India’s social structure is dominated by Hinduism, and the religion determines your position in the organization and stratification of their society. In looking at how the caste system operates, the caste system origins, and the ways it coexists in the modern world, I aim to understand the point and purpose of the caste system within the context of Indian society today.
Caste as a Social System
The caste system in India is a complex, socio-religious system, under which the fundamentals of Indian society are organized. In order to be a part of this society, you must take part in the system. Therefore an important question to ask is, how does this form of societal organization work? Under this social system, people are stratified into 4 hierarchical varnas or castes which are set from birth and determine the role they will fill in society. Once you are born into a caste your caste designation can never be changed, as the crux of Hindu society relies on the fact that “Hindus believe that inequalities are based on immutable principles”,[footnoteRef:1] which determine the level of access a person has to money, influence, and respect. They believe the differences that occur in different types of people to be definite and enforceable, so your caste designation can never be changed. Due to this lack of social movement, who a person is born to is crucial in determining the type of life you will live within the context of your own caste as well as in relation to the other castes. Each individual caste is responsible for certain duties and rights in both a religious and social context. These rights include restrictions on food, detailing which caste is allowed to eat which forms of food depending on the degree of cleanliness of the animal or plant. It is important to note that the duties of a caste are specifically for that caste, and anyone outside of it is not allowed to perform another caste duty. This works both ways, so a Sudra cannot exercise the duties of a Kshatriya, and a Brahmin cannot exercise the duties of a Vaishya. The caste below the Brahmin is the Kshatriya. The Kshatriya is The caste below the Kshatriya, are the Vaishya. These three castes are separated from the fourth caste of the Sudra and the outcastes in terms of how they are viewed both within society and within the context of the religion. They are considered to be “twice-born”.[footnoteRef:2] The first time they are born is their physical birth, but the second time they are born is a Being a twice-born allows the person to have certain social and economic rights that groups like the Sudras do not have access to. The fourth and final caste is the Sudra. This is the lowest caste that a person can be a part of. The hierarchy of castes ends here, and the next groups are not a part of the caste system but are still a part of the society as a whole. The group that lies at the bottom of the caste food chain are Dalits, the people considered to be untouchable. The role of this group is to perform the tasks and occupations that no one else wants, and are viewed by others as unclean. Some of the tasks include cleaning up feces and skinning the dead animals that lie on the street. Despite Dalits having to do what some would call inhumane tasks, they are crucial to the function of Indian society. Each group is responsible for different roles and tasks within the society. Within each of these castes, there is room for subcultures called jat. These subcastes are important because it is easy to notice the difference between groups like the Brahmin and the Sudras due to their nature. Within each group, there was a need to subdivide themselves in order to create a sense of individuality. If they didn’t have the jats the only defining factor in anyone’s life would be their duty to their caste which would create a lot of monotony, eventually leading to a lack of individuality. A person’s caste identity and their identity within their caste are crucial in India, and also tie in directly with their religious beliefs. Comment by Joe Duffy: Even further than that, you can't do that outside of your jat within each caste [1: ] [2: Ibid, Page 47]
Caste as a Religious System
The entirety of India’s social structure is intertwined with the religious practices and beliefs of Hinduism. Hinduism determines a person’s caste, which determines most aspects of a person’s life. It affects who they can interact with, as well as influences what it is people are allowed to do within the context of caste. A person’s caste does not control the motivations behind their actions, however. Every single action a person takes is to further themselves along the path toward moksha. In order to understand the concept of moksha, a prerequisite understanding of the Hindu view of time must be accompanied. In Indian religions, time is viewed differently than it is for Semitic religions, like Christianity. While we view time as linear, with a beginning and an end, Indians view time as cyclical with no end and no beginning. For Hindu Indians, According to Hinduism, we are stuck in a constant cycle of being born, suffering, and eventually dying. Moksha is” which is the end goal of every action that is undertaken. In order to gauge how close a person is to this end goal, their karma must be measured. Karma is the reflection of the current state of your soul, and in order to escape the cycle entirely, you must have good karma. Cultivation of good karma can also be attained by adhering to caste duties.
History and Origins of the Caste System
India’s social organization wasn’t always this way, so another important question to ask is how did things come to be the way they are? There are many different theories on how the caste system came to be, with multi-faceted approaches to the reasoning behind the system. One of the approaches is social in nature, and the other is religious. The religious theories regarding the origins of the caste system lie deep inside the history of India. One theory argues in the Hindu religious text, the Rig Veda, it is said that the castes find their origins in the ancient man, Purush. , and as a result, created the caste system. The religious arguments of Hinduism assert that the caste and jat you are born into is determined by supernatural factors. Manu, the first lawgiver, wrote the Manusmriti. This text cites the origins of the caste system within a religious context. Brahmin is the god that is known to be the creator of the universe. The Brahmin was said to be born from the head of Brahma because it was determined that this class of people is to be the priestly or scholarly caste. The Kshatriya formed out of the hands of Brahma and the resulting caste that formed was the ruling class. The Vaishya were born from the thighs of Brahmin and were to be the commercial class. These 3 castes are classified as. In order for a person to be twice-born, they must first be born physically, then reborn spiritually in order to study the Vedas and gain access to the spiritual knowledge of the Hindus. Sudra were born from the feet of Brahma and are the laboring class in this society. At the bottom of the ladder is an “outcaste” group known as the Dalits.[footnoteRef:3] The “outcastes” or Dalits, which are currently made up of more than 200 million people, are the people who are not born into a caste.[footnoteRef:4] This group can include people that practice different religions and are not limited to just Hinduism. [3: ] [4: ]
In addition to the religious theories behind how the caste system began, there are socio-political theories. These theories argue the caste system and the stratification of Indian society was formed on the social hierarchies of certain ethnic groups at the beginning stages of Indian society. [footnoteRef:5] Once they had firmly established themselves in India, they stopped killing other groups en masse due to the impracticalities it presented. . As a result of this change, the Aryans had to find a way to keep themselves systematically separated from other groups in order to They went about stratifying Indian society. They organized themselves into three groups. These two groups vied for power to rule, and the Brahmin eventually ended up winning that right. While they gave themselves a diverse grouping, they elected to make literally everyone else in India join into one group. The point of them amalgamating entirely different cultural groups into one group was so that the Aryans could have the best jobs and roles for themselves. They reinforced these role divisions with both religious and social norms and taboos for the people they viewed as inferior. . Once they organized themselves, the Aryans then designated roles for the peasant workers of the society, who were known as the Sudras. The means by which the Aryans organized others into their societal rank was based on their usefulness in regard to their function. Despite Sudras being members of the caste system, they were treated quite poorly. The Aryans viewed the Sudras as fundamentally different and worse than themselves. This went on for generations until eventually, the families became large enough to where just one extended family had been forced into a monopoly on one specific task. What came to exist out of this cycle was the specific subcultures of what is now known as jats. Following the beginning of the jats, the lines dividing the Aryans and the Indians became even more rigid eventually leading to the invention of the untouchables or Dalits. If a certain communities job was to clean the sewers or the streets they were viewed as unclean and there was nothing that could be done about changing their job. The Brahmin were concerned with cleanliness and therefore did not want the Dalits touching or even being near them. The effects and trajectory of Indian society due to this stratification between rich and poor, and the weak and powerful would permeate the development of Hindu society as it progressed. The caste system is “the defining feature of classical Hindu religion, society and history”[footnoteRef:6], and is a result of the system set in place by the Aryan invasion. It serves as the point of origin for the fundamentals of Indian society even today. However, things haven’t stayed exactly the same since 1500 BCE. Comment by Joe Duffy: figure out which of these sentences needs to footnote [5: ] [6: ]
Changes in the Caste System
Around the 6th century BCE, there was a growing sense within the lower castes that they were being taken advantage of. They still were practicing, faithful Hindus, but the quality of their lives outside the religion was not very good. As a result of these growing tensions, Buddhism emerged as a response to the growing stratification of Indian society due to Hinduism and the caste system. After leaving the safety of his estate, he saw the world for what it truly was, de-insulating his life from pain and suffering. After this moment, he set out on a journey to discover both truths in one’s self and external universal truth. This goal was realized when he attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree in the town of Bodh Gaya. The contents of this newfound knowledge were that a person should live in the middle path, and avoid extremes. The premise of salvation in a Buddhist context revolves around the individual, instead of circulating around an entire society, like in Hinduism. This connection to Brahma is considered unimportant in the eyes of Buddha for one simple reason; there is no self. When there is no self, there is. This newfound interest in one’s self, or lack of it, caused people to question the connection between their social structure and their religion. This newfound sense of doubt was further reinforced by the fact that Buddhism accepted members of society at all levels, including the Dalits. Now the socially oppressed members of Indian society had an opportunity for social mobility, and a chance to escape the cyclical nature of the caste system. The emergence of Buddhism planted a metaphorical seed of change in the caste system. It laid the groundwork for future generations to leave or change the caste system. This newfound fanaticism with Buddhism faded out eventually around the 13th century, and the majority of the country reverted back to Hinduism. The effects of Buddhism can still be seen today throughout Asia, as there are many practicing Buddhists, just not that many in India. Comment by Joe Duffy: reverse engineer a cite from this Comment by Joe Duffy: reverse engineer a cite for this