Questions of identity, like “who am I?” have been asked by humanity for ever. Usually they are theological questions asked by philosophers trying to understand our position in the universe, or in the context of eternal time. Such existential questions are the crux of our existence and help us to find meaning and purpose for our life. However, the relatively modern science of DNA research has now brought the same question into the field of physical science and biology. Now, with the advent of gene sequencing and identification, we can ask the question from a point of view not based on abstracts but on clear physical evidence regarding what makes us tick as human beings.
In the past leading thinkers were telling society that social position, or your capacity for success, were inherited and that you were stuck with your lot according to the family you were born into. They were using the theory of heredity, even before the discovery of DNA. In 1912, for example, the professor of Genetics at Cambridge University stated in his book “Biological Fact and the Structure of Society” that
‘The idea of social reform must not be to abolish class, but to ensure that each individual shall as far as possible get into the right class, stay there and usually his children after him.’
Similarly even as recently as 1994, over 80 years later, a leading academic at Harvard University wrote
‘Success and failure in the American economy are increasingly a matter of the genes that people inherit...Programmes to expand opportunities for the disadvantaged are not going to make much difference.’
In my personal opinion, and backed by more recent studies and understanding, this theory is based on only half the truth, and is in fact outright wrong. Today we know that we are all a product of two things, one may be nature – our DNA – but the other is nurture – how we are raised. Nature and nurture are both as important in determining who we are and who we become.
In other words, our outdated theories and speculations of who we are and what we can achieve were based on racist ideologies, or in India what may be seen as caste consciousness based on birth alone. And this immoral and uninformed ideology has led to the racist and classist abuse of most of the world’s population throughout our history, and it belongs to a nonsensical theory usually propounded by the so-called elite class, either priests or politicians, to entrench their dominance over the rest.
By looking at these unfounded rules that constructed our society in our history, we can see just how inhumane our social past has been, and how both religion and science have abused their power to maintain the dominance of those who write the rules, while outright abusing their fellow humanity. Their actions clearly show a lack of knowledge in science, as well as wisdom in theology or philosophy. For example on the scientific front, we know now that humans and chimpanzees are almost 98% identical when it comes to DNA. And we also know that every human being is practically identical to every other on the DNA level. There is no radical genetic difference between any of us. The differences are minuscule at most.
And when it comes to religious law regarding social caste position, particularly relevant in India, we need only look at the idea at it’s source, namely the Indian Sanskrit texts from which the philosophy emerges. In Bhagavad Gita, the essential gospel of India, there are two verses that clearly dictate the real understanding of our identity as humans and our so-called caste classifications.
vidyā-vinaya-sampanne
brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
śuni caiva śva-pāke ca
paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ
The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa (priest), a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]. Bhagavad Gita As It Is ch5:18
In this single verse we can clearly see just how a really advanced person perceives all life. From a level of spirit, all living entities are the same. All plants, animals and humans that are animated with life, owe their animation to the same original spiritual source. In other words the same quality of soul is present in the body of all living beings, what to speak of all humans, regardless of origin. That is the view of a wise and learned transcendentalist, someone with mature spiritual vision, according to the oldest text on the planet, the Sanskrit Veda, going back 5000 years. This is of course a highly exalted level of perception but it does lay out the actual Indian philosophy as it is. The difficulty comes in when analyzing the second verse that I wish to highlight.
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛiṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ
viddhy akartāram avyayam
‘According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.’ Bhagavad Gita As It Is ch4:13 translated by Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta
This verse alludes to the caste system found in India today that designates the lifetime lot of an individual according to their birth to a certain parent. If your DNA lineage is that of a high class brahmana priest or intellectual, then you are one, and if your parents were lowly servants, or even worse outcastes, then so are you. However, this is an incorrect interpretation of the entire philosophy of a class system. This erroneous system currently in practice today is saying that you are qualified by genetics and by birth, just as earlier western scientists used to say, but the actual interpretation is something quite different according to the original verse on the subject above. In the above verse, the words “guna” and “karma” are key. These words translate to mean “qualities” and “actions”. Thus it is actually by your qualities and your actions that you are “categorized” as one class/caste or another, not by your birth. And this is the fundamental problem or misinterpretation foisted on society by the usual suspects – the elite, intellectuals at the top who want to hold on to power over the rest, regardless of all other indicators to the contrary.
It is the same as the unfair and now redundant royal lineage or genetic bloodline philosophy that kept kings on the throne regardless of whether they were moral or qualified or not. And we have seen some seriously ignoble kings who lacked leadership ability but were put on the throne simply because their parents were there.
If we look at the verse translation, then the we see that it begins “According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them..” It is according to the modes of material nature (qualities of a person) and the work (actions) performed by a person, that qualify them to take on one position or another. Today we call this merit. You qualify for a job or a position in life based on merit. That’s why you conduct a job interview, to see if you qualify, to see if you have the qualities, to see how you work. That is what is meant by “guna” and “karma” as mentioned in the text stating that there are differences in status.
Second half coming shortly...
(image pixabay)