By 6th century B.C. the Brahmanic pretentions reached such ridiculous heights that Brahmins claimed to control the entire cosmos. This was based on the following logic: Vedic Gods controlled the Universe Yajnas compelled Gods to fulfill mans desires. Brahmins composed Mantras magical incantations uttered at Yajnas to delude Gods and therefore Brahmins controlled the Universe. Believing this Kshatriyas sacrificed grain ghee and animals to compel the Gods to grant them their wishes power wealth and heaven BG: 2.43. The Brahmins extracted hefty fees from kings for performing increasingly exacting and complicated Yajnas.
Naturally ostentatious desire driven Yajnas Kamya Karma became the hallmark of an aristocratic Barhmanic Dharma of Post Vedic India. In opposition to the burgeoning nexus between the Brahmins and Kshatriyas a comprehensive revolt arose against Brahmanic pretentions the likes of which India has not seen since. In comparison to this the atheistic movement we witness in India today appears infinitely anaemic. The post Vedic India around 600 B.C. was positively vibrant. It is from this intellectually fertile soil that a number of heterodox or Nastik non believing philosophies came up in opposition to the increasingly decadent and Orthodox Brahmanism and their ingenious doctrines of the Gunas of Prakriti, Law of Karma Varna Dharma Yajnas supremacy of Brahmin class and infallibility of the Vedas. This wide ranging book offers a succinct and engaging narrative of the history of the Indian subcontinent tracing the development of its society culture and polity. |
