Evolution and the 4 Ages of Society

Primitive humans had no society. Their whole set-up was individualistic.

Even the concept of family was absent. Life was brute and non-intellectual.

Nature was the direct abode and physical strength ruled the day. The strong enjoyed at the cost of the weak, who had to surrender before the voracity of the physical giants.

However, the sense of acquisition had not developed in them, and they worked manually, and there was no intellectual exploitation in that age. Though life was brute, it was not brutal.

Shudras

Shúdras are those who live by manual work or service. This primary stage of nature’s brute laws is the Shúdra Age because all were manual workers.

The reliance on physical power gradually led a chosen few to lead the rest by physical strength. They were the leaders of the shúdras.

Simultaneously, the family developed.

Kśatriyas

The physical leadership, once based upon the superiority of muscles, passed on from the father to the son or from the mother to the daughter. This is:

• partly due to the momentum of fear and power commanded
• partly because of superiority of animalic breed.

Superior strength requires the assistance of other superior strengths in the neighbourhood for all to maintain their status. Generally such superior neighbours belonged to the same parenthood or were related through matrimonial ties.

Gradually the leaders by physical might started a well-knit group. Ultimately this led to a class called the kśatriyas.

The Kśatriya Age was the time when the power to rule, or supremacy in arms, was the only material factor that mattered. The leaders of the Kśatriya Age were Herculean, huge giants who depended on the supremacy of personal valour and might, making little or no use of intellect.

Vipras

The physical and psychic clash in the kśatriya-dominated society led to the development of intellect and skill. Even the physical giant had to sit and learn the use of arms and strategy from physically-common teachers.

Subsequently, this learning was extended to battle-craft, medicine and forms of organization and administration, so essential for ruling any society.

Thus, the dependence on superior intellect increased day by day. In time, real power passed into the hands of intellectuals who performed no labour themselves. They became parasites by exploiting the energy put in by others in society.

This age of domination by intellectual parasites can be called the Vipra Age.

It is more difficult for the vipras to maintain a hereditary superiority of intellect.

To maintain power amongst the limited few, they actively prevented others from acquiring intellect by:

• imposing superstitions and rituals, faiths and beliefs
• introducing irrational ideas through an appeal to the sentiments of the masses
  • the caste system of Hindu society is an example.

This was the phase of human society in the Middle Ages in most of the world.

Vaeshyas

The continued exploitation led to inequality.

• It led to the hoarding and transfer of consumable goods.
• In the case of clan conflicts, the resources of one community or class versus another gained importance.

This was confined to:

• the producers
• the logistics

These people became known as vaeshyas. Ingenuity and mass-production began to enjoy importance until this aspect of life became the most important factor.

These vaeshyas began to enjoy supremacy in the Age of Vaeshyas.

Individualistic or laissez-faire sense develops into capitalism when the means of production pass into the hands of a few who are more interested in personal exploitation.

At this stage, the instinct of acquisition has developed tremendously.

The thirst for acquisition instigated them to develop the psychology of complete exploitation of the human race. This resulted in a class by itself.

In the race for greed and acquisition, not all could survive. Only a few remained to dominate the society in general and the economic set-up in particular by their capital.

The great majority were either duped into believing that they would be allowed to share such resources, or were neglected and left uncared-for due to the lack of strength. And so they did not survive the race.

Such people in society ultimately become the exploited slaves of the capitalists.

• They are slaves because they have no option other than to serve the capitalists as labourers to earn the means of subsistence.

The psychology of society is essentially dynamic.

• The mind itself exists as a result of constant clash.

This age of capitalism is when the majority of society turns into such shudras. This leads to dejection and dissatisfaction on a large scale because of an internal clash in the mind.

These conditions are necessary and sufficient for labourers, whether manual or mental, to organize and stand up against the unnatural impositions in life. This may be termed “shúdra revolution”.

The leaders of this revolution are physically and mentally better-equipped and more capable of overthrowing the capitalistic structure by force.

In other words, they are also kśatriyas. So, after a period of chaos and catastrophe, once more the same cycle – Shúdra Age to Kśatriya to Vipra, and so on – recommences.(1)

Evolution and Counter-evolution

In this cycle of civilization, one age changes into another.

This gradual change should be called “evolution” or kránti. The period of transition from one age to another is “yuga saḿkránti” – “transitional age”.

One complete cycle from the Shúdra Age evolving through the other [three] ages is called parikránti.(2)

Sometimes the social cycle (samája cakra) is reversed by the application of physical or psychic force by a group of people inspired by a negative theory.

Such a change is, therefore, counter-evolution – that is, against the cycle of civilization. This may be called vikránti.

But if this reversal of the social cycle takes place, due to political pressure or any other brute force, within a short span of time, the change thus brought about is prativiplava, or “counter-revolution”.

It is just like the negative pratisaiṋcara of Brahma Cakra.

Thus, the progress of civilization can be represented:

• as points of position, and
• as the speed of approaching the Macrocosmic Nucleus , respectively, by a collective body in Brahma Cakra.

The world is a transitory phase within the Cosmic Mind. It is in eternal motion. Such a motion is the law of nature and the law of life.

Stagnancy means death. Hence no power can check the social cycle of evolution.

Any force, external or internal, can only retard or accelerate the speed of transition, but cannot prevent it from moving.

Therefore, progressive humanity should cast off all skeletons of the past. Human beings should go on accelerating the speed of progress for the good of humanity in general.