“When a Sudra calls himself a Brahman, he shall either have his eyes destroyed by the application of poisonous ointment or pay a fine of 800 panas”.
- (Page 258 Arthasasthra - Dr.
R. Shamasastry - Mysore Printing and Publishing House).
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In the kingdom of Travancore, whenever there was coronation of a prince, it became the formality of the prince to perform Hiranya Garba dhaanam (donation after the golden womb ceremony), before and for becoming king.
Hiranya Garba Dhaanam
Some kings, of course, did not go by that formality. Yet, it, generally, became one of the recognised ceremonies. As per that practice, the prince (i.e., the king-designate) would enter a golden vessel made in the shape of lotus flower, 10 feet high and 8 feet in circumference. It had been made of pure gold, with a lid also in the shape of crown. The prince would take bath in holy water and exit from the golden, duly accompanied by the chanting of Vedic hymns by the Brahmins. After the ceremony was over, the prince, was deemed to have become king, automatically. The golden vessel used for the ceremony would, then, be cut into pieces and distributed among the Brahmins. (Page 443 & 444 - Journal of Kerala Studies 1975 – Part III Vol. II). It was the tax-money of the people, siphoned off to the Brahmins, only to the Brahmins, thus, and not to all the people of that country. If the king wanted to keep a piece of that vessel as a memento, he had to pay the price of it.
Prince Anizham
Thirunal Marthanda Varma was no different from his predecessors who were
the victims of that Brahmanical subterfuge. So, he made elaborate arrangements and
performed the said Hiranya Garba Dhaanam too, at the time of his coronation, distributed the
golden pieces of the vessels to the Brahmins and became king.
Again,
in March 1737 AD, eight years after ascension, he, like his predecessors,
performed Tulapurushadhanam (Thulabaaram)
also and distributed the gold to the Brahmins. This thula (balance) purusha
(man) dhaanam (donation) which
was “a ceremony performed by weighing the body of the king against an equal
weight of gold and distributing the same among Brahmins” (Page 442 – Journal
of Kerala Studies – 1975 – Part III Vol II). Taking away the thulabharam
gold was the monopoly of the Brahmins. Brahmins got that privilege and took
away the gold from the treasury of the government, only because they had the
monopolistic right over priesthood. Others could not get any share of such
cushy gold, because they were not priests in the temples in which Brahmins
alone officiated as priests. While the status of priest gives them their
birth-related-hegemony within the temple premises, the consequent priesthood
gives them the position to exploit the masses outside the temple premises too. And
the Brahmins of Travancore Kingdom were effectively exploiting that opportunity
to benefit them personally.
Vechu namaskaram (வெச்சு நமஸ்காரம்)
Again,
Vechu Namaskaram. It was a traditional ritual in Kerala where Brahmins are
ceremonially honoured by non-Brahmin families, often as a spiritual offering to
gain blessings and absolve sins.
Vechu
Namaskaram literally means “prostration performed by placing” - referring to
the act of placing offerings and then bowing before Brahmins to please them. It
is considered a Salkarmam (good deed) and a form of Daanam (offering), akin to
temple rituals before God. The belief is that pleasing Brahmins, thus, elevates
the giver spiritually and washes away his sins. It is performed, usually, in ancestral
home of the giver ( Illam) or in the temple, in areas like the Patinjaatti
(western courtyard of the quadrange) of the Nadumittam or Thekkini (southern part) or other
convenient place. Traditionally upper-caste non-Brahmin families like Nairs and
Ambalavaasis were made to perform it.
On
pre-decided auspicious days, often annually, Authorized Brahmins (Karmis
and Bhattathiris) arrive at the place of ceremony without formal invitation. They are welcomed
with oil baths, fresh clothes. After their daily prayers, the ritual is performed
before meals. A lamp is lit and those Karmis and Bhattathiris are made to sit
on a low wooden seat (Aavanappalaka) in front of the lamp. The head of
the family, then, places a small
plantain leaf before it with money, betel leaf, and arecanut on the seat. Then,
he circumambulates the seated Brahmins once and prostrates before them three
times. Other family members also join in
the circumambulation and prostration. The seated Brahmins keep on clapping
their hands all the while.
Thereafter the Brahmins stand up and the family that offered the Vechu Namaskaram is made to sit. The Brahmins then touch the money placed before them on the seat and then bless the family members by keeping them both their hands on the head of each of the family member. The offerings are shared equally among the Brahmins. A feast typically follows the ceremony. (For more, refer to the book “Ente Smaranakal” – Vol. 2 - by Kanippaiyur Sankaran Namboodhri ).
The dream born out of Inferiority complex
While the ritual of Hiranya Garba Dhaanam was used to extract money
from the king, the rituals like Thulabaaram and Vechu Namaskaram were used for
extracting money not only from the king but also from all other people who were
rich. That was the social order. It was that order prevailing in the kingdom of
Travancore which shaped the thoughts of that king too.
If only there had been social thinkers and reformers
then, the conspiracy behind the chaturvarna theory would have been exposed and
the people got liberated, including Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Verma himself.
The way the kings supported Mahavir and Buddha and demolished the chaturvarna
social order, Marthanda Verma could also
have done, easily, as a mighty king, who established a vast kingdom then on his
own merit and capability. But what was wanting was the atmosphere of awareness
among the masses about the concept of equality and fraternity in social life.
That work should have been undertaken by the thinkers among the people. But no
such thinker of consequence had emerged on the Kerala soil. There was no
thinker who could rise up against the evil designs of the chaturvarna system,
expose the misdeeds of Namboodri priests and instil, in the minds of the
people, the noble ideas on equality by birth.
That movement started, there, later – about a century later - through Ayyavazhi.
But, not in the era of Marthand Varma. He could, therefore, be only a great
warrior but not thinker, in that social milieu.
He used to have a dream; a great dream; the daydream; the dream of everyday that was born out of his anguish. He thought that he was, still, a mighty king, even after that Tiruppadi Dhaanam. But what was the use of it? He had to perform Vechu Namaskaram by falling at the feet of Brahmin guru, who did not do any useful work at all. On the other hand, he was dictated and commanded by the Brahmins, who did not pay any tax to the government but took away the money from the treasury in the form of large number of rituals. Marthanda Varma was yearning for that type of cross-thread which was worn by Brahmins. How to become a Brahmin in this birth itself, he thought and thought over that issue, and felt tired.
What did he do, then?
Marthanda Varma turned to the Namboodri priests,
demanding elevation to the exalted Brahmin Varna. The Namboodris, concealing
their amusement behind solemn faces, devised a grand ritualistic charade. They
proposed the ancient rite of Hiranyagarbha Daanam—a symbolic rebirth into
Brahminhood.
He was instructed to commission a golden cow, crafted
with meticulous precision. On the appointed day, they said, he must enter
through its mouth and emerge from its rear, enacting a ritual passage through
the womb of purity. Once done, he was to shatter the golden cow and distribute
its fragments among the Brahmins. Only then, they assured him, could he claim
Brahmin status.
Anizham Tirunal Marthanda Varma, dazzled by the
promise of divine legitimacy, leapt with joy. Consequently, another Hiranyagarbhadhanam ceremony was performed on 17.06.1751.
A golden cow was prepared, Marthana Varma entered into it through its mouth and
came out of the rear and was conferred Brahmin-hood. But it was only a limited
Brahmin-hood. And, the golden cow was cut into pieces and distributed among the Brahmins. .
On his being elevated, thus, to the status of Brahmin, he was told that he should not eat food together with his family members who had been elevated to the status of only Kshatriya. “The Maharaja ceases to partake of food, as formerly, with the members of his family, but is yet, not allowed to eat with the Brahmins, only admitted being present at their meals” (Page 390 - Native Life in Travancore - Samuel Mateer - 1883, also Page 169 - The Land of Charity by the same author). The king, without any demur, obeyed all such ridiculous Fatwas issued by the Namboodris.
It is interesting to see that the conferment of Brahminhood in this case was nothing more than the conferment of title to wear the Brahmanical cross-thread. There was no scope for the descendants of the king to claim the status of being Brahmins.
When Gagabhat got a lot of money and declared that Chatrapathi Shivaji was a Kshatriya, his descendants were repudiated that status both by High Court of Madras and by the Sankaracharya of Kanchipuram. (“புராணங்கள், பெரிய புராணம் இவற்றில் பார்த்தால் எல்லா ஜாதியிலும் மகா பெரியவர்கள் வந்தது தெரியும். சந்திரகுப்தன், சிவாஜி மாதிரி இருக்கப்பட்ட சக்கரவர்த்திகளும், சேக்கிழார் மாதிரி மதிமந்திரிகளும் நாலாம் வர்ணத்திலிருந்தே வந்திருக்கிறார்கள்” - (தெய்வத்தின் குரல் - முதல் பாகம் - வைதிக மதம் ).
as a result, the successors of Marthanda Varma had also to do same Hiranyagarba Dhaanam and donate the
gold to the Brahmins again and again. And they did too. Hundred years later, another Hiranyagarba Dhaanam took place in
July 1854, performed by the king of Travancore, Uthiradam Thirunal Marthanda
Varma II. And how that ceremony was performed has been recorded very
elaborately by eye-witness account of Sreenivasa Row (Page 170 - The Land of
Charity - Samel Mateer).
Aryans, the same bent of mind everywhere
The 1935 Nuremberg Laws approved the concept of ‘blood purity’ and outlawed the mixed marriages and any form of relationship between Aryans and Jews. "Anyone classed as an Aryan who was caught engaging in a relationship with a Jew after the passing of the Nuremberg Laws faced a prison sentence. Any Jew caught breaking the laws faced a lengthy sentence in a concentration camp with no guarantee that he/she would be released." (Blood Purity and Nazi Germany - C.N. Trueman). It was called 'blood treason'.
Hitler wanted to keep the Aryan race pure and aloof.
That was the stand of the Namboodris of Kerala too. They conferred the status
of Brahmin on the king Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, for a consideration.
But, they were never ready to treat the offsprings of that king as Brahmins.
This stand of the Namboodries, necessitated all the later day kings who wanted
elevation to the Brahmin-Varna to perform Hiranyagarba Dhaanam again and
again. This was to the convenience of the Namboodris who made easy fortunes on
every such occasion.
The kings of Kerala, of the 18th and 19th centuries,
never read even contemporary history and were, therefore, falling prey to the
Brahmanical machinations of Hiranyagarba Dhaanam, Murajapam, Tulabhara
Dhaanam, etc., again and again.
Resultantly, another Hiranyagarba Dhaanam took place in July 1854, performed by the king of Travancore, Uthiradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma II. And how was that ceremony performed has been recorded very elaborately by eye-witness account of Sreenivasa Row (Page 170 - The Land of Charity - Samel Mateer).
It is amusing to find one woman academician, who declares that she has converted herself from Christianity, claims that she has become, so easily, a “Sharma”. Funny ISKCON victims!
