<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Brahmins are the
glue that binds Bharat.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not just Brahmanas, but other allied North Indian Aryan castes are the glue.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
*
lol...India has not broken up because all communities feel it would work. The moment the larger population of any region feel like it won't work,ep seratism would rise
(and JUSTIFIED in my opinion).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wanted to answer this but forgot,so came back.
As far as Brahmins being glue true to a certain extant but not completely true.
How did the Mauryan Empire collapse with Buddhism as state religion ,how did the Gupta Empire collapse even with Brahmanism receiving generous state patronage.How did the Roman Empire collapse inspite of having the most scaremongering metaphysics.
So long as new sources of energy and transport are available along with deep commitment to one country ,India will continue to be one.
And I think India should remain one even if there are troubles here and there.People have to adjust.It is not that you only share the joys and jumpoff as soon as you 'feel' that the boat is sinking.We do share a much more common cuture than others.This is what I feel.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The problem with the above quote, Tarun, is that it speaks of relations between a king and his subjects.
Nowhere does it mention that high-caste men in general have the 'right of the first night' with lower-caste women.
So, the conclusions about caste that you have drawn earlier are unfounded.
Kings and rulers have done many things, to blame caste for that is to stretch logic beyond breaking point.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Satavahans are supposed to have descended from a mix of aboriginal Nagas as well as Brahmins.
The origin legend of their first king seems to have a parallel with the origin of kings who constructed Khajuraho temples.The only difference is you have the moon god in place of Serpent king god ,in case of Khajuraho kings.
I would also like to add that though I was not discriminated,I was asked my caste sometimes by my teachers as well fellow classmates.
Most of those who seeked my caste were Brahmins who were rightly or wrongly quite proud of vegetarianism.
I do feel sorry to eat non-veg food.Reduced that by a lot of amount but was not able to give up totally.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->, to blame caste for that is to stretch logic beyond breaking point.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Caste though might not have directly caused evil things,it does promote a sense of superiority by descent and cause arrogance when ingrained firmly.
Tell me why else is there a Manusmriti verse(might not have been widely practiced in practice because of desa kaala maana factors) that says after killing a Shudra a Brahmin can do atonement that is similiar to atonement performed after killing owl etc??
To me it seems 'you kill animals because they are less than humans and for us who are above you you are like animals'.
Buddhism on the other hand placed all humns on the same plane.To tell that
Brahmins are totally free of any guilt in structuring a system based on ritual purity
that places them above all is not fair(It is another matter that this concept would have saved many lives by preventing outbreak of epidemics)
We Shudras are guilty no doubt in trying to blindly mimic Brahmins as far as possible knowingly or unknowingly(for reasons of greed/assuaging the urge for self esteem/sincere belief that it is divinely ordained so) and causing misery to those below us.But to say that Brahmins are totally above guilt is not fair.