O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,November 03, 2013 Deepavali Day A devotee raised a
peculiar issue stating that some people of backward castes claim Narakasura as
their ancestor, who was a good person and was killed by the upward castes in
wrong way. They state that he was ‘Asura’ meaning that he does not drink wine.
Hence, Deepaavali is a function of the victory of injustice over justice.
Swami Replied: You believe that Narakasura was
killed by Krishna on the basis of a Scripture that gives the life history of
Narakasura. If you believe that Scripture for this point, you must believe the
same Scripture for the other points also related to Narakasura. You are using
the Scripture for a specific convenient point and you are discarding all the
other points of the same Scripture. In addition, you are creating new points
that contradict the other points of the Scripture. This is highly improper and
climax of indiscipline based on prejudice and bias to other castes. Your
intention is only partiality in the caste system and not the justice and
injustice based on facts and lies.
The first point is that you told that Narakasura is
Asura, who is not a Sura (Angel). The same Scripture says that Narakasura was
born to God Maha Vishnu and Goddess Bhudevi (Earth). Both the parents belong to
the caste of angels (Sura) and not to the caste of demons (Asura). Hence, you
cannot claim Narakasura as Asura or backward caste (BC). Though Narakasura was
a Sura by birth, he was called as Asura based on his qualities and actions.
This is a proof to state that the caste system is not based on the birth but on
qualities and actions as said in the Gita (Guna Karma Vibhagashah). Your
attempt to make Narakasura as a person born in BC, SC, ST, etc., is thus
futile. Instead, you must know that Krishna belongs to Yadavas, a backward
caste. Narakasura belongs to angels, who belong to superior caste above all the
human beings. Krishna is a human being and there also belongs to BC category.
Now, your case is totally is reversed! You are supporting the upward caste and
condemning the BC!! Hence, before talking something, you must have minimum
patience to do minimum analysis. You cannot bring the case of Kamsa also, who
is maternal uncle of Krishna. Since both belong to the same caste, your fowl
play is objected at the gate itself.
Similarly, if you take the Mahabharata, both are cousin
brothers belonging to the same caste. Similarly, if you take Ramayana, Ravana
belongs to the upward caste of Brahmins. He was also called as Asura due to his
qualities and actions. Even Rama belongs to the caste of Kshatriya, which is
lower than the caste of Ravana. Here also your case is reversed. In
Ramayana, it is described that all the Asuras drank wine and ate non-vegetarian
foods (refer to Sundarakanda). Now, you say that Asura does not drink
wine! Asura means the person, who is not Sura. You are taking a different
meaning for the word Sura and create all this non-sense. If you allow other
meanings of a word, all the concepts are subjected to confusion. Sura and Asura
do not refer to castes. They refer to good and bad cultures. A person is
decided as Sura or Asura based on his culture and not on the caste in which the
person is born. Even the caste should be decided on qualities and actions only
as per the Gita.
Whether it is caste or culture, good is always respected
and bad is condemned. We respect and even worship the photos of ‘Shabari’ and
‘Kannappa’ in the worship rooms of even Brahmins. Shabari and Kannappa belong
to SC and ST category as per the caste. But, they belong to the Sura Culture.
Bhurishravaah, a pot maker was made the President of a Sacrifice conducted by
Brahmin Sages (refer the Bhagavatam). Ravana is a Brahmin and Narakasura is an
angel. But, both were condemned since they belong to the Asura culture. The
qualities are always the reason for the worship or rejection and not the age,
the gender and the caste (Gunaah Pujaasthaanam… Bhavabhuti). The
caste system was just maintained in marriages and while taking meals because of
the different food habits. This has nothing to do with the higher and
lower levels viewed for worship and rejection. Even the concept of untouchable
is misrepresented to criticize the Brahmins. The heart of the ancient Brahmin
sages was totally different in this issue. To change the Asura culture into
Sura culture, such punishments were adopted like boycotting a person from the
village as untouchable. The aim is only transformation and not revenge. A bad
student is debarred from the school for some days to transform him into a good
boy. He is not allowed into the school and is treated as an untouchable. The
good aims are twisted to create hatred and fight in the castes. Bhurishravaah
was pot maker by birth and belongs to BC. But, his Sura culture was so high
that he is made as the President of the Sacrifice to whom all the Brahmin sages
had to bow.
Therefore, our ancient Hindu culture and Scriptures were
pious and pure and the mud thrown by you will revert back to fall only on your
face.
At the lotus feet of Shri Datta Swmi
-Prasad
