The rise of the shudra (the proletariat) before their having appropriated the culture of the higher classes is a most dangerous proposition for it will lead to a violent degradation of the same. The shudras must be lifted culturally up to the level where they can handle power in a manner that will not destroy the fabric of the nation's age-old culture. It will also ensure a smoother transition of the power that will inevitably pass into their hands following the law of human evolution. Thus, education in the sciences and the arts must be afforded to the masses from now on in a manner that they can integrate into the body politic of the higher classes gradually. Effectively, this will be the attempt to raise the shudra to the level of the brahman, the kshatriya and the vaishya so as to prevent the erosion of culture and the values that distinguish the pristine civilisation of India.
The need to raise the masses is momentous and this was pointed out by no less a personality than Swami Vivekananda who with his prophetic vision could foresee the future and predicted the coming of the Shudra Age (the Age of the Proletariat). Lest such an advent was accompanied by massive violence and a brutal distortion of values and destruction of all that was glorious in our culture, Swamiji warned the upper classes to take cognisance of this historic inevitability and work towards welcoming the rising proletariat by giving them culture that had been denied them for millenia. History would not forgive the injustices meted out to the millions and would allow them their pound of flesh, too, in the fullness of time when the upper classes would be routed by the depressed masses by the sheer force of numbers and their awakening political consciousness. Hence, Swamiji's concern for the preservation of human culture in India which she had for ages guarded close to her bosom for the benefit of the whole of humanity despite the frequent reversal of her fortunes when her spiritual culture was about to be swept away by the advancing tides of alien invasion and their imposition of inferior culture. Swamiji was concerned about preventing the rise of barbarism in the name of the coming socialist revolution and, consequently, he never tired of urging the upper classes to make every effort to raise the masses from their animal condition to a decent human condition.
Civilisation thrives on refined sensibilities and when the masses devoid of such refinement come to power, it plummets to usher in the dark age. This was the prospect Swamiji foresaw and formulated principles and active programmes to prevent. He resorted to the Upanishads to find his solution to the human problem in the evolving national and world scenario. He realised the essence of the Upanishads through his transcendental spiritual experiences and then he propagated the principles of the Vedanta across the wide world in his bid to awaken the dormant divinity of humankind. He has left behind copious literature wherein he has enunciated his principles and programmes for the elevation of the masses. In a nutshell it may be said that it is to raise the shudra to the level of the brahman and not lower the brahman to the level of the shudra that constitutes his core programme for the coming human transformation as envisaged by him. In it lies all good for the future of the human race but whether such a transition will come to pass smoothly or will be the result of great bloodshed remains to be seen. For us, we can only hope for the best, but to see to the fulfilment of such fond aspirations, we must take up the cudgels from now on in real earnest and work our way through to such a happy end. May Swamiji bless us in this noble endeavour!
Written by Sugata Bose
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