Vol. 3 · pages 161–165

148 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES position in Hindu Society, how are they related to the Savarna Hindus are questions to which no attention has so far been paid. I am sure that without considering these questions no one can get a true picture of the social structure the Hindus have built. To leave out the Class clevage between the Savarna Hindus and the Avarna Hindus is to relate Grimm’s Fairy Tale which leaves out the witches, the goblins and the orges. The Avarna Hindus comprise three (INCOMPLETE) zz

Part III Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had proposed to write a treatise, i.e., ‘Revolution and Counter’ Revolution in Ancient India’.The table of contents has been printed in the chapter of schemes. He had originally planned to write seven books to be included under this broad title. The Committee was able to find some pages and few chapters in his collection. The chapters are also incomplete. After scrutiny, the Committee came to a decision that ‘Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India’ is to be presented in this volume with the available material though incomplete. Dr. Ambedkar considered the rise of Buddhism as revolution. The Counter-Revolution pioneered by Brahmins 1 resulted into decline and fall of Buddhism. Contd. overleaf

As such the following chapters are included under this title. 1. Ancient India on Exhumation 2 The Ancient Regime—The State of the Aryan Society 3. A Sunken Priesthood 4. Reformers and Their Fate 5. The Decline and Fall of Buddhism 6. The Literature of Brahminism 7. Triumph of Brahminism 8. The Morals of the House—Manusmruti or the Gospel of Counter-Revolution 9. Philosophic Defence of CounterRevolution (Krishna and his Gita) 10. Analysis of Virat Parva and Uddyog Parva 11. Brahmins V/s Kshatriyas 12. The Shudras and the Counter-Revolution 13. The Women and the Counter-Revolution The readers may compare these chapters with the proposed plan given in the last chapters of Schemes.—Editors

CHAPTER 5 Ancient India On Exhumation There are two typed copies of this Chapter. Both of them contain additions and corrections in the handwriting of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. After consideration, we decided that the latter version should be included here. This essay, consisting of three pages only, seems to be an introduction to a larger subject Dr. Ambedkar probably had in his mind. —Editors, Much of the ancient history of India is no history at all. Not that ancient India has no history. It has plenty of it. But it has lost its character. It has been made mythology to amuse women and children. This seems to have been done deliberately by the Brahminical writers. Take the word Deva. What does it mean? Is the word Jana Vishesh represent a member of the human family? It is made to appear superhuman agency. By this the pith of history contained in it is squeezed out. Along with the word Deva occur the names of Yaksha, Gana, Gandharva, Kinnars. Who were they? The imperession one gets on reading the Mahabharat and Ramayan is that they are imaginary beings who filled the horizon but did not exist. But the Yaksha, Gana, Gandharva, Kinnaras were also members of the human family. They were in the service of the Devas. The Yakshas were guarding the palaces. Ganas were guarding the Devas. Gandharvas were amusing the Devas by music and dancing. The Kinnaras were also in the service of the Gods. The descendants of the Kinnaras are even now living in Himachal Pradesh. Take the name Asura. The description of Asura given, in the Mahabharat and Ramayana make out as though they belonged to nonhuman world. An Asura is described to eat ten carts-load of food. They are monsters in size. They sleep for six months. They have ten mouths. Who is a Rakshas? He too is described as a non-human creature. In size, in his capacity for eating, in his habits of life he resembled the Asura.

152 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES There is a plenty of references to the Nagas. But who is a Naga? A Naga is represented as a serpent or a snake. Can this be true ? Whether true or not, it is so and Hindus believe it. Ancient Indian history must be exhumed. Without its exhumation Ancient India will go without history. Fortunately with the help of the Buddhist literature, Ancient Indian History can be dug out of the debris which the Brahmin writers have heaped upon in a fit of madness. The Buddhist literature helps a great deal to remove the debris and see the underlying substance quite clearly and distinctly. The Buddhist literature shows that the Devas were a community of human beings. There are so many Devas who come to the Buddha to have their doubts and difficulties removed. How could this be unless the Devas were human beings. Again the Buddhist canonical literature throws a flood of light on the puzzling question of the Nagas. It makes a distinction between wombborn Nagas and egg-born Nagas and thereby making it clear that the word Naga has two-fold meaning. In its original sense it stood for the name of a human community. The Asuras again are not monsters. They too are a Jan-Vishesh human beings. According to Satpatha Bramhana, the Asuras are the descendants of Prajapati the Lord of the creation. How they became evil spirits is not known. But the fact is recorded that they fought against the Devas for the possession of the earth and that they were overcome by the Devas and that they finally succumbed. The point is clear that the Asuras were members of the human family and not monsters. With this exhumation of debris, we can see Ancient Indian History in a new light. zz