Ever since I was born, the word which always prevailed for every small thing is caste. Caste and religion has become a necessary criterion to accept, especially in the traditional procedure of marriages. In my school times, I was mostly unaware of what is caste because secularism was one of the major principles followed. I had Christian friends, Hindu friends, Muslim friends, and Sikh friends without any mention of caste. Now as I entered my college phase, I started hearing people speak of their caste. "Hey are you a Brahmin? I am a Vaishya." When things get serious like marriage, people go insane for their caste and religion. Communal fights prevail all over India demolishing the fraternity among us. Then, there is reservation quota enforced in our Constitution which apparently states to provide equal rights for all the backward and scheduled castes and tribes.
My mom is a great fan of Mythology. As a part of it, she started reading Srimad Bhagavatam written by Vyasa Maharishi. This epic describes all the divine stories of Lord Mahavishnu and his leelas. Now she revealed a fascinating fact about castes from Bhagavatam. She said that Lord Vishnu created all of us and the four castes namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras. On the other hand, I watched a movie called 'OMG!! Oh My God', where I got to listen to this dialogue by Krishna (played by Akshay Kumar) saying, "Maine sirf insaan banaya hein, aur insaan ne ye dharam masab shuru kiya, aur ye dhandha hazaron saal se chalta aa raha he, kyunki tumhe iski zaroorat he." Hard to believe it right? Why would God create castes? Why would he want to differentiate us when he treats all human beings as one? There are many -isms about which we heard like racism, sexism, communism, etc. But casteism (there is no such word by the way!!) is something unique. Unique because people believe it is God who created this.
I wanted to know about this and I started reading Bhagavtam on my own to discover what actually God meant. Reading Bhagavatam makes you question every aspect of your life, from your birth to death. So then I came across what my mom told. It was almost true. God created four varnas of people. Here varna means type. (I mention this because, varna can also mean color, so interpretation can go seriously wrong!!) There are four types of people- Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
Brahmins- According to Bhagavatam, Brahmins are created from the mukha bhaga (face) of Mahavishnu. These are learners. This varna of people are made to learn all the vedas and shastras and share the knowledge to common people.
Kshatriyas- According to Bhagavtam, Kshatriyas are created from the bhuja bhaga (arms) of Mahavishnu. These are protectors. This varna of people are meant to protect people with their martial skills and to maintain law and order among the people.
Vaishyas- According to Bhagavatam, Vaishyas are created from the thoda bhaga (thighs) of Mahavishnu. These are earners. This varna of people are meant to earn money by trading and providing ways to people to earn money or food for people.
Shudras- According to Bhagavatam, Shudras are created from the paada bhaga (feet) of Mahavishnu. These are helpers. This varna of people are meant to help people with their needs.
But give a thought about it again. Why will God want to differentiate us? For Him, a Brahmin and a Shudra are still the same, a human being. As I read Bhagavatam, it opened my eyes to the fact that he created these four varnas of people only to make our lives easier and to establish Dharma in the right way. Not everyone can learn the spiritual knowledge associated with God, not everyone can protect the law and order for people, not everyone can understand the techniques of business and trade to earn, not everyone can master the skills required to help people. So he created these four varnas to promote learning and respecting their skills for what they're born. There was no caste 2000 years ago. There were only varnas created by God to establish the Dharma among the people. Brahmins learned Vedas to teach and spread knowledge. Kshatriyas practised law to protect their subjects. Vaishyas mastered techniques essential for trade and business for earning food and shelter for their families. Shudras mastered skills like carpentry which could help people and make their lives easier.
But God didnot create the status quo among these varnas. He treats all his children the same. It was we, who created these differences. The learners and protectors considered themselves superior because of their knowledge and martial skills, while the earners are treated as common subjects, the helpers are suppressed for their lack of knowledge. It was our ego and arrogance which made the learners superior and the helpers inferior. Caste is a word coined by the egoistic and arrogant human being, who considered himself above other people. But for the Almighty all his subjects are equal, and those who follow their Dharma of the varna given to them without any flaws, they are always blessed. Are you not a Brahmin when you learn something useful to mankind? Are you not a Kshatriya when you learn martial skills to protect your people? Are you not a Vaishya when you struggle all day for earning food and shelter for yourself and your people? Are you not a Shudra when you clean your own home today, and help others with the little you have?
In today's world, we humans have all the four characteristics. We evolved in such a way that we can learn, we can protect, we can earn and we can help. Then why these status quo among us which did not even exist thousands of years ago? Why these inferiority complex when a learner and a helper are both same in the eyes of Almighty? Why that ego and arrogance when you know your soul doesn't have a caste, a creed, a religion, a race and a gender? Humanity is above all these differences. And I hope one day, all of us will understand the true meaning of these varnas and the essence of these epics is humanity among individuals, which God mentioned in epics like Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and Bible.
My mom is a great fan of Mythology. As a part of it, she started reading Srimad Bhagavatam written by Vyasa Maharishi. This epic describes all the divine stories of Lord Mahavishnu and his leelas. Now she revealed a fascinating fact about castes from Bhagavatam. She said that Lord Vishnu created all of us and the four castes namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras. On the other hand, I watched a movie called 'OMG!! Oh My God', where I got to listen to this dialogue by Krishna (played by Akshay Kumar) saying, "Maine sirf insaan banaya hein, aur insaan ne ye dharam masab shuru kiya, aur ye dhandha hazaron saal se chalta aa raha he, kyunki tumhe iski zaroorat he." Hard to believe it right? Why would God create castes? Why would he want to differentiate us when he treats all human beings as one? There are many -isms about which we heard like racism, sexism, communism, etc. But casteism (there is no such word by the way!!) is something unique. Unique because people believe it is God who created this.
I wanted to know about this and I started reading Bhagavtam on my own to discover what actually God meant. Reading Bhagavatam makes you question every aspect of your life, from your birth to death. So then I came across what my mom told. It was almost true. God created four varnas of people. Here varna means type. (I mention this because, varna can also mean color, so interpretation can go seriously wrong!!) There are four types of people- Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
Brahmins- According to Bhagavatam, Brahmins are created from the mukha bhaga (face) of Mahavishnu. These are learners. This varna of people are made to learn all the vedas and shastras and share the knowledge to common people.
Kshatriyas- According to Bhagavtam, Kshatriyas are created from the bhuja bhaga (arms) of Mahavishnu. These are protectors. This varna of people are meant to protect people with their martial skills and to maintain law and order among the people.
Vaishyas- According to Bhagavatam, Vaishyas are created from the thoda bhaga (thighs) of Mahavishnu. These are earners. This varna of people are meant to earn money by trading and providing ways to people to earn money or food for people.
Shudras- According to Bhagavatam, Shudras are created from the paada bhaga (feet) of Mahavishnu. These are helpers. This varna of people are meant to help people with their needs.
But give a thought about it again. Why will God want to differentiate us? For Him, a Brahmin and a Shudra are still the same, a human being. As I read Bhagavatam, it opened my eyes to the fact that he created these four varnas of people only to make our lives easier and to establish Dharma in the right way. Not everyone can learn the spiritual knowledge associated with God, not everyone can protect the law and order for people, not everyone can understand the techniques of business and trade to earn, not everyone can master the skills required to help people. So he created these four varnas to promote learning and respecting their skills for what they're born. There was no caste 2000 years ago. There were only varnas created by God to establish the Dharma among the people. Brahmins learned Vedas to teach and spread knowledge. Kshatriyas practised law to protect their subjects. Vaishyas mastered techniques essential for trade and business for earning food and shelter for their families. Shudras mastered skills like carpentry which could help people and make their lives easier.
But God didnot create the status quo among these varnas. He treats all his children the same. It was we, who created these differences. The learners and protectors considered themselves superior because of their knowledge and martial skills, while the earners are treated as common subjects, the helpers are suppressed for their lack of knowledge. It was our ego and arrogance which made the learners superior and the helpers inferior. Caste is a word coined by the egoistic and arrogant human being, who considered himself above other people. But for the Almighty all his subjects are equal, and those who follow their Dharma of the varna given to them without any flaws, they are always blessed. Are you not a Brahmin when you learn something useful to mankind? Are you not a Kshatriya when you learn martial skills to protect your people? Are you not a Vaishya when you struggle all day for earning food and shelter for yourself and your people? Are you not a Shudra when you clean your own home today, and help others with the little you have?
In today's world, we humans have all the four characteristics. We evolved in such a way that we can learn, we can protect, we can earn and we can help. Then why these status quo among us which did not even exist thousands of years ago? Why these inferiority complex when a learner and a helper are both same in the eyes of Almighty? Why that ego and arrogance when you know your soul doesn't have a caste, a creed, a religion, a race and a gender? Humanity is above all these differences. And I hope one day, all of us will understand the true meaning of these varnas and the essence of these epics is humanity among individuals, which God mentioned in epics like Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and Bible.
