Who were the Shudras Paperback – 15 Sept. 2021

A great book by Ambedkar.

Ambedkar has done his research and make a very compelling case against the norms of the current and accepted Hindu beliefs about Shudras. I purchased the Kindle version and it has numerous typographical errors and formatting issues that made the reading difficult. I had to read the book twice in addition to taking notes to fully grasp his thesis due to these shortcomings of the Kindle version. I recommend that you buy the printed version assuming that it is properly formatted and has no typographical errors.

https://yuvabharatblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/29/who-were-the-shudras-by-b-r-ambhedkar/Who were the Shudras is a must read book by B R Ambedkhar on the origins of the Caste System in India. Ambedkar rightly understood that the roots of the caste system lies in the Hindu Scriptures. In order to undergo social reform there must be religious reform. And religious reform is not possible without understanding the religious scriptures. He spent 15 years of his life studying the vedas, Puranas, Mahabharata etc. This book is a result of such an extensive study. It is breathtakingly fresh perspective on the history of Hindu society. Underlying presumption of the book is sound. If one wants to weaken and eventually annihilate the caste system, one has to go to the source viz Hindu scriptures.Ambedkar’s work on Hindu scriptures comes from his understanding that religion is an important part of social structure. He differed with the Marxist view which saw economic factors as the primary driving force of society. Ambedkar agreed that economics is an important (maybe even most important) part of society but Religion has a life of its own independent of economics. Religion no doubt has been used as an economic tool of oppression from the ancient times. So Ambedkar is not rejecting the Marxist thesis altogether but only putting a very important caveat.The campaign against religion is doomed to be a failure. History of Buddhism is case in point. Buddha never spoke about God. He maintained that reason and experience is the way to ascertain the truth. What happened to the buddhist movement? Buddha ended up becoming a God and his saying became the holy word. It looks like Volatire was right : if there is no God, we would need to invent one. Religion is here to stay as a strong social force, whether one likes it or not.Ambedkar makes the case that Shudras were Kshatriyas who fell out with Brahmins and were thus excluded from Upanayana ceremony by Brahmins and this resulted in degradation of status of shudras later on. He quotes instances in the puranas and mahabharata documenting war between Sudas and brahmins. He shows that the King Sudas was a Shudra.Ambedkar rejects categorically the Aryan invasion theory. He makes the case that Shudras were Aryans too. There is not a shred of evidence to support the idea that Aryans came from outside India and made slaves of indigenous people and made them Shudras. It is quite interesting to read his arguments in this regard.He takes the example of Shivaji to prove the point that historically Brahmins have used the power of Upanayana ceremony to degrade the status of Kings who had differences with Brahmins. Brahmins had disputes with Shivaji and refused to perform upanayana for Shivaji. Brahmins refused to accept that Shivaji was a Kshatriya. Shivaji had to bribe an influential Brahmin from Benares to have his upanayana and coronation ceremony done. What was notable about the incident was the power of brahmins, against which the will of King was also powerless. Also to be noted from this example is the power of performing Upanayana was used by Brahmins to settle their political scores. Ambedkar argues that something similar must have happened to the Shudras. Sometime in Ancient India Shudras who were Kshatriyas were also denied this privilege of their Upanayana being performed by Brahmins and this led to degradation of status of Shudras. Interesting thesis. Read the book to follow his argument.Whatever may be the merit of his theories of origin of caste system, it is definitely a great read. Let the scholars figure out which theory is right. For the lay people like us, this book has a lot to teach. Firstly, a wrong and dangerous idea hidden in a religious scripture can do untold harm to society. The idea that religious books should be above criticism should be abandoned for good by whole of humanity. The exercise that Ambedkar did against Hindu scriptures must be repeated with Quran and the Bible. It is time to do away with the idea of Sacred text. No text is sacred and all ideas must be open to question.Since religion is here to stay, the best way forward is not atheism but religious reform. It is in this light that I support the statement by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that all unscientific ideas in Hinduism should be abandoned. Ambedkar’s study of Hinduism convinced him that the Hindu faith will do no good to the suppressed classes. He was not satisfied with political reform alone and wanted social reform. With this idea in mind he converted to Buddhism. His idea was that by the force of religion, social change becomes easier. Probably that was the reason why he opposed the word “Secularism” to be added into the constitution.I personally think that Sree Narayana Guru has shown the right path. There is no need to abandon Hinduism, it just needs to be re-imagined. Sree Narayana Guru shows us a form of Hinduism where there is no place for Caste. That is the path that India needs to take.

Great short work on Ambedkar’s stance on caste. It also debunks the Aryan invasion theory.

Really a good book and received in such a good quality. It's really worth it. Every one should just go through this and every book by respected Dr. B.R.Ambedkar

Necessary read.