From: kanga.caltech.edu!vidya (Vidyasankar Sundaresan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: FACING UP TO THE TRUTH(M.V.Kamath's article)
Date: 29 Sep 1992 20:20:46 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: pooh.caltech.edu
Originator: vidya@pooh

In article <1992Sep29.175732.26092@cs.wayne.edu> uds@wsu-eng.eng.wayne.edu  
(Seetamraju Udaybhaskar) writes:
- In article <92273.121813DXA4@psuvm.psu.edu> <DXA4@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
- >What the Brahmins as protectors of their culture achieved in those days  
has
- >never been properly recorded, probably because a considerable number of  
people
- >belonging precisely to this class had been slaughtered. If success was  
obtained
- >in preserving Hindu culture in the hell of the first Islamic centuries,  
the
- >credit goes undoubtedly to the brahmins..."
- 
- Brahmins never protected the only remaining vestiges of ancient
- hindu india (namely the south).  It was the united courage and
- brilliance of various warriors.  If you read any text on south
- indian history that details the vijayanagara empire, you will
- find that these warriors came from ALL castes-- not just
- the kshatriyas (who obviosly, made up the majority).  To what
- extant brahminism (NOT the brahmnana caste-people --- note the
- difference) helped in preserving culture during time of
- great danger, is debateable.  But, ofcourse, everone knows brahminism
- was the cause of status-quo-ism during relatively peaceful times...
- 
- 
- Seetamraju Udaya Bhaskar Sarma
- (email : seetam @ ece7 . eng . wayne . edu)
- 
- To the rest of the south-indians : What is the current position (public
- stance) of the Hindu newspaper, with regard to the RJB-BM dispute.
- 
- What about the opinions of the various famous (frequent) contrinbutors  
to
- the central-left page (page # 8) and in the open pages...
- 
- What are the editor's views...?
- 
- I havent seen a Hindu newspaper for about 15 months now...




Mr. Sarma (or is it Sharma/Serma?)

Please do go back to the same history text books you quote and re-read the  
fact that the Vijaynagar empire was founded by Harihara and Bukka only  
after they came under the influence of Vidyaranya, who was the junior  
Sankaracharya of Sringeri at that time. If you want to claim that  
Vidyaranya was not a Brahmin or that he did not represent Brahminism, you  
are welcome to your opinion. Again if you want to claim that Brahminism,  
not the people who made up the Brahmin caste, did nothing to protect Hindu  
culture in the south, I can only say that your knowledge of life in the  
south is extremely poor. Any history text book which deals with South  
Indian history will tell you that the sons of Sangama came back to the  
south as governors appointed by the Sultan of Delhi and that they were  
defeated by Ballala III (who was a Hindu, by the way), and that they met  
Vidyaranya at Virupakshi while on a hunt and they saw a rare sight of  
rabbits chasing their hounds out etc. As regards the story of the rabbits  
and the story that they had been converted to Islam and Vidyaranya  
reconverted them to Hinduism, they may well be just stories. However the  
basic fact remains that without the help of the established Brahmin  
religio-social structure in the south, the Vijaynagar empire could not  
have been established. 

What were all the Hindu kings and dynasties in the south (Kshatriyas)  
doing at aorund the same time in history? The Hoysalas, the Gangas, the  
Yadavas of Devgiri, what was left of the  Chalukyas and the Pallavas were  
all nursing their wounds and didn't have a clue as to how to contain the  
Muslim invasion from the north. To attribute the status quoism in peaceful  
times to Brahminism/people of the Brahmin caste, is to deny the role of  
the vast numbers of other communities who also contributed to it. It is to  
deny the role of the considerable power wielded by Jains, Buddhists and  
the non-Brahmin Saivas/Vaisnavas. High caste non Brahmins are as guilty as  
Brahmins in perpetuating the status quoism you find fault with. I agree  
that people of all castes most probably made up the army of the conquering  
Vijaynagar kings, but do not underplay the role of the leadership provided  
by the Brahmins. Just because Brahmin-baiting is a fashionable sport right  
now, do not try to blame all the ills of India on Brahmins. The others are  
as guilty, if not more, of whatever people find very convenient to blame  
Brahmins for. 

S.Vidyasankar

Thought for the day -
If only Brahmin-baiting/hating is introduced as an Olympic sport, India  
would win at least one gold medal!