5. VARNA EXPLOITATION

Dharma is the righteous way so simply it should not contain exploitation. It should not have had the people eating the grain cleaned out of cow dung. No exploitation is what the defenders of Varna system claim. The spiritual Hindus regard the modern civilization as a Western civilization rooted in the materialism without acknowledging the eternal exploitation that is taking place in their backyard. The modern materialism with its pursuit of maximum profit is regarded as dehumanizing by the spiritual Hindus. A dehumanization in which the fellow human beings are seen as instruments of furthering one's own material interests. The spiritualism is supposed to be superior to materialism with its emphasis on the spiritual side, and, thus implying the inherent absence of exploitation. Is it so? Hindu society with its spiritual development is supposed to be superior to the dehumanizing materialism of the West. In fact, many defenders of the Varna Dharma regard the West, and, its modern ideas of equality and liberty as contaminating source, which have actually polluted this grand, ancient, sacred, pure, innocent, spiritual, and divinely ordained civilization. Whatever these people say, it is clear from the experience of Untouchables that even the modern ideas from the West were unable to reign in the vicious animals of Varna Dharma and untouchability.
However, Hindu society is supposed to be highly spiritual and non-exploitative. Who said that? Hindu thinkers say that amassing so much wealth is not good for society. It also alienates a man from God. Finding God should be his true goal. All money chasers are chasing Maya. The Maya whose social and material parts are stretched to benefit a few. All upper caste people cling to Maya as if though it was created for them only; others are left with the leftovers only. A materialist man deviates from his true path. In addition, such a man is also exploitative or indulges in anti-human practices; you see it turns him into an adharmic person.
All the materialistic things were in the hands of upper castes. It is an undeniable proof of their pure and sacred spirituality, and, a concrete belief in the Maya hypothesis. With control over people's lives and with the benefits of cozy caste comforts - they are, indeed, spiritual! Any doubts please? Moreover, spiritually the destinies are connected with past lives' Karmas!
Exploitation is a demeaning word for the higher Varna people. Do not insult them by using these kinds of words unless you want to serve a term in hell or to born in next life as the Untouchables or the dogs or the vermin etc. Never been sure which one is better! But definitely you will not be born as the cow - the sacred animal. Do not be heretic and please bow to this sacred animal.
Maximization of profit leads to the neglect of the spiritual side and values, so one says. In maximization of profit, a man forgets his fellow human beings and maximizes the profit at others' cost, so one continues. Actually, the eternal Hindu society is eternally far ahead; the Western materialistic snail cannot compete with it; the Hindu society arrogantly, unapologetically and permanently exploits human (subhuman?) beings in a disparaging way; one is interrupted. The higher Varnas maximize their gains at the cost of the Shudras and the Untouchables who form the majority. Remember, the cow dung grain! The cruel, inhuman and eternal exploitation of Shudras and Untouchables is a standing feature of the Hindu society. They do it on eternal basis and in disparaging ways. Anything below insulting permanent exploitation is below their dignity. It is Varna exploitation which is far complicated than the feudal exploitation. They have a mixed standing army of forever servants on heredity basis. Hindu society never runs short of manual and still lower level servants since these servants come on heredity basis. The more will come from where they came from. It simply takes a group of families of a servant Jati to perpetuate itself to serve Dharma and the higher Varnas without really getting anything in return. I was under the impression that where there are duties there are rights and zero rights imply zero duties! How foolish of me! I will never understand Dharma as it is supposed to be understood - by ditching the reasoning. A human life is supposed to be a boon in itself. Yes, an insulted and subjugated life of enforced penury, empty bellies, and in dumps! Yes, unforgettably, a lot humane about it. Hardly a tinge of remorse in the high castes! Normal, everything is normal.
The exploitation in the Hindu society can be called the Varna exploitation. It has all kinds of exploitations. For religious exploitation, born Brahmans are there. For labor exploitation, born Brahmans, born Kshatriya and born Vaisyas are there. For insulting lower Varnas, the upper Varnas are there. For social exploitation, all the upper three Varnas are there. The same goes for sexual exploitation. For the eternal exploitation, birth-attached Varnas and birth-attached castes are there. There is no running away from exploitation for the low castes. The feudal exploitation does not include so many perspectives so it would be incorrect to term caste/Varna exploitation as feudal exploitation. The term feudal exploitation, simply, does not cover all the angles of exploitation. Nothing is excluded in caste exploitation except the slavery that was not allowed since the polluting Untouchables and the impure Shudras could not enter the houses of pure upper castes. The ancient slavery could not be firmly established as the purity moved in slowly but with full intensity in the pure houses. It pushed the impure slaves out of existence. Slavery was not needed as an alternative was available to Hindu elites in the form of a socially captive and caged servile army of servants residing within village limits and always at their command. These crippled sections could have no wish of their own. They could any time be summoned to perform the unpaid labor at the discretion of higher castes. And killing and lynching can still be seen in India - the spiritual land. The crippling of a large section of society made the slavery unnecessary. The crippled section could do all the work which the slaves were supposed to do.
The separation of rewards of this life from efforts of this life through the Karma hypothesis led to the justification of permanent exploitation. The Karma hypothesis shifts the causation onto the victims and their previous lives thus absolving the current oppressors. Disconnecting - purely disconnecting! Incriminating – purely incriminating. Without proof – totally without proof. This makes oppressors happy. They sleep nicely with a clear ankle deep conscience. They sing the paeans of the Karma hypothesis - rightly so. This enabled the Brahmans to righteously enjoy the power and comforts at the expense of the impure Shudras and the polluting Untouchables. This privilege is the inherited normal right of upper castes, disguised as function. The cruelty is all in the game. This is inherited and implicit cruelty. The Karma hypothesis successfully prevents the creation of any sympathy for the Untouchables and their divinely ordained wretched lives. The Untouchables do not have to do to visit the hell; it is created for them here only; this life is a veritable hell for them. In terms of current life the disconnecting Karma hypothesis amounts to reward without work for the upper castes and punishment without crime for the lower two strata. All the Maya is created for others but not for the last two strata. They do not have any claim on benefits of the Maya - such rascals they are!
However, the fertile imagination that shifts the rewards to next unknown life is a social reality in Hindu society. It has played havoc with the lives of uncountable people all through the Indian history. In fact, this is a clear disconnection of rewards from the deeds that benefits the higher Varnas. The results are due to one's free actions - there is no such occurrence in Hindu society because there is no free action!
A learned Brahman is a man who can endlessly argue about the existence of non-existence (Bruhm) and the non-existence of existence (the world), and the unification of soul with the Bruhm, and also about the Karma hypothesis. Through such an evolved process, he acquires the spiritual knowledge sitting at the feet of his guru. The greatest achievement here is the unification of non-existent (soul) with the non-existent (Bruhm). Society be damned. If society is not bothered about itself then it is not their worry. Their worry is only maintaining their dharmic status that brings them all kinds of material and carnal benefits. In the latter context, the institution of Devdasi should be kept in mind. The Devdasis were the maid servants of gods in many temples and were available for the carnal pleasures of the unworldly priestly castes. Great renunciation!
This spiritual development strengthens their underlying social base where everybody acknowledges their superior and divine knowledge about the world and divinity. The more was their spiritual authority the more was their control over society and its resources. And the victims are perpetually held responsible for the oppression.
The absence of Untouchables in the controlling groups is also explained in the terms of Karma hypothesis - very spiritual. And yet the exploitation is completely and proudly disowned. Exploitation? What exploitation? You should not expect exploitation from such pious and devout Hindu high castes. After all, they are high castes with the highest-level ethics and the highest-level morals. Who can question them?
Anyway, such a spiritual community required a full community of born servants (the Shudras) to serve it. The Shudras are supposed to serve the Brahmans because of their fault of being born in an impure and powerless sinful Varna that is due to the faulty accumulated Karmas of their past lives. Nice logic! The Shudras and the Untouchables are supposed to provide them with the same material comforts in which they are not supposed to be interested in! That is the irony of ironies! But it just goes on as integral part of the traditional India. The Hindu spirituality imbibes in itself the crass materialism. They needed all the land grants in the world for such otherworldly purposes. They needed all the plum administrative and judicial jobs to maintain their spiritual needs. The otherworldliness circulates around them and raises them to a higher material and spiritual level, from where they can watch people committing atrocities on their behalf without sharing a bit of responsibility. It is all for the cause of Dharma. They sleep nicely with a clear conscience. They had to had all the top jobs with the kings and in the state administration. They have to be their guides. And the superiors guide the inferiors. Is it not? You see how astoundingly unworldly it is to be the guides of kings, to have all the land grants and to enjoy the facility of Niyoga! You, with your contaminated thinking, would never get it! Niyoga is included in the righteous way of life, you dimwit. They were provided all these jobs and facilities through the non-materialistic scriptures. The humbleness never left them. It stuck to them like a leach. The king who upholds Dharma has to be secondary to them. Like all true materialists, they did not believe in the jobs giving them a pittance - state administration is all they want. These poor unworldly and spiritual fellows! All the powerful jobs were reserved for them. Like all coward and manipulative power hungry people they wanted indirect power through Dharma and kings, and through transfer of wealth, and of course through building up of traditions in their favor. And after all this, they piously maintain their unquestionable and unimpeachable spirituality and otherworldliness. They have never been answerable in Hindu society. They never will be. Calling them materialists would be a gross insult to materialism. Anyway, they are known for these kinds of remarkable feats where they convert everything useful to them into some kind of spiritual requirement. The impure sinful (the sin of being born in sinful Varna) lower strata did not have the right to question these pure, pious, truthful, unimpeachable, simple and spiritual people! Anyway, nobody had any such right. Why bother? And statecraft and social craft was their Varna function, monopoly.
 These heredity priests were unlike in any other civilization; they knew and practiced the statecraft and social craft; these skills are also among the reasons behind the longevity of Varna and caste system.
These ancient lawmakers and their progenies through their birth-attached right would not hesitate in classifying their land and power jobs as essential requirements to preserve Dharma, and hence spiritual. It is the real magic; everything is fair under the cover of Dharma and Varna-functions. And mutilating justice is also spiritual because it helps in upholding Dharma. Thus, all the material things can be endowed with spirituality if they help in the maintenance of divinely ordained Dharma. The crime committed by a Brahman is not a crime, so no punishment. But the same crime committed by a Shudra is a ghastly crime. It is just incidental that they are forced to use all these rules in the cause of Dharma which in turn causes subjugation. This combination of spirituality, materialism and indirect internal political power (by being the guides of the kings) was hard to beat. The last two strata bore the brunt of it. Probably they toiled very hard in their previous lives to accumulate suitable Karmas for their present wretched conditions. And these ignoble fools do not know their past Karmas! And they do not know that their humiliations, miseries, suffering and pains can be wrenched, if required; their experience should tell them all. And no tinge of guilt ever runs across their minds, faces or hearts; they are pure people after all.
The materialism, which is much hated now, was much endearing to the Brahmans, as evident in the land grants to them, in their control over the sacred, the money guzzling temples, the power they yielded in society and in the existence of caged groups of the born servants to serve them indirectly. Many temples had become richer than the richest Vaisya and even the small kings. At the same time, they accuse the Western society of being materialistic? The spiritual Brahmans were as near to crass materialism as a scavenger is near to a stinking garbage dump.
One of the underlying assumptions behind criticism of Western (modern West) exploitative materialism is that they (higher Varnas) give a very humanistic treatment to the Shudras and the Untouchables. However, it was a case of permanent inhuman exploitation for the lowest two strata. The masters of hatred could not do anything else. How much maximally humanistic they can be toward people whom they hate and despise? The answer is near to Nullity. The graph of their magnanimity moves in southward direction from that point onwards, and progresses further down without break, until the sustenance level of the Shudras and the Untouchables is reached. These people were forced sometimes to eat the grain cleaned out of cow dung and bread made out of fodder. All this for the purpose of avoiding aDharma! Totally sublime, totally transcendental! See, the Hindu culture is depthless. The charge of cruelty and inhumanity are totally ridiculous.
The higher Varnas follow the policy of live and let die, and, lower two strata follow the policy of sleep and let sleep. It is a simple world! Is it not? Sleep, sleep, sleep and sleep man! It suits some people.