The Religio-Ethical Concepts of the Chamars in

Northern India
STEPHEN FUCHS
As missionary priest and anthropological researcher, Stephen Fuchs presents this case study in
comparative religionfromthemissiologicalviewpoint Ritualobservances are seen in their wider
sociological context The resultant view of sin emerges not only as inadequate from a Christian
perspective, but as a source of the continuing misery, spiritually and socially, of the subject people
Father Fuchs' colleagues can draw direct benefit, both motivational and strategic, from this study — a
practical goal of all missiological research At the same time, the value of such models for wider
application puts all of us in the author's debt
I HE CHAMARS are a large low occupational caste of northern India. Their number reaches almost 16
million (India Government 1966:173-319). Deprived of their traditional profession as tanners and
leather workers by the large scale industrialization of shoemaking and other leather work, they have
been forced to seek their livelihood as field servants and daily laborers. Most of them own no land.
They form more than 20 percent of the total population in northern India.
On the whole, the Chamars share the religio-ethical views of the higher Hindu castes in the regions
where they live. But in certain significant aspects they differ from them, being of low social status and
excluded from the social and religious life of the village community as untouchables and outcastes.
The life of the Hindus is mainly governed by laws and rules comprised by the term dharma (Gokhale
1961:24-48). Dharma has a wide connotation in Hinduism, and in its broadest sense stands for the
universal laws of nature that uphold the cosmos. But for the Hindus of northern India it means
primarily the particular social and religious code of conduct in each individual
Missiology An International ReviewSTEPHEN FUCHS The Religio-Ethical Concepts of the Chamars
44
caste. It prescribes not only the legitimate occupations for the members of each particular subsection
of the caste, but also the ritual obligations which fall upon its members.
Some of these obligations and prohibitions apply to all castes in the same strictness, as for instance
caste endogamy (marriage within one's own caste) and relationship endogamy (marriage outside
certain grades of relationship), also the sacredness of the cow and abstention from beef. But other
obligations and prohibitions vary considerably from caste to caste. The Brahmin, for instance, is
forbidden to eat meat of any kind as well as certain other foods. Other castes, however, are permitted
to eat the meat of certain animals, such as goat and sheep. On some occasions the eating of sacrificial
meat is permitted to castes which ordinarily do not eat meat of that kind. Often nowadays the meat of
such animals is given to castes which are in the habit of eating it. This applies in particular to
sacrifices of pigs and buffaloes in which the whole village community takes part but only the low
castes eat the sacrificial meat. The outcaste Chamars who were traditionally employed to dispose of
dead cattle and other domestic animals, were in the past also in the habit of eating carrion. This
practice has now been given up as
too degrading though some may continue it secretly out of sheer necessity. Meat of certain animals,
such as the horse or dog, cannot be eaten even by Chamars.
The Ritual Dimension
The ritual obligations of a particular caste are considered to be its main special duty. This applies
especially to the Brahmin caste which is the priestly caste. The Chamars, on the other hand, observe
few ritual obligations. The only exceptions would be individuals who have joined sects like the Kabir
panthis, the Shivnarayan and the Vaishnava sects. Members of these sects will generally not eat before
they have taken a bath and recited a prayer directed to the Sun. Each Chamar family also venerates a
house deity to which a sacrifice is due twice a year as well as on the occasion of a marriage. Possibly
this family deity had in the past a much greater importance in the religious life of the Chamars. But
even now the chauri, a low platform in a corner of the main room, is kept intact in every Chamar
house; even converts to Christianity rarely demolish it but omit the worship of the deity (Briggs
1920:115f).
45
Though the Chamars are outcastes and as such cannot take part in the religious ceremonies of the
village community, they are not supposed to absent themselves completely. They are allowed to attend
these village feasts from a distance. They are also requested to contribute towards the expenses of
such feasts. The neglect of ceremonial obligations and the faulty performance of religious rites places
a person in a spiritually dangerous position. Thus an "irreligious" person who habitually omits the
customary sacrifices and does not celebrate the common feasts is a danger to the community as he is
believed to call the wrath of the gods and spirits on the whole community to which he belongs. His
caste-fellows will sooner or later try to get rid of him and force him to leave the community.
However, not only the neglect of religious ceremonies and offerings is a sin which exposes the culprit
and his family to the ill will and revenge of the gods and spirits, but also a faulty performance of these
rites and sacrifices. It matters little whether the mistake in the performance is intentional or not. The
culprit may not even be aware of his fault. Still, he has committed a sin and is liable to punishment
commensurate to its seriousness. There exist even forms of ritual impurity which are inevitable and
yet make a person incapable of performing certain rites. If he still insists on performing them he may
be severely punished by the supernatural agencies. Thus a woman is polluted and polluting during her
menstrual period and for a certain time after childbirth. A whole family is defiled after the death of
one of its members. Accepting a cup of water or a plate of cooked food from an untouchable is more
defiling than having sexual intercourse with the same. For Chamars and other untouchable castes are
in a permanent state of impurity. They may not enter a temple or attend a religious ceremony of the
high castes, except from a distance, and they are excluded from the society of the caste Hindus as
impure and polluting human beings.
Some untouchables have made strenuous efforts to escape this permanent state of sin and pollution by
joining the so-called devotional (bhakti) cults. Religious-minded untouchables felt it deeply that they
should be permanently separated from God. The doctrine of the bhaktis, that devotion could overcome
all ritual defilement and wipe out even the most hideous sins of the past, seemed to bring relief to the
spiritual exclusion of the
STEPHEN FUCHS The Religio-Ethical Concepts of the Chamars
46
untouchables. In fact, a number of low caste men reached eminence in these cults and even the Hindus
regard them as saints. Foremost among these in northern India were Kabir, a weaver, and Ravidas, a
Chamar, who lived in the 15th century. The Vaishnavas, too, accepted many members from the
untouchable castes. But although Hinduism made certain concessions in exceptional cases, the state of
pollution was never lifted from the low castes, even when they joined these devotional movements in
great numbers. Hinduism did not relent in spite of the great devotion of low caste bhaktis, and despite
their abstention from scavenging and other polluting work which allegedly caused their pollution. In
northern India, almost one fourth of the total population belongs to this state.
The Social Context
The obvious reason is that the feudal society in India requires a class of people kept in a permanent
state of social and religious degradation. Through it the outcastes can be kept under control more
effectively. Thus the Chamars are enjoined to serve the higher castes in various menial occupations
and to regard these as their traditional caste duty (dharma). In rural society it means that the Chamars
have to be at the beck and call of the high castes for any necessary field work and must attend their
domestic animals. They are also supposed to do other menial work around the house and village: carry
messages, watch the fields at night, serve visiting officials and important guests, and do all the
scavenging in the village, including the removal of all dead animals. Their women have the traditional
duty of acting as midwives to the women of high caste, including the polluting task of cutting the
umbilical cord. They also have to serve the women as long as their pollution lasts following childbirth.
The Chamar men and women have to carry out these menial tasks because they themselves are in a
permanent state of pollution as the higher castes see it, and they are degraded to the state of serfs and
menials because they carry out these polluting tasks.
In return, the Chamars expect the higher castes, who demand these services, to take care of them in
times of special difficulties. They borrow from them when there is no employment and they cannot
earn their subsistence. They expect help when there is a wedding or funeral and they have more
expenses than their
47
slender resources can bear. And in cases of emergency, when an accident befalls them, a sickness or
death, or when they have been punished by their caste elders for any breach of the caste rules, their
master must provide the necessary money.
The higher castes (and especially each low caste man's own landlord) are "father and mother" to them,
and it is to them they turn in all difficulties. This relieves them of the necessity of thinking ahead and
providing for the future, though it exposes them to utter dependency on the higher castes. It is no
wonder that these higher castes often exploit this particular weakness of the Chamars; to their great
advantage, they keep them in perpetual debt and dependence. Because of the ever-increasing number
of these dependents, and the consequent surplus of labor supply, the demands of the employers
steadily increase while the wages they pay decrease to a minimum, scarcely above the level of
starvation.
Occasional refusals of service by the exploited low castes in protest against these unbearable
economic conditions are met with great surprise and disgust by the land-owning castes. Such protests
obviously go against the natural order of the world which always upheld the supremacy of the higher
castes and the undisputed servility of the low castes. The land-owning castes also point out that land
ceiling laws and other restrictive measures recently issued by the Government have greatly reduced
the economic resources of the landlords, thereby impairing their ability to shoulder the burden of
economic support of the landless, serving classes (Joshi 1965:23If).
A radical change of the existing economic and social order, which up to modern times was based on a
feudal system, would be required before things could improve. But the over-supply of field labor
makes such change unnecessary at present: it allows the landlords to further reduce their wages, and
the landless laborers are forced to accept the conditions of the landlords if they want to survive at all.
They have no alternative, except perhaps migration to the cities.
The Ethical Grid
Village society in northern India also recognizes a certain moral code which lays down definite rules
of behavior applicable to all, irrespective of caste and creed; consequently these rules are valid not
only for the Hindus, but also the Muslims, Sikhs,
STEPHEN FUCHS The Religio-Ethical Concepts of the Chamars
48
Jains and Christians who happen to reside in the village. A "good" person is one who keeps calm and
does not easily lose his head; one who minds his own business, does not quarrel or use violence, is
kind and generous to others, works hard and deals honestly with those with whom and for whom he
works, and fulfils his obligations to this family and his community. He is also expected to be "god-
fearing", and to perform the sacrifices and celebrate the customary feasts in the community.
In other words, lying, cheating, drunkenness, quarrelsomeness, physical violence and sexual
immorality are generally looked upon as sinful, while helping one another in times of distress is
considered a positive virtue. Women are expected to be modest and submissive to their husbands; this
is especially so in the villages of Uttar Pradesh where the purdha system (seclusion of women) is still
widely observed. For Chamar women these rules are, however, considerably relaxed, since economic
necessity forces these women to leave their homes to work in the fields. The very fact that they work
in the fields alongside their menfolk and earn their wages (though these are usually only half as high
as those of the men) makes them less submissive.
Nevertheless, these standards of ethical behavior are often modified when individual persons are
exposed to strong provocations. The Chamars, for example, consider it quite legitimate to shirk work
when in the employment of a mean and stingy employer. They find easy excuse for lies and deception
when a big gain can be made unexpectedly by them. They find nothing very wrong in occasional
thefts when the opportunity occurs. Even sexual immorality is not regarded as sinful when demanded
by a person who is socially and economically superior. Thus Chamar women and girls easily yield to
the enticements of their landlords, provided this helps their own family. Members of the higher castes,
who watch so carefully over the virginity of their own daughters and the marital fidelity of their own
wives, consider it their traditional due that Chamar girls and women submit to their lust.
Such lapses from the ideal moral conduct do not greatly bother the consciences of ordinary village
people, and still less so the Chamars and other outcastes — provided these lapses remain casual and
informal and do not come to official public attention. Even highly moral Hindu teachers make
allowance
49
for special occasions. Thus according to old Hindu tradition a lie is permissible "to save a women's
honour, to secure a marriage partner, to preserve life, money or honour, or to protect Brahmins or
cows." On the other hand, if such lapses are brought to the official attention of the caste authority, or
if, by an unfortunate coincidence, they become publicly known so that they can be ignored no longer,
the culprit is subjected to the full force and severity of the caste laws. And the longer the community
had in the past closed its eyes and ignored such violations, the more inexorably the prosecution
proceeds once the matter has attracted official attention. But even then, a wealthy or influential
villager will be judged much more leniently than a poor man with few friends.
The culprits usually accept the prosecution and verdict of the caste authority as an inevitable calamity
— as their fate. True, they often put up a good fight, denying all charges, although everybody in the
community knows the truth perfectly well. But when convicted, they generally accept their
punishment with good grace; they pay the fine or submit to the punishment without much fuss. When
the punishment is over, they expect to be fully exonerated and free of any guilt. They do not feel any
need for repentance or a pardon. They committed a wrong, they got caught, they received their
punishment and paid it in full. The case is finished; it was a disorder which has been set right.
Sin and Salvation Concepts
This current concept of sin in the Hindu villages, including the Chamars, differs considerably from the
Christian idea of sin. For the Christian, sin is a willful transgression of the law of God. For a Hindu a
sin need not be willful. To them an unintentional and even unknown transgression of the moral code
or religious ritual is equally sinful. The connection of sin with God is rather loose, not only because
the concept of God is vague and ambiguous in popular Hindu religion, but also because the world
order (dharma or rita) is conceived as not depending on the will of God or the gods. Consequently sin
becomes rather a deviation from the world order or, in the eyes of the village people of northern India,
a deviation from the ways and customs of the particular caste community to which the transgressor
belongs. Sin is by far not always a willful offense of a personal God.
STEPHEN FUCHS The Religio-Ethical Concepts of the Chamars
50
A person who has committed a sin, either deliberately or unintentionally, exposes himself either to the
revenge of a particular deity offended by his sin, or, more generally, to the influence of evil spirits.
These superhuman spirits may cause him any kind of misfortune, sickness or even an early death. The
Chamars, therefore, along with other villagers of northern India, employ special soothsayers and
shamans as middlemen between the superhuman powers and themselves. These diviners and spiritistic
media claim the ability to get into close contact with a deity or spirit who discloses to them: the
identity of the particular god or spirit who has caused a certain misfortune or illness, the nature of the
sin or fault committed, and the number of offerings and sacrifices required to appease their wrath.
Often the shamans or spiritistic media fall into trance and it is generally assumed that in this state a
god or spirit has taken possession of them and speaks through them. Again, it is not by remorse and
repentance that the sin is forgiven, but simply by paying the price demanded by the offended deity or
evil spirit. This belief in the supernatural cause of all misfortune and illness is still so strong in the
minds of the village people that they will consult a soothsayer or shaman rather than call a physician
or go to a hospital when they fall sick.
The superhuman powers and evil spirits which harass a transgressor have no real authority to punish
him for his sin. They do not really watch over the strict observance of the moral code. By committing
a sin the transgressor simply exposes himself to their evil influence. There exists no personal link
between the human person and the god or spirit who sends the illness or misfortune. Therefore no
retribution is required and no real change of heart is necessary; the offerings and sacrifices performed
are merely given in the form of an appeasement.
But the Chamars and, in fact, all the Hindu village people of northern India, believe in karma, a full
retribution in the next life for all a person's actions. For they all believe in an ever-recurring rebirth of
the soul. The Chamars state that a man or woman is reborn chaurassi lakh times, which means:
8,400,000 times! The soul is reborn into a life which it has merited by the deeds of its past life. The
soul is reborn into a Brahmin or other high caste man (or woman) if it led a good and pious life in its
former birth; into a low animal, a dog or insect, if it led a bad life. Consequently a sin is any act which
causes bad karma and diminishes merit
51
(punya) or increases the demerit of the soul, thus affecting the soul's status in a future birth. Here the
opposite of sin (päp) is merit (punya). There is a difference of opinion among Hindus as to whether
every righteous act brings merit, or only those which are done over and above the demands of duty
(dharma). According to Hindu belief, the good or bad actions of man are rewarded or punished
respectively, either in this present life or in the future life. One's fate in life is thus determined by one's
good or bad actions in the previous life. These effects of karma can be neutralized by a patient
acceptance of one's fate and by leading a life fully in accord with one's caste status.
A Chamar, consequently, has to attribute his low social status and his hard economic condition to his
sins committed in a former life, and he can rid himself of these bad effects only by accepting his hard
life as ajust punishment for his former sins. Any defiance of the inexorable law of karma and any
attempt to improve his social and economic status would prevent his attainment of a better life in his
next birth. No doubt this belief is partially responsible for the meekness and passivity with which the
Chamars accept their present hard lot. It also partially accounts for their lack of initiative in improving
their really bad living conditions.
Summary of Missiological Implications
All that has been said so far shows clearly that the religio-ethical concepts of the Chamars differ
considerably from those of the Christian faith. The Chamars are ignorant of the fact that sin offends an
all-loving Father who has created us and sustains us, a Saviour who has died for our sins and offers us
forgiveness if we truly repent them, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us if we truly and sincerely
want to lead a good life. Chamars, and even many high caste Hindus, do not feel responsible for their
misdeeds and are not really sorry for their sins. For they do not believe in a loving God, and moral
conduct, in their view, is not governed by a personal God, but by an impersonal world order which
hands out reward and punishment inexorably and automatically, without regard to whether an action is
deliberate or not, or whether a sin is repented or not.
The Christian religion can thus make a valuable contribution to the moral uplift of the Hindus in
general and the Chamars in
STEPHEN FUCHS The Religio-Ethical Concepts of the Chamars
52
particular whom Hindu religion has kept in moral ignorance and degradation for millennia.
References Cited
Briggs, G W 1920 The Chamars New York Oxford University Press
Crooke, W 1968 The Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India 2 vols (Reprint) Delhi M
Manoharlal Gokhale, Β G
1961 Indian Thought through the Ages Bombay Asia Pub House India Government
1966 "Special Tables for Scheduled Castes" Part V-A(l) in Census of India Volume 1 Bombay
Joshi, Ε Β 1965 Gazetteers of India Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi Allahabad
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