2009007a_anubhavnanda

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Imagining India

Caste System Athreat to HinduismTERM PAPER

ANUBHAV NANDA

2009-007A27/10/2009


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Caste system- a threat to Hinduism

In the Vedic age, the caste system was more flexible than it is today. During the Vedic age

priesthood had no privileged order. The word vaishya denoted the whole community, it wasnot specific to profession or lineage. The caste system prevalent then was rudimentary and a

persons caste depended on his profession and not upon birth, this is evident from the hymns

of the Rigveda.

The emergence of caste system as a social reality during the Vedic period can be linked to

numerous reasons. Its development can be credited to the social compulsions of that time. For

the Vedic people caste system was a means to unite the multiracial society into one complex

system.

The later Vedic age saw the caste system being justified in the name of religion by those in

power and authority. The main aim during that era was to increase the dominance of the

priestly class and reduce competition to the ruling class in matters of political dominance.

This was accomplished in many ways. Firstly, the concept behind the word Brahmin and

the hidden meaning was changed with the social requirements of the changing times. The

word 'Brahmin' or Brahman' depicted a person who understood Brahman, the one who was

one with Brahman or the universe, the highest God, or the one who had the knowledge of

Brahman. Later on this word was used to denote a person who was born in a brahmin family

or to a brahmin father.

Secondly,the tradition of passing of the Vedic knowledge from one generation to another

through oral means, made sure there was enough scope for manipulation of the vedic

mantras. This resulted in the addition of some new verses, which were deliberately added into

the early vedic scriptures to justify the system and ensure the supremacy of the higher castes.

The earliest reference of caste system in vedic society is in the purusha sukta of the

Rigveda. This verse must be an addition to the Rigveda later, as there is no mention about

caste anywhere else in the scripture. The scripture must have been manipulated to provide

religious justification for the perpetuation of the caste system.

This is equally evident in case of the Bhagavad-Gita, where references to the caste system are

completely out of context. To understand the truth we need to look at such verses in the


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context of the fact that Krishna himself was neither a brahmin nor a kshatriya, but belonged

to the cowherd community near the present day Mathura.

The little chance that was for the caste system to remain plastic was sealed with the

emergence of Manu smriti. Manu smriti was one of the greatest books of social and religious

laws ever written in the ancient history of man, it dealt elaborately upon each and every

aspect of human conduct and religious life. There was an unflinching emphasis on dharma

and varna system. The supremacy of the priestly class was firmly established and they were

given an unquestionable right to perform all religious rites.

Todays caste system is far more complex than the original caste system. It contains not just

the four divisions but hundreds and thousands of castes and sub castes. Thus it become very

difficult to state how the modern day caste system took shape on the Indian soil. One theory

could be the many foreign invasions and constant inflow of new races and new tribes must

have prompted the priestly class to change the laws here and there and admit new people into

the system in various guises. The greeks, huns, sakas, kushanas, and many others came to

India either as traders or as rulers. They were accepted into the system so smoothly and

seamlessly that today it is impossible to know which castes these races merged finally.

Irrespective of the the truth, though initially the caste system was instrumental in stabilizingthe society, later on it weakened the society by eroding its unity. The lower castes had no

privileges and had to perform subordinate duties under higher castes, the system became

highly unfair to a vast majority of the lower castes. The result was their alienation from the

rest of the society and made them apathetic and indifferent to the events of their times.

Their social advancement or economic independence had no scope, and they were forever

under bondage. They were made to suffer from various kinds of social disabilities, and were

forced into being the third or the fourth class citizens of hindu society. Their dignity was

crushed and their status was comparable to that of animals. They were referred to the 'once

born' in contrast to the 'twice born'.

These lower caste people thus cared very less about who ruled them and who did not. They

were least interested in knowing who won or lost, or who conquered them or not. Little did it

matter to them as to who was the ruler and what were his vices and virtues, as long as they

were obedient to the state laws and paid their taxes or did their duties sincerely their lives


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were safe. It did not even matter as to what religion the king practiced or advocated. The

kings were hardly benevolent or tolerant. Most often failure to pay taxes meant instant death.

These unfortunate people, pushed down to the lowest social status, and constantly oppressed

by the political system, left out by the religion which secluded them, they worshipped

whatever their understanding told them. Nature worship took prominence, trees, rivers,

ghosts, demons and the various village deities were their gods and godesses.

Buddhism too did not give them any relief. It was a religion for the strong minded as it

demanded very high amount of inner purity and observation of the eightfold path. This path

was difficult to practice even by the higher sections of the society.

The rulers in turn paid little attention to them. They did not matter at all in the matters of state

priorities. The rulers were never bothered about their welfare. According to scriptures these

people were already condemned by the laws of karma. As a consequence of their previous

bad actions they had to suffer and lead miserable lives. If that was true, why should a mortal

king try to improve their condition? The rulers were so preoccupied with their own problems

of governance and survival, along with the palace intrigues and court politics, they had little

or no time to venture out and interact with the less privileged groups.

It was the kings responsibility to be concerned with the welfare of his subjects, with a few

exceptions here and there, it is impossible to believe that the kings of ancient India ever

bothered to consider the lower castes of his kingdom as his important subjects.

Most of the ancient rulers of India came from lower castes and were not Brahmins and

kshatriya. Many seers and saints also came from the lower castes. In spite of this none of the

rulers seemed to have worked for the upliftment of the lower castes. The Mauryan emperor

Asoka after converting to Buddhism must have encouraged many to follow him. Though

there is no evidence that suggests that he was worked for the upliftment of lower castes or

that he worked for their specific welfare.

Oppression and cruelty against the downtrodden was prevalent in the olden ages too. War

was decided by the rulers and the people had to provide food, cattle and provisions to the

marching army. This would have put a lot of strain on their meagre resources. Training in war

craft and self defence was never imparted to the villagers. If the army lost the battle the

masses had no option but to meekly accept the new ruler and paid their taxes.


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It would be unfair to generalize Hindu society on a particular issue as it Hinduism was made

of diverse groups and communities even in ancient times. But the caste system can definitely

be considered as the bane of Hindu society, right from the earliest of times. The sole reason

for the division and weakening of the society can be attributed to the caste system. It

alienated the people and gave foreign invasions a very soft target. The destruction was on a

scale unprecedented in the history of the world.

However the situation in south India was slightly different. In south India the caste system

did not draw as sharp lines as it drew in north India. It could be one of the reasons why the

south remained immune from foreign invasions and invasions from the native rulers of the

north. None of the north Indian rulers could conquer south India the way they did north India.

Ashoka barely managed to enter south. Samudra Gupta Maurya had a successful campaign in

the south and also defeated some local rulers, but his victory was short lived and very

concentrated. While the rulers of the north never tried to cross the frontiers and conquer the

faraway lands, the south Indian rulers established new kingdoms in faraway lands like

Cambodia and Thailand with the help of their sea farers and fishermen.

Life was no different during the Muslim or the Mughal rule and the same trend continued.

The south remained untouched from the Muslim rule. The Muslim invasion of the southern

provinces was very limited. Thus today we see most of the famous temples of south India

were prevented from destruction in their hands. In strange contrast, a few temples were also

constructed during their rule like the Sri Ram temple on the banks of river Godavari at

Bhadrachalam in Andhrapradesh.

The experience from the past must serve as a learning for all Hindus. For Hinduism to

survive as one of the major religions of the world, the caste system must go. It must be

removed from its present condemnable form, and its monstrous roots and manifestations must

be done away with.

The caste system must yield place to a new society that is based upon the principles of

equality and fraternity, where the status of an individual is determined not on the basis of his

caste, but on the basis of his achievements and his character. The Hindus must learn to treat

each individual with dignity and self respect and learn from their Christian and Muslim

friends a few things about charity and brotherhood.


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Conclusion

The caste system might have served its purpose in ancient times, but does not fit into the

values and principles of modern times, such as democracy, fundamental rights, individual

freedom, equality and non-discrimination. It does not uphold the values of modern Hinduism

either, such as tolerance and universal brotherhood. It does not validate the concept that all

life is a sacred expression of divine will and energy.

Scholars tend to rationalize the caste system by quoting the Purushasukta and the

Bhagavadgita. They ignore the fact that these verses contradict the very core values of

Hinduism emphasized in the same texts and present a world view that is a negation of

Hinduism. If caste system is allowed to prevail, it would do a much greater damage to

Hinduism than any other disruptive force we can imagine. We have already seen its negative

impact. If Hinduism lost millions of its followers to other religions and continues to lose so, it

is because the lower castes were pushed to the wall and made to feel bad about themselves. It

is time we consign the ancient law books such as Manusmriti to the dustbins of history and

move forward to establish an egalitarian society based upon firm ethical and spiritual

foundation upon which Hinduism can brace itself to meet the challenges of the coming times

and appeal to the inquisitive and advanced minds of the future generations.

2009007a_anubhavnanda

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