Vol. 4 · pages 11–15

Riddles in Hinduism An Exposition To Enlighten the Masses By B. R. Ambedkar M.A., Ph.D., D.Sc, LL.D., D.Litt., Barrister-at-Law.

TABLE OF CO NTENTS Page 1. Introduction .. 5 PART I—Religious 2. Riddle No. 1 The Difficulty of Knowing why one is a Hindu. 13 3. Riddle No. 2 The Origin of the Vedas—The Brahminic Explanation or an exercise in the art of circumlocution. 16 4. Riddle No. 3 The Testimony of other Shastras on the origin of the Vedas. 19 5. Riddle No. 4 Why suddenly the Brahmins declare the Vedas to be infallible and not to be questioned? 25 6. Riddle No. 5 Why did the Brahmins go further and declare that the Vedas are neither made by man nor by God ? 28 7. Riddle No. 6 The Contents of the Vedas: Have they any moral or spiritual value? 37 8. Riddle No. 7 The turn of the tide Or How did the Brahmins declare the Vedas to be lower than the lowest of their Shastras? 53 9. Riddle No. 8 How the Upanishads declared War on the Vedas ? 62 10. Riddle No. 9 How the Upanishads came to be made subordinate to the Vedas? 67 11. Riddle No. 10 Why did the Brahmins make the Hindu Gods fight against one another? 71 12. Riddle No. 11 Why did the Brahmins make the Hindu Gods suffer to rise and fall? 80 13. Riddle No. 12 Why did the Brahmins dethrone the Gods and enthrone the Goddesses? 99 CONTENTS MESSAGE v PREFACE vii

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 14. Riddle No. 13 The Riddle of the Ahimsa . . 108 15. Riddle No. 14 From Ahimsa back to Himsa . . 113 16. Riddle No. 15 How did the Brahmins Wed an Ahimsak God to a Bloodthirsty Goddess? 117 17. Appendix I The Riddle of the Vedas . . 128 18. Appendix II The Riddle of the Vedanta . . 151 19. Appendix III The Riddle of the Trimurti . . 161 20. Appendix IV Smarth Dharma and Tantrik Dharma . . 176 21. Appendix V The Infallibility of the Vedas . . 183 PART II—Social 22. Riddle No. 16 The Four Varnas—Are the Brahmins sure of their origin? 189 23. Riddle No. 17 The Four Ashramas—The Why and How about them. 205 24. Riddle No. 18 Manu’s madness or the Brahmanic explanation of the origin of the mixed castes. 215 25. Riddle No. 19 The change from Paternity to Maternity. What did the Brahmins wish to gain by it? 226 26. Riddle No. 20 Kali Varjya or the Brahmanic art of suspending the operation of Sin without calling it Sin. 233 27. Appendix I The Riddle of the Varnashram Dharma . . 236 28. Appendix II Compulsory Matrimony . . 262 PART III—Political 29. Riddle No. 21 The Theory of Manvantara . . 275 30. Riddle No 22 Brahma is not Dharma. What good is Brahma? 281 31. Riddle No 23 Kali yuga—Why have the Brahmins made it unending? 288 32. Riddle No 24 The Riddle of the Kali yuga . . 307 33. Appendix I The Riddle of Rama and Krishna . . 323 34. DISCOUNT POLICY ON SALE OF VOLUMES