The Modern Day Indian Caste System , A Curse - In The Light of Hinduism!

The Modern Day Indian Caste System , 
A Curse - 
In The Light of Hinduism!

Before start writing a Warm "Namaste" to you all!

Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Today, with about little more than 1 billion followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam. 

Hindus believe in the doctrines of Samsara (the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation) and karma (the universal law of cause and effect).

One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is “Atman,” or the belief in soul. This philosophy holds that living creatures have a soul, and they’re all part of the supreme soul. The goal is to achieve “Moksha,” or salvation, which ends the cycle of rebirths to become part of the absolute soul.

One fundamental principle of the religion is the idea that people’s actions and thoughts directly determine their current life and future lives.

Hindus strive to achieve dharma, which is a code of living that emphasizes good conduct and morality.

The caste system is a social hierarchy in Indian society that divides Hindus based on their karma and dharma. Many scholars believe the system dates back more than 3,000 years.

The four main castes (in order of prominence) include:

 Brahmin: 

 The intellectual and spiritual leaders

 Kshatriyas: 

 The protectors and public servants of society

 Vaisyas:

The skillful producers

 Shudras: 

 The unskilled laborers

More Detail Elaboration - 

Passage from the Rig Veda:

(The world was formed from Purusa whose body is described as follows.)

"The brahmin was his mouth, his two arms became the rajanya (kshatriyas), his thighs are what the vaisya are, and from his feet the shudra was made."

 Brahmin: the seers, the reflective ones, the priests.

 The intellectual and spiritual leaders.

 In our society, they would correspond to the philosophers, religious leaders, and teachers.

 Kshatriyas-- the born administrators (formerly nobles, rajahs, and warriors).

 The protectors of society.

 In our society, the politicians, police, and the military.

Vaisyas:  the producers, the craftsmen, artisans, farmers.

The skillful producers of material things.

In our society, the merchants.

Shudras-- the unskilled laborers or laboring class.

The followers or the maintenance people.

The so-called menial workers or hard laborers. 

Advantages to the Caste system -

The heritability of intelligence and factors of personality raise some interesting philosophical questions. 

What we would like people to be is not usually what they are. Many persons would be more comfortable in their own social class.

Unless unequal are separated into different classes, many persons would be "born losers."

Egalitarianism is the belief that privileges are proportional to the responsibilities and a denial of the tyranny of the majority. 

Many subcategories also exist within each caste. The “untouchables” are a class of citizens that are outside the caste system and considered to be in the lowest level of the societal hierarchy.

For centuries, the caste system determined every aspect of a person’s social, professional and religious status in India.

When India became an independent nation, its constitution banned discrimination based on caste.

The Caste System--(groups assigned by birth not personality). The Hindu conception of the social order is that people are different, and different people will fit well into different aspects of society.  Social order or social class according to varna forms the framework of moral duties according to personal characteristics of individuals (not necessarily birth). 

Individuals are assigned a caste at birth based on the caste of their parents. Castes and property are handed down from generation to generation and marriages usually occur within castes. Indians can often quickly size up the caste of a stranger by their skin color, manner of dress, surname, occupation and village or neighborhood. The principals of the caste system were outlined in the Laws of Manu.

Because Hinduism and the caste system are both predominately found in India there is a common misconception that caste system is part of Hinduism. This is not necessarily the case. The caste system is related to Indian culture and not directly linked to the teachings and practices of Hinduism. The Hindu term “varna’ describes a social order as a framework of moral duties. The Indian caste system reflects a person’s group assigned at birth. Although the two systems have become intertwined, Hinduism does not feature the same system of castes outside of India. 

The Caste system in ancient Hindu civilization was created originally for systemic spiritual and social growth of people, which has now become a curse to the Hindu society because of its misinterpretation, ignorance, and disadvantages taken by some selfish sections of society. 

Some people blame the current form of the caste system to Hinduism, which is absolutely wrong. Hindu caste system and modern day caste system are completely two different thing, not related at all. Evangelists provoke some so-called low-caste people to accept their religion by using modern day Indian caste system as a weapon against Hinduism.

No Hindu Scriptures or Book  suggests Caste systems to discriminate people and torture them or deprive or disrespect them from any facility of the society. It is man made to use caste systems to disrespect and deprive people.

And in no Hindu Scriptures or Book or even in " The Holy Bhagwat Gita " there is no mention of untouchables, there is nothing called as untouchables in Hinduism. Every human being is same in front of God the Almighty- this is what the Hinduism believes. 

Remember Hinduism is the religion of Love and acceptance of everyone regardless of Caste, colour  and  creed. 

Some section of the society has used the caste systems to deprive people for their own benefits and selfish motives. 

At present time in India, there are more than 2800 castes and sub-castes. In Vedic times, there were only four castes. So between the period of about 3500 years, Indians have thrown out the original caste system and have evolved now to a new form of caste system which is a curse to our society,  the Mughals and British were the main responsible culprits behind these wicked caste system, where the British contributed the most venomous concept of a wicked caste system to divide the innocent Hindus and to make the strong Hindu society weaker, these foreign rulers divided the strong Hindu society with their man made selfish and wicked caste system.

In modern India, people are not much bothered about caste unless it comes to election and marriage. People are throwing out the old thoughts of the caste system. Modern Indian society is inclining towards a development-centered society instead of a caste-centered society. 

But unfortunately, the caste system is not totally eradicated, especially in rural areas where people still consider the caste of a person as a primary factor. The conditions are changing fast. By the efforts of Indian government and social organizations, rural India is also changing. 

Though the sporadic incidences are still there, the future is very optimistic. Lower caste people have been given reservations so that they can occupy higher authority positions in government institutions. They have been given reservations in government services also so that they can progress faster.

This article is not written to support any form of caste system but to present the truth behind it in front of  people around the world. 

Untouchability is a crime and it is illegal in India. Strong Laws are there to fight this type of man made superstitions which has nothing to do with Hinduism.

Will Continue....

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