but it is...

‘Avatars of Vishnu’ 

These are the biggest hoaxes of the Vishnavite Brahmanic religion. This is about the same as the Brahmin demand for protecting and propagating the dead Sanskrit as a divine language.

If god is defined as a power that creates, protects and destroys the world, as a power that has no beginning and no end, as a power that cannot be seen, heard or touched, as a power that is found everywhere, as a power that has no name, shape or character, and as a power that stands for truth, beauty, love and equality, there is nothing to object to in it. There is no need for anybody to bother about the existence or non-existence of such a power. This article is not written to deny the existence of such a god.

Traditional ritual or accepted truth?

Some religions have laboured hard and long to create in the people's minds the truth about the existence of such a god.

However, it is very essential to know in what way the people, in particular, the great Dravidian people – have been told about god, and what they have begun to believe in, and whether it is correct or not. It is about time that the common people come to know about it.

Exploits and character of principal gods

Today Hindu gods are Siva, his wife, their children and the paraphernalia attached to all these.

Next come Vishnu, his wife, their children, the avatars of Vishnu, their wives and children and all the paraphernalia attached thereto.

Third on the list is Brahma, his wife and their children and the paraphernalia attached to them.

Besides these principal gods, there are the others, Indra, Varuna, Agni, Vayu, Surya, Chandra, some selected animals, a few birds, a few mountains and some rivers.

Let us say something in general about all these Hindu gods and then discuss in some detail the exploits and character of the principal gods. Let us also take note of the researches of some Western and Indian scholars on the subject for a better understanding of Hinduism

Gods of bad character and obscene habits

In trying to understand the nature of these gods, it is necessary to know how these gods originated, who created them, how they have been copied by others, giving them different names and introduced in other countries.

Professor Calvin has said that the Hindus professing the Aryan religion have more bad and indecent practices than good and decent practices based on religion. Sir Williams Jones, who first translated and published the Manu Code in English, has said that the Manu Dharma Sastra is an unjust and arbitrary code for human conduct. That the gods of the Hindus are in general possessed of bad character and obscene habits is the opinion of many learned scholars, and they conclude that the situation cannot be different where idolatry of the worst type prevails.

Copies of foreign gods 

The religious history of many countries discloses the fact that what are regarded as the Hindu religious gods are not peculiar or exclusive to India. The Hindu gods are seen to be in part “copies” of foreign gods. For instance, the Linga worshipped by the Hindus as God Siva is no other than the Phallus of the ancient Greeks and Priapus of the ancient Egyptians. The goddess Kali was the goddess Diana of the Greeks. Who copied from whom may be points for controversy. Either they created different gods from the same idea or one copied from the other. At any rate, it is clear that some of the gods of the Hindus with certain attributes are not exclusive to India.

Origin of idol worship 

Stories about the Hindu gods have different versions. Some contradict one another. There is one school of thought, which says that India got her religion and the gods from the Egyptians and another that says the opposite. There is yet another school, which believes that it was Persia, which fathered the religions of both ancient India and Egypt. Chaldaea, it is said, first practiced the worship of the Sun, and it later spread to Persia and India. The other personal gods appear to have followed the sun-god. Taking advantage of the ignorance and savage condition of the people, the priests have gone on inventing a god for every purpose in order to maintain their own power and authority over the people. It is said that the idolatry of Chaldaea developed in Persia and that it received further impetus in Egypt and India. Whatever be the origins of idolatry, the fact remains that the Hindus are today the greatest idolators of the world.

Idolatry coiled around mythologies 

The number of gods in Hinduism is countless and is still growing. Major Moor has said rightly that Hinduism is full of idolatry coiled (wound) around the Puranas (mythologies). The sciences, fine arts, literature, painting, sculpture, customs and habits of the Hindus have close connection customs with their Puranas, adds Major Moor.

The Hindus have a fantastic number of years in an Era or Yuga. The Satya Yuga is supposed to have lasted 17,28,000 years. The Thretha Yuga that followed the Satya held sway for 12.96.000 years, the third of Dwapara Yuga continued for 8,64,000 Years. The last and present Kaliyuga has to run for 4,32,000 Years. These ages are all beyond common sense and known facts about human history. There is yet another Yuga mentioned in the Puranas, called Devayuga or Mahayuga, Which lasted for 39, 67, 20, 000 Years. These myths about yugas have been invented to deceive and dumbfound the people about the ageless antiquity of the Hindu religion and its Puranas. The Hindu deities take different names in different parts of India and are beyond count.

Concoctions to attract attention 

Nobody has known or seen this god; but he is believed to have created the world. Prof. Eraskine has said in the matter of Hindu gods that the Brahmin priests were aware that they were myths, but kept the truth to themselves and foisted the gods in human form on the people to sustain ritualism and their own privileged survival. Priesthood, superstition, and obscurantism took deep roots in India because of idolatry. Idolatry was not confined to mere human forms and animals. Those forms were also combined. Human bodies were given animal heads. The satyr worship was prevalent in all the old religions of Greece and Rome, Babylon and Egypt. It was obviously easy for the priests to attract the attention and wonder of the people through such concoctions. Everything big and great was made divine-the Sun, the moon, and the stars, mountains and rivers. Hence it was that the god that could not be seen or realised, was found in all these wonderful objects in nature and in the images the priests made for worship. The real god got covered up and hidden in these images. It soon became impossible for man to think of god or of all-powerful force independent of the idols. Huge temples were built for the unseen Brahma, as the priests put it. While there may have been some truth about god that was invisible and unknown in the religious literature of the ancients, the people were given make-believes and fantasies and idols with legends of the impossible.

On the one hand, the Vedas were said to assert the oneness of god; and on the other hand, the people were given gods in thousands. The numerous temples built for the gods and the feasts periodically celebrated for them gave ample work and profit for the Brahmin priests. The people also seem to have got a kick out of this religious pageantry.

The exploits of some of the gods like Siva and Durga were gruesome and horrid. Force, sword and blood were their means to subdue their enemies. In the Koorma Purana, god Siva himself is said to have ordered idol worship.

Mother marrying her own sons 

The great god Brahma is stated to have created the world. As to how the creation was done, there are several versions and no two stories agree. One story is that Parabrahma created the female deity Bhavani. (The philosophic explanation given of Bhavani is that it means energy in nature.) This Bhavani gave birth to three sons, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The mother Bhavani later changed herself into three young girls and married the three sons. In other words the mother became the wife of the sons.

Egg burst into 14 pieces 

Another legend about creation is that the natural energies were enclosed in an egg, which burst into fourteen pieces to make the seven upper and seven lower worlds. Later the god appeared on the Meru mountain and gave the works of creation to Brahma, protection to Vishnu and destruction to Siva.

A third tale is that when the first world was destroyed, Vishnu was found resting on the great serpent Anandan. A lotus appeared from his navel, and from the lotus came out Brahma to create the world and an agent to destroy that world in the person of Siva. Thereafter Brahma created the human race. In creating the human race, the great god practiced discrimination. He created the Brahmins from his head, the Kshatriyas from his shoulders, the Vaisyas from his thighs, and the Sudras from his feet. It must be noted that a male god gave birth to the human kind. The births being extraordinary, the sex of the creator obviously does not matter.

The story of the Greek god Saturn is similar to that of Brahma. This Brahma has four red heads on a single neck. To start with, Brahma had five heads, but had to lose one head at the hands of the irate Siva, since he refused to accept Siva as a superior god. Another story is that both Brahma and Sivan had five heads each, which caused Siva’s wife to get confused several times. To save the situation, Sivan deprived Brahma of one of his heads. The vehicle for Brahma is variously stated to be a duck or a swan. It would appear that Vishnu and Siva joined hands to degrade Brahma and destroy his temples.

Brahma with goat’s head 

Daksha is a reincarnation (an avatar) of Brahma. His daughter Sakthi became Siva’s wife Parvathi. Sakthis’s son Veerabhadran was born not to his mother but to his father Siva alone from his hairlocks. For having slighted his father Sivan and caused the death of his mother in a fire, Veerabhadra got angry and took revenge on Daksha by cutting off his head; but at the request of the Devas, Daksha, who was no other than Brahma, was restored to life. But the several heads of Daksha had got burnt in the fire. Hence a goat’s head was fixed to him. And this Brahma is till supposed to be moving about with a goat’s head.

Krishna with every woman 

Viswakarma was the great carpenter-god. He is variously described as the hand of god and son of Brahma. He is further said to be a white man with three eyes.

Narada was the son of Brahma and Saraswati. His job was to proclaim and convey god’s orders. He is said to have invented the veena. He had no wife or concubine. He is said to have once asked Krishna to give him one of the numerous women he had. Krishna immediately permitted him to take any woman who was alone; but to his dismay, Narada found Krishna in every house that he entered. Disappointed he returned to his Brahmacharya (Bachelorhood).

60,000 children to barren queen

Brigu was a great sage (rishi) and was the son of Brahma. A controversy arose as to which of the trinity was the greatest; all the three, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, referred the matter to Brigu who adopted a queer method for testing the gods. He subjected Brahma and Siva to violent abuse and found them getting angry. Next he went to test Vishnu, but finding him asleep beside his wife Laxmi, he kicked him on his chest waking up. Vishnu did not get angry but asked if Brigu had hurt his leg. He did more. He caressed the leg that kicked him. More absurd stories had been written about Brigu’s exploits. One such is his assistance to enable the barren queen of King Sagara to give birth to 60,000 (Sixty thousand) children. It is not known if the queen is still in the process of producing children!

Saraswati the Indian Minerva 

Brahma’s son Manu became the father of seven sages (rishis), who it is said, married six women. What the arrangement was between seven men and six women has not been made clear in the Purana (Mythology). Obviously supernatural and unnatural things relating to gods and sages (rishis) do not require any explanation.

Goddess Saraswati is variously described as Braham’s daughter and one of the wives of Vishnu, or as Brahma’s wife. In either case the relationship accords with incest. However, the Hindus worship Saraswati as the goddess of learning. Hindus are made to believe that education is obtainable only by the grace of Saraswati. It is said that to obtain condonation for uttering falsehood, this goddess should be propitiated. If the response is to be good, worship must be often repeated. It looks as if Hindus are prone to untruth. In fact Prof. Charles Colman has commented on the Hindu habit of uttering falsehoods. Saraswati is compared with Minerva, the goddess of learning of the Greeks and Romans.

Confined to museums

All these fables lead us on to the similarity between the Western pagan gods and those of the Hindus. While the Westerners long ago confined these gods to the museum and mythological literature, the Hindus still hug them. A list is given below to show that the sources for the gods and goddesses, assuming that one did not copy from the other, have been the same for the Greco-Romans and the Hindus.

Siva and Indra Jupiter

Brahma Saturn

Yama Minas

Varuna Neptune

Surya Sol

Chandra Lunus

Vayu Eeyovas

Viswakarma Vulcan

Ashwins Castor and Pollux

Ganesa Janus

Vrajanti or Vaithrani Sticksnadhi

Kubera Pluto

Krishna Apollo

Narada Mercury

Rama Bacchus

Kanda Mars

Durga Juno

Saraswati Minerva

Ramba Venus

Usha Aurora

Saga Vesta

Brinivi Saiballi

Sree Iris

Let us next proceed to examine the character of some of the lesser deities of the Aryans.

Varuna and Greek oranus 

The Greeks worshipped the sky in the form of a wild bull and called it Dias. In Greek “oranus” means the sky. It is this oranus that the Aryans called Varuna. This Varuna is described as living in a golden mansion high up in the sky. This mansion is said to contain one thousand gateways and rooms. Varuna wears brilliant shining apparel. He has spies in his service. After having praised him this much, the Rig-Veda speaks ill of his birth and tribe. He has been slighted as an Asura of Dravidian race who rules with the aid of vanishing tricks. These tricks are given two meanings by the Sanskritists of Aryan race.

Caste differentiation of Aryans 

God’s illusory tricks or maya-leela take the praiseworthy name of noble or divine play of the God (Thiruvilaiyadal). If the Asuras of Dravidian race do illusory tricks, they are said to result in evil for mankind. Even in word- meanings, race and caste differentiation is emphasised by the Aryans.

By his illusory tricks, Varuna causes the Sun’s revolution in Sky. The Sun is described as Varuns’s eyes. Above all Varuna is the rain god and lord of the seas and rivers. People in general have looked upon the sky as the symbol of Varuna, but Varuna has these attributes attached to him in the ancient texts.

VISHNU: In the Rig Veda, Vishnu has been treated as a minor deity. He has been described as one who roams about the world i.e. in all the three worlds of the earth, heaven and akasa or space. The Vamana Avatara Purana has this description as the basis for its story. It is also said that it was the Sun who represented as Vishnu.

Lover – Mother – Sister 

The sky-god Varuna and his wife Athithi gave birth to the Sun - god. Devotees (Bhaktas) obtain release if they worship this Athithi. The early morning dawn has been made a goddess and named Usha, who is in love with the Sun. This Usha has a peculiar relation with the Sun. In the morning, she is said to love the Sun, but becomes his mother in the middle of the day and later, at night, becomes his sister. Further a close relationship is shown between Usha and the god Agni.

Drunkenness had been given divine status. Somadeva is the god of the drunkards. Bacchus was the liquor-god of the Greco Romans.

The Aswinis 

The Aswinis are two inseparable gods, known for their drunkenness. The Rig veda describes them as carrying their liquor pots in their chariots both for their own consumption and for supply to others. Their chariots would be drawn by oxen or asses. Their sister is Usha, and hence their close relationship with the Sun-god, which has been twisted to look fantastic. The Sun is said to assume the form of a damsel to have sexual relations with the twins. One other story says that the daughter of the Sun became the wife of the two Aswinis, thus falsifying the former story in which the Sun takes the form of a damsel to make love with the twins. Both versions are found in the Rig Veda.

Surya is the daughter of the Sun. As the common wife of the Aswinis, she is taken in the chariot wherever the gods go to administer medicine to their clients, for the Aswinis are the physicians of the gods.

The dawn is personified by another goddess named Savithri. The Gayathri japa (prayer) done in the mornings is to worship this Savithri and to ask for a boon. Although there is this worship of a female deity, some of the slokas (hymns) are said to be discourteous to women.

After describing the Devas (Heavenly Supermen) as free from disease, old age or death,, we are told that the Aswinis are the physicians of the gods. Where is the need for a doctor for Devas who are ever healthy, youthful and living? There is another hoax connected with this. The Aswinis are praised to the skies for their healing abilities; but it is said that nobody knows about their healing methods or medicines. The Aswini also, it is deplored, did not impart the secrets to anybody.

Here is another version of the Aswini story. It is said that the Aswinis are still in the process of making love to Surya, who is continually declining their advances. Every morning the Aswinis start making love and pursue the fleeting Surya. Yet another story is that the Aswinis are pursuing Surya not to marry her, but to get her married to Chandra.

There is a similar myth in the Greek legends. God Lettis has two sons whose job is to save the daughter of the Sun or the Sun himself from getting drowned in the sea.

The explanation of the scholars is that the Aswinis stand for the dawn and the evening as also for the bright morning and evening star Venus high up in the sky. Prof. Weber thinks that the Hindus have called the two stars Castor and Pollux, the Aswinis.

Indra 

The principal god of the Vedic Aryans is Indra. More than a quarter of the Rig Veda is devoted to describing his exploits and invoking his aid for the success of the Aryans. The Puranas are full of legends about Indra. The Aryans seem to have taken a particular delight in Indra’s love affairs. He is more a man than any other god, and hence his adventures in promiscuity, military valour and waywardness.

Indra, however, is not a special creation of the Indo-Aryans. In the Zend Avesta of the Persian Aryans, Indra is depicted as a rakshasa (virulent brute) given to heavy drinking of somapana (liquor). His drunkenness drove him to more amorous adventures than is usual with the Aryan gods. Drunkards cannot be expected to be otherwise.

The Vedic Aryans dubbed Indra as “somappa”, to indicate his special taste for liquor. The Aryan pandits (Scholars) have maintained a controversy about Indra’s parentage. Some Vedic hymns (slokas) assert that Indra was no other than Varuna, the rain-god. Some other slokas would have him as the son of Vishtari and the twin brother of Agni. This appears to be rather inconsistent. Rain and fire do not go together; but inconsistencies do not matter so far Hindu gods are concerned.

The legend about this rain-god is interesting. A mountain snake by name Vritthran takes the clouds as a prisoner. Indra using his vajrayudha (weapon) attacks Vritthran and releases the clouds, thus causing rain. Aryan superstition is evidenced in legends such as these. Thunder and rain preceded by lightning were obviously responsible for this story. Either the Aryans did not know the scientific facts about the causation of rain or they tried to fool the lay people by inventing a divine legend to explain natural phenomena. To this they added worship of Indra by installing homa-kundas (Fire-pits) and sending up smoke as emissaries to the rain-god. The ritual of the homa-kunda fire – worship results in bringing easy money for the crafty priesthood.

Indra was also worshipped as the Commander-in-chief of the Aryan hordes in the fight against the DRAVIDIANS called as Dasyus, the natives of India. Many are the hymns (slokas) in the Vedas beseeching Indra to destroy the Dasyus and seize their lands. Indra stands therefore pre-eminently as the defender of the fair Aryans in their struggle with the dark-skinned native Dasyus (Dravidians) for the mastery of India. Not stopping with the defeat inflicted on the Dasyus, Indra is said to have finished Yasthri, his father according to some other Purana. He is therefore one who, according to the Ayan polity, has committed the sin of ‘pithru-hatthi’ (‘Murder of Father’).

Indra also attacked and destroyed Usha’s Chariot and obstructed Surya’s horses, as though these are climaxes in a drunkard’s adventures. The truth intended to be brought out is that the great Sun and his light and heat are sometimes obstructed by the dark clouds and downpour of rain. This ordinary feature is entwined in a legend of Indra to supplant the earlier legend about Vritthran imprisoning the clouds in the high mountains.

There is no mention of thunder and rain in the Indra Vritthrausra story. Water released by Indra runs out like a race horse, as per the Vedic sloka. A horse running in air head downwards, appears to be the worst of imageries. Vajrayudha is a weapon made out of a metal found on the earth. But the weapon is seen to have been used by the devas (Super men) from heaven, which is another inconsistency. The Aryans have put out another god of rain under the name of Parjanya to make matters more confusing.

All these stories make confusion worse confounded and are thoroughly opposed to reason.

A legend of old Russia is similar to that of Indra. The legend had its origin in the snowy countries of North Russia and traveled south and on to India with the Aryans.

Rudra 

This is a god whose appearance is like that of a ghost or a mad monk. He has heavy locks of hair and is black in colour. He is cruel, like a fearful wild beast. He has been described as an aerial bear and a wild bison. He is subjected to fits of anger and even trifles rouse his ire. The thunder weapon thrown by him will kill the Aryans and their cattle. Hence that numerous slokas (hymns) in the Vedas addressed to him to spare the Aryans. By describing Rudra as the divine physician, who heals the sick inconsistency has been incorporated in his character. The god who is quickly angered is also the god who emits cold. His description first into a dark cloud to describe which the Aryans must have created a legend.

Aryan fantasy does not stop with this. The white clouds are made into cows. The Rudra of the dark cloud joins Prisini of the white cloud and gives birth to 180 children, named Marudars, who, however number only 21 according to another version. Vayu has also been described as the father of these Marudars. In other words, Prisini has two husbands, Vayu and Rudra. The children are all of the same age, having been born at the same time. Yet another Vedic legend says that the Marudars took birth without any parentage. They were born by themselves. Legends seem to have changed from time to time. Rain is generally preceded by frightening winds that raise dust. They describe this as if the Aryans invented the Marudars. ‘Sanda- marudam means hurricane and ‘mantha-marudam’ means breeze, and such simple things must be woven into an imaginary story for the Aryans.

Agni 

Agni is fire and it is the life-god of the Aryans. The word “Vediar” means one who ignites a fire or one who takes the aid of fire. ‘Vedhu’ in Tamil means heat. To give ‘Vedhu’ means to give hot water or apply hot ash to the body. The vedic priests made a companion of the fire-god. To communicate their desires to the rain-god Indra, the Aryans used Agni (Fire). The smoke shooting up form the homa gunda (fire-pit) was supposed to communicate with the cloud.

Agnideva’s (Fire-God’s) physical appearance accords with the duties ascribed to him. His back is white (the white, burnt-out ash). His hair on the head spurts out like the flames of fire, and he eats not by the mouth but by his tongue-to signify the flames that envelope any burning object. His food consists of milk, butter and ghee which are the things that the priests waste in the homa-gunda (fire-pit). Agnilike, all other gods, takes special delight in hot drinks like soma-pana (liquor). The Vedic slokas are silent about the destination of these drinks and foods, whether it is Agni’s (Fire’s) mouth or the mouths of his human devotees. This god demands food and drink three times a day – morning, mid-day and evening.

Smoke screen antics 

The rationalist would ask if the priests are the post-boxes for the Aryan gods, seeing the gifts showered on the purohits (priests) at various ceremonies. The priests have made themselves representatives of Agni (Fire), who has been described as the mouthpiece of all the other gods. If everything were asked to be poured down the throats of the priests, suspicion might be aroused. Hence it is that something valuable is also asked to be consigned to the fire. The homa-gunda (fire-pit) is also duly respected after it has consumed special twigs, ghee, and grains, by scooping the white ash from the homa pit and applying it to the forehead, chest and arms. Applying the ashes is the climax of the sacrificial hoax. One does not know how the Hindu priest’s fore-head and stomach happen to serve as the medium for the gifts of the people made to Agnideva. (Fire-God). There, however, does not appear to be an authority in the Vedas for this queer ash smearing of the priests and the people.

Scientists are perhaps still struggling to find the mysteries behind smoke. But the Vedas seem to have, settled it. Smoke is the pillar that supports the sky. Agnideva (Fire-God) created this smoke pillar, and set it up to support the sky to prevent it crashing down on the heads of the Aryans. If only the modern scientists and engineers could obtain the secret of making pillars out of smoke from our priests (purohits), they could straightaway dispense with steel, concrete, and mortar as unnecessary aids to building structures. The smoke pillars as fabricated by the Aryans will lead them onto the sky.

The mythical superstition is the easiest thing to make fools of others. The Vedic Aryans seem to have succeeded in this effort to a very large extent.

Born daily and died daily 

Agni-deva’s (Fire-God’s) birth is as queer as his character according to the Vedas. In one place he is named the son of the “First God”. Another would have him the child of the sky and the earth. The mystery of Agni's (fire’s) birth puts to shame the story about the search for Indra’s father, He was not born in the way children are born to men or in the way kids are born to animals or even in the way chicks are born to birds. Do you know who the father and the mother of Agni are? They are the two twigs in the hands of the Aryan priests. Twigs are not of the modern priests, but the fire-igniting ones of the ancients. This Agni is born every day and every time the purohits rub one twig against the other, and grows quickly into a powerful being. But even the fiercest fire dies down in a short time. This must then be Agni’s (Fire’s) daily death. Agni therefore one who is born daily, does his work and dies daily. The Vedic fire, centered in the homa-gunda (flame-pit) has been ennobled by such fantasies as these. Agni has another name, Doomakethu, one who brings evil, the star that foretells evil. Hence it is that Agni is a destructive agent. Agni is also the offspring of might. The Vedic slokas further state that ten women help in his birth, the ten being no other than the ten fingers that light the fire with the sticks.

Holy trinity but ill-omen 

Agni (Fire) is a trinity for the Aryans. He is a god of three characters. He has three heads, three bodies, and three brilliance’s. The three names, the three vibuthi streaks, the principle of waving the holy light thrice to gods, and of throwing water thrice, etc., seem to have had their origin in the three attributes of Agni-deva. Yet we have a bad name attached to the number three. Anything undertaken by three persons is considered a bad omen. There are people who dislike the very number three. The great Aryan gods make trinity, and the characters given to each of them are three, and these great gods are represented on Hindu foreheads by three lines, horizontal or vertical; yet it is strange that the superstition about the holy three has all along persisted.

Agni is also described as twice-born by the so-called twice-born priests. It is to be noted that the Brahmins and others think they are born once to their mothers and a second time when they don the corss-thread. This barbaric superstition has been carried over to their god Agni, who has been given one more job in addition to his others, namely priesthood. Agni has been made a Brahmin and the chief priest of the devas (Heavenly Supermen).

It has to be remembered that the ancient practices of burning fire and offering sacrifices are not the monopoly of the Sanskritic Brahmins any more than they are their exclusive inventions. The ancient Greeks and Romans had such practices. The only difference is that while the West gave up those practices as barbaric and primitive, the Hindus still hold on to them to prove their static culture and irrational practices and beliefs.

No place for Brahama in Veda 

Brahama takes the first place in Brahmanism, the secret being that the Brahmins thereby sought to make themselves important. The sound of the same Brahama or Brahman was made to sound the same as the caste name Brahmin. This similarity in sound helped to enable the Brahmins pass as the representatives of the Brahaman on earth.

Prajapathi is another god who has been raised to a high level, though the stories about this god are nauseating and disgusting. Prajapathi is the god who created the world, and in some Puranas (Mythologies) has been assigned the fourth place in the Aryan pantheon. The credit for the creation of all the three worlds has been given to him. But the legends do not agree in their details.

In order to raise themselves in the estimation of the people as the first men and as the representatives of Brahama, the Brahmins have cleverly interpolated new ideas into the Puranas from time to time. The aim has always been two-fold-one was to establish the principle of the division of society on a hierarchic caste basis, and the other was to make themselves the first among the castes. The efforts in these directions were the greatest, when the whole caste system seemed to collapse under the impact of Buddhism. It was for this reason that the god Brahma was created and made the first among the gods. In the later Vedic literature there is little or nothing about this Brahama.

Pageantry and public attraction 

Brahma was made important during the time of Manu. This was done to make Brahama responsible for the nefarious Brahmanic caste system as well as the creation of the world from his body. The god, who created the world from his own body also created the four castes form his body, thus lending to the system the sanction of divinity and religion.

It has been said that Brahma himself was born from a golden egg. But the fact remains that Brahma has ceased to be the object of worship or respect. As people progressed, experience and freethinking enabled them to believe less in the antics of the priests. Further, the spirit of independence in groups of people led to the selection of new gods for special worship. The Aryan modes of thought must also have lost their pristine hold on the people. Numerous gods were created in opposition to the Vedic gods. In reply, the Hindu priests organised ritualism, expanded the manthras or hymns, and raised temples to give some pageantry and public attraction to Brahmanism. Siva and Vishnu became Aryan gods long after the Vedic gods.

Siva is a god who is not found in the Vedas. The word ‘Siva’simply means one who is full of love or one who is pure. In the Mahabharata epic, Agni has been described as god Siva.

Even in the Vishnu cult, one finds a difference between the Vedic Vishnu and the later Vishnu. Even this has been done to enhance the prestige of the Brahmin caste. Vishnu is said to have incarnated ten times on earth. But the period in history of these incarnations has never been determined. It is, however, clear that all these Avatar stories have been for the benefit of Brahminism. It was to destroy the Dravidian Kings who resisted the spread of Brahminism that the Avatar (incarnation) stories were written. In every Avatar, the principal purpose is to destroy a “cruel” ruler and save the people to serve the Brahmins.

Sanskrit learning prohibited for others 

The Mahabharata and the Ramayan are the two big epics elaborated out of a bare outline of historical facts to establish the supremacy of Brahmanism. It is clear that long before the suppression or defeat of the Indian rulers, some stories about Rama and Krishna were current in India. In order to establish Brahmanism, the Aryan poets imported Brahmanic ideas into the old stories and made incarnations (avatars) of Rama and Krishna.

As the Vedas fell in the estimation of the people or were found to be too abstruse for popular absorption the Hindu priests invented ritualism and in making it elaborate, made themselves indispensable for its correct performance. In order to monopolise the profession of priests, it was decreed that none other than Brahmins should learn Sanskrit. The exclusive privilege of learning, reciting, and even hearing Sanskrit reserved to the Brahmins was buttressed by severe penalties on all others, who wished to or attempted to learn the language. One more clever trick that the ancient Brahmins performed was to adopt all the native gods as their own and thereafter it was easy to make themselves priests of those gods. Brahmin diplomacy was clever enough not to make serious inroads into other people’s religion or gods. They were satisfied so long as they were recognised as the superior caste and their gods as the first.

Hell and heaven invented by Brahmin priests 

To give sanctity to the rituals, the Brahmin priests in time invented stories about hell and heaven. While dividing the people in a graded manner as superior and inferior, it was laid down that one in the lower caste could ascend to the higher only in the next birth by performing faithfully and reverently the duties or Dharma of the caste in this birth. In order to compel all to seek the service of the priests, ancestor - worship was made religiously obligatory on the people. This was not only a source of profit for the priests, but also an opportunity to assert their superiority over all others. Even the death-god Yama was created to strike fear into the minds of the people and make them run after the priests for religious succour. It is stated in the Vedas that the first man, who died on the earth became Yama Dharama Raja.

Penance is prescribed to attain salvation or Moksha. But the extreme severity of penance put the institution beyond the reach of all men. The feats of penance found in the stories were all performed in the fertile imaginations of the Rishi-poets of role. In order to hide the falsity about penance, the Piety (Bhakti) cult was organised in later ages. 

Sankarachraya and caste rigidity 

In order to oppose the grand hoax of Brahminism, Meemamsam and Kapilam appeared in India in the good old days. Kapilam (a rational philosophy of Tamil poet KABILAR) exposed the sinister secrets and ulterior motives of Brahminism and laid a snare for the Brahminic belief in god itself.

Buddhism on the other hand appeared to totally denounce Brahminism. Buddha succeeded in weaning the people away from the false cults of the Brahmins and specially their wicked creation of hell and heaven. In order to lessen the force of Buddhism in India, the Brahmins adopted new methods. Krishna’s story, loaded with love pranks, was extensively propagated to attract the people and by-pass Buddhism. Caste differences were intensified, and Brahmins took to pious vegetarianism to appear equal to if not superior to the Buddhist monks. Sankaracharya stood up to put life into the waning power of Brahminism. Saivite and Vaishnavite mutts were started to compete with the Buddhist monasteries.

Caste rigidity was firmly established only after the Sankaracharyas appeared; but unfortunately, Hindus are yet to realise that the system is a disgrace and a shame to the Dravidian people, with the result that the Brahmins are left to benefit and enjoy their insularity and superiority. Things are slowly changing, and people in the towns, though not in the villages, have dropped their old veneration for the Brahmins, though they continue to be used for some religious and social purpose as hired servants.

The points made out above may be found corroborated in greater detail in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The speciality of Vishnu’s incarnations is to kill the kings of the land, seize their lands, make gifts of them to the Brahmins, and bring the land under Brahminic caste rule. Parasurama was born to kill all the Kshatriyas who opposed the Brahmins, and distribute their territories amongst the Brahmins. But, later, the story goes that Parasurama in his old age asked for some little land to be given to him. The Brahmins refused. There upon Parasurama decided to take his revenge and laid his case before god Varuna, who graciously granted his request not to rain on the Brahmin-ruled lands. It was also resolved that the ocean should cover up the lands as far as Parasurama shot his arrow. Parasurama got his arrow and bow into trim the previous night, and on the morning when he shot the arrow, it reached the present southern border of Kerala, i.e. Kanyakumari. The ocean rose and enveloped the land up to Kanyakumari. This is the Purana (Mythology) about Parasurama as found by Prof. Calvin.

Who built the bridge across the sea?

Another silly purana detailed by Calvin is about Kumbakarna in the Ramayana. When he was a crawling child, Kumbakarna would stretch his hand and eat up everything that he could catch. On one occasion the hand reached the harem of god Indira and seized 5,000 of his women. At another try 7,000 wives of sages and thousands of Brahmins, cows etc. were caught and swallowed.

The ‘Sethu’or bridge between Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India is said in the Ramayana, to have been built by Hanuman and his army. There is however some historical evidence for the construction of the bridge, which is, that the king of the Maravas of Tamil Dravidian race after his defeat at the hands of the Pandya king of Madurai made his escape to Ceylon by building the Sethu bridge. This is confirmed by the researches of Calvin.

Sir William Jones said that it was the practice of the Brahmins to declare all good things of the earth, like the arts, literature, etc. to have come from heaven, to be the word of god or a boon from the gods.

Ramayana has Greek origin 

The Iroqueis tribe of American Indians have a legend very much like the Koorma Avatar of the Vaishnavites. Once there were six men in the sky- world. There were no women, but to generate their species they searched for a woman. Learning that there was a girl in Deva-loka (Heaven) they decided to send one man there. As he could not fly such a long distance, they sought the help of an eagle, which easily took the man to heaven. The girl there was enticed, but the incident invited the wrath of the god, who hurled both the man and the celestial girl down to the earth. A turtle that saw the falling couple hastened to support them. The fishes in the sea busied themselves in piling mud around the turtle, which later became the earth. The offspring of the woman became the men of the earth. This story is another of Calvin’s discoveries.

Calvin found a sculpture portraying the Varaha or pig incarnation. The sculpture has the figures of Vishnu and Laxmi. The goddess has four heads, of which one is that of a pig. All her eight hands hold warlike weapons. Around the figure of Laxmi are many pigs each holding an arrow.

Sir William Jones believes that the Ramayana is no more than an elaboration of the Greek invasion of India under Panchurang.

- Periyar E.V.R.

Translation by Prof. A. M. Dharmalingam

(From 'Collected Works of Periyar E.V.R.', compiled by Dr. K. Veeramani, published by 'The Periyar Self-Respect Propaganda Institution')

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