70 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
brachycephalic grammar. It is worse than a Babylonian confusion of tongues— it is down-right theft. We have made our own terminology for the classification of language; let ethnologists make their own for the classification of skulls, and hair and blood.
The value of this view of Prof. Max Muller will be appreciated by those who know that he was at one time a believer in the theory of Aryan race and was largely responsible for the propagation of it.
The two views are obviously not in harmony. According to one view, the Aryan race existed in a physiological sense with typical hereditary traits with a fixed cephalic and facial index. According to Prof. Max Muller, the Aryan race existed in a philological sense, as a people speaking a common language.
In this conflict of views one may well ask: what is the testimony of the Vedic literature? As examination of the Vedic literature shows that there occur two words in the Rig Veda—one is Arya ( आर्य ) with a short ‘a’ and the other is Arya ( आर्य ) with a long ‘a’. The word Arya ( आर्य ) with a short ‘a’ is used in the Rig Veda [1] in 88 places. In what sense is it used? The word [2] is used in four different senses; as (1) enemy, (2) respectable person, (3) name for India, and (4) owner, Vaishya or citizen.
The word ( आर्य ) with a long ‘a’ is used in the Rig Veda in 31 places. [3] But in none of these is the word used in the sense of race.
From the foregoing discussion, the one indisputable conclusion which follows is that the terms ‘Arya’ and ‘Arya’ which occur in the Vedas have not been used in the racial sense at all.
One may also ask: what is the evidence of anthropometry? the Aryan race is described as long-headed. This description is not enough. For as will be seen from the table given by Prof. Ripley, there are two races which are long-headed. The question which of the two is the Aryan race still remains open.
II
Let us take the next premise—namely, that the Aryans came from outside India, invaded India, and conquered the native tribes. It would be better to take these questions separately.
For a list of the references in the Rig Veda, see Apendix 1.
For a list of references showing in which place the word is used and in what sense, see Appendix II
For a list of references, see Appendix III.