This is the original article posted on 09-26-2007. I will post some of the comments later.
Original Article.
The Brahmins of the early Vedic period who first thought of the Varnashrama system were great Rishis. Their idea of the system was entirely different from what it turned out to be later.
The rigid Varna system was not their idea. It is a total corruption of the original concept.
The Varna Dharma as originally envisaged classified the Brahmins as an Intellectual class. The corrupt caste system believes that you bacame a Brahmin by birth.
How was the Hindu society especially the Brahmins affected by the rigid caste system?
I am not talking about the divisions caused by it and the atrocities committed in its name. We have one too many books detailing all that. This thread is not about that.
There is no way to ensure that all the people born in the same family have 140+ IQ. When this is not true of any family it is foolish to think an entire community would consist of high IQ intellectuals. Again application varies from person to person. Even a high IQ is not suffecient.
Vedas are extremely difficult to learn and recite. There is a lot of emphasis on the pronunciation, utterance of letters, and intonation. This requires a more than average IQ and tremendous application.
There is write up about it here.
http://www.svbf.org/sringeri/journal.../chanting.html
In the early Vedic period only those who had these abilities were chosen for this job. Other than reciting the Vedas, they were expected to seek Brahman. That is why this class of people were called Brahmins or the seekers of Brahman.
They were chosen by their ability and not by birth.
Our caste system was not like the Japanese caste syatem, which placed the Samuarais (Warriors) at the top.
In later years the caste system became more rigid and only those who were Brahmins by birth were expected to recite the Vedas.
What the caste system did not take into account was that you can not group people like you group inanimate things. No two human being are the same.
This had an unintended effect on the community. Not all the children of Brahmins could recite the Vedas properly. Their mental abilities also varied. Many of them did not have the right aptitude. A life devoted to seeking the Brahman was not everybody's cup of tea.
It was easier for the Kshatriyas. You can become a king even if you are not courageous and are not a good fighter.
But learning of the Vedas is not like that. You either have the ability or you do not. There is no midway. We find a number of Purohits who do not know how to recite the Mantras properly or have knowledge about the rituals even after years of training.
In the engineering college we had to learn carpentary. In spite of my best efforts I could not master it. My teacher was from the carpenter community. One day I remarked to him that it was easy for him because he is born in the community. He told that he learnt it only by years of practice and not by birth and said that his son is not a good carpenter in spite of his best efforts to teach him carpentary.
The Brahmins who by birth did not have the mental abilities to recite the Vedas had to choose some other professsion.
But the Varna Dharma prevented that. Though some of the smiritis did speak of the professions which a Brahmin could take up when he is in distress it was not practical.
The injunction about the Brahmins not seeking riches applied only to the Veda reciting Brahmins who were very happy seeking Brahman. People respected them and gave them Dhana.
But what about the Brahmin who could not recite the Vedas? Should he idle away his time cursing the fate which has made him take birth in a Brahmin family? He was neither respected nor given Dhana.
The Brahmins started seeking ways and means of earning a living. Even 1000 years back they had sought other professions as evidenced by the drama Mricchakatika where the hero Charudatta is a merchant. The thief in the play is also a Brahmin. This play also revals a startling fact that only Male Brahmins were allowed to speak Sanskrit. Women and other castes were not allowed to even speak Sanskrit. What a horrible system?
Varna Dharma which bound people to a particular profession enslaved the Brahmins and other castes and prevented individuals from developing according to their own aptitude and ability.
Throughout history it is seen that progress has been made only by individual efforts. Individuals have changed the society. Society in general does not like changes. But individuals by their efforts have brought about a change. Hinduism more than any other religion emphasizes the individual. It always talks about the relationship between the individual and the supreme God.
If the Brahmin community had confined themselves to what was enjoined by the Varna Dharma, they would have become extinct by now. The Brahmins have survived and prospered because all of them did not follow the Varna system.
The varna system reduced the Brahmins to a class of mendicants or worse.
Again Manu Smirti expressly forbids any men of the three twice-born castes from dwelling in any other country other than Aryavarta. Arya varta did not include the Deccan peninsula.
The brahmins broke this rule in order to survive.
I remember one of our respected Brahmin administrators speaking proudly in an interview that one of the herditary profesion of the Tamil Brahmins was Culinary art. I used to make an annual trip to Chennai during the Music season. It was not only the music, but also the food served by Arusuvai Natarajan and Jnanambica mess which attracted us.
Let us dump the varna system to the dust bin of history. Let us forget the racial theory that anyone is born superior because he was born in a community.
All the great Tamil Brahmins like Ramana Maharishi, Swami Sivananda, Ramnujam, C.V. Raman and a host of others became great due to their own efforts and not because they were born Brahmins.
