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UPI
agniveerupi@sbi,
agniveer.eazypay@icici

PayPal
[email protected]

Agniveer® is serving Dharma since 2008. This initiative is NO WAY associated with the defence forces scheme launched by Indian Govt in 2022

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वेदों में गोमांस?

Sanjeev Newar
-
740
वेदों में गोमांस?

यहां प्रस्तुत सामग्री वैदिक शब्दों के आद्योपांत और वस्तुनिष्ठ विश्लेषण पर आधारित है, जिस संदर्भ में वे वैदिक शब्दकोष, शब्दशास्त्र, व्याकरण तथा वैदिक मंत्रों के यथार्थ निरूपण के लिए अति आवश्यक अन्य साधनों में प्रयुक्त हुए हैं | अतः यह शोध श्रृंखला मैक्समूलर, ग्रिफ़िथ, विल्सन, विलियम्स् तथा अन्य भारतीय विचारकों के वेद और वैदिक भाषा के कार्य  का अन्धानुकरण नहीं है | यद्यपि, पश्चिम के वर्तमान शिक्षा जगत में वे काफ़ी प्रचलित हैं, किंतु हमारे पास यह प्रमाणित करने  के पर्याप्त कारण हैं कि उनका कार्य सच्चाई से कोसों दूर है | उनके इस पहलू पर हम यहां विस्तार से प्रकाश डालेंगे |  विश्व की प्राचीनतम पुस्तक – वेद के प्रति गलत अवधारणाओं के विस्तृत विवेचन की श्रृंखला में यह प्रथम कड़ी है |

हिंदूओं के प्राथमिक पवित्र धर्म-ग्रंथ वेदों में अपवित्र बातों के भरे होने का लांछन सदियों से लगाया जा रहा है | यदि इन आक्षेपों को सही मान लिया जाए तो सम्पूर्ण हिन्दू संस्कृति, परंपराएं, मान्यताएं सिवाय वहशीपन, जंगलीयत और क्रूरता के और कुछ नहीं रह जाएंगी | वेद पृथ्वी पर ज्ञान के प्रथम स्रोत होने के अतिरिक्त हिन्दू धर्म के मूलाधार भी हैं, जो मानव मात्र के कल्याणमय जीवन जीने के लिए मार्गदर्शक हैं |

वेदों की झूठी निंदा करने की यह मुहीम उन विभिन्न तत्वों ने चला रखी है जिनके निहित स्वार्थ वेदों से कुछ चुनिंदा सन्दर्भों का हवाला देकर हिन्दुओं  को दुनिया के समक्ष नीचा दिखाना चाहते हैं | यह सब गरीब और अशिक्षित भारतियों से अपनी मान्यताओं को छुड़वाने में काफ़ी कारगर साबित होता है कि उनके मूलाधार वेदों में नारी की अवमानना, मांस- भक्षण, बहुविवाह, जातिवाद और यहां तक की गौ- मांस भक्षण जैसे सभी अमानवीय तत्व विद्यमान हैं |

वेदों में आए त्याग या दान के अनुष्ठान के सन्दर्भों में जिसे यज्ञ भी कहा गया है, लोगों ने पशुबलिदान को आरोपित कर दिया है | आश्चर्य की बात है कि भारत में जन्में, पले- बढे बुद्धिजीवियों का एक वर्ग जो प्राचीन भारत के गहन अध्ययन का दावा करता है, वेदों में इन अपवित्र तत्वों को सिद्ध करने के लिए पाश्चात्य विद्वानों का सहारा लेता है |

वेदों द्वारा गौ हत्या और गौ मांस को स्वीकृत बताना हिन्दुओं की आत्मा पर मर्मान्तक प्रहार है | गाय का सम्मान हिन्दू धर्म का केंद्र बिंदू है | जब कोई हिन्दू को उसकी मान्यताओं और मूल सिद्धांतों में दोष या खोट दिखाने में सफल हो जाए, तो उस में हीन भावना जागृत होती है और फिर वह आसानी से मार्गभ्रष्ट किया जा सकता है |  ऐसे लाखों नादान हिन्दू हैं जो इन बातों से अनजान हैं, इसलिए प्रति उत्तर देने में नाकाम होने के कारण अन्य मतावलंबियों के सामने समर्पण कर देते हैं |

[mybooktable book=”eternal-religion-humanity” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”false”]

जितने भी स्थापित हित – जो वेदों को बदनाम कर रहे हैं वे केवल पाश्चात्य और भारतीय विशेषज्ञों तक ही सीमित नहीं हैं | हिन्दुओं में एक खास जमात ऐसी है जो जनसंख्या के सामाजिक और आर्थिक रूप से पिछड़ें तबकों का शोषण कर अपनी बात मानने और उस पर अमल करने को बाध्य करती है  अन्यथा दुष्परिणाम भुगतने की धमकी देती है |

वेदों के नाम पर थोपी गई इन सारी मिथ्या बातों का उत्तरदायित्व मुख्यतः मध्यकालीन वेदभाष्यकार महीधर, उव्वट और सायण द्वारा की गई व्याख्याओं पर है तथा वाम मार्गियों या तंत्र मार्गियों द्वारा वेदों के नाम से अपनी पुस्तकों में चलायी गई कुप्रथाओं पर है | एक अवधि के दौरान यह असत्यता सर्वत्र फ़ैल गई और अपनी जड़ें गहराई तक ज़माने में सफल रही, जब पाश्चात्य विद्वानों ने संस्कृत की अधकचरी जानकारी से वेदों के अनुवाद के नाम पर सायण और महीधर के वेद- भाष्य की व्याख्याओं का वैसा का वैसा अपनी लिपि में रूपांतरण कर लिया | जबकि वे वेदों के मूल अभिप्राय को समुचित रूप समझने के लिए अति आवश्यक शिक्षा (स्वर विज्ञान), व्याकरण, निरुक्त (शब्द व्युत्पत्ति शास्त्र), निघण्टु (वैदिक कोष), छंद , ज्योतिष तथा कल्प इत्यादि के ज्ञान से सर्वथा शून्य थे |

अग्निवीर के आन्दोलन का उद्देश्य वेदों के बारे में ऐसी मिथ्या धारणाओं का वास्तविक मूल्यांकन कर उनकी पवित्रता,शुद्धता,महान संकल्पना तथा मान्यता की स्थापना करना है | जो सिर्फ हिन्दुओं के लिए ही नहीं बल्कि मानव मात्र के लिए बिना किसी बंधन,पक्षपात या भेदभाव के समान रूप से उपलब्ध हैं |

१.पशु-हिंसा का विरोध

यस्मिन्त्सर्वाणि  भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानत:

तत्र  को  मोहः  कः  शोक   एकत्वमनुपश्यत:

यजुर्वेद  ४०। ७

जो सभी भूतों में अपनी ही आत्मा को देखते हैं, उन्हें कहीं पर भी शोक या मोह नहीं रह जाता क्योंकि वे उनके साथ अपनेपन की अनुभूति करते हैं | जो आत्मा के नष्ट न होने में और पुनर्जन्म में विश्वास रखते हों, वे कैसे यज्ञों में पशुओं का वध करने की सोच भी सकते हैं ? वे तो अपने पिछले दिनों के प्रिय और निकटस्थ लोगों को उन जिन्दा प्राणियों में देखते हैं |

 

अनुमन्ता विशसिता निहन्ता क्रयविक्रयी

संस्कर्ता चोपहर्ता च खादकश्चेति घातकाः

मनुस्मृति ५।५१

मारने की आज्ञा देने वाला, पशु को मारने के लिए लेने वाला, बेचने वाला, पशु को मारने वाला,

मांस को खरीदने और बेचने वाला, मांस को पकाने वाला और मांस खाने वाला यह सभी हत्यारे हैं |

ब्रीहिमत्तं यवमत्तमथो माषमथो तिलम्

एष वां भागो निहितो रत्नधेयाय दान्तौ मा हिंसिष्टं पितरं मातरं च

अथर्ववेद ६।१४०।२

हे दांतों की दोनों पंक्तियों ! चावल खाओ, जौ खाओ, उड़द खाओ और तिल खाओ |

यह अनाज तुम्हारे लिए ही बनाये गए हैं | उन्हें मत मारो जो माता – पिता बनने की योग्यता रखते हैं |

 

य आमं मांसमदन्ति पौरुषेयं च ये क्रविः

गर्भान् खादन्ति केशवास्तानितो नाशयामसि

अथर्ववेद ८। ६।२३

वह लोग जो नर और मादा, भ्रूण और अंड़ों के नाश से उपलब्ध हुए मांस को कच्चा या पकाकर खातें हैं, हमें उन्हें नष्ट कर देना चाहिए |

[mybooktable book=”no-beef-in-hinduism” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”false”]

अनागोहत्या वै भीमा कृत्ये

मा नो गामश्वं पुरुषं वधीः

अथर्ववेद १०।१।२९

निर्दोषों को मारना निश्चित ही महा पाप है | हमारे गाय, घोड़े और पुरुषों को मत मार | वेदों में गाय और अन्य पशुओं के वध का स्पष्टतया निषेध होते हुए, इसे वेदों के नाम पर कैसे उचित ठहराया जा सकता है?

 

अघ्न्या यजमानस्य पशून्पाहि

यजुर्वेद १।१

हे मनुष्यों ! पशु अघ्न्य हैं – कभी न मारने योग्य, पशुओं की रक्षा करो |

 

पशूंस्त्रायेथां

यजुर्वेद ६।११

पशुओं का पालन करो |

 

द्विपादव चतुष्पात् पाहि

यजुर्वेद १४।८

हे मनुष्य ! दो पैर वाले की रक्षा कर और चार पैर वाले की भी रक्षा कर |

 

क्रव्य दा – क्रव्य (वध से प्राप्त मांस ) + अदा (खानेवाला) = मांस भक्षक |

पिशाच — पिशित (मांस) +अस (खानेवाला) = मांस खाने वाला |

असुत्रपा –  असू (प्राण )+त्रपा(पर तृप्त होने वाला) =   अपने भोजन के लिए दूसरों के प्राण हरने वाला |  |

गर्भ दा  और अंड़ दा = भूर्ण और अंड़े खाने वाले |

मांस दा = मांस खाने वाले |

वैदिक साहित्य में मांस भक्षकों को अत्यंत तिरस्कृत किया गया है | उन्हें राक्षस, पिशाच आदि की संज्ञा दी गई है जो दरिन्दे और हैवान माने गए हैं तथा जिन्हें सभ्य मानव समाज से बहिष्कृत समझा गया है |

 

ऊर्जं नो धेहि द्विपदे चतुष्पदे

यजुर्वेद ११।८३

सभी दो पाए और चौपाए प्राणियों को बल और पोषण प्राप्त हो |  हिन्दुओं द्वारा भोजन ग्रहण करने से पूर्व बोले जाने वाले इस मंत्र में प्रत्येक जीव के लिए पोषण उपलब्ध होने की कामना की गई है | जो दर्शन प्रत्येक प्राणी के लिए जीवन के हर क्षण में कल्याण ही चाहता हो, वह पशुओं के वध को मान्यता कैसे देगा ?

 

२.यज्ञ में हिंसा का विरोध

जैसी कुछ लोगों की प्रचलित मान्यता है कि यज्ञ में पशु वध किया जाता है, वैसा बिलकुल नहीं है | वेदों में यज्ञ को श्रेष्ठतम कर्म या एक ऐसी क्रिया कहा गया है जो वातावरण को अत्यंत शुद्ध करती है |

 

अध्वर इति यज्ञानाम  – ध्वरतिहिंसा कर्मा तत्प्रतिषेधः

निरुक्त २।७

निरुक्त या वैदिक शब्द व्युत्पत्ति शास्त्र में यास्काचार्य के अनुसार यज्ञ का एक नाम अध्वर भी है | ध्वर का मतलब है हिंसा सहित किया गया कर्म, अतः अध्वर का अर्थ हिंसा रहित कर्म है | वेदों में अध्वर के ऐसे प्रयोग प्रचुरता से पाए जाते हैं |

 

महाभारत के परवर्ती काल में वेदों के गलत अर्थ किए गए तथा अन्य कई धर्म – ग्रंथों के विविध तथ्यों को  भी प्रक्षिप्त किया गया | आचार्य शंकर वैदिक मूल्यों की पुनः स्थापना में एक सीमा तक सफल रहे | वर्तमान समय में स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती – आधुनिक भारत के पितामह ने वेदों की व्याख्या वैदिक भाषा के सही नियमों तथा यथार्थ प्रमाणों के आधार पर की | उन्होंने वेद-भाष्य, सत्यार्थ प्रकाश, ऋग्वेदादिभाष्यभूमिका तथा अन्य ग्रंथों की रचना की | उनके इस साहित्य से वैदिक मान्यताओं पर आधारित व्यापक सामाजिक सुधारणा हुई तथा वेदों के बारे में फैली हुई भ्रांतियों का निराकरण हुआ |

 

आइए,यज्ञ के बारे में वेदों के मंतव्य को जानें –

अग्ने यं यज्ञमध्वरं विश्वत: परि भूरसि

स इद देवेषु गच्छति
ऋग्वेद   १ ।१।४

हे दैदीप्यमान प्रभु ! आप के द्वारा व्याप्त हिंसा रहित यज्ञ सभी के लिए लाभप्रद दिव्य गुणों से युक्त है तथा विद्वान मनुष्यों द्वारा स्वीकार किया गया है | ऋग्वेद में सर्वत्र यज्ञ को हिंसा रहित कहा गया है इसी तरह अन्य तीनों वेद भी वर्णित करते हैं | फिर यह कैसे माना जा सकता है कि वेदों में हिंसा या पशु वध की आज्ञा है ?

 

यज्ञों में पशु वध की अवधारणा  उनके (यज्ञों ) के विविध प्रकार के नामों के कारण आई है जैसे अश्वमेध  यज्ञ, गौमेध यज्ञ तथा नरमेध यज्ञ | किसी अतिरंजित कल्पना से भी इस संदर्भ में मेध का अर्थ वध संभव नहीं हो सकता |

 

यजुर्वेद अश्व का वर्णन करते हुए कहता  है –

इमं मा हिंसीरेकशफं पशुं कनिक्रदं वाजिनं वाजिनेषु

यजुर्वेद  १३।४८

इस एक खुर वाले, हिनहिनाने वाले तथा बहुत से पशुओं में अत्यंत वेगवान प्राणी का वध मत कर |अश्वमेध से अश्व को यज्ञ में बलि देने का तात्पर्य नहीं है इसके विपरीत यजुर्वेद में अश्व को नही मारने का स्पष्ट उल्लेख है | शतपथ में अश्व शब्द राष्ट्र या साम्राज्य के लिए आया है | मेध अर्थ वध नहीं होता | मेध शब्द बुद्धिपूर्वक किये गए कर्म को व्यक्त करता है | प्रकारांतर से उसका अर्थ मनुष्यों में संगतीकरण का भी है |  जैसा कि मेध शब्द के धातु (मूल ) मेधृ -सं -ग -मे के अर्थ से स्पष्ट होता है |

 

राष्ट्रं  वा  अश्वमेध:

अन्नं  हि  गौ:

अग्निर्वा  अश्व:

आज्यं  मेधा:

(शतपथ १३।१।६।३)

स्वामी  दयानन्द सरस्वती सत्यार्थ प्रकाश में लिखते हैं :-

राष्ट्र या साम्राज्य के वैभव, कल्याण और समृद्धि के लिए समर्पित यज्ञ ही अश्वमेध यज्ञ है |  गौ शब्द का अर्थ पृथ्वी भी है | पृथ्वी तथा पर्यावरण की शुद्धता के लिए समर्पित यज्ञ गौमेध कहलाता है | ” अन्न, इन्द्रियाँ,किरण,पृथ्वी, आदि को पवित्र रखना गोमेध |”  ” जब मनुष्य मर जाय, तब उसके शरीर का विधिपूर्वक दाह करना नरमेध कहाता है | ”

 

३.गौ – मांस का निषेध

वेदों  में पशुओं की हत्या का  विरोध तो है ही बल्कि गौ- हत्या पर तो तीव्र आपत्ति करते हुए उसे निषिद्ध माना गया है | यजुर्वेद में गाय को जीवनदायी पोषण दाता मानते हुए गौ हत्या को वर्जित किया गया है |

घृतं दुहानामदितिं जनायाग्ने  मा हिंसी:

यजुर्वेद १३।४९

सदा ही रक्षा के पात्र गाय और बैल को मत मार |

 

आरे  गोहा नृहा  वधो  वो  अस्तु

ऋग्वेद  ७ ।५६।१७

ऋग्वेद गौ- हत्या को जघन्य अपराध घोषित करते हुए मनुष्य हत्या के तुल्य मानता है और ऐसा महापाप करने वाले के लिये दण्ड का विधान करता है |

 

सूयवसाद  भगवती  हि  भूया  अथो  वयं  भगवन्तः  स्याम

अद्धि  तर्णमघ्न्ये  विश्वदानीं  पिब  शुद्धमुदकमाचरन्ती

ऋग्वेद १।१६४।४०

अघ्न्या गौ- जो किसी भी अवस्था में नहीं मारने योग्य हैं, हरी घास और शुद्ध जल के सेवन से स्वस्थ  रहें जिससे कि हम उत्तम सद् गुण,ज्ञान और ऐश्वर्य से युक्त हों |वैदिक कोष निघण्टु में गौ या गाय के पर्यायवाची शब्दों में अघ्न्या, अहि- और अदिति का भी समावेश है | निघण्टु के भाष्यकार यास्क इनकी व्याख्या में कहते हैं -अघ्न्या – जिसे कभी न मारना चाहिए | अहि – जिसका कदापि वध नहीं होना चाहिए | अदिति – जिसके खंड नहीं करने चाहिए | इन तीन शब्दों से यह भलीभांति विदित होता है कि गाय को किसी भी प्रकार से पीड़ित नहीं करना चाहिए | प्राय: वेदों में गाय इन्हीं नामों से पुकारी गई है |

 

अघ्न्येयं  सा  वर्द्धतां  महते  सौभगाय

ऋग्वेद १ ।१६४।२७

अघ्न्या गौ-  हमारे लिये आरोग्य एवं सौभाग्य लाती हैं |

 

सुप्रपाणं  भवत्वघ्न्याभ्य:

ऋग्वेद ५।८३।८

अघ्न्या गौ के लिए शुद्ध जल अति उत्तमता से उपलब्ध हो |

 

यः  पौरुषेयेण  क्रविषा  समङ्क्ते  यो  अश्व्येन  पशुना  यातुधानः

यो  अघ्न्याया  भरति  क्षीरमग्ने  तेषां  शीर्षाणि  हरसापि  वृश्च

ऋग्वेद १०।८७।१६

मनुष्य, अश्व या अन्य पशुओं के मांस से पेट भरने वाले तथा दूध देने वाली अघ्न्या गायों का विनाश करने वालों को कठोरतम दण्ड देना चाहिए |

 

विमुच्यध्वमघ्न्या देवयाना अगन्म

यजुर्वेद १२।७३

अघ्न्या गाय और बैल तुम्हें समृद्धि प्रदान करते हैं |

 

मा गामनागामदितिं  वधिष्ट

ऋग्वेद  ८।१०१।१५

गाय को मत मारो | गाय निष्पाप और अदिति – अखंडनीया है  |

 

अन्तकाय  गोघातं

यजुर्वेद ३०।१८

गौ हत्यारे का संहार किया जाये |

 

यदि  नो  गां हंसि यद्यश्वम् यदि  पूरुषं

तं  त्वा  सीसेन  विध्यामो  यथा  नो  सो  अवीरहा

अर्थववेद १।१६।४

यदि कोई हमारे गाय,घोड़े और पुरुषों की हत्या करता है, तो उसे सीसे की गोली से उड़ा दो |

 

वत्सं  जातमिवाघ्न्या

अथर्ववेद ३।३०।१

आपस में उसी प्रकार प्रेम करो, जैसे अघ्न्या – कभी न मारने योग्य गाय – अपने बछड़े से करती है |

 

धेनुं  सदनं  रयीणाम्

अथर्ववेद ११।१।४

गाय सभी ऐश्वर्यों का उद्गम है |

 

ऋग्वेद के ६ वें मंडल का सम्पूर्ण २८ वां सूक्त गाय की महिमा बखान रहा है —

१.आ  गावो अग्मन्नुत भद्रमक्रन्त्सीदन्तु

प्रत्येक जन यह सुनिश्चित करें कि गौएँ यातनाओं से दूर तथा स्वस्थ रहें |

 

२.भूयोभूयो  रयिमिदस्य  वर्धयन्नभिन्ने

गाय की  देख-भाल करने वाले को ईश्वर का आशीर्वाद प्राप्त होता है |

 

 

३.न ता नशन्ति न दभाति तस्करो नासामामित्रो व्यथिरा दधर्षति

गाय पर शत्रु भी शस्त्र  का प्रयोग न करें |

 

४. न ता अर्वा रेनुककाटो अश्नुते न संस्कृत्रमुप यन्ति ता अभि

कोइ भी गाय का वध न करे  |

 

५.गावो भगो गाव इन्द्रो मे अच्छन्

गाय बल और समृद्धि  लातीं  हैं |

 

६. यूयं गावो मेदयथा

गाय यदि स्वस्थ और प्रसन्न रहेंगी  तो पुरुष और स्त्रियाँ भी निरोग और समृद्ध होंगे |

 

७. मा वः स्तेन ईशत माघशंस:

गाय हरी घास और शुद्ध जल क सेवन करें | वे मारी न जाएं और हमारे लिए समृद्धि लायें |

 

वेदों में मात्र गाय ही नहीं  बल्कि प्रत्येक प्राणी के लिए प्रद्रर्शित उच्च भावना को समझने  के लिए और  कितने प्रमाण दिएं जाएं ? प्रस्तुत प्रमाणों से सुविज्ञ पाठक स्वयं यह निर्णय कर सकते हैं कि वेद किसी भी प्रकार कि अमानवीयता के सर्वथा ख़िलाफ़ हैं और जिस में गौ – वध तथा गौ- मांस का तो पूर्णत: निषेध है |

 

वेदों में गौ मांस का कहीं कोई विधान नहीं  है |

 

 

संदर्भ ग्रंथ सूची –

१.ऋग्वेद भाष्य – स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती

२.यजुर्वेद भाष्य -स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती

३.No Beef in Vedas -B D Ukhul

४.वेदों का यथार्थ स्वरुप – पंडित धर्मदेव विद्यावाचस्पति

५.चारों वेद संहिता – पंडित दामोदर सातवलेकर

६. प्राचीन भारत में गौ मांस – एक समीक्षा – गीता प्रेस,गोरखपुर

७.The Myth of Holy Cow – D N Jha

८. Hymns of Atharvaveda – Griffith

९.Scared Book of the East – Max Muller

१०.Rigved Translations – Williams Jones

११.Sanskrit – English Dictionary – Moniar Williams

१२.वेद – भाष्य – दयानंद संस्थान

१३.Western Indologists – A Study of Motives – Pt.Bhagavadutt

१४.सत्यार्थ प्रकाश – स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती

१५.ऋग्वेदादिभाष्यभूमिका – स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती

१६.Cloud over Understanding of Vedas – B D Ukhul

१७.शतपथ ब्राहमण

१८.निरुक्त – यास्काचार्य

१९. धातुपाठ – पाणिनि

 

परिशिष्ट, १४ अप्रैल २०१०

इस लेख के पश्चात् उन विभिन्न स्रोतों से तीखी प्रतिक्रिया हुई जिनके गले से यह सच्चाई नहीं उतर सकती कि हमारे वेद और राष्ट्र की प्राचीन संस्कृति अधिक आदर्शस्वरूप हैं बनिस्पत उनकी आधुनिक साम्यवादी विचारधारा के | मुझे कई मेल प्राप्त हुए जिनमें इस लेख को झुठलाने के प्रयास में अतिरिक्त हवाले देकर गोमांस का समर्थन दिखाया गया है | जिनमें ऋग्वेद से २ मंत्र ,मनुस्मृति के कुछ श्लोक तथा कुछ अन्य उद्धरण दिए गए हैं | जिसका एक उदाहरण यहाँ अवतार गिल की टिप्पणी है | इस बारे में मैं निम्न बातें कहना चाहूंगा —

a. लेख में प्रस्तुत मनुस्मृति के साक्ष्य में वध की अनुमति देने वाले तक को हत्यारा कहा गया है | अतः यह सभी अतिरिक्त श्लोक मनुस्मृति में प्रक्षेपित ( मिलावट किये गए) हैं या इनके अर्थ को बिगाड़ कर गलत रूप में प्रस्तुत किया गया है | मैं उन्हें डा. सुरेन्द्र कुमार द्वारा भाष्य की गयी मनुस्मृति पढ़ने की सलाह दूंगा |

b. प्राचीन साहित्य में गोमांस को सिद्ध करने के उनके अड़ियल रवैये के कपट का एक प्रतीक यह है कि वह मांस शब्द का अर्थ हमेशा मीट (गोश्त) के संदर्भ में ही लेते हैं | दरअसल, मांस शब्द की परिभाषा किसी भी गूदेदार वस्तु के रूप में की जाती है | मीट को मांस कहा जाता है क्योंकि वह गूदेदार होता है | इसी से, केवल मांस शब्द के प्रयोग को देखकर ही मीट नहीं समझा जा सकता |

c. उनके द्वारा प्रस्तुत अन्य उद्धरण संदेहास्पद एवं लचर हैं जो प्रमाण नहीं माने जा सकते | उनका तरीका बहुत आसान है – संस्कृत में लिखित किसी भी वचन को धर्म के रूप में प्रतिपादित करके मन माफ़िक अर्थ किये जाएं | इसी तरह, वे हमारी पाठ्य पुस्तकों में अनर्गल अपमानजनक दावों को भरकर मूर्ख बनाते आ रहें हैं |

d. वेदों से संबंधित जिन दो मंत्रों को प्रस्तुत कर वे गोमांस भक्षण को सिद्ध मान रहे हैं, आइए उनकी पड़ताल करें –

दावा:- ऋग्वेद (१०/८५/१३) कहता है -” कन्या के विवाह अवसर पर गाय और बैल का वध किया जाए | ”

तथ्य : – मंत्र में बताया गया है कि शीत ऋतु में मद्धिम हो चुकी सूर्य किरणें पुनः वसंत ऋतु में प्रखर हो जाती हैं | यहां सूर्य -किरणों के लिए प्रयुक्त शब्द  ‘गो’ है, जिसका एक अर्थ ‘गाय’ भी होता है | और इसीलिए मंत्र का अर्थ करते समय सूर्य – किरणों के बजाये गाय को विषय रूप में लेकर भी किया जा सकता है | ‘मद्धिम’ को सूचित करने के लिए ‘हन्यते’ शब्द का प्रयोग किया गया है, जिसका मतलब हत्या भी हो सकता है | परन्तु यदि ऐसा मान भी लें, तब भी मंत्र की अगली पंक्ति (जिसका अनुवाद जानबूझ कर छोड़ा गया है)  कहती है कि -वसंत ऋतु में वे अपने वास्तविक स्वरुप को पुनः प्राप्त होती हैं | भला सर्दियों में मारी गई गाय दोबारा वसंत ऋतु में पुष्ट कैसे हो सकती है ? इस से भली प्रकार सिद्ध हो रहा है कि ज्ञान से कोरे कम्युनिस्ट किस प्रकार वेदों के साथ पक्षपात कर कलंकित करते हैं |

दावा :- ऋग्वेद (६/१७/१) का कथन है, ” इन्द्र गाय, बछड़े, घोड़े और भैंस का मांस खाया करते थे |”

तथ्य :- मंत्र में वर्णन है कि प्रतिभाशाली विद्वान, यज्ञ की अग्नि को प्रज्वलित करने वाली समिधा की भांति विश्व को दीप्तिमान कर देते हैं | अवतार गिल और उनके मित्रों को इस में इन्द्र,गाय,बछड़ा, घोड़ा और भैंस कहां से मिल गए,यह मेरी समझ से बाहर है | संक्षेप में, मैं अपनी इस प्रतिज्ञा पर दृढ़ हूँ कि वेदों में गोमांस भक्षण का समर्थक एक भी मंत्र प्रमाणित करने पर मैं हर उस मार्ग को स्वीकार करने के लिए तैयार हूँ जो मेरे लिए नियत किया जाएगा अन्यथा वे वेदों की ओर वापिस लौटें |

This article is also available in English at http://agniveer.com/68/no-beef-in-vedas/

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धधक धधक हे सत्य की अग्नि

Agniveer
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16
धधक धधक हे सत्य की अग्नि

धधक धधक हे सत्य की अग्नि ,
पापाचार स्वाहा कर दे !
बजी रणभेरी धर्मयुद्ध की ,
नस-नस में चिंगारी भर दे !
 
वो चिंगारी उठे सुलग जब ,
प्रकटे वैदिक धर्म की ज्वाला |
आर्यवीर भिड़े पाप, तमस से ,
सकल विश्व होवे उजियाला !
हँसते-हँसते राष्ट्रदेव के,
चरणों में मस्तक धर दे |
 
प्रचंड पौरुष से आर्यों के ,
हो जाए जगती दीप्तिमान |
सामवेद की पावन ऋचाएं ,
घर-घर हो गुंजायमान |
ऋषिओं के युग को ले आये ,
जगत पिता ऐसा वर दे !
 
परम वैभव को राष्ट्र प्राप्त हो ,
सन्मार्ग चुने मानव जाति |
‘इदं न मम ’का वैदिक दर्शन ,
स्मरण रहे पुरखो की थाती |
सुख-दुःख में ना ईश बिसारें ,
वह शैया दे अथवा शर दे !
 
निकले सत्याग्नि के साधक,
वैदिक धर्म की ज्योत जगाने |
त्याग दिए सब विषय आकर्षण ,
अग्निवीर चले धर्म बचाने|
धरा का आँचल इनकी शैया ,
छत सिर पर इन्हें अम्बर दे |
 
धधक धधक हे सत्य की अग्नि ,
पापाचार स्वाहा कर दे !
बजी रणभेरी धर्मयुद्ध की ,
नस-नस में चिंगारी भर दे !
 
-आर्यवीर वैदिक

Understanding Manu Smriti

Agniveer
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17
Understanding Manu Smriti
This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series The real Manu Smriti

We are pleased to present a collection of valuable essays in Hindi by noted scholars on Manu Smriti edited by Dr Surendra Kumar. The essays contain some extremely useful insights which are not found elsewhere. Some of the topics discussed are:
– Fundamental ideologies of Manu Smriti
– Process, Evidence and Implications of adulteration in Manu Smriti
– Manu Smriti and Vedas
– Manu Smriti, Brahmins and Shudras
– Unique contributions of Manu Smriti
– Dr Ambedkar and Manu Smriti
The online version is an abridged one. We strongly recommend purchasing a copy of the complete book. We also recommend purchasing a copy of Manu Smriti edited by Dr Surendra Kumar.
ManuSmriti Essays
ManuSmriti Essays

Osama is dead but

Agniveer
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165
Osama is dead but

The Most Wanted Terrorist of the Century is dead. Osama Bin Laden was shot dead by American Task Force near Islamabad, the capital of our friendly neighbors Pakistan as per the media reports.

We are not sure of the real story – Whether Osama was killed yesterday or years before or is still alive or ever existed! And there seems no way to find that as well. Osama is said to have been buried in sea immediately after his death and no photographs, video or other evidences of the operation have been released in public. This has given rise to a whole bunch of conspiracy theories ranging from Osama being dead years ago to Barrack Obama being Osama bin Laden in disguise! No I am not joking. Check out yourself – http://www.theworldsprophecy.com/is-obama-osama/

Till we have more details of the operation, it is better to keep the fingers crossed. But whatever may have been the real story, it indeed is a matter of rejoice for all lovers of tolerance and humanity if indeed he has been killed.

Especially for ordinary Muslims this appears to be end of a decade of humiliation. For a whole decade the ordinary Muslim was harassed and perceived as a terrorist despite his claims of Islam meaning Peace and Quran being a book of tolerance. In airports, there was special checking for Muslims. In western countries, people would look with mistrust anyone who had a beard, turban or a cap. Even Sikhs were victimized in USA because to an ordinary westerner, a Sikh and bearded Muslim look similar.

It was an era of gross mistrust and stereotyping of Muslims as potential or actual terrorists. Even when Shahrukh Khan went to USA, he was frisked bit too much simply because he was a Muslim. We cannot blame the security personnel also. After all, the Terrorism-Bollywood nexus is not much hidden. And in times when even engineers, doctors, MBA professionals, lecturers have been found to have terrorist links, how can one spare someone who represents the most questionable industry of modern times in terms of ethics as well as source of funding?

But that is not the focus of this article.

The bottom-line is that the phenomenon called Osama made the whole world suffer. And the ordinary innocent Muslim was the worst sufferer who had to face hatred and ignominy for misdeeds of a few bad apples. Thus when the news of death of this psychopath came, it was a matter of rejoice for the entire human civilization but more so for the ordinary Muslim. It did not matter if the news was true or false. It was still a moment for him to proudly assert that he is as much the integral part of human family as rest of us. It was time for celebrations.

Now festivals are not celebrated because we have concluded that something happened x number of years ago through historical research. We celebrate them to reassert our core beliefs – of victory of goodness and defeat of the evil. This is true for all festivals – Eid, Dassera, Christmas. And this is true for death of the greatest nuisance of this millennium so far.

The normal Muslim on street is now seeing a ray of hope that their days of humiliation are nearing the end. The slur that misdeeds of Osama bin Laden brought to their face would soon be wiped.

And thus, Muslims across the world hailed death of Osama bin Laden as a victory of humanity and vindication of true Islam.

Even the Saudi government, well known for its anti-non Muslim and anti-women stand, acted in mature manner and welcomed the killing of Osama bin Laden. Not only that, Saudis even refused to accept his corpse and denied to offer any land for its funeral.

We are not sure what views does the ex-MBBS student now-Islamic apologetic Zakir Naik hold on this killing. After all he was an ardent supporter of Osama bin Laden ever since the times he was listed in Top 10 most wanted terrorists.

Zakir Naik would refuse to listen to taped confessions of Osama bin Laden released by Al-Jazeera and merely blame the media for branding Osama bin Laden as a terrorist.

To this ex-medical student, Osama bin Laden was doing a great service by terrorizing America. So enamored was our Zakir Naik by Osama that he appealed all Muslims to be terrorists. And a few months before 9/11, when Osama was still a top ten most wanted, even Shahrukh Khan is alleged to have claimed that “Osama is my Hero!” in same spirit. We doubt the veracity of this report but would not be too surprised if someone proves the contrary! After all nothing seems to be too surprising these days especially if the news is regarding Neta or Abhineta! Moreover till then most Muslim preachers were misled and misleading their fellowmen to believe that Osama is fighting for their cause. So even if Shahrukh said so, he must have been an unintentional victim of this propaganda.

But that also is besides the point. We would prefer to know the Shahrukh of ‘My name is Khan’ than this unverified story…if at all. (We have not watched the movie but hear that it is about Hindu-Muslim solidarity.)

The point of concern currently is that even now, after Osama has been reported as dead, there are these so-called representatives of Islam who condemn the killing and continue to hail Osama as a hero!

And nothing could be more damaging to the average Muslims, and especially Indian Muslims. While Saudi Arab welcomes the killing, it is the Indian mullahs, who, to showcase their loyalty to fanatic Islam, are condemning the event.

It is immaterial if the killing is true or the conspiracy theories are true. What is of relevance is the fact that this news gave an opportunity to Muslims to have their image restored in world community.

But these Mullahs are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the opposite happens. With friends like these who needs enemies?

We leave it upon the readers to decide what is motivating these minds.

Is it because they have a source of funding that originates from same source that finances or financed Osama bin Ladens of the world?

Is it because they are actually hand-in-hand with such terrorists?

Is it because they being scholars of Islam know that what Osama was doing was as per their version of Islam?

(After all the published English, Hindi and Urdu versions of Quran and Hadiths seem to indicate so and have not been refuted by any scholar (except those who are called Kafirs by other scholars))

Is it because they believe that it is prohibited in Islam to condemn a fellow Muslim, howsomuch wretched?

(The Darul Uloom Deoband site lists this clearly as Number 1 Rights of Muslims. The others in Top 5 are: conceal his shortcomings, accept his excuses, remove his obstacles.

Refer http://www.darululoom-deoband.com/english/books/rightsinislam.htm

Interestingly Rights of Human Beings are different from Rights of Muslims as if Muslims are not human beings!)

We don’t know what is the reality.

We pray none of what we listed above is true.

But all we know is that the organizations and people who condemned killing of Osama include:
1. Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt that plans to install Islamic Shariat in Egypt.

2. Hamas – the militant group joining Palestinian government and partners of Muslim Brotherhood.

The Hamas prime minister of the Gaza strip, Ismail Haniya, said: “We condemn the assassination of a Muslim and Arab warrior and we pray to God that his soul rests in peace.

3. Tehreek-e-Taliban – the banned militant outfit of Pakistan

“We will avenge Osama killing”

4. Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi

“When did any court of law in the world convict Bin Laden of terrorist activities? …… The killing (of Osama) is a continuation of US interference in Libya, Iraq and Palestine.”

5. Maulana Arshad Madani, President of one faction of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind

“I do not believe he indulged in terrorism.”

6. Asghar Ali Imam Mehdi Salafi, General Secretary of the Markaze Jamiat Ahle Hadees Hind – one of the oldest Muslim organisations in the country and believed to have Wahabi roots —

“This is a conspiracy of the enemies of Asia and of Islam to paint Muslims in a bad light.”

7. Jamaat Islam-i-Hind president Jalaluddin Umri

“It is only America’s contention that Osama was a terrorist. There is no reason for us to take their words at face value. As for his having been killed inside Pakistan by American forces, that is something Pakistan should get worried about”

8. Syed Geelani, Hurriyat Conference, Jammu & Kashmir

“He was a symbol of resistance against the US and he was martyred while defending the Muslims.”

We deplore the views of these myopics who do not want to provide any opportunity to the ordinary Muslim to come out of the terrorist stereotype.

And even bigger shock comes from interview of the Kashmiri Muslims whose minds seem to be poisoned with hatred by such fanatic leaders. Refer the interviews of local Kashmiris who regarded Osama as their fatherly figure!

http://www.hindustantimes.com/audio-news-video/Kashmiris-condemn-the-killing-of-Osama-bin-Laden/Article2-692501.aspx

To all those Muslim brothers and sisters:

– who indeed believe in tolerance, peace and humanity

– who do not believe that Allah forbids them to condemn misdeeds of other Muslims

– who do not believe that all non-Muslims will go to Hell

– who do not believe that the benevolent Allah supports racism, polygamy, slavery, hatred, terrorism, violence in any manner

– who do not believe in spurious religious texts that tend to justify racism, polygamy, slavery, hatred, terrorism, violence in any manner,

we would like to urge that:

– openly condemn all those mullahs and false representatives who are defending Osama bin Laden and harming the interests of the ordinary Muslim.

– openly refuse to have anything to do with these Imams, representatives and their mosques. Allah is everywhere but not with supporters of terrorists.

– come out strongly in condemnation of terrorists like Osama and all those who directly or indirectly support them.

– assert publicly that Allah does not differentiate between Muslims and non-Muslims, men and women, Arabs and non-Arabs when deciding whom to reward and whom to punish – either in this life or after life.

– openly condemn all those translations of scriptures that indicate to the contrary of above and are referred by these false representatives to differentiate between Muslims and non-Muslims.

And then embrace your non-Muslim brothers and sisters as part of one single family of humanity.

All humanity has one religion – humanity. All other divisions are man-made.

Let us all together celebrate the defeat of a terrorist regardless of who we are – Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Atheist, Communist or whatever.

Let us all join hands together to defeat all other terrorists and legacy of Osama bin Laden as well as all those who attempt to nurture terrorists through their poisoned teachings.

Let us join hands together to demolish the evil designs of those fanatics who differentiate among human beings on basis of believers and non-believers instead of peace-loving and violent.

And let us all pray that all those who justify acts of such terrorists or hesitate to condemn such terrorists openly better go to Hell!

We urge us all -especially the Muslims – to use this site, social network, media, print, video etc to showcase our condemnation of Osama and thwart the intentions of the fanatics.

May all noble human beings be united and all those who hate and kill be destroyed!

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Learn Sanskrit Month 6

Agniveer
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6
Learn Sanskrit Month 6

Sixth installment of the course.
Routine reiteration:
a. Do not get too bogged down by grammar and usage while you learn Sanskrit. Often Sanskrit is considered to be all about mugging up lots of declensions and conjugations and this fears off most students. Instead take is as a natural language. Feel free to make the most blatant grammatical errors so far you are able to convey your message. Develop a feel for the language instead of thinking about grammar.
How did we learn Hindi or English or our mother tongue? Did we learn grammar first or language first? And do we speak these languages in a grammatically correct fashion even today? Why burden Sanskrit with overdose of grammar in very beginning then?
Simply start talking on every other thing in Sanskrit and enjoy the funny pronunciations you make or blatant errors you make in grammar. Have a laugh on that and simply continue. Soon you will develop a natural grip over the language and grammar will be automatically taken care of.
b. Try using Sanskrit words even in your mother language. After all Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Let the children associate with their Mom and have their foundations strengthened! And in process, your road to mastery of Sanskrit will also be traversed faster.
c. Download a copy of Introduction to Vedas (Hindi) from http://agniveer.com/2045/introduction-to-vedas/ if you know Hindi. This is an amazing text not only to understand Vedic concepts but learn Sanskrit naturally. Because most sections of the book are presented in very simple Sanskrit as well as Hindi. In some sections there are deviations in Sanskrit and Hindi message and it would be a good idea to explore those areas and form the right opinion!
Download: Sanskrut Lesson 28 to 31 – Month 6
 
For supplements, download from http://www.chitrapurmath.net/sanskrit/supplements_rev.asp
Source of Lessons – Sri Chitrapur Math http://chitrapurmath.net

Manu Smriti and Women

Sanjeev Newar
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196
Manu Smriti and Women
This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series The real Manu Smriti

After seeing what Vedas have to say about women, let’s find the place of women in Manu Smriti. In this chapter, we shall evaluate Manu Smriti and review the allegation on Manu Smriti – that Manu Smriti is grossly anti-women and denigrates the Matri Shakti (motherly force).

Manu Smriti has been grossly interpolated. However, it is very easy to identify the fraud verses and separate them from the original Manu Smriti.

If we review this original Manu Smriti, one can proudly assert that there is perhaps no other text in the world (except Vedas of course!) that accords so much of respect and rights to women. Even the modern feminist books would have to seek further amendments to match up to Manu Smriti.

I am yet to read a text that so unambiguously proclaims that women form the foundation of a prosperous society.

Women – Foundation of prosperous society

Manu Smriti 3.56: The society that provides respect and dignity to women flourishes with nobility and prosperity. And a society that does not put women on such a high pedestal has to face miseries and failures regardless of how so much noble deeds they perform otherwise.

This verse of Manu Smriti is not merely a flattery of womenfolk. It is truth – very harsh for those who denigrate women and the sweetest nectar for those who glorify the motherly force. This law of nature applies to a family, society, cult, nation and entire humanity. We became slaves despite all our greatness because we neglected this advice of Maharshi Manu. We did not heed to this advice for centuries even after invasions, and hence, our situation turned from bad to worse. In late nineteenth century, thanks to efforts of reformers like Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Swami Dayanand Saraswati, we started considering the Vedic message seriously and hence observed a gradual upturn.

Many conservative Muslim countries of today consider women as half-intelligent and unworthy of equal rights at par with men. Hence, these places are worse than hell. Europe followed the derogatory Biblical concept of women for ages and hence was among most superstitious places in the world. Then, thanks to Reformation era, things changed and Bible ceased to be taken seriously. As a result, rapid progress happened. But now the woman is typically stereotyped as a sensual object of pleasure and not as a respectful motherly force. And hence, despite all the material progress, the Western world is still inflicted with insecurity and lack of inner peace.

Let’s review some more shlokas from Manu Smriti and attempt to imbibe them in our society:
Importance of happy women

Manu Smriti 3.55: Father, brother, husband or brother-in-law should keep their daughter, sister, wife or sister-in-law happy and pleased through gentle words, respectful behavior, gifts, etc. Those who desire prosperity should ensure that women in their family are always happy and do not face miseries.

Manu Smriti 3.57: A family where women remain unhappy due to misdeeds of their men is bound to be destroyed. And a family where women are always happy is bound to prosper forever.

Manu Smriti 3.58: A family- where women feel insulted or discriminated against and curse their menfolk- is destroyed in the same manner as poison kills all those who eat it.

Manu Smriti 3.59: One desiring glory should ensure that he keeps women in the family by giving them respect and pleasing them with good ornaments, dresses, and food. Women should always be revered under all circumstances.

Manu Smriti 3.62: A person who does not keep her wife happy causes misery for the entire family. And if the wife is happy, the entire family appears as happiness incarnate.

Manu Smriti 9.26: Women give birth to next generation. They enlighten the home. They bring fortune and bliss. Hence, women are synonymous to Prosperity.

This shloka forms the basis of women being called Ghar Ki Laxmi or “Goddess of Fortune in Home” in India even till today.

Manu Smriti 9.28: The woman is the source of all kinds of happiness in all generations – be it from children, or from noble, benevolent deeds or through conjugal bliss or service of elders.

In other words, the woman is the primary source of bliss in many forms – sometimes as a mother, sometimes as a daughter, sometimes as a wife and sometimes as a partner in spiritual deeds. It also means that participation of women is necessary for the conduct of any religious or spiritual activity.

Manu Smriti 9.96: Man and Woman are incomplete without each other. Hence, the most ordinary religious duty would demand participation of both.

Thus, those who deny Vedas or Vedic rituals to women are anti-Hindu and anti-Humanity.

Manu Smriti 4.180: A wise man should not indulge in fights and arguments with his family members including mother, daughter, and wife.

Manu Smriti 9.4: A father who does not marry his daughter to a deserving groom deserves condemnation. A husband who does not fulfill just demands of her wife deserves condemnation. A son who does not take care of her widow mother deserves condemnation.

Polygamy is a sin

Manu Smriti 9.101: Husband and Wife should remain together until death. They should not approach any other partner, nor commit adultery. In summary, this is the Dharma or religion of all human beings.

Thus, those societies which justify polygamy or sex-slavery or temporary marriage are bound to suffer miseries because they neglect the core tenet of Dharma.

Autonomy of Women

Manu Smriti 9.11: Women should be provided autonomy and leadership in managing the finances, maintaining hygiene, spiritual and religious activities, nutrition and overall management of the home.

The shloka clearly puts aside false claims that women do not have right to conduct religious rituals of Vedas. On the contrary, women should lead such rituals. Thus, all those people who suggest that women do not have right to study or practice Vedas are against Manu and Vedas. Such bigoted people are the cause of the misery of the nation. We should simply not tolerate such mindsets that demean women.

Manu Smriti 9.12: A woman who is kept constrained in a home by noblemen (husband, father, and son) is still insecure. Thus, it is futile to restrict women. Security of women would come only through her own capabilities and mindset.

This shloka explains the futility to attempting to restrict a woman to home in the name of providing her security. On the contrary, to secure her, she should be given the right training so that she can defend herself and avoid getting misled by the bad company. The prevailing notion of cornering women within a small home is against Manu’s ideology.

Protection of Women

Manu Smriti 9.6: Even a weak husband should attempt to protect his wife.

Manu Smriti 9.5: Women should keep themselves away from vices. Because when women lose a character, the entire society is destroyed.

Manu Smriti 5.149: A woman should always ensure that she is protected. It is the duty of father, husband, and son to protect her.

Please note that this protection does not imply restriction as clear from verse 9.12 cited in the previous section. But a society that does not protect its womenfolk from attacks of perverts writes its own destiny of doom.

It is because of this inspiration that many brave warriors laid their lives to protect the dignity of their women when butchers from West and Central Asia invaded our nation. The sacrifices of Alha-Udal and valor of Maharana Pratap brings a gush of glory in our blood.

It’s a shame that despite such a chivalrous foundation of our culture, we have women either oppressed in the backyard of homes or commoditized as sensual-items instigating lust. When we have turned ourselves into invaders instead of protectors of the dignity of women, who can help us!

Marriage of Women

Manu Smriti 9.89: It is better to keep the daughter unmarried than force her to marry an undeserving person.

Manu Smriti 9.90-91: A woman can choose her own husband after attaining maturity. If her parents are unable to choose a deserving groom, she can herself choose her husband.

Thus, the concept of parents deciding the groom for their daughter is against Manu. A mature daughter has full rights to choose her husband. Parents act as facilitators for the marriage and not final decision makers, as wrongly practiced in many societies.

Property Rights of Women

Manu Smriti 9.130: A daughter is equivalent to a son. In her presence, how can anyone snatch away her right over the property?

Manu Smriti 9.131: A daughter alone has the right to personal property of her mother.

Thus, as per Manu, while daughter has an equal share as her brothers over the property of her father, she has exclusive rights over the property of her mother. The reason for this special treatment of women is to ensure that women are never at the mercy of anyone. After all, happy and dignified women form the foundation of a happy society!

Manu Smriti 9.212-213: If a person has no kins or wife, then his wealth is distributed equally among his brothers and sisters. If the elder brother refuses to give due share to other brothers and sisters, he is punishable by law.

To further ensure the safety of women, Manu recommended harsh punishments for those who rob away the wealth of a woman, even if they are her relatives.

Manu Smriti 8.28-29: If a woman is alone because she has no children, or no men to provide for her security in her family, or is a widow, or whose husband has gone abroad, or who is unwell, then it is the duty of the government to ensure her safety and security. If her relatives or friends rob her wealth, then the government should provide strict punishment to the culprits and have her wealth returned to her.

Prohibition of Dowry

Manu Smriti 3.52: Those relatives who rob away or thrive on wealth, property, vehicles or dresses of a woman or her family are wiliest of people.

Thus, any dowry is a strict NO NO as per Manu Smriti. No one should dare attempt to take away the property of a woman.

The next shloka takes this concept further and states that even slightest exchange of tangible items amounts to sale/purchase and hence against principles of noble marriage. In fact, Manu Smriti suggests that a marriage along with dowry is a marriage of ‘Devils’ or ‘Asuri’ Vivah.

Strict Punishment for harming Women

Manu Smriti 9.323: Those who abduct women should be given a death sentence.

Manu Smriti 9.232: Those who kill women, children or scholarly virtuous people should be given strictest punishment.

Manu Smriti 8.352: Those who rape or molest women or incite them into adultery should be given the harshest punishment that creates fear among others to even think of such a crime.

Manu Smriti 8.275: One should be punished if he puts false allegations or demeans mother, wife or daughter.

Manu Smriti 8.389: Those who abandon their mother, father, wife or children without any reasonable reason should face severe punishments.

Ladies First

The concept of Ladies First seems to originate from Manu Smriti.

Manu Smriti 2.138: A man in a vehicle should give way to the following – aged person, a diseased person, one carrying burden, groom, King, student and a woman.

Manu Smriti 3.114: One should feed the following even before feeding the guests – newly married women, girls, and pregnant women.

May we all work together to implement this true Manuvaad by showering respect and ensuring the dignity of the motherly force. How else can prosperity be restored in the society, nation, and world?

References: Works of Dr Surendra Kumar, Pt Gangaprasad Updhyaya, and Swami Dayanand Saraswati

This post is also available in Hindi at http://agniveer.com/manu-smriti-and-women-hi/

This post is also available in Gujarati at http://agniveer.com/manu-smriti-and-women-gu/
 

Manu Smriti and Punishment

Sanjeev Newar
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108
Manu Smriti and Punishment
This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series The real Manu Smriti

In this short chapter, we will review the second popular allegation on Maharshi Manu – that he legalized harsh punishments for Shudras and special penal provisions for upper-castes and especially Brahmins.

We have already reviewed in the previous chapter that around 1471 out of 2685 shlokas have been proven to be later adulterations.

All those shlokas that recommend special provisions for upper-castes and harsher punishments for Shudras are part of these bogus adulterations that are very easily identifiable.

If we review the original Manu Smriti based on Vedas, we will find the situation is completely opposite. As per Manu, the penal system takes into account the education, social influence, designation, nature of crime and impact of crime while recommending punishments.

Manu offers greater respect and status to Brahmins – the educated ones. Dwijas or twice born or those who completed their education are provided heightened standing in society so far they conduct noble deeds. But when it comes to crimes, they also have to face more severe punishments. With greater potentials, come greater responsibilities and stricter punishments when one fails to fulfill those responsibilities.

(Here, I would like to emphasize once again that Brahmin or Dwija has nothing to do with birth. It is all about education.)

If our nation adopts such penal code, the bulk of the crimes and corruptions would cease to exist, and politics will become a field where any Tom, Dick or Harry cannot dare to enter and pollute as it is happening today.

Punishment and social status of the criminal

We produce few Shlokas that are relevant to the current discussion.

Manu Smriti 8.335: Be it the father, mother, teacher, friend, wife, son or priest, one who conducts a crime is punishable by the ruler.

Manu Smriti 8.336: When the punishment for an ordinary citizen is 1 cent, the punishment for those in ruling class should be 1000 cents. In other words, the punishment for those in legislation, executive or judiciary should be 1000 times that for ordinary citizens.

The concept of immunity to MPs and Judges from impeachment and legal framework is shamelessly against Manu Smriti.

Swami Dayanand adds here – Even a peon in any department of government should have a punishment that is eight times that for ordinary citizens. And all other office bearers should have a punishment proportionate to their designation till it is 1000 times for the topmost designation. Because unless government officials have a punishment that is significantly harsher compared to ordinary citizens, the government would destroy the public. Just as taming a lion demands harsher control and a goat much lesser control, similarly to ensure the safety of the public, government officials should have extremely harsh punishments.

Deviation from this penal code is the root-cause of all these corruption stories. Unless rectified, all other efforts to transform the nation will fall flat.

Manu Smriti 8.337-338: If one conducts a theft willingly and in full senses knowing the implications, he should be penalized eight times that of the ordinary thief if he is a Shudra. The penalty should be 16 times if he is a Vaishya, 32 times if he is a Kshatriya and 64 times if he is a Brahmin. The punishment can be even 100 times or 128 times if he is a Brahmin. In other words, the punishment should be directly proportional to knowledge and social status of the criminal.

Contrary to popular perceptions, when it comes to punishments, Manu Smriti is most lenient on Shudras because of their lack of education, significantly harsher on Brahmins and harshest on the government officials. In the current context, the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Chief Justice, Leaders of National Political Parties deserve harshest punishments if they do something wrong. The Ministers, MPs, MLAs, Governors, Judges come the next. And then comes the turn of Bureaucrats and Government Officials. And even a peon of a Government Department deserves much harsher punishment compared to ordinary citizens.

Among ordinary citizens, the educated class and those with influential social status who neglect their duties deserve harsher punishments.

As we said, with greater responsibilities come greater punishments. This is the real penal system of Manu Smriti.

And if so-called birth based Brahmins indeed want to claim supremacy over so-called birth-based Shudras, then they should also be ready to accept stricter punishments for themselves. Most birth based Brahmins do not know about Vedas. Now Manu says that those Brahmins, who put efforts in other areas except Vedas, are Shudras. Refer Manu Smriti 2.168. This is an insult to Brahmins. As per fake verses of Manu Smriti, the minimal repentance for harming a Brahmin even verbally is to remain hungry for a day (11.204 as per fake Manu Smriti). Thus, those who claim birth-right to Brahminism based on fake verses of Manu Smriti should remain hungry for at least 64 days continuously unless they are masters of Vedas and completely free of any vices including harsh language! (Punishment for Brahmins is 64 – 128 times that of ordinary mortals).

You cannot have “Heads I win and Tails you lose.” Be logical and honest, follow the real Manu Smriti and reject birth-based caste system totally OR be prepared for a minimum of 64 days hunger strike until you master Vedas. And then continue the strike for another 64 days if you still do not master Vedas in 64 days!

The bottom-line is that birth-based caste system does not even vaguely fit in Manu’s scheme of society. Those who support it or recommend special treatment of birth based Brahmins in matters of punishments are shamelessly against Manu, Vedas, and humanity in general. And as per Manu, such persons who cause harm to society deserve extremely severe punishments.

The notion of Shudras deserving harsher punishments is simply a hoax.
May we all adopt the penal system proposed by Manu Smriti to save the nation from claws of corrupt politicians, judiciary, and other pseudo-intellectuals.

Summary: Manu Smriti 7.17-20

• A powerful and rational penal system (Dand) is the true ruler.
• Dand is the propagator of Justice.
• Dand is the discipliner.
• Dand is the administrator.
• Dand alone protects the four Varnas and four Phases of life.
• Dand protects the public, and Dand keeps the nation awakened. That is why wise people proclaim that Dand is the Dharma.
• When Dand is used with wisdom and responsibility, it brings prosperity and bliss among public. And when Dand is used recklessly, it destroys the ruler.

It seems that time has come that the corrupt leaders and officials are destroyed because they have misused the Dand a bit too much! It’s also the time that we use Dand to punish those who support birth-based discrimination in any manner.

This alone can save society, nation, and humanity.

References: Works of Dr Surendra Kumar, Pt Gangaprasad Updhyaya, and Swami Dayanand Saraswati
This post is also available in Gujarati at http://agniveer.com/manu-smriti-and-punishment-gu/
This post is also available in Hindi at http://agniveer.com/manu-smriti-and-punishment-hi/

Manu Smriti and Shudras

Sanjeev Newar
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204
Manu Smriti and Shudras
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series The real Manu Smriti

If Agniveer were to list the top two nuisances in India, it would undoubtedly be birth-based caste system and gender discrimination</strIf Agniveer were to list the top two nuisances in India, it would undoubtedly be birth-based caste system and gender discrimination.

Yes, India is plagued by a plethora of challenges today. – Corruption, fundamentalism, terrorism, conversions, moral degradation, lack of education, health issues, sanitation problems and many more. But despite all these problems and threats, the top two – by a wide margin – would remain casteism and gender discrimination.

Because one way or the other, rest of the problems can be attributed to these two core disgraces of our otherwise glorious culture. Until these two problems – that remain the primary causes of almost all our miseries of past and present – are eradicated from the root, the hope of a glorious future would remain nothing more than hallucinations of an insane.

In other words, a prosperous and powerful society cannot co-exist with casteism and gender discrimination.

Please note that casteism and gender discrimination are not specifically Hindu issues. On the contrary, they are more of cultural issues. Gender discrimination has been a global phenomenon for ages. Casteism seems like a South Asian nuisance affecting all societies and religions that breed here, just as color-based racism is a western phenomenon.

However, Hinduism being the oldest culture and fountainhead of all other religions has to accept the blame of polluting the source. Because when these two nuisances were tolerated, the society became weak and deluged with so many different cults and religions leading to further weaknesses. All leading to the present mess and all the messes of past that we know from history.

It is surprising to find even today, many defenders of these two nuisances from otherwise intellectual and educated backgrounds. The virus of birth-based superiority is so strong that it renders even the most rational insane. Many of these virus-affected patients are considered among scholars and leaders of contemporary Hinduism!

They would innocently point to ancient scriptures that justify these nuisances and then attempt to prove the ‘science’ behind consuming this trash. The most popular scripture that is used as a scapegoat is the Manu Smriti – the oldest text on social systems.

In next two chapters, we shall evaluate the Manu Smriti.

Manu Smriti and Dalit Movement

Manu Smriti is among the most controversial texts of Vedic culture. It is not only known as the first codified text on ethics and laws in the world but also as a text promoting blatant casteism. The entire Dalit movement of modern times is based on foundations of protesting against ‘Manuvaad’.

While Manu is a hero for casteists, Dalit leaders typecast Manu as a great villain. Copies of Manu Smriti are burnt in mass to showcase love for backward sections of society by likes of Agnivesh, Mayawati, and many others. Films have been made depicting Manu as a horned devil in the guise of scholar forcing brutal atrocity on lower caste people to fulfill his perverted fetishes. Manu Smriti has become the favorite pasture for scavengers keen on bashing Hinduism and Vedas. This becomes among the most potent tools for promoting conversion away from Hinduism. And interestingly most of these Manu bashers perhaps never ever gave Manu Smriti a serious reading!

On the other side, for sadist forces within Hinduism who want to fool themselves and others on the basis of their so-called birth superiority, Manu Smriti is a religious text that gives them the divine authority to deny fair treatment to one section of population merely because they were not born special. They would quote from fake adulterated verses of Manu Smriti that smell of casteism and gender discrimination, conveniently ignoring the plethora of shlokas that speak exactly the opposite.

The tussle between these two forces has not only shaped the current cheap politics of Bharat but has been a major factor leading to foreign invasions of last 1000 years. This wretched caste system was the prime reason we could not defend our nation against barbaric invaders. This illogical caste-system was the prime reason India had to be partitioned in 1947. And this disgusting caste system is the prime reason despite so much of talent and intellectual treasure India is still a sluggish meek spineless snail in the race towards prosperity and power.

Therefore, it becomes utmost necessary to review Manu Smriti and check what it actually stands for.

Three allegations on Manu Smriti

There are three major allegations on Manu Smriti:

• Manu founded the caste system based on birth.
• Manu legalized harsh punishments for Shudras and special provisions for upper-castes and especially Brahmins.
• Manu was anti-women and condemned them. He accorded inferior rights to women.

In this chapter, we will review the first allegation – that Manu was the founder of the birth-based caste system.

Manu Smriti hails from an era when even the concept of birth-based caste system did not exist. Manu Smriti nowhere supports a social system based on birth.

Manu Smriti and Caste System

Maharshi Manu took inspiration from Vedas and proposed a social system based on qualities, actions, and nature of the individual. This is called Varna System. Now the very word Varna derived from root word “Vrinja” means “Choice.” A similar usage happens in commonly used word “Varan” meaning “choosing” or “Var” meaning a husband chosen by the girl. This also shows that the girl had complete right to choose her husband in the Vedic system.

The biggest proof of Manu Smriti proposing Varna System and NOT Caste System is that in the first Chapter of Manu Smriti, there is mention of the origin of four Varnas and no mention of castes or gotras. Had caste or gotra been important, Manu would have mentioned which castes belong to Brahmins, which to Kshatriyas, which to Vaishyas and which to Shudras.

This also means that those who feel proud in calling themselves Brahmins or upper-caste by birth have no evidence to prove so. They can only prove that a few generations of their forefathers also used to call themselves upper-caste. But there is no way to prove that they were upper-castes since the inception of civilization. And when they cannot prove so, what right do they have to allege that a so-called birth-based Shudra was also not a Brahmin several generations ago? And that they themselves were not Shudras a few generations ago!

In fact, Manu Smriti 3.109 clearly states that one who eats by glorifying his Gotra or Family is considered an eater of his own vomit.

As per the Manu Smriti that the self-proclaimed birth based Brahmins or upper-castes believe in, the very act of glorifying their lineage or Gotra to demand special privileges makes them deserving of condemnation.

Manu Smriti 2.136 states that one earns respect due to wealth, company, age, actions, and knowledge in increasing order. There is no mention of family, gotra, caste, lineage and other non-factors to demand or earn respect.

Migration within Varnas

Manu Smriti 10.65: This shloka asserts that Brahmin can become Shudra and Shudra can become Brahmin. Similarly, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas can also change their Varnas.

Manu Smriti 9.335: If a Shudra (uneducated) serves the educated ones, is polite, devoid of ego and stays in the respectful company of knowledgeable ones, he/ she is considered as having a noble birth and stature.

Several shlokas in Manu Smriti state that a person belonging to high Varna falls down to the level of a Shudra (uneducated) if he does not conduct noble deeds. For example:

Manu Smriti 2.104: A person who does not worship the Supreme Lord twice daily should be considered a Shudra.

Manu Smriti 2.172: He who has not been initiated with the teaching of the Vedas is a Sudra.

Manu Smriti 4.245: A Brahmin acquires brilliance through the company of noble persons and avoiding bad company. On the contrary, if he indulges in bad company, he becomes a Shudra.

Clearly, Brahmin refers to a scholarly person who conducts noble deeds. And Shudra refers to an uneducated person. This has nothing to do with birth in any manner.

Manu Smriti 2.168: A Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya who puts efforts in other areas except understanding and following the Vedic precepts becomes a Shudra and his future generations also suffer from ignorance of Vedas.

As per Manu Smriti, today, almost the entire population of India, barring few exceptions, is Shudra. This is because we do not abide by the Vedic concepts and we are indulged in anti-Vedic activities – corruption, casteism, selfishness, superstitions, irrationality, gender-discrimination, sycophancy, immorality, etc.

Manu Smriti 2.126: Even if he is a Brahmin otherwise, a person who does not politely respond to a greeting is actually a Shudra (uneducated person).

Even Shudras can teach

Though Shudra means an uneducated person, a Shudra can also become a teacher for specific knowledge that he has. For example,

Manu Smriti 2.238: One should acquire knowledge even from a person born in a low family otherwise. Similarly, one should accept a noble woman as a wife even if her family is otherwise not up to mark.

Manu Smriti 2.241: If needed, one may acquire knowledge from one who is not a Brahmin; and that he shall follow and serve such a teacher, as long as the instruction lasts.

Status of ‘Brahmin’ is acquired by deeds

As per Manu Smriti, one has to earn the qualification of Brahmin. During childhood, parents are supposed to send their children for the specialized education of Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya depending on observed nature of children. Many Brahmin parents may desire that their children also become Brahmins. However, that is not sufficient. One becomes Brahmin only if he completes the education and not merely by taking birth in a Brahmin family or taking admission in Brahmin course of a gurukul.

Manu Smriti 2.157: A Brahmin devoid of education is equivalent to an elephant made of wood or a deer made of leather. They are merely namesake and not real.

Manu Smriti 2.28: The body is rightfully called Brahmin only through the study of scriptures, discipline, noble, selfless deeds, the study of duties, science and meditation, charity, and goal-oriented actions.

Education is true birth

As per Manu, actual birth happens after completion of education. All human beings are Shudras or uneducated when born. Those who complete their education are supposed to have a new birth. They are called Dwija or Twice Born. Those who were unable to complete the education remain Shudra. This has nothing to do with birth or heredity. This is a pure meritocracy.

Manu Smriti 2.148: When a teacher who is well-versed in Vedas teaches a student the science of Gayatri (that summarizes all principles of Vedas and rational living), then the actual birth of the student takes place. This birth is free from risks of death or destruction and leads the student to immortality.

Forget about being a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya; one is not considered even a human unless he/she receives an education.

Manu Smriti 2.146: The teacher who provides education is a father who is much greater than the father who gave birth. The knowledge provided by the teacher remains with the soul even after the death and leads him to immortality. But the body provided by father destroys when death comes.

Manu Smriti 2.147: The birth that happens from the womb of the mother after parents’ desire for procreation is an ordinary birth. Real birth happens when the person completes his education.

Citing lineage to showcase casteist superiority is an extremely foolish act as per Manu Smriti. Instead of quoting the clan, one becomes superior by showcasing that he is more educated.

Manu Smriti 10.4: Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya take second birth after education. Shudra, who could not complete education, is fourth Varna. There is no fifth Varna among Arya or noble people.

This also means that merely because a person did not complete education does not make him a villain. He is still regarded as a noble person if his deeds are noble.

And if he completes the education, he can become a Dwija as well. Shudra is an adjective and NOT a nomenclature for any caste.

Never insult anyone born in lower family

To further ensure that one is not insulted or denied opportunities merely because he/she was born in a family where others did not excel in education, wealth or other parameters of success in society, Maharshi Manu laid the rule very clearly:

Manu Smriti 4.141: Never deny respect and/or rights to a person who is handicapped, uneducated, aged, not handsome, not wealthy or coming from a lower family. These are NOT the parameters to judge a person.

Examples of Varna migration in ancient history

The concept of Varnas – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra – being merit based and NOT birth based is not merely a theoretical concept. Varna system was practiced in the ancient era. The greatest misery befell on us when our misguided ancestors converted this scientific meritocracy into a foolish birth-based system causing all the miseries we face today.

Here are some examples:

• Aitareya Rishi was the son of a Daasa or criminal but became a Brahmin of the highest order and wrote Aitareya Brahman and Aitareyopanishad. Aitareya Brahman is considered critical to understanding Rigveda.

• Ailush Rishi was the son of a Daasi, gambler and of low character. However, he researched on Rigveda and made several discoveries. Not only was he invited by Rishis but also made an Acharya. (Aitareya Brahman 2.19)

• Satyakaam Jaabaal was the son of a prostitute but became a Brahmin.

• Prishadh was the son of King Daksha but became a Shudra. Further, he did Tapasya to achieve salvation after repenting. (Vishnu Puran 4.1.14). Had Tapasya been banned for Shudra as per the fake story from Uttar Ramayan, how could Prishadh do so?

• Nabhag, son of King Nedishtha, became Vaishya. Many of his sons again became Kshatriya. (Vishnu Puran 4.1.13)

• Dhrist was the son of Nabhag (Vaishya) but became Brahmin, and his son became Kshatriya (VP 4.2.2). Further, in his generation, some became Brahmin again (VP 9.2.23)

• As per Bhagwat, Agniveshya became Brahmin though born to a king.

• Rathotar born in Kshatriya family became a Brahmin as per Vishnu Puran and Bhagvat.

• Haarit became Brahmin though born to Kshatriya (VP 4.3.5)

• Shaunak became Brahmin though born in Kshatriya family. (VP 4.8.1). In fact, as per Vayu Puran, Vishnu Puran, and Harivansh Puran, sons of Shaunak Rishi belonged to all four Varnas.

• Similar examples exist of Gritsamad, Veethavya, and Vritsamati:

• Matanga was the son of Chandal but became a Brahmin. (Mahabharat Anushasan Parva Chapter 3)

• Raavan was born from Pulatsya Rishi but became a Rakshas.

• Pravriddha was the son of Raghu King but became a Rakshas.

• Trishanku was a king but became a Chandal.

• Sons of Vishwamitra became Shudra. Vishwamitra himself was a Kshatriya, who later became a Brahmin.

• Vidur was the son of a servant but became a Brahmin and minister of Hastinapur Empire.

• Vatsa became a Rishi though born to a Shudra (Aitareya Brahman 2.19)

Many verses of adulterated Manu Smriti (10.43-44) state that certain castes were earlier Kshatriya, but later became Shudra. These verses are adulterated but prove that concept of Varna migration did exist. The caste mentioned: Paundrak, Audru, Dravid, Kamboj, Yavan, Shak, Parad, Palhava, Cheen, Kirat, Darad, Khash.

Mahabharat Anushasana Parva 35.17-18 adds the following to above list: Mekal, Laat, Kanvashira, Shaundik, Daarva, Chaur, Shabar, Barbar.

Several gotras are common across Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Dalits implying that all of them hailed from the same family but rather got entrapped in the stupid casteism.

Respect for Shudras

Manu was a great humanitarian. He knew that not all Shudras miss their education deliberately. He also understood that just because one ignored education in early part of his life does not mean that he should be penalized for that mistake for entire life. Thus, he ensured that even Shudras get their due respect in society. He never used any insulting adjective for Shudras. On the contrary, there are several instances of Manu using respectful adjectives for Shudras.

Being vulnerable due to lack of education, Shudras deserve greater sensitivity in treatment from rest of the society as per Manu. We have seen some examples of these earlier. Here are some more:

Manu Smriti 3.112: If a Shudra or Vaishya comes as a guest, the family should feed him with due respect.

Manu Smriti 3.116: A householder should eat from remaining food only after he has fed the scholars and servants (Shudras) to their satisfaction.

Manu Smriti 2.137: A very old Shudra deserves more respect than anyone else regardless of his or her wealth, company, age, actions or knowledge. This special provision is accorded only to Shudra.

Vedas are foundation of Manu Smriti

No text apart from Vedas is free from the potential for interpolations.

That is why Vedas are accorded such high importance in our culture. Vedas form the foundation of everything else and hence if Vedas are conserved, other texts can be derived by seers in future as well.

The benchmark for interpreting any other scriptural texts is the Vedas. They are to be interpreted and accepted only to the extent they comply with Vedas. This is true for ALL texts including Smritis, Brahmans, Mahabharat, Ramayan, Geeta, Upanishads, Ayurveda, Neeti Shastra, Darshans, etc.

Manu himself announces in the Manu Smriti that Vedas alone form the foundation of Dharma.
Manu Smriti 2.8: A learned man after fully scrutinizing all this with the eye of knowledge should, in accordance with the authority of the Vedas, intent on the performance of his duties.

Thus, it becomes clear that Manu Smriti has to be interpreted ONLY in lines with Vedas.
Shudras have right to study Vedas and conduct Vedic rituals

Vedas very clearly provide the right to Shudras (and women) – in fact entire humanity – to study Vedas and conduct Vedic rituals like Yajna. Refer Yajurveda 26.1, Rigveda 10.53.4, Nirukta 3.8, etc.

Manu Smriti also supports the same Vedic truth. That is why nowhere in the context of Upanayan (education initiation) Manu does forbid Upanayan or sacred thread for Shudras. On the contrary, one who refuses to accept Sacred Thread of education is called a Shudra!

In lines with Vedas, Manu also orders the ruler to ensure that the salary and perks of Shudras be never reduced in any circumstance. (7.125-126, 8.216)

Summary

To summarize, the assumption of Manu formulating a birth-based caste system is baseless. On the contrary, Manu Smriti is vehemently against any reference to family or birth to judge a person. The Varna system of Manu is a pure meritocracy.

Each human has all the four Varnas – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. Manu attempted to organize the predominant Varna of each individual in the social context in a manner that aids individual and collective uplift.

We will review another allegation on Manu prescribing harsh punishments for Shudras and preferential treatment for Brahmins in next chapter.

But we would like to conclude this part from what Manu himself said about fraud and wrong practices.

He says in Manu Smriti 4.30 that frauds, wrong practices, deceit, perversion, and falsehood should not be respected even by words.

The caste system based on birth is one of the most disgusting fraudulent, deceitful perverted and false practices to exist among civilized human beings. As per Manu and as per Vedas, one should work to destroy this criminal practice by all means – harshest words and strongest actions. To show soft corner to birth-based caste system even in words is against Manu.

What about the perverted Verses of Manu Smriti?

Wait Wait Wait Agniveer! Before you end, I demand you to explain those perverted verses of Manu Smriti that are quoted everywhere to justify birth-based caste system and gender discrimination. I can provide hundreds of such shlokas from Manu Smriti.

Agniveer

That is the point, my friend. How can the same Manu Smriti have both verses defending as well as rejecting birth-based caste system? This means that Manu Smriti demands a closer scrutiny.

Let us review few summary points:

Point 1: The current Manu Smriti is full of interpolated/ adulterated verses that were added much later for various reasons. Almost 60% of presently popular Manu Smriti is actually fake. In fact, there is no evidence of current Manu Smriti being authentic apart from a Kolkata Manuscript of Manu Smriti concocted by British in 1794 through a person called William Jones. There is no other evidence of authenticity of current Manu Smriti than this dubious British text.

Point 2: Interpolation is not a problem with Manu Smriti alone. Apart from Vedas – that are preserved through a unique Patha and Swara method – all other texts of almost all belief systems are prone to modifications, interpolations, and deletions. These include Ramayana, Mahabharat, Bible, and Quran. Not to talk of texts like Bhavishya Puran that continued to be modified till printing press arrived!

Point 3: Three editions of Ramayan are available today – Dakshinatya, Pashchamottariya, and Gaudiya, which are different. Even Geeta Press Gorakhpur has indicated many chapters as adulterated (Prakshipta). Most scholars agree that Balkanda and Uttarkanda are grossly adulterated.

Similarly, Mahabharat is known to be a grossly interpolated text. Garud Puran Brahmakanda 1.59 states that in Kaliyuga many frauds are posing as Brahmins to remove certain shlokas and add new ones in Mahabharat.

Mahabharat Shantiparva 265.9.4 itself states that Vedic texts clearly prohibit alcohol, fish, and meat. All these have been propagated by frauds who have added such verses in scriptures through deceit.

The original version of Bible does not exist today! We only have translations of translations of some translations of the original Bible, which no one has ever seen.

Quran also is claimed to be a modified version of original teachings of Muhammad.
No wonder Manu Smriti – the oldest text on social systems – is also prone to modifications. More so because Manu Smriti historically had the greatest influence in day to day life of each citizen as well as politics of the nation. After all, it was like the constitution for centuries. Hence, the incentives for a crooked one to interpolate Manu Smriti were very high.

Point 4: When we review Manu Smriti, we find four kinds of interpolations: to bring completeness, for selfish reasons, to exaggerate and to bring defects. Most of these interpolations are blatantly obvious. Dr. Surendra Kumar has written a detailed translation of Manu Smriti in Hindi that analyzes each shloka on various parameters to weed out those verses that are obviously interpolated.

He has deduced that of the 2685 shlokas of Manu Smriti, at least, 1471 shlokas are adulterated. He has classified the adulterations as:

• out of the subject
• out of context
• contradictory
• repetition
• the difference in usage and style
• blatant contradiction with Vedas

We recommend all keen students of Vedic texts to procure a copy of Manu Smriti by Dr. Surendra Kumar (published by Aarsh Sahitya Prachar Trust, Delhi) which would make this point as transparent as air.

Point 5: Dr. Surendra Kumar is not the only person to point out adulterations in Manu Smriti. Even many a western Indologists like Macdonnell, Keith, Buhler, etc. have expressed the same.

Point 6: Even BR Ambedkar accepted that ancient scriptures have been adulterated. He has alleged adulterations in Ramayan, Mahabharat, Geeta, Puranas and even in Vedas. He cited contradictory verses from Manu Smriti. But this is ignored by modern Dalit activists.

This myopic act did stir up an anti-Manu movement and created political careers for many politicians. But this selective honesty only worsened the caste-based hatred and made Manu – a true hero – a popular villain.

Even so-called Arya Samaji Sanyasis like Agnivesh burnt copies of Manu Smriti and disgraced the great Rishi only to score political brownies. Though he very well knew that Swami Dayanand himself had asserted that Manu Smriti has been interpolated, but the unadulterated verses of Manu Smriti form the foundation of his Vedic ideology.

And now people expect such enlightened people to be instrumental in eradicating corruption from the nation by being masterminds of Anna Hazare movement! We seem to never learn from history! But that’s a different story.

Conclusion

Manu Smriti has been subject to significant adulterations. However, the adulterated verses are easy to identify and trash. The rest of the Manu Smriti is an excellent text that establishes the foundations of a meritocracy based rational society that values each individual and ensures collective success.

Vedas form the foundation of original Manu Smriti.

The existing movement against Manu Smriti is purely a political game led by those who never reviewed Manu Smriti in the first place.

True Manuvaad refers to complete outright rejection of birth-based caste system and heavy punishment for those who justify discrimination on the basis of birth. It also refers to the refusal of word ‘Dalit’ or ‘crushed one’ for certain people who are completely equal to rest of the humanity in all aspects.

Let us all work to install this Manuvaad in our society by working towards a completely caste-less and merit-based society. This is the only way to save humanity and the nation.

Let us follow the true Dharma – that is same for all human beings regardless of caste, birth, gender, geography, religion and other baseless parameters.

Manu Smriti 8.17

Noble deeds or Dharma is only one true friend that accompanies one ever after death. All others desert one as soon as death has overtaken.

References: Works of Dr Surendra Kumar, Pt Gangaprasad Updhyaya, and Swami Dayanand Saraswati

I am a non-Arab Muslim

Agniveer
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38
I am a non-Arab Muslim

I am a Muslim. A proud Muslim. But I am not Arab. I represent the entire non-Arab Muslim Ummah (community). I am the ‘black’ Muslim of Zanzibar. I am the ‘brown’ Muslim of Indian sub-continent which is the largest congregation of Muslims in the world. I provide the largest population base as well as intellectual leadership to Islam. I am home to greatest scholars and volunteers of Islam.

And yes I am indeed proud of who I am. A Muslim. Worshipper of Allah and his great last Prophet Muhammad. I live for Islam. I shall die for Islam. I have laid my life for Islam. I can even take life for Islam.

I was not always a Muslim. Some 1400 years ago, I was just a human being. My forefathers had been following Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Hinduism. In the Indian subcontinent, I had been following Hinduism – the oldest religion of humankind. I had been doing so for generations since time immemorial. If human civilization is 10,000 years old, I was Hindu for 10,000 years. If it is 100,000 years old, I was Hindu for 100,000 years. If it is 1.97 billion years old, I was Hindu for 1.97 billion years.

But then something changed. And I rejected what I was following for thousands/millions/billions of years! The change was not easy. It is difficult to change habits of only a few years. And here, I was changing my very lifeline since inception of humanity!!

The change was a tough one. But I went for it despite enormous challenges and sacrifices. For this change, looters from Arab killed my father and brothers. They raped my mother and sisters. They conducted mass carnage of my community. They continued doing it for centuries.

And then, for sake of my mother, my father, my sisters, and my brothers – I rejected my foundation. I became a Muslim. I consoled myself that the time of change has come. I had no options. The only solace lied in following the path of the Prophet of Equality. And only then could there be peace in my family.

Those were the most tragic, most bloody, most depressing, most agonizing chapters of my life. So brutal was their impact that I refused to even look into my history so that the old wounds do not revive again. I deluded myself in a history of grandeur where Allah had destined an awakening of mine towards path of truth so that I can achieve Heaven and enjoy the 72 virgins. Whatever happened was for good – to save me from eternal Hell fire. These ideas gave me lot of comfort. I rationalized everything that happened with me. I empathized with my invaders and showed example of Stockholm Syndrome in real life.

So much so that I have today completely forgotten my history. Today even when somebody reminds me of those harrowing experiences, I refuse to take them seriously. I scoff it all off as tales of fiction propagated by anti-Islamic elements and conveniently ignore the most evident facts of history.

I do so because past is past. I don’t care about that. I want to take pride in my proud present and glorious future. My eyes no more shed tears of blood, my heart no more pounds, and my sleep no more disrupts when I see flashes of my gory past suddenly in my dreams.

I have made the greatest sacrifice to be a Muslim. Islam was not served on a platter to me. No Prophet came and talked to me directly. No angel came from Heavens. No revelation was downloaded. I instead destroyed everything that was my foundation for ages or whatever I loved or cherished or was proud of…only to become a proud Muslim. I can bet that no one in history of humankind has made a sacrifice of similar enormity.

And I did it with one single solace – that being a Muslim would make me equal in status and opportunities in entire Islamic Ummah (community) of world. Not that my Vedas did not teach me equality. But lets not discuss past. I don’t want to remember all that anymore because I fear that may trigger those emotions that I have very painfully suppressed for ages.

I just want to delight in the pride of being an EQUAL Muslim. I want to be happy that all Muslims – from whatever geography, community, race or color that they may belong to – all equal in all respects. This EQUALITY ALONE is my source of pride.

In fact I feel that with all the sacrifices I made, I am the most honored Muslim in the entire Ummah.

I have not read Quran properly because Arabic has always been a foreign language for me. Even Arabic scholars have not been able to understand Quran properly; then where do I stand in one single small life? There is no way to verify veracity of Last Prophet, Heaven, Hell, Judgment Day, Gabriel, Kaba mystery, Id story and other assumptions that form foundation of Islam.

But how does it matter?

I care least about it and even if I cared, it still does not matter because neither I can understand Quran properly in one life, nor can Prophet come in my dreams to bring me revelations. The only reason that I am Muslim is because I am told that it offers me Equality. For whatever I had to face in history, if that gives me Equality, I have no regrets.

I am told that Islam offers me a dignity and status that is same for all Muslims across the world. I am told that in Islam – you are either ‘one of us’ or ‘one of them’. If you are one of us – Muslim – then we treat you with equal respect and rights. Only when you are one of them – non-Muslim or Kafirs – then we refuse to pray for Heaven for you even when you die or refuse you the right to preach your own beliefs in a Muslim country. Thankfully, I am ‘one of us’.

As a Muslim, I am told that I am not a slave of anybody except Allah. I am told that no race or tribe can dominate me or treat me as inferior. This is the only reason why I am a Muslim. And I know that I am the most respected Muslim because I made the greatest sacrifices for Allah. This is the sole foundation of Islam for me. And if this does not exist, there remains no reason why I should still follow a foreign religion in a foreign language propagated by foreigners whom I don’t even understand properly.

So far, I believed blindly whatever I was told. I kept deluding myself in my own palace of pride. But then something happened and the foundation slipped. Have you ever suddenly woke up from a beautiful dream because you felt like you slipped?

My Matrix also broke suddenly and new realities emerged.

I fell in love with an Arab girl. But then I came to know that

1. Arab men can marry my daughters and sisters but I cant marry theirs

Now I realized the Islam in practice.

The Sharia Law of Saudi Arabia is against marriage of Arab women with non-Arab men.

In most parts of Arab society, the father can simply deny to a proposal for his daughter from a non-Arab.

Yes, it is true that non-Arabs are considered inferior Muslims.

In my case, the story ended with refusal of her father. I was humiliated for daring to marry an Arab woman!

My friend was luckier but had to face more turmoils. Her fiancee was able to convince her father to agree to the marriage proposal.

To marry a non-Arab, a special permit was to be obtained from government. The laws are different and much more encouraging in case an Arab wants to marry a non-Arab woman. The permit took more than a year. And after that, the husband was refused residency. On contrary a non-Arab wife easily gets the residency.

The ordeal was so torturous that finally they decided to leave Arab forever and settle in Canada where Shariat is no more applicable.

You can read about their miseries at:

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article30078.ece

http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/3664/

I initially tried to reason it out as not a religious issue but a national issue. However when I scratched the surface, my foundation broke completely. Islam was no more the same for me.

Kafaa’at in Lineage

….the Fuqahaa (Jurists) have stated that among Arabs, a non-Quraishi male is not a match (Kuf) for a Quraishi woman, nor can any person of non-Arab descent be a match for a woman of Arab descent, no matter that he be an Aalim (religious scholar) or even a Sultan (ruling authority). [Sources: http://www.shariahprogram.ca/women-islam/kafaah.shtml and http://www.islam.tc/cgi-bin/askimam/ask.pl?q=6225&act=view ]

The hoax of equality was now exposed.

I suddenly realized that this is nothing but slavery where Muslim males can enjoy any of their slaves whom their right hand possesses but any male from the slaves can never be the match to master’s women/sisters/daughters.

So as per Shariat and practice, non-Arab Muslims have same status as slaves. The real Islam is for Arabs alone and non-Arab Muslims are merely being fooled to fulfill their political ambitions in garb of religion.

THIS WAS THE MOST SHOCKING REVELATION OF MY LIFE. I don’t know how Prophet Muhammad would have felt when he first got the revelations. But for me, this reality was far more shocking and gruesome than the violent history that led me to embrace Islam.

I did not want to give up so easily. I still had faith in Religion of Equality. So I went down the rabbit-hole further. And I was destined for some even more rude shocks.

2. Arab Muslims call Non Arab Muslims as “Mawali”

This word Mawali used by Arabs for non-Arabs is same as the one used in Indian subcontinent derogatorily as “Gunda/Badmash”. Though in Arabic, it means “heirs” as per Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir, but it was used exclusively to mean ‘slaves’ for centuries. This is how the word got its prevalent meaning in this region.

The famous Shiite Islamic scholar Mumtaz Ali Tajddin in his “Encyclopaedia of Ismailism” writes-

The Shi’ites from Iran were not granted equal status by their Arab co-citizens in the social system of Kufa, and thus they were called mawali (sing. mawla) means clients, a term to indicate inferior social standing, or second-class citizens. [Ref: http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/10590]

So if not Kafir, I am a Mawali. Instead of calling me a pig, they call me swine!

After all that sacrifice I made to embrace Islam, this is the equality that I received. I was just a puppet in hands of Arabs all the way.

I could not face myself in mirror anymore. I had my family butchered, I had my mothers and sisters raped, I had my traditions destroyed, I refused even to relook at history, and loved my own Qatil (murderers) – all to earn the title of ‘Mawali’ and be termed inferior to their breed!

But now I decided to review the history. I reviewed the available Quran translations and tafseer (commentary) by noted scholars and I found that

3. Arabs converted Non Arabs into Islam by tying them in chains on their necks

Quran [3:110] says- “Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah.”

In this verse, Arabs have been called as best of peoples ever. Many of the Muslims can argue here that “Ye” in this verse has come for Muslims in general and not for Arabs only. But their argument gets flattened when we look into the description of this verse by Ibn Kathir in Tafsir, it says-

“You, Muslims, are the best nation of people for the people, you bring them tied in chains on their necks (capture them in war) and they later embrace Islam.”

This description needs no further clarification. It clearly separates a nation of believers from those of unbelievers whom the formers used to force into Islam by tying them in chains on their necks (capturing them in war). Thus every tribe/people/nation which was converted to Islam through sword of Jihad was/is actually the slave with their necks tied with chains like cattle and dogs.

Now I knew why I was a ‘Mawali’. I could never be a true Muslim because I was not born as an Arab. I am actually only a slave who has embraced Islam after having been treated as animals and hence eternally inferior.

Thus to distinguish between the masters and the slaves, the term Mawali was/is used.

I-am-not-from-Arab--

4. Arab Ummah of Muhammad was made best among all

I always thought that Ummah (Muslim community) of Muhammad is the group of all Muslims in the world and not Arabs alone, so there is no supremacy of Arabs over others in this claim.

But to understand what “Ummah” actually means, I went back to Quran [14:4], which says- We sent not a messenger except [to teach] in the language of his [own] people, in order to make [things] clear to them. Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.

This verse unequivocally states that any group of people gets the messenger in its own language. It means that Quran and Muhammad both being Arabic were sent for Arabs alone. If Quran was meant for non-Arabs, it would have been sent in vernacular languages and not in a language that hardly anyone understands in non-Arab world.

The Ummah of Muhammad was comprised of Arabs alone. Quran [3:110], as shown earlier, claims that Arabs are best of peoples, evolved for mankind. This way all non Arabs are left with no option but to obey the commands of the best of peoples- Arabs.

Perhaps Prophet wanted to guide only the Arabs and never even thought of global expansion. But after his death, his followers misused his message. And for generations non-Arab Muslims like me have been fooled despite all our loyalty.

5. Quran and Muhammad were sent for Arabs only

The Mullahs would shout on top of their voice that Quran and Muhammad are the final book and final messenger of Allah respectively sent for whole mankind. However just have a look at these verses

1. Had We sent this as a Qur’an [in the language] other than Arabic, they would have said: “Why are not its verses explained in detail? What! [a Book] not in Arabic and [a Messenger] an Arab?”…[41:44]

2. We have made it a Qur’an in Arabic, that ye may be able to understand. [43:3]

3. …Say: “I am commanded to worship Allah, and not to join partners with Him. Unto Him do I call, and unto Him is my return.” Thus have We revealed it to be a judgment of authority in Arabic. …[13:36, 37]

4. [It is] a Qur’an inArabic, without any crookedness [therein]: in order that they may guard against Evil. [39:28]

5. A Book, whereof the verses are explained in detail;- a Qur’an in Arabic, for people who understand;- [41:3]

6. If [We had] not sent thee to the Quraish/people of Mecca,- in case a calamity should seize them for [the deeds] that their hands have sent forth, they might say: “Our Lord! why didst Thou not sent us a messenger? We should then have followed Thy Signs and been amongst those who believe!” [28:47]

7. Had We revealed it to any of the non-Arabs, And had he recited it to them, they would not have believed in it. [26:198, 199]

  • Thus Quran was not supposed to be for non-Arabs in first place. However being large-hearted non-Arab Muslims interpreted these verses to imply ‘entire humanity’ despite obvious contradictions. After all this equality was our only hope.
  • We naively forgot that Quran itself says that the revelation applicable for us is that sent in our own language by our own people.
  • Were we fools to reject our own texts and heroes and embrace a foreign revelation which we don’t even understand and was forced down our throat by those who claimed racial superiority over us? This question stirred my soul.
  • And Arabs take these verses still differently! They claim exclusive rights to Islam based on these verses and simply use Mawalis like me as tools for their political agenda.
  • I also realized that Prophet did not want Quran to be followed by non-Arabs in first place. Had that not been so, why would he have asserted that non-Arabs could not have believed in Arabic Quran even if it were revealed to them? (Refer Verse 7 above).
  • And that is why Arabs are convinced that despite their loyalty up to death, non-Arabs cannot understand Quran! Quran is for the Arabs by the Arab prophet. Non-Arab Muslims can only read the translations- the man made stuff.

That is why we – the non-Arab Muslims – are ‘Mawalis’. That is why we are inferior to their race.

6. Caliphate sealed for Arabs only, Non Arabs can only be loyal servants to Arab masters

I will not comment about Islam of Prophet Muhammad. But the Islam of today is nothing more than a political agenda for racial superiority of Arabs.

That is why, as per Islam, the ruler of Muslim Ummah – the Caliph should be a Quraish (Arabic tribe which Muhammad belonged to). Any Non Quraish can never dream of becoming Caliph because Quraish are born rulers and Non Arabs are born slaves 🙁

Sahih Bukhari 8.82.817:

…After a pause he (Abu Bakr) said, ‘O Ansar! You deserve all (the qualities that you have attributed to yourselves, but this question (of Caliphate) is only for the Quraish as they are the best of the Arabs as regards descent and home, and I am pleased to suggest that you choose either of these two men, so take the oath of allegiance to either of them as you wish. …

Sahih Bukhari 4.56.704:

…Beware of such hopes as make the people go astray, for I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, ‘Authority of ruling will remain with Quraish, and whoever bears hostility to them, Allah will destroy him as long as they abide by the laws of the religion.’ “

Sahih Bukhari 4.56.705:

Narrated Ibn `Umar: The Prophet said, “Authority of ruling will remain with Quraish, even if only two of them remained.“

Thus, howsomuch loyal a Muslim I become, howsomuch Zakaat I pay, howsomuch Deen I follow, howsomuch strong my leadership skills be, I cannot become Caliph of Muslims.

A Yazeed who killed Prophet’s kins can become Caliph, his children can become Caliph, but not an Indian or Pakistani or Bangladeshi or Indonesian or African or European Muslim.

We will just remain ‘Mawalis’. Our job is to blindly follow what our Arab rulers say – because only they are the blessed ones to have received Allah’s last message in their own language – and work for propagation of Islam so that an Arab can tomorrow become a Caliph.

7. Only seventy thousand seats available for Muslims in heaven, will those be filled by masters or slaves?

Non-Arabs cannot even find consolation in hope that eventually after Judgment Day, Allah will grant them 72 virgins in Heaven forever for dying as Muslims, as claimed by Mullahs. Because even the seats of Heaven have been already booked by these Arabs as per Sahih (True) Hadiths.

Sahih Bukhari 8.76.550:

Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “From my followers there will enter Paradise a crowd, seventy thousand in number, whose faces will glitter as the moon does when it is full…”

So the quota was long over for non-Arabs 🙁

8. Allah hates Blacks

I am not very fair but also not that dark. Perhaps you can call me brown. I don’t know what my status is. But for ‘blacks’, this Arabic supremacy is even more humiliating. There are countless references in Hadiths and Quran that Allah dislikes Black. He would thus ensure that before entry to Heaven, everyone would be made ‘white’. And all who enter Hell would be made dark.

No text in the world is more hateful of ‘blacks’ and glorifies ‘Arabs’ then Islamic religious texts.

For example:

  • Tabari IX:69 “Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds. We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us.
  • Tabari II:11 “Shem, the son of Noah was the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Greeks; Ham was the father of the Black Africans; and Japheth was the father of the Turks and of Gog and Magog who were cousins of the Turks. Noah prayed that the prophets and apostles would be descended from Shem and kings would be from Japheth. He prayed that the African’s color would change so that their descendants would be slaves to the Arabs and Turks. (Thus Blacks cannot be either prophets, apostles or kings in Islamic Ummah. They instead got black color so that they could be slaves! Can anything be more insulting to blacks?)
  • Ishaq:243 “I heard the Apostle say: ‘Whoever wants to see Satan should look at Nabtal!’ He was a black man with long flowing hair, inflamed eyes, and dark ruddy cheeks… “Gabriel came to Muhammad and said, ‘If a black man comes to you, his heart is more gross than a donkey’s.”
  • Ishaq:144 “A rock was put on a slave’s chest.
  • Bukhari: V9B89N256 “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘You should listen to and obey your ruler even if he is a black African slave whose head looks like a raisin.’ Just look at the derogatory remarks for a ‘black’!
  • Ibn Timiyya (Vol. 32, p. 89) “Slavery is justified because of the war itself; however, it is not permissible to enslave a free Muslim. It is lawful to kill the infidel or to enslave him, and it also makes it lawful to take his offspring into captivity.“
  • Ibn Timiyya (Vol. 31, p. 380) So Islam not only allows for Muslim to capture slaves in wars, yet the sons and daughters of these slaves are also legal properties of the captor Muslim!
  • Ibn Hashim: “Prophet’s Biography” (Al-Road Al-Anf’) (Part 4, p. 177) This question was delivered to Mufti Ibn Timiyya. “A man married a maid-slave who bore him a child. Would that child be free or would he be an owned slave?” Ibn Timiyya (Vol. 31, p. 376 – 377) Ibn Timiyya replied: “Her child whom she bore from him would be the property of her master according to all the Imams (heads of the four Islamic schools of law) because the child follows the status of his mother in freedom or slavery. If the child is not of the race of Arabs, then he is definitely an owned slave according to the scholars, but the scholars disputed his status among themselves if he was from the Arabs – whether he must be enslaved or not, because when A’isha (Mohammed’s wife) had a maid-slave who was an Arab, Mohammed told A’isha, `Set this maid free because she is from the children of Ishmael.’
  • For more references, visit http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/127866 and http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2067472/posts

Why does Allah hate my color? I am proud to be brown. My friends are proud to be black. To me they are more handsome than rest of the world because I respect them for what they are. Why does Allah want to change our identities when we enter Heaven? Why has he destined ‘blacks’ till Judgment Day? What’s so wrong with being Black?

The real reason is that Arabs were the fairest and hence this dogma of Arab supremacy was bound to exist in Islam.

It was my folly that I did not read it so far and got manipulated.

Thus, the brutal Arabic truth is that:

a. I am a Mawali

b. I was converted to Islam by getting my neck tied with chains

c. Arabs are best among all humans and I belong to an inferior race

d. Final message and messengers of Allah were sent in the foreign language and land and still I had to surrender to Arabs because I was inferior

e. I cant rule Muslims/world because I do not possess ruling genes unlike Arab masters

f. The women belonging to my country/race can be offered to master Arabs but I cannot have women of the master race Arab

g. Allah hates Blacks

So what options I have today? I still feel like a loyal Muslim as Islam runs in my blood today. Its part of my ego now. I have fought many battles for Islam and they define my pride. I killed my own self to take birth as an Islamic Jihadi. Where do I go now?

It would be a disgrace to Allah if I allow to be treated unfairly merely because Allah made me non-Arab. My pride of being Muslim cannot come at cost of insulting the Almighty Allah.

Thus Islam HAS TO change and provide me total equality for sake of my self-dignity and pride, my sacrifices, the blood of my ancestors, the atrocities on my mother and sisters.

Now some may say that whatever verses I have quoted are out of context and mistranslated. In reality they mean something else.

But that’s the whole point. Arabic is a foreign language for me. Arabic is a foreign language for majority of Muslims today. Even Arabic scholars refuse to claim that they understand Quran completely. So this argument is baseless distraction. One cannot merely point at the Chanda Mama (Moon Uncle) to distract a grown up person who is no more a baby.

To decide whether translations are true or false is not something that any non-Arab Muslim can do in this small life. It is impossible even for Arab Muslims. All I know is that these translations have been taken from established texts of Islam published by official sources of all major schools and bodies of Islam.

Demands of a non-Arab non-racist Muslim

The proof of cake lies in its eating. So instead of passing the buck on wrong translations or conspiracy of Kafirs or inadeqaute intelligence of Mawalis, all major schools and preachers of Islam have to officially announce the following if they are indeed not fooling non-Arab Muslims:

1. Whenever the next Caliph is appointed in future, whenever Muslim Ummah is strengthened, he would be a non-Arab Muslim. We prefer him to be from Indian subcontinent because it is the largest Muslim group of world. But we do not mind and would instead welcome if he be a native African of ‘black’ color.

2. The next chief Imam of Masjid-al-Haram – the largest mosque of world that surrounds and manages Kaba area – would be a non-Arab. And the team of Imams would have a proportionate representation of all ethnic groups.

Till this happens, they would boycott and condemn Saudi Arabia government and call for ban on Hajj to oppose racism. After all, when EQUALITY – the much touted foundation of Islam – is mocked, rest of the rituals become mere jokes.

(So far not one single Imam in history of Mecca mosque has been non-Arab. Shame on this blatant racial discrimination in a location that is sacred for entire Muslim Ummah.)

3. They would force Saudi Arabia government to change rules regarding marriage of Arab woman to a non-Arab Muslim man. They would force Saudi Arabia government to proactively denounce recial discrimination in marrige as a social evil. And till that happens, they would condemn Saudi Arabia government officially for being anti-Islamic.

4. All those translations of Quran, Tafsirs, Hadiths and other Islamic texts that smell of racial discrimination in any manner as fake and hence should be banned. They would issue fatwa that all these translations are ‘haram’ and any person involved in promoting, distributing, recommending or quoting these is guided by Satan. For example, works of Ibn Kathir, Muhsin Khan, Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, Dawood, Jalalyn, Al-Tabari etc as available in English and Urdu deserve the fatwa. One can give benefit of doubt to Arabic verses assuming that their meanings can be understood only after Judgment Day. But there has to be zero tolerance for all these translations.

5. The term Mawali be officially banned and there be heavy punishment for usage of this word for non-Arabs.

6. There should be official apology and repentance for the fact that ever since inception of Islam, none of the above points were forcefully adopted by any prominent Islamic group and no concrete steps were undertaken to destroy racism. This should be cited as the greatest disgrace to Muslim Ummah of non-Arab world.

I demand that my pride be restored. I am and want to remain a proud Muslim. But I also want to be a proud Indian, a proud Pakistani, a proud African. And above all a proud human being.

Religion that comes with strings of slavery is not a religion, but a farce. Vedic Dharma – which is applicable to all human beings and all religions – clearly states that Allah’s blessings is same for all – men, women, all nations, all creeds, all races, all colors.

I demand that my religious leaders and preachers ensure that Islam is formally adhering to this noble Vedic precept. All it has to do is to announce its support to the above points.

I love Islam. I live for Islam and can die for it. But not at cost of my nation and my roots. And definitely not at expense of dignity as a human. I refuse to be treated as a slave anymore.

Liberty is my first and foremost birthright that no ideology can dupe me to reliquish.

Like all rational people of this great nation, I am first a human, then an Indian and only then a Muslim.

I am a proud Muslim. But first I am a proud Indian and even before that I am a proud human being.

I can afford to even be a Murtid (apostate) but can settle for nothing less than exactly equal treatment and equal rights as Arabs. I also demand unconditional apology for the blunder so far.

O Allah! Forgive me if I am wrong. But it were You who taught me that I have right to smile and seek happiness simply because I am a human. You taught me even as a baby that all human beings deserve equal treatment regardless of race, gender or color.

This was the first lesson you taught me even before I came to know that I am Muslim and he is Hindu, Christian, Jew, whatever.

All other lessons were taught by humans. But this smile and equality was taught directly by You. I can leave everything else, but not this divine revelation of Yours.

I can forget my gory past, I can forget how I became a Muslim, I can forget the cries of my ancestors who were murdered and raped, I can forget my roots, I can forget what I had been following ever since inception of humanity, I can forget my culture, but I simply cannot forget the first lessons of liberty and equality taught by You.

I would rather reject being called Muslim than reject You and Your lessons.

If I have to be a Muslim, let the above points be fulfilled first by the representatives of Islam. Let them officially support my demands.

Till that happens, I am simply a human being.

And I am not from Arab.

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वेदों में जाति-व्यवस्था नहीं

Sanjeev Newar
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46
वेदों में जाति-व्यवस्था नहीं
इस श्रृंखला में  प्रकाशित अब तक के लेखों में हम आक्रमणकारी आर्यों के भारतवर्ष में आकर यहाँ के आदि निवासियों को पराजित कर दास बना उनसे नीचा काम करवाने की मनघडंत कहानियों द्वारा गुमराह करने का षड़यंत्र देख चुके हैं | इसके विपरीत हम वेदों में श्रम का सर्वोच्च महत्त्व पाते हैं | हमने देखा कि आर्यों के चाकर या आदि निवासी समझे गए दास दस्यु या राक्षस वस्तुतः अपराधियों के लिए प्रयुक्त किये जाने वाले पर्यायवाची शब्द हैं | प्रत्येक सभ्य समाज ऐसे अपराधियों पर अंकुश लगाता है |
हम यह भी देख चुके हैं कि वेदों में सभी चार वर्णों को जिनमें शूद्र भी शामिल हैं, आर्य माना गया है और अत्यंत सम्मान दिया गया है | यह हमारा दुर्भाग्य है कि वेदों की इन मौलिक शिक्षाओं को हमने विस्मृत कर दिया है, जो कि हमारी संस्कृति की आधारशिला हैं | और जन्म-आधारित जाति व्यवस्था को मानने तथा कतिपय शूद्र समझी जाने वाली जातियों में जन्में व्यक्तियों के साथ भेदभाव पूर्ण व्यवहार आदि  करने की गलत अवधारणाओं में हम फँस गए हैं |
कम्युनिस्ट और पूर्वाग्रह ग्रस्त भारतीय चिंतकों की भ्रामक कपोल कल्पनाओं ने पहले ही समाज में अलगाव के बीज बो कर अत्यंत क्षति पहुंचाई है | अभाग्यवश दलित कहे जाने वाले लोग खुद को समाज की मुख्य धारा से कटा हुआ महसूस करते हैं, फलतः हम समृद्ध और सुरक्षित सामाजिक संगठन में नाकाम रहे हैं | इस का केवल मात्र समाधान यही है कि हमें अपने मूल, वेदों की ओर लौटना होगा और हमारी पारस्परिक (एक-दूसरे के प्रति) समझ को पुनः स्थापित करना होगा | इस लेख में हम वेदों में जाति व्यवस्था की वास्तविकता और शूद्र के यथार्थ अर्थ का आकलन करेंगे |
१. जैसे कि हम पहले लेख “vedas and shudra” में चर्चा कर चुके हैं  कि  वेदों में मूलतः ब्राहमण, क्षत्रिय,वैश्य और शूद्र पुरुष या स्त्री के लिए कहीं कोई बैरभाव या भेदभाव का स्थान नहीं है |
२. जाति (caste) की अवधारणा यदि देखा जाए तो काफ़ी नई है | जाति (caste) के पर्याय के रूप में स्वीकार किया जा सके या अपनाया जा सके ऐसा एक भी शब्द वेदों में नहीं है | जाति (caste) के नाम पर साधारणतया स्वीकृत दो शब्द हैं — जाति और वर्ण | किन्तु सच यह है कि तीनों ही पूर्णतया भिन्न अर्थ रखते हैं |
जाति (caste) की अवधारणा यूरोपियन दिमाग की उपज है जिसका तनिक अंश भी वैदिक संस्कृति में नहीं  मिलता |
जाति – जाति का अर्थ है उद्भव के आधार पर किया गया वर्गीकरण | न्याय सूत्र यही कहता है “समानप्रसवात्मिका जाति:” अथवा जिनके जन्म का मूल स्त्रोत सामान हो (उत्पत्ति का प्रकार एक जैसा हो) वह एक जाति बनाते हैं | ऋषियों द्वारा प्राथमिक तौर पर जन्म-जातियों को चार स्थूल विभागों में बांटा गया है – उद्भिज(धरती में से उगने वाले जैसे पेड़, पौधे,लता आदि), अंडज(अंडे से निकलने वाले जैसे पक्षी, सरीसृप आदि), पिंडज (स्तनधारी- मनुष्य और पशु आदि), उष्मज (तापमान तथा परिवेशीय स्थितियों की अनुकूलता के योग से उत्त्पन्न होने वाले – जैसे सूक्ष्म जिवाणू वायरस, बैक्टेरिया आदि) |
हर जाति विशेष के प्राणियों में शारीरिक अंगों की समानता पाई जाती है | एक जन्म-जाति दूसरी जाति में कभी भी परिवर्तित नहीं हो सकती है और न ही भिन्न जातियां आपस में संतान उत्त्पन्न कर सकती हैं | अतः जाति ईश्वर निर्मित है |
जैसे विविध प्राणी हाथी, सिंह, खरगोश इत्यादि भिन्न-भिन्न जातियां हैं | इसी प्रकार संपूर्ण मानव समाज एक जाति है | ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र किसी भी तरह भिन्न जातियां नहीं हो सकती हैं क्योंकि न तो उनमें परस्पर शारीरिक बनावट (इन्द्रियादी) का भेद है और न ही उनके जन्म स्त्रोत  में भिन्नता पाई जाती है |
बहुत समय बाद जाति शब्द का प्रयोग किसी भी प्रकार के वर्गीकरण के लिए प्रयुक्त होने लगा | और इसीलिए हम सामान्यतया विभिन्न समुदायों को ही अलग जाति कहने लगे | जबकि यह मात्र व्यवहार में सहूलियत के लिए हो सकता है | सनातन सत्य यह है कि सभी मनुष्य एक ही जाति हैं |
वर्ण – ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र के लिए प्रयुक्त किया गया सही शब्द – वर्ण है – जाति नहीं | सिर्फ यह चारों ही नहीं बल्कि आर्य और दस्यु भी वर्ण कहे गए हैं | वर्ण का मतलब है जिसे वरण किया जाए (चुना जाए) | अतः जाति ईश्वर प्रदत्त है जबकि वर्ण अपनी रूचि से अपनाया जाता है | जिन्होंने आर्यत्व को  अपनाया वे आर्य वर्ण कहलाए और जिन लोगों ने दस्यु कर्म को स्वीकारा वे दस्यु वर्ण कहलाए | इसी प्रकार ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र वर्ण कहे जाते हैं | इसी कारण वैदिक धर्म  ‘वर्णाश्रम धर्म’ कहलाता है | वर्ण शब्द का तात्पर्य ही यह है कि वह चयन की पूर्ण स्वतंत्रता व गुणवत्ता पर आधारित है |

३. बौद्धिक कार्यों में संलग्न व्यक्तियों ने ब्राहमण वर्ण को अपनाया है | समाज में रक्षा कार्य व  युद्धशास्त्र में रूचि योग्यता रखने वाले क्षत्रिय वर्ण के हैं |  व्यापार-वाणिज्य और पशु-पालन आदि का कार्य करने वाले वैश्य तथा जिन्होंने इतर सहयोगात्मक कार्यों का चयन किया है वे शूद्र वर्ण कहलाते हैं | ये मात्र आजीविका के लिए अपनाये जाने वाले व्यवसायों को दर्शाते हैं, इनका जाति या जन्म से कोई सम्बन्ध नहीं है |
४. वर्णों को जन्म आधारित बताने के लिए ब्राह्मण का जन्म ईश्वर के मुख से हुआ, क्षत्रिय ईश्वर की भुजाओं से जन्में, वैश्य जंघा से तथा शूद्र ईश्वर के पैरों से उत्पन्न हुए यह सिद्ध करने के लिए पुरुष सूक्त के मंत्र प्रस्तुत किये जाते हैं | इस से बड़ा छल नहीं हो सकता, क्योंकि –
(a) वेद ईश्वर को निराकार और अपरिवर्तनीय वर्णित करते हैं | जब परमात्मा निराकार है तो इतने महाकाय व्यक्ति का आकार कैसे ले सकता है ? (देखें यजुर्वेद ४०.८)

(b) यदि इसे सच मान भी लें तो इससे वेदों के कर्म सिद्धांत की अवमानना होती है | जिसके अनुसार शूद्र परिवार का व्यक्ति भी अपने कर्मों से अगला जन्म किसी राजपरिवार में पा सकता है | परन्तु यदि शूद्रों को पैरों से जन्मा माना जाए तो वही शूद्र पुनः ईश्वर के हाथों से कैसे उत्त्पन्न होगा?
(c) आत्मा अजन्मा है और समय से बद्ध नहीं (नित्य है) इसलिए आत्मा का कोई वर्ण नहीं होता | यह तो आत्मा द्वारा मनुष्य शरीर धारण किये जाने पर ही वर्ण चुनने का अवसर मिलता है | तो क्या वर्ण ईश्वर के शरीर के किसी हिस्से से आता है? आत्मा कभी ईश्वर के शरीर से जन्म तो लेता नहीं तो क्या ऐसा कहा जा सकता है कि आत्मा का शरीर ईश्वर के शरीर के हिस्सों से बनाया गया? किन्तु वेदों की साक्षी से प्रकृति भी शाश्वत है और कुछ अणु पुनः विभिन्न मानव शरीरों में प्रवाहित होते हैं | अतः यदि परमात्मा सशरीर मान ही लें तो भी यह असंभव है किसी भी व्यक्ति के लिए की वह परमात्मा के शरीर से जन्म ले |
(d) जिस पुरुष सूक्त का हवाला दिया जाता है वह यजुर्वेद के ३१ वें अध्याय में है साथ ही कुछ भेद से ऋग्वेद और अथर्ववेद में भी उपस्थित है | यजुर्वेद में यह ३१ वें अध्याय का ११ वां मंत्र है | इसका वास्तविक अर्थ जानने के लिए  इससे पहले मंत्र ३१.१० पर गौर करना जरूरी है | वहां सवाल पूछा गया है – मुख कौन है?, हाथ कौन है?, जंघा कौन है? और पाँव कौन है? तुरंत बाद का मंत्र जवाब देता है – ब्राहमण मुख है, क्षत्रिय हाथ हैं, वैश्य जंघा हैं तथा शूद्र पैर हैं |
यह ध्यान रखें की मंत्र यह नहीं कहता की ब्राह्मण मुख से “जन्म लेता” है … मंत्र यह कह रहा है की ब्राह्मण ही मुख है | क्योंकि अगर मंत्र में “जन्म लेता” यह भाव अभिप्रेत होता तो “मुख कौन है?” इत्यादि प्रश्नों का उत्तर देने की आवश्यकता ही नहीं थी |
उदाहरणतः यह पूछा जाए, “दशरथ कौन हैं?” और जवाब मिले “राम ने दशरथ से जन्म लिया”, तो यह निरर्थक जवाब है |
इसका सत्य अर्थ है – समाज में ब्राह्मण या बुद्धिजीवी लोग समाज का मस्तिष्क, सिर या मुख बनाते हैं जो सोचने का और बोलने का काम करे | बाहुओं के तुल्य रक्षा करने वाले क्षत्रिय हैं, वैश्य या उत्पादक और व्यापारीगण जंघा के सामान हैं जो समाज में सहयोग और पोषण प्रदान करते हैं  (ध्यान दें ऊरू अस्थि या फिमर हड्डी शरीर में रक्तकोशिकाओं का निर्माण करती हैं और सबसे सुदृढ़ हड्डी होती है ) | अथर्ववेद में ऊरू या जंघा के स्थान पर ‘मध्य’ शब्द का प्रयोग हुआ है | जो शरीर के मध्य भाग और उदर का द्योतक है | जिस तरह पैर शरीर के आधार हैं जिन पर शरीर टिक सके और दौड़ सके उसी तरह शूद्र या श्रमिक बल समाज को आधार देकर गति प्रदान करते हैं |
इससे अगले मंत्र इस शरीर के अन्य भागों जैसे मन, आंखें इत्यादि का वर्णन करते हैं | पुरुष सूक्त में मानव समाज की उत्पत्ति और संतुलित समाज के लिए आवश्यक मूल तत्वों का वर्णन है |
यह अत्यंत खेदजनक है कि सामाजिक रचना के इतने अप्रतिम अलंकारिक वर्णन का गलत अर्थ लगाकर वैदिक परिपाटी से सर्वथा विरुद्ध विकृत स्वरुप में प्रस्तुत किया गया है |
ब्राह्मण ग्रंथ, मनुस्मृति, महाभारत, रामायण और भागवत में भी कहीं परमात्मा ने ब्राह्मणों को अपने मुख से मांस नोंचकर पैदा किया और क्षत्रियों को हाथ के मांस से इत्यादि ऊलजूलूल कल्पना  नहीं पाई जाती है |
५. जैसा कि आधुनिक युग में विद्वान और विशेषज्ञ सम्पूर्ण मानवता के लिए मार्गदर्शक होने के कारण हम से सम्मान पाते हैं इसीलिए यह सीधी सी बात है कि क्यों ब्राह्मणों को वेदों में उच्च सम्मान दिया गया है | अपने पूर्व लेखों में हम देख चुके हैं कि वेदों में श्रम का भी समान रूप से महत्वपूर्ण स्थान है | अतः किसी प्रकार के (वर्ण व्यवस्था में) भेदभाव के तत्वों की गुंजाइश नहीं है |६. वैदिक संस्कृति में प्रत्येक व्यक्ति जन्मतः शूद्र ही माना जाता है | उसके द्वारा प्राप्त शिक्षा के आधार पर ही ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय व वैश्य वर्ण निर्धारित किया जाता है | शिक्षा पूर्ण करके योग्य बनने को दूसरा जन्म माना जाता है | ये तीनों वर्ण ‘द्विज’ कहलाते हैं क्योंकि इनका दूसरा जन्म (विद्या जन्म) होता है | किसी भी कारणवश अशिक्षित रहे मनुष्य शूद्र ही रहते हुए अन्य वर्णों के सहयोगात्मक कार्यों को अपनाकर समाज का हिस्सा बने रहते हैं |
७. यदि ब्राह्मण का पुत्र विद्या प्राप्ति में असफल रह जाए तो शूद्र बन जाता है | इसी तरह शूद्र या दस्यु का पुत्र भी विद्या प्राप्ति के उपरांत ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय या वैश्य वर्ण को प्राप्त कर सकता है |यह सम्पूर्ण व्यवस्था विशुद्ध रूप से गुणवत्ता पर आधारित है | जिस प्रकार शिक्षा पूरी करने के बाद आज उपाधियाँ दी जाती हैं उसी प्रकार वैदिक व्यवस्था में यज्ञोपवीत दिया जाता था | प्रत्येक वर्ण के लिए निर्धारित कर्तव्यकर्म का पालन व निर्वहन न करने पर यज्ञोपवीत वापस लेने का भी प्रावधान था |८. वैदिक इतिहास में वर्ण परिवर्तन के अनेक प्रमाण उपस्थित हैं, जैसे –
(a) ऐतरेय ऋषि दास अथवा अपराधी के पुत्र थे | परन्तु उच्च कोटि के ब्राह्मण बने और उन्होंने ऐतरेय ब्राह्मण और ऐतरेय उपनिषद की रचना की | ऋग्वेद को समझने के लिए ऐतरेय ब्राह्मण अतिशय आवश्यक माना जाता है |
(b) ऐलूष ऋषि दासी पुत्र थे | जुआरी और हीन चरित्र भी थे | परन्तु बाद में उन्होंने अध्ययन किया और ऋग्वेद पर अनुसन्धान करके अनेक अविष्कार किये |ऋषियों ने उन्हें आमंत्रित कर के आचार्य पद पर आसीन  किया | (ऐतरेय ब्राह्मण २.१९)
(c) सत्यकाम जाबाल गणिका (वेश्या) के पुत्र थे परन्तु वे ब्राह्मणत्व को प्राप्त हुए  |
(d) राजा दक्ष के पुत्र पृषध शूद्र हो गए थे, प्रायश्चित स्वरुप तपस्या करके उन्होंने मोक्ष प्राप्त किया | (विष्णु पुराण ४.१.१४)
अगर उत्तर रामायण की मिथ्या कथा के अनुसार शूद्रों के लिए तपस्या करना मना होता तो पृषध ये कैसे कर पाए?
(e) राजा नेदिष्ट के पुत्र नाभाग वैश्य हुए | पुनः इनके कई पुत्रों ने क्षत्रिय वर्ण अपनाया | (विष्णु पुराण ४.१.१३)
(f) धृष्ट नाभाग के पुत्र थे परन्तु ब्राह्मण हुए और उनके पुत्र ने क्षत्रिय वर्ण अपनाया | (विष्णु पुराण ४.२.२)
(g) आगे उन्हींके वंश में पुनः कुछ ब्राह्मण हुए | (विष्णु पुराण ४.२.२)
(h) भागवत के अनुसार राजपुत्र अग्निवेश्य ब्राह्मण हुए |
(i) विष्णुपुराण और भागवत के अनुसार रथोतर क्षत्रिय से ब्राह्मण बने |
(j) हारित क्षत्रियपुत्र से ब्राह्मण हुए | (विष्णु पुराण ४.३.५)
(k) क्षत्रियकुल में जन्में शौनक ने ब्राह्मणत्व प्राप्त किया | (विष्णु पुराण ४.८.१) वायु, विष्णु और हरिवंश पुराण कहते हैं कि शौनक ऋषि के पुत्र कर्म भेद से ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र वर्ण के हुए| इसी प्रकार गृत्समद, गृत्समति और वीतहव्य के उदाहरण हैं |
(l) मातंग चांडालपुत्र से ब्राह्मण बने |
(m) ऋषि पुलस्त्य का पौत्र रावण अपने कर्मों से राक्षस बना |
(n) राजा रघु का पुत्र प्रवृद्ध राक्षस हुआ |
(o) त्रिशंकु राजा होते हुए भी कर्मों से चांडाल बन गए थे |
(p) विश्वामित्र के पुत्रों ने शूद्र वर्ण अपनाया | विश्वामित्र स्वयं क्षत्रिय थे परन्तु बाद उन्होंने ब्राह्मणत्व को प्राप्त किया |
(q) विदुर दासी पुत्र थे | तथापि वे ब्राह्मण हुए और उन्होंने हस्तिनापुर साम्राज्य का मंत्री पद सुशोभित किया |

९. वेदों में ‘शूद्र’ शब्द लगभग बीस बार आया है | कहीं भी उसका अपमानजनक अर्थों में प्रयोग नहीं हुआ है | और वेदों में किसी भी स्थान पर शूद्र के जन्म से अछूत होने ,उन्हें वेदाध्ययन से वंचित रखने, अन्य वर्णों से उनका दर्जा कम होने या उन्हें यज्ञादि से अलग रखने का उल्लेख नहीं है |

१०. वेदों में अति परिश्रमी कठिन कार्य करने वाले को शूद्र कहा है (“तपसे शूद्रम”-यजु .३०.५), और इसीलिए पुरुष सूक्त शूद्र को सम्पूर्ण मानव समाज का आधार स्तंभ कहता है |
११. चार वर्णों से अभिप्राय यही है कि मनुष्य द्वारा चार प्रकार के कर्मों को रूचि पूर्वक अपनाया जाना | वेदों के अनुसार एक ही व्यक्ति विभिन्न परिस्थितियों में चारों वर्णों के गुणों को प्रदर्शित करता है | अतः प्रत्येक व्यक्ति चारों वर्णों से युक्त है | तथापि हमने अपनी सुविधा के लिए मनुष्य के प्रधान व्यवसाय को वर्ण शब्द से सूचित किया है |
अतः वैदिक ज्ञान के अनुसार सभी मनुष्यों को चारों वर्णों के गुणों को धारण करने का पूर्ण प्रयत्न करना चाहिए | यही पुरुष सूक्त का मूल तत्व है | वेद के वशिष्ठ, विश्वामित्र, अंगीरा, गौतम, वामदेव और कण्व आदि ऋषि चारों वर्णों के गुणों को प्रदर्शित करते हैं | यह सभी ऋषि वेद मंत्रों के द्रष्टा थे (वेद मंत्रों के अर्थ का प्रकाश किया) दस्युओं के संहारक थे | इन्होंने शारीरिक श्रम भी किया तथा हम इन्हें समाज के हितार्थ अर्थ व्यवस्था का प्रबंधन करते हुए भी पाते हैं | हमें भी इनका अनुकरण करना चाहिए |
सार रूप में, वैदिक समाज मानव मात्र को एक ही जाति, एक ही नस्ल मानता है | वैदिक समाज में श्रम का गौरव पूर्ण स्थान है और प्रत्येक व्यक्ति अपनी रूचि से वर्ण चुनने का समान अवसर पाता है | किसी भी किस्म के जन्म आधारित भेद मूलक तत्व वेदों में नहीं मिलते |
अतः हम भी समाज में व्याप्त जन्म आधारित भेदभाव को ठुकरा कर, एक दूसरे को भाई-बहन के रूप में स्वीकारें और अखंड समाज की रचना करें |
हमें गुमराह करने के लिए वेदों में जातिवाद के आधारहीन दावे करनेवालों की मंशा को हम सफल न होने दें और समाज के अपराधी बनाम दस्युदासराक्षसों का भी सफ़ाया कर दें |
हम सभी वेदों की छत्र-छाया में एक परिवार की तरह आएं और मानवता को बल प्रदान करें |
वेदों में कोई जाति व्यवस्था नहीं है |
अनुवादक – सुश्री मृदुला

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