New Delhi, India - For centuries they have been the guiding lights of Hindu religion. Now, for the first time, Hindu scriptures are under attack for allegedly denigrating Dalits, the so-called "untouchables".
Such references to "Shudras" -- or the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy now called Dalits - may be done away with if Hindu religious heads end up backing a campaign to "cleanse the scriptures" of their caste bias.
The man leading the campaign is Suraj Bhan, chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, an autonomous body funded by the Indian government.
Suraj Bhan, himself a Dalit, says he is confident about getting the four Shankaracharyas, the Hindu pontiffs, to consent to remove anti-Dalit references and bring out edited versions of scriptures.
His proposal is yet to find broad support from scholars and Hindu priests who read from the scriptures regularly.
"I have written to all the Shankaracharyas. The Sringeri Shankaracharya has promised to support me, and so has Swami Avdheshananda of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)," Suraj Bhan told IANS.
"There should be a separate commission to take up the task of removing such references in scriptures."
Suraj Bhan cited Article 13 of the Indian constitution which says that laws in force in India before the constitution was put in place in 1950 would be void if they were inconsistent with constitutional provisions.
"So these old social norms are already invalid. But the scriptures continue to influence people, especially those not so educated and in rural areas where the word of the temple priest is law," he said.
Although the status of India's 300 million-strong Dalit community has vastly improved, they continue to face deep-seated social discrimination from the so-called upper caste Hindus.
In the Vedas, the Shudra, according to the Hindu order of divine creation, is considered born last and thus described as "Antya".
The members of the community enjoyed no rights or privileges, were not allowed to enter temples and could only serve the upper castes as slaves, blacksmiths or cobblers.
B.R. Ambedkar, father of the Indian constitution and a fiery proponent of Dalit rights, wrote several critiques on the objectionable treatment of lower castes in the Hindu scriptures, quoting examples.
In Manu Smriti, the ancient Hindu code of life preached by Manu, it is said that if a Shudra tries to listen to the scriptures, hot oil should be poured into his mouth and ears.
The Ramcharitmanas says that illiterate people, Shudras, women, animals and even musical instruments such as drums should be "eyed with caution".
Citing these examples, Suraj Bhan said it was essential to bring out fresh versions of the scriptures. But his views are yet to gain wider acceptance, for varying reasons.
Says Lalmani Pathak, a senior priest at the Lakshminarayan temple, also known as Birla Mandir, here: "There is hardly anything objectionable in the scriptures. Maybe in Manu Smriti but that reflected the times. I don't see anything wrong in that. Why should they be changed?"
But VHP leader Ashok Singhal has admitted that there were unfair references about Dalits in Hindu scriptures.
Eminent historian D.N. Jha said: "It is better to fight the anti-Dalit mindset instead of tampering with the text."
Jha, author of "Holy Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Traditions", which gives a controversial account of Brahmins eating beef during the Vedic period, opposed Suraj Bhan's call for editing the scriptures.
"There are any number of religious texts in India, which are not compulsory reading. I would not like the scriptures to be tampered with but critically edited so that different interpretations find expression," he said.
"Edit them according to the norms of textual criticism. You cannot just remove something that is a part of the country's legacy, however bad it is."