Vol. 3 · pages 131–135

118 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES I. 96. “Of created beings the most excellent are said to be those which are animated, of the animated those who subsist by intelligence; of the intelligent mankind, and of the men the Brahmans.” Besides the reason given by Manu the Brahman is first in rank because he was produced by God from his mouth, in order that the offerings might be conveyed to the Gods and manes, Manu gives another reason for the supremacy of the Brahman. He says: I. 98. “The very birth of a Brahmana is an eternal incarnation of the sacred law (Veda) for he is born to (fulfil) the sacred law, and becomes one with Brahman (God.)” I. 99. “A Brahmana coming into existence, is born as the highest on earth, the Lord of all created beings, for the protection of the treasury of the law.” Manu concludes by saying that: I. 101. “The Brahmana eats but his own food, wears but his own apparel, bestows but his own in alms; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the Brahmana.” Because according to Manu: I. 100. “Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmana; on account of the excellence of his origin the Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to it all.” Being a deity the Brahman is above law and above the king. Manu directs: VII. 37. “Let the king, rising early in the morning, worship Brahmanas who are well-versed in the threefold sacred science and learned (in polity) and follow their advice.” VII. 38. “Let him daily worship aged Brahmans who know the Veda and are pure…..” Finally Manu says: XI. 35. “The Brahman is (hereby) declared to be the creator (of the world), the punisher, the teacher, (and hence) a benefactor (of all created beings) to him let no man say anything unpropitious, nor use any harsh words.” Manu ordains that: X. 3. “From priority of birth, from superiority of origin, from a more exact knowledge of scripture, and from a distinction in the sacrificial thread, the Brahman is the lord of all classes.” The Brahmin or the Superman of the Hindu social order was entitled to certain privileges. In the first place, he could not be hanged even though he might be guilty of murder. 1 Manu says: 1This immunity was continued by the British Government up to 1837. It was in 1837 the Penal Law was amended whereby the Brahman for the first time became liable to capital punishment for murder. The immunity still exists in Indian States. In Travancore the Dewan who is a Brahmin adopted an ingenious method of meeting public criticism of this continuance of this privilege, instead of hanging the Brahmins he abolished capital punishment altogether.

119 THE HINDU SOCIAL ORDER : ITS UNIQUE FEATURES VIII. 379. “Ignominous tonsure is ordained, instead of capital punishment, for a Brahmin adulterer where the punishment of other classes may extend to loss of life.” VIII. 380. “Never shall the king slay a Brahmin, though convicted of all possible crimes; let him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his property secure, and his body unhurt.” XI. 127. “For a Brahmin killing intentionally a virtuous man of the Kshatriya class, the penance must be a fourth part of that ordained for killing a priest; for killing a Vaishya, only an eighth; for killing a Shudra, who had been constant in discharging his duties a sixteenth part.” XI. 128. “But, if a Brahmin kills a Kshatriya without malice, he must, after a full performance of his religious rites, give the priests one bull together with a thousand cows.” XI. 129. “Or he may perform for three years the penance for slaying a Brahmin, mortifying his organs of sensation and action, letting his hair grow long, and living remote from the town, with the root of a tree for his mansion.” XI. 130. “If he kills without malice a Vaishya, who had a good moral character, he may perform the same penance for one year, or give the priests a hundred cows and a bull.” XI. 131. “For six months must, he perform this whole penance, if without intention he kills a Shudra, or he may give ten white cows and a bull to the priests.” VIII. 381. “No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahmin; and the king, therefore must not even form in his mind an idea of killing a priest.” VIII. 126. “Let the king having considered and ascertained the frequency of a similar offence, the place and time, the ability of the criminal to pay or suffer and the crime itself, cause punishment to fall on those alone, who deserve it.” VIII. 124. “Manu, son of the self-existent, has named ten places of punishment, which are appropriated to the three lower classes, but a Brahmin must depart from the realm unhurt in any one of them.” The Brahmin has been given by the Manu Smriti other privileges. In the matter of marriage in addition to his marrying a woman of his own class he is entitled 1 to enter into wedlock with a woman of any of the classes lower to him without being bound to the woman by the tie of marriage or conferring upon the children the right to his status or to his property. He had the Manu III. 12-13. This privilege is recognised by Courts in India.

120 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES power to punish his wrongdoer without resort to court 1. He could take the property of the common man (the Shudra) without compensation and without reference to court if the same was necessary for the performance of his religious duties 2. If he discovers a hidden treasure he was free to appropriate the whole 3 of it without giving the usual share to the king ‘since he was the lord of all’ and was entitled to claim half 4 if it was discovered by another. He was entitled to whole amount accumulated from legal fines from a king whose death was due to some incurable disease.5 He was exempt from taxation 6. He was entitled to compel the king to provide for his daily food and to see that he did not starve 7. His property was free from the law of escheat. 8 The superman of the Hindu Social order is not bound by the rules as to occupation if he is in distress. Manu says:— X. 81. “Yet a Brahman, unable to subsist by his duties just mentioned, may live by the duty of a soldier; for that is the next in rank.” X. 82. “If it be asked, how he must live, should he be unable to get a subsistence by either of those employments; the answer is, he may subsist as a mercantile man, applying himself in person to tillage and attendance on cattle.” X. 83. “But a Brahman and a Kshatriya, obliged to subsist by the acts of a Vaishya, must avoid with care, if they can live by keeping herds, the business of tillage, which gives great pain’ to sentient creatures, and is dependent on the labour of others, as bulls and so forth.” X. 84. “Some are of opinion, that agriculture is excellent but it is a mode of subsistence which the benevolent greatly blame, for the iron mouthed pieces of wood not only wound the earth, but the creatures dwelling in it.” X. 85. “If, through want of a virtuous livelihood, they cannot follow laudable occupations, they may then gain a competence of wealth by selling commodities usually sold by merchants, avoiding what ought to be avoided.” X. 102. “The Brahmana, having fallen into distress, may receive gifts from any person whatever; for by no sacred rule can it be shown, that absolute purity can be sullied.” 1 Manu XI. 31—This privilege has been abolished. 2 Manu XI. 32.—This privilege no longer exists. 3 Manu VIII. 37. 4 Manu VIII. 38. 5 Manu IX. 323. 6 Manu VII. 133. 7 Manu VII. 134. 8 Manu IX. 189

121 THE HINDU SOCIAL ORDER : ITS UNIQUE FEATURES X. 103. “From interpreting the Veda, from officiating at sacrifices or from taking presents, though in modes generally disapproved, no sin is committed by priests in distress; for they are as pure as fire or water.” The privileges of the superman are not at all counterbalanced by an obligation towards the common man. Indeed the superman has no duty towards the common man. He is not bound to do charity for the uplift of the Comman man. On the other hand, to receive charity is the monopoly of the Superman. For any other person to receive charity is a sin. To the Common man (Shudra) who is born to serve the Superman man, the Superman is not at all required to be a good employer and is not bound to keep him well-fed, well clothed and well-housed. His obligations in this behalf as laid down by Manu are stated below: X. 124. “They must allot to him (Shudra) out of their own family property a suitable maintenance after considering his ability, his industry and the number of those whom he is bound to support.” X. 125. “The remnants of their food must be given to him, as well as their old clothes, the refuse of their grain, and their old household furniture. The rise of the Common man is antagonistic to the supremacy of the Superman. In order to keep the Superman satisfied, happy and secure the Hindu social order takes special care to keep the Common man in a state of perpetual degradation. Manu insists on the Shudra doing nothing but service: X. 122. “But let a Shudra serve Brahmanas.” X. 121. “If a Shudra unable to subsist by serving Brahmanas seeks a livelihood, he may serve Kshatriyas, or he may also seek to maintain himself by attending on a wealthy Vaishya.” I. 91. “One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Shudra, to serve meekly even these other three castes.” And why ? Manu does not hesitate to give the reason. He says : X. 129. “No superfluous collection of wealth must be made by a Shudra, even though he has power to make it, since a servile man, who has amassed riches, becomes proud, and, by his insolence or neglect, gives pain even to Brahmanas.” The common man is not permitted to acquire learning. The following are the injunctions of Manu: I. 88. “To the Brahmanas he (the creator) assigned teaching and studying the Veda.” I. 89. “The Kshatriya he (the creator) commanded to study the Veda.”

122 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES II. 116. “He who shall acquire knowledge of the Veda without the assent of his preceptor incurs the guilt of stealing the scriputre, and shall sink to the region of torment.” IV. 99. “He (the twice-born) must never read the Veda…in the presence of the Shudras.” IX. 18. “Women have no business with the text of the Veda.” IX. 199. “A twice-born man who has….. (improperly) divulged the Veda (ie., to Shudras and women) commits sin, atones for his offence, if he subsists a year on barley.” In those texts there are embodied three distinct propositions. The Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas can study the Vedas. Of these the Brahmans alone have the right to teach the Vedas. But in the case of the Shudra he has not only to study the Vedas but he should not be allowed to hear it read. The successsors of Manu made the disability of the Shudra in the matter of the study of the Veda into an offence involving dire penalties. For instance, Gautama says: III. 4. “If the Shudra intentionally listens for committing to memory the Veda, then his ears should be filled with (molten) lead and lac; if he utters the Veda, then his tongue should be cut off; if he has mastered the Veda his body should be cut to pieces. “ To the same effect is Katyayana. The common man (Shudra) is not allowed the benefit of the sacrament of initiation. It is the second birth that helps towards the moral and material advancement of the individual. The common man is denied the right to have a name conveying dignity. Manu says: II. 30. “Let the father perform or cause to be performed the Namadheya (the rite of name of the child), on the tenth or twelfth (day after birth), or on a lucky lunar day in a lucky muhurth under an auspicious constellation. II. 31. “Let (the first part of) a Brahman’s name (denote something) auspicious, a Kshatriya name be connected with power, and a Vaishya with wealth, but a Shudra’s (express something) contemptible.” II. 32. “(The second part of) a Brahman’s name shall be a word implying happiness, of a Kshatriya (a word) implying protection, of a Vaishya (a term) expressive of thriving and of a Shudra’s (an expression) denoting a service.” The Superman will not tolerate the Shudra to have the comfort of a high-sounding name. He must be contemptible both in fact and in name.