We Can Not Live Without A Culture

The caste system has five parts to it, as you learned in the paragraph before. The highest class, the Brahmins, include rulers and priests. The second class is the Kshatriyas, and the people in that class are the warriors and nobles. The Vaisyas, the third class, are the bankers, merchants, and farmers. The fourth class are the Sudra and the people are artisans and laborers. Last,

Over a million people continue to suffer discrimination, degrading treatment, and violence because of caste association. The caste system is based on structural inequalities between high and low cast untouchables involving social isolation and exclusion from participation in social, political, and economic developments of society.Dr. Susan Bayly, an expert in the field, defines caste as not the

Hindus were divided by their social status, called the caste system. This made Hindus fall under one of the varnas such as Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra and the Untouchables (Strayer, 150-168). Priests and teachers were classified as Brahmins, warriors and kings were Kshatriya, merchants and landowners were known as Vaishya, peasants and serfs were classified as Shudras, and those that didn’t have a place on the caste system were defined as the untouchables because they had no social status. Hindus were unable to change their position in the caste system, until after reincarnation (Strayer, 150-168). There are scriptures such as the sacred text, The Vedas, and it leads to the fact that Brahmins empowered and dominated the top of the caste system and played specific roles in the religious lives of the people even from the start of India’s influence. Hindus became adjusted with these scared texts and grew used to it. They learned to follow religious values and traditions to have a better after life.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being

People are born into the caste of their parents and are not allowed to cross into another one. They are also expected to marry in the same caste. The unequal distribution of money, influence, pain and suffering are seen as a natural consequence for ones previous actions, both in this life and in previous lives. Hindus can be reborn at a higher level through pure acts, good thoughts and devotion. They can also be reborn at a lower level through bad deeds. It is even possible to be reborn as an animal. Arizona State University (2004) lists the five social castes. They are: Brahmins (priests and academics); Kshatriyas (military); Vaishyas (farmers and merchants); Sudras (peasants and servants); and Harijan (outcasts or untouchables).

The caste system was often used to maintain order and provided guidance for the citizen’s role in society. It also adapted to the newly arrived migrants like Turks, and Muslim merchants and established codes for behavioral to others and those in the same class. However, as merchants and manufacturers became influential in the economic state, powerful guilds grouped themselves by working within the caste system, and established themselves as jatis (“sub-castes”), specializing themselves in different types of commerce like silk, cotton, spice trade production. Although, Hinduism was embraced in southeastern area of Asia, ruling elites in Southeast Asia showed no interest in the social class of

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.

Firstly, the caste system reflects the inequality of Indian society. Although religion in India is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, majority of Indian population follow Hinduism. Therefore, the dominance of Hinduism beliefs is common in India. There is a belief in caste system, as Brood said, “a system of hierarchical social organization”1. Hindu society is divided into four main classes; the priestly class, the warrior and administrator class, the producer class who is farmers and merchants and the servant class. The remaining group of people who is “outcastes” is called “untouchables” or dalit. Brodd recognizes “dalits continue to suffer terrible oppression, especially in rural communities in India”. I still could not imagine how terrible this bottom class suffers until reading Max Bearak article. All sufferings of Rohith Vemula, from the hardships of growing up poor, interactions with society in caste to scholarship revoke and suicide, happened tragically because he was born in a dalit family. This is the

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

People are often misplaced, having to adapt to new languages, culture, and ways of life. Culture can give bring people together as much as it tears people apart. With constantly changing cultures, people can learn and grow from others’ lifestyles, “… they are always changing…” ( Beyond Intractability). Culture can alleviate conflict by bringing people together and can help people of other cultures understand each other better and differences can be celebrated instead of conflicting.

Vedic society was divided into four different classes, Brahmans, nobles, commoners and the serfs. These classes are part of the cosmic hierarchy and were based on purity. This gave way to the caste systems. Castes are arranged in the following order of the polarity of purity; Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and the shudras. With a fifth group called the untouchables at the very bottom. They are the untouchables because they are the most impure. The caste of an individual cannot be removed. Each caste has strict rules on caste endogamy.

The Indus River Valley civilization society was based around a social hierarchy, which was divided into groups based upon occupations. The highest group of the social hierarchy was the Brahmins, or also known as priests. The second highest group of the hierarchy was the Kshatriyas, or warriors. The third group were called the Vaisyas, which consisted of the herders, farmers, artisans, and merchants. The fourth group consisted of people who had little or no Aryan heritage called the Sudras, they consisted of farm workers, servants, and other laborers. The lowest group of the social hierarchy was the dalits, they did work no one else wanted to do. Their social class determined who they could marry, what kind of education they could get, where they could live, and what jobs they could get.

groups. It is a system inspired by Hindu scriptures in what the leaders wanted to create a society where jobs and functions were assigned to specific classes. These classes include the highest class, Brahmin made of those who are priests and educated individuals, Kshatriyas otherwise known as the warrior caste, Vaishya this was the trade and commerce class, Shudras, unskilled laborers; the agricultural or manual labor class. This class also includes all others who do not fit into any of the other classes but not to include the “untouchables”. The untouchables are not a caste class they are the rock-bottom of social order. The untouchables or Dalit, are those who are assigned and are forced into occupations that are unclean, defiling or are not members of the caste system, the lowest of the low. It is a handicap to be an untouchable in the eyes of

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

are seen as impressive and superior figures, the Sahibs, but they do not discriminate based on caste. It is because of this that the Untouchables often try to mimic the British colonizers in actions, language and clothing.