[Advaita-l] The 'Snake-and-ladder' game - The Spiritual path

[Kalyan]

Mr. Murali, I am glad you acknowledge the atrocities and discrimination. They have been documented from the time of Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsang. Blaming missionaries for everything, everytime, is not going to work. 

Also, there is some confusion over the term Shudras. Whether there were 4 varnas or 5 varnas is debatable. Manu says there are only 4. But Chandalas and others were the most suppressed. Some take them as the lower part of shudra community, others dont. So depending on your perception, chandalas etc may constitute either the 5th varna (lower than shudras) or the lower part of the 4th. Using the  modern parlance of dalits is more clear.



Also, it is strange people are asking for written sources for what Dr. B R Ambedkar has written. Cant there be an oral tradition among the chandalas, especially when most were uneducated?