Hinduism 101

Lesson 8: Current Status.

The Caste System and Other Facts.

The Caste System:

The very word “Caste” is derived from the Portuguese word “Casta” meaning lineage, breed or race. Used in the Indian context it means the set of social groupings existing in Hindu society from the Vedic period.

The Rig Veda defines such groupings as Varna, literally color, signifying grouping of Hindu society according to profession. This division initially was not rigid and certainly not based on birth but later, probably due to vested interests, it rigidified into a set system within which each Hindu had a predetermined caste according to birth and could do nothing in life to change it. Even the person’s forebears would be born into the same caste no matter how mismatched the offspring’s capabilities would be to the profession determined by the caste.

Initially Manu’s Laws in the Rig Veda mentioned four varnas or castes – The Brahmins, who were the priests and intellectual and spiritual leaders of society, The Kshatriyas, who were the rulers and warriors, The Vaishyas, who were the craftsmen, merchants and farmers and The Sudras who were those who did the most menial of jobs and were servants to the other castes. Much later after the Vedas were written a fifth class, called the untouchables or achutas, were introduced to probably include the conquered indigenous races by the Aryans.

A hymn in the Rig Veda compares caste to the body of a man: “The Brahmana was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya (Kshatriya) made. His thighs became the Vaishya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.”

Birth within a certain caste is determined by Karma in previous lives. The better the Karma the higher the caste.

The Hindu caste system first came in contact with the European world with the advent of colonial rule in the subcontinent. Instead of enlightenment from the modern thought processes of the western races the pernicious system was further aggravated in collusion with the racist systems of the colonial rulers. It was utilized by the white rulers to keep the natives in their places and to enhance their own superiority. Hindus of higher castes were utilized by the rulers to further their own aims of governance and this gave indulgence to an already highly discriminatory system under which the lower castes and the untouchables, those outside the pale of society, were much oppressed.

Though the Vedas mention only four castes, through the long years of evolution, Hinduism has accrued a large number of other castes and sub-castes that are all meticulously documented by the Indian government to facilitate positive discrimination in favor of the lower underprivileged castes. There are severe laws in India forbidding damaging and insulting discrimination according to castes and the government actively follows a policy of positive discrimination for the socio-economic upliftment of the erstwhile lower castes. Some of these policies for the notified lower castes and underprivileged classes of people are:

• Provision for free education up to graduation

• A fixed quota reservation in higher educational institutions

• A hefty 50% quota in government jobs with provision for faster promotion

Caste-based identities are so ingrained within Hindu society that the government strictures are regularly ignored in activities of daily life such as marriage. Such blatant flaunting of the prevailing laws is most common in economically-backward and isolated areas.

There are also conflicting opinions on the reservation system of the government for the erstwhile lower castes. Both positive and negative opinions are:

• Some allege that the reservation system only goes to firmly ingrain the caste system within the present Indian psyche.

• Others allege that the reservation system sidelines the meritorious as it has no set deadline and seems to be in perpetuity.

• Those for reservation assert that the system must continue as long as there are previously-suppressed people living below poverty lines until all such people have achieved equality with the majority.

• Others assert that the reservation system must be based on other financial criteria like annual income and so on and not upon any previous caste criteria.

The debate goes on but the government has the reservation system firmly in place against much opposition from vested groups.

Dalits:

After the discussion on the caste system in India some special mention must be made of the Dalits, who were formerly placed on the lowest rung of Hindu society and for whom so many great Indian personages like Mahatma Gandhi have strived to restore their individual birthrights. At the bottom of the social scale of Hindu society are the untouchables or achutas. They were beyond the pale of society and had no official place in it. They lived beyond village or city limits and did mostly those jobs that were considered the most unclean by Hindu precepts such as working with leather, cremating dead bodies, butchering, cleaning latrines, etc. They were called untouchables literally because they were considered to be so. Such a person could not be come into physical contact with without fear of losing one’s caste. Even stepping on an untouchable’s shadow was considered a risk of losing one’s caste. The other four castes, especially the Brahmins, considered these people as pariahs or outcastes and even animals like cattle, horses and dogs were considered on a higher level than they. It is no wonder that many of them, through the ages, have converted to whatever alternate religion that was available at that time. All these religions – Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Christianity – had no class distinction and as such were always attractive alternates to Hinduism for these people.

In the 20th century Mahatma Gandhi set out a program for the National Congress Party, the primary organization fighting for independence of the subcontinent from the British, that persuaded the British to pass laws abolishing untouchability. Gandhiji fondly called these people Harijans after the Hindu belief that all beings are of the Supreme Being. “Harijan” means “Child of Hari”. Hari is another name for Krishna, eight avatar of Vishnu. The untouchables, after Mahatma Gandhi’s death, prefer to call themselves Dalits or “The Oppressed Ones”. About 16% of the population of modern India is comprised of these people. The Government actively promotes their cause and there are reserved seats in the national and state level legislative bodies to ensure that they get a fair representation in the government.

Even then the habit of centuries persists in many places, especially in remote towns and villages where these people are still oppressed and treated as of old. Thus, though untouchability is officially abolished in India, it is practiced in small pockets here and there within the country. Also, uncaring legislators, both Dalits and ordinary Indians, refuse to acknowledge the still-sad plight of these people and neglect their concerns.

Even in the present enlightened atmosphere there are still instances of Dalits converting to other religions and this is a source of great concern for Hindu aficionados who would like to clean up the Hindu act so that these people continue to remain within the Hindu fold.

Mahatma Gandhi in the International Context:

One of the most internationally-acknowledged Hindu leaders of the 20th century was Mahatma Gandhi. “Mahatma” means “Great Soul” and was respectfully and lovingly attributed to him by the Indian people. His full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and he was born into a family of small merchants in the Indian state of Gujarat in 1869. He was sent to England to study law and he successfully completed his education and came back to India. Subsequently he went over to South Africa to further his career and came upon the unjust system of Apartheid. Since he was most in contact with the Indian community there and suffered at the hands of the South African authorities as a colored person he was much annoyed by the unfair discriminatory rules and regulations and registered protests both individually and collectively in association with other colored persons.

Mahatma Gandhi used one of the most innovative techniques of protesting against unfair authority in the history of the world. He was a firm believer in Ahimsa, roughly translated as “Non-violence”. The concept of Ahimsa is incorporated within both Hindu and Buddhist doctrinology and Mahatma Gandhi took it up and began to use it in the modern context. He firmly believed that the concept was not merely a spiritual tool to aid good behavior but a pervasive one that should govern all aspects of life. Throughout his life he constantly strove to live life with Ahimsa – never indulging in any sort of violence. He was a strict vegetarian and he abstained from all activities that would cause unjust pain to others.

In his campaigns against Apartheid in South Africa Mahatma Gandhi used a movement which he termed passive resistence, a term which he later disassociated himself from. Nevertheless this was the forerunner of his more famous Satyagraha Movement. Passive resistance meant that if there was an unfair rule or regulation in force that the resistor wanted to protest against then the following steps would be taken:

• Declare that the law or regulation was unjust and should be put out of force.

• The next move would be to break the law or regulation.

• The third and last step was to suffer the consequence of breaking the law with dignity.

Gandhi had already studied the other means available at that time of setting up protest movements but he found that speeches, petitions, letters and meetings with officials did nothing to make a dent in the implacable racism of the government. So he proposed that the dignified suffering of the protestors through passive resistance would open the eyes of the oppressors and they would begin to take note of the just demand of the protestors. He had previously determined that violent movements against unfair regimes was not only morally degrading but also sometimes without much effectiveness as the regimes were often more powerful than the protestors and the ultimate result of the movement would be unaccountable levels of bloodshed. Gandhi believed that violence against oppression was not only wrong but it also inflamed the fear and prejudice that fed the oppression. Thus it only aggravated the situation without providing any remedy.

This passive resistance movement later developed into Gandhi’s famous Satyagraha Movement. “Satyagraha” means roughly “Holding to the Truth” and the movement aimed at forcing the oppressors to acknowledge the truth of the resistors and their own unjust oppression. For Gandhi, unjust means could never produce just results. He always maintained that – “The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree and there is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree …. We reap exactly as we sow.” When Gandhi started using his Satyagraha movement to oust the British from India he understood that he was now getting involved in a very large nationwide issue that required supreme effort from his followers. He understood that no follower, however staunch in support of non-violence he or she may be, could indefinitely sacrifice the self in efforts that bore no fruits. He also understood the strength of the British whom he was resisting. Thus, he planned his campaigns with military precision. He strategically used non-violent movements in efforts to inflict the maximum damage on the British administration. Though he never threatened the British physically he did almost incapacitate their administrative functions in India with his innovative non-co-operation movements with which he ensured that most of the British laws in force were violated. The British, on their part, could hardly imprison the entire nation as so many Indians joined the movement and finally the hapless administrators had to take notice of the Indian demands. The British were in India not only to augment the prestige of their imperial ambitions but also to exploit their dominion economically. Thus, Gandhi also formulated plans to damage the British economic ventures in India. He began to advice Indian to wear Khadi, Indian handlooms, and to boycott textiles made in England and sold by the British in India at huge profits. He also undertook the Salt March to protest against British ploys to sell salt made in England in India maintaining that there was enough salt being produced in India at that time by indigenous efforts. These movements crippled the economic efforts of the Europeans. Ultimately, these Satyagraha movements organized by Gandhi forced the British out of India.

Gandhi’s novel methods of fighting against oppression did not go unnoticed elsewhere in the world. His non-violence found support almost in every country. Leaders like Nelson Mandela of South Africa, where Gandhi himself had started his political career, and Martin Luther King Jr. of the USA used his political ploys to fight injustice in their own lands. There are also innumerable Gandhi aficionados all over the world though some of them may not be very prominent figures.

Mahatma Gandhi himself did not live to savor for long the independence of the land he so faithfully and intelligently fought for because an assassin’s bullet ended his life in 1948, just a year after the British had left India. Nevertheless, the legacy he left is always there for all Indians and for all the world people. His wise perception of Hindu doctrines has given the world a very humane way of bringing those who stray from the path of justice back to its safe fold.

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