not all public hospitals stick there are exceptions, but the variance makes the difference  

We would be fooling our self, by saying reservation has worked out and showing results, as many politicians been saying all these years, if that is true, then the percentage of the reservation should be decreasing after every amendment (technically after every 10 years) but it’s increasing steadily, and those communities wants to increase it exponentially. If before 60 years, after analyzing the situation law makers have given certain percentage as reservation for backward community for the upliftment of the society, and have asked the future generation to review the same after every 10 years and decrease accordingly, as sign of reservation benefit.  Now even after 60 years of implementation, we still have to increase the percentage it means that reservation hasn’t worked as it is expected or if you argue that initial reservation percentage is not appropriate or been cheated by the law makers of that time, then that is worse, as the chief of those law makers, the first law minister of India, was from backward community.

 These reservations will bring only imbalance in the society and an example for the same is Mayawathi’s support for the forward caste community. It’s game all these years she was leeching them,  and all of sudden now she started soothing , that’s how politicians live, by bringing imbalance, only then they can survive, by saying that they uplift the downtrodden.

I’m not against reservation, I’m only against caste/race based reservation, reservation should be based on economic conditions, as rightly expressed in the movie, if someone with poor amenities,  and facilities can  fetch average percentage, if provided better facilities will get better percentage, however when already with better facilities gets only average, by providing what will make him better. This is applicable for all caste and race. Then why reservation based on caste/race, these reservations are helping only those politicians who want to be the eternal leaders of those communities.

Like water that feeds the crops also feeds the grass unintentionally, the reservation that feeds the politicians also feeds the communities unintentionally, like sheep adulating the butcher, these men adulating their leaders.  There is a saying “Oru rendu patta koothadiki santhosam” means if clients are ignorant/non-cooperative, then it’s time for lawyers bonus. It’s exactly what’s happening in our reservation system, politicians/leaders are having there lion’s share, leaving a little to the communities.

Food for Soul – Divisions

chaatur varnam maya sristam, guna karma vibhagaasha -- Gita

While discussing about the reservation based on caste system, with my friends (don’t sigh I’m not here for that discussion), as the conversation becoming hotter, it moved slightly away from the topic and we started arguing why caste system and how it all started. Ram one of my friend said it all quoted in Veda, that caste system has been invented/implemented by Veda, he quoted the above slogan from Bhagavad Gita.

There were to and fro statements on the same, which I thought to explore and see how close Ram is on this, and it also looks to me as an incomplete sloka. I first want to understand the meaning of this slogan and complete the same.

Chaatur Varnam maya sristam which means four divisions were been created
guna karma vibhagaasha based on Qualities (Guna) and Work (Karma)

This way Lord Krishna himself has said through the Bhagavad gita, that he is held responsible for divisions (Varnas) of people, based on Work and behavior, anyways why this division is required, if there is no such division then this caste system would not have been existed. Now the question is are divisions necessary? Are they for any good? How this world would have been if there is no such divisions.

I started exploring further on this, as this is getting interesting, divisions are in every part of our life, yes, that is true, how? Take for an example our body, head is not same as toe, torso is not same as your thighs, mouth is not same as ears. I know you want to tell me that these are organs and not divisions, and it is parts of the body. Exactly I don’t deny that, what is the body then? How it looks like? If you look deep into it, there is nothing that you can show as body; it is a collective resemblance of these organs (divisions). Once you start removing these organs one by one from the body, you will see nothing there, because body does not exist, if at all it exists, it exists only in the collection of these organs (divisions).

If at all, the body has got no divisions, how it would look like, can you imagine? To the best of my imagination power, it will be like a sphere, because any geometric shape (except circle) will have divisions. There won’t be any difference between the ear, nose, eyes, mouth and all, including the excretional organs, so disgusting. This implies that divisions are implicit and it applies to almost everything that we know, from body, cars, bikes, aircrafts, to land (sea, mountains, plateaus and all) to globe, galaxy, Milky Way and all, divisions are inevitable.

Fine, let divisions be inevitable, why it is imposed by Veda (as per Lord Krishna in Gita), let me ask you one quick question before we proceed on this, if you are asked to become an organ of the body, which organ you would choose to become? Probably, Eyes to see beauty, Ears to hear, Mouth to taste, Nose to smell, Hands to touch, Legs to walk, you probably will choose any of these organs, but I’m sure that no one will ever choose to become Anus to excrete, its only job, it has got no pleasures like other organs, let me tell you a short story here,

Once body organs fought with each other, claiming they are the greatest of all. Eyes said I’m the greatest of all organs, since I show the path to all of you, Brain said, I’m the greatest of all, since I analyze what is seen/shown and decide the best, Heart laughed out loud and said if I haven’t pumping the blood to you (Brain) then you will suffocate to death, so I’m the greatest, and so all the other organs started telling there best feature to claim the greatest of all award, during which Anus is about to say something, all organs interrupted the Anus, and said, you stink, you are no good, you are not the greatest but worst of all, with this insult Anus kept his mouth shut, for next couple days, there is no way the in toxins get out of the body, the blood was not clean, the hemoglobin count came down drastically in the blood, because of which the nourishment that supposed to be supplied to brain was disturbed, brain was going crazy because of which it was not able to send signals to eyes, ears, nose and all, which are failing to sense, Spleen was bulging because of intoxicated blood and so the heart and all other organs. Now all organs understood the importance of Anus, and its job, they all spoke Anus and said you are the greatest of all of us and apologized for their behavior other day. For which Anus replied, I’m sorry for hurting you all, I just want to let you know all, that we all are greatest in our jobs, we don’t have to compete with each other to prove who is greatest of all.

The above story tells that divisions are not bad, but discrimination is. This is what exactly told by Lord Krishna in Gita, let me complete the slogan now,

chaatur varnam maya sristam, guna karma vibhagaasha
tatsye karthaaram mavibthi
agarthaaram aavyayam -- Gita

We discussed the first line already, lets explore the second and third

tatsye karthaaram mavibthi – means, yes I’m the one who created this division.

Lord Krishna is not denying that he created the divisions, he’s not hiding his face, with great boldness and authority he says “Look Arjuna, I created these four varna’s based on their Karma”

agarthaaram aavyayam – means I’m not responsible for these divisions.

This is the contradiction of the previous sentence, now Lord Krishna says, I’m not responsible for these divisions, we all know that Lord Krishna is mischief and playful, we might tend to think that he is playing with the words again, but it can’t be, he is preaching Gita to Arjuna he cant be playful, he cant be mischief now, then what actually he is trying to preach Arjuna. Lord Krishna actually meant was “I’m not responsible for the Discrimination”

So the complete meaning of this slogan is

“I created these four varna’s based on their karma and guna, but I’m not responsible for the discrimination's between them”

If not Lord Krishna, then who is responsible for these discriminations, its none other than we, don’t try to escape, remember when I asked you which body part you would like to become none of us, has said would like to become Anus, we discriminated our own body organs, we also discriminating our own fellow brothers, based on these divisions created by God.

As per Veda, Brahmana’s are born from Head, Shatria’s from Shoulder, Vaishiya’s from Thighs and Sudra’s from the Lotus feet of MahaVishnu.

So they all born from one body, they should not be discriminated, and they can be discriminated only if we discriminate body organs, which we are actually, rite? And remember prostration is done only to the Lotus feet of Maha Vishnu, not to Head, Shoulders or Thighs, no Alwars/Nyanmmars wished to prostrate Head, Shoulder or Thighs but the Lotus feet.

It was always told like this “Kamala Paadha sharana gadhi”, as per my knowledge no Jeer/follower or preacher prostrated “sharana gadhi” to head, shoulder or thighs, but feet which gets utmost importance. So if at all Vedas are responsible for discrimination, then it should be the other way round, Sudra’s should be given more importance then Brahmana, it reality it was not no, so it clearly implies that these verses (Veda/Gita) was misinterpreted by selfish morons to cause this discrimination for their self benefit, but blaming Vedas for the same.