The Untouchables -5

...When did the practice come into existence? We have purifier in Rig Veda but not impure people in it. The lawmakers are also not there in it. For this we have to turn to Manusmriti which relate to the period prior to entry of temples into Hindu society. Though the word untouchable (Aspryasya) is not found in Manusmriti, all the signs of untouchability are present it. Manusmriti is dated to a period around 200 BC. It is the period when Manusmriti was finalized but it is most probably related to very early period. There is absence of temples in Manusmriti and the code of conduct regarding temple entry by untouchables. This issue is sufficiently addressed in later smritis. The later dharma Shastras prescribe the purification if an untouchable enters a temple and a suitable freightening punishment is to be meted out to him.

These untouchables keep on entering anywhere they want! Is there not any dharma? They try to enter our temples! We are upper castes and have sacred temples. They cannot enter into them. See our God will be polluted. In the entire world, only we have the gods who could be polluted! The God who can be defiled! We have the most pure God. Even the gods have degree of purity. Nobody else has defilable gods. We have the best religion in the world.

A defilable God! A strange case indeed! There is no such thing as defilable God; the God who can be defiled by the simple presence of a poor human being simply cannot exist by definition. The gods are supposed to protect the weak. But it is not so in Hindu dharma, here they are supposed to protect the strong – the dharma when protected, protects. Manusmriti refers to period when idol worship and temples had not come into existence. There were no idols of great Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. And Vedas were considered to be three in number not four.

Manusmriti relates to time when Atharva was not considered a Veda. It was assigned the status of word of God in later times. The Shudras were not supposed to be engaged in agriculture in the times of Manusmriti but they were allowed to do so in the times of Kautilya’s Arthshastra. Further Kautilya’s Arthshastra speaks about Aryan Shudra on which Manusmriti is silent. Emergence of Aryan Shudra is a later development. Therefore Manusmriti is prior to Kautilya’s Arthshastra.

We can turn to Manusmriti to find the prevailing notions of impurities and purification. According to Manusmriti a twice-born man has to purify himself in order to carry out his religious duties.

For untouchability to exist in Manusmriti, it is necessary that the concepts of purity, impurity along with a method of purification for the contaminated must exist. The idea must exist that the pollution can spread by mere touch...