The Ramayana’s Shambuka myth justifies killing Shudras who seek spiritual advancement

Evidence

The story of Shambuka is told in the seventh book, Uttarakanda, of the Valmiki Ramayana. Shambuka wants to achieve a higher status than the suras (devtas, gods) through meditation and austerities. On discovering that Shambuka, a Shudra, was indeed meditating, Rama promptly beheads him to restore varnasharma dharma. The story has been used by the Dravidian movement and in anticaste literature to ridicule the idea of Rama as the embodiment of perfection. Kuvempu (Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa) (1904–94), a Jnanpith-winning Kannada author wrote Sudra Tapasvi (1944), a novel based on Shambuka’s life. Sikhamani, a contemporary Telugu Dalit poet, writes: “The sword that severed/ Shambuka’s head could remain/ sharp and safe for centuries./ It has just changed hands/and no longer recognises you./ No Manu to save you now!” — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1118