(Excerpts from ‘Modern India’ an Article by Swami Vivekananda
published in March 1899 - Available in Vol.4 of the Complete Works of Swami
Vivekananda)
Neither under the Hindu kings, nor under the Buddhist rule,
do we find the common subject-people taking any part in expressing their voice
in the affairs of the State.
Again, all those laws are in books. Between laws as codified
in books and their operation in practical life, there is a world of difference.
With the rise of Rajput power, on the decline of Buddhism,
the sceptre of the Indian empire, dislodged from its paramount power, was again
broken into a thousand pieces and wielded by small powerless hands. At this
time, the Brahminical (priestly) power again succeeded in raising its head, not
as an adversary as before, but this time as an auxiliary to the royal supremacy.
That Brāhmanya power, since the appearance of Rajput power,
which held sway over India under the Mihira dynasty and others, made its last
effort to recover its lost greatness; and in its effort to establish that
supremacy, it sold itself at the feet of the fierce hordes of barbarians newly
come from Central Asia, and to win their pleasure introduced in the land their
hateful manners and customs. Moreover, it, the Brāhmanya power, solely devoting
itself to the easy means to dupe ignorant barbarians, brought into vogue
mysterious rites and ceremonies backed by its new Mantras and the like; and in
doing so, itself lost its former wisdom, its former vigour and vitality, and
its own chaste habits of long acquirement. Thus is turned the whole Āryāvarta
into a deep and vast whirlpool of the most vicious, the most horrible, the most
abominable, barbarous customs; and as the inevitable consequence of
countenancing these detestable customs and superstitions, it soon lost all its
own internal strength and stamina and became the weakest of the weak. What
wonder that is should be broken into a thousand pieces and fall at the mere
touch of the storm of Mussulman invasions from the West! That great Brāhmanya
power fell—who knows, if ever to rise again?
On one side, the royal power is now centred in kings
professing a different religion and given to different customs. On the other,
the priestly power has been entirely displaced from its influential position as
the controller and lawgiver of the society.
The Sanskrit language has to remain confined only to the
purely religious writings and religious matters of the conquered and detested
Hindu, and, as such, has since been living a precarious life at the hands of
the neglected priest. The priest himself, the relic of Brāhmanya power, fell
back upon the last resource of conducting only the comparatively unimportant
family ceremonies, such as the matrimonial etc.
According to the prevalence, in greater or lesser degree, of
the three qualities of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas in man, the four castes, the
Brahmin, Kashatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, are everywhere present at all times,
in all civilised societies. By the mighty hand of time, their number and power
also vary at different times in regard to different countries. In some
countries the numerical strength or influence of one of these castes may preponderate
over another; at some period, one of the classes may be more powerful than the
rest. But from a careful study of the history of the world, it appears that in
conformity to the law of nature the four castes, the Brahmin, Kshatriya,
Vaishya, and Shudra do, in every society, one after another in succession,
govern the world.
Among the Chinese, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the
Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Āryas, the Iranians, the Jews, the Arabs—among
all these ancient nations, the supreme power of guiding society is, in the
first period of their history, in the hands of the Brahmin or the priest. In
the second period, the ruling power is the Kshatriya, that is, either absolute
monarchy or oligarchical government by a chosen body of men. Among the modern
Western nations, with England at their head, this power of controlling society
has been, for the first time, in the hands of the Vaishyas or mercantile
communities, made rich through the carrying on of commerce.
As in the ancient days the
priestly power, in spite of its long-continued struggle, was subdued by the
more powerful royal power, so, in modern times, before the violent blow of the
newly-risen Vaishya power, many a kingly crown has to kiss the ground, many a sceptre
is for ever broken to pieces. Only those few thrones which are allowed still to
exercise some power in some of the civilised countries and make a display of
their royal pomp and grandeur are all maintained solely by the vast hordes of
wealth of these Vaishya communities—the dealers in salt, oil, sugar, and
wine—and kept up as a magnificent and an imposing front, and as a means of
glorification to the really governing body behind, the Vaishyas.
That mighty newly-risen
Vaishya power—at whose command, electricity carries messages in an instant from
one pole to another, whose highway is the vast ocean, with its mountain-high
waves, at whose instance, commodities are being carried with the greatest ease
from one part of the globe to another, and at whose mandate, even the greatest
monarchs tremble—on the white foamy crest of that huge wave the all-conquering
Vaishya power, is installed the majestic throne of England in all its grandeur.
Therefore the conquest of
India by England is not a conquest by Jesus or the Bible as we are often asked
to believe. Neither is it like the conquest of India by the Moguls and the
Pathans. But behind the name of the Lord Jesus, the Bible, the magnificent palaces,
the heavy tramp of the feet of armies consisting of elephants, chariots,
cavalry, and infantry, shaking the earth, the sounds of war trumpets, bugles,
and drums, and the splendid display of the royal throne, behind all these,
there is always the virtual presence of England—that England whose war flag is
the factory chimney, whose troops are the merchant-men, whose battlefields are
the market-places of the world, and whose Empress is the shining Goddess of
Fortune herself! It is on this account I have said before that it is indeed an
unseen novelty, this conquest of India by England. What new revolution will be
effected in India by her clash with the new giant power, and as the result of
that revolution what new transformation is in store for future India, cannot be
inferred from her past history.
I have stated previously that
the four castes, Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra do, in succession,
rule the world. During the period of supreme authority exercised by each of
these castes, some acts are accomplished which conduce to the welfare of the
people, while others are injurious to them.
According to the law of nature, wherever there is an
awakening of a new and stronger life, there it tries to conquer and take the
place of the old and the decaying. Nature favours the dying out of the unfit
and the survival of the fittest. The final result of such conflict between the
priestly and the other classes has been mentioned already.
On the other side, the king is like the lion; in him are
present both the good and evil propensities of the lord of beasts. Never for a
moment his fierce nails are held back from tearing to pieces the heart of
innocent animals, living on herbs and grass, to allay his thirst for blood when
occasion arises; again, the poet says, though himself stricken with old age and
dying with hunger, the lion never kills the weakest fox that throws itself in
his arms for protection. If the subject classes, for a moment, stand as
impediments in the way of the gratification of the senses of the royal lion,
their death knell is inevitably tolled; if they humbly bow down to his
commands, they are perfectly safe.
As the priest is busy about centralising all knowledge and
learning at a common centre, to wit, himself, so the king is ever up and doing
in collecting all the earthly powers and focusing them in a central point, i.e.
his own self. Of course, both are beneficial to society. At one time they are
both needed for the common good of society, but that is only at its infant
stage. But if attempts be made, when society has passed its infant stage and
reached its vigorous youthful condition, to clothe it by force with the dress
which suited it in its infancy and keep it bound within narrow limits, then
either it bursts the bonds by virtue of its own strength and tries to advance,
or where it fails to do so, it retraces its footsteps and by slow degrees
returns to its primitive uncivilised condition.
Kings are like parents to their subjects, and the subjects
are the kings’ children. The subjects should, in every respect, look up to the
king and stick to their king with unreserved obedience, and the king should
rule them with impartial justice and look to their welfare and bear the same
affection towards them as he would towards his own children. But what rule
applies to individual homes applies to the whole society as well, for society
is only the aggregate of individual homes. “When the son attains the age of
sixteen, the father ought to deal with him as his friend and equal” —if that is
the rule, does not the infant society ever attain that age of sixteen? It is
the evidence of history that at a certain time every society attains its
manhood, when a strong conflict ensues between the ruling power and the common
people. The life of the society, its expansion and civilisation, depend on its
victory or defeat in this conflict.
Such changes, revolutionising society, have been happening in
India again and again, only in this country they have been effected in the name
of religion, for religion is the life of India, religion is the language of
this country, the symbol of all its movements. The Chārvāka, the Jain, the
Buddhist, Shankara, Rāmānuja, Kabir, Nanak, Chaitanya, the Brāhmo Samāj, the
Ārya Samāj—of all these and similar other sects, the wave of religion, foaming,
thundering, surging, breaks in the front, while in the rear follows the
filling-up of social wants.
We ignore this sublime truth;
and though we suffer a thousand times for our folly, yet, in our absurd
foolishness, impelled by the brute in us, we do not believe in it. We try to
deceive, but a thousand times we find we are deceived ourselves, and yet we do
not desist! Mad that we are, we imagine we can impose on nature! With our
short-sighted vision we think ministering to the self at any cost is the be-all
and end-all of life.
Wisdom, knowledge, wealth,
men, strength, prowess, and whatever else nature gathers and provides us with,
are all only for diffusion, when the moment of need is at hand. We often forget
this fact, put the stamp of “mine only” upon the entrusted deposits, and pari
passu, we sow the seed of our own ruin!
The king, the centre of the forces of the aggregate of his
subjects, soon forgets that those forces are only stored with him so that he
may increase and give them back a thousandfold in their potency, so that they
may spread over the whole community for its good. Attributing all Godship to
himself, in his pride, like the king Vena, he looks upon other people as
wretched specimens of humanity who should grovel before him; any opposition to
his will, whether good or bad, is a great sin on the part of his subjects.
Hence oppression steps into the place of protection—sucking their blood in
place of preservation. If the society is weak and debilitated, it silently
suffers all ill-treatment at the hands of the king, and as the natural
consequence, both the king and his people go down and down and fall into the
most degraded state, and thus become an easy prey to any nation stronger than
themselves. Where the society is healthy and strong, there soon follows a
fierce contest between the king and his subjects, and, by its reaction and
convulsion, are flung away the sceptre and the crown; and the throne and the
royal paraphernalia become like past curiosities preserved in the museum
galleries.
The Brahmin said, “Learning is the power of all powers; that
learning is dependent upon me, I possess that learning, so the society must
follow my bidding.” For some days such was the case. The Kshatriya said, “But
for the power of my sword, where would you be, O Brahmin, with all your power
of lore? You would in no time be wiped off the face of the earth. It is I alone
that am the superior.” Out flew the flaming sword from the jingling
scabbard—society humbly recognised it with bended head. Even the worshipper of
learning was the first to turn into the worshipper of the king. The Vaishya is
saying, “You, madmen! what you call the effulgent all-pervading deity is here,
in my hand, the ever-shining gold, the almighty sovereign. Behold, through its
grace, I am also equally all-powerful. O Brahmin! even now, I shall buy through
its grace all your wisdom, learning, prayers, and meditation. And, O great
king! your sword, arms, valour, and prowess will soon be employed, through the
grace of this, my gold, in carrying out my desired objects. Do you see those
lofty and extensive mills? Those are my hives. See, how, swarms of millions of
bees, the Shudras, are incessantly gathering honey for those hives. Do you know
for whom? For me, this me, who in due course of time will squeeze out every
drop of it for my own use and profit.”
To what country does not the
merchant go? Though himself ignorant, he carries on his trade and transplants
the learning, wisdom, art, and science of one country to another. The wisdom,
civilisation, and arts that accumulated in the heart of the social body during
the Brahmin and the Kshatriya supremacies are being diffused in all directions
by the arteries of commerce to the different market-places of the Vaishyas. But
for the rising of this Vaishya power, who would have carried today the culture,
learning, acquirements, and articles of food and luxury of one end of the world
to the other?
A cloud of impenetrable darkness has at present equally
enveloped us all. Now there is neither firmness of purpose nor boldness of
enterprise, neither courage of heart nor strength of mind, neither aversion to
maltreatments by others nor dislike for slavery, neither love in the heart nor
hope nor manliness; but what we have in India are only deep-rooted envy and
strong antipathy against one another, morbid desire to ruin by hook or by crook
the weak, and to lick dog-like the feet of the strong.
The Shudras of countries other
than India have become, it seems, a little awake; but they are wanting in
proper education and have only the mutual hatred of men of their own class—a
trait common to Shudras. What avails it if they greatly outnumber the other
classes? That unity, by which ten men collect the strength of a million, is yet
far away from the Shudra; hence, according to the law of nature, the Shudras
invariably form the subject race.
Yet, a time will come when there will be the rising of the
Shudra class, with their Shudra-hood; that is to say, not like that as at
present when the Shudras are becoming great by acquiring the characteristic
qualities of the Vaishya or the Kshatriya, but a time will come when the
Shudras of every country, with their inborn Shudra nature and habits—not
becoming in essence Vaishya or Kshatriya, but remaining as Shudras—will gain
absolute supremacy in every society. The first glow of the dawn of this new
power has already begun to break slowly upon the Western world, and the
thoughtful are at their wits’ end to reflect upon the final issue of this fresh
phenomenon. Socialism, Anarchism, Nihilism, and other like sects are the
vanguard of the social revolution that is to follow.
In spite of the spread of education in the West, there is a
great hindrance in the way of the rising of the Shudra class, and that is the
recognition of caste as determined by the inherence of more or less good or bad
qualities. By this very qualitative caste system which obtained in India in
ancient days, the Shudra class was kept down, bound hand and foot. In the first
place, scarcely any opportunity was given to the Shudra for the accumulation of
wealth or the earning of proper knowledge and education; to add to this
disadvantage, if ever a man of extraordinary parts and genius were born of the
Shudra class, the influential higher sections of the society forthwith showered
titular honours on him and lifted him up to their own circle. His wealth and
the power of his wisdom were employed for the benefit of an alien caste—and his
own caste-people reaped no benefits of his attainments; and not only so, the
good-for-nothing people, the scum and refuse of the higher castes, were cast
off and thrown into the Shudra class to swell their number. Vasishtha, Nārada,
Satyakāma Jābāla, Vyāsa, Kripa, Drona, Karna, and others of questionable
parentage were raised to the position of a Brahmin or a Kshatriya, in virtue of
their superior learning or valour; but it remains to be seen how the
prostitute, maidservant, fisherman, or the charioteer [2] class was benefited
by these upliftings. Again, on the other hand, the fallen from the Brahmin, the
Kshatriya, or the Vaishya class were always brought down to fill the ranks of
the Shudras.
The present government of India
has certain evils attendant on it, and there are some very great and good parts
in it as well. Of highest good is this, that after the fall of the Pātaliputra
Empire till now, India was never under the guidance of such a powerful
machinery of government as the British, wielding the sceptre throughout the
length and breadth of the land. And under this Vaishya supremacy, thanks to the
strenuous enterprise natural to the Vaishya, as the objects of commerce are
being brought from one end of the world to another, so at the same time, as its
natural sequence, the ideas and thoughts of different countries are forcing
their way into the very bone and marrow of India. Of these ideas and thoughts,
some are really most beneficial to her, some are harmful, while others disclose
the ignorance and inability of the foreigners to determine what is truly good
for the inhabitants of this country.
But piercing through the mass
of whatever good or evil there may be is seen rising the sure emblem of India’s
future prosperity—that as the result of the action and reaction between her own
old national ideals on the one hand, and the newly-introduced strange ideals of
foreign nations on the other, she is slowly and gently awakening from her long
deep sleep. Mistakes she will make, let her: there is no harm in that; in all
our actions, errors and mistakes are our only teachers. Who commits mistakes,
the path of truth is attainable by him only. Trees never make mistakes, nor do
stones fall into error; animals are hardly seen to transgress the fixed laws of
nature; but man is prone to err, and it is man who becomes God-on-earth. If our
every movement from the nursery to the death-bed, if our every thought from
rising at day-break till retirement at midnight, be prescribed and laid down for
us in minutest detail by others—and if the threat of the king’s sword be
brought into requisition to keep us within the iron grasp of those prescribed
rules—then, what remains for us to think independently for ourselves? What
makes a man a genius, a sage? Isn’t it because he thinks, reasons, wills?
Without exercise, the power of deep thinking is lost. Tamas prevails, the mind
gets dull and inert, the spirit is brought down to the level of matter. Yet,
even now, every religious preacher, every social leader is anxious to frame new
laws and regulations for the guidance of society! Does the country stand in
want of rules? Has it not enough of them? Under the oppression of rules, the
whole nation is verging on its ruin—who stops to understand this?
