Ramkrishna Bhattacharya
An imaginary land of heart's desire is known as utopia (literally, no-place, but actually meaning 'a happy place', eutopia) in Latin. Originally it is the title of a book written by Thomas More (1478-1535) in 1516. Uttarakuri was such a place in ancient India. This imaginary land was located beyond the Himalayas (for further details see Appendix A below and R. Bhattacharya, 2000, 2004). There were also wistful references to uchronia (literally, no-time, but actually meaning 'happy times'. euchronia) or the Golden Age (satya or krta yuga), which was expected to come back at the end of the Iron Age (kali yuga). A utopia generally reflects the general will of the toiling masses. The desire for all property to be held in common, absence of the institution of marriage,
eternal spring, and spontaneous generation of crops – these are some of the
features that mark the utopias and uchronias all over the world, India not
excepted.
What is common to all such utopias is an egalitarian tendency and a keen desire
for social levelling, abolishing all caste and class distinctions and doing
away with special privileges of the so-called aristocratic estates. Long before
the slogan of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity was raised during the French
Revolution (1789), the desire for these three ideas found expression in the
utopias and uchronias in the pre-capitalist societies, be it slavery,
feudalism, or any other mode of production (such as the Asiatic mode of production
mentioned by Karl Marx).
The desire was first mooted in the myths of different cultures (The Golden Age,
Elysian Fields, Uttarakuru, etc.), and then in such specimens of wishful
thinking as the rāmarājya, the
kingdom of Rāma, or the popular utopia
in medieval England, the Land of Cokaygne (situated somewhere in Spain).
Side
by side with this kind of popular visions, there was another kind of utopia in
the minds of the dominant classes, mainly the first three of the varṇas, but specially of the Brahmana
(priest) and the Kshatriya (warrior), the most privileged
sections in ancient India. This is not a unique phenomenon in Indian
literature, to be found in the epics and the Purāṇas. The history of utopian
thinking in Europe has been traced back to Plato’s Republic (fourth century bc)
which is a class utopia of this kind. Plato, like his Indian counterparts,
Manu, Yājñavalkya and others, prioritizes the philosopher (the counterpart of
Indian Brahmana), and shows total lack of regard for manual workers. Instead of
being egalitarian in spirit Plato’s ideal state sets forth special privileges
for the philosopher-ruler and arranges special training for them. Thus there is
also a current of non- or rather anti-egalitarian utopias both in Europe and
India. Recent studies on utopias (such as Rüsen and others (eds.), Thinking Utopia:
Steps into Other Worlds, 2005) seem to be unaware of the Indian tradition,
although Dorothy Ko has written an article, ‘Bodies in Utopia and Utopian
Bodies in Imperial China’ in this volume (pp.89-103). We propose to show that
this anti-egalitarian utopia is as much a tradition of India’s past as the
egalitarian utopia of Uttarakuru first conceived in myths and then making its
presence felt in Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jain writings.
This kind of utopia as depicted at the end
of the Book of War (Yuddhakāṇḍa), the sixth Book of the Rāmāyaṇa, Canto 116, is still known as rāmarājya, the kingdom of Rāma. It is noted for its overall
prosperity, absence of diseases, etc.:
While Rāma was ruling the
kingdom, there were no widows to lament, nor was there any danger from wild
animals, nor any fear born of diseases. 84
The
world was free from robbers. No one felt worthless, nor did old people perform
obsequies of the youngster ones. 85
Every creature felt
pleased; everyone was intent on virtue. Turning their eyes towards Rāma alone,
creatures did not kill one another. 86
While Rāma was ruling the
kingdom, people survived for thousands of years, with thousands of their
progeny, all free from illness and grief. 87
The trees there were
bearing flowers and fruits regularly, without any injury by pests and insects.
The clouds were raining in time and the wind was delightful to the touch. 88
All [that is, Brahmins
(the priest-class), Kṣatriyas (the warrior-class), Vaiśyas (the class of
merchants and agriculturists), and Śūdras (the servant-class)] were performing
their own duties, satisfied with their own work, and bereft of greed. While
Rāma was ruling, the people were intent on virtue and lived without telling
lies. 89
All
the people were endowed with excellent characteristics. All were engaged in
virtue. Rama was engaged in the kingship thus for one thousand years. 90
na
paryadevan vidhavā na ca vyālakṛtaṃ bhayam |
na vyādhijaṃ bhayaṃ vāpi rāme rājyaṃ praśāsati ||84
nirdasyur abhaval loko nānarthaḥ kaṃ cid aspṛśat |
na ca sma vṛddhā bālānāṃ pretakāryāṇi kurvate ||85
sarvaṃ muditam evāsīt sarvo dharmaparo 'bhavat |
rāmam evānupaśyanto nābhyahiṃsan parasparam ||86
āsan varṣasahasrāṇi tathā putrasahasriṇaḥ |
nirāmayā viśokāś ca rāme rājyaṃ praśāsati ||87
nityapuṣpā nityaphalās taravaḥ skandhavistṛtāḥ |
kālavarṣī ca parjanyaḥ sukhasparśaś ca mārutaḥ ||88
svakarmasu pravartante tuṣṭhāḥ svair eva karmabhiḥ |
āsan prajā dharmaparā rāme śāsati nānṛtāḥ ||89
sarve lakṣaṇasaṃpannāḥ sarve dharmaparāyaṇāḥ |
daśavarṣasahasrāṇi rāmo rājyam akārayat ||90
(Rāmāyaṇa.
Crit. Ed. Yuddhakāṇḍa. 116.84-90.)
Wishful thinking perhaps can go no further. It is
truly the land of all-got, where everything is achievable and nothing is
impossible. The distinction of class (varṇa)
is of course rigidly maintained, but otherwise all is well. This too however is
a class utopia. No wonder, therefore, that Gandhiji would call his ideal state rāmarājya, the kingdom of Rāma, in the
twentieth century.
But even before Rāma came to the throne, the city of
Ayodhyā itself is described in the Book of Childhood (Bālakāṇḍa) of the Rāmāyaṇa
as the embodiment of the desire of the Brāhmaṇas and the Kṣatriyas. The capital
of Daśaratha is described as follows (in Goldman’s translation of the critically
constituted text):
1-4. Dwelling in that city of Ayodhyā, King Daśaratha
ruled the earth, just as powerful Manu once ruled the world. He knew the vedas and was lord and master of
everything. Powerful and gifted with foresight, he was loved by the people of
both town and countryside. That master chariot warrior of the Īkṣvākus
performed sacrifices and was devoted to righteousness. He was renowned in the
three worlds as a masterful man and a royal seer like one of the great seers.
He was mighty and had slain his enemies, yet he had also conquered his senses
and had many friends. In wealth and accumulated property, he was the equal of
Śakra [Indra, the king of the gods] or Vaiśravaṇa [Kuvera, lord of wealth].
5. True to his vows and ever cultivating
the three goals of life [dharma, religious
merit, artha, wealth, kāma, desire], he ruled that splendid
city as Indra rules Amarāvatī.
6. In that great city men were happy,
righteous, and deeply learned. They were truthful and not covetous, for each
man was content with his own property.
7. In that most excellent city there was no
householder who did not have significant property, who had not accomplished his
goals, or who was not possessed of cattle, horses, wealth, and grain.
8. Nowhere in Ayodhyā could one find a
lecher, a miser, a cruel or unlearned man, or an agnostic [nāstika].
9. All the men and women conducted
themselves in accordance with righteousness and were self-controlled and joyful. In
disposition and conduct they were as pure as the great seers themselves.
10. No one lacked earrings, diadem, and
necklace. No one was deprived of
pleasures. There was no one who was dirty or whose body lacked for ointments or
perfume.
11. There was no one who had unclean food
or was ungenerous. There was nobody who did not wear an armlet and a golden
breastplate. No one was lacking in either rings or self-control.
12. Nor was there in Ayodhyā a single
brahman who did not kindle the sacred fires, sacrifice, and donate thousands in
charity. Nor were there any who indulged in mixing of the social classes.
13. The brahmans had subdued their senses
and were always de
voted to their proper
occupation. They were given over to charity and study and were restrained in
accepting gifts.
14. There were no agnostics and no liars.
There was none who was not deeply learned. None was envious, incompetent, or
ignorant.
15. No one was unhappy, fickle, or
troubled. In Ayodhyā, one could not find a man or a woman lacking in grace or
beauty, or anyone who was not devoted to the king.
16. The men of all the social classes, of
which the foremost, the brahmans, makes the fourth, worshiped both gods and
guests. They were long-lived, practicing truth and righteousness.
17. The kshatriyas accepted the brahmans as
their superiors, and the vaiśyas
(agriculturists and traders) were subservient to the kshatriyas. The śūdras (manual workers), devoted to
their proper duty, served the other three classes.
18. In short, the city was as well governed
by that lord of the Ikṣāvākus as it had been long ago by the wise Manu,
foremost of men.
19. Like a cave filled with lions, it was
full of fiery warriors, skilled, unyielding, and accomplished in their art.
20. It was full of the finest horses, bred
in the regions of Bāhlīka, Vanāyu, Kāmboja, and the great river, the equals of
Hari's steed.
21. It was filled with exceedingly powerful
rutting elephants, like mountains, born in the Vindhya hills and the Himalayas.
22-23. The city was always full of bull
elephants, looking like mountains and always in rut; elephants of the
bhadramandra, bhadramṛga, and mṛgamandra breeds, descended from the cosmic
elephants Añjana and Vāmana. Indeed its name, Ayodhyā – the unassailable – was
truly meaningful, even two leagues beyond its gates.
24. Thus did the lord of the earth, Śakra's
equal, rule that auspicious and aptly named city crowded with thousands of men,
resplendent with wonderful buildings, its gates fitted with firm bolts.
Before going into the details of this class utopia, it
should be pointed out that this is not the only one of its kind found in
Sanskrit literature. The earliest of such utopias is found in the boasting of
Aśvapati, the king of Kekaya in the Chāndogya
Upaniṣad 5.11.5. While addressing a group of scholars who had come to him
to discuss about the nature of the self (ātman),
Aśvapati boasted: ‘There is no thief in my kingdom, nor misers, nor drunkards,
nor neglecters of the household fire,
nor ignorant people, nor adulterers much less adulteresses’ (Rajendralala
Mitra’s translation. Emphasis added.). This is the ideal state conceived by
Brahmanical law-givers like Manu.
The inclusion of Vedic daily rites to be observed betrays the same Brahmanical
bias. Only the twice-born (dvija),
that is the Brahmanas, the Kṣatriyas, and the Vaiśyas, were entitled to such
rites, not the Śūdras, who were excluded from anything connected with the holy
Vedas.
#
Now to a
close study of some of the features of Ayodhyā at the time of Daśaratha.
Special attention is to be paid to verses 6 and 7. Each human is said to be
content with his own property and not coveting others’ wealth as the Īśa Upaniṣad verse 1 advises: ‘Covet not
the wealth of any one at all’
(Trans. R. E. Hume). Every
householder is said to have ‘significant property’ and possessed cattle,
horses, wealth and grain. In other words, there was no poor man in Ayodhyā.
Wealth consisted of both agricultural products and domestic animals. Such a
state, devoid of all handicrafts and craftsmen of whatever kind, is difficult
to visualize. But this is a utopia of wealthy persons alone, a sans souci (without care). We are assured that everyone had
ornaments like earrings, diadems, and necklaces, and no one was deprived of
pleasure. Every (male) citizen used scents, and wore armlets and golden
breast-plates, no one lacked rings (verses 10-11)
tasmin puravare hṛṣṭā
dharmātmanā bahu śrutāḥ |
narās tuṣṭādhanaiḥ svaiḥ
svair alubdhāḥ satyavādinaḥ
| |
6nālpasaṃnicayaḥ kaścid āsīt
tasmin purottame |
kuṭumbī yo hy asiddhārtho
'gavāśvadhanadhānyavān ||7
---
nākuṇḍalī nāmukuṭī nāsragvī
nālpabhogavān |
nāmṛṣṭo nānuliptāṅgo
nāsugandhaś ca vidyate ||10
nāmṛṣṭabhojī nādātā nāpy anaṅgadaniṣkadhṛk |
nāhastābharaṇo vāpi dṛśyate
nāpy anātmavān ||11
Another feature to be noted is that
the description of this utopia is mostly male-oriented. There is only one
reference to women of Ayodhyā in verse 9. But this is only to be expected in
the male-dominated world of heroic poetry.
The picture
portrayed is too good to be true. If every male citizen is so well dressed and
all that, who perform the menial jobs? Apparently the question did not strike
the author/s of this canto.
This brings us to what is more significant,
namely, the hierarchy of the castes. We are assured that the dominance of the
twice-born (dvija) varṇas is rigidly maintained. All the
four varṇas are there, but no member
of any varṇa is a malcontent. ‘Nor
were there any who indulged in mixing of
the social classes’ (na ca nirvṛtta-saṃkaraḥ, verse 12). Even the śūdras, the last of the lot who, according to the religious
law-books, were to be entrusted with menial jobs and had no right to study, not
even listen to the Veda, are said to be ‘devoted to their proper duty, and
serve the three other classes’ (verse 17) (kṣatraṃ
brahmamukhaṃ cāsīd vaiśyāḥ kṣatram anuvratāḥ | śūdrāḥ svadharmaniratās trīn varṇān
upacāriṇaḥ ||
We are told that every citizen, whatever
may be his varṇa, was king-abiding
(verse 15). Every Brahmaṇa knew his Vedas, did not ask overmuch as gifts or
charity (dakṣiṇā); they were not only
pious but also generous and gave as much in charity as they were restrained in
accepting gifts (verse 13).
This may
have an oblique reference to the greed of the Brahmanas who always asked more and
more for performing rituals for the other three varṇas. Moreover, the state of satisfaction of the śūdras must have been an ideal expected
of them, not a true description of their state of mind. The identity of the
interest of the first two varṇas is
stated sometimes covertly, but in most of the cases quite overtly.
The
translation of varṇa as ‘class’ is
not literal, but not inappropriate. In ancient India, as D. D. Kosambi
observes: ‘Caste is class at a primitive
level of production, a religious method of forming social consciousness in such
a manner that the primary producer is deprived of his surplus with the minimum
coercion.’ (Italics in the
original)
The next
verse (18) summarizes the whole and exhibits that this Ayodhyā is Manu’s dream
come true. The ideal state depicted in the Manusmṛti
is based on the hierarchy of the varṇas;
ungrudging acceptance of the duties allotted to each varṇa is the hallmark of the class utopia. It is a far cry from the
egalitarianism found in popular utopias like Uttarakuru. But, as has been
pointed out at the outset, Ayodhyā is a special kind of utopia, a class utopia,
which privileges the first three varṇas.
At the same time, it does not leave the śūdras
out. They are there but as subservient to their ‘natural superiors’ and, we are
assured, quite content with their lot. The author/s of this class utopia made
their intention abundantly clear.
This canto was not composed wholly by
a mere poet (presumably a Brahmana), but by a man of the world. This aspect is
brought out by verses 20-22. The poet was uncharacteristically well-informed
about horses and elephants. This is somewhat surprising. But if we remember
that this is not just a Brahmanical
utopia but a Kṣatriya utopia as well, it may not appear to be something unforeseen.
To sum
up then: the Ayodhyā of the Rāmāyaṇa
as described in the Book of Childhood (Bālakāṇḍa) is utterly different from
that of rāmarājya described at the end of the Book of War
(Yuddhakāṇḍa). It is the representation of a class utopia desired by the first
two varṇas and found in all the
recensions and versions of the Rāmāyaṇa, both northern and southern. The co-existence
of two utopias – one belonging to the power elite and the other of a popular
nature – is highly interesting but not unexpected. Given the thoroughly Brahmaṇical
character of the epics, not of the Rāmāyaṇa
alone but also of the Mahābhārata,
the glorification of the Veda and the Brahmana in this class utopia (see verses
1, 12, 13 and 16) is a foregone conclusion.
Both the epics were redacted by the Bhārgava Brahmanas who, M. J. Schende says,
‘added a number of episodes and much didactic matter and magic or supernatural
elements etc.’
They tried their best to turn the Rāmāyaṇa
as much as the Mahābhārata into a Encyclopedia
Brahmanica.
They spared no pains to glorify the varṇa
system which sponsored them.
This is not to say that there was no conflict between
the first two varṇas. As in the legend of Paraśurāma,
so in the legend of the feud between Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha
we find the reflection of the Kṣatriya-Brahmana conflict. There is the same
kind of over-compensation expressed in the glorification of Brahmanahood at the
end of the Viśvāmitra -Vasiṣṭha conflict. In the Brahmanical utopia in the Rāmāyaṇa, we find the Brahmana standing
at the top of the hierarchy with the Kṣatriyas and others paying obeisance to
him. However, the exaltation of the Kṣatriya is no less prominent than that of
the Brāhmaṇa in this class utopia (verses 3, 4, 23).
Appendix A
Uttarakuru
Uttarakuru is often found represented in Brahmanical
and Buddhist literature as the (E)utopia of ancient India. The legend of a
happy land free from exploitation, class-division, and aggression was first
mentioned in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa
(around 1000 bce). D. D. Kosambi
has described the legend as follows:
A northern branch of the Kurus, the Uttara-kurus,
retained a legendary reputation, supposedly living near Mount Meru in a
paradise on earth, where all men were born kind, leaved a pure life; where no
land was brought under the plough, men lived on wild rice from untilled soil,
and did not ride chariots. The chariot had by then become the prerogative of a
wealthy and armed ruling class, hence a symbol of class division. The same
Uttara-kurus are mentioned in AB [Aitareya Brāhmaṇa]. 8.14 as having a
special consecration for their kings, in their land beyond the Himālaya; in AB. 8.23, their utopia appears as a
place of the gods unconquerable by any mortal. The distance from legend or myth
to reality, never very great in India, was small at the period and for the
sources. When compared with other paradisaic legends the grain of fact seems to
be the tradition of a free, happy, peaceful, tribal life with neither
agriculture nor aggression. (1956/1975 p.125)
References to a land in the northern-most limit of
India are found in the Rāmāyaṇa, Kiṣkiṇdhākāṇḍa,
the Book of Kiskindha, crit. ed. Cantos 39 and parts of 40-41 and 42, vulgate,
42; Mbh,
Sabhāparvan, crit. ed. Canto 25, vulgate, Canto 28, Bhīṣmaparvan, crit. ed.
Canto 8, vulgate 7, Anuśāsanaparvan, crit. ed. Canto 105, vulgate Canto 112; Matsyapurāṇa (vulgate ed.), Canto 163; Āṭānāṭiyasutta (Dīgha Nikāya Part 3); Bodhicaryāvatāra 10.17; Netti-pakaraṇa 11. Uttarkuru is just a
place name in Jain works. There are references to Uttarakuru in the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, Canto 1; Vayupurāṇa, Canto 45; Matsyapurāṇa, Canto 113 (all vulgate).
However,
the accounts of the features of this land are not all alike. The legend in fact
combines within it several motifs and themes that must have emerged at
different times and at different stages in India. What is to be noted is that
Uttarakuru continued to be cherished as the land of heart’s desire through the
ages. Though inaccessible to poor mortals it was believed to be a land that
actually existed somewhere in Northern India. Varāhamihira (sixth century ce) situates it inside India along with
a kingdom exclusively to women (Strīrājya) in his Bṛhat Saṃhitā (14.6).
Appendix B
What is meant by ‘Vulgate’?
Vulgate means ‘the received or normalized
text of any work. Originally applied to the Latin version to the Bible prepared
by Jerome late in the fourth century a. d.;
and by transference applied to the popular or commonly known and accepted form
of a text, as opposed to the critical text or edition (Latin vulgata)’ (Katre, p.98). For further
information, see
<http://www.skypoint.com/members/waltzmn/NonBiblical.html>.
Such editions, with or without
commentaries, have been and are still being reprinted and translated into
modern Indian and European languages. Even the summarized versions of the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata are based on vulgate.
Appendix C
The meaning of nāstika
I would urge readers to pay attention to the word
‘agnostic’ which has been employed to render nāstika in Bālakāṇḍa, verses 8 and 14:
kāmī vā na kadaryo vā nṛśaṃsaḥ
puruṣaḥ kva cit
draṣṭuṃ śakyam ayodhyāyāṃ
nāvidvān na ca nāstikaḥ |8
na nāstiko
nānṛtako na kaś cid abahuśrutaḥ
nāsūyako na cāśakto nāvidvān
vidyate tadā ||14
Goldman, the translator, has given the
original Sanskrit word in his note. He mentions two commentators, who explained
the word nāstika as ‘one who does not
believe in the existence of the next world’ (p.290). This is indeed the
original meaning of the word. There is no denying that nāstika has many meanings, and in certain contexts it is
problematic to decide which meaning would be the appropriate one.
But ‘agnostic’ is a different proposition altogether. Agnosticism is a purely
Western concept, suggesting indecision or at least postponement of any definite
decision. In India such a middle-of-the-road position is, to the best of my
knowledge, not to be met with, either in life or in literature. One is either
an āstika, literally signifying an
affirmativist, or to borrow a term from Bertolt Brecht, jasager (one who says yes), or a nāstika, negativist, or neinsager
(one who says no).
No Sanskrit dictionary I have so far been able to consult records the meaning
of nāstika as agnostic.
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of Ancient India. Vol.I: Bālakāṇḍa. Trans. Robert P. Goldman. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1990.
Rüsen, Jörm and
others (eds.). Thinking Utopia: Steps
into Other Worlds. New York: Berghahn Books, 2005.
Squarcini,
Federico. Pāṣaṇḍin, vaitaṇḍika, vedanindaka and nāstika.
On criticism, dissenters and polemics and the South Asian struggle for the
semiotic primacy of veridiction. Orientalia
Suecana. LX. 2011, pp. 101-15.
Sukthankar, V. S.
Epic Studies vi: The Bhṛgus and
the Bharata: A Text-Historical Study, in Critical
Studies in the Mahābhārata. Bombay: Karnataka Publishing House, 1944, pp.278-337.
Acknowledgements:
Amitava Bhattacharyya, Sourav Basak. The usual disclaimers apply.
Rāmāyaṇa Book 6, crit. ed., canto 116 verses 84-90,
vulgate 6.128.99-106. There is an additional verse (103) in vulgate:
While
Rāma ruled the kingdom, the talks of the people centered round Rāma, Rāma and
Rāma. The world became Rāma's world.
Manu and all law-givers in fact act as custodian of status quo
ante; they provide what the powers that be would desire the society to be like.
F. Hardy has observed:
Naively
it has been assumed that what the dharmashastras lay down as rules corresponds
to actual life. In fact, it is no more than an ideal, a blueprint for a perfect
society. […] From this follows that a considerable amount of religious life has
been going on that is not as such described in the books on the Vedic dharma.
No doubt these books, along with the belief in the Vedas etc., played a far
wider role as prestigious norms and ideals than such a hypothetical calculation
reveals. But they prescribe, not describe. Once it is realized that things need
not actually be what they are supposed to be, according to some normative
interpretations, it becomes possible to look at them in their own right and not
write them off as ‘unorthodox distortion’ or ‘sectarian development’ when acknowledging
their existence at all. (Qtd. in Squarcini, p.102)
One point however needs to be noted: these dharmaśāstras became the source books of the British-made Hindu
Law.
