Udayor Blog

She had left Trivandrum first, then now is leaving for Pune. Where
her son is living, never to return to Kerala as reports tell. I am
sorry, even apologetic, since I had written one of the most
devastating articles against her in Janmabhoomi. What she reacted to
with pain. What later tormented me personally.

Perhaps the Nayar blood in me did it, we are known to have beheaded
our women who went astray, and this woman going behind a Muslim
gentleman was far too hurting. More so as she made it a virtue, made it
a show and also said that her life as a Nayar was hell. Paraded the
Muslim dress and head gear which even Muslims in Kerala rarely wear.
Islam has great wisdom and virtue in it but this was a different parade.
A bad model in any case for others. How the reactions came.

But from another angle Madhavikutty was another of the victims,
as I later realised, this became a reason for me to start my Nayar
struggles, as this site, is also true. Yet another reason. Her famous
quote was this' I am liberated, (as a Muslim)it was oppresssion for me as
a Nayar women.' But later she was to repent. Her family, as I found out,
had severe problems. Clogged up beliefs are persecuting the Nayars
and this was a case of her rejecting the whole bagagge. But then spirituality
and religion are two different things, what Madhavikutti did not realise.

The last straw perhaps was her attempt to transfer the sacred grove
of Nalappat Tharavadu to the Sahitya Academy. What also failed. It
was a generaration of the fake values. This lady was perhapsthe last Nayar
empress from the breed, her sexual exploits were envied by many. But
somewhere she errred. Was far too naive. I loved her writings as an
youngster, but now I am sorry, despite all her faults. Wish she comes back,
takes up community work, among the Nayar women, as a daring Nayar woman.

PS: There was a group of youth in Thiruvananthapuram, as those people
themselves told this writer, who used to fool Madhavikutty, when she
stayed here. The modus operanti was simple, one of these boys will go in
to her house and start crying, saying that 'his grandfather is dead' or
the next time that 'he has no money to pay fees'. The others waited
outside and this went on for years. Every time the naive lady will go
inside and give the money, what had become their main income, to see
films. The tearful words of compassion after the money was paid was the
only occupational hazard, as one of them, now grown up, told.

(Anyone who reads this, who knows her, please pass it on to her at
Pune)

P R J Pradeep

Temples are the only institutions that retain the old practice of untouchability. It is socially sanctioned and not many are willing to question the statusquo. A man born in the Brahmin caste alone is permitted inside the sanctum sanctorum. What by default means all others, including Brahmin women are lesser human beings, sub-human. This is at the root of many social ills in society like oppressive caste prejudices against the low castes. Breeding of inferiority complex in others and the born priests and their lobbies are working over time to retain and spread this fossilized untouchability. Fear of the unknown is the tool, theatrics and dress rehearsals the gimmick. For a healthy Hindu society for the future this cannot continue and the caste Brahmin priests' monopoly has to cease in all Kerala temples. Alternatives built up and this unhealthy tradition discontinued immediately. It may even be necessary for the priests themselves who are in dire straights, majority of them poverty ridden and trapped in rituals and stagnation. They may be helped to enter better vocations in life.

Priesthood trying to subjugate people is seen repeating in history and many of the great men and prophets have tried to fight this menace. In Kerala it is time this is taken up in all earnest. The recent incidents in Kerala where the `holier than thou'
Tantris were caught indulging in evil practices failed to open the eyes of the people. Most of them unfortunately have made the temples places for all kinds of extortion and it is their greed rather than anything divine that happens in most places. Also the greed of those who ally with them for the money, power and some privileges. What the present Devaswom Boards are typical examples. Where the rot in the name of god has reached the limits. The clever priests and their bosses make use of the others for their own motives and share a part of the loot. Spirituality is their last priority. Where a cleansing is badly needed.

In Kerala the native temples were almost all originally from the Tantric stream, not the Vedic Brahmin stream and were owned by the various native communities. Often the temples were in the ownership of and protection of the Nayars, warriors and nobility of Kerala in the pre-caste period in history. Nayars were a Tantric people and the high status of women etc in the old matriarchial Nayar community point to this. Later
these were taken over by the Vedic Brahmins and a new model of Tantra, what the 'Tantris' now follow, enforced. What many consider fake Tantra. The British period saw the temples taken over from the original communities and the rituals altered, sadly the priests allied with the British as history shows. Where the situation remains till date, despite freedom from British rule. The Tantric stream
did not have subjugation of women, low castes or fake brahmacharya and vegetarianism. All of which are from the Vedic model and alien to majority Kerala Hindu society. What is now paraded as authentic Hinduism.

And with the fast spread of caste Brahmin controlled Hindutwa in the recent past, and the fan following for the Brahminised god-men and god-women, the Vedic Brahmin model is trying for an alarming come back and this, despite its few good sides, is going to be damaging to the larger Hindu society. More and more temples where non-Brahmins were priests are swallowed by the Brahmins and the rituals being altered. They use a clever arrangement by linking astrologers, doing 'Devaprasnams' and assorted crafts. What creates mayhem in Hindu society as concepts of fake brahmacharya, vegetarianism etc are being freely used. What leads to nerotic behaviour in the people as denial of natural urges in ordinary people are damaging. In this in Kerala, unfortunately the Nayar community is the most affected, but ironically they are also the facilitators. Perhaps because they are the most hypnotized by the propaganda of priesthood. They get used, but are not aware of this. The divided Hindu society disintegrates.

The inhuman and prejudiced attitudes towards the Dalits and low castes have no place in the modern era, it is also highly damaging to the larger Hindu society
which is on the run in Kerala. But the fossilized priestly practices are trying to bring this back with a vengeance. The islands were the old Tantric models
survived, many old temples, are also giving in to the Vedic Brahmin models. Many Dalit owned and tribal owned places of worship are being captured by the
forces of new Hindutwa, where new Brahmin priests and rituals are enforced. Hence there is no other way except discontinuing the custom of caste Brahmin male priests, if that is not voluntarily happening, daring initiatives like ousting the Brahmin
priests from all the temples may be necessary. It will also help them themselves. Everyone who respects the beliefs and has the spiritual competence should be permitted inside sanctums. New priesthood and rituals cultivated with the guidance of those with the vision. While various communities who share common subcultures and values, what became caste later, may retain these, there should not be any hierarchy and prejudices between man and man. What is man made, neither is there a need for middlemen between man and god. What the priests claim to be.

Part I

P R J Pradeep

The word ‘Vedic’ arouses mystique in the minds, of at
least the Hindus. It is a loaded word and swearing by
the ‘Vedas’ is an obsession with many. Particularly
with the priestly castes who also chant the Sanskrit
words of the Vedas in various rituals. Since the
language is not known to the majority they take it as
magical, codes to reach god by short cuts. The caste
Brahmins have a tradition of making the lines by
heart, not very keen about the meanings, and it is
often seen that they chant the words meant to
propitiate Indra, chief god of the Vedic pastoral
people, at every temple and ritual. That is,
irrespective of whatever the deity there, whatever the
purpose there. The practice of learning Vedas by heart
no doubt helped in their preservation through
centuries is true, but there are also other problems
involved. There are many who believe that everything
started from the Vedas, that the Vedas have the answer
to all the problems of the world. On closer scrutiny
it is usual to find such people as absolutely ignorant
of what is there in the Vedas. Or they turn out to be
having vested interests. Perhaps the denial of the
Vedas to a majority had this as another reason,
keeping the mystique alive.

Interestingly it is not the ‘Vedas’ per se that people
commonly refer to, it is the later interpretations.
The real text of the ‘Vedas’ narrate the hopes, fears
and apprehensions of an ancient pastoral people.
Asking Indra to give them more cattle, avenge the
enemies and protect them is what is commonly seen in
the Vedas. But the later interpretations, like the
‘Sutras’, ‘Brahmanas’, ‘Smruthis’ etc. goes far in
explaining the Vedas. Obviously these reflect on the
prevailing social needs of those who interpreted
these, their genuine and vested interests. What
through time was passed over by the new generations,
making it loaded words. Not only that, these
interpretations later came to become social customs
and values. What is today paraded as ‘Bharateeya
Sanskriti’ is immensely influenced by these value
systems rooted in the Vedas. Since the aura created
through time gives it the necessary protection not
many are willing to question these. And of late there
is a new breed of psedo-scientists who try to hood
wink the naïve by giving fancy explanations to
everything ‘Vedic’. It also has a hidden agenda as
they aim at restoring the priestly hegemony in Hindu
society, what is on the wane. The unfortunate part is
that the new Hinditwa revival in post-colonial India
has inadvertently given them the necessary space.

As the Hindu society in India is facing severe
challenges, with its inner crisis, caste divisions and
priestly hold there is a felt need to reform the Hindu
society from within. The challenges thrown by the
commercial and pan-national faiths that eat in to the
Hindu core is reason enough to look for alternatives.
Why it becomes important that the ‘Vedic’ debate is
demystified. For, there lies the root cause of many
social ills, especially in the later interpretations,
including that of Sankara himself. Whom Swami
Vivekananda himself called ‘narrow minded’ for his
justifying caste and monopoly of knowledge by specific
castes. Sankara, who is believed to be the main
architect of what is called modern Hinduism, had
talked about ‘Advaitha’, about this world as being an
illusion, ‘Maya’ but the same Sankara had also
insisted about caste divisions. It is a paradox but it
stood the ground for several centuries, thanks to the
logic and the social systems that were put in place to
safe guard these. Sankara, born in a Brahmin family in
South India, Kerala to be precise, traveled all the
way to the Himalayas and effectively challenged the
new universal religions of the day like Budhism and
Jainism.

It was a clever ploy of interpreting the ancient texts
explaining the Vedas, like the ‘Sutras’, ‘Smruthis’
etc. together with what are called the ‘Vedangas’ or
the limbs of the body of the ‘Vedas’. ‘Manu- Smruthi’,
perhaps an earlier version, was able to enforce many
of these skewed interpretations on Hindu society.
These had their positive attributes is true, like
structuring the society with codes of conduct for
people, daily regimen and seasonal discipline. But
eventually these became tools of oppression and the
caste, by birth, privileges became perilous to
society. Perhaps how the Hindu society later bowed
down before colonial forces, new alien faiths. But the
decadent faith and its hold on people continued to
hold sway. It had by now become the only means of
survival for the priestly castes. The degradation of
women, half of the Hindu population, is the most
damaging result of this. Second is the degradation of
the majority called ‘Sudras’ who according to the
‘Vedic Scholars’ are not even human, not ‘manushya’.
Only the twice born, Brahmin, Kashatriya and Vaisya,
are ‘manushya’. Calls to kill those ‘Sudras’who hear
the ‘Vedas’, by pouring molten lead in to their ears
(Gauthama dharma Sutra), and similar calls against
women became lethal. ‘Pumasavana’, one agenda of the
‘shodasa samskara’, is a ritual to beget male progeny
(after Atharava 6.11). Women became pollutants (after
Taittiriya Samhita and Gautama Dharma Sutra), it was
mothers polluting children, for women give birth to
man and women. Simple postulates in the Vedas and
their interpretations eventually started becoming
menacing, these came to be social customs. What
continues to this day.

(To be continued)