Why ambedkar married a brahmin
Posted by samathain on September 21, 2008
Marriage is always more of a personal decision. Marriage also happens to be the occassion for fierce caste-based emotions. Disregarding the message about hijacking brahmin women in the below post, main point is really about breaking caste barriers. If you believe in ending caste-based discrimination, you can really set a good example by adopting the same in your own personal life. However, we should NOT misuse marriage for purposes of idealogy. Most important thing about a real marriage is that it is about relationships between two people. It should be about companionship. We are used to the kings settling disputes through matrimony. That’s a different age. Different style of negotiation. Even there, most kings also had the one they loved more than others, beyond the dictates of politics. In this current age of individualism, we should look at marriage mainly for sharing our life’s journey. Anything else, would not really work. To think beyond the limitations of caste and to broaden our perspective, we should definitely consider intercaste marriage. At any rate, you will have a good sparring partner who will look at things differently because of the different background, culture, values and tastes. It is guaranteed to be more lively
One little advice. Don’t waste time trying to convince people. People don’t change their beliefs in caste and religion that easily. They need life changing experiences for that !!! One can’t wait till then. If you think u have found the right person, u should go by your heart and disregard conventional wisdom.
Source: Dalit Nation
Extracts only
Many Dalit intellectuals have burnt a lot of midnight oil trying to analyze why our saviour Babasaheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar married Mai Savitha Ambedkar, a chitpavan brahmin from Maharashtra. Did Babasaheb fall a prey to the Brahmin conspiracy. Many of my dalit brothers and writers in Maharashtra hint that there is a conspiracy from the brahmins. Some of the upper caste people laugh at this. Some of their twice born intellectuals even claim that Babasaheb wanted a trophy Brahmin wife. How true are all these. Why have we dalits come to such a stage that we are even questioning our leader. Do these people think that they are more intelligent than Babasaheb, the most revolutionary leader since Gautama Buddha.
Babsaheb can never be wrong. There is a message in each and every action of his life….
Educate, Organize and Agitate – Jai Bhim
Comment
Sachin Salave said,
April 2, 2008 @ 3:48 pmI need to share an interesting information with all of you participating in this discussion.
During the General Election in Bhandara, Babasaheb had gone to preside over a meeting. One activist confronted Babasaheb and angrily asked him that why did he marry a brahmin woman. Babasaheb calmly asked him to meet him after the meeting. After the meeting Babasaheb said to him,” Go and give this messsage to my followers that they should not do this mistake.(i.e of marrying a Brahmin woman)”
Circumstances that lead to his marriage must be understood before coming to any hasty conclusions.
Firstly, in the mahar caste and in the untouchables in general, there was no education at all in those times. And to find a nurse or a doctor to take care of him throughout the day was impossible. So he had to marry. But it was impossible to find a doctor woman among our people. And Babasaheb had a plethora of ailments like bloodpressure, diabetes, bodypain etc. There was no one to take care of him after Maisaheb’s death. Babasaheb did not marry many years after Maisahebs death. He chose to remain single. But untimely hours of eating and constant pressure of his social activities made him excessively ill. He was almost blind in his later years. So his doctor Mr.Malwankar introduced Miss Savita kabir to him and she used to take care of him. Eventually they married. But Dr.Ambedkar married a Brahmin doctor so that he could be healthy and contribute more of his energy for the social movement.
But his second wife did not take care of him at all. Dr. Krishnamurthy wrote a letter to Dr.Ambedkar saying that he was being tortured by his wife and she did not allow him to see Dr.Ambedkar. He wrote that as Dr.Ambedkar was doing a great service to the downtrodden people of India, he wanted to treat him and cure him and restore his health. But His wife prevented all this from happening.
Even Dr.Bastein, a woman, was not allowed to see Dr.Ambedkar. Dr.Bastein wanted to check his health and prescribe some medicines for him. But she was not at all allowed to see the doctor.
After Babasaheb’s death, his followers demanded a post-mortem. The post-mortem was done by the Nehru Govt. But the report was not made public.Still it has not been made public. This clearly proves that some thing was wrong.
Just hours after the death of Dr.Ambedkar, his wife demanded that she should be made the National President of Scheduled Castes Federation and The Buddhist Society of India and all this should be done before Dr.Ambedkars dead body was cremated.
All this is documented.More afterwards……….
Comment
Milind said,
July 13, 2008 @ 9:41 pmCaste is a reality in India.But that does not mean all the Upper caste/brahmins are castist. Yes some of them are and some of them will be but not all. Many of them are ashamed of the past atrocities. And in this gobalised world caste identities will eventually die and we will live in amore egalitarian world.
Erasing castes is primarily an upper caste responsibility. Our forefathers were the perpetrators so we should take a lead to help sooth the wounds. Please understand that this hatred stems from anger and understanding this pain and taking a more humane view is the need of the hour for all the upper castes.
At the same time I hope that dalits will believe that not all Brahmins are as evil as you are portraying. Lot of them are above the caste now. We are brothers and we will unite again. Amen!!
Comment
Milind said,
July 16, 2008 @ 3:45 pmMr.CHUMBER , I belong to the so called upper caste.I’m a chitpavan brahmin.
Does that make me youe foe? Should I hate you or should you hate me just for the reason that I’m born in an upper caste family and you are not.
We both are still human beings and we have the same blood flowing in our veins. I reject your theory of hatred as it won’t take us anywhere.At the same time I must admit that the corrective action needs to be taken and I’m all for affirmative action ( reservations and other benefits).
You are trying to look for conspiracy theories in almost everything and that makes it absurd. The upper caste mind set needs to change but at the same time you also need to understand that even the upper castes understand and can take a humane view. We need to join the hands to fight the castism and build an egalitarian society. A society which will not have any Kharilangis.
R.Sajan said
In Kerala, The Namboodiris are the Aryan Brahmins. EMS Namboodiripad was one such Namboodiri.
The Aryans were crafty. Domination of other races through sex was one of their strategies. In Kerala, the rule that they laid down for themselves was that only the eldest son of the family could marry from his own caste. Only the eldest son of the family could thus marry from the Namboodiri caste. The others could have Sambandhams with Nairs.
In Sambandham, the Namboodiri could come at night, do his business and leave in the morning. He would take a bath before leaving, to cleanse himself of the lower caste mistress. Children borne of the Sambandham were not allowed to touch their father. The Namboodiri’s family would not recognise them either. They could not expect any financial or other help from the father. They were to be brought up by the mother.
It was gratis sex and nothing else. But the mistress and her children would be emotionally bounden to the alien Namboodiri. He would thus dominate them. His opinion would count in the mistress’ family’s financial and social stands.
This is how the Brahma-swam style of social economy began. In Brahmaswam, the mistress’ family would sign over their wealth to the Namboodiri, when the male members of the family would go to fight the local chieftain’s battles for him. Their return from the battles was often uncertain. The properties then came over to the Namboodiri’s family. An admirable strategy to steal the honour and wealth of the lower castes!
The family wealth of the likes of EMS Namboodiripad, of which the CPM makes much of because he signed it all over to the Party when confronted with an attachment by the British government, was all made this way.
Dr. Ambedkar might have only been reversing the strategy!
samathain said
(Dalit Tribal) [through email]
I appreciate inter-caste marriages.
And I advocate amending constitution such that reservations will prevail till 85% of all registered marraiges
in India are inter-caste or inter-religion
A BRAHMIN said
It is such a pity to see that instead of trying to find ways of uplifting the downtrodden,people are busy expressing their cheap, derogating and downright outrageous views about Brahmins. How can someone even conceive the idea that a pure man like Dr. Ambedkar would have wanted his followers to marry brahmin girls just to curb the progeny of the brahmin community?It is an insult to his teachings and work, not to mention an indication of the quality of character of the man who thought this was what Dr.Ambedkar meant.
Try to imagine an India minus the political,literary,economic and technological contribution of the brahmin community. It is imperative on all of us to realize that brahmins are indeed an indispensable asset of the fabric of our country. The vice of caste based discrimination that breeds in the minds of a few needs to be dealt with.Brahmins are the most educated,active and progressive community in the country today. Brahmin women are as far from being opressed as you are from your true cause of helping the deprived.What is your motto? Try and avenge the injustice done on your forefathers 3000 years ago by the cheapest mode you can think of(like selectively trying to marry brahmin girls) and not let the society live in peace and harmony OR try and work out schemes to move India towards a society where an individual is judged on the basis of his merit and not any other parameter?
If brahmin girls are opressed, why do almost all of them marry within their caste?I’ll tell you why. Brahmins look better, think better and live better.Live with that. Nobody is trying to suppress you today. And it is in your best interest your disgustingly cheap thinking and develop a broader outlook.
samathain said
You are absolutely right that brahmins (and all other educated people from other communities as well) are assets to the society.
Original article is immature. Brahmin women being oppressed is also very far from truth. Most of the women you see in public life are from brahmin community. If they have such a monopolistic representation in community leadership, they can hardly be called as oppressed.
shashikant kulkarni said
It is a shame how we are divided.From 7th century Muslim invaders to British,we were conquered, when, we were small kingdoms and so could not be united and so could not fight collectively.British left,we became one country,but we people remained divided,thanks to our politicians.We have a common enemy lurking around us in the form of Pakistan,Bangladesh and China.Please read the article about “Mughalistan”.If you are interested, read a book by author Sunitha Joshi Ford,it is not a fiction.If you are aware of current situation in India and in the world,the book will make sense.
Hardly any one is interested in forcing the Politicians to bring back $1.5 to 2 trillions stolen money, (Rs.CRORE CRORE OR Rs.100,000,000,000,000) stashed away in foreign banks.Do you know if the money is brought back,we do not have infrastructure to spend even the yearly interest of $ 100 Billions,each Indian will get Rs.250,000 or each village will get Rs.50000000? Why are we dividing ourselves? I can go on and on and on.Friends, let us spend our energy correct way.Once affluence comes, these in fightings will die down.Remember along with Brahmins(4%),96% non Brahmins also will benefit or suffer.If we people do not get our act together,we will assure ourselves of slavery in the very near future.Read the book and let me know what you think.I lost sleep(in real sense) for 3 to 4 days.Also, the book will make sense if you read our history,especially from 7th century.
—
(Samatha)
Ambedkar’s action should be taken as a personal decision, not an ideological one. Marriage should always be for personal good and companionship, not for others glory. However, we are united in diversity. We are not the same people as some would like us to believe. India is not homogeneous. India is full of different sects, different beliefs, different food, different dresses, different music and different opinions. That’s the beauty of India. It is so much more interesting than bland America. In America, every city has the same Walmart, Target, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Burger Kings etc. These flourishing chains have killed the local tastes and feels. Fortunately, India has too many players who keep the tradition alive. Our government should support them so that big chains don’t obliterate Indian difference.
This “common enemy” theory does not hold good. India’s relationships from each of Pakistan, Bangladesh and china is different. With china, we compete as marathon runners; With Pakistan, we fight bitterly as sour brothers; With Bangladesh, we look at it with affection as our own child !!! Let us not paint everyone with the same brush !!!!
Jay said
WHAT IS THE CHARACTER OF BEING INDIAN.
I guess today most of us would answer living in India is enough to be called Indian. But understand one thing. We are Indian because of geographic reasons and we will continue to be so if we realize that our diversity is our strength. Everyone here is good at something and bad at the other. “Forgive” was Babasaheebs’ message. Constructivism will come from thinking about each other. We need to see where we are going people.
Proud to be Indian.
bharadwaj said
Since ancient times, the strong have always ruled the weak, its the ultimate truth. And yet you have problems only with the brahmins. WHY DONT YOU BLAME YOUR STUPIDITY FOR IT ? Just like the article you posted here.
( Samatha )
If you want the strong to always rule the weak, you are just supporting barbarianism. Why don’t you go back to those cave men ages ?
Humanity and society is about helping each other to build a free and fair society. We need to be better than jungle raj.
bharadwaj said
3% . Who told you brahmins were in majority ever ?
, think about it.
And btw even Mayawati needs brahmins to expand her party for some unknown reasons
The fact that Baba Saheb could do it, tells me something. What matters is people who can do it. For those incompetent people(from any caste), no amount of reservations will help.
I support only economic based reservations and not ones based on caste.
( Samatha )
We don’t agree with author’s opinion. But the topic is an interesting one. Message one should take with, is about breaking caste and class barriers when it comes to marriage and personal decisions. That’s a way of supporting freedom and a just society.
You are right, reservations won’t help incompetent people. Reservations are meant to broaden the definition of merit to include diversity, not encourage incompetency. A doctor from poorer or rural backgrounds is more likely to be effective in offering medical coverage to “the other india”. A report by TN Health department confirms this. It enables our schools, industry and government departments to be more sensitive to the needs of marginalized people. With the economy crashing, many of the PSU Stocks have become favorites of traders. If this incompetency theory was true, PSUs which implement quotas, shouldn’t have become so Successful
Indian said
DEVIDING INDIA IS WHAT THE AUTHOR IS INSISTING AND MAKING FUN OF ALL INDIANS ABT THERE RIGHTS. HE IS TELLING LIKE HE IS INTELLIGENT INFACT HE DID NOT KNOW EVEN WHAT IS CASTE… POOR GAY
( Samatha )
Topic raised by the author is a good one. We (from samatha ), don’t agree with the author’s view points. But the post raises good points about inter caste marriage.
Ashu said
Well it is surprising to see how people like you are subverting the whole arguement of oppression on part of the Brahmins. When you say that Brahmin women are oppressed are you talking about just 3% of women and leaving aside rest of the women who are dalits. how on earth can you make such a loose arguement that we should marry Brahmin women to free them from the clutches of Brahamanical patriarchy? what about Dalit women? will the Brahmin men come to marry them and set them free from from the shackles that the society has put around them? How many Brahmin men are ready to marry dalit women. Why are so concerned about letting Brahmin women free? stop making false arguements and stop misleading our dalit boys.
[ Samatha ]
Upper caste men have always been able to marry whoever they choose. Same is NOT true for lower caste men wanting to marry upper caste women. Main point is about inter caste marriage.
ashu said
anyways all the dalits who call themselves revolutionaries and so on end up making loose arguements which will no way imporove the plight of the dalit women…we know that the main point is about intercaste marriages but it has to be vice versa….when you are so much disturbed about the conditions of brahmin women, have you ever thought of making a refernce with regard to the plight of the dalit women.by the way why is it that lower caste men are WANTING to be marry upper caste women is dalit community less of women???? so WANTING would be an obsession for upper caste women who shamelessley want to identitify themselves with the upper caste.in the rural parts of north karnataka it is not brahmin women who are pushed into the devdasi system, the so called sacralised prostitution.it is not brahmin women who are stripped ,paraded naked and raped. it is sad that a well known website which has to lead a whole lot of young educated dalits is misguiding them to a greater extent.please come out of this myth that dalit community is free from patriarchy, even to this day patriarchy among dalits exists in a organised way.being a website concerned about dalits you have to show genuine concern about the community without diverting the like minded dalit youngsters.
ramya said
yes I agree that inter caste marriage would help, but it should be between well off upper caste men and poor dalit women to really eradicate caste and not the other way around.When dalit men who have used up reservation to come up in society marry women of upper caste they often try to deny their caste background and do not lend support to the dalits.this weakens any leverage in society for dalits.
( Samatha )
Ramya, it is about love. When a person falls in love, he/she is not going to think; person is going to feel; Just that. Love is always special. When love is there, everything is better. Even the fights.
So, why should dalit boys be deprived of this? Why should only dalit girls have this fundamental right?
Any case, all logic will be thrown into the wind once you are in love. But in India, one needs to be aware of the complexity of the issue and navigate the troubled waters of inter caste marriage carefully.
indu bala said
I’m shocked to read the article of Mr sachin salave in that it s mentioned by babasaheb that not to do the mistake to marry like him, to be communicated to his followers…………myself got married with a general caste boy and my country law is snatching my reservation……………i am LLM in law….i will never suggest anyone to get married like me..i think i have done a biggest mistake of my life…………everyone knows it and behave in hated manner with me…………..if i l did not get my job by reservation, i would not be have been able to survive………..
( Samatha )
Dear Indu, please do not believe statements on blogs without verifiable proof. We are sorry about your bad experiences. Life is like that. We can not control. Even with best of the plannings, marriages will go bust unless the heart is not there. Don’t let your bad experiences get you. Once you are born as a dalit, you have to learn deal with hatred, jealousy, discrimination and oppression. More realistic we are, better prepared we will be. Ignore the narrow minded people and surround yourself with kind-hearted ones.
jaydeep said
True, the logic is quite interesting….but why think so much? Just marry whom you like, where does some strategy come here so long as you love your mate. Besides inter caste marriage will not only remove social barriers, but it is also be better from evolution point of view. We see so less monocieous species alive on Earth don’t we? The more the difference, better is the evolution.Marrying too close (like between first cousins) might affect the progeny. Marrying among same community won’t show visible consequences, but you really need DNA as different as possible if you expect it to change drastically and with speed. It will be better for the entire humanity. Will you do it for that??? If not why waste time on the multitude of theories regarding single communities. It’s your life, marry the one you like. Don’t let any theory prevale over your heart’s discretion.
( Samatha )
Well spoken jaydeep !!!
ashu said
its a genuine request to samatha india that it wil be of great help if you people could conduct a survey on the number of intercaste marriage taken palce along with their socio economic status into consideration.