Varnasrama and the Gita

The caste system of the Hindus is the most misunderstood, maligned and abused of all  systems in the world. Some support the system, some oppose it , but all of them have equally been responsible for the atrocities committed in the name of the castes because of an incorrect understanding about the system. Due to this, even the scriptures are being condemned in modern times as sources of social evil.

                In the Bhagavad Gita, the Lord says: caturvarnyam maya srstam guna-karma vibhagasah- the four fold castes were created by me according to the division of qualities and actions. 
            This statement is not a confession of guilt by the Lord, but a scientific explanation of the inequalities found in life and a suggestion as to how to get rid of these inequalities. Philosophy is not a handmaid of politics which varies from country to country, and from time to time with individuals, but is  a profound science, which explains the way and the  wherefore of all existence.  While the lower creations cannot think wisely and change their own nature, man – the roof and crown of creation-  can intelligently think, analyse and improve his nature into something divine. To him- Arjuna- the man, Krishna, the Self in all, the supreme Reality, explains how to raise himself to the level of perfection. This is the privilege of all human beings and the ultimate goal of all people. Unconsciously, we are all tending our way towards this perfection, but the progress is necessarily slow, since we do not know where we are heading. If we know the science of life and how best to lead out lives, the progress will he accelerated.

                Though all beings in the world are in essence the  supreme Self, they are deluded into thinking that they are petty little beings, limited in existence and power. This delusion is caused by a veil that covers the perfection and projects the limited personality. If the veil is torn off, then the inner perfection is revealed.

                This veil is known in Sanskrit as varna. The word varna is derived from the root vr which means, ‘to cover’. That which covers Self-knowledge is called varna. The veil varies from individual to individual, because it is not imposed upon us by some outside agency, but created by ourselves. The veil is caused by the quality and action of an individual. As our qualities are different and each one of us performs different actions with different motives, the veil improves (becomes thinner) or deteriorates (become denser) according the guna and karma- guna-karma vibhagasah. The guna within urges desires and brings out actions, while actions in their turn deposit impressions and create gunas. It is like a seed growing into a tree and the tree bringing out more seeds. By nature, each one causes the other and is sustained by the other. Thus, life sustains itself in the cycle of action by the law of causation. This movement  from the subtle to the gross and vice versa is called srsti in philosophy. Who is responsible for this rhythm of the subtle to the gross and the gross to the subtle? Is it the Lord?

                The above sloka from the Gita says: maya srstam – moved by me. In one sense, it applies to the Lord and in another sense to the individual. The Lord is the substratum of life. Without Him, no movement can take place. The presence of the Sun in the sky makes the water get evaporated into clouds and brings down rain, but the Sun can hardly be blamed for too much or too little rain. So too, the presence of the Lord in us is necessary before the guna becomes karma and vice versa. This is the technical explanation for srsti. But what really activates this law is the ‘I’, the sense of ego. When actions are performed by the individual with a sense of ego,  such actions deposit vasanas, which are the gunas of that individual. Again, when these gunas express themselves as thoughts and emotions, if the individual identifies with them with a  sense of ego, egocentric desires are created and egocentric actions are performed. Thus, caught in the web of action, he forgets his own real nature of perfection. So the Lord explains that the veil is created by the ego ‘

I’. Maya srstam is thus an indication of the source of the veil.

                The cycle goes on unhindered forever, unless the individual pays attention to his motives while performing an action, removes the ‘I’ therein and eliminates the wrong attitude.  When the ego and egocentric desires are eliminated, the very same action becomes a purifying action and the veil becomes finer gradually. The veil is not fixed, nor unchangeable, but is variable. Hence the Lord says that it is a caturvarnya. The word catur, in the popular sense, means the number ’four’. The derivative meanings is  ‘a changeable entity’.  Because of this feature, it is possible for the individual to regulate his attitude while acting in the world and improve his veil to such a fineness that at one stage it falls apart, reveling the inner perfection. 

This article is by Swamini Saradapriyananda. Taken from Tapovan Prasad, Montyly magazine of Chinmaya Mission.