Now that his Excellency Mr. K. R. Narayanan has ascended the presidency of India, it would be in keeping with the times to take a fresh look at ‘Untouchability’ from the view point of history, culture and religion. No doubt, Mr. Narayanan is the first ‘untouchable’ person to become the President of India after its independence. Now the question arises as to whom is he untouchable? The answer is that he is untouchable to a Brahman. The question again arises as to why so, and who are Brahmans and why this curse of Untouchability. All fairly good and fair questions and I will try to put before the reader my findings from all perspectives and to bring some points to light which have been clouded in the mists of history and mythology. I just happened to stumble on them on a chance suggestion by my childhood friend Mr. Karim Bawany while having lunch with him at his office a few months back.
Who are the Brahmans????
You will be shocked to know that even the Brahmans have lost their identity and do not know who they are. It is nothing extra-ordinary. Like you or I, we may hardly be able to trace our family tree to may be four, five or at the most six generations. Beyond that, most of us would probably draw a blank. If we start drawing a blank in just five or six generations, which goes to about 300 years or so, how can we expect a people to have record for over 3000 years. So it is not surprising if the Braham’s have lost their identity. But all is not lost. There are signpost or road marks which show us the direction from which it can be deducted that the “Brahmans are the followers of Prophet Abraham.”
Naturally, you will recoil. But lets go further. Brahma and Abraham have the same root word BRHM and in the same sequence. Then Prophet Abraham’s wife was Sarah. Lord Brahma’s wife is known as Sara-Swati. Does that make sense? Then again one of the biggest rivers in India is named as Brahma-putra meaning son of Brahma. Does it refer to Prophet Isaac, son of Abraham? We all know that as per God’s instruction, Prophet Abraham’s other wife Hegira was tucked away with Prophet Ismail in Mecca and was later to bring forth the Prophet of Islam in 570 A.D. from amongst the progeny of Prophet Ismail. This tucking away and the chain of Prophet Ishmael’s family has been confirmed time and again in the Holy Book of TORAH. [Prophet Joseph was rescued by an Ishmaelite etc. etc] Anyway we are not here concerned with the same.
Now why did the Brahmans or the followers of Prophet Abraham come to India? I quote the Torah: Genesis 25.1-6 “Abraham” took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Ishbak and Shuah…….. Abraham willed all that he owned to Issac; but to Abraham’s sons by concubines Abraham gave gifts while still living, and he sent them away from his son Issac eastward, to the “land of the east”.
The “Land of the East” in those days was naturally India and history also does not disagree with this Holy Scripture.
All are agreed that there have been four great prophets after Noah’s deluge who were also great law-givers. They are Prophets Abraham, Moses , Jesus and Muhammad. All these four prophets have a sign. Prophet of Islam sign is the holy city of Mecca; Prophet Jesus’ sign is the olive; Prophet Moses’ sign is the Mount Sinai. What then is the sign of Prophet Abraham? If you have not guessed it, then it is the “Banyan Tree”. The banyan tree is a kind of a fig tree. Ask any Indian and he will tell you that this tree is known as the Brahmi in India and is revered by the Brahmans. And the Holy Quran in a beautiful small passage confirms this. Surah Tin [ fig] ayaats 1-4 “ By the Fig and the Olive, and Mount Sinai, And this city of security [Mecca]- We have indeed created man in the best of moulds”.
And, like the Muslims have the Quran,; the Christians have the New Testament, and the Jews the Old Testament, so also the Brahmans have the Vedas, which the Quran confirms as the sahifa [or Sohofa] of Prophet Abraham. And the Collier’s Encyclopedia Vol: 12, page 131, 1989 Ed. confirms that the Vedas are “ Divinely revealed works”.
Now we come to the crux of the problem of “Untouchability”. This will need some explaining and hope you will not lose patience. We have seen that Prophet Abraham sent some of his family members to the East. They started calling themselves Brahmans. They made Abraham into Lord Brahma and his wife into Goddess Sara-swati. This may have evolved over several centuries. Just like the Christians call Christ as Lord Jesus. Only the Jews and the Muslims do not call their prophets as Lords. However, after the migration to the East, the communication was not closed or shut. There was intermingling and exchange of visits by both sides. The centers of civilization in those times were the Nile Valley, Euphrates-Tigris and the Indus
Now prophets were coming to the western side in greater numbers because of the chosen people in those areas. One such and a great and mighty one was Moses. As with all prophets, God accepts their prayers always. But in Prophet Moses’ case, things were different. Twice he prayed and twice God told him on his face that his prayer was accepted.
The third and most important utterance of Prophet Moses was when he went to communicate with God after rescuing the children of Israel and left Prophet Aaron in charge of his people. The people in Moses’ absence made a calf of gold and started worshipping the same. What did Moses say to Samiri and his followers when he saw all this. Quran XX: 97:-
(Moses) said: Get thee gone! (or get
lost) But thy (punishment) in this life
will be that thou wilt say “TOUCH ME
NOT”; and moreover……………”
So, here we have the answer. Out of the 12 tribes that came out of Egypt, only 2 were rightly guided and, the rest ten got the wrath of Prophet Moses. They got lost( the lost tribes of Israel) came and mingled with the Eastern people and infused the culture of “TOUCH ME NOT” into the Brahmans or the followers of Prophet Abraham who were already settled here. The Collier’s Encyclopedia referred above states that the caste system is a “later development” and “not enshrined in the original Vedas”.
Being numerous there is no doubt, because God had promised Abraham that your descendants or followers will be like the stars of the sky or the sands of the desert. The Brahmans will always be numerous, will have the Banyan tree as a sign, will always worship the cow as Holy and will always say “TOUCH ME NOT”
While I bow in humility to God in the Guidance received in preparing this article, I would be falling in my duty if I do not record the help I received from my friend Mr. Karim Bawany in giving the idea and backing it up with allowing me to use his exhaustive library of rare books most of which are not printed today. To my Respected Guru Mr. P.K. Panni of Dhaka, Bangladesh, for his sparks of insight and knowledge imparted to me whenever I needed them. To respected Sri Maoji Mahraj, chief of Swami Narayan Mandir Karachi for hid hours taken by me. To the staff of Karachi Museum for exhibiting and explaining the priceless relics of pre and post Brahma periods of the Indus Valley civilization. To my brother Illias Suttar and Prof. Shahab Siddiqui for going over the draft and suggesting changes and improvements which have been incorporated. To my son Ismail and his spouse Ayesha for affording the time and leisure to indulge in the luxury of research. And finally, to my wife Mumtaz, Prof. of Psychology, through whom I was able to get valuable feed-backs from her luminous colleagues at the college. May God Bless them all and guide us right. Amen.
As Samiri with his idol calf
In this life the untouchables suffer the humiliated of "touch them not," and in the afterlife their suffering in hell will be unending, eternal. May God's curse be upon descendants of As Samiri, Amen.
