CASTE SYSTEM

[RS]

The pattern of social classes in Hinduism is called the "caste
system." The basic castes are called "varn[.]as," or "colors."
Subcastes, or "jâtis," are subdivisions of the varn[.]as.

The Bhagavad Gita says this about the varn[.]as:

[41] The works of Brahmins, Ks[.]atriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras
are different, in harmony with the three powers of their born nature.

[42] The works of a Brahmin are peace; self-harmony, austerity, and
purity; loving-forgiveness and righteousness; vision and wisdom and
faith.

[43] These are the works of a Ks[.]atriya: a heroic mind, inner fire,
constancy, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and noble
leadership.

[44] Trade, agriculture and the rearing of cattle is the work of a
Vaishya. And the work of the Shudra is service.

There are literally thousands of subcastes in India, often with an
administrative or corporate structure. When Mahâtmâ Gandhi wanted to
go to England to study law, he had to ask his subcaste for permission
to leave India. ("Gandhi" means "greengrocer," and that should be
enough for a good guess that Gandhi was a Vaishya.) Sometimes it is
denied that the varn[.]as are "castes" because, while "true" castes,
the jâtis, are based on birth, the varn[.]as are based on the theory
of the gun[.]as. This is no more than a rationalization: the varn[.]as
came first, and they are based on birth. The gun[.]as came later, and
provide a poor explanation anyway, since the gun[.]a tamas is
associated with both twice born and once born, caste and outcaste.

Associated with each varn[.]a there is a traditional color. These
sound suspiciously like skin colors; and, indeed, there is an
expectation in India that higher caste people will have lighter
skin--although there are plenty of exceptions. This all probably goes
back to the original invasion of the Arya, who came from Central Asia
and so were undoubtedly light skinned. The people already in India
were quite dark, even as today many people in India seem positively
black. Apart from skin color, Indians otherwise have "Caucasian"
features--narrow noses, thin lips, etc.--and recent genetic mapping
studies seem to show that Indians are more closely related to the
people of the Middle East and Europe than to anyone else.

The first three varn[.]as are called the twice born. This has nothing
to do with reincarnation. Being "twice born" means that you come of
age religiously, making you a member of the Vedic religion,
eligible to learn Sanskrit, study the Vedas, and perform Vedic
rituals. The "second birth" is thus like Confirmation or a Bar
Mitzvah. Boys are "born again" at specific ages: 8 for Brahmins; 11
for Ks[.]atriyas; and 12 for Vaishyas. A thread is bestowed at the
coming of age to be worn around the waist as the symbol of being twice
born. The equivalent of coming of age for girls is marriage. The
bestowal of the thread is part of the wedding ceremony. That part of
the wedding ritual is even preserved in Jainism. Ancient Iran also had
a coming of age ceremony that involved a thread. That and other
evidence leads to the speculation that the three classes of the twice
born are from the original Indo-European social system. Even the
distant Celts believed in three social classes. The three classes of
Plato's Republic thus may not have been entirely his idea. Although
there must have been a great deal of early intermarriage in India,
nowhere did such an Indo-European social system become as rigid a
system of birth as there. The rigidity may well be due to the
influence of the idea of karma, that poor birth is morally deserved.

More later,

RS

[rugosa]

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[a]

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