To quote Gandhi "You can kill even a cow that tries to kill you"
Casteism exists in different forms in every society,religion and culture.Creating a casteless society is an utopia that will never be achieved by anybody.Prophet mohammed,buddha and jesus tried it but failed.
Jesus,buddha and mahaveera said something like "If somebody attacks you love them"
Prophet moahmmed said "Attack.Bring the world to allah's path".
Krishna said "Hit back,Be a ksathriya,dont be a coward when you are attacked".
Path of jesus,mahaveera and buddha werent practical.Nobody follows them.USA,China,korea are war loving nations.Tibet followed it and is enslaved.
I conclude with krishnas words."When war between dharma and adharma goes on even adharmic ways followed to attain dharma become dharmic.Those who remain neutral when such war goes on will be considered as supporting adharma"
What is dharma,whose side dharma is,whose side adharma is-I will leave it for every individual to figure it out himself/herself.
Finally to quote paramacharya "Mount meru stood proudly from the beginning of the world.An ant clibed on it and said "I am going to finish you off" and started digging the mountain with its stings.Meru did not reply.It need not."
> > Finally to quote paramacharya "Mount meru stood proudly from the > beginning of the world.An ant clibed on it and said "I am going to > finish you off" and started digging the mountain with its > stings.Meru did not reply.It need not." > > Periyar,jabali,Mk,annadurai-all will come and go. >
Add "periyava" and the current "acharya" to the list too.. Everyone comes and goes..
He may be "periyava" to you, but he's just another caste supremacist to a lot of folks.
> Naren,every man will have some aspects which we > like and some aspects which we dont like.Geroge washington,the > liberator of America had lots of slaves.Is he a liberator or slave > monger?Periyar opposed opression of women,but he ended up marrying > 16 year old maniaamai when he was around 70 (not sure about exact > age)So is he a child molestor?
True, I agree every man (and woman too.. :-)) ) will have good and not so good aspects.. We have to stop idolising every person and just get the good stuff of his/her preachings and leave the bad ones out. This holds true for EVERYONE including Gandhi, Periyar, and Periyava..
I've read "deivathin kural" and was not impressed. It preaches blatant casteism based on birth and condones untouchability. I've read Periyar's preachings and I find his actions too extreme.. I haven't read Gandhi's works and looks like he articulated stuff that is not progressive..
The main point of contention is what constitutes "good" and what constitutes "bad" in one's preachings. For example, reading the passage from
"Why only in this Country (HinduDharma: The Vedic Religion And Varna Dharma) "
"According to the canonical texts the priest must be a man of spotless character and, if he commits a wrong, he must punish himself. If a white man happens to come into physical contact with a black man, the latter is taken to task. But if a priest in our country comes into similar contact with an untouchable, it is he (the priest) who is enjoined to have a bath. Let us leave aside for the moment the question of untouchability. The point to note is that it was not by inspiring fear, by the threat of punishment or by suppression, that such customs were practised. a civilization like ours that is glorified all over the world could not have flourished if some sections of the people were suppressed or were victims of deception.." ******************************************************
might sound harmless to folks who haven't experienced untouchability. But imagine yourself in that person's shoes..
****************************************************** It's the same case for non-Muslims if they hear about Prophet Muhammad's exploits. Normally he and his army take the prisoners of war (women and children) as slaves. In one case he kills the father and husband of a jewish girl and then marries her.
and it's been called as a great act of emancipating the slave girl by Muslims.. :-)). But can Jews / non-Muslims think of this despicable act as a noble one..
The best thing to do is to start questioning.. Don't take anything / anyone as sacred and above the realm of questioning / reasoning.. Investigate, find out the facts and apply the contemporary parameters to decide if what he/she said is good for you and the society that you live in, now.. This applies to everyone including Periyar/Gandhi/Periyava/ Prophet/Jesus.. etc..