Hinduism And The Caste System

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.

Hinduism reinforces the caste system, which is a "division of society into social classes that are created by birth or occupation" and it is a "prevalent social system of Hinduism" (Molloy 90). Thus, class and race are both elements affected by the caste system. There are different castes, or social classes, and there are also subcastes. Despite the caste being permanent for one's life, it's not to say that those in lower castes cannot move up to a higher caste. This is where the concept of rebirth comes into Hinduism, which is the idea that an individual can make certain choices in their lives, good or bad, and this can affect what caste they will be reborn into.

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

I have to respectfully disagree with Rachel Stermer’s claim that General Hooker having a greater rank then Colonel Robert Shaw represented a class bias because General Hooker received a monument more significant than that of Colonel Shaw. The Colonel could not be a victim of class bias because he himself came from one of the most prominent families in Boston, and was a member of Boston’s elite Brahmin caste: “A class representative of what Oliver Wendell Holmes had dubbed the “Brahmin caste” and its symbol of moral superiority, he came from one of the city’s wealthiest and most venerable families” (Kessler 34). Thus, since both Shaw and Hooker were members of prestigious social circles, one could not be biased towards the other because their economic status was

Imagine a life without a family, a world without the loving support and nurturing from a Mother and Father. An existence without best friends and dear loved ones. The human soul longs for relationships with substance, continuity and a sense of belonging. In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Families are non existent and close relationships are against the rules. Children are grown in bottles located in hatcheries and every stage of growth is micromanaged by the government. The embryos are chemically manipulated to stimulate or to retard their physical and mental growth. One commonly used practice was oxygen depravation, "The lower the caste," said Mr. Foster, "the shorter the oxygen." The first organ affected was the brain. After that the skeleton.

Caste-system oppression has been a staple in human culture for centuries. It hasn’t always been centered around race, but was initially centralized around a 3-teired caste system. The ideals surrounding oppression, slavery, segregation, and social injustice were created by the wealthy class centuries ago and have served a lasting influence on our culture still today. Many problems faced today aren’t a result of a war of the races, but instead a war of the classes. This idea of a fair America and the whole essence behind “the American dream” is long gone, and many blame it on our country’s adherence to capitalism and greed. Others might believe that these cards are stacked an ever-struggling third class American citizen and there is reason to

Thesis: In “A Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, the caste system they have is very, very similar to the social classes we have today. Just like how people in the United States are treated differently based on their social class, in “A Brave New World”, people are treated very different based on what social caste they are in. All over the world, and in the novel, being prejudice is not uncommon either when it comes to the different social classes. The similarities between the different social classes and castes are quite impeccable, actually.

The caste system began around 1000 B.C.E. to distinguish among the different individuals in early Aryan society, such as the warrior elite, priests, ordinary tribesmen, and conquered subjects. In the caste system there are four groups, reffered to as varna, Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. The Brahman were priests, the Kshatriya were warriors and officials, the Vaishya were merchants and artisans, and the Shudra were peasants and laborers. Those who were not included in a caste were known as outcastes. These people belonged to no caste due to them either entering this social division later than others or violating rituals and losing their caste status. The outcastes were disdained because they made a living by foul jobs such as dressing

Allison, I don’t agree with your statement that “I think it is interesting because, in America, we too have different classes of people, as well as in the world.”. As you are comparing Hinduisms caste system to American capitalism. In America, we have a lower, middle, and upper class. However, a person is not confined to any specific class in the United States. It is possible for someone from the lower class to be a part of the upper class through education or entrepreneurship. Whereas in the Hinduism caste system, the people are restricted to their class. A person that is born a Shudra could be a genius, but cannot become a doctor because of their class. The only exception of an individual leaving their caste system would be a woman.

Our text book tells us that Aryans became dominant in north India. In Sanskrit text the Indo-Aryan developed the caste and the Brahman religion. The Brahman religion developed into Hinduism. (Beck et al.) India’s caste system there is 4 caste or social levels of people. At the top there is the Bhramin which are the priests and teachers. Second is the Kshatryia which are the leaders and warriors. Third is the Vaishya which are the merchants and landowners. Fourth is the Sundra which are commoners, peasants, and servants. Not considered in the caste system is the untouchables which are the outcasts. They held the lowest valued jobs such as street sweepers, latrine cleaners, and slaughter house workers. The caste system in India forbids people from mingling with other levels of castes. What caste level you were born into you were required to stay at that level. There was no

India is a country full of mysteries and differences. It has a long history, a profound yet unique culture, with diversified nationalities, races, religions, languages and a huge population. The pursuit of secularism and inveteracy of sectarianism have brought huge influence to the Indian society. As the mainstream culture in India, Hinduism plays an important role in the Indian society and has dominated almost 2000 years of its history. Although in the following years since, the Indian culture gradually becomes a combination of different races, religions and languages, Hinduism still remains to be the key to dig into the development of the culture and society of India.

within our nation’s borders, including poor whites, who are often pitted against poor people of color, the collapse of mass incarceration will not mean the death of racial caste in America. Inevitably a new system of racialized social control will emerge … No task is more urgent for racial justice today than ensuring thatAmerica’s current racial caste system is its

In Virulent, the lab is set aside, two thousand feet below the Earth’s surface. There, the manipulation of a virus takes place (2) “We’ve been pleased, yes. It appears that our initial projections were not far from reality.” “Incubation period?” . . . “Our observations seem to put it anywhere between twenty-four hours and six days. The average around thirty-six hours after exposure” (7; Prologue). The two worlds in novels written 81 years apart resemble similar settings and tone, however the age gap is evident in the choice of words and technology described.

Within Buddhism it throw-outs the caste system that Hinduism believes in. Buddhism offers a vision of salvation based on individual effort. Also it was unusual in the eyes of Hinduism but Buddhism started to spread its teaching by sending out missionaries into neighboring Asian countries. Within Buddhism it is taught according to Hopfe that “any person of any caste or sex could find the same enlightenment he knew,” signifying an equality it seems among social class. Also Buddhism shows according to Hopfe that “women as well as men could achieve enlightenment,” so it also show the equality among sex within this

You must be married, perhaps with children. I know it has been forty years. I tried over the years to contact you. Perhaps the phone would have been the simplest. I was so grateful that we meet. You were so nice. You were my first girlfriend. In high school, I was not involved with any girls. I do not know how many families would have taken me in. It was regrettable that your sister in law wanted to file R charges against me. This is why? And your mother wanted you to date other guys. This is never good…mother’s knows best, Perhaps I misinterpreted the situation. My guess I should not have said what I said. Unfortunately, we are in a caste system, mostly based on status and money. Finish college and you will be rewarded known as the reward system. I was there. Unfortunately, I could not get financial aid. Perhaps there are others factors such as love and spirit, to be in the flow is more real, maybe something, more tangible as a higher purpose.