Disadvantages Of Caste System Essay

The Caste system has aroused much controversy than any other feature of India’s society. Every day, Dalits are butchered, assaulted, abused, raped, lynched, shot or openly mutilated without considering any consequences of the offenders. The deaths of pregnant women who are not able to pay the bribes at government hospitals, some boys with eyes raised completely out for falling in love with a girl of a superior caste, and horrid stories of employees boiled to death because of spewing out arguments with the boss are continuously reported in mainstream newspapers. After years of democracy, the social structure stands to practice the caste system disregarding abolishment laws. Every international or national effort to abolish caste differentiation and segregation has been proven ineffective. The caste system of India is a deeply inculcated social problem requiring immense commitment domestically and internationally in understanding what has stopped the measures to get rid of this ancient system and what measures are needed to complete elimination of the system.

In Vedic India, the elites were the ones that maintained all of the power, they controlled the social structure. They controlled the government, created laws, and most importantly they had the power of faith and culture. The elites were made up of the class known as Brahmins which are the priest class. In order to maintain high status, the Brahmins made it peoples duty to forbid any one to marry someone outside of their cast in order to prevent what they consider

As in China, another dominant developing classical civilization, India, (300 B.C.-A.D. 500) focused greatly on philosophy and religious progress. Implanted within Indian divine belief systems, social status dictated all. The caste system, provided order and stability in India. Based out of Hinduism, the caste system clearly determined social status between five different divisions. The top of the caste were Brahmins (priests), followed by the Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaisyas (merchants), underneath merchants were Shudras (peasants and laborers), and the lowest rank were Pariahs (untouchables). Hinduism and Buddhism, the two dominating religions in India share many of the same concepts, as well as some distinct differences. These two religions

The ultimate aim of human society of that age was the achievement of absolute (Brahma) which he himself is, and it was recognized that the entire visible world in fully pervaded with the absolute. The popular belief in India is that gaining knowledge will also lead to salvation.

India’s caste system originated when the Aryans arrived. The Aryans had a social system where the warriors and priests where the ones with power. When these people encountered the farming society of India, the Aryans assumed power over the darker skinned Indians. The Indian people were then oppressed and forced to do the lower, less desirable jobs. This created the basis of the caste system. The idea of different jobs based on economic functions created an upper and lower caste. Throughout history, the caste system has stayed in place and impacted citizens of India today despite the eradication of law that enabled the caste system. Hinduism has played a large factor in the strengthening of the caste and is one of the reasons of the

In Hinduism there are 330 million gods. 330 million is a mighty vast number. The distance from Earth to Jupiter, at their closest point, is 365 million miles. That’s almost one god for every mile between Earth and Jupiter. A 5-pound broiler chicken’s feather is about 0.0082 grams. 330 million chicken feathers would weigh about 2.71 metric tons, that’s the same as a blue whale’s tongue. Things like those are why I enjoy studying about different religions. Three areas of Hinduism that I’ll be focusing in this essay are caste system, genders and the Om.

Religion is one of the most effective ways to have a positive impact on complex societies, whether it is obeying a religious figure, or following a set of rules. This is seen to be true in the Mesopotamian literature of the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, the Egyptian text of ‘Negative Confessions’, and the Indian passage of Ashoka’s “Pillar Edicts”, where religion is the central theme throughout these documents. Even though, these documents have many differences, including time, place, and overall objective, there is one main similarity between them all. Religion made these societies stronger, by providing a strong moral code, that includes how to live a successful life in that community. Show

In the ancient world, hierarchy and equality were put in place depending on the tradition, view, and interest of the community. In some communities, individuals were grouped in hierarchical order from top to bottom either in leadership, religion or life in general. Orders and instructions were therefore passed from top members of the hierarchy to the subject. Implementation of hierarchy determined equality in the society. For instance, the top-ranked member of the hierarchy was determined as superior to the other individuals below him. The order of equality continued with subsequent levels of the hierarchy. Equality was looked at regarding gender, class, ethnic groups or religion. Looking at three different books/excerpts. The book of Job, The Meditations, and pertaining to Sufism (Islamic mysticism) a comparative historical analysis is shown on hierarchy and equality in the ancient world.

religion, but also one of the oldest. People who devote their lives to or follow this religion

The caste system and Hinduism have been heavily intertwined since the beginning of Hinduism in 1500 BCE with the Vedic period (Molloy, 80). So much so, that even after hundreds of years the very same structure persisted into the Upanishadic period of Hinduism. The system was based on four castes (varna): The priest (brahmin), the warrior (kshatriya, rajanya), the merchant (vaishya), and the peasant (shudra). The untouchables (dalits) were ostracized from the caste system, as they are considered too impure to partake in the social hierarchy of the higher castes. Two prominent figures tried to help the Dalits at different points in history: Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar. They both had different solutions to help the Dalits escape the

As the caste system evolved, some castes started to be around each other more often; although upper classes started to see their similarities, that does not mean that these classes still did not judge the lower class people. Most Hindu people live in India so when they are born into a caste they can not change the one that they were born into even as they grow older. The Hindu people make up a majority of the caste system so they could easily be in a higher or lower class which would mean some good and some bad benefits. Even though people in the lower classes were still not treated equally, the two higher classes started to get along and became friends. “There was more sharing between members of the middle and upper castes, but those in the

The first group of the caste system, the seers, were the spiritual leaders, but not the political ones. One of the jobs seen in the seer group was to guide and assist those in power, but

Hinduism is one of many religions practiced in the world. According to an article focused on the background and beliefs of Asian religions, Hinduism is a religion “developed over many centuries from a variety of sources: cultural practices, sacred texts, and philosophical movements, as well as local popular beliefs,” (“Beliefs Made Visible” 4). A system assigned by birth and social class is well known and used in this religion, otherwise known as a Caste System. In their respective groups, individuals will be born into these groups and must stay in their separate group until their death (“The Caste System” 1). It is divided into four categories: Brahmin (priests, scholars), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders) and Shudra (laborers), (“Hindu Caste System” 1).

In old Hindu society your caste and assigned duty was the most important aspect of your life. No matter what caste someone was in, fulfilling their dharmas, or duties, that they were assigned to was their priority. These duties were innate, meaning that were inborn, or natural. These dharmas played a role in social order; everyone in the four castes had a role to play. Manu, the creator god, made “separate innate activities for those born” from him, in order to “protect this [his] whole creation” (40, 87). Brahmins were priests and were at the top of the caste system. Priests’ innate activities were to teach, learn, sacrifice for themselves and others, and giving as well as receiving (40, 88). If they did not perform these duties they were no longer considered priests. Even if someone performed their duty “without any good qualities” (43, 97), it was better than performing someone else's innate activity greatly. If someone were to do the duties of another caste, they would fall from their own caste immediately. For example, a priest would not be able to live as a priest performing the duties of a shudra, or a servant.

One important element of the caste system is the concept of “begar”, or the requirement of Dalits to provide service without payment. Traditionally, this entailed undertaking the most undesirable jobs as a contribution to the community, a category that includes agricultural work. As a cultural norm, “begar” has endured into modern times, and is often exploited by landowners as a means of sanctioning a system of debt bondage. The fact that Dalits are typically landless means that they are oftentimes entirely dependent upon their landlords economically. This is particularly true of the indigenous Tharu communities in western Nepal, where most of that country’s rice is grown. Within the exploitative debt labor system known as Kamaiya, Tharu families depend upon their landlords for even the most basic food and shelter. Their position at the bottom of the caste system and their complete economic dependence upon landowners make Dalits particularly prone to exploitation. Often they are forced to accept loans from their employers to survive and to meet social obligations associated with death and marriage. These loans are designed to be impossible to pay back, and because Dalits are traditionally denied education, they are left with little recourse but to accept the loans and become indebted to their landlords. Just as one’s position in the caste social hierarchy is inherited, so debts are passed from one generation to the next. Debt bondage in South Asia is implemented with varying