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Aryans, Jews, Brahmins: Theorizing Authority through Myths of Identity (Margins of Literature
In Aryans, Jews, Brahmins, Dorothy M. Figueira provides a fascinating account of the construction of the Aryan myth and its uses in both India and Europe from the Enlightenment to the twentieth century. The myth concerns a race that inhabits a utopian past and gives rise first to Brahmin Indian culture and then to European culture. In India, notions of the Aryan were used to develop a national identity under colonialism, one that allowed Indian elites to identify with their British rulers. It also allowed non-elites to set up a counter identity critical of their position in the caste system. In Europe, the Aryan myth provided certain thinkers with an origin story that could compete with the Biblical one and could be used to diminish the importance of the West's Jewish heritage. European racial hygienists made much of the myth of a pure Aryan race, and the Nazis later looked at India as a cautionary tale of what could happen if a nation did not remain "pure."
As Figueira demonstrates, the history of the Aryan myth is also a history of reading, interpretation, and imaginative construction. Initially, the ideology of the Aryan was imposed upon absent or false texts. Over time, it involved strategies of constructing, evoking, or distorting the canon. Each construction of racial identity was concerned with key issues of canonicity, textual accessibility, interpretive strategies of reading, and ideal readers. The book's cross-cultural investigation demonstrates how identities can be and are created from texts and illuminates an engrossing, often disturbing history that arose from these creations.
As Figueira demonstrates, the history of the Aryan myth is also a history of reading, interpretation, and imaginative construction. Initially, the ideology of the Aryan was imposed upon absent or false texts. Over time, it involved strategies of constructing, evoking, or distorting the canon. Each construction of racial identity was concerned with key issues of canonicity, textual accessibility, interpretive strategies of reading, and ideal readers. The book's cross-cultural investigation demonstrates how identities can be and are created from texts and illuminates an engrossing, often disturbing history that arose from these creations.
- GenresIndiaHistoryNonfiction
217 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
16 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy M. Figueira
12 books5 followersDr. Dorothy Matilda Figueira, Ph.D. (Comparative Literature, University of Chicago, 1985; MTS, Harvard Divinity School, 1979; M.A., Classical Religion, Ecole Practique en Sciences Sociales, Université de Paris, 1977; B.A., Religion, Vassar College, 1976), is Distinguished Research Professor in the Comparative Literature Department of the University of Georgia. She also has served as Editor of The Comparatist and is currently editor of Recherche litteraire/Literary Research.
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August 14, 2017
Indians are a people in search of identity.
If one looks at it objectively, national identities do not make much sense, as the current nation states are all of recent origin: and even now, they are in a state of flux. Racial identities go a little bit deeper, as they are easier to physically distinguish and many a time, tied up indistinguishably with one’s religious identity – especially in the case of non-proselytising religions like Hinduism and Judaism.
India as a country is of relatively recent origin. What was a multitude of indigenous kingdoms, threaded loosely together by a common culture was stitched together into a country by the British conquerors. In the process, they also institutionalised the plethora of religious beliefs into a monolithic religion under the name of Hinduism. Over the years, the nationalists (mostly from the privileged upper castes) standardised this religion under the Vedic practices, and the “Hinduism” as we come to know of it today was born.
All of this is becoming much more relevant today as the country is reeling under the onslaught of militant Hindu fundamentalist revivalism. The country’s secular fabric is under attack as never before as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, with the help of its political wing the Bharatiya Janata Party which is in power, is trying convert India into a Hindu Rashtra – a fascist Hindu theocracy. In this context, I felt it prudent to examine some of the myths underlying our fictitious identity.
---------------------------------------------
The Aryan is a potent historical and mythological figure in world history. This race who supposedly inhabited the Middle Asian plains and spread across the world in a conquering spree is supposed to have “civilised” most of Europe and India. In this book, Dorothy M. Figueira takes a long, hard look at this enigmatic figure – not through the lens of historical analysis, but through a literary and cultural perspective; and thus provides a fascinating insight into how a “myth of identity” is created.
It all started with the Enlightenment. In search of a new, pure religion different from the Church with its sectarian disputes and suppression of liberty, they found it in India. Starting with Voltaire for whom the Vedas were largely an absent text and moving on through Herder, the myth of an Aryan civilisation in India which was pristine in its purity was invented from very scanty sources: by linking this Aryan to the common ancestor of Europeans as well, the main aim of divorce from Judaism was effected. Later on, the romantics made this civilisation poetic, of which nothing was visible in current idolatrous India. Thus, the twin requirements the rejection of Judaism as well as the separation of "decadent" Hinduism from its great past was accomplished - identifying the white European as the natural heir of this pure race. Nietzsche with his Ubermensch clearly stamped the Aryan with racial superiority; and finally, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Alfred Rosenberg (the Nazi ideologue) after him transplanted him to Germany, giving him blonde hair and blue eyes in the process.
In India, the second chapter in the myth of the Aryan started with the great reformer Raja Rammohan Roy. Now mainly known to posterity for his role in abolishing the Sati, the custom of immolating the wife on the husband's funeral pyre, the Raja was an apologist for Hinduism. A fan of Utilitarianism, Roy sought to prove that Sanskrit scripture espoused monotheism and rejected idol worship; his reading and interpretation of the Vedas were significantly skewed to this end.
Raja Rammohan Roy created the Brahmo Samaj with the aim of the cultural purification of Hinduism. He also posited the pure Aryan. The concept was carried forward by Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the Arya Samaj in 1875. He also translated the texts with considerable leeway. Both these reformers, like the Orientalist Westerners before them, saw the current form of the Hindu religion as a decayed version of the pristine Vedic religion (a myth propagated by Hindu fundamentalists even today). This was further established as a cornerstone of Hindu revivalism by Justice Ranade and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, while the myth of the Vedic people was sold abroad by the charismatic monk and orator Swami Vivekananda, who is largely responsible even today for the respect Hinduism commands in the West. However, it is a little known fact that his vision of the Aryan was racial, and he identified them with the "pure" modern Brahmins!
Enter now the Anti-Myth. For in however glowing colours one painted Indian culture, there was no gainsaying the fact that it was one of the most non-egalitarian. The caste system held its horrendous sway across the subcontinent, and the worst sufferers were the ones at the bottom rung of the social ladder, the so-called "untouchables". It was only a matter of time before someone in this strata revolted. It came through Mahatma Jothiba Govind Phule, an activist of the gardener caste. He stood the myth on its head by picturising the Aryans as barbarian invaders, who destroyed the cultured Indian civilsation and imposed their draconian laws.
The strongest critic of the Aryan myth was Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of India's constitution and a brilliant scholar. Stemming from his fight with Gandhi within the Congress party to establish an identity for the untouchables separate from the Hindu religion (a battle which he lost), Ambedkar rejected the Aryan myth in toto. For him, there was no separate Aryan race: it was a battle of the Brahmin priests against the Buddhists, whom they branded as untouchable. For him, the whole Hindu religion is nothing but set of ordnances, and does not deserve to be called a religion at all (this view is prevalent among the Dalit groups today).
---------------------------------------------
So who was the Aryan? Well, most probably a group of people migrated to India during the bronze age, mingling and intermarrying with the indigenous populace, creating the incredibly assimilative and multi-hued Hinduism in the process. However, the image of the conquering Aryan on a horse, spreading his superior seed across the inferior peoples of the globe is certainly a myth: a myth which had such tragic consequences in the 1930's.
Interestingly, Hindu apologists today reject this myth not because of their dedication to any kind of historical accuracy but because of their political need to show Indians as a homogeneous people. They have invented a new myth about India as the oldest civilisation in the world, with Hinduism - or Sanatana Dharma, or "eternal law", as they call it - as a religion without a historical beginning. Dalits still hold on to the myth of the marauding Aryan, again due to political exigencies. The debates go on and on, and seems to have no intention of subsiding.
Ultimately, all national and racial identities are myths - myths which are more potent than truths.
If one looks at it objectively, national identities do not make much sense, as the current nation states are all of recent origin: and even now, they are in a state of flux. Racial identities go a little bit deeper, as they are easier to physically distinguish and many a time, tied up indistinguishably with one’s religious identity – especially in the case of non-proselytising religions like Hinduism and Judaism.
India as a country is of relatively recent origin. What was a multitude of indigenous kingdoms, threaded loosely together by a common culture was stitched together into a country by the British conquerors. In the process, they also institutionalised the plethora of religious beliefs into a monolithic religion under the name of Hinduism. Over the years, the nationalists (mostly from the privileged upper castes) standardised this religion under the Vedic practices, and the “Hinduism” as we come to know of it today was born.
All of this is becoming much more relevant today as the country is reeling under the onslaught of militant Hindu fundamentalist revivalism. The country’s secular fabric is under attack as never before as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, with the help of its political wing the Bharatiya Janata Party which is in power, is trying convert India into a Hindu Rashtra – a fascist Hindu theocracy. In this context, I felt it prudent to examine some of the myths underlying our fictitious identity.
---------------------------------------------
The Aryan is a potent historical and mythological figure in world history. This race who supposedly inhabited the Middle Asian plains and spread across the world in a conquering spree is supposed to have “civilised” most of Europe and India. In this book, Dorothy M. Figueira takes a long, hard look at this enigmatic figure – not through the lens of historical analysis, but through a literary and cultural perspective; and thus provides a fascinating insight into how a “myth of identity” is created.
It all started with the Enlightenment. In search of a new, pure religion different from the Church with its sectarian disputes and suppression of liberty, they found it in India. Starting with Voltaire for whom the Vedas were largely an absent text and moving on through Herder, the myth of an Aryan civilisation in India which was pristine in its purity was invented from very scanty sources: by linking this Aryan to the common ancestor of Europeans as well, the main aim of divorce from Judaism was effected. Later on, the romantics made this civilisation poetic, of which nothing was visible in current idolatrous India. Thus, the twin requirements the rejection of Judaism as well as the separation of "decadent" Hinduism from its great past was accomplished - identifying the white European as the natural heir of this pure race. Nietzsche with his Ubermensch clearly stamped the Aryan with racial superiority; and finally, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Alfred Rosenberg (the Nazi ideologue) after him transplanted him to Germany, giving him blonde hair and blue eyes in the process.
In India, the second chapter in the myth of the Aryan started with the great reformer Raja Rammohan Roy. Now mainly known to posterity for his role in abolishing the Sati, the custom of immolating the wife on the husband's funeral pyre, the Raja was an apologist for Hinduism. A fan of Utilitarianism, Roy sought to prove that Sanskrit scripture espoused monotheism and rejected idol worship; his reading and interpretation of the Vedas were significantly skewed to this end.
Raja Rammohan Roy created the Brahmo Samaj with the aim of the cultural purification of Hinduism. He also posited the pure Aryan. The concept was carried forward by Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the Arya Samaj in 1875. He also translated the texts with considerable leeway. Both these reformers, like the Orientalist Westerners before them, saw the current form of the Hindu religion as a decayed version of the pristine Vedic religion (a myth propagated by Hindu fundamentalists even today). This was further established as a cornerstone of Hindu revivalism by Justice Ranade and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, while the myth of the Vedic people was sold abroad by the charismatic monk and orator Swami Vivekananda, who is largely responsible even today for the respect Hinduism commands in the West. However, it is a little known fact that his vision of the Aryan was racial, and he identified them with the "pure" modern Brahmins!
Enter now the Anti-Myth. For in however glowing colours one painted Indian culture, there was no gainsaying the fact that it was one of the most non-egalitarian. The caste system held its horrendous sway across the subcontinent, and the worst sufferers were the ones at the bottom rung of the social ladder, the so-called "untouchables". It was only a matter of time before someone in this strata revolted. It came through Mahatma Jothiba Govind Phule, an activist of the gardener caste. He stood the myth on its head by picturising the Aryans as barbarian invaders, who destroyed the cultured Indian civilsation and imposed their draconian laws.
The strongest critic of the Aryan myth was Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of India's constitution and a brilliant scholar. Stemming from his fight with Gandhi within the Congress party to establish an identity for the untouchables separate from the Hindu religion (a battle which he lost), Ambedkar rejected the Aryan myth in toto. For him, there was no separate Aryan race: it was a battle of the Brahmin priests against the Buddhists, whom they branded as untouchable. For him, the whole Hindu religion is nothing but set of ordnances, and does not deserve to be called a religion at all (this view is prevalent among the Dalit groups today).
---------------------------------------------
So who was the Aryan? Well, most probably a group of people migrated to India during the bronze age, mingling and intermarrying with the indigenous populace, creating the incredibly assimilative and multi-hued Hinduism in the process. However, the image of the conquering Aryan on a horse, spreading his superior seed across the inferior peoples of the globe is certainly a myth: a myth which had such tragic consequences in the 1930's.
Interestingly, Hindu apologists today reject this myth not because of their dedication to any kind of historical accuracy but because of their political need to show Indians as a homogeneous people. They have invented a new myth about India as the oldest civilisation in the world, with Hinduism - or Sanatana Dharma, or "eternal law", as they call it - as a religion without a historical beginning. Dalits still hold on to the myth of the marauding Aryan, again due to political exigencies. The debates go on and on, and seems to have no intention of subsiding.
Ultimately, all national and racial identities are myths - myths which are more potent than truths.
October 8, 2022
A really pertinent addition to post colonial discourse regarding the power of myths in shaping culture and cementing political influence. Some of the central themes in the discussion of the Aryan myth included the legitimacy of the ideal reader, accessibility to ancient texts, the influence of interpretations in historical context and the role of the Other in defining a Subjective Self (both reference to the myth's reception by Orientalist scholarship, romantic mythographers, indologists and Indian social reformers)
Anyone who wants to critically engage with philosophers that either romanticized or subverted this powerful cultural myth should definitely pick up this book for illuminating and well informed insights.
Anyone who wants to critically engage with philosophers that either romanticized or subverted this powerful cultural myth should definitely pick up this book for illuminating and well informed insights.
April 5, 2013
This book explains many things about core similarities in word religious and also makes us wonder about what it was like before the Aryans, the Jews and Brahmins dispersed. What was the mother culture like and what were their beliefs before the fragmented into what they are now.
July 6, 2021
Aryans, Jews,Brahmins : Theorizing Authority through myths of identity
ஆரியர்கள், யூதர்கள், பிராமணர்கள். : 2002'லேயே அமெரிக்காவில் வெளிவந்த புத்தகம் இங்கே இந்தியாவிற்கு 2015'ல் தான் வந்தது. புராண மற்றும் இதிகாச அடையாளத்தின் மூலம் ஐரோப்பா மற்றும் இந்தியாவில் ஒரு அதிகாரத்தை இனவரைவியல் சார்ந்து எப்படி கட்டமைத்தார்கள் என்பது பற்றிய ஒரு ஒப்பீட்டாய்வு புத்தகம்.
அறிவொளி இயக்கம் முதல் இருபதாம் நூற்றாண்டு வரை, ஐரோப்பிய மற்றும் இந்திய தத்துவ சிந்தனையாளர்களால் (வால்டேர், ரூசோ மாக்ஸ் முல்லர் & மான்டெஸ்கியூ/ ராஜாராம் மோகன் ராய், தயானந்த சரஸ்வதி. ரானடே, திலக், விவேகானந்தர் பூலே ) பகிரப்பட்ட ஆரிய இன "வம்சாவளி கட்டுக்கதை"களை ஒப்பீடுகளின் மூலம் மறுபரிசீலனை செய்து மறுகட்டமைக்கப்படவேண்டியதன் அவசியத்தை ஆசிரியர் உணர்த்துகிறார்.
புராணக் கதைகள் மூலம் பிராமண இந்திய கலாச்சாரத்திற்கும் ஐரோப்பிய கலாச்சாரத்திற்கும் உள்ள தொடர்பை அடையாளப்படுத்த ஐரோப்பிய மறுமலர்ச்சி புரட்சி (The Period of Renaissance ) முயன்றதை விளங்கிக் கொள்ள வழிவகுக்கிறது. யூதர்களை கீழ்த்தரமாக நடத்தும் செயலும் ஆரம்பித்திருந்திருக்கிறது .
இந்திய சிந்தனையாளர்களான ராஜா ராம்மோகன் ராய், தயானந்த் சரஸ்வதி, நீதிபதி ரானடே, லோக்மயா திலக், மற்றும் சுவாமி விவேகானந்த் ஆகியோர் பிரிட்டிஷ் காலனித்துவ ஆட்சியின் கீழ் இந்திய தேசிய அடையாளத்திற்கான தேடலின் போது வாய்மொழியாக வந்த வேதங்களை மறுபரிசீலனை செய்வதில் கவனம் செலுத்துகின்றனர். சமூக வரிசைக்குள்ளேயே சாதிய உயரடுக்கின் நிலைப்பாட்டை தொடரும் வழிகளை நியாயப்படுத்தி அதை மென்மேலும் சீரமைக்க முனைந்திருக்கிறார்கள்.
இந்தியாவில், காலனித்துவத்தின் கீழ் ஒரு தேசிய அடையாளத்தை உருவாக்க மொழிபெயர்க்கப்பட்ட புராண வேத ஆரிய கருத்துக்கள் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டன. பிரம்மா சமாஜம் ஆரிய சமாஜம் இதுபோன்ற பணிகளை பிரிட்டிஷாரின் உதவியோடு செய்து வந்தன. ஐரோப்பிய சிந்தனையாளர்களின் கருத்துக்களோடு ஒன்றிணைத்து ஆரியக் கோட்பாட்டை முன்வைத்ததோடு பிரிட்டிஷ் ஆட்சியாளர்களின் முன் தங்களை முன்னிலைப்படுத்திக் கொண்டனர்.
யூதர்கள் ஏன் வெறுக்கப்படுகிறார்கள்? ஜெர்மானியர்கள் ஏன் உயர்குடியினாராக மதிக்கப்படுகின்றனர் ? ஆரியர்கள் எனும் இந்தியாவில உள்ள பிராமணர்களுக்கும் இந்த ஐரோப்பியர்களுக்கு என்ன தொடர்பு.? இனவாத வெறியை உலகம் முழுவதும் எப்படி கட்டுக்கதைகளால் அறிவொளி இயக்கத்தின் மூலம் பரப்பினர்? இன்றைய தேதியில் பார்ப்பனியத்தை முன்வைக்கும் அரசியலில் அனைவரும் அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய உலகளாவிய இனவரைவியல் நிலைப்பாடு பற்றி பல்வேறு நாட்டு சிந்தனையாளர்களின் ஆய்வுரைகளை ஒப்பீடு செய்து எழுதப்பட்ட புத்தகம் இது.
ஆரியர்கள், யூதர்கள், பிராமணர்கள். : 2002'லேயே அமெரிக்காவில் வெளிவந்த புத்தகம் இங்கே இந்தியாவிற்கு 2015'ல் தான் வந்தது. புராண மற்றும் இதிகாச அடையாளத்தின் மூலம் ஐரோப்பா மற்றும் இந்தியாவில் ஒரு அதிகாரத்தை இனவரைவியல் சார்ந்து எப்படி கட்டமைத்தார்கள் என்பது பற்றிய ஒரு ஒப்பீட்டாய்வு புத்தகம்.
அறிவொளி இயக்கம் முதல் இருபதாம் நூற்றாண்டு வரை, ஐரோப்பிய மற்றும் இந்திய தத்துவ சிந்தனையாளர்களால் (வால்டேர், ரூசோ மாக்ஸ் முல்லர் & மான்டெஸ்கியூ/ ராஜாராம் மோகன் ராய், தயானந்த சரஸ்வதி. ரானடே, திலக், விவேகானந்தர் பூலே ) பகிரப்பட்ட ஆரிய இன "வம்சாவளி கட்டுக்கதை"களை ஒப்பீடுகளின் மூலம் மறுபரிசீலனை செய்து மறுகட்டமைக்கப்படவேண்டியதன் அவசியத்தை ஆசிரியர் உணர்த்துகிறார்.
புராணக் கதைகள் மூலம் பிராமண இந்திய கலாச்சாரத்திற்கும் ஐரோப்பிய கலாச்சாரத்திற்கும் உள்ள தொடர்பை அடையாளப்படுத்த ஐரோப்பிய மறுமலர்ச்சி புரட்சி (The Period of Renaissance ) முயன்றதை விளங்கிக் கொள்ள வழிவகுக்கிறது. யூதர்களை கீழ்த்தரமாக நடத்தும் செயலும் ஆரம்பித்திருந்திருக்கிறது .
இந்திய சிந்தனையாளர்களான ராஜா ராம்மோகன் ராய், தயானந்த் சரஸ்வதி, நீதிபதி ரானடே, லோக்மயா திலக், மற்றும் சுவாமி விவேகானந்த் ஆகியோர் பிரிட்டிஷ் காலனித்துவ ஆட்சியின் கீழ் இந்திய தேசிய அடையாளத்திற்கான தேடலின் போது வாய்மொழியாக வந்த வேதங்களை மறுபரிசீலனை செய்வதில் கவனம் செலுத்துகின்றனர். சமூக வரிசைக்குள்ளேயே சாதிய உயரடுக்கின் நிலைப்பாட்டை தொடரும் வழிகளை நியாயப்படுத்தி அதை மென்மேலும் சீரமைக்க முனைந்திருக்கிறார்கள்.
இந்தியாவில், காலனித்துவத்தின் கீழ் ஒரு தேசிய அடையாளத்தை உருவாக்க மொழிபெயர்க்கப்பட்ட புராண வேத ஆரிய கருத்துக்கள் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டன. பிரம்மா சமாஜம் ஆரிய சமாஜம் இதுபோன்ற பணிகளை பிரிட்டிஷாரின் உதவியோடு செய்து வந்தன. ஐரோப்பிய சிந்தனையாளர்களின் கருத்துக்களோடு ஒன்றிணைத்து ஆரியக் கோட்பாட்டை முன்வைத்ததோடு பிரிட்டிஷ் ஆட்சியாளர்களின் முன் தங்களை முன்னிலைப்படுத்திக் கொண்டனர்.
யூதர்கள் ஏன் வெறுக்கப்படுகிறார்கள்? ஜெர்மானியர்கள் ஏன் உயர்குடியினாராக மதிக்கப்படுகின்றனர் ? ஆரியர்கள் எனும் இந்தியாவில உள்ள பிராமணர்களுக்கும் இந்த ஐரோப்பியர்களுக்கு என்ன தொடர்பு.? இனவாத வெறியை உலகம் முழுவதும் எப்படி கட்டுக்கதைகளால் அறிவொளி இயக்கத்தின் மூலம் பரப்பினர்? இன்றைய தேதியில் பார்ப்பனியத்தை முன்வைக்கும் அரசியலில் அனைவரும் அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய உலகளாவிய இனவரைவியல் நிலைப்பாடு பற்றி பல்வேறு நாட்டு சிந்தனையாளர்களின் ஆய்வுரைகளை ஒப்பீடு செய்து எழுதப்பட்ட புத்தகம் இது.
June 7, 2019
Don’t waste your time reading this book. Instead of proposing any solutions for conflicts, this book is like a under developed teenager making faces at interpretations of adults trying to come to a resolution.
My full opinion https://psduggirala.blogspot.com/2019...
My full opinion https://psduggirala.blogspot.com/2019...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2024
For me it was a very rich information and insights filled book. In the current political scene, the following terms are heard often in discussions and debates about India's changing landscape: Hindusim, Nationalism, Sanatan dharm, our culture from vedas and puranas, casteism, minority, the Other.
This book helped me understand some of these concepts in a different light. The book helped me understand more about the Aryans and Vedas. Their origin, the different interpretation over centuries and thus the distortions, the power, politics and motives behind it, the role of casteism, the myths that became realities over time, the linkage and impact of colonialism, Christianity and Judaism.
The book is divided into 2 major parts -
1. The authority of the absent text
This describes on how the European scholars like Voltaire, Max muller, William Jones, Fredrich Nietzsche, Gonineau etc interpreted the Vedas. How Indo-European and Noridc-Aryans came into being. The displacement of Jews served as a prerequisite to the valorization of the Aryan European study of veda was not for indo European religion but a reassessment of judeo Christianity. Fredrich Nietzsche reinforced Manu as breeding morality.
2. Who speaks for the subaltern?
This covers the British colonialisation period and the take of India social reformers on the interpretation of Vedas. It further divides into the Brahmins and upper caste reformers and the lower-caste reformers views.
It describes Rajaram Mohanroy's views against idolatry and polytheism and formation of Brahmo samaj in 1828. Dayanand saraswathi forming of Arya samaj. Brahmins responsible for degrading Aryan veidc text interpretation.
The Chitpavan brahmins, Justice Ranade and Tilak and their interpretations.
Ranade praised Christianity, he fought for widow remarriage and against infant marriage by giving it legitimacy of Vedas texts.
Tilak supported orthodox community. He did not support the Phulbani Bai case.
Swami vivekananda believed in caste system and preached hindu Aryan to the world.
The last segment is about Mahatma phule and Ambedkar's arguments on validity of Aryan texts and how brahmins created shudra caste.
This book helped me understand some of these concepts in a different light. The book helped me understand more about the Aryans and Vedas. Their origin, the different interpretation over centuries and thus the distortions, the power, politics and motives behind it, the role of casteism, the myths that became realities over time, the linkage and impact of colonialism, Christianity and Judaism.
The book is divided into 2 major parts -
1. The authority of the absent text
This describes on how the European scholars like Voltaire, Max muller, William Jones, Fredrich Nietzsche, Gonineau etc interpreted the Vedas. How Indo-European and Noridc-Aryans came into being. The displacement of Jews served as a prerequisite to the valorization of the Aryan European study of veda was not for indo European religion but a reassessment of judeo Christianity. Fredrich Nietzsche reinforced Manu as breeding morality.
2. Who speaks for the subaltern?
This covers the British colonialisation period and the take of India social reformers on the interpretation of Vedas. It further divides into the Brahmins and upper caste reformers and the lower-caste reformers views.
It describes Rajaram Mohanroy's views against idolatry and polytheism and formation of Brahmo samaj in 1828. Dayanand saraswathi forming of Arya samaj. Brahmins responsible for degrading Aryan veidc text interpretation.
The Chitpavan brahmins, Justice Ranade and Tilak and their interpretations.
Ranade praised Christianity, he fought for widow remarriage and against infant marriage by giving it legitimacy of Vedas texts.
Tilak supported orthodox community. He did not support the Phulbani Bai case.
Swami vivekananda believed in caste system and preached hindu Aryan to the world.
The last segment is about Mahatma phule and Ambedkar's arguments on validity of Aryan texts and how brahmins created shudra caste.
January 4, 2018
Well, I didn't know much about Aryans and their historical significance until I stumbled upon this esoteric work from the author. Since history is a trick played upon the dead, this comparative study also has a musing narrative. More or less we all have ideals and it is this search for idealism which led many to explore the myths of identity. To all their efforts, it's still a myth and forever it will be but with more nicer narratives.
Nor that I believe in Aryan superiority now, I enjoyed this book for its effort.
Nor that I believe in Aryan superiority now, I enjoyed this book for its effort.
January 22, 2018
Reveals a lot of things that people don't discuss about our past. I am glad I read it. :)
May 20, 2025
Sophisticated humbug . Dorothy made up her mind first, then went about marshalling her facts and fiction to prove what she thought. That approach leads to a mess as in the present case.
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