z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 02.indd MK SJ+YS 4 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 90
90 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
I
he made a distinction between true sacrifice and false sacrifice.
Sacrifice in the sense of self-denial for the good of others he called true sacrifice. Sacrifice in the sense of killing an animal as an offering to God for personal benefit he regarded as a false sacrifice.
The Brahmanic sacrifices were mostly sacrifices of animals to please their gods. He condemned them as false sacrifices. He would not allow them even though they be performed with the object of getting salvation for the soul.
The opponents of sacrifices used to ridicule the Brahmins by saying : “If one can go to heaven by sacrificing an animal why should not one sacrifice one’s own father. That would be a quicker way of going to heaven.”
The Buddha wholeheartedly agreed with this view.
The theory of Chaturvarna was as repugnant to the Buddha as the theory of sacrifices was repulsive to him.
The organization of society set up by Brahmanism in the name of Chaturvarna did not appear to him a natural organization. Its class composition was compulsory and arbitrary. It was a society made to order. He preferred an open society and a free society.
The Chaturvarna of the Brahmins was a fixed order never to be changed. Once a Brahmin always a Brahmin. Once a Kshatriya always a Kshatriya, once a Vaishya always a Vaishya and once a Shudra always a Shudra. Society was based on status conferred upon an individual by the accident of his birth. Vice, however heinous, was no ground for degrading a man from his status, and virtue, however great, had no value to raise him above it. There was no room for worth nor for growth.
Inequality exists in every society. But it was different with Brahmanism. The inequality preached by Brahmins was its official doctrine. It was not a mere growth. Brahmanism did not believe in equality. In fact, it was opposed to equality.