LEARNING FROM POOR CLASS DALITS- Parattai
We all know of the creation story in the Rig veda. It starts with a golden egg being the first that came into the universe. Out of this golden egg, came the Maha Purusha, God. From the head purusha came the Brahmin caste, from the shoulders came the Kshatria caste, from the hip came the Vaishia caste and from the legs came the Sudhra caste. Thus the story tells us that God has created the caste system.
The Dalits have different creation stories. A Dalit old man, in one of the villages in Cuddalore district, told me this story. In this story, black coloured Periyayi, the mother Goddess was the first who came into existence. With her came a white crow. This crow gave Periyayi four seeds. Periyayi planted the seeds, and out of the seeds four castes emerged. The four castes people were fighting with each other.
Periyayi got angry and destroyed the four castes and the white crow. Then she conceived a golden egg from which all creation including trees, birds, animals and human kind came out. They lived happily and peacefully. Periyayi was happy and left them.
There is yet another creation story. A young boy, living in a village near Chengalpattu, told me this story. In this story there were two eggs, one made of gold and another made of mud. From the golden egg came various caste people who fought with each other. Periyayi destroyed that creation and sat on the mud egg. From that egg came all creation.
It appears that both the stories told by Dalits counter to the Rig Veda story. These two stories tell us that there is no caste system in creation. The Goddess Periyayi does not like the system because that system creates conflict. These stories also tell us that there is no inequality in creation. Plants, creepers, animals, birds and humans are brothers and sisters. Since they came out of one egg.
— Parattai.
Article courtesy: Rev. Sebastian Jones Arpudaraj Simpson.