XXII
Can
you appeal to reason and ask the Hindus to discard Caste as being contrary to
reason? That raises the question: Is a Hindu free to follow his reason? Manu
has laid down three sanctions to which every Hindu must conform in the matter
of his behaviour osn% Le`fr% lnkpkj% LoL; p fiz;ekReu%
Here there is no place for reason to play its part. A Hindu must follow either Veda,
Smriti or Sadachar. He cannot follow anything else. In the first
place how are the texts of the Vedas and Smritis to be
interpreted whenever any doubt arises regarding their meaning? On this
important question the view of Manu is quite definite. He says:
;ks oeU;sr rs
ewys gsrq'kkL=kJ;kr~ f}t% A
l lk/kqfHkcZfg"dk;ksZ
ukfLrdks osnfuUnd% AA
According
to this rule, rationalism as a canon of interpreting the Vedas and Smritis,
is absolutely condemned. It is regarded to be as wicked as atheism and the
punishment provided for it is ex-communication. Thus, where a matter is covered
by the Veda or the Smriti, a Hindu cannot resort to rational
thinking. Even when there is a conflict between Vedas and Smritis on
matters on which they have given a positive injunction, the solution is not
left to reason. When there is a conflict between two Shrutis, both are
to be regarded as of equal authority. Either of them may be followed. No
attempt is to be made to find out which of the two accords with reason. This is
made clear by Manu:
Jqfr}S/ka rq ;=
L;kIr= /kekZoqHkkS Le`rkS A
“When
there is a conflict between Shruti and Smriti, the Shruti must
prevail.” But here too, no attempt must be made to find out which of the two
accords with reason. This is laid down by Manu in the following Shloka:
;k osnckg~;k%
Le`r;ks ;k'p dk'p dqn`"V% A
lokZLrk fu"Qyk%
izsR; reksfu"Bk fg r% Le`rk% AA
Again, when there is a conflict between two Smritis,
the Manu-Smriti must prevail, but no attempt is to be made to find out
which of the two accords with reason. This is the ruling given by Brihaspati:
osnk;Roksifuca/k`Ror~
izek.;a fg euks% Le`ra A
eUoFkZfoijhrk rq
;k Le`fr% lk u 'kL;rs AA
It
is, therefore, clear that in any matter on which the Shrutis and Smritis
have given a positive direction, a Hindu is not free to use his reasoning faculty.
The same rule is laid down in the Mahabharat:
iqjk.ka ekuoks /keZ%
lkaxks osnfÜpfdfRlra A
vkKkfl/nkfu
pRokfj u gUrO;kfu gsrqfHk% AA
He
must abide by their directions. The Caste and Varna are matters, which
are dealt with by the Vedas and the Smritis and consequently,
appeal to reason can have no effect on a Hindu. So far as Caste and Varna are
concerned, not only the Shastras do not permit the Hindu to use his
reason in the decision of the question, but they have taken care to see that no
occasion is left to examine in a rational way the foundations of his belief in
Caste and Varna. It must be a source of silent amusement to many a
Non-Hindu to find hundreds and thousands of Hindus breaking Caste on certain
occasions, such as railway journey and foreign travel and yet endeavouring to
maintain Caste for the rest of their lives! The explanation of this phenomenon
discloses another fetter on the reasoning faculties of the Hindus. Man’s life
is generally habitual and unreflective. Reflective thought, in the sense of
active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form or
knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and further conclusions
to which it tends, is quite rare and arises only in a situation which presents
a dilemma—a crisis. Railway journeys and foreign travels are really occasions
of crisis in the life of a Hindu and it is natural to expect a Hindu to ask
himself why he should maintain Caste at all, if he cannot maintain it at all
times. But he does not. He breaks Caste at one step and proceeds to observe it
at the next without raising any question. The reason for this astonishing
conduct is to be found in the rule of the Shastras, which directs him to
maintain Caste as far as possible and to undergo prayaschitta when he
cannot. By this theory of prayaschitta, the Shastras by following
a spirit of compromise have given caste a perpetual lease of life and have
smothered reflective thought which would have otherwise led to the destruction
of the notion of Caste. There have been many who have worked in the cause of
the abolition of Caste and Untouchability. Of those, who can be mentioned,
Ramanuja, Kabir and others stand out prominently. Can you appeal to the acts of
these reformers and exhort the Hindus to follow them? It is true that Manu has included
Sadachar (lnkpkj)
as one of the sanctions along with Shruti and Smriti. Indeed, Sadachar
has been given a higher place than Shastras :
;|íkp;Zrs ;su /kE;±
ok /kE;Zeso ok A
ns'kL;kpj.ka
fuR;a pfj=a rf/ndhfrZre~ AA
According
to this, Sadachar, whether, it is /kE;Z or v/kE;Z in accordance with
Shastras or contrary to Shastras, must be followed. But what is
the meaning of Sadachar? If any one were to suppose that Sadachar means
right or good acts i.e. acts of good and righteous men he would find himself
greatly mistaken. Sadachar does not means good acts or acts of good men.
It means ancient custom good or bad. The following verse makes
this clear:
;fLeu~ ns'ks ;
vkpkj% ikjai;Z_ekxr% A
o.kkZuka fdy
losZ"kka l lnkpkj mP;rs AA
As
though to warn people against the view that Sadachar means good acts or
acts of good men and fearing that people might understand it that way and
follow the acts of good men, the Smritis have commanded the Hindus in
unmistakable terms not to follow even Gods in their good deeds, if they are
contrary to Shruti, Smriti and Sadachar. This may sound to be
most extraordinary, most perverse, but the fact remains that u nsopfjra pjsr~
is an injunction, issued to the Hindus by their Shastras. Reason and
morality are the two most powerful weapons in the armoury of a Reformer. To
deprive him of the use of these weapons is to disable him for action. How are
you going to break up Caste, if people are not free to consider whether it
accords with reason? How are you going to break up Caste it people are not free
to consider whether it accords with morality? The wall built around Caste is
impregnable and the material, of which it is built, contains none of the
combustible stuff of reason and morality. Add to this the fact that inside this
wall stands the army of Brahmins who form the intellectual class, Brahmins who
are the natural leaders of the Hindus, Brahmins who are there not as mere
mercenary soldiers but as an army fighting for its homeland and you will get an
idea why I think that breaking-up of Caste amongst the Hindus is wellnigh impossible.
At any rate, it would take ages before a breach is made. But whether the doing
of the deed takes time or whether it can be done quickly, you must not forget
that if you wish to bring about a breach in the system then you have got to
apply the dynamite to the Vedas and the Shastras, which deny any
part to reason, to Vedas and Shastras, which deny any part to
morality. You must destroy the Religion of the Shrutis and the Smritis.
Nothing else will avail. This is my considered view of the matter.
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