The danger of anti-brahminism

The danger of anti-brahminism
http://nandakumarchandran.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?cid=63349

by: Nandakumar Chandran on Jun 21 2006 3:20PM in Indology comments rss:
The problem with anti-brahminism is not so much that it is restricted only to antagonism against brahmins. There are much deeper implications and consequences to it.

Brahmins historically have been the backbone of the dharma. The great majority of the religious literature that makes up the religion and culture of the land has been developed by them. Even those which were not penned by Brahmin hands are still preserved and sustained by them. Simply put they are the custodians of the traditions.

So anti-brahminism indirectly is an attack on the traditions that they represent and preserve. To damn Brahmins is to indirectly damn the validity of the traditions they sustain and propagate.

The masses might practice the traditions. But it is the Brahmins who sustain it in its purest form. It is historically they who understand its meaning by living the dharma. Traditions can be sustained only by Brahmins like the shankaraachaaryas or the traditional ones who give their lives to live the dharma.

There’s subversion going on at various levels today often in the guise of righting past wrongs. At the root of such actions is the attitude of negativity which accepts that “there’s something wrong somewhere”. And often this wrong is focused on the culture – especially the caste system and Brahmins. And based on this root the solution to the perceived problems spirals into other linked aspects of the culture – religion, ethics, economics etc.

The powers that rule the world today want to shape Bharat in a particular way. Bharat will soon be probably the richest country in the world. So the powers want to control the way Bharat thinks and acts. They want to shape the culture in such a way that it is conducive to their own interests.

Traditional culture which gives Bharat its uniqueness represents the number one block in their plans. So they employ all the means at their disposal to subvert traditional culture and those who preserve it.

Besides this there are also those who don’t want Bharat to realize her potential. So aided by their internal collaborators they instigate conflicts amongst all sections of the society to subvert its progress – caste against caste, women against men, young against the old, rich against the poor, literate against the illiterate, liberals against the conservatives, modernists against traditionalists, etc. Anti-brahminism is an essential and the most important part of this psy-war. It is the root at which the rest derive their basis.

Anti-brahminism propaganda has succeeded in brainwashing the average educated Indian so much that today most Indians react against the caste system or Brahmins on instinct rather than on reason. The traditional argument that Brahmins and their varna system divided the society and thus enfeebled the country leading to invasions and conquest by foreign forces is not really justified by historical facts. Almost half the world fell to the armies of the prophet and the British empire – most of these societies had neither Brahmins nor the varna system. And it is only Bharat whose culture has survived the onslaught of these predatory forces. Indians should look to the positives of their experiences than being led by their noses by vested interests to look only at the negatives.

Anti-brahminism is not aimed at Brahmins per se – but rather at the traditions that they represent. In contrast to other world religions which are at best facades for imperialistic interests, Brahmins whatever their faults have historically been sincere in their chosen profession and developed a religious culture which comfortably accommodates worldly life, is open minded and substantial. Hindus should be careful not to dig their own grave by indulging in anti-brahminism for the sake of convenience. Once the subvertors achieve their goal of discrediting brahmins (in which they've largely succeeded till now), they'll next turn their attention to subverting the other traditions - the recent fiasco in the Sabarimala temple is a case in point.

Hinduism sans the dharmic fervor of traditional Brahmins will be lead to a situation like the Times of India where pornography co-exists with spirituality – which will only mean misery for the society and its destruction in the long run. If anti-brahminism succeeds in its goal, then Hindus will find Brahmins replaced with autocratic and intolerant powers at their necks fully bent on erasing their native culture and religion.