Social Class And India 's Social System

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

In Hinduism karma and reincarnation are two meaningful major elements. Karma is a concept that the universe will return your good or bad actions back to you. You will find with certain actions you make, you feel good and others around you feel good. When remembering karma think about mental and physical actions that you would make. In the Hindu religion the soul reincarnates itself over and over until it becomes perfect.

The caste system refers to Indian social order which is based on ancestry. The main social classes, “varna”, had priests at the top and peasants at the bottom. It developed due to increasing social complexity from intermingling with Dravidians.

Do good deeds to get good karma until you break the samsara or cycle of reincarnation and reach enlightenment

Since India allows people to live freely, some people are very successful, some get by modestly, and others live in poverty. These three levels make up India’s cast system. Just like India the United States has an upper class, middle class, and lower class. Each class is based off of income level and quality of living.

The priest “performs vedic rituals and acts as a counselor,” the warrior noble “has the role of protecting society,” and the merchant “includes landowners, moneylenders, and sometimes artisans (Molloy 91). The males within these three upper caste systems are considered twice born. This is where gender plays a role within the caste system as well. The peasant “does manual labor and is expected to serve the higher castes,” while the untouchable is the lowest caste system and is expected to do the lowest work, such as “cleaning toilets, sweeping streets, collecting animal carcasses, and tanning animal hides” (Molloy 91). Thus, it is evident that these two lower caste systems

Many of the core beliefs of Hinduism have evolved over time, with some becoming increasingly clearer, and others going from merely an idea into full-fledged beliefs. Karma, Dharma, and the theory of Samsara and moksha are the core beliefs that almost all who define themselves as a practicer of Hinduism would accept. The belief of karma started out in the Early Vedic period merely as “ritualistic action or labor”. It transformed into a “moral law” that incorporated the idea that all actions have fruits, whether good or bad. “Action, which springs from the mind, from speech, and from the body, produces either good or evil results”. This concept of a "law of karma" where good actions yield good results, and bad in bad, extends from the Vedic idea of consequential action from the confines of the ritual to everyday life.

Karma is the connotation of causality that past actions influence future events. This is the same for both Buddhism and Hinduism. Both also believe in an endless cycle of births known as endless cycle of births, known as samsara. and release from this cycle of rebirths.

Your social status in America is defined by your income, Although that is not how it works all around the world. For example, in ancient Japan, a merchant (they win a lot of money depending on what they sale) were considered the lowest class because they didn’t grow the commodities they sold. But a samurai was somewhere in the middle class because they were soldiers that followed the honor code.

Although the caste system was a social structure, it helped stabilize India’s political foundation. Based on the citizen’s profession, the caste defined their social standing. This system contained 5 main levels; the Brahmans were the priest, highest of the caste, they ruled and ordered by telling the lower castes what to do, helping to govern the region with their significant knowledge of their religion. Next came the Kshatriya who were the

Karma is whatever action you do has consequences whether they are good or bad. Karma is in everyday life whether it be a robber a getting arrested for robbing a bank to for somebody receiving money for helping an old lady with some task. Karma was seen wildly throughout the book The Ramayana in each of the character in the book. In this paper we will examine how karma played a role in each of these characters

- Karma, samsara and nirvana fall under the religion of Hinduism. When all of our actions bring consequences, either in this life or the next is referred as karma. Samsara means the cycle of birth and death. Us humans are basically good, but are caught up in a cycle of pure desire and also of suffering that is a direct result of ignorance and of the go. Nirvana is another word to describe the permanent liberation from life. It is a liberation from the cycle of samsara, in which we cease to exist and become one with the universe.

Another key concept of Hinduism is that every individual is responsible for his or her own solution. This idea is mainly connected with the terms Karma and Dharma. Karma is this principle where actions of an individual influence the future of that individual. Karma is what feeds samsara, or your rebirth. If you have karma, good or bad, that is unresolved when you die you will be reborn again. As said before, the main purpose of life on earth for Hindu’s is to break this cycle of time and receive moksha, so every individual is responsible for taking care of his or her own karma. Dharma works oppositely, as it only brings you closer moksha faster. Dharma is one’s duty or course of conduct. Following your dharma without any personal agenda will bring you closer to your purpose in life.

Social class is a division of a society based on social and economic status which can include levels of wealth, success, power of authority, and influence. Status is can be defined or grouped having common economic, cultural, or political interests.

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.