11-26-2004, 08:25 PM
Pathma , you are painting a broad brush and tainting the entire community for the acts of a few and regardless of the truth of what you say, i must say such acts pale in significance to the total extermination of people(the north american indian) and their enslavement (the american negro) , the holocausts (during the muslim era and the mongol scourges). If i do not allow a person into a place of worship that hardly qualifies me as a murderer, which is what the people of TN are claiming the acharya is . If individual priests behave in a bigoted manner or contrary to the law of the land they should be punished according to the law, but why punish the entire class and the acharyas who are generally blameless.
Furthermore, contrary to popular opinion anybody is free to become a priest, if he so chooses, provided he attains the right qualifications. There are a small number of temples in India where even Muslims act as priests and many more where erstwhile harijans are officiating as priests The fact of the matter is that i have rarely known a chettiar or a nadar to want to become a hindu priest, because the pay is low (the brahmanas occupy the lowest rung of the economic ladder in India contrary to popular opinion) very few other than Brahmanas opt for the profession. It is only those of us who have abandoned the priestly calling have attained middle class status , as for the priests themselves most wallow in poverty.
You keep singling out Smarthas for special mention. As one who is proud of his Smartha tradition, essentially propagated by Adi Sankara, i am quite perplexed by this . In what way have we, the Smarthas hurt you .
Finally, there is no such thing as a democratic religion, especially among the established religions of the world. Such a thing does not exist in this planet and probably not in the known galaxy and the sanatana dharma is no exception. Almost all the Maulvis in Masjids come from select list of families. The shahi Imam of the Jamma Masjid in Delhi , a hereditary post handed down from Father to son(who has been connected with a lot more murder cases than the Acharya ever will) prides himself by calling himself a Bukhari ( descended from immigrants from Bokhara). Such a hierarchical structure is the norm rather than the exception in most religions. A large number of the SJ priests at St. Xaviers were from Spain. Almost invariably the Principal was a SJ from Spain. Till recently almost all Popes were from Italy.
Remember also that the Brahmanas were not in control of the land or its laws for several centuries if ever. They were the keepers of the tradition at the behest of the maharaja or local chief.They did follow certain rules and did not approve of eating of meat and would not probably allow those who ate meat within the sanctum santorum. But does that mean they deserve the scorn of society and to be held without bail. I find the harshness of the criticism that is leveled against Brhamanas to be vastly disproportionate to their alleged transgressions and stoked by alien rulers of the land to divert attention from their own rather tenuous and highly questionable position in the subcontinent.
I will have much more to say on this matter when time permits, but now i have my hands full looking after an aged father and his establishment
Furthermore, contrary to popular opinion anybody is free to become a priest, if he so chooses, provided he attains the right qualifications. There are a small number of temples in India where even Muslims act as priests and many more where erstwhile harijans are officiating as priests The fact of the matter is that i have rarely known a chettiar or a nadar to want to become a hindu priest, because the pay is low (the brahmanas occupy the lowest rung of the economic ladder in India contrary to popular opinion) very few other than Brahmanas opt for the profession. It is only those of us who have abandoned the priestly calling have attained middle class status , as for the priests themselves most wallow in poverty.
You keep singling out Smarthas for special mention. As one who is proud of his Smartha tradition, essentially propagated by Adi Sankara, i am quite perplexed by this . In what way have we, the Smarthas hurt you .
Finally, there is no such thing as a democratic religion, especially among the established religions of the world. Such a thing does not exist in this planet and probably not in the known galaxy and the sanatana dharma is no exception. Almost all the Maulvis in Masjids come from select list of families. The shahi Imam of the Jamma Masjid in Delhi , a hereditary post handed down from Father to son(who has been connected with a lot more murder cases than the Acharya ever will) prides himself by calling himself a Bukhari ( descended from immigrants from Bokhara). Such a hierarchical structure is the norm rather than the exception in most religions. A large number of the SJ priests at St. Xaviers were from Spain. Almost invariably the Principal was a SJ from Spain. Till recently almost all Popes were from Italy.
Remember also that the Brahmanas were not in control of the land or its laws for several centuries if ever. They were the keepers of the tradition at the behest of the maharaja or local chief.They did follow certain rules and did not approve of eating of meat and would not probably allow those who ate meat within the sanctum santorum. But does that mean they deserve the scorn of society and to be held without bail. I find the harshness of the criticism that is leveled against Brhamanas to be vastly disproportionate to their alleged transgressions and stoked by alien rulers of the land to divert attention from their own rather tenuous and highly questionable position in the subcontinent.
I will have much more to say on this matter when time permits, but now i have my hands full looking after an aged father and his establishment