Ask Bharat Gupt Anything on Varna - #IndicTalk

Speaker: Prof. Bharat Gupt

He is a former Associate Professor in English at University of Delhi, an Indian classicist, theatre theorist, sitar and surbahar player, musicologist, cultural analyst, and newspaper columnist. Presently he is a Trustee and Executive member, at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi (Ministry of Culture, Govt of India).

Although the ancient Indian societies were stationary in many terms, however, the Smritis defining the varna-ashram system is meant to evolve with time. The purpose of life is to achieve Purusarthas for happiness and not to follow social orders that naturally change with time. Under the international scenario, when there are attempts to bring laws in the Indian parliament against caste system, it is critical for us to deal with the varna-jati issue. This session is one such effort by Bharat Guptji in this direction where he explains the concept of jati excluded from the 4 known varnas, bidirectional movement of status within the varna framework, how Indians took a rigid view on this, idea of varnasankaras like Kayasthas and asserts how our present and future is not bound to the past Karmas. He also informs about various perspectives that view the Indian caste system to be oppressive and must be uprooted totally and clarifies that social capital order can partially go on continuing if people can take advantage of their communities like the case of the Gounders. Moreover, the lecturer demonstrates how varna system of Hindus are wrongly compared to American racism and the way Europeans have redefined and reclassified this system in ethnographic divisions through indulging in Indian society and thus terribly distorting freedom of action, content of dharma and value system that people used to find within their community. Lastly, exposing the roots of racism outside India along with misinterpretations of untouchability within India, further Bharatji answers several questions that provides clear pictures on the contemporary and future trends and issues where we see Hindus to have already put more effort in equalizing people than the West, dowry system allocated for brides of specific professions, nepotism in politics and jobs, signs of ending endogamy and preservation of liberal heart of Hindus in accepting various peculiar traditions simultaneously in the society.

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