rationalist responses to hinduism in india

RATIONALIST RESPONSES
TO HINDUISM IN INDIA
BY SAROJA ILANGOVAN
PERIYAR INTERNATIONAL USA
ABSTR ACT: The syncretic religion of Hinduism built a
caste system into its teachings. India’s first rationalist thinker, the Buddha, was only the first reformer among many.
His teachings inspired modern freethinkers, including the
notable 20th century rationalist, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy.
Ramasamy’s main approach to breaking the caste system
was establishing the right to equal education and affirmative action in India’s Constitution. Education became the
launching point for pushes by coalitions of rationalists
and others for further reforms in treatment of women and children. Ramasamy’s
legacy includes Dravidar Kazhagam and its offshoot Periyar International, a
rationalist organization that continues to fight for job rights, accurate and religiously unbiased translations of Hindu scriptures, elimination of the caste system,
and the liberation of young Indian minds in a predominantly Hindu society.
Key Words: India, Hinduism, Caste, R ationalism
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Hinduism’s evolving social constitutions have survived centuries of adaptation. Even today, the religion’s customs dominate one of the most advanced
nations on the planet. Before a launch, Indian rocket scientists seek spiritual
guidance in Thiruppathy, at a temple second in wealth only to the Vatican.
The Goddess of Education, Saraswathi, and the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi, adorn walls of elementary classrooms. Many Hindus begin the day by
worshipping the elephant god Ganesha, who, according to the Hindu tale,
received an elephant head from an altercation with the god Shiva. When
young Ganesha prevented Shiva from approaching his bathing mother,
Shiva punished him by severing his head from his body; after the mother’s
subsequent pleadings, he attached an elephant’s head to Ganesha’s body
to appease her. Even in the more than 200 Hindu temples in the United
32 The Human Prospect Volume 4 Number 3
States, many contemporary Hindus believe this story. Recently, Indian Prime
Minister Narenda Modi boasted that ancient Indians practiced plastic surgery, and used Ganesha’s elephant head as an example (Rahman 2014).
Some aspects of Hindu ideology strengthen a well-preserved community
of faith, but others support divisions and perpetrate social injustice. The
Bhagavad Gita, Hinduism’s predominant text , divides the community into
four varnas, which continue to inform social divisions today (Veeramani
2001). India’s highest caste, the Brahmin or priest class, makes up 3% of
India’s population and experiences little fluctuation due to the familial passing of caste. This caste possesses the greatest privileges professionally and
academically, while the three lower classes, Kshatriyas (warriors), Vysyas
(merchants), and Sudhras (servants), occupy lower social positions and possess fewer opportunities. In educational settings, Brahmin teachers actively
discouraged non-Brahmins from academic pursuits. After the Indian Independence Act of 1947, the Brahmin Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu closed
more than 10,000 village schools so that non-Brahmin children would turn
to family trades like farming, cobbling, and cow herding. In addition to facing educational hindrances, non-Brahmins are prevented from entering the
sanctums of Hindu temples. When lower castes provide offerings, priests do
not touch their hands to avoid contamination.
Non-Brahmins, despite ill-treatment by the priest class, typically adhere to
the same caste system that displaces them. They treat the lowest members
of society (and a major part of the population) with even less dignity than
the system allocates to them as non-Brahmins, often banning Untouchables
from their homes. Members of this class work as farm hands and in sanitation, removing waste from houses and streets. Untouchable children usually
do not go to school, and while the Indian government has attempted to
address discrimination against Untouchables, discriminatory practices continue. Even beneath the Untouchables were Unseeables, who must hide from
sight before dawn (Paswan 2002, p. 286).
Apart from caste injustice, other outdated practices such as gender oppression and extreme superstition in the name of holy rituals are still normative
in India (Veeramani 2007, pp. 451–462). Some examples of religion-based
rituals occurring today are walking on fire, animal sacrifices, and special
rituals instigated by Brahmin priests to appease the gods and planetary powers (Veeramani 2014, p. 369).
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Modern Hinduism and its surviving customs developed from a mixture of
Aryan and Dravidian and indigenous faiths. Early Vedic Aryan ideas merged
over time with an amalgamation of earlier ideas and beliefs to create what is
now called Hinduism. The caste system originates from the story of Arjuna,
who did not want to take part in a civil war against teachers, relatives, and
friends until Lord Krishna cajoled him into action on the battlefield. Hindus
orally transmitted this story for centuries before transcribing it in The Bhagavad Gita. According to the text, Krishna establlished the varna. The varna
consisted of the division of society into four ranks, as per the Rig Veda. The
four varnas are: (1) the Brahmins from the face of the Hindu God Brahma,
who are priests and teachers, (2) the Kshatriyas from the shoulder, who
are kings and warriors, (3) the Vaishyas from the thighs, who are business
people, and (4) the Shudras from the feet, who are the labourers. Any mixture of these varnas is declared disastrous, as given social roles are crucial to
maintaining communal structure. This classification first began in the Vedic
age, between 1200 B.C.E. and 600 C.E., and lasted several centuries (Dayanandan 1989). Oppressed people such as the Shudhras found some liberation from this system by adopting new religions, such as Christianity, Islam,
and Buddhism. ​
​Buddha was India’s first rational thinker. He was a prince named Siddhartha Gauthama, who saw the rampant animal sacrifices sponsored by the
kings and officiated by Brahmins, as well as the inequities associated with
varna dharma. He sought through various religious leaders and did not find
answers (Kamath 2011). After discarding royal life to seek a cure for human
suffering, he preached compassion and equal rights, challenging Brahmin
authority over Indian culture. His rational message inspired India and
neighboring countries to adopt rationalist ideologies, transforming them into
Buddhist nations (Veeramani 2009). During the 5th century C.E., a Buddhist institution called Nalanda had more than 10,000 students enrolled in
courses ranging from public health to mathematics. However, in the 11th
century, a collapse in Buddhist ideology caused the institution’s destruction.
Rationalist Buddhism suffered at the hands of ongoing Aryan rule, and ultimately the majority of India’s population returned to Hinduism. In countries
still predominantly Buddhist, such as Cambodia and Tibet, Hindu rituals
and superstitions have been assimilated into the Buddhist ideology.
​Although his religion is no longer the dominant one in India, Buddha’s
teachings inspired a wave of rational thought that paved the way for many
34 The Human Prospect Volume 4 Number 3
Indian rationalists. Rational leaders taught forward thinking to the public by holding peaceful protests and leading public education meetings
(Veeramani 1994; Kandasamy 2005). The notable 20th century rationalist,
Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, campaigned against such customs as child marriages, dowry systems, and ill-treatment of downtrodden people and widows.
Ramasamy vehemently spoke out against traditionalist community leaders
and passed resolutions at Chengalpattu Women’s Convention, Tamil Nadu
India, November 1938, in favor of women’s societal and academic empowerment at self-respect conferences across the nation (Veeramani 2014, pp.
164–181). His rationalist educational movement began in the 1920s, at a
time when India’s doctrines, or Sastras, claimed that unmarried girls would
succumb to prostitution by the age of ten in the name of service to God in
temples (Veeramani 2007, pp. 354–372). His efforts stimulated the construction of a teacher training institute in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India that
evolved into the College of Pharmacy for Girls and the Engineering College
for Women, now Periyar Maniammai University. In addition to gender oppression, Hindu beliefs promoted class oppression that hindered access to education in the 20th century and into the 21st
century. The Brahmin class, almost 100% literate, controlled all major educational institutions. India’s government, made up of 90% Brahmin employees in the highest positions as of 1939, showed a blind eye to the oppression.
The lower castes, almost 95% illiterate, consistently encountered hurdles
when pursuing education. At least primary and secondary school education is compulsory now, so the remaining barriers they face are to access
to higher education (Kandasamy, p. 196). Within non-Brahmin classes in
South India, Ramasamy spread the message that education was integral to
self-respect and economic freedom. He empowered non-Brahmins to fight
for opportunities in education, research, and jobs, and to accelerate the suppressed castes’ forward movement in society.
Ramasamy was born into a wealthy and strictly religious Hindu family.
Despite receiving little schooling, he became a voracious reader, writer, and
speaker, later becoming Chairman of Erode Municipality. When colleagues
asked him to join the Gandhian movement, he resigned all 29 positions of
authority and committed to a simple Gandhian life. He was joined by his
wife, who was the first leader in Gandhi’s anti-alcohol campaign. Ramasamy
eventually split with the Gandhi movement over a disagreement concerning equality and individual rights; he believed human freedom should come
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before the freedom of the country. Gods, he claimed, were excuses for
superstition and irrationality. He boldly stated, “There is no god, no god at
all. He who invented god is a fool. He who propagates god is a knave. He
who worships god is a primitive” (Periyar 1967; Veeramani 1996). Along his
travels across India, he shared Western articles on advances in science and
logic. Followers named him “Periyar,” meaning “great man.” He took his
ideologies and non-violent protests across England, Russia, France, Turkey,
Italy, and Spain. At protests, his followers carried statues of Ganesha and
broke them, symbolically debunking the omnipotent god. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization presented him with
a citation on June 27, 1970, which read, “Periyar the prophet of the new
age, the Socrates of South East Asia, father of the social reform movement,
and arch enemy of ignorance, superstitions, meaningless customs and base
manners.”
Ramasamy’s equal education movement weakened one of Hinduism’s central components, caste systems, and furthered a rationalist agenda in India.
His efforts in public education brought attention to the cruel treatment
of young girls, such as the denial of education and compulsory arranged
marriage at a young age. Early marriages for female children often left them
widowed before puberty. For many centuries, Indians considered widows
valueless in society. Remarriage was not permitted, and many widows were
sacrificed in the funeral pyre of their husbands. This custom was eradicated
during British rule in India; however, child marriages and child widows
continued to be prevalent. According to a report on Indian child widows,
in 1921 there were 2,631,788 widows between the ages of one and thirty,
85,937 of which were between the ages of five and ten. Ramasamy’s public
awareness meetings put pressure on the Indian government, and eventually the government raised the marriage age to 18 (Prohibition 2006). On
rare occasions, child marriages still occur in remote parts of India, but in
most places the custom no longer exists (Veeramani 2014, pp. 70–86).
​Ramasamy and other rationalists fought for women’s rights in all areas of
society. Within families, Ramasamy encouraged men and women to limit
reproduction in order to help the country economically and avoid overburdening mothers (Veeramani 2014, pp. 164–181). In some communities,
only the eldest male children could acquire property, while women had no
rights to hold property aside from paternal gifts at the time of marriage.
Rationalists like Ramasamy fought for years against this custom, and only
36 The Human Prospect Volume 4 Number 3
in 2005 did the Indian government give women the right to inherit family
property. Female infanticide was a common practice in the last century, and
at one point female births were far less common than male births. Indian
families considered raising a girl to marriage to be a financial burden, especially in middle and lower-income populations. Ultrasound determinations of
female gender often led to abortions. Rationalist pressure caused the Indian
government to address this issue, and after a few years, the government instituted a law banning ultrasound gender screening.
​Ramasamy became known as modern India’s leading rationalist thinker and
activist, but others also played important roles. Most rational thinking leaders came from India’s upper classes and fought for change under the influence
of Western intellectuals like Robert Ingersoll and George Holyoake. Even
though they enjoyed privileged lives, their compassion led them to steer great
movements for justice. Two in particular bear special mention. Jyotirao Govindarao Phule, born in 1827 in the present-day Maharastra State, was a social
reformer and educationist. He and his wife started India’s first school for girls
and in 1873 formed the organization Society Seekers of Truth. The organization sought equal rights for peasants and lower castes. Thomas Paine’s 18thcentury book Rights of Man was a great influence on Phule’s ideology. Phule,
who criticized Vedas as “idle fantasies,” received the title of “Mahatma” in
1888, long before Mahatma Gandhi. A second notable rationalist, Bhimrao
Ramji Ambedkar, was the first from the Untouchable community to graduate
from college, earning a doctorate in economics and law from Columbia
University and the London School of Economics (Keer, p. 247). A colleague
of Ramasamy, he advocated for constitutional rights for lower castes, extending to education, employment, and representation in Parliament. ​Ramasamy, in the spirit of India’s first rational thinker, Buddha, left behind
a legacy of progress that continues in India today. Today, a rationalist-led
organization, Periyar International, operates in several countries. Indian
rationalists continue to fight for job rights, accurate and religiously unbiased
translations of Hindu scriptures, the removal of the caste system from the
Indian Constitution, and the liberation of young Indian minds in a predominantly Hindu society.
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Dr. Saroja Ilangovan is the first female physician from her village near
Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1974 after her
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marriage to Dr. Somasundaram Ilangovan, a Periyar International activist.
She worked as a Neuropathologist at Cook County Hospital, Chicago,
Illinois.
References
Dayanandan, T. Francis. 1989. The Relevance of Hindu Ethos for Christian
Presence: A Tamil Perspective (Madras: Christian Literary Society).
Kamath, Prabhakar. 2011. “Buddha, The Sensible Rationalist,” Nimukta
(January 26).
Kandasamy, W.B. Vasantha, Florentin Smarandache, and K. Kandasamy. 2005. Fuzzy and Neutrosophic Analysis of Periyar’s Views on Untouchability (Phoenix: Hexis).
Keer, Dhanajay. 1974. Mahatma Jotirao Phule: Father of Indian Social Revolution (Bombay: Popular Prakashan Ltd).
Paswan, Sanjay, and Paramanshi Jaideva. 2002. Encyclopedia of Dalits in
India: Human Rights: New Dimensions in Dalit Problems (Gyan Publishing
House). Volume 14.
Periyar, E.V.R. 1967. “There is no God,” Viduthalai (May 24).
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. 2006. No. 6, Acts of Parliament,
2007 (India).
Rahman, Maseeh. 2014. “Indian prime minister claims genetic science existed in ancient times,” The Guardian (October 28).
Veeramani, K. 1994. Religion and Society: Selections from Periyar’s Speeches
and Writings (Madras: Emerald Publishers).
Veeramani, K. 1996. Periyar—Is There a God? (Chennai: Darvidar Kazham
Publications).
Veeramani, K. 2001. Bhagavad Gita: Myth or Mirage (Chennai: Darvidar
Kazham Publications).
38 The Human Prospect Volume 4 Number 3
Veeramani, K. 2007. Collected Works of Periyar E.V.R. (Chennai: The Periyar
Self-Respect Propaganda Institution).
Veeramani, K. 2009. “Buddhist Principles and Periyar.” The Modern Rationalist.
March 30.
Veeramani, K. 2014. Periyar Feminism (Chennai: The Periyar Self-Respect
Propaganda Institution).
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