Imagining India

Caste System – A
threat to Hinduism
TERM PAPER

ANUBHAV NANDA
2009-007A
27/10/2009
 Caste system- a threat to Hinduism
In the Vedic age, the caste system was more flexible than it is today. During the Vedic age
priesthood had no privileged order. The word vaishya denoted the whole community, it was
not specific to profession or lineage. The caste system prevalent then was rudimentary and a
person’s caste depended on his profession and not upon birth, this is evident from the hymns
of the Rigveda.

The emergence of caste system as a social reality during the Vedic period can be linked to
numerous reasons. Its development can be credited to the social compulsions of that time. For
the Vedic people caste system was a means to unite the multiracial society into one complex
system.

The later Vedic age saw the caste system being justified in the name of religion by those in
power and authority. The main aim during that era was to increase the dominance of the
priestly class and reduce competition to the ruling class in matters of political dominance.

This was accomplished in many ways. Firstly, the concept behind the word ‘Brahmin’ and
the hidden meaning was changed with the social requirements of the changing times. The
word 'Brahmin' or Brahman' depicted a person who understood Brahman, the one who was
one with Brahman or the universe, the highest God, or the one who had the knowledge of
Brahman. Later on this word was used to denote a person who was born in a brahmin family
or to a brahmin father.

Secondly,the tradition of passing of the Vedic knowledge from one generation to another
through oral means, made sure there was enough scope for manipulation of the vedic
mantras. This resulted in the addition of some new verses, which were deliberately added into
the early vedic scriptures to justify the system and ensure the supremacy of the higher castes.

The earliest reference of caste system in vedic society is in the “purusha sukta” of the
Rigveda. This verse must be an addition to the Rigveda later, as there is no mention about
caste anywhere else in the scripture. The scripture must have been manipulated to provide
religious justification for the perpetuation of the caste system.

This is equally evident in case of the Bhagavad-Gita, where references to the caste system are
completely out of context. To understand the truth we need to look at such verses in the

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context of the fact that Krishna himself was neither a brahmin nor a kshatriya, but belonged
to the cowherd community near the present day Mathura.

The little chance that was for the caste system to remain plastic was sealed with the
emergence of Manu smriti. Manu smriti was one of the greatest books of social and religious
laws ever written in the ancient history of man, it dealt elaborately upon each and every
aspect of human conduct and religious life. There was an unflinching emphasis on dharma
and varna system. The supremacy of the priestly class was firmly established and they were
given an unquestionable right to perform all religious rites.

Today’s caste system is far more complex than the original caste system. It contains not just
the four divisions but hundreds and thousands of castes and sub castes. Thus it become very
difficult to state how the modern day caste system took shape on the Indian soil. One theory
could be the many foreign invasions and constant inflow of new races and new tribes must
have prompted the priestly class to change the laws here and there and admit new people into
the system in various guises. The greeks, huns, sakas, kushanas, and many others came to
India either as traders or as rulers. They were accepted into the system so smoothly and
seamlessly that today it is impossible to know which castes these races merged finally.

Irrespective of the the truth, though initially the caste system was instrumental in stabilizing
the society, later on it weakened the society by eroding its unity. The lower castes had no
privileges and had to perform subordinate duties under higher castes, the system became
highly unfair to a vast majority of the lower castes. The result was their alienation from the
rest of the society and made them apathetic and indifferent to the events of their times.

Their social advancement or economic independence had no scope, and they were forever
under bondage. They were made to suffer from various kinds of social disabilities, and were
forced into being the third or the fourth class citizens of hindu society. Their dignity was
crushed and their status was comparable to that of animals. They were referred to the 'once
born' in contrast to the 'twice born'.

These lower caste people thus cared very less about who ruled them and who did not. They
were least interested in knowing who won or lost, or who conquered them or not. Little did it
matter to them as to who was the ruler and what were his vices and virtues, as long as they
were obedient to the state laws and paid their taxes or did their duties sincerely their lives

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were safe. It did not even matter as to what religion the king practiced or advocated. The
kings were hardly benevolent or tolerant. Most often failure to pay taxes meant instant death.

These unfortunate people, pushed down to the lowest social status, and constantly oppressed
by the political system, left out by the religion which secluded them, they worshipped
whatever their understanding told them. Nature worship took prominence, trees, rivers,
ghosts, demons and the various village deities were their gods and godesses.

Buddhism too did not give them any relief. It was a religion for the strong minded as it
demanded very high amount of inner purity and observation of the eightfold path. This path
was difficult to practice even by the higher sections of the society.

The rulers in turn paid little attention to them. They did not matter at all in the matters of state
priorities. The rulers were never bothered about their welfare. According to scriptures these
people were already condemned by the laws of karma. As a consequence of their previous
bad actions they had to suffer and lead miserable lives. If that was true, why should a mortal
king try to improve their condition? The rulers were so preoccupied with their own problems
of governance and survival, along with the palace intrigues and court politics, they had little
or no time to venture out and interact with the less privileged groups.

It was the king’s responsibility to be concerned with the welfare of his subjects, with a few
exceptions here and there, it is impossible to believe that the kings of ancient India ever
bothered to consider the lower castes of his kingdom as his important subjects.

Most of the ancient rulers of India came from lower castes and were not Brahmins and
kshatriya. Many seers and saints also came from the lower castes. In spite of this none of the
rulers seemed to have worked for the upliftment of the lower castes. The Mauryan emperor
Asoka after converting to Buddhism must have encouraged many to follow him. Though
there is no evidence that suggests that he was worked for the upliftment of lower castes or
that he worked for their specific welfare.

Oppression and cruelty against the downtrodden was prevalent in the olden ages too. War
was decided by the rulers and the people had to provide food, cattle and provisions to the
marching army. This would have put a lot of strain on their meagre resources. Training in war
craft and self defence was never imparted to the villagers. If the army lost the battle the
masses had no option but to meekly accept the new ruler and paid their taxes.

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It would be unfair to generalize Hindu society on a particular issue as it Hinduism was made
of diverse groups and communities even in ancient times. But the caste system can definitely
be considered as the bane of Hindu society, right from the earliest of times. The sole reason
for the division and weakening of the society can be attributed to the caste system. It
alienated the people and gave foreign invasions a very soft target. The destruction was on a
scale unprecedented in the history of the world.

However the situation in south India was slightly different. In south India the caste system
did not draw as sharp lines as it drew in north India. It could be one of the reasons why the
south remained immune from foreign invasions and invasions from the native rulers of the
north. None of the north Indian rulers could conquer south India the way they did north India.
Ashoka barely managed to enter south. Samudra Gupta Maurya had a successful campaign in
the south and also defeated some local rulers, but his victory was short lived and very
concentrated. While the rulers of the north never tried to cross the frontiers and conquer the
faraway lands, the south Indian rulers established new kingdoms in faraway lands like
Cambodia and Thailand with the help of their sea farers and fishermen.

Life was no different during the Muslim or the Mughal rule and the same trend continued.
The south remained untouched from the Muslim rule. The Muslim invasion of the southern
provinces was very limited. Thus today we see most of the famous temples of south India
were prevented from destruction in their hands. In strange contrast, a few temples were also
constructed during their rule like the Sri Ram temple on the banks of river Godavari at
Bhadrachalam in Andhrapradesh.

The experience from the past must serve as a learning for all Hindus. For Hinduism to
survive as one of the major religions of the world, the caste system must go. It must be
removed from its present condemnable form, and its monstrous roots and manifestations must
be done away with.

The caste system must yield place to a new society that is based upon the principles of
equality and fraternity, where the status of an individual is determined not on the basis of his
caste, but on the basis of his achievements and his character. The Hindus must learn to treat
each individual with dignity and self respect and learn from their Christian and Muslim
friends a few things about charity and brotherhood.

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Conclusion

The caste system might have served its purpose in ancient times, but does not fit into the
values and principles of modern times, such as democracy, fundamental rights, individual
freedom, equality and non-discrimination. It does not uphold the values of modern Hinduism
either, such as tolerance and universal brotherhood. It does not validate the concept that all
life is a sacred expression of divine will and energy.

Scholars tend to rationalize the caste system by quoting the Purushasukta and the
Bhagavadgita. They ignore the fact that these verses contradict the very core values of
Hinduism emphasized in the same texts and present a world view that is a negation of
Hinduism. If caste system is allowed to prevail, it would do a much greater damage to
Hinduism than any other disruptive force we can imagine. We have already seen its negative
impact. If Hinduism lost millions of its followers to other religions and continues to lose so, it
is because the lower castes were pushed to the wall and made to feel bad about themselves. It
is time we consign the ancient law books such as Manusmriti to the dustbins of history and
move forward to establish an egalitarian society based upon firm ethical and spiritual
foundation upon which Hinduism can brace itself to meet the challenges of the coming times
and appeal to the inquisitive and advanced minds of the future generations.