z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 05.indd MK SJ DK YS 23 9 2013/YS 8 11 2013 249
APPENDIX I
Brahma— by that practised in his character as Vishnu—, the Lord Prachetasa (Daksha), i.e. Vishnu the great contemplator (yogin), passed through his wisdom and energy from that state of meditation into the sphere of works. Next the Sudras, produced from extinction, are destitute of rites. Hence they are not entitled to be admitted to the purificatory ceremonies, nor does sacred science belong to them. Just as the cloud of smoke which rises from the fire on the friction of the fuel, and is dissipated, is of no service in the sacrificial rite, so too the Sudras wandering over the earth, are altogether (useless for purposes of sacrifice) owing to their birth, their mode of life devoid of purity and their want of the observances prescribed in the Veda.”
Lastly the Bhagwat Purana [1] :
“At the end of many thousand years the living soul which resides in time, action, and natural quality gave life to that lifeless egg floating on the water. Purusha then having burst the egg, issued from it was a thousand thighs, feet, arms, eyes, faces and heads. With his members the sages fashion the worlds, the seven lower worlds with his loins etc., and the seven upper worlds with his groin, etc. The Brahman (was) the mouth of Purusha, the Kshattriya his arms, the Vaishya was born from the thighs, the Sudra from the feet of the divine being. The earth was formed from his feet, the air from his navel; the heaven by the heart, and the mahaloka by the breast of the mighty one”.
The Vayu Purana takes up the theory of Manu but says:
“The son of Gritsamada was Sunaka, from whom sprang Saunaka. In his family were born Brahamanas, Kshattriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras, twice-born men with various functions”.
249
What does this survey show ? If it shows anything it shows what a chaotic state has been created by the Brahmans in trying to explain the origin of the Varna system. There is no uniformity or consistency in the explanations they have offered. One and the same authority gives a variety of explanations. One and the same authority gives explanations some of which are mythical, some of which are mystical and rationalistic all intended to serve the same purpose namely to explain the origin of the Varna system.
The Vedas attempt to explain the Varnas as having arisen from Purusha, from Manu, from Prajapati, from Vratya and from Soma.
The Brahmanas show a marked divergence from the Vedas. They do not acknowledge Purusha, Manu, Vratya or Soma as the originators of the four varnas. They vacilliate between Prajapati and Brahma
1 Muir’s Sanskrit Texts Vol. I p. 156.