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  • Scriptures confirm that the untouchability was practiced during Dwapara Yuga.
  • Lord Rama and Lord Krishna were incarnations of God incarnated to destroy adharma on the earth in Treta Yuga and Dwapara Yuga respectively.

  • Lord would be aware of untouchability in that Yuga and its continuation in Kali Yuga.

  • It is not mentioned that they opposed untouchability and/or tried to stop it.

QUESTION :

  • Why didn't Lord Rama and Lord Krishna try to stop or eradicate untouchability ?

  • Is there any specific reason for not eradicating it ?

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    Chandala's were different from Shudra's in all the period's . Shudra are the people among one of the four social categories. Chandala's are outside of that system.Your link is invalid , pls. provide some direct link to scriptures which confirm's the pratice of Untouchability during whole of these period.
    – SwiftPushkar
    Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 18:43
  • Is there any evidence that untouchability was practiced during those times?
    – Pradip Gangopadhyay
    Commented Apr 9, 2017 at 13:45
  • @PradipGangopadhyay friend the link i provided has evidence for untouchablitiy practice
    – Sakthi
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 14:12
  • @Sakthi, Thanks. One of your reference seems to me as mere arthavada. An explanation of the other reference will depend on what is meant by the word chandala.
    – Pradip Gangopadhyay
    Commented Apr 12, 2017 at 12:33
  • Our present dharmas are neither supreme nor applicable to other times/yugas. So we cannot apply present-day rules/dharmas to treta and dwapara and ask why kali yuga dharmas were not applied.
    – user1195
    Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 16:05

1 Answer 1

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There are several issues with the link you have used as the basis of your question, but ignoring those, I will answer the underlying question.

Karma decides quality of life

The body that a soul takes birth in is primarily determined by its karma, in a way that it can get appropriate reactions and nullify the karma (in minute parts per birth, but that's the goal). Some of these may require being born as a plant, as a microorganism, a small or large animal, a fish, a bird, a human, etc. Within the human form of body, there are further divisions such as the four varnas (brahman, kshatriya etc.), and others such as chandalas who are considered outside the varnashram system.

There are several activities that were considered not acceptable for anyone within the varnashram system, but the chandalas and similar classes could engage in, including consuming the meat of cows, making leather products etc. Their status in the human society is of course much lower than the other 4 varnas. What needs to be understood is that their existence is still essential for those souls to receive certain karmic reactions that they could otherwise not have received. Therefore, despite their deplorable living condition, their presence was not meaningless.

The problem with the question/argument

Further, a similar argument could be made for any of the lower life forms, or for that matter the living entities in hellish planets. While life is very difficult for all of them, it's not unfair, since it is simply a reaping of karma that they sowed themselves. Lord Ram and Lord Krishna do not directly interfere in the cycle of karma, except for those who specifically approach Him/Them. There are many historical instances of those rejected by the society being delivered by Lord Ram or Lord Krishna. The basis of this difference in treatment is Lord Krishna's statement in Bhagavad Gita:

As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.

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  • I wouldn't say that it asks for acceptance of injustice, but rather it explains a more subtle cause of it. I see it as more of a way of understanding why certain things might happen without there being any causal explanation of them. This does not preclude justice being meted out to any wrongdoers. If someone tortures my loved ones, I will do all I can to make sure that they are punished appropriately; you can also understand that as me facilitating their receipt of their karma of torturing the victims. I agree that the idea of karma needs to be more clearly explored, and I'm no expert.
    – Advaita Charana dasa
    Commented Apr 4, 2017 at 3:44
  • Why you make sure they are to be punished if they torture your beloved ones? It is good your or theirs prarabdha Karmas would exhaust. Why to impose cause - effect theory only to others? Again, human gets all kind of reason or philosophy when victim is other. Justice can't be based on past lives, it is based on present situation.
    – ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
    Commented Apr 4, 2017 at 3:59
  • @AdvaitaCharanadasa friend are you saying untouchability is good practice and now also people follow it is this a dharma activity ?
    – Sakthi
    Commented Apr 9, 2017 at 4:07
  • @Rohit I didn't exactly follow your questions. I'm not suggesting imposing cause-effect theory only to others, but to everyone. Everything that happens has a series of events that lead up to it and cause it; the causality is an easily perceivable principle. But how would you explain someone being born with a deformed body, or someone born in a poor family while another born in a rich one? There are many events whose cause is not obvious, and you can understand it's due to past karma. Regardless, that doesn't stop you from helping those in need, be it you or others.
    – Advaita Charana dasa
    Commented Apr 9, 2017 at 11:35
  • @Sakthi No, I am not saying untouchability is a good practice or that this is a dharma activity. Also, the question is about past, when the society looked drastically different. In today's society, there is no reason for people to practice untouchability, imho. I personally would not discriminate based on how or where someone was born, and do not justify caste-based exploitation. My answer was specific to the question asked, about why Rama or Krishna did not stop untouchability (the way it existed then).
    – Advaita Charana dasa
    Commented Apr 9, 2017 at 11:40

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