What has ruined India and ruins her today are two social forces: misogyny and caste bigotry.
And both derive from the Vedic purity codes.
Women and caste inferiors = ritual contamination.
As a result of caste hang ups and class bias, India was trapped in
the mindset that tasks relating to Brahman and Intellect were superior and that
tasks dealing with matter (anything dirty or potentially so) was inferior.
Anyone who worked with metal, dug and hauled dirt and stone, had the skill
to design and erect buildings and sanitation systems were inferior and brought
ritual contamination. This meant that technicians could not socialize on
equal terms with intellectuals.
This caste bigotry led India into sclerosis. Westerners are unlikely to see this
at close hand; most Indians who arrive in the West are from the upper castes - those who have social and financial mobility.
This devalued women -- those who menstruate, give birth -- and arouse
men's lust and tempt them into ritual impurity and loss of yogic attainment.
To this day, they say that one cannot
just hire one person to help with the house work; one has to hire one person for each task - a laundress will not sweep floors or, God forbid, clean the toilet.
And both derive from the Vedic purity codes.
Women and caste inferiors = ritual contamination.
As a result of caste hang ups and class bias, India was trapped in
the mindset that tasks relating to Brahman and Intellect were superior and that
tasks dealing with matter (anything dirty or potentially so) was inferior.
Anyone who worked with metal, dug and hauled dirt and stone, had the skill
to design and erect buildings and sanitation systems were inferior and brought
ritual contamination. This meant that technicians could not socialize on
equal terms with intellectuals.
This caste bigotry led India into sclerosis. Westerners are unlikely to see this
at close hand; most Indians who arrive in the West are from the upper castes - those who have social and financial mobility.
This devalued women -- those who menstruate, give birth -- and arouse
men's lust and tempt them into ritual impurity and loss of yogic attainment.
To this day, they say that one cannot
just hire one person to help with the house work; one has to hire one person for each task - a laundress will not sweep floors or, God forbid, clean the toilet.