Author Archives: Candidasa dasa, UK

caste system
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I was listening to a news report on the Indian caste system. The journalist talked about the huge amount of discrimination between the various castes in India. Only in the slums of the big cities, where everyone is equally poor, can people escape the shadow of the caste they were born into.

And what is to blame for all this segregation? The reporter says: why, of course, it is the evil Hindu faith with its antiquated beliefs and useless scriptures! The journalist went on to describe how there was a growing movement to throw out the Laws of Manu and establish the glorious Constitution as the basis of society (I won’t link to the report, because it really isn’t worth listening to).

brahmana preparing sacred thread

Now, I won’t go into the evils (real or imaginary) of so-called Hinduism in all its billions of shapes, sizes and variations. I will however point out that nowhere in the Vedic literature does it say that caste is established by birth. Everywhere it is said that caste (or varna) is determined by personal quality. If one has the qualities of an outcaste, then one should be treated like an outcaste. If one has the qualities of a brahmana, then one should be treated like a brahmana. Simple.

Proof? The Bhagavad-Gita (the basis of Hinduism – or so they say) says in verse 18.41:

“Br?hman?£as, ks?£atriyas, vai?>yas and ?>?«dras are distinguished by the qualities born of their own natures in accordance with the material modes, O chastiser of the enemy.”

The word used is “svabh?va”, which means “nature” or “quality”. It does not say “janma”, which would have meant birth. I think it is pretty clear.

The Srimad Bhagavatam (follow on to the Bhagavad Gita by the same author) makes it even clearer. In 7.11.35 the great sage Narada Muni is quoted:

“If one shows the symptoms of being a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.”

Here is a one way to determine which class one is most inclined to (note: there is a lot more to it than this simple explanation):

Brahmanas (intellectuals) are perfectly happy to be part of some larger operation, as long as it is well run and they can have their freedom. Ksatriyas (warriors) prefer to be part of smaller, poorly managed operation, as long as they are in charge. Vaisyas (merchants) want to make lots and lots of money and Sudras (laborers) are happy just working and not having to worry about any big decisions. No class is any “worse” than another. Different people work in different ways. It is foolish to pass laws making everyone equal when it is clearly not the case.

Krishna consciousness is not Hinduism. Hinduism does not make much sense to me. However, Krishna consciousness makes perfect sense and it is based on the best knowledge. A society based on varna and ashrama is perfect. But don’t take my word for it: read the Bhagavatam and see for yourself the genius of the varnashrama system.

new Vedicsoc: Fresher’s Fair
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A new University semester is upon us and Vedicsoc is back in business!

Vedicsoc flyer vedicsoc schedule
We just had the Fresher’s Fair at the University. Up to four days of hoards of students being induced to join every kind of club or society one might imagine. I chose two days in the prime location (UoM Academy) for Vedicsoc’s recruitment efforts. Kamren helped me.

We distributed loads of prasadam (Coconut Ice and Chinese Almond cookies), as well as 1000 flyers (and foolish me thought I had printed too many). 166 interested people put their email address down to be put on our mailing list.

On advice from Joy I added a timetable of events to the back of the flyers. A definite schedule of interesting topics should hopefully attract more people. I also set the price at ?£1 per session, pay-as-you-go. People liked the cheap price for a two hour long session, as well as the fact that they didn’t have to commit to anything.

The fair itself was pretty intense: loud noise everywhere, wall-to-wall people and discarded flyers all over the place.

My realizations:

  • Asian people are becoming more interested in yoga/meditation. We had quite a few Chinese and Japanese students come by, ask questions and sign up. In previous years there was zero interest from students from those countries.
  • Students are getting older. Excessive sense gratification is prematurely aging young people. I remember when the freshers at University looked like little kids. Now I can hardly tell the difference between someone who is 18 and someone who is 28. All their innocence has been lost long long ago.
  • (As my spiritual master also has said) men are generally spaced-out and women are angry. Indulging the senses destroys a man’s intelligence and he becomes a spaced-out zombie. Women hope to get some emotional fulfillment from sense indulgence and are (inevitably) disappointed and angry when it does not result.

I tried to capture some of these ideas with my camera as I was distributing flyers and shouting at people trying to get their attention so they would join Vedicsoc. You can view the result of my photographic endeavors here. I think the pictures nicely illustrate the sad and sorry state of the student community (if I accidentally took a picture of anyone reading this blog entry and you don’t want it displayed, please email me and I’ll remove it).

Sorry for the low quality of the pictures. It was quite dark in the room and I had to resort to less than ideal ISO settings and shutter speeds.

On another side note: I’ve been watching the Radiant Vista Daily Critique. It is an excellent daily 5-minute video photo critique by master photographer Craig Tanner. He takes viewer/listener submitted photos and gives some encouraging words, as well as suggestions for improvement. I’ve learnt a lot about photography from these podcasts. I’ve implemented some of what I’ve learnt in this latest series of pictures. Further comments and suggestions are, of course, welcome.