The Untouchables -1

...The practice of untouchability is an integral part of Hindu society. Most importantly it asserts the divine purity and superiority of upper castes. A very big portion of Hindu society belongs to the category of untouchables. These are the people whose touch or their shadow’s touch is enough to pollute a man of higher strata requiring a purification process which includes usually taking bath and other atonement activities. Additionally it may also entail gross invectives used against these people and if desired then a corporal punishment. It all depends on the mood of upper castes but punishment is imminent. The mildest form is the reprimand. The severity may also depend on mood of upper caste and it may include dishonoring untouchable women and killing of males. It seems that the untouchables are always living under a low intensity hidden one-sided war, which raises its cruel face whenever it wants. It is similar to a war because dishonoring the women and killing of the males are the characteristics of a war. This war is waged by the landed castes on behalf of the lawmakers and dharma. Deeply entrenched in religious and social system they kill and oppress the poor untouchables for not doing their biddings.

These people, the untouchables, do not belong to any of the four Varnas though they have the jati system similar to the four Varnas. When the practice of untouchability came into existence, the Vedas had already been finalized and Purusha sukta of Rig Veda had become final word on the origin of Varnas, the Word from the mouth of the God himself, indeed. To add these people to Varna system required addition of one more Varna to Vedic society. However the number of Varnas had already been restricted to four. The creation of fifth Varna required alternation to Vedas and especially of Rig Veda which no mortal was allowed to do so. How could a mere mortal change the Word of God? But a fifth group had come in existence because of downgrading of certain occupations like butchering, skinning and scavenging to the lower unclean level by the pious and pure lawmakers – as a measure of infinite compassion of lawmakers. Further additions to this group were made through practice of ostracization. The ostracized and disinherited people were straightforwardly downgraded to the fifth stratum. Ostracization meant disinheritance of Varna and of ancestral property. This fifth group consisted of people from upper castes who were made outcastes and the Shudras whose occupation was downgraded keeping in view the increasing purity of the Sanatana dharma. All of them had to take the unclean jobs to sustain themselves. These jobs were not done by twice born or Shudras. The fifth stratum people were considered different form Shudras and given the lowest status in the society. This group of occupations and people related to it had to be given a name. So these people were given the name the Antayaj meaning the group that was born after all the other groups (Varnas) in the Vedic society or the last-born. They were assigned origin more impure than that of Shudras and hence the lowest status in the society. These people were allowed to live at the fringes of villages or out of it; which meant that they were consigned to live at the periphery of the society itself. They were more impure than Shudras because Varnas were born in a purity wise sequence. The purest were born earlier than all the others. And the rest followed in the order of purity. Those who were later in the sequence were relatively less pure or relatively more impure...