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Needless to say, this is a controversial or rather provocative topic. The caste system in India was enforced tens of centuries ago to create a regimented social hierarchy to govern the interests of the public. But like most other medieval social hierarchical systems elsewhere in Europe, China, Russia & Japan, oppression & violation of human rights were the primary by-products of the Indian caste system. To really understand the caste system in the socio-cultural landscape of India, one has to fundamentally know how it influenced the social norms centuries ago & today particularly in Carnatic music. Its origins, evolution & dogma are all well known in a wide range of books, media & etc. Repeating all of these topics would just overlap the already established information known to all of us. As such, the focus of this discussion is to address the impact of the caste system in Carnatic music.
The Ancient Secret of Caste
The Brahmin community is far by the most sanctified caste in the Hindu caste system by virtue of the fact that they were entrusted as the custodians of the liturgical chants and scholarly knowledge of the Vedas. With the importance of religion being paramount in the day-to-day lives of ordinary Indians in ancient and medieval India, the community was given unlimited access in social, economic & spiritual preferences. Even mighty rulers & politicians are to willingly obey their so-called "divine word". Members of the community held influential positions in all spheres of governance & authority dictating the so-called word of God that is entrusted upon them. These are all known facts accepted by scholars all over the world. But so what, where do we go from here?
From a political perspective, it has been asserted by scholars & historians that the Brahmin community prevailed in the Sanskrit knowledge which gave them access to Vedic knowledge. As in the times of yesteryears, religion was a political force in many countries including India, influencing the decisions of even the most powerful & capable rulers. As Brahmins alone had access to the study of the Sanskrit language & Vedic knowledge, they governed the interests of Vedic Hinduism with an overwhelming force. They had first-hand access to the knowledge of yoga, spiritual enlightenment, astrology, mathematics, science, healthcare, arts & everything under the umbrella of human intellect in Hindu culture. If a non-Brahmin has to learn any of these coveted subjects, he can only learn it under a Brahmin, who is willing to teach him or her.
The Vedas themselves are professed to be of divine or in some what supernatural origins. As such several subjects like astrology, yoga & music were said to be of divine origins by the Hindu culture. With the possession of such sacred knowledge, the majority of the devout Brahmins lived an almost perfect life, abstaining from the consumption of animal life, alcohol (for most cases) & bad habits like gambling or smoking. Incorporating principles of yoga, religious worship & thanksgiving in mandatory daily rituals like Sandhyavandhanam, gave them an almost complete alignment of their spiritual energies with the physical self. With such a heightened state of spiritual and physical fulfilment, their minds & bodies were able to achieve almost anything in the fields of human intellect. Such worthy knowledge were not available to most of the non-Brahmins while the exception of the so-called "twice-born" castes of Kshatriyas (kings & warriors) & Vaishyas (merchants & businessmen) had some degree of such knowledge.
In ancient times, the Brahmin communities carefully concealed the science behind such coveted knowledge (sometimes going to great lengths as simply declaring them as divine rituals) from the common man so as to remain spiritually and intellectually superior. Without any logical reasoning and scientific explanation to many such ideas, most of such rituals are simply dismissed by many Indian Hindus as superstitions and blind rituals. Fortunately, most of such knowledge today have been widely disclosed by non-Indian Brahmins themselves with an open-minded religious attitude. Several Western scholars of Vedic thought such as Dr David Frawley and Carl Sagan had also propagated such knowledge with an almost celebrity appeal.
As a consequence, the Brahmins, back then, from the eyes of a non-Brahmin appeared as a privileged community or even as a mystical race often resembling super-human attributes & who are closely linked with the Gods. Sensation seeking conspiracy theorists even went to the extent of calling them an alien species.
Caste in Music
Now coming to music, which served the religious needs of the past, it is only logical here, why the Brahmins are dominating the Carnatic music scene. But however there were exceptions. Several non-Brahmin Tamil saint composers in ancient times also gained recognition among the music community. Even St. Purandaradasa, the Pitamaha of modern Carnatic music is a non-Brahmin. In fact it was St. Purandaradasa who first institutionalised Carnatic music. No Brahmin composer had done it before his time, though research & evolution were progressing, the knowledge was strictly kept by the Brahmins. One can boldy say, that Carnatic music still survives today because of its institutionalisation of the form by St. Purandaradasa. The most obvious benefit is that anyone can learn the art form to which ever level he or she is capable of reaching in a stage-by-stage systematic process. From the big picture, at least the basic understanding of the art from will be known to the masses. That is far by more important for the survival of any art form in the annals of Time.
So why is it that the general Indian public still advocate the fact that "Carnatic music is a Brahmin art form". On the contrary, Carnatic music has drawn the attention of the West very well. Western students of Carnatic music seriously pursue the art form in India itself. The most famous & the first of them is John B. Higgins, who became the first Westerner & American musician to take up Carnatic music as a profession. He became a very respected musician within a very short span time and had vowed even the harshest critics from India. Following the footsteps of Higgins, many Westerners are flocking to India to pursue this art form for artistic or spiritual fulfilment. Some prominent examples are like Dr David Reck (Veena) and Pete Lockett (Mridangam). But it is so strange, why the general order of the non-Brahmin Indian public is not showing any serious interest in Carnatic music, to the level of pursuing it as a career as a performing artiste or as an academic scholar.
The way Carnatic music is being portrayed today; as a prestigious, affluent & dignified art form is turning the general Indian public from paying attention to this art form. Carnatic music is no doubt a dignified art form. But to call it an affluent art or a "rich man's hobby" is a bit contradicting. Looking at history, most of the composers of Carnatic music were living saintly & renounced lives. They made music to reflect the religious fervor they believed in during the Bhakthi Movement in medieval India. Today, commercialisation has increased the popularity of the art form while questioning its future progress & appeal. The continued persistence of the connoisseurs & patrons to retain the religious themes of the art form has made the art form as a symbol of hardline religious identity thereby creating an illusion of Brahmin music amidst the general Indian public.
There is also a persistent open-secret, that the majority of the connoisseurs & patrons, who happen to be Brahmins themselves or those who belong to a musical community or lineage safeguard their caste interests by monopolizing the industry. Today, due to the commercial mainstay of the industry, the patrons have extended into the rich & affluent lot of the social order. Let it be. But can one ask how many of such musicians are progressing Carnatic music, intellectually? The fact is, commercially, most of them are popular & most probably only in their lifetime. As a materialistic necessity of modern life, one's financial well being cannot be ignored. Nevertheless a true musician's most important task is to ensure the survival of his music for posterity & thankfully there are still some musicians who act seriously in progressing Carnatic music ignoring communally influenced artistic esotericism.
The Necessary Future for Carnatic Music Education
Carnatic music education should be encouraged to dedicated students of non-Brahmin or students of non-music communities, to take it up as a career. They should be well supported by the government & public arts bodies. Newer ragas and talas should be performed & presented to enrich the repertoire of performing music.
Likewise, it is only obvious why great performing composers like Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna & G. N. Balasubramaniam who have wide reaching appeal are also strong proponents of artistic democracy in education. G.N.B for instance dared to sing Carnatic music the way he saw it, by deconstructing "common music" so as to re-construct an "original music". To date, he is the most imitated Carnatic musician, more than even the ever popular M. S. Subbulakshmi. He strongly advocated artistic democracy in his words & actions by also training non-Brahmin disciples or disciples from non-musical families the same way as his Brahmin disciples. Dr. Balamuralikrishna in the same league as well, has on the other hand, secular Carnatic compositions to his credit talking about love & even about himself!
To the orthodox hardliners who are not suprisingly also advocates or members of Brahmin or Carnatic music communities, these secular ventures may seem to be an act of blasphemy against tradition & culture. But again, for anything to survive, it has to change with times.
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