Vol. 4 · pages 206–210

195 RIDDLE NO. 16 “This entire (universe) has been created by Brahma. Men say that the Vaisya class was produced from Rick-verses. They say that the Yajur-Veda is the womb from which the Kshattriya was born. The Sama-Veda is the source from which the Brahmans sprang. This word the ancients declared to the ancients.” The second says 1: “The Brahman caste is sprung from the gods; the Sudra from the Asuras”. The third is as follows 2: “Let him at his will milk out with a wooden dish. But let not a Sudra milk it out. For this Sudra has sprung from non-existence. They say that which a Sudra milks out is no oblation. Let not a Sudra milk out the Agnihotra. For they do not purify that. When that passes beyond the filter, then it is an oblation”. Again looking at the testimony of the Brahmanas how far do they support the Purusha Sukta? Not one of them do. III The next thing would be to see what the Smritis have to offer some explanation of the origin of the Varna system. It is worthwhile taking note of them. This is what Manu has to say on the subject 3. “He (the self-existent) having felt desire, and willing to create various living beings from his own body, first created the waters, and threw into them a seed. 9. That seed became a golden egg, of lustre equal to the Sun; in it he himself was born as a Brahma, the parent of all the worlds. 10. The waters are called narah, for they are sprung from Nara; and as they were his first sphere of motion he is therefore called Narayana. 11. Produced from the imperceptible eternal, existent and nonexistent, cause, the male (Purusha) is celebrated in the world as Brahma. 12. After dwelling for a year in the egg, the glorious being, himself, by his own contemplation, split it in twain.” “That the worlds might be peopled, he caused the Brahman, the Kshattriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra to issue from his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet. 32. Having divided his own body into two parts, the lord (Brahma became), with the half of male (purusha), and with the half, a female; and in her he created Viraj. 33. Know, O most excellent twice-born men, that I, whom that male, (Purusha) Viraj, himself am the creator of all this world. 1 Muir’s Sanskrit Texts Vol. I p. 21. 2 Ibid p. 21. 3 Ibid pp. 36-37.

196 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES 34. Desiring to produce living creatures, I performed very arduous devotion and first created ten Maharshis, Great rishis, lords of living beings, 35. viz., Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Prachetas, Vasishtha, Bhrigu, and Narada. 36. They, endowed with great energy, created other seven Manus, gods, and abodes of gods, and Maharshis of boundless might; 37. Yakshas. Rakshases, Pisachas, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Asuras, Nagas, Serpents, great birds, and the different classes of pitris; 38. Lightnings, thunderbolts, clouds, portentous atmospheric sounds, comets, and various luminaries; 39. Kinnars, apes, fishes, different sorts of birds, cattle, deer, men, beasts with two rows of teeth; 40. small and large reptiles mouths; lice, flies, fleas, all gadflies, and gnats, and motionless things of different sorts. 41. Thus by my appointment, and by the force of devotion, was all this World both motionless and moving, created by those great beings, according to the (previous) actions of each creature.” There is also another view expressed by Manu in his Smriti as to the basic reasons for dividing men into four classes 1 : “I shall now declare succinctly in order the states which the soul reaches by means of each of these qualities. 40. Souls endowed with the Satlva quality attain to godhead: those having the rajas quality become men; whilst those characterized by tamas always become beasts—such is the threefold destination............ 43. Elephants, horses, Sudras and contemptible Mlenchhas, lions, tigers, and boars form the middle dark condition........ 46. Kings, Kshattriyas, a King’s priests (purohitah), and men whose chief occupation is the war of words, compose the middle condition of passion.... 48. Devotees, ascetics, Brahmans, the deities borne on aerial cars, constellations, and Daityas, constitute the lowest condition of goodness. 49. Sacrificing priests, rishis, Gods, the Vedas, the celestial luminaries, years, the fathers, the Sadhyas, form the second condition of goodness. 50. Brahma, the creators, righteousness, the Great one ( mahat) the Unapparent One (avyakta) compose the highest condition of goodness.” Manu of course agrees with the Rig-Veda. But his view is of no use for comparison. It is not original. He is merely repeating the Rig-Veda. IV It will be interesting to compare with these views those contained in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. 1 Muir’s Sanskrit Texts Vol. I p. 41.

197 RIDDLE NO. 16 The Ramayana says that the four Varnas are the offspring of Manu, the daughter of Daksha and the wife of Kasyapa 1. “Listen while I declare to you from the commencement all the Prajapatis (lord of creatures) who came into existence in the earliest time. Kardama was the first, then Vokrita, Sesha, Samsraya, the energetic Bahuputra, Sthanu, Marichi, Atri, the strong Kratu, Pulastya, Angiras, Prachetas, Pulaha, Daksha, then Vivasvat, Arishtanemi, and the glorious Kasyapa, who was the last. The Prajapati Daksha is famed to have had sixty daughters. Of these Kasyapa took in marriage eight elegant maidens, Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kalaka, Tamra, Krodhavasa, Manu and Anala. Kasyapa pleased, then said to these maids, ‘ye shall bring forth sons like me, preservers of the three worlds. Aditi, Diti, Danu and Kalaka assented; but the others did not agree. Thirty-three gods were born by Aditi, the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, and the two Asvins. Manu (wife) of Kasyapa, produced men—Brahmans, Kshattriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. ‘Brahmans were born from the mouth, Kshattriyas from the breast, Vaisyas from the thighs, and Sudras from the feet,’ So says the Veda. Anala gave birth to all trees with pure fruits.” Strange, very strange that Valmiki should have credited the creation of the four Varnas to Kassyapa instead of to Prajapati. His knowledge was evidently based only on hearsay. It is clear he did not know what the Vedas had said. Now the Mahabharata gives four different explanations in four different places. The first runs as follows: “Born all with splendour, like that of great rishis, the ten sons of Prachetas, reputed to have been virtuous and holy; and by them the glorious beings were formerly burnt up by fire springing from their mouths. From them was born Daksha Prachetas, and from Daksha, the parent, of the world (were produced), these creatures. Cohabiting with Virini, the Muni Daksha begot a thousand sons like himself, famous for their religious observances, to whom Narada taught the doctrine of final liberation, the unequalled knowledge of the Sankhya. Desirous of creating offspring, the Prajapati Daksha next formed fifty daughters of whom he gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kasyapa, and twenty-seven, devoted to the regulation of time, to Indu (Soma) . . . . . on Dakshayani, the most excellent of his thirteen wives, Kasyapa, the son of Marichi, begot the Adityas, headed by Indra and distinguished by their energy, and also Vivasvat. To Vivasvat was born a son, the mighty Yama Vaivasvata. To Martanda (i.e. Vivasvat, the Sun) was born the wise 1 Muir’s Sanskrit Texts Vol. I pp. 116-117.

198 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES and mighty Manu, and also the renowned Yama, his (Manu’s) younger brother. Righteous was this wise Manu, on whom a race was founded. Hence this (family) of men became known as the race of Manu. Brahmans, Kshattriyas, and other men sprang from this Manu. From him O King, came the Brahman conjoined with the Kshatriya.” The theory propounded here is very much the same as that contained in the Ramayana with this difference, namely, the Mahabharata makes Manu, the progenitor of the four Varnas and secondly it does not say that the four Varnas were born from the different parts of Manu. The second explanation 1 given by the Mahabharata follows what is given in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig-Veda. It reads thus: “The King should appoint to be his royal priest a man who will protect the good, and restrain the wicked. On this subject they relate this following ancient story of a conversation between Pururavas the son of Ila and Matarisvan (Vayu, the windgod). Pururavas said: “ You must explain to me whence the Brahman, and whence the (other) three castes were produced, and whence the superiority (of the first) arises.” Matarisvan answered: “The Brahman was created from Brahma’s mouth, the Kshatriya from his arms, the Vaisya from his thighs, while for the purpose of serving these three castes was produced the fourth class, the Sudra, fashioned from his feet. The Brahman, as soon as born, becomes the lord of all beings upon the earth, for the purpose of protecting the treasure of righteousness. Then (the creator) constituted the Kshattriya the controller of the earth, a second Yama to bear the rod, for the satisfaction of the people. And it was Brahma’s ordinance that the Vaisya should sustain these three classes with money and grain, and that the Sudra should serve them.” The son of Ila then enquired: “Tell me, Vayu to whom the earth, with its wealth rightfully belongs, to the Brahman or the Kshattriya?” Vayu replied: “All this, whatever exists in the world is the Brahman’s property by right of primogeniture; this is known to those who are skilled in the laws of duty. It is his own which the Brahman eats, puts on, and bestows. He is the chief of all the castes, the first-born and the most excellent. Just as a woman when she has lost her (first) husband, takes her brother in law for a second; so the Brahman is thy first resource in calamity; afterwards another may arise”. The third view is expounded in the Shantiparva of the Mahabharata2: 1 Muir’s Vol. I p. 2 Ibid pp. 139-40.

199 RIDDLE NO. 16 Bhrigu replied: ‘Brahma thus formerly created the Prajapatis, penetrated by his own energy, and in splendour equalling the sun and fire. The lord then formed truth, righteousness austere fervour, and the eternal Veda (or sacred science), virtuous practice, and purity for (the attainment of) heaven. He also formed the Gods, Danavas, Gandharvas, Daityas, Asuras, Maharagas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Nagas, Pisachas, and men, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras, as well as all other classes (varna) of beings. The colour (varna) of the Brahmans was white; that of the Kshattriyas red; that of the Vaishyas yellow, and that of the Sudras black.’ Bharadvaja here rejoins: ‘If the caste (varna) of the four classes is distinguished by their colour (varna), then a confusion of all the castes is observable. Desire, anger, fear, cupidity, grief, apprehension, hunger, fatigue, prevail over us all, by what then, is caste discriminated? Sweat, urine, excrement, phlegm, bile and blood (are common to all) the bodies of all decay; by what then is caste discriminated ? There are innumerable kinds of things moving and stationary how is the class (varna) of these various objects to be determined?’ Bhrigu replies: “There is no difference of castes”:” The fourth explanation is also contained in the same Shantiparva. It says: “Bharadvaja again enquires: ‘What is that in virtue of which a man is a Brahman, a Kshattriya, a Vaisya, or a Sudra; tell me, O most eloquent Brahman rishi’. Bhrigu replies: ‘He who is pure, consecrated by the natal and other ceremonies, who has completely studied the Veda, lives in the practice of the six ceremonies, performs perfectly the rites of purification, who eats the remains of oblations, is attached to his religious teacher, is constant in religious observances, and devoted to truth. — is called a Brahman. He in whom are seen truth, liberality inoffensiveness, harmlessness, modesty, compassion, and austere fervour—is declared to be a Brahman. He who practises the duty arising out of the kingly office, who is addicted to the study of the Veda, and who delights in giving and receiving, is called a Kshattriya. He who readily occupies himself with cattle, who is devoted to agriculture and acquisition, who is pure, and is perfect in the study of the Veda,—is denominated a Vaisya. He who is habitually addicted to all kinds of food, performs all kinds of work, who is unclean, who has abandoned the Veda, and does not practise pure observances,— is traditionally called a Sudra. And this (which I have stated) is the mark of a Sudra, and it is not found in a Brahman: (such) a Sudra will remain a Sudra, while the Brahman (who so acts) will be no Brahman.”