India's Caste 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.

The intense hierarchical system in India has been immensely fascinating for thousands of years. A probable theory to the beginning of the caste system is the movement of Aryan population into India from the north. The Aryan peoples conquered much of India and its ' natives causing a separation between the two populations, possibly explaining the separation between the higher castes and the “untouchables.” Additionally, the Aryan 's imposed their preexisting hierarchy on the natives thus creating the caste system. However, “According to Hindu tradition the caste system owes its origins to the four Varna.”(149. Hutton) The Varna are based on different parts of Brahma, or God, each part representing a seperate caste. Much of Hindu belief, practices, and text further the structure of the caste system, such as the idea of Dharma, and text in the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture. Though the creation of the caste system, similar to Hinduism itself, is not traceable, the caste system and its continuation can largely be contributed to the Hindu faith. From creation the Hindu faith helped perpetuate, enforce, and build the caste system through stories, texts, laws, and practices.

During the last centuries of the classical era, India and many other civilizations modified their culture while other lifestyles continued on with the way they had always been. During the periods from 300 – 600 C.E, Indian civilizations kept their political structure of the caste system and also their religion of Hinduism, but slowly departed away from long distance trade with other societies.

The first part of this paper discusses what the caste system is and will discuss the disadvantages of the caste system and how the caste system segregates its people instead of bringing them stability. The caste system really dates back to somewhere in the 2000 BC and formed its origins from the Aryans in ancient India. This system was a way to basically separated people into social classes where they would best fit them (Funk and Wagnall). The caste is divided into four Varna: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. Brahmins sit at the top of the ladder and is made up of spiritual and intellectual individuals such as priest and philosophers. A step down the ladder you will find Kshatriyas which is made up of soldiers and nobles. Under Kshatriyas you will a mix match of craftsman, farmers, and different skilled artisans which make up the Vaisyas class. At the very bottom of the caste ladder you will

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.

The Caste System has four different types of groups where the groups have different meanings and people don’t get to choose which type of group they want, because they are born into it. This system had a lot of people suffering, because they didn’t have any freedom to do what they want or be what they wanted. Brahmins belong to the highest caste. They are priests and scholars. Kshatryas are soldiers and warriors. Vaisyas are merchants and professionals. Sudras are the lowest cast. They are labors and

During ancient India, there was a caste system which is the social hierarchy and is still prevalent today. The Varna is the system that was in the Vedic society consisted of four classes: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaisyas

The second highest caste was the Kshatriyas. These were the warriors, rulers, and those concerned with the defense and administration of the village or state. Third came the Vaishyas, who were traders, merchants, and people involved in agricultural production. The lowest caste was the Shudras -- the laborers and servants for the other castes. Each caste included many sub castes divided by occupation. Below even the Shudras were the Untouchables. These people had no caste at all. They performed the most menial of jobs, such as dealing with dead bodies and cleaning toilets. Higher-caste people believed that if they touched one of the caste-less, they would be contaminated and would need to go through cleansing rituals. the caste system is not explicitly religious, although the Hindu religion has played a large part in maintaining its structure. Hinduism preaches a cycle of birth and reincarnation, in which a person's soul is reborn into a new form after death. Your actions in this life determine your fate when you are born again. If you are faithful and dutiful in this life, next time, you'll get a better lot. The caste system fits well with this belief. Lower-caste people believed that if they lived a good life, they could be reborn in a higher caste in the next. Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to Insight into the true nature of life. Buddhist practices such as meditation

Throughout our experience, we have encountered so many challenges when it comes to gender in the society. Gender is being used as a basis for stratifying people in the society. In this article, the racial caste system that used to exist in the United State is depicted. In that the black women were denied the access to justice because of their status. They were perceived to be people who do not have any right within the society and no one could believed them when they were raped by the white men because all the court judges were white men according to this article. The women were classified to be from poor background and they should remain at a low class in the society.

The caste system is a “complex system of social divisions that pervades life in India” (The Mauryan and Gupta Empires of India). The Hindu people are spread out among four different varnas and there is also a fifth group of Hindu’s called the untouchables. The four different varnas are called the Brahmins, the Kshatriya, the Vaishya and the Sudra. These four castes all have different labels to describe them. The Brahmins are the traditional priest class, the Kshatriya group is the warrior class, the Vaishya’s are the workers and the Sudras serve the three higher classes. The lowest of the low is the untouchables. It is said that they are dirty and poor from birth and they are assigned jobs to benefit the higher varnas. Each varna is divided into jati which are kinship groups with similar roles within the community and Hindu’s traditionally marry within their own

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

The caste system itself is a system of social stratification, based on two concepts, varna and jati. Varna

The different belief systems allowed for rulers to maintain power in their empires. The systems would enforce their right to rule. For example, Alexander the Great affirmed the divinity of his rule to the Egyptians when an oracle confirmed that he was the son of Zeus Amon. As the Mauryan Empire reached its peak, when Buddhism was adopted as the official religion. It was essential to maintaining imperial unity. In addition, Ashoka declared himself to be a universal monarch. Inscriptions of decrees issued by Ashoka during his reign show the use of Buddhism as a sanction for rule. For the Guptas, Hinduism allowed for there to be more powerful sanctions for the reign of the kings and the validation of the caste system. The success of the Qin dynasty

What are the four major castes? What implications does the caste system have for everyday life? How does the caste system relate to Hindu ideas of spiritual life? “The four major castes of Hindu society are; seers ( brahmins ), administrators ( kshatriyas ), artisans or farmers ( vaishyas ), and followers or servants ( shudras)”( Smith 56). Smith writes, religious leaders, teachers, artists, and philosophers are members of the first caste, brahmins, khatriyas, the second caste, first known as warriors are now managers. The tillers of the land, the makers of bricks, and the builders are part of the third caste, vaishyas. The fourth caste is made up of servants, those who will take care of the other castes’ needs (56)”. While I was working in India, summer of 2001 and there at the invitation of the richest family in India and staying at one of their compounds, some of my co-workers and I were playing snooker. A young boy walked into the room where we were playing. He stopped and talked to us for a few minutes before continuing to bed. Accompanied by a man of about twenty years old, the boy’s shudra, who had been the boy’s personal servant for ten or more years. The shudra’s purpose was to protect and serve his charge’s every need. Although there is inequality between castes, Smith denotes.“ within each caste, there is equality, opportunity, and social insurance ( 57)”. Although the text