Stereotyped practices in the name of dharma

Many questionable customs that exist today, or that existed in different historical periods originated from Vedic customs that degraded over time as the mentality of people changed.

In ancient times, there was a custom for Ksatriyas to marry by kidnapping a girl from another Ksatriya family and defeating her relatives in battle. Although it was not always done (most marriages were done by having an open competition) it was considered very chivalrous for a young Ksatriya to marry in this way. There are many exalted examples, like Krsna marrying Rukmini and Arjuna marrying Subhadra.

However, with the start of Kali-yuga, this custom degraded into a criminal system, where lusty boys would just gang up with a group of friends to kidnap a girl and force the parents to give her in marriage, even against the girl's will. Such a custom was common in many societies over the centuries. In the Caucasus region (Georgia, south of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan), where we lived, it was still common even 20 years ago.

Someone without proper understanding could agree with such a custom calling it "Vedic", but any normal human being with a proper understanding of the world would understand that it was just a barbaric and criminal system.

Similarly, in Vedic times it was common for caste ladies to voluntarily commit suicide by entering into the funeral pyre of the husband and thus leaving with him. For such ladies, separation from the husband was so painful that the fire of the cremation was considered a relief, and therefore they would choose to go in this way instead of having to endure separation from him. Such a departure was considered extremely pious and it is said in the scriptures that a lady who dies in this way attains the same destination as the husband.

However, with the progression of Kali-yuga, this exalted tradition was converted into a criminous tradition in parts of India, where unwilling ladies would be burnt to death at the funeral pyres.

The Varnasrama system itself, which was the very fabric of Vedic society degraded over time into the infamous caste system, propagated by so-called brahmanas who, according to a famous passage of the Varaha Purana, were actually demons who took the opportunity to be born in Brahmana families due to failure in the execution of the proper purificatory rites.

Just as in these three examples, many other degraded customs that exist today, or that existed in different historical periods originated from Vedic customs that degraded over time as the mentality of people changed.

There are also "gray" traditions that were accepted under certain circumstances in Vedic societies to satisfy the needs of certain people, or according to time place, and circumstance but were not the best standard. Polygamy for example was common, but it was accepted only in the case of wealthy and qualified men, capable of properly maintaining more than one wife, and even in such cases was not considered the best, as exemplified in the example of Lord Ramacandra.

Even human sacrifices are mentioned in certain parts of the scriptures and were practiced by certain people in certain circumstances, but it can be easily understood that it was not considered a good practice, even at those times.

All of this together can give us some insight into how Varnasrama and the Vedic tradition at large can only be re-established by properly qualified people. Anyone short of the standard will end up pushing for some stereotyped practices in the name of dharma.

Just as in the Sanskrit language, Vedic culture is extremely complex, and can only be understood by people with a certain level of qualification. The most basic qualification is to be very well situated in the mode of goodness, the platform of a proper Brahmana.

Even most members of Vedic societies could not properly understand how the system worked. Sudras, Vaishyas, and even Ksatriyas understood parts of the system, sufficient to execute their duties, but they would commit serious mistakes when not guided by proper Brahmanas. We can see that Brahmanas were thus the only ones who properly understood the system and were capable of fixing and if necessary re-establishing it.

When we see young devotees thus speaking avidly about Varnasrama and Vedic traditions, we should first very carefully examine their personal qualities. Three very important questions should be answered:

a) Are they perfectly situated in the mode of goodness?

b) Are they truly saintly Brahmanas?

c) Are they impeccable in their behavior?

If the answer to any of these three questions is negative, then we should be very careful, because an unqualified person will try to establish all kinds of degraded customs in the name of "Varnasrama" and "Vedic tradition" because he (or she) himself doesn't understand the system. These people can be quite dangerous because they can push for all kinds of aberrations as "Vedic traditions", even though they are deeply adharmic in nature.

If one wants to successfully work in re-establishing Varnasrama, the process is to gradually make people more Krsna conscious, so they can naturally be elevated into the mode of goodness, and from there understand the true system and adjust what is necessary to the complexities of the current environment. We can see that this was what Srila Prabhupada was trying to do. When people in the modes of passion and ignorance try to implement Varnasrama, they end up implementing some kind of asuric Varnasrama instead.