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The Last Brahmin: Life and Reflections of a Modern-Day Sanskrit Pandit
The Last Brahmin is a work of reflection as well as the intellectual quasi-autobiography of a modern-day pandit. Written by a schoolteacher of Sanskrit, it embodies an effort to grapple with the enigma of the Brahminical tradition—its spread over long time periods, its forms and transformations, its implications and stakes for the Indian subcontinent’s Hindus and larger world. Even as it is a philosophical critique of an elite tradition, The Last Brahmin emphasizes the enormity of the tasks involved in finding alternatives to that tradition today. From the core of the surviving realms of the tradition, this work recounts a tale of living on in difficult and adversarial conditions for the sake of learning, scholarship, and the rigours of pedagogical bonding. This is also thus a narrative of the pain of discontinuity: it dramatizes the philosophical and historical issues of cultural practice in the form of filial disinheritance and throws up some formidable questions: What is an inheritance? Who inherits tradition? How may one inherit a tradition? What are the conditions and consequences of such inheritance? In the process, this reflective work emerges as the poignant articulation of a Brahmin’s response, and responsibilitiies, in the wake of colonial and postcolonial conditions. Its critical unravelling of the Sanskrit tradition sets The Last Brahmin apart from the disciplinary frames of Indology on the one hand, and partisanal Hindu ideological forces on the other. While pitching its tent against Orientalist knowledge on India, it insists equally on the difference and distinction between the Brahmin Sanskrit tradition and ‘so-called Hinduism’.
- GenresReligion
197 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 10, 2020
Disappointing read. I didn't enjoy it. Maybe i was expecting something else.
February 23, 2020
An old man boards a bus and sits next to a passenger. The passenger asks the old man if he is a Hindu. The old man replies, "No. I am a Brahmin."
This is an anecdotal incident from the book "The Last Brahmin" by RaNi Shiva Shankara Sharma. I had to re-read that reply a few times to really grasp the implications of what the old man has said.
Sanatana Dharma has unshakeable roots on the providence of Vedas whereas Hinduism is a proxy Christianity aping the Bible, argues Sharma. He doesn't just provide mere intellectual arguments but shines light on that claim through the life of his father, a living embodiment of Sanatana Dharma.
The title "The Last Brahmin" refers to his father who comes from the lineage of Sanatana Dharma Brahmins who are strict adherents to Vedas. Kind of Brahmins who are almost extinct now. For them, the truths in the Vedas are not just eternal and timeless but pure i.e beyond reform. They are complete i.e you cannot take anything out of them and you cannot add anything into it. The Vedas are not to be read but lived. The written script is a mere approximation of the sound. You cannot get in, you cannot get out and you are just born in! For them, Chaaturvarnas(Four Varnas/Castes) are one of the cornerstones of the Vedas. Attempts to nullify varna and bring all people under one uniform varna is not just a meaningless, futile exercise but goes against nature itself. Such needless attempts only expose the unfound inferiority complex of the lower varnas. And what is this single umbrella, varna reformists aspired to be crowded under, a form of inventive, implicitly implied superior Brahmanism! Just like the invention of one single God in the middle-east eradicated pagan cultures and gods, reformist's faux-heroic attempts are nothing but efforts to eradicate other varnas, their gods, their rituals and cultures and bring them under one superior varna.
Sharma's father deemed that his sons are not worthy of performing his last rites. Sharma is an atheist, so one can understand but Sharma's brother is no ordinary Hindu. He is the head of a Hindu monastic order to whom people bow in reverence. He is a Vedic scholar who holds a doctorate in Sanskrit. But his father didn't even consider him a Brahmin! Like many reformist Hindus, his brother believes that the Sanatana Dharma need contemporary interpretation and Vedas should be made accessible people to all varnas and unless Hinduism is actively preached it'll become extinct. His father had no such concerns. What is the need to spread something that is all-pervading and eternal? He abhorred the Hindus attempts to fit Sanatana Dharma into Christianity's mould.
Sharma is an atheist. But he is also a Vedic scholar. Inspired by Ambedkar's call to eradicate varnas, he wrote about the eradication of the caste system. He was an active member of the revolutionary writers association. He collaborated with writers from the lower varnas. But he comes to a startling conclusion that he is not the revolutionary but his father, steeped in a seemingly despicable varna system of Sanatana Dharma, is the true revolutionary. He realizes that yoking of varnas into one is not a solution but strengthening of varna system where each varna lives and thrives with their unique values, vibrant gods, traditions and assertive individuality is the answer. How he came to that conclusion is the crux of this eye-opening book.
A book worth my time.
This is an anecdotal incident from the book "The Last Brahmin" by RaNi Shiva Shankara Sharma. I had to re-read that reply a few times to really grasp the implications of what the old man has said.
Sanatana Dharma has unshakeable roots on the providence of Vedas whereas Hinduism is a proxy Christianity aping the Bible, argues Sharma. He doesn't just provide mere intellectual arguments but shines light on that claim through the life of his father, a living embodiment of Sanatana Dharma.
The title "The Last Brahmin" refers to his father who comes from the lineage of Sanatana Dharma Brahmins who are strict adherents to Vedas. Kind of Brahmins who are almost extinct now. For them, the truths in the Vedas are not just eternal and timeless but pure i.e beyond reform. They are complete i.e you cannot take anything out of them and you cannot add anything into it. The Vedas are not to be read but lived. The written script is a mere approximation of the sound. You cannot get in, you cannot get out and you are just born in! For them, Chaaturvarnas(Four Varnas/Castes) are one of the cornerstones of the Vedas. Attempts to nullify varna and bring all people under one uniform varna is not just a meaningless, futile exercise but goes against nature itself. Such needless attempts only expose the unfound inferiority complex of the lower varnas. And what is this single umbrella, varna reformists aspired to be crowded under, a form of inventive, implicitly implied superior Brahmanism! Just like the invention of one single God in the middle-east eradicated pagan cultures and gods, reformist's faux-heroic attempts are nothing but efforts to eradicate other varnas, their gods, their rituals and cultures and bring them under one superior varna.
Sharma's father deemed that his sons are not worthy of performing his last rites. Sharma is an atheist, so one can understand but Sharma's brother is no ordinary Hindu. He is the head of a Hindu monastic order to whom people bow in reverence. He is a Vedic scholar who holds a doctorate in Sanskrit. But his father didn't even consider him a Brahmin! Like many reformist Hindus, his brother believes that the Sanatana Dharma need contemporary interpretation and Vedas should be made accessible people to all varnas and unless Hinduism is actively preached it'll become extinct. His father had no such concerns. What is the need to spread something that is all-pervading and eternal? He abhorred the Hindus attempts to fit Sanatana Dharma into Christianity's mould.
Sharma is an atheist. But he is also a Vedic scholar. Inspired by Ambedkar's call to eradicate varnas, he wrote about the eradication of the caste system. He was an active member of the revolutionary writers association. He collaborated with writers from the lower varnas. But he comes to a startling conclusion that he is not the revolutionary but his father, steeped in a seemingly despicable varna system of Sanatana Dharma, is the true revolutionary. He realizes that yoking of varnas into one is not a solution but strengthening of varna system where each varna lives and thrives with their unique values, vibrant gods, traditions and assertive individuality is the answer. How he came to that conclusion is the crux of this eye-opening book.
A book worth my time.
February 10, 2020
This book is that rare document that you pick at random and come out completely swayed and amazed by (this short review is a mere reaction; the book deserves a more meditated approach - something I shall work on). Translated from a Telugu original, it fits in no clear genre. It appears like a memoir and autobiography - but much of the book is not about the author or his life but instead, about his father and the deceased man's way of life. From the person flows out brilliant philosophy. Only around two hundred pages, the book is extremely dense with original ideas. All in all - it deals with one central premise. The father of the author, a defender of the "old order" and a traditional Brahmin is not a Hindu. Not just the father, but no Brahmin is truly a Hindu. Spiraling out of this bizarre claim, the writer comes to conclusions that have been considered before but the path he takes is unique and from outside the world of the usual university and Western pedagogy. In doing this, the author proves to be a brilliant and beautiful organic intellectual. The book is filled with countless provocative claims. For example, "The followers of the ancient order were always well-inclined towards Islam" or "There is no temple in the old order." Chapters on Telugu grammar and the similarities between Advaita and Madhyamaka philosophies are casually sprinkled. The memoir also acquires texture through the characters of various literary figures from the Godavari belt that populate the pages of the latter part of the book. There is Sri Sri, Muppala Ranganayakamma, and also RS Sudarsanam. Each time the reader believes that he could not be appalled more, Sharma surprises him. I am yet to come to terms with my views and takes on the arguments of the book. But for now, a must read!
October 13, 2022
Well this is the kind of book that could get a younger me very excited. Certain sections of the book are certainly very moving but i found most of the author's generalizations quite untenable. The problem with his generalizations comes from the fact that there is quite a variety of experiences already recorded as part of the "ancient order" that are quite antithetic. But the book is most definitely a very interesting read, and a lot of observations the author makes are very valuable.
After reading the full book, the main impression i was left with is that this has to have been bound in "red". Although the author makes no effort to hide his communist inclinations, i was expecting something other than just another "red book" on the Vedic way of life, but i guess that's my own fault. I don't really recommend this book but if someone wants to check it out, they may; it's quite short anyways.
After reading the full book, the main impression i was left with is that this has to have been bound in "red". Although the author makes no effort to hide his communist inclinations, i was expecting something other than just another "red book" on the Vedic way of life, but i guess that's my own fault. I don't really recommend this book but if someone wants to check it out, they may; it's quite short anyways.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews