Hindu justice -1

...The Hindu society is an ancient society; it has stood the test of time. Being an ancient society has endowed it with an ancient system of justice. The justice in a Varna based society is without saying is Varna based justice. One’s guilt was measured through his Varna. The crime in Hindu society can be broadly divided into two categories. One type of crime is related with general crime like stealing etc. And other kind of crime is crime against dharma. If any activity is against dharma; it becomes judiciable and punishable. It is evident in the functions of Kshatriyas, which are to protect people, rule the land and above all to uphold the dharma - divinely ordained, pious and pure dharma with all its elements of eternal cruelties. The Kshatriyas could not rule over the Brahmanas indicating existence of double power centers in the Hindu society. If the Brahmanas were above the political power then they were obviously above judicial system. The state power had been vested in Kshatriyas but they did not necessarily wield it. It was so because the king was supposed to rule the land according to dharma which could only be interpreted by the learned Brahmans. The Brahmanical interpretation of dharma, which followed from Shastras, was final. Thus, Kshatriyas and Brahmans combined together wielded the actual state power. In doing so the Brahmanas did not face a risk to life like Kshatriyas. The Brahmans were safe under the divine cover of dharma - divine protection for divine people. In addition, king was inferior to Brahman whom he was supposed to worship. This means that the Brahman was granted the status of god or demigod. A king was free to rule but he was not free to frame his law. He was dharma bound to favor the Brahmanas and heap cruelties after cruelties on Shudras and untouchables. The Brahmans were the real lawmakers and wielded indirect and unassailable power in the society – the swindlers. They were the real source of cruel exploitation of untouchables in the society. In it, others proudly helped them. Absolutely nobody had any problem in playing in their hands. It was a matter of others’ superior social status over the untouchables. The Brahmans were the real sovereigns. They framed the laws and others obeyed. The real sovereignty was vested in dharma from where it got transferred to the Brahmanas. To what an extent the Brahmans prevailed over Kshatriyas is evident from an incident from Ramayana. When Lord Rama, the God incarnate, returned home and took over the kingdom then he was required to undergo the coronation ceremony to be formally promulgated the king of Ayodhya. At that time, the Brahmans present refused Lord Rama coronation in his court. And Lord Rama could not do anything; the coercive powers vested in state were powerless. Suppressing the Brahmanas was prohibited because that would have destroyed the pure, pious and divine dharma and could have brought divine retribution. Moreover, a king could not destroy anything which was supposed to be the reason for his existence. A king could not rule over whom he was not supposed to rule. And he did not. He was refused coronation on the ground that he was guilty of killing a Brahman, Ravana the demon king of Lanka. And slaying a Brahman was the highest possible crime in a society based on Varna dharma. The king had the coercive power and the Brahman had the dharmic power. The dharmic powers were always superior to coercive powers. Thus Lord Rama was not eligible for the coronation. A mere king could not defy dharma. Facing this difficulty the courtiers of king Rama approached a group of Brahmans who agreed to perform the coronation for some consideration. They carried the coronation Lord Rama as king. As a result these Brahmans were degraded by other Brahmans from their status for coronating a Brahman slayer as king. Supposedly these Brahmans are known as Saryupani Brahmans and are considered as inferior Brahmans...