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The people of North India also need not take this north/south division as something
fundamental. It is not a racial difference that makes the skin of south Indians darker but
merely the effect of climate. Any racial group living in the tropics for some centuries or
millennia would eventually turn dark.
And whatever
color a person's skin may be has nothing to do with their true nature according to the
Vedas that see the same Self or Atman in all.
Nor is it necessary to turn various Vedic Gods into Dravidian Gods to give the Dravidians
equality with the so called Aryans in terms of the numbers or antiquity of their Gods.
This only gives credence to what is a superficial distinction in the first place. What is
necessary is to assert what is truly Aryan in the culture of India, North or South, which
is high on spiritual values in character and action. These occur not only in the Vedas but
also the Agamas and other scriptures of the greater tradition.
The Aryans and Dravidians are part of the same culture and we need not speak of them as
separate. Dividing them and placing them at odds with each other serves the interests of
neither but only damages their common culture (which is what those who propound these
ideas are often seeking). It is time, therefore, to look beyond the Aryan-Dravidian
difference, which is much smaller than believed, and look to the greater commonality of
Hindu culture.
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