Indian History an alternate perspective

We Indians today are in the habit of looking at our Independence Day from the perspective of the
year 1947. We have trained ourselves to look at this day as the day on which we became politically free
from the British Rule over us. This is true in a limited sense only. There is a larger perspective from
which we ought to look at this day. Those of us who are the followers of Swami Vivekananda however
look at this day from the perspective of the entire history of this glorious land. Swamiji articulated his
alternative reading of our history, as opposed to the popular version instituted by the European historians,
in his various writings such as Modern India, Evolution of Indian History, etc. In the following
dissertation, we shall try to elaborate this alternate version, not as a comprehensive theory of Indian
history, but rather as a starting point for a new discourse on our history an Indian view of Indian history,
if one may call it so.1
Indian history, as we know it today, from various recorded sources, can be divided into four
distinct periods. Each of these periods was dominated by one major religion of the world.
The 1st period was the Vedic period of Indian history. This period led to the flowering of the
Vedas & the Upanishads. Some even say this was the period when the major population actually lived
between modern-day Syria and the Indus-Sarasvati Valley.
The 2nd period was the Buddhist period. By this time, the population had shifted base to the Indo-
Gangetic plains. Buddhas principles and his version of the Vedic religion formed the central vein of
Indian history during this period.
This was followed by the 1000 year-long Muslim period.
And the latest period was the Christian period; the most despicable 500 years in all our history.
As a nation, we touched rock-bottom during this period.
As Swami Vivekananda pointed out, religion has always been the back-bone of India. It has not
always been the same religion, but it was always religion, understood as a marked path to reach the
Infinite. What happened on 15th August 1947 was that we shook ourselves free of the shackles of
Christian domination on our nation. We entered into a new era in our history. Extrapolating our past, we
can imagine that this new era will be again dominated by some other religion, perhaps one that hasnt
been tried in the past. Is it like that? Is that how Indian history will take shape? Well, let us see.
If we imagine India as a living person, with a mind of its own, we can ask the question why did
India choose a different religion for a certain period in the past? It seems India wanted to see, to what
heights of perfection, man could reach with each of the established religions.
During the Vedic period, man perfected the individualistic spiritual quest. He grappled with the
question of how a man could reach the Truth. He perfected the method of the Ashrama-dharma, where
man enters society as a student, graduates into a social being, and then becomes a recluse, finally realizing
the Truth within his own consciousness. Having perfected this method, what need was there for any other
experimentation? Well, such is the Indian soul that its hunger for variety in the sphere of the Spirit in
insatiable.

1
We must create a history of India in living terms. Up to the present, that history, as written by the English,
practically begins with Warren Hastings, and crams in certain unavoidable preliminaries, which cover a few
thousand yearsThe history of India has yet to be written for the first time. It has to be humanized, emotionalized,
made the trumpet-voice and evangel of the race that inhabit India. Sister Nivedita.
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 When the above mentioned path was worked out practically, it had a very strange fallout. Society
got stratified into four Varnas, or castes. And the whole problem arose here, with this stratification. The
distribution of population was such that a miniscule occupied the first two castes Brahmana &
Kshatriya; a little more number of people belonged to the third caste Vaishya. The majority of the
population belonged to the last caste Shudra. The entire national drama was stage-managed by the first
two castes, the upper minuscule of the national population. The Vaishya and Shudra didnt matter at all.
Although the people who mattered did not contribute to the national economy, and the people who
essentially contributed to the national life did not figure anywhere in the entire national discourse! This
was the main problem India had to address. Concomitant to this was the problem of mobility between the
castes. Any foreigner could enter into the national life at the lowest caste only. Moving up from that caste
was indeed nerve-wracking. The upper castes maintained a strict strangle-hold on the entry into their
folds. 2
Economy of India in this period was agriculture based. There was also many other activities like
construction, manufacture of articles of daily use from metals, stone & wood, leisure activities, services,
etc. This was similar to what was present in various parts of the world at that time. There was only one
special activity in India, which was unique. That was Yajna. In due course of time, Yajna occupied the
prime position in Indian economy. Any activity in Indian society had meaning only if it was linked to
Yajna. How do we make sense of this strange thing? Why did the Yajna become so important in the
national economy? Because, the economy was mainly agrarian. It generated enormous surplus in due
course of time. Incentive for agriculture was going down since surplus started building up. The surplus
had to be consumed. What better way to do that than to burn it all up in a grand fire sacrifice? Religious
and social sanction was accorded by the Brahmana for this act.
One of the major problems all societies have had to deal with is the accumulation of political
power. Geographies help people to settles down into colonies. Gradually, duties get distributed among the
denizens of the colonies. There is always a group of people in those colonies who either take upon
themselves, or is authorized by the society, the duty of protecting the rest of the people. Very soon, this
group gathers power over other people. This group then starts losing touch with the multitudes that it has
to govern. Benevolence gives way to tyranny. This has been the case in every human society. Take the
case of the ancient civilizations of the world. The Egyptian, Babylonian, Ionian, Greek, Roman, in fact
any number of them. All of them rose to great eminence for some time and then the society imploded. It
imploded because the masses that actually formed that society were oppressed in due course of time. This
phenomenon of one miniscule part of the society losing connect with the other major portion of itself,
leading to oppression of the majority by the minority has always been the bane of human societies all over
the world, all through time. India however, seems to have avoided this problem by means of a power
struggle between the Brahmana and the Kshatriya castes. Whenever the King became too powerful, and
his rise to power took on the shape of oppressing the Vaishya and the Shudra, the Brahmana came in and
overthrew the King. Similarly, when the Brahmanas insistence of religious observations by the masses
took on the shape of social oppression over the other three castes, the Kshatriya came in and cut the
Brahmana to size. This interplay between the Brahmana and the Kshatriya has kept the Indian society
alive through ages, while the absence of this power balance ruined the greatest of civilizations the world
over. This self-preservation mechanism of the caste system of the ancient Hindu society is something that
is often not recognized by modern historians. This vital aspect of the Varna-system was pointed out by
Swami Vivekananda.

2
There seem to be no written records of the history of this period available today. However, Swami Vivekananda
reconstructs the main strain of the history of this period from the hints available in the Vedas, Upanishads and the
Epics. His insights in this regard are available in his masterly writing Modern India.
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 The ancient literature records the historic struggle of Vishwamitra to be recognized as a Brahma-
Rishi by Vashishtha. This is an example of the struggle entrenched in Indian society for upward mobility.
It was possible, but required superhuman effort. The resistance to accept new comers into the Brahmana
fold was phenomenal. However, it was not originally intended to be so tough. For instance, in the
Chandogya Upanishad, we have the instance of a prostitutes son Satyakama being inducted into the
Brahmana fold, purely on the basis of the qualities of truthfulness that he exhibited. In course of time, this
flexibility was lost and people got stuck in the caste into which they were born. Upper mobility was
absent. 3
That was when the national soul opted for a major experiment. It created a Buddha, who
dissolved the problem instead of solving it. The main weapon in the hands of the Brahmana was his
monopoly over the sacred literature, over the main economic activity called Yajna, and over the entire
national education. Buddha proclaimed that spiritual growth was independent of any literature; it was also
independent of any procedure. He opened up a new path and invited everyone into it, especially the
Kshatriya, Vaishya & the Shudra. He further demolished the central economic activity of the Hindu
nation Yajna. This was aimed at destroying the monopoly of the Brahmana over the national life. Five
hundred years later came a period of growth which was unprecedented in Indian history till then. This
should have been the end of this civilization, for it had achieved everything and had solved all its
problems. Or had it?
Within a thousand years of the Buddhas arrival, the lower two castes, who had rejected the
Varna-system and had adopted the egalitarian Buddhist monolithic system of society, started to
degenerate. People require culture in order to hold on to and maintain any high spiritual impulse that they
receive. The Indian society of this period consisted of a miniscule Brahmana & a very tiny Kshatriya
population, with almost the entire Vaishya & Shudra population adopting the Buddhist scheme of social
life. The major portion of the Kshatriya caste too had shifted base to the Buddhist scheme. So what
actually happened was this the Hindu scheme of Varna-system was totally rejected; social, economic &
political power concentrated in the people who rejected the Hindu Varna system and proclaimed to follow
an alternate scheme propounded by the Buddha. The Brahmana caste became the outcaste or the lower
caste in this new dispensation. This did work for some time. This should have worked forever, but for a
small aberration. Culture did not percolate to the masses. Human life consists of activity. They are of two
types activity that gives the daily food; activity that fills up leisure time. Both need to have an
overarching goal. This aligning of all human activity toward the same goal is culture. Although national
education was along Buddhist lines, it failed to culturally uplift the masses, who had implicitly accepted
the Buddhist way of life. The Buddhist way of life was essentially the monastic life. The insistence on
monastic life as the central essence of the Buddhist way of life was, in no small measure, a reason for this
failure.
But most importantly, the one vital idea missing in the Buddhist scheme of life was the absence
of an overarching goal in life.4 Of course, the learned ones among the audience will at once jump up at me

3
Vasishtha, Narada, Satyakama Jabala, Vyasa, Kripa, Drona, Karna, and others of questionable parentage were
raised to the position of a Brahmin or a Kshatriya, in virtue of their superior learning or valor; but it remains to be
seen how the prostitute, maidservant, fisherman, or the charioteer class was benefited by these upliftings. Again, on
the other hand, the fallen from the Brahmin, the Kshatriya, or the Vaishya class were always brought down to fill the
ranks of the Shudras.: Modern India
4
The aims of the Buddhistic and the Vedic religions are the same, but the means adopted by the Buddhistic are not
right. If the Buddhistic means were correct, then why have we been thus hopelessly lost and ruined? It will not do to
say that the efflux of time has naturally wrought this. Can time work, transgressing the laws of cause and effect?
Page 3 of 16
for this statement. Let us understand that philosophy is not powerful enough to inspire the daily life of the
common man. Ritual is needed. The ritual has to be so designed as to gradually raise the brute unto
civilized man and the civilized man unto a god. This aspect was missing in Buddhism. Bhagawan Buddha
avoided all references to God and Spirit. As a result, the common man who had no recourse to disciplined
philosophical thinking, ended up making a god of Buddha himself, and working up hideous rituals which
exist now as the Left-handed Tantric practices. Buddhism became everything that the Buddha had fought
against all his life! If we carefully analyze the reason for the failure of this great experiment on Indian
society, the answer lies in the absence of emphasizing a comprehensible goal of human life. It is essential
to spell out that goal of human life in comprehensible terms; in other words, the masses must be able to
imagine the goal. An unimaginable goal of human life essentially renders society aimless and rudderless.
Again, the goal must not be too easy to specify either, as we have with modern Christianity and Islam, in
which case, it degenerates into an effete theology, a set of dogmas. This too is ineffective in leading
society to anything higher, and man doesnt grow. All it is effective in achieving is fights and quarrels.
Buddhas experiment and the subsequent religious experiments in India taught this valuable lesson to the
Indian soul, the delicate balance while prescribing a goal for mankind.
Since Buddha categorically prohibited Yajna, the backbone of Indian economy got destroyed.
Buddha did not give anything new in its place. So, gradually, Indians started engaging in new economic
activities. Well, actually the activities were not new, per se. It was only that, the ways in which the
activities were handled were new. People now started working for catering to non-local markets. The
Yajna had the advantage of confining all economic activity to the local market. With the Yajna gone,
people started trading in a big way. New economy set in. Intercourse with other nations became active.
All along its history, India was rich, created enormous amounts of wealth, and its goods and
produce were in tremendous demand all over the world. Goods were transported across sea and land to all
the lands in the world. The people who gave protection during this economic activity were the Kshatriyas.
While the Shudra worked for producing the goods, the Vaishya arranged for their production and
transportation, and the Kshatriya arranged for their safety. India was the greatest maritime power for a
very long period. We have records of Indian ships sailing to Egypt and Babylon during the Harappa
period too. Slowly, the maritime activities stopped. That happens when you have monopoly over the
goods you produce. People from other lands could very well come down here and take what they wanted.
We wouldnt go out to sell our products there. Thus the importance of the Kshatriya reduced. 5
If Buddhism had made a place for the Brahmana in its scheme, perhaps, we would have yet had
the perfect civilization.
Social order was totally in chaos. Value of manly qualities was undermined at a national level.
Military prowess reduced. Varna system was no longer in vogue. People didnt know what they were
supposed to do. A Brahmana revival was attempted during the Gupta period. Sister Nivedita proposes the

Therefore, though the aims are the same, the Bauddhas for want of right means have degraded India. Perhaps my
Bauddha brothers will be offended at this remark, and fret and fume; but there's no help for it; the truth ought to be
told, and I do not care for the result.: East & the West
5
The Portuguese, in the meantime, discovered a new route to India, doubling Africa. The fortune of India smiled on
Portugal then came the turn of the French, the Dutch, the Danes, and the English. Indian commerce, Indian
revenue and all are now in the possession of the English; it is therefore that they are the foremost of all nations now.
But now, Indian products are being grown in countries like America and elsewhere, even better than in India, and
she has therefore lost something of her prestige. This the Europeans are unwilling to admit. That India, the India of
natives, is the chief means and resources of their wealth and civilization, is a fact which they refuse to admit, or
even understand. We too, on our part, must not cease to bring it home to them.: Memoirs of European Travels
Page 4 of 16
theory that the Gupta Kings commissioned the writing of the Vishnu Purana around 400 AD, which
marks this part of Indian history. Revolving around the Vishnu Purana, a renewed attempt was made to
consolidate the peoples living south of the Indus and the Himalayas up to the Ceylon into one Nation
again. Such a consolidation had occurred under King Ashoka during the Buddhist reformation period. But
this time, the consolidation would be under the revived Vedic lines. The absorption of the Buddhist
reformation had given rise to a highly changed religion in the land, which although called the Vedic
religion or Sanatana Dharma still, had very little in common with the pre-Buddhist religion of the land.
In the wake of this development came the hordes of Muslims from Arabia and Persia, bringing
with them a fresh spiritual impulse. When they stayed back in India after their initial victories, they tried
to establish a new social order, based on equality. Everyone who converted to Islam was equal to every
other Muslim in society. This impulse translated as unprecedented growth in literature, architecture,
economy and political stability. Against the background of this new stability, the old Hindu scheme of life
was once again tried out. Lead by spiritual leaders such as Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, Buddhism
was completely reabsorbed into the main Hindu body politick. The entire 1000 years of Buddhist
reformation turned out to be a mere cul-de-sac in Indian history. What was the Indian society like during
the Islam period? Again, a handful of the Brahmana caste held onto the ancient scheme of life. The
Vaishya & the Shudra thrived well under the Islamic dispensation, better than ever before in Indian
history. The Kshatriya caste almost vanished. A new caste a cross between the Kshatriya & the Vaishya
arose, called Zemindar. This new caste again started monopolizing social and economic power in their
own hands and the Shudra was none the better even under the Islamic dispensation in India.
The only drawback seemed to be the displeasure of the masses who were forced to convert to
Islam in order to enjoy the benefits of Islamic egalitarianism. But, given a face-off between greater social
freedom and adherence to his native religion, man would any day opt for social freedom. The Brahmana,
the new Kshatriya-Vaishya Zemindar and the Vaishya did not yet learn that affording social freedom,
social dignity and equal opportunity to one another and the Shudra was vital for national life to sustain.
The Islamic rulers were actually Kshatriyas in their function.6 If the Indian society had been flexible
enough to have recognized this and if the Muslim invaders too had been flexible enough to have realized
this, and had they entered into the Indian body politick, the resulting civilization would again have been
the best possible. But that was not to be so. For the first time, we came across a people who insisted on
living in our society and who rigidly resisted the caste system. Before the Islamic invasion, the Huns,
Shakas and Kushans had come in too. But they were all absorbed into the caste system mostly at the
Shudra level, but some at the higher levels, even as Kshatriya kings.7
Around this time came the influence of Europe, first with the Portuguese, then the Danes,
followed by the French and lastly the British. The last to arrive from Europe, the British, consolidated
their foothold in India and event after event led to their annexing the entire land as a colony of the larger
British Empire.
This was the worst part of Indian history. No one in the entire Indian society had any freedom.
The clash now was between the Indian religious weltanschauung and the European economic world-view.
They simply didnt match, apparently. But the opening out of the entire European world of thought was a

6
Crushing the Brahminical supremacy under his feet the Mussulman king was able to restore to a considerable
extent the lost glories of such dynasties of emperors as the Maurya, the Gupta, the Andhra, and the Kshatrapa. (The
Persian governors of Aryavarta and Gujarat.) : Modern India
7
Kanishka, the famous Kushana King is an instance; he belonged to a tribe that had come in from Central Asia, and
the entire tribe was absorbed into the Caste system.
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new blessing on the Indians. And the oppressive missionary activities of the Christians were the greatest
drawback of this period. Education was controlled by the Christian missionaries, who lacked any
understanding of sociology, anthropology, psychology and history. They dogmatically drilled the morbid
theology of Christianity and totally undermined the entire historical background of the Indians.
It is interesting to note the unique war tactics developed by the Muslims of Arabia. Indians never
knew that before Islamic invasion. In India, war was always fought in the city outskirts. Muslims,
however, entered living areas inside cities and towns and villages. Common man was attacked and killed.
Surprise attacks on the common man were something that the Muslims brought. We dont find historical
evidence of Prophet Mohammed having taught this type of warfare to his followers. In all probabilities,
this was a Mongol trait among the Muslims. If we study the history of Islamic Arabia, we find that the
Islamic invaders into India were all actually from the Mongol stock. Genghis Khan and his descendants
had exterminated the entire male Muslim population during their successive attacks on Arabia & Persia
and what we now know as Muslims are actually the Mongols who lived on in that region. What exists as
Islam today is the contribution of the Arabian women to the Mongol stock. The fearless Turks that had
conquered half of the civilized world and ruled over it are actually from Mongol stock.
The Vaishya produced wealth with the help of the Shudra. Goods were produced that needed to
be transported. The Vaishya arranged for the transportation too. However, since the means for
transportation was very slow, there was great chance of being waylaid. Goods needed protection. The
Kshatriya provided it. Mohammed and his followers, the Muslims, were basically Kshatriyas in this
sense. They gave protection to the businessmen and their goods.
In Indian history, the Kshatriyas faced mass annihilation twice; first, by Parashurama, when he
vowed to destroy Kartivirya Arjuna; and a second time in the Kurukshetra war of the Mahabharata. That
brings up the question, if all the Kshatriyas had been exterminated by Parashurama, who were the
Kshatriyas during the Mahabharata War? In all probabilities, what would have happened was that many
Kshatriya women must have escaped the wrath of Parashurama. Some of them must have borne children
in exile. Again, many weak-bodied Kshatriyas, who did not participate in the battle also must have
escaped and must have propagated their clans. We however do not find any instance of the Brahmin caste
being mass annihilated in Indian history. This could perhaps explain the steady weakening of the
Kshatriya caste in India, which laid the grounds for the subsequent invasions by Islamic and European
races on India.
The effort of the Indian mind has always been the following: Human life has the ultimate goal of
Self-realization. The way to achieve this is what the Indian mind has been experimenting with, all through
its history. In the Vedic period, it tried to do so by formulating a caste system, which dictated what a man
should do for living, earning a livelihood, and then how he should spend his leisure time. This ran foul
with the inherent principles of natural justice in the sense that one caste always tried to monopolize the
entire national life and mobility among the castes was rigidly obstructed. It was like missing the forest
and getting lost among the trees. The main aim of instituting the caste system was lost in the social
complexities that arose from maintaining the system! Then came the Buddhas reformation. He was an
iconoclast. He broke down the entire caste system and gave nothing in its place. He did not specify what
man had to do for achieving the ultimate goal. Therefore the original caste system got revived, albeit in a
totally changed form. While the original system was meant to guide man from where he stood up to the
ultimate realization of his true nature, the resurrected caste system was devilish in its new form. The
Muslim period gave rise to a new caste the Zemindar. But the masses, who were always included in the
Vaishya and Shudra caste were still oppressed. The British period brought a new impetus. The religion
they brought, as did the Muslims, was easily included in the Bhakti cults that already existed in India. But

Page 6 of 16
the social modes that they brought were all new to India. Having lived in India for quite some time, the
Muslims had come to understand that caste was the mode of social functioning for the Indian. The British
did not, or rather could not, understand this unique Indian institution. They opened up education to every
one under their rule. Thus we had B R Ambedkar (a Shudra by birth) studying to be a barrister alongside
Mohandas Gandhi (a Vaishya by birth) and Subhas Chandra Bose (a Kshatriya by birth) and Umesh
Chandra Banerjee (a Brahmana by birth)! The universal education system, evolved by Thomas Macaulay
with clear selfish aims for the British Empire, broke down the impossibly ossified caste barriers and
created a level playing field. This single act has unleashed a power of unimaginable proportions, as the
present condition of our country reveals very well.8 The British rule allowed for all sorts of mobility
upwards & downwards within the Indian society, based on meritocracy and not by birth.
The greatest contribution of the British to India however was, in our opinion, the concept of
organization.9 Why do we say so? Let us re-state our understanding of Indian history. Then we will be
able to see the supreme importance of this British contribution.
India, as it were, has fixed the goal of complete self-realization for its citizens. This has been the
main strain in its history as we have seen till now. The soul of India wants, as it were, that all Indians
should realize their real nature. How are they to do this? India formulated a scheme of life such that all
their activities would be wound up so as to converge towards this one goal, which is complete self-
realization. Her first attempt to do so, that is, formulate a viable scheme of life for all living in India, ran
afoul due to the complications arising out of the caste system. She tried to set it right through one of her
most brilliant sons, the Buddha. His attempts, though seemingly very effective, backfired. The final
outcome of the Buddhist experiment was that the Kshatriya caste all but disappeared from India, the
Vaishya and the Shudra got a taste of social freedom which they could not sustain, and the Brahmana
came back with a vengeance. But, the Brahmana who now raised his head again this time was but a
caricature of the original Brahmana of the Vedic period. The original Brahmana was a God-realized soul,
one who had seen God face to face, even while living in the society as one of us. Whereas, the resurrected
Brahmana, in post Buddhist India was a scheming Brahmana, who cooked up an elaborate theosophy of
the ten incarnations of the Godhead, the Dasha Avatara, and silently absorbed the Buddha into the Hindu
pantheon of gods! The Buddha was accepted and everything he said and did was completely forgotten
from the national mind. It was one of the greatest coup-de-etat staged in human history! But, a nation is
unsustainable without a strong group of people who specialize in protection and governance. The
Brahmana never allowed that group to rise and in due course of time, the situation was back to square one
a weak nation, which was waiting to be overrun by anyone who would care to do so. Indeed, that is
what happened. The Islamic hordes came and this grandest nation among all the nations in the known
world at that time was conquered, not by the glorious Arabs, but by a slave of the Arabs. He set up his
empire here and that was the time the Nation decided it would run another experiment by factoring in
Islam in its scheme of things. Again, the ancient Vedic religion immediately saw that Islam could easily
be absorbed within the body politick, provided two things were ensured the invading Muslim had to be
absorbed into the Kshatriya caste, and in exchange, there must be a greater social freedom given to the
Vaishya and the Shudra in India. The second condition was partially fulfilled by religious conversion of
the lower caste people into Islam. We say partially fulfilled because unless the people converted to Islam,

8
This power is so new, its nature and workings are so foreign to the Indian mind, its rise so inconceivable, and its
vigor so insuperable that though it wields the suzerain power up till now, only a handful of Indians understand what
this power is. We are talking of the occupation of India by England: Modern India.
9
For a detailed study of Organization according to Swami Vivekananda, please see: Swami Vivekananda &
Organization: http://wp.me/p8xvki-H
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if they remained within the Hindu caste structure, they would not enjoy the social freedom! The first
condition was not, however, fulfilled. Not only was it not fulfilled, the Islamic invaders stayed back to
rule India, but never fully integrated themselves with the Vedic scheme of things that was in vogue here.
The rampant dogmatism that the Muslim exhibited was something alien to the Hindu. Just as the Muslim
could not learn to integrate with the idolatrous Hindu, the Hindu too could not make sense of this
foreigner who resisted any intercourse with his caste system. For, we must realize one thing, and this is
vital; the only way a Hindu could make sense of any human being was if he could accommodate himself
in one of the four castes. Thus the Greeks and the Huns entered into the Kshatriya caste. Many Mongols
were accommodated into the Shudra caste. So also were many who had rejected the Vedic religion and
had opted for the Buddhas version of religion, and had now again opted to be back with the Brahmanas
national resurgence. But this Muslim refused to enter into the caste system. If a person resists entering
into any one of the castes, the Hindu is clueless about how to deal with him! That is what happened with
the Islamic people. So, we had a situation where we again had a miniscule Brahmana population, no
Kshatriya caste worth the name, a sizeable Vaishya population and a huge Shudra mass, alongside a
sizeable population of a new type of people the Muslims (most of whom, were converts from the
Shudra caste, with only a handful of Muslims from the original Arabian & Persian stock) who were not
a part of this Varna system.
The same Indian genius that came up with the Dasha Avatara to digest Buddha within itself, now
came up with the Sufi religion and the Bhakti movement, as a means of incorporating the Muslim into its
body politick. But the invaders religion lacked the philosophical flexibility to recognize the utility of
such a development and as a result, at some local levels, the integration of the Muslim into the Hindu
society was indeed successfully effected by the Sufi and Bhakti attempts. But there remained a virulent
strain of Islam that refused to integrate with Hinduism. This was the first time that India had faced such a
situation, where it failed to integrate the invaders into its own society and align them to its religious
orientation.
When the country was in this stage, there came along a fresh invader, who came in through
business and commerce, not like the Muslims had come in, with a sword on a horse (the famous imagery
of the incarnation after Buddha, called Kalki, as per the Brahmana!). Having entered the land for the
express intent of setting up business, the European stayed back. He even started taking over
administrative functions regarding this strange land, but never with the idea of ruling it per se. Every
decision of the European rose from the perspective of business. While the Muslim who had entered this
land exhibited clear Kshatriya qualities, this European was but a Vaishya at best!
Caste system was completely demolished by the British rule in India. We needed to re-organize
Indian society immediately or we were in danger of losing our identity. That is where Swami
Vivekananda comes in. He realized that the western concept of organization could fulfil the vacuum
created by the demolition of caste system in India. This re-adjustment is what we are still seeing in our
society today. We are still in the transition from caste to corporate organization.
One concept that we need to explore is the intimate relation between caste and religion, especially
in the Indian context. Time and time again, it has seemed as though caste is a religious institution. It is
however not so. Religion has nothing to do with caste, per se. Then, why is it that all the religious leaders
in India have worked specifically to breakdown caste system, favoring the upliftment and education of the
lower castes and attempting to soften the heart of the upper castes? This is because each of our great
religious leaders has tried to remain true to the vision of the founding fathers of the Indian society, the
great rishis, so lost in antiquity that today, we do not even know their names for sure. But the power of
their vision has driven this nation for over five thousand years, through an unbroken continuity of the

Page 8 of 16
institution of Caste. Ask anybody in India and you will be told that caste system is heinous and a blot on
Indian society and that it must go. Most of them will even assert vociferously that the institution is now
good as dead and exists mainly due to its benefits on the political parties. Caste identities make it very
easy to group together and monopolize over large swathes of people, as we have seen time and again
since 1947. But the greatest advantage of this institution was to be had only if every citizen had an
overarching goal to achieve in his or her life. We must remember that the origin of this institution was in
this idea of providing means for realization of the goal of God-realization for every member of society. If
we lose that idea of God realization as the goal of our social life, then the institution of caste becomes a
terrible bondage. Let me explain this a bit.
Supposing the patent aim of my life is to realize my real nature. How am I go about it? Either by
renouncing social life and embracing monastic vows; or by living in society and contributing to the
national economy; if I choose to live in society, participate in the national economy, how do I realize
Atman? I can do that by working in such a way that my daily work becomes a worshipful offering to God.
What will be the work that I will have to do? Who will decide what work I will be doing? Suppose we
have a body of authoritative persons in society whose duty it is to allot work to every member of the
society. Can anyone ensure impartiality in that allotment? Will such allotments of duty be wholeheartedly
accepted and not be challenged? Ah! Therein lay the genius of the institution of caste! My own birth
determines what work I will do in my life. The argument is simple: I can realize God by offering
whatever work I do as an offering to God; what work I will do is determined by my birth; caste system
prescribes and ensures the relation between birth and the work to be done; as long as I havent yet
attained the state of inner freedom, I belong in a hierarchy in society; there are castes above me and below
me; once I achieve the blessed state of real freedom, I break free from the social hierarchy. So, this is how
the caste system was envisaged to function in society. This is how it did function for a long time. You
will appreciate that this system will function flawlessly, so long as the aim of our life, of our work, of our
living in society, is to realize our true nature as the Atman. If that is the aim of our life, then caste system
is the best social arrangement imaginable. Now, the whole trouble starts if we lose our grip on that pivotal
idea of self- realization. If enjoyment is the aim of life, then this institution stands as a barrier to achieving
that aim to our hearts content.
Against this simple argument, we will be better able to appreciate the reformatory steps adopted
by Buddha. He found that the rigid social structure was standing as a barrier to mans development. He
wanted to allow everyone to develop fully and freely. He knew that by pulling down the super-structure,
he could unfetter the human soul on its journey to its destiny. At the same time, he was aware that man
needed a goal in life. No social system can give that to man. It is only a spiritual impulse that can give an
overarching goal to man. He therefore did the sane thing possible; he pulled down the caste system; he
prescribed that monasticism was the path to be followed; he further specified that knowledge of ones real
nature was the goal of human life. Similarly did all the other religious reformers in India do the same
thing; reiterate that God realization is the goal of human life. If that is fixed, then social life automatically
falls into a system that is self-regulatory. Caste system was one such self-regulatory mechanism in human
society. The British domination over India opened our eyes to another such wonderful system the
corporate organization.
So, effectively, by the end of 1800 AD, India had learnt that, if God Realization were to be the
goal of human life, then human society could indeed be organized into a rigid caste system, which helped
everyone to achieve that supreme goal of life. India had also learnt that there will always be a great
number of people in its society who will not be able to adopt God realization as the supreme goal of life.
Hence India leant that, in such a case, the caste system would be an aberration, an obstacle, a detriment,
instead of being a tool to further mans development. India also learnt in the meanwhile that there were
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many more societies in the world which did not prescribe to its weltanschauung and that it needed to
interact with those societies as well. India had tried to successively experiment with Sanatana Dharma, a
variant of itself called Buddhism, then Islam and finally Christianity, with a view to finding the best fit
religion for its citizens; when it would find that ideal religion, it would then work out the best means of
organizing society and thereby enable all its citizens to live their lives and achieve tangible progress in
their evolution. As a result, India found out that none of these religions could be imposed as the only
religion on all its citizens. Human nature was too diverse for straitjacketing the human soul in such
simplistic terms. India had learnt that its hoary method of caste system for integrating foreigners into its
body politick was not efficient, since the Muslims and the Christians refused to enter into the Caste
structure, thereby remaining as un-integrated foreign bodies within the living being of Indian society.
India awoke to the fact that it needed a readjustment at the very core of its being. This readjustment would
begin by redefining its goal in spiritual terms, as it has always done in its long history.
That was the time when the Soul of India worked up an instrument through which it would try to
make sense of the mess that its society had ended up in; that was the time when the Soul of India worked
up an instrument through which it would try to discover which religion, or what mix of the religions
available, would be ideal for its citizens; That was the time when the Soul of India worked up an
instrument through which it would try to articulate an overarching goal for its citizens in the modern
idiom; That was the time when the Soul of India worked up an instrument through which it would try to
hew out a path for multitudes to achieve that goal in their lives. That unique instrument was Sri
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa of Dakshineswar. The biographer of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Saradananda
writes that Sri Ramakrishna performed unprecedented spiritual practices, which make no sense unless
seen from this historical perspective. There is no need for any human being to undergo such a variety of
spiritual practices for ones own liberation. Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishnas chief disciple,
mentions that in Sri Ramakrishna, the soul of India, as it were, was finding its moorings again; the soul of
India was working up an essential readjustment whereby it could find a rationale for continuing its
existence. What was the self-discovery that the soul of India made through Sri Ramakrishna?
All religions are true. No one religion can claim to appeal to every human being on earth. Each
soul approached life in its own unique way and thereby qualifies to its own brand of religion. All the
same, each of these religions, or paths of human evolution, is harmonious in their goal. The goal of every
religion is perception of the consciousness that is in every human being. In fact, each soul is potentially
divine. The goal of human life is to manifest that divinity. Human life itself, therefore, can be envisaged
as the Universal Religion, with all the known isms being just geographical & cultural variants of the
Mother Religion.
Further, religion is realization; religion is perception; religion is not a set of beliefs or customs or
traditions; religion is not thoughts, ideas or feelings, no matter how sophisticated or refined. If you dont
know your own true nature, you are not spiritual, no matter what. You are not a Hindu because you are
born to a Hindu; you are not a Hindu because you believe in the Vedas and Upanishads and the Bhagavad
Gita; you are not a Muslim because you believe in Allah, the Prophet Mohamad and the Quran; you are
not a Christian because you believe in Bible and the Immaculate Conception. If you have perceived
directly the Hindu conception of God, you are a Hindu. If you have perceived directly the Islamic
conception of God, you are a Muslim. If you have perceived directly the Christian conception of God, you
are a Christian. Not otherwise. A Hindu who has directly perceived the Hindu conception of God will
totally and completely understand and accept a Muslim who has directly perceived the Muslim
conception of God or a Christian who has directly perceived the Christian conception of God.

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 In the light of this self-discovery, the Soul of India will now work out a new society wherein
every kind of religious thought will be accorded full freedom to unleash the potential divinity within its
adherents. In the light of this self-discovery, the Soul of India will work out the necessary corrections in
Hinduism, Islam,10 Christianity,11 Buddhism and every other religious path known to man till date. In the
light of this self-discovery by the Soul of India, we can foresee that the future of India will be dominated
by no single religion, but equal opportunity will be accorded to every religion that its citizens would like
to follow; the only conditions will be mutual respect to everyone else and a dogged commitment to take
ones avowed religion to its logical conclusion which is a direct perception of ones true nature. Thus the
future of India will be dominated by a Harmony of Religions in place of any one religion holding forth
on Indian society. 12
We would beg for a little patience at this juncture since a survey of the present situation doesnt
show anything of this kind happening in our country. The country is right now undergoing a series of vital
transformations. A period of transition cannot be read correctly except by hindsight. But, our reading of
Indian history, as detailed above, forces us to conclude that a society based on the harmonious existence
of all religions will certainly dawn very soon. In the beginning of this article, we had said that perhaps It
seems India wanted to see, to what heights of perfection, man could reach with each of the established
religions. It is but logical to conclude that man will reached unprecedented heights of personal and
collective growth under this new regime of harmony of religion.13 You will certainly appreciate that we

10
Whether we call it Vedantism or any ism, the truth is that Advaitism is the last word of religion and thought, and
the only position from which one can look upon all religions and sects with love. I believe it is the religion of the
future enlightened humanity. The Hindus may get the credit of arriving at it earlier than other races, they being an
older race than either the Hebrew or the Arab; yet practical Advaitism, which looks upon and behaves to all mankind
as ones own soul, was never developed among the Hindus universally. On the other hand, my experience is that if
ever any religion approached to this equality in an appreciable manner, it is Islam and Islam alone. Therefore I am
firmly persuaded that without the help of practical Islam, theories of Vedantism, however fine and wonderful they
may be, are entirely valueless to the vast mass of mankind. Letters of Swami Vivekananda: Here, we find the
genius of Swami Vivekananda working out a course-correction for Islam, which may seem anathema right now, but,
will certainly come to be accepted as the norm in the future. We say this because, mans innate urge for survival will
make him seek out paths and means for peaceful co-existence, in the long run!
11
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Hindu calls this
Maya, the manifestation of God, because it is the power of God. The Absolute reflecting through the universe is
what we call nature. The Word has two manifestations the general one of nature, and the special one of the great
Incarnations of God Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Ramakrishna. Christ, the special manifestation of the Absolute,
is known and knowable. The Absolute cannot be known: we cannot know the Father, only the Son. We can only see
the Absolute through the tint of humanity, through Christ. In the first five verses of John is the whole essence of
Christianity: each verse is full of the profoundest philosophy.: Inspired talks. Just observe how Swamiji says that
the whole essence of Christianity is in these five verses. However, the present day version of Christianity doesnt
revolve around these ideas. It stands on the ideas of Immaculate Conception, Original Sin, Emancipation through the
crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Bringing it back to these five verses will be the course correction
needed. Realization of Christ in our own consciousness will then define a Christian, and not adherence to dogmas.
12
We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has
to be done by harmonizing the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the
varied expressions of THE RELIGION, which is Oneness, so that each may choose that path that suits him best.
Letters of Swami Vivekananda
13
What new revolution will be effected in India by her clash with the new giant power, and as the result of that
revolution what new transformation is in store for future India, cannot be inferred from her past history.: Modern
India

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have started our new epoch by adopting a Constitution, which is unique in its scope and content. It is a
blue-print which will guide how exactly the Indian society will re-organize itself in the centuries to come.
The Fundamental Rights, Directive principles of State Policy, and Fundamental Duties comprise the
corner stone of our Constitution. You will note how these drive our society towards a caste-free,
organization-based structure enabling every citizen to enjoy the fruits of opportunity for life-fulfilment,
unhindered by ones religious affiliation. Moreover, the Constitution ensures, for the first time in India,
that the State will not impose any one religion on its citizens, awarding full freedom for each citizen to
choose for oneself.14
Moreover, Sri Ramakrishna revealed a new goal for mankind. He gave it a name called
Bhavamukha.15 The Soul of India realized through Sri Ramakrishna that the common man would reach
this goal of human life by following the path of Practical Vedanta or more specifically known as
Karma Yoga,16 the details of which were worked out by Swami Vivekananda. Karma Yoga will be the
key through which will be unlocked an unprecedented spurt of human growth, such as history has never
witnessed till date such was the prophesy of Swami Vivekananda.
In fact, the present restructuring of the Indian society along the lines of corporate organization in
the place of caste system presents an ideal ground for realizing the new ideal revealed by Sri
Ramakrishna. Elsewhere we have shown how the civic structure of corporate organization lends itself to
the mass spiritual practice of Karma Yoga by everyone in society.17 We would do well to realize as soon
as possible that the European form of organization is indeed a viable alternative to the caste system18; it
14
The Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties are sections of
the Constitution of India that prescribe the fundamental obligations of the State to its citizens and the duties of the
citizens to the State. These sections comprise a constitutional bill of rights for government policy-making and the
behavior and conduct of citizens. These sections are considered vital elements of the constitution, which was
developed between 1947 and 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India. The Fundamental Rights is defined as the
basic human rights of all citizens. These rights, defined in Part III of the Constitution, apply irrespective of race,
place of birth, religion, caste, creed, or gender. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions.
The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines for the framing of laws by the government. These provisions,
set out in Part IV of the Constitution, are not enforceable by the courts, but the principles on which they are based
are fundamental guidelines for governance that the State is expected to apply in framing and passing laws.
The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism
and to uphold the unity of India. These duties, set out in Part IVA of the Constitution, concern individuals and the
nation. (From Wikipedia)
15
For a detailed discussion on this new ideal, please refer The new ideal, the new doctrine, the new life at:
http://wp.me/p8xvki-Z
16
For a detailed discussion on Karma Yoga, please refer The efficacy of Karma Yoga at: http://wp.me/p8xvki-2l
and Swami Vivekanandas Karma Yoga the scripture of modern mankind at http://wp.me/p8xvki-2c
17
Please see: Swami Vivekananda & Organization: http://wp.me/p8xvki-H
18
With us, the prominent idea is Mukti; with the Westerners, it is Dharma. What we desire is Mukti; what they want
is Dharma. Here the word Dharma is used in the sense of the Mimamsakas. What is Dharma? Dharma is that
which makes man seek for happiness in this world or the next. Dharma is established on work, Dharma is impelling
man day and night to run after and work for happiness.The object of the peoples of Europe is to exterminate all in
order to live themselves. The aim of the Aryans is to raise all up to their own level, nay, even to a higher level than
themselves. The means of European civilization is the sword; of the Aryans, the division into different Varnas. This
system of division into different Varnas is the stepping-stone to civilization, making one rise higher and higher in
proportion to one's learning and culture. In Europe, it is everywhere victory to the strong and death to the weak. In
the land of Bharata, every social rule is for the protection of the weak.: East & the West

Page 12 of 16
retains the positive points of the ancient caste system in that it allows the interested people in practicing
Karma Yoga and moving towards personal life fulfilment; more importantly it has the added advantage 19
of providing an avenue for those people not interested in immediate salvation, to contribute towards
collective growth in such a way as to eventually lead them towards the inner life.20

19
On the advent of Buddhism, Dharma was entirely neglected, and the path of Moksha alone became predominant.
Hence, we read in the Agni Purana, in the language of similes, that the demon Gayasura that is, Buddha tried to
destroy the world by showing the path of Moksha to all; and therefore the Devas held a council and by stratagem set
him at rest for ever. However, the central fact is that the fall of our country, of which we hear so much spoken, is
due to the utter want of this Dharma. If the whole nation practices and follows the path of Moksha, that is well and
good; but is that possible? Without enjoyment, renunciation can never come; first enjoy and then you can renounce.
Otherwise, if the whole nation, all of a sudden, takes up Sannyasa, it does not gain what it desires, but it loses what
it had into the bargain the bird in the hand is fled, nor is that in the bush caught. When, in the heyday of Buddhist
supremacy, thousands of Sannyasins lived in every monastery, then it was that the country was just on the verge of
its ruin! The Bauddhas, the Christians, the Mussulmans, and the Jains prescribe, in their folly, the same law and the
same rule for all. That is a great mistake; education, habits, customs, laws, and rules should be different for different
men and nations, in conformity with their difference of temperament. What will it avail, if one tries to make them all
uniform by compulsion? The Bauddhas declared, Nothing is more desirable in life than Moksha; whoever you are,
come one and all to take it. I ask, Is that ever possible? You are a householder; you must not concern yourself
much with things of that sort: you do your Svadharma (natural duty) thus say the Hindu scriptures. Exactly so!
He who cannot leap one foot, is going to jump across the ocean to Lanka in one bound! Is it reason? You cannot
feed your own family or dole out food to two of your fellow-men, you cannot do even an ordinary piece of work for
the common good, in harmony with others and you are running after Mukti! The Hindu scriptures say, No
doubt, Moksha is far superior to Dharma; but Dharma should be finished first of all. The Bauddhas were
confounded just there and brought about all sorts of mischief. Non-injury is right; Resist not evil is a great thing
these are indeed grand principles; but the scriptures say, Thou art a householder; if anyone smites thee on thy
cheek, and thou dost not return him an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, thou wilt verily be a sinner. Manu says,
When one has come to kill you, there is no sin in killing him, even though he be a Brahmin (Manu, VIII. 350).
This is very true, and this is a thing which should not be forgotten. Heroes only enjoy the world. Show your
heroism; apply, according to circumstances, the fourfold political maxims of conciliation, bribery, sowing
dissensions, and open war, to win over your adversary and enjoy the world then you will be Dharmika
(righteous). Otherwise, you live a disgraceful life if you pocket your insults when you are kicked and trodden down
by anyone who takes it into his head to do so; your life is a veritable hell here, and so is the life hereafter. This is
what the Shastras say. Do your Svadharma this is truth, the truth of truths. This is my advice to you, my beloved
co-religionists. Of course, do not do any wrong, do not injure or tyrannize over anyone, but try to do good to others
as much as you can. But passively to submit to wrong done by others is a sin with the householder. He must try
to pay them back in their own coin then and there. The householder must earn money with great effort and
enthusiasm, and by that must support and bring comforts to his own family and to others, and perform good works
as far as possible. If you cannot do that, how do you profess to be a man? You are not a householder even what to
talk of Moksha for you!!: East and the West
20
Now, this Jati Dharma, this Svadharma, is the path of welfare of all societies in every land, the ladder to ultimate
freedom. With the decay of this Jati Dharma, this Svadharma, has come the downfall of our land. But the Jati
Dharma or Svadharma as commonly understood at present by the higher castes is rather a new evil, which has to be
guarded against. They think they know everything of Jati Dharma, but really they know nothing of it. Regarding
their own village customs as the eternal customs laid down by the Vedas, and appropriating to themselves all
privileges, they are going to their doom! I am not talking of caste as determined by qualitative distinction, but of the
hereditary caste system. I admit that the qualitative caste system is the primary one; but the pity is qualities yield to
birth in two or three generations. Thus the vital point of our national life has been touched; otherwise, why should
we sink to this degraded state? Read in the Gita, I should then be the cause of the admixture of races, and I should
thus ruin these beings. How came this terrible Varna-Samkarya this confounding mixture of all castes and
disappearance of all qualitative distinctions? Why has the white complexion of our forefathers now become black?
Why did the Sattvaguna give place to the prevailing Tamas with a sprinkling, as it were, of Rajas in it? That is a
long story to tell, and I reserve my answer for some future occasion. For the present, try to understand this, that if
the Jati Dharma be rightly and truly preserved, the nation shall never fall. If this is true, then what was it that
Page 13 of 16
 It is important to note the course correction21 that Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda have
effected in the history of India. At the risk of appearing repetitive, let me explain this point here. India
began its grand journey by specifying that individual freedom is achievable in this very life, even while
living. The goal of human life was to be spiritually free while living. If that indeed were the goal, what
sort of social arrangement should we have? Caste system was the answer given by our ancient sages. We
tried to make it a workable arrangement. Something went wrong along the way. We sort of lost sight of
the goal to be achieved and made a big issue of the social arrangement! As a result, life in India became a
curse. Buddha tried to sort it out. Buddha said that the goal of human life, the raison deter of our existence
was indeed to become the Living Free, the Awakened One. However, we need not enroll ourselves
into any formal social arrangement for that. Renounce, become a monk and get free. That was the
iconoclastic approach of the Buddha. Thus, in effect, Buddha reiterated the goal of human life prescribed
by the ancient Rishis, but tore down the social structure they had erected for assisting the common man to
achieve the same. He, instead, invited all and sundry into the highest path, directly. Although Buddhas
motive was the finest, such egalitarian approach is impractical, unfortunately. Very soon, the Indian
society started crumbling. India tried to bring about reformations within itself from time to time, all of
them ensuring only one result each attempt merely reiterated and strengthened the original idea that the
goal of human life was indeed Moksha or individual spiritual freedom. The social mess that the botched
caste system experiment had resulted in was not touched in any serious measure. All of the reformers
ended up certifying the utility and validity of the caste system, in so far as it threw up perfected
individuals from time to time in the Indian society. None seemed to bother that there could be a
possibility of masses reaching up to perfection too, and that society need not be designed to effect random
individual perfection here & there, now & then, alone.22 None seemed to be bothered about the

brought our downfall? That we have fallen is the sure sign that the basis of the Jati Dharma has been tampered with.
Therefore, what you call the Jati Dharma is quite contrary to what we have in fact. First, read your own Shastras
through and through, and you will easily see that what the Shastras define as caste-Dharma has disappeared almost
everywhere from the land. Now try to bring back the true Jati Dharma, and then it will be a real and sure boon to the
country. What I have learnt and understood, I am telling you plainly. I have not been imported from some foreign
land to come and save you, that I should countenance all your foolish customs and give scientific explanations for
them; it does not cost our foreign friends anything, they can well afford to do so. You cheer them up and heap
applause upon them, and that is the acme of their ambition. But if dirt and dust be flung at your faces, it falls on
mine too! Don't you see that?: East and the West
21
Now you understand clearly where the soul of this ogress is it is in religion. Because no one was able to
destroy that, therefore the Hindu nation is still living, having survived so many troubles and tribulations. Well, One
Indian scholar asks, What is the use of keeping the soul of the nation in religion? Why not keep it in social or
political independence, as is the case with other nations? It is very easy to talk like that. If it be granted, for the
sake of argument, that religion and spiritual independence, and soul, God, and Mukti are all false, even then see how
the matter stands. As the same fire is manifesting itself in different forms, so the same one great Force is manifesting
itself as political independence with the French, as mercantile genius and expansion of the sphere of equity with the
English, and as the desire for Mukti or spiritual independence with the Hindu. Be it noted that by the impelling of
this great Force, has been molded the French and the English character, through several centuries of vicissitudes of
fortune; and also by the inspiration of that great Force, with the rolling of thousands of centuries, has been the
present evolution of the Hindu national character. I ask in all seriousness which is easier, to give up our national
character evolved out of thousands of centuries, or your grafted foreign character of a few hundred years? Why do
not the English forget their warlike habits and give up fighting and bloodshed, and sit calm and quiet concentrating
their whole energy on making religion the sole aim of their life?: East and the West
22
But you may askwhat is the place of Ramakrishna in this scheme? He is the method, that wonderful
unconscious method! He did not understand himself. He knew nothing of England or the English, save that they
were queer folk from over the sea. But he lived that great life, and I read the meaning. Never a word of
condemnation for any! Once I had been attacking one of our sects of Diabolists. I had been raving on for three
Page 14 of 16
possibility, or impossibility, of designing or redesigning society into a mass manufactory of perfected
individuals. For, the origin of the caste system was indeed that to ensure that each member of the
society moved forward towards spiritual perfection. In the midst of all this confusion came the Islamic
invasion. India saw an opportunity to draw in some new blood into its body and see if a new way could
thereby be opened up for achieving its goal a method of living to bring about mass perfection among its
members. The Islamic invasion turned out to be a disaster since the invaders could not integrate into the
society they had conquered. As a result, the already confused Indian society now had to contend with an
added element of confusion, a significant portion of society that refused to blend into the culture and
religion of the major portion of society.23 Even while India was coming to terms with the peculiar
situation of its society consisting of two apparently irreconcilable groups of people, there came a new
impulse in the form of the European invasion. The invading European stood as a mirror to the hypocrisy
underlying the Indian society. The invading European, although professing to be religious, quoting the
Lord Jesus Christ on and off, was patently materialistic. He believed in enjoying this life here on earth.
But there is always the fear of death. He had overcome that by cooking up a very clever theology of the
original sin and the son-hood of Jesus and universal emancipation by merely believing in Jesuss status as
the Son of God. It was a stroke of genius of a much higher level than the devious Brahmin could imagine!
In one shot, you had it all. You could now enjoy as much as you wanted here in this life, and have a cozy
passage to heaven, post-mortem! This resonated with the pleasure-seeking urges of many individuals in
the Indian society. India understood that not all her children can really seek to know their true nature.
Many of her children really wished to enjoy this life, this world. The means provided by the caste system
did not encourage enjoyment in this life. Life was one long self-sacrifice under the older scheme of
things. But then, Moksha need not be imposed as the goal of life on every member of society. Controlled
enjoyment (or Dharma, as it is called in Indian terms) could indeed be prescribed as the goal of many
interested individuals. Dharma aviruddha bhuteshu kamosmi Bhatarshaba says the Lord Krishna in the
Bhagavad Gita. Can we have a social arrangement for such people too in India?
The combination of the European corporate organization and Karma yoga achieves just that! 24
Karma Yoga is a versatile tool for achieving both the ends of human life personal Moksha and

hours, and he had listened quietly. Well, well ! said the old man as I finished, perhaps every house may have a
back door. Who knows? Hitherto, the great fault of our Indian religion has lain in its knowing only two words
renunciation and Mukti. Only Mukti here! Nothing for the householder! But these are the very people whom I want
to help. For are not all souls of the same quality? Is not the goal of all the same? And so strength must come to the
nation through education. Master as I saw him;
Cf also: The wicked pay the price of the great soul's holiness. Think of that when you see a wicked man.
Just as the poor man's labor pays for the rich man's luxury, so is it in the spiritual world. The terrible degradation of
the masses in India is the price nature pays for the production of great souls like Mira-bai, Buddha, etc. Inspired
Talks
23
What I mean to say is this India learnt that Buddhism and Jainism, two new variants of Hinduism that sprang
forth with great vitality, could be absorbed back into Hinduism, Indias avowed religion. So also with the occasional
invaders such as the Greeks (both Macedonians & Ionians), the Mongols, the Huns, the Tartars, the Shakas (also
known as Scythians), the Kushans, the Pahlavas (also known as Parthians), etc, all of whom were successfully
absorbed into Hinduism and no trace was left of the invaders religion in the Indian society. With the advent of
Islam in its midst, it found that it could not absorb it as it had always done in the past.
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The faithful householder was as essential to the Sanatana Dharma as the faithful monk. The inviolability of
marriage and the inviolability of the monastic vow were obverse and reverse of a single medal. Without noble
citizenship, there could be no mighty apostolate. Without the secular, no sacerdotal, without temporal, no spiritual;
thus all was one, yet no detail might be willfully neglected, for through each atom shone the whole. It was in fact his
own old message in a new form. Integrity of character, as he and his Master before him, had insisted, was a finer
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collective development (Atmano Mokshartham, Jagadhitaya cha, as Swami Vivekananda termed it).
Karma Yoga is the ritual for the modern age. Sri Ramakrishna reminds us again and again in the pages of
his recorded conversations The Gospel of Ramakrishna that the goal of human life is God-realization.
But everyone need not renounce the pleasures of the senses and dedicate oneself to God-realization. A
select few, who voluntarily opt to do so may, indeed do so. The rest of us should hold onto to God with
one hand and enjoy the world with the other. This holding onto God with hand and enjoying life with the
other is called Karma Yoga.
Swami Vivekananda prophesied that this formidable combination would lead to a situation in
India which he described as follows: There were times in olden days when prophets were many in every
society. The time is to come when prophets will walk through every street in every city in the world. In
olden times, particular, peculiar persons were, so to speak, selected by the operations of the laws of
society to become prophets. The time is coming when we shall understand that to become religious means
to become a prophet, that none can become religious until he or she becomes a prophet. We shall come to
understand that the secret of religion is not being able to think and say all these thoughts; but, as the
Vedas teach, to realize them, to realize newer and higher one than have ever been realized, to discover
them, bring them to society; and the study of religion should be the training to make prophets. The
schools and colleges should be training grounds for prophets. The whole universe must become prophets;
and until a man becomes a prophet, religion is a mockery and a byword unto him. We must see religion,
feel it, realize it in a thousand times more intense a sense than that in which we see the wall.
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offering than religious ecstasy. Without strength to hold, there was no achievement in surrender. Master as I saw
him

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