Forking Paths of Sanatana and Dravidian Thought

The evolution from devotional egalitarianism to social justice

IF the concept of Sanatana Dharma embodies the worldview and social perspectives of early VedicDharmashastric literature and its social manifestation is Varnashrama Dharma, then intellectual dissent against it is not a recent phenomenon. In fact, opposition to the Sanatana Dharma might have arisen from the very inception of this idea. While the codes of dharma remained noble and essential, especially for a small priestly group, its practical and social outcomes such as birth-based identity, veneration of cows, vegetarianism, inferiorisation of meat diet, untouchability of beef eaters, etc, encountered significant challenges. Resistance against them is palpable in textual and intellectual traditions across the subcontinent, but notably prominent and consistent in south India. A cursory look at the textual traditions in south India shows how opposition to the Varnashrama Dharma began as a call for devotional egalitarianism during the early medieval period and gradually evolved into movements advocating social justice.