Hinduism: The Caste System

The Caste system is a description of the way the people in the Hindu society were divided on the basis of their talents and the corresponding vocations (Sarma); it was once supposedly devised to bring order, discipline and specialization. It “lays down social, moral and ethical precepts for the guidance of the people and formulates rules for observance of rites and ceremonies; it is absolutely binding on Hindus”. (Walker 27) It typifies social conditions. (Klass 188). It however had a profound influence on the social life of the Hindus for over ages; a few examples of its negative influences on some sections of the society are oppression, ‘untouchability’ and denial of entry into religious places. While all those benefited by it sing its praises, those put to disadvantage curse it utterly. In other words, lower castes detest it with vengeance. (Walker 29)

This paper examines the origin of the caste system, its features and its status as of now. In other words, the social forces that introduced this system are traced; its characteristics are enumerated. Besides, the present status of the system which underwent changes over ages as any institution does will be described.

An ancient Hindu sage called Manu (called the law-giver) is the supposed author of a famous code of Hindu law and jurisprudence. (Walker 27). He, according to Sivananda, who lived 30 million years ago during the age of mental purity (age of truth) is said to have laid down this caste system in his code of laws called manu-smriti, the first of the three such codes, for the purpose of allotting duties to the persons in the society in correspondence with their abilities and aspirations. Manu dictated 100000 verses but now it stands abridged into 2685 verses divided into 12 books. (Walker 28) The code was inviolable. A famous Vedic verse declares, “All that Manu said is medicine”. The chief design of code seems to have been to give divine sanction to the institution of caste, to make caste supreme in India…. (Walker 28) At a time when the society was in its initial phase of civilization and the people were living as tribes or clans, a system was needed to allot work to each individual so that the society’s needs were fulfilled. The goods and services were bartered among the castes. It was rather an ancient model of the recent self-sufficiency economical system.(Sarma) As ages passed by, the allotted work became a vocation or a profession in a straight jacket fashion and the generations started inheriting those vocations no matter what one’s inborn skills were and how different they were from those of his forefathers. To make matters worse, each profession or vocation varied in the level of esteem it commanded from the society; persons of castes such as Brahman and Ksatriya were held in high esteem while those of Sudra caste were given low esteem. Manu says, “When a Brahmin is born, he springs to light above the world; he is the chief of all the creatures, entitled by eminence of birth to the wealth of the world.” (Walker 28). This kind of sanction deprived the lower castes of equal treatment by the society. As a consequence, the respect that each caste commanded from the society had automatically arranged them in a hierarchy. It means that a society which was once divided horizontally turned into a vertically divided society - of hierarchy. The system, either at the instance of upper castes or something else, perpetuated itself into the present day society, no matter how talented the persons belonging to lower castes are and how poorly talented the persons belonging to the upper castes are.

A discussion on the constituents of the caste system- four castes is proper here before we try to understand its present status. The Hindu social system of Vedic people who moved from the west into South Asia during second millennium BCE was composed of four major subdivisions: brahmana, a sacerdotal or priestly category; ksatriya, a chiefly, noble or warrior category; vaishya who were variously perceived as commoners, farmers or merchants or all three together and sudra, a category of servants or commoners of a status lower than vaishya. ( Klass 188) Brahmins worship God for themselves as well as others and teach knowledge to others. Kshatriyas rule the land and implement laws among the people for the latter’s overall welfare. Vaishyas cultivate lands and trade in goods. According to Sharma, “sudra was limited in his vocational options and was generally relegated to providing service and assistance to members of the host tribe”. The members of all the four castes are called ‘caste Hindus’. Besides them, there is a miscellaneous caste called ‘panchama or chandala’ whose members are the social outcasts. It is believed that they violated the code of social conduct and hence were ostracized by the society. These ghettoized-untouchable, non-vegetarian persons known as non-caste Hindus are mostly cobblers