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Caste

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The word caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, meaning lineage, breed or race. The term caste, when used in a cultural context, is usually in conjunction with the social division in Hindu society, particularly in India, although a form of the caste system was prevalent in many ancient societies, and in particular feudal societies.

Castes in ancient Israel

Something akin to the caste system was also found in Judaism (during the Temple period), which divided its society into the inherited Cohanim priesthood, who, due to their Temple duties, had access to most parts of the Temple, Levites, whose auxiliary duties allowed them somewhat less access than the Cohanim, a the rest of the Israelites, whose involvement in the Temple was lesser than the Levites. This "caste system" had mostly ritualistic ramifications, and the social side-effects were very limited and far lesser than those found in the Hindu caste system, which entailed almost complete social separation and a clear social hierarchy. Intermarriage was completely allowed within the Israelite people, with rare exception (such as the prohibition against a Cohen marrying a divorcee), and the Israelites were prohibited only from marrying outside their own people. This Israelite "caste system" continued along lines of Patrilineal descent. Converts to the Israelite people were considered full Israelites, and Mosaic law demanded that they be treated kindly and with special sensitivity. In contemporary Judaism, despite the absence of the Temple, certain ritual laws continue to apply to Cohanim, and both they and the Levites are honored with deferential formalities in some rituals.

The Caste System By Yadev Niraula 1.Background. The word Caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, meaning lineage, breed or race. The term "caste," when used in a cultural context, is usually in conjunction with the social division in Hindu society, particularly in India, although a form of the caste system was prevalent in many ancient societies, and in particular feudal societies. In ancient India there developed a social system in which people were divided into separate close communities. These communities are known in English as caste. The origin of the caste system is in Hinduism but it affected the whole Indian society later it has transmitted to Nepal. The caste system in the religious form is basically a simple division of society in which there is four castes arranged in a hierarchy and below them the outcast. But socially the caste system was more complicated, with much more castes and sub-castes and other divisions. Legally the government disallows the practice of caste system but has a policy of affirmative discrimination of the backward classes. In Hinduism there exists four castes arranged in a hierarchy. Anyone who does not belong to one of these castes is an outcast. The religious word for caste is 'Varna'. Each Varna has certain duties and rights. Each Varna members have to work in certain occupation, which only those Varna members are allowed. Each Varna has certain type of diet. The highest Varna is of the Brahman. Members of this class are priests and the educated people of the society. The Varna after them in hierarchy is Kshatria. The members of this class are the rulers and aristocrats of the society. After them are the Vaisia. Members of this class are the landlords and businessmen of the society. After them in hierarchy are the Sudra. Members of this class are the peasants and working class of the society who work in non-polluting jobs. The caste hierarchy ends here. Below these castes are the outcasts who are untouchable to the four castes. These untouchables worked in degrading jobs like cleaning, sewage etc. (Arora: 1998:84,The Concept of Impurity and Hindu caste System) The first three castes had social and economical rights, which the Sudra and the untouchables did not have. The first three castes are also seen as 'twice born'. The intention in these two births is to the natural birth and to the ceremonial entrance to the society at a much later age. Each Varna and also the untouchables and ethnic group in case of Nepal are divided into many communities. These communities are called Jat or Jati (The caste is also used instead of Jat). For example the Brahmans have Jats called Dhakal, Bhattarai, Marasini etc. The untouchable have Jats Kami, Damai, Sarki and Doom, Chammar in the case of terai system and Pode, Chame etc in the case of Newar.But there is no such division of society on the basis of caste in ethnic group although we can find some class differences among this group. Each Jat members are allowed to marry only with their Jat members. People are born into their Jat and it cannot be changed. Once if some one is born to certain cast he/she cannot be change to another jat except in the case of women when they are married they may change to other clan but not jat.If a man is born as Kami he cannot be a Brahmin and Brahmin cannot be a Kami,so caste is a permanent attribute among the Hindu. Religiously anyone who does not belong to the four Varnas is an outcast and untouchable. It means, all foreigners and non-Hindus are all supposed to be untouchables, in the case of Nepal all the ethnic group should fall in this categories but Muluki Ain has incorporated the entire ethnic group into Caste hierarchy. But in reality neither all foreigners nor non-Hindus were treated as untouchables. This is the how the caste system is supposed to be in its religious form. But in reality it is much more complicated and different from its religious form.

1.1.Beginning of the caste system

There are different theories about the establishment of the caste system. There are religious mystical theories. There are biological theories. And there are socio-historical theories. The religious theories explain how the four Varnas were founded, but they do not explain how the Jats in each Varna or the untouchables were founded. According the Rig Veda, the ancient Hindu book, the primal man Purush destroyed himself to create a human society. The different Varnas were created from different parts of his body. The Brahmans were created from his head; the Kshatriyas from his hands; the Vaisias from his thighs and the Sudras from his feet. The Varna hierarchy is determined by the descending order of the different organs from which the Varnas were created. Other religious theory claims that the Varnas were created from the body organs of Brahma, who is the creator of the world. The biological theory claims that all existing things, animated and inanimated, inherent three qualities in different apportionment. Sattva qualities include wisdom, intelligence, honesty, goodness and other positive qualities. Rajas include qualities like passion, pride, valour and other passionate qualities. Tamas qualities include dullness, stupidity, lack of creativity and other negative qualities. People with different doses of these inherent qualities adopted different types of occupation. According to this theory the Brahmans inherent Sattva qualities. Kshatrias and Vaisias inherent Rajas qualities and the Sudras inherent Tamas qualities. Like human beings, food also inherent different dosage of these qualities and it affects its eater's intelligence. The Brahmans and the Vaisias have Sattvic diet, which includes fruits, milk, honey, roots and vegetables. Most of the meats are considered to have Tamasic qualities. Many Sudra communities eat different kinds of meat (but not beef) and other Tamasic food. But the Kshatrias who had Rajasic diet eat some kinds of meat like deer meat, which is considered to have Rajasic qualities. Many Marathas who claim to be Kshatrias eat mutton. The drawback of this theory is that in different parts of India the same food was sometimes qualified to have different dosage of inherent qualities. For example there were Brahmans who eat meat, which is considered Tamasic food. The social historical theory explains the creation of the Varnas, Jats and of the untouchables. According to this theory, the caste system began with the arrival of the Aryans in India. The Aryans arrived in India around 1500 BC. The fair skinned Aryans arrived in India from south Europe and north Asia. Before the Aryans there were other communities in India of other origins. Among them Negrito, Mongoloid, Austroloid and Dravidian. The Negrito has physical features similar to people of Africa. The Mongoloid have Chinese features. The Austroloid have features similar the aboriginals of Australia. The Dravidians originate from the Mediterranean and they were the largest community in India. When the Aryans arrived in India their main contact was with the Dravidians and the Austroloid. The Aryans disregarded the local cultures. They began conquering and taking control over regions in north India and at the same time pushed the local people southwards or towards the jungles and mountains in north India. The Aryans organized among themselves in three groups. The first group was of the warriors and they were called Rajayana, later they changed their name Rajayana to Kshatria. The second group was of the priests and they were called Brahmans. These two groups struggled politically for leadership among the Aryans. In this struggle the Brahmans got to be the leaders of the Aryan society. The third group was of the farmers and craftsmen and they were called Vaisia. The Aryans who conquered and took control over parts of north India subdued the locals and made them their servants. In this process the Vaisias who were the farmers and the craftsmen became the landlords and the businessmen of the society and the locals became the peasants and the craftsmen of the society. Later on the Aryans who created the caste system, added to their system non-Aryans. Different Jats who professed different professions were integrated in different Varnas according to their profession. Other foreign invaders of ancient India - Greeks, Huns, Scythains and others - who conquered parts of India and created kingdoms, were integrated in the Kshatria Varna (warrior castes). But probably the Aryan policy was not to integrate original Indian communities within them and therefore many aristocratic and warrior communities that were in India before the Aryans did not get the Kshatria status. Most of the communities that were in India before the arrival of the Aryans were integrated in the Sudra Varna or were made outcast depending on the professions of these communities. Communities who professed non-polluting jobs were integrated in Sudras Varna. And communities who professed polluting professions were made outcasts. The Brahmans are very strict about cleanliness. In the past people believed that diseases could also spread also through air and not only through physical touch. Perhaps because of this reason the untouchables were not only disallowed to touch the high caste communities but they also had to stand at a certain distance from the high castes. Some basic points to mark about caste are: 1. that caste is an institution of the Hindu religion, and wholly peculiar to that religion alone; 2. that it consists primarily of a four fold classification of people in general under the heads of Brahman, Kshatria, Vaisias and Sudras. 3. that caste is perpetual and immutable, and has been transmitted from generation to generation throughout the ages of Hindu history and myth without the possibility of change.(V.Jayaram:1997:1,Caste System is the biggest threat to Hinduism, preliminary paper posted in internet,www.hindusystem.com)

2.Caste System in Nepali context

The caste system can be trace back to introduction of Muluki Ain (1854) by Jung Bahadur Rana after his return from his European tour. The Muluki Ain (1854) was a written version of social code that had been in practice for several centuries in Nepal. Its caste categories diverged from the four varnas of the classical Vedic model and instead had three categories to accommodate the tribal peoples between the pure and impure castes. These were further classified into five hierarchies with the following order precedence. (Harka Gurung 2005:3,Occational Papers in Sociology and Anthropology)

· Thagadhari, (Wearer of holy chord) · Matwali v Namasyane Matwali (Non-enslavable alcohol-drinkers) v Masyane Matwali (Enslavable alcohol drinkers) · Pani nachalne choichoto halnu naparne, (Impure but touchable castes) · Pani nachalne chiochoti halnu parne, (Impure and Untouchable castes)

The above mention categories implies that Thagadhari (Wearer of holy chord) remains in the highest hierarchy in Hindu caste system followed by Matwali, (Non-enslavable alcohol-drinkers) and enslavable alcohol drinkers touchable caste and lastly untouchable. Muluki Ain imposes the caste system in Nepal in order to incorporate people of different origin to bring under one umbrella of caste system. The first categories of Thagadhari which include Parbate Brahmin and Chettri are the in the higher categories of hierarchy where as Brahmins of Terai and Newari Brahmin as per Muluki Ain do not fall under this categories. Matwali group, salvable and enslavable falls under second categories, which include the people of ethnic origin and Brahmins of terai and Newari Brahmins. It also includes those people in the non-enslavable group such as Magar, Gurung, Rai, and Limbu etc and enslavable are Tamang, Chepang, Thami etc. Untouchable are the categories of varnas system in ancient Manu's Code but some people such as Musalman and foreigners as well falls under these categories Untouchables are divided into Pani nachalne choichoto halnu naparne, (Impure but touchable castes) and Pani nachalne chiochoti halnu parne, (Impure and Untouchable castes). In present day context caste system falls under Hindu varna system i.e,Brahmin,Khatria Vaisias and Sudra respectively instead of following Muluki Ain's codification, as ethnic group do not follow the caste system because they have their own culture, tradition ,religion and values system which do not fall under caste system.

3. Purity and impurities in caste system There are different polluting factors in Hindu caste system.

3.1 Impurity related to Death The ceremonies are of the final life –cycle rites those considered with death are sense never really complete. (Lynn Bennett, 1983:92. Dangerous Wives and Sacred Sisters) When some one dies the highest rank of Sudham is the one that has to be observed while performing rituals connected with death anniversaries, which is known as Sraadha Sudham or colloquially Sudham.When a person is died son or the close relative who are eligible to perform the sradham has to debar all unpolluted food and he should not touch any one. For this function, clothes, which are worn on the earlier day has to be washed and dried the previous day worn clothes are not permitted to be worn. For performing these rituals, one should bathe in the morning in the nearby river or at home where it is feasible. Participants dip clothes in water during the first bath and spread them in the sun for drying before proceeding to Sandhyaavandanam. Only these clothes (even if only partly dried) are allowed during the ritual.This impurity continue for 13 days, on the thirteen day a purification ritual is conducted which is known as Suddhai or Sraadha Sudham.(Arora:1998:39)

3.2 Impurities related to birth When a child is born in Hindu family the whole family become impure and they have to follow the rules as per Hindu ritual. The most effected is the mother of child. She is considered as impure for 11 days where she can't touch family members and she has been placed in isolated place with her baby. Baby doesn't consider as impure in this case. On the eleventh day the priest gives the infant its secret religious name." The ceremony mark the end of birth pollution period" (Lynn Bennett, 1983:57)

3.3 Impurity related to menstruation If a girl or woman menstruates, she should remain in complete isolation for four days and on the fourth day, a special function or purification has to be performed by pouring drops of water mix with urine of cow or dipping any golden ornaments in water in the traditional manner by sprinkling it. After completing bath, the women symbolically clean her and she become pure after fourth day. During this for days she cannot touch any elder male members of the family and she either able to touch any kind of fluid contain items, if she touches it is considered as impure. This is one of the shot period impurities.

3.4 Impurity related with funeral When some one dies many male members follow to funeral procession to ghat (Funeral site) During this time those member who goes to ghat for funeral rite are considered as polluted and they are not able to enter the house until they perform the purification ritual. Usually purification ritual follows by having bath in nearby river or at home and changing clean dress and sprinkling water dipped in gold.

4.Caste system and untouchable

The untouchablity feature in the caste system is one of the cruelest features of the caste system. It is seen by many as one of the strongest racist phenomenon in the world. In the Hindu societies people who worked in ignominious, polluting and unclean occupations were seen as polluting peoples and were therefore considered as untouchables. The untouchables had almost no rights in the society. In different parts of Nepal they were treated in different ways. In some regions the attitude towards the untouchables was harsh and strict. In other regions it was less strict. . (Arora: 1998:104,Concept of Impurity and Hindu caste System)

In regions where the attitude was less strict the untouchables were seen as polluting people and their dwellings were at a distance from the settlements of higher caste. The untouchables were not allowed to touch people from the higher caste. They were not allowed to enter houses of the higher caste. They were not allowed to enter the temples. They were not allowed to use the same wells used by the higher caste people. In public occasions they were compelled to sit at a distance from the higher caste. In regions where the attitude towards the untouchables were more severe, not only touching them was seen polluting, but also even a contact with their shadow was seen as polluting. It is obvious that most of the trades pursued by impure castes are some way associated with impurity. (Andras Hoffer2004: 74) If, because of any reason, there was a contact between an untouchable and a member of the high caste, the higher caste member became defiled and had to immerse or wash himself with water to be purified. In strict societies, especially among the 'Twice Born' (the three top Varnas) the touched 'Twice Born' also had to pass through some religious ceremonies to purify him from the pollution. If the untouchable entered a house and touched things of a high caste, the members used to wash or clean the places where the untouchable touched and stepped. In some incidences the untouchables who associated with the high caste members were beaten and even murdered for that reason. Some higher hierarchy the orthodox Hindus treated anyone who worked in any kind of polluting job as untouchable and did not have any contact with them. According to orthodox rules any one who does not belong to the four Varnas, meaning foreigners, are untouchables.

5.Conclusion There are many reasons for the emergence of caste system as dominated social reality during Vedic era. The social compulsion of that time must have contributed to its development. The most plausible and accepted theory is that probably Vedic people found cast system as a convenient means to integrate a multicultural society into one complex system. As later in the context of Nepal, Muluki Ain 1854 has incorporated all ethnic group to Caste system. In the later Vedic time this system has flourished more because those who are in position, power and authority got better opportunities to exploit other to make them selves to remain in power especially the priestly class and Khatiyas which result in constructing cast system more rigidly. Caste system is one of the most exploitative systems where people of lower strata cannot rise to the higher position. With no scope for their advancement or economic independence, ever under bondage, and suffering from various kinds of disabilities, where they become third or fourth class citizens of Hindu society with out any dignity of their own and with a status comparable to that of animals, as they were the 'once born' in contrast to 'twice born'. Well it is difficult to generalize Hindu society on any particular issues since it consisted of diverse groups and communities. But we can confidently consider the caste system as bane of Hindu society from earlier times and till today has continued as one of the most complicated system, which is in practiced very rigidly in the society. The caste system must have emerged because people of different communities have tried to raised to higher position and to monopolize the power of dominants people, the stratifications of society is done in order to remain in power permanently by them. The division of society into Varna system is the result of higher caste unwilling to work on polluted job and enforcing weaker, poor, war prisoners and slaves to do this profession. In modern context caste system has taken another form that is class. Those who are poor, oppressed and made slave could not rise to higher position and result in stagnant to lower class citizens, for example Dalit are in the lower class in strata than higher caste Brahmins and other ethnic group in Nepal. It is because they were continuously being oppressed since ancient time. Basically when we talk about Nepal despite being the oppression is continuing, the anti-discrimination provisions contained in the 1990 Constitution, caste discrimination remains ingrained in Hindu-dominated Nepalese society. Caste discrimination constitutes a form of racism in which people are categorically relegated to subordinate social positions, and are denied equal access to social, economic, political and legal resources. Wealth and power are disproportionately distributed to favour higher castes, restricting social mobility and the possibility of intergenerational change, because caste is based on lines of descent. Cultural attitudes that perpetuate the caste system are inculcated at a young age in Nepal, and are often reinforced within the education system. Adults teach children to maintain the stratified society, and continual reinforcement of the system cement it into an unquestionable reality. Caste discrimination is frequently present in government-initiated development programmes, with many of the projects failing to benefit the lower castes.

Reference

1.Arora, D.B: 1998 Concept of Impurity and Hindu Caste System. Sultan Chand and Co. Delhi

2.Bennett, Lynn: 1983 Dangerous Wives and Sacred Sisters. Columbia University Press.

3.Hoffer Andras: 2004 The Hierarchy and the State in Nepal, Himal Books Lalitpur, Nepal

4.Ram Bahadur Chheti.et.al: 2005 Occasional Papers in Sociology and Anthropology, Tribhuwan University, Nepal.

5.Nicholas B.Driks: 2003 Castes Of Mind, Parmanent Black, Delhi

6.Prayag Raj Sharma: 2004 State and Society In Nepal, Himal Books Lalitpur, Nepal

7. Shrestha, Gyan Bhadur: 2061 Ain Sangra, Pauravi Prakashan, Kathmandu

8. V.Jayaram: 1997 Caste System is the biggest threat to Hinduism, preliminary paper posted in Internet, www.hindusystem.com

Castes in Hinduism

The notion of Varna as a non-inherited human types system rather than a socio-religious caste system was first attested in the Rig-Veda, though it generally refers to the four principal classes described in Manu's code, viz. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. It is believed that one is born into a caste depending on one's karmic influences—actions in the past life and current life.

Purusha Sukta hymn

The castes are not mentioned in the oldest part of the Rig Veda (the "family books," (2-7). Only the Purusha Sukta hymn (Rig Veda 10:90) mentions the castes and compares them to the body of a man: "The Brâhmana was his mouth, of both his arms was the Râjanya made. His thighs became the Vaishya, from his feet the Sûdra was produced." (RV 10:90:12) In the Purusha Sukta hymn the word Varna is not used, and it is the only hymn of the Rig Veda where the words Vaishya and Sudra are used. The Purusha Sukta hymn is considered to be one of the youngest parts of the Rig Veda.

Etymology of Caste, Varna and Jati

Varna:

The word "varna" comes from Sanskrit (वर्ण varṇa "colour, tint, dye, pigment", or faith (faithless), preference, religious affiliation, conviction, or "to choose", or lustre).
In the Zend Avesta and the Gathas, the word Varana or Varena (from the root Var ("put faith in, to believe in") is used in the sense of "faith, religious doctrine, choice of creed or belief.") The language of the Gathas (the oldest part of the Avesta) is very similar to the language of the Rig Veda.
It may also come from the root Var- "choose", as in "svayamvara", “[a girl’s] own choice [of a husband]”, or from the root vri (which means "one's occupation").
In the Rig Veda, the word varNa occurs 22 times and means lustre in 17 out of 22 times it refers to the "lustre" (i.e. "one's own typical light") of gods like Soma, Agni or Ushas. In RV 3.34.5 and RV 9.71.2 it refers to the lustrous colour of the sky at dawn.

Primary Hindu castes

Overview

The caste system, although not currently officially sanctioned by their governments, is used by Hindus, particularly in India and Nepal for reasons of determining lineage and is passed down through patrilineal descent. It is based on four varnas, (meaning "colours"):

Brahmins (white-symbolizing Sattva), priests, teachers
Kshatriyas (red-symbolizing Rajas), kings, princes, warriors
Vaishyas (yellow-symbolizing Rajas), merchants/craftsmen
Shudras (blue or black-symbolizing Tamas), workers, farmers

The occupations of the Vaishya are those connected with trade, the cultivation of the land and the breeding of cattle; while those of a Kshatriya consist in ruling and defending the people, administering justice, and the duties, of the military profession generally and ruling by Dharma. Both share with the Brahman the privilege of reading the Veda. To the Brahman belongs the right of teaching and expounding the sacred texts, and also that of interpreting and determining the law and the rules of caste. Shudras were the serfs, and performed the physically difficult work shunned by the higher castes. However, Hindu tradition has always had members of the Shudra community ascending to the level of priesthood. Saints of the Shudra tradition include such important figures as Valmiki, author of Ramayana, Ved Vyasa who compiled the Vedas and other important Hindu works, whose mother was a Shudra and Rishi Matanga.

Intermarriage between castes was well known and practiced by many members of each caste as can be attested by their scriptures, although preservation of lineage and traditions was considered important by most castes.

Indian texts speak of jati, which are communities. Each varna is further subdivided into many jatis. Each jati has its appropriate rules of conduct, or "dharma", including rules regarding marriage, eating, and physical proximity. The four varnas are psychological categories that are supposed to be present in each individual.

The Four Sections of Varnas

Brahmins

The Brahmins are the priestly caste, and are responsible for all religious affairs of society, and must endure 12 years studying the Vedas (the word comes from Sanskrit for 'knowledge', root word Vid 'to know').

They were never considered the rulers of society, but in the past they have often shaped the path through roles as teachers and advisors. The goal in this Vedic system is to ascend to the level of Brahmin, as it is easiest, (or in some views possible) to achieve moksha - release from samsara, the cycle of reincarnation, and attainment of heavenly bliss when a Bramin.

The existence of a priestly caste is well known from many cultures, such as the Druids of the Celts, the Magi of the Persians and the Kohanim of Judaism.

In India, discrimination on the basis of caste has been outlawed both by the state and by making available ancient texts which state seeing all of humanity as one.

Also see Brahminism, Brahmins, Smartha, Iyengar, Madhwa, Iyer

Kshatriyas

Kshatriyas were primarily associated with the defense and governance of the state by Dharma as set forth by the ancient Arya Kings in their shastras or spiritual writings. The warriors belonged to this caste. As kings, they had power on earth. They protected their subjects and looked after the proper functioning of the society. As warriors, their caste duty was to slay enemies. They were the only caste allowed to rule.

Examples

Arjuna, of the famous Bhagavad Gita, was a Kshatriya prince, and was faced with the problem of going to war with family members.
Siddhartha Gautama, who is known to have become the Buddha, was born a Hindu Kshatriya prince.
Vishwamitra was Kshatriya (king) but he became BhramRishi (priest)by Karma

Vaishyas

The Vaishyas make up

craftsman
traders/merchants
and husbandmen in society.

Shudras

The Shudras, who make up the lowest caste, are effectively the majority of the populace. They are peasants equivalent to serfs in Europe, although artists, craft-workers and musicians are also shudras. They generally work in a relationship of servitude to the other three castes, who depend on them.

The Untouchables

Finally, there are the people who fall outside the system, or who are considered below the four recognized castes who are the untouchables, considered to be casteless. They are also referred to as pariahs or dalits.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar wrote:

The Broken Men hated the Brahmins because the Brahmins were the enemies of Buddhism and the Brahmins imposed untouchability upon the Broken Men because they would not leave Buddhism. On this reasoning it is possible to conclude that one of the roots of untouchability lies in the hatred and contempt which the Brahmins created against those who were Buddhist.

In the Manusmriti it is asserted that there are only four varnas, which leads one to the conclusion that the formation of the outcaste groups may have been a consequence of the Buddhist injunction against professions dealing with animal-killing. Support for this view comes from the fact that similar outcaste groups have existed in Japan, Korea, and China. However, this seems a stretched comparison to some since the Manusmriti itself condemns the eating of animal flesh, stating that non-vegetarians will come back in later lives to be killed by the very beings they killed and ate in former lives.

Many times people became untouchables by their own community i.e. were considered irreligious or criminal and were members of castes who were ostracized or excommunicated from their respective communities. Angulimala the criminal is an example of this. Others were simply those who due to bad times, could no longer live within society and had to take on "ritually unclean" jobs. The story of Raja Harishchandra speaks of this.

These people performed the dirty work of society:

they worked as butchers and tanners and hence had to work with dead animals;
worked with refuse and garbage; and
were also non-Kshatriya mercenaries and assassins.

They were the most despised people of the Imperial Indian Civilization.

Jati

Mixed in with the Varna Caste system was the Jati sub-caste system. The Jati was effectively a system similar to guilds, and was associated with occupation. If the Varnas gave structure to society, the Jati gave structure to each Varna.

Unlike the Varna system which required spiritual purity in order to ascend, Jati could be changed with comparative ease. Marriages would be arranged within one's varna, but sometimes between Jati sub-castes. Due to its inheritability, there is a lot of 'caste prejudice' between castes, usually taking the form of disassociation with lower castes, though sometimes it would degenerate into petty 'gang wars,' usually among the lowest caste(s) and the Pariahs.

Division of labor

The varna system is based on division of labor. The colors are based upon the daily activities of each group. The Brahmin wears white because he performs various sacrifices and has to be clean. Any impurities will show on the white clothing. The Kshatriya warriors wear red because they see a lot of blood and wounds as they practice their daily warrior routines. The Vaishya traders handle items like turmeric and other spices and they wear yellow because it masks the colour. The Shudras wear blue because the color blue was more appropriate for the work environment.

The power of the sacerdotal order having been gradually enlarged in proportion to the development of the minutiae of sacrificial ceremonial and the increase of sacred lore, they began to lay claim to supreme authority in regulating and controlling the religious and social life of the people. The author of the so-called Purusha-skta, or hymn of Purusha, represents the four castes. the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras having severally sprung respectively from the mouth, the arms, the thighs and the feet of Purusha, a primary being, here assumed to be the source of the universe. It is very doubtful, however, whether at the time when this hymn was composed the relative position of the two upper castes could already have been settled in so decided a way as this theory might lead one to suppose. There is, on the contrary, reason to believe that some time had yet to elapse, marked by fierce and bloody struggles for supremacy, of which only imperfect ideas can be formed from the legendary and frequently biased accounts of later generations, before the Kshatriyas finally submitted to the full measure of priestly authority.

Below these four castes lies the casteless untouchables, also known as dalits or pariahs.

Origins of the system

The beginnings of Vedic ritual and textual traditions were possibly as early as 6000 BC. It probably originated with prehistoric Proto-Indo European peoples. In the framework of the "trifunctional hypothesis" of Georges Dumézil, the presence of four castes is seen as an indication that the lowest caste consists of the descendants of a subjugated indigenous people, while the original system would have included three castes, priests, warriors and peasants, comparable to the three classes, viz. clergy, nobility and peasants of medieval Europe.

At the time of the Vedas, and even during the Indo-Persian period, the sacrificial ceremonial had become sufficiently complicated to call for the creation of a certain number of distinct priestly offices with special duties attached to them. While this shows clearly that the position and occupation of the priest were those of a profession, the fact that the terms brahmatza and brahmaputra, both denoting the son of a brahmin, are used in certain hymns as synonyms of brahmin, seems to justify the assumption that the profession had already, to a certain degree, become hereditary at the time when these hymns were composed.

There is, however, with the exception of a solitary passage in a hymn of the last book, no trace to be found in the Rig Veda of that rigid division into four castes separated from one another by insurmountable barriers, which in later times constituted a distinctive feature of Hindu society.

The religious belief of these tribes being entirely different from that of the conquering people, the pious Aryas, and especially the class habitually engaged in acts of worship, could hardly fail to apprehend considerable danger to the purity of their own faith from too close and intimate a contact between the two races. What more natural, therefore, than that measures should have been early devised to limit the intercourse between them within as narrow bounds as possible?

This view is linked to the controversial Aryan invasion theory; a nativist view would be that the Varna system goes back to the Indus Valley Civilization

The idea of caste is expressed by the Sanskrit term varna, originally denoting color of the aura, and not skin color. So this theory is highly unlikely.

Indian civilization and its customs are far more ancient - in particular if we take into consideration the latest genetic studies suggesting that the first and ONLY human tribe out of Africa to whom every other race can trace their genes to were found in India (New York Times May 13,2005) and southeast Asia. However, unlike southeast Asia,the regions in and around India have the greatest phenotypical variance. The Jati system (which is more discriminatory along tribal lines), perhaps occurred very early on as genetic mutations became more pronounced due to tribal migrations and each tribe branching out of the original one perhaps began to discriminate amongst each other based on phenotypes. Until further evidence is provided, this would be speculation..

Manu's Code

The stability of caste was rendered still more secure by the elaboration of a system of conventional precepts, partly forming the basis of Manu's Code, which clearly defined the relative position and the duties of the several castes, and determined the penalties to be indicted on any transgressions of the limits assigned to each of them. These laws are conceived with no sentimental scruples on the part of their authors. The offences committed by Brahmans against other castes are treated with remarkable clemency, whilst the punishments inflicted for trespasses on the rights of higher classes are the more severe the lower the offender stands in the social scale. For an equivalent offence though, the higher-up the caste scale one was in, Manu awarded a higher degree of punishment [ex. Manu VIII, 337-338]. The code of conduct was strictly enforced for Brahmins - and the larger transgressions were awarded loss of caste or twice-born status.

Regarding origin of caste in India, Manusmriti makes the following statement:

shanakaistu kriya-lopadimah Kshatriya-jatayah |

vrashalatvam gata loke brahmna-darshanen cha ||43||

Paundrash-Chaudra-Dravidah-Kamboja-Yavanah-Shakah |

Paradah Pahlavash-Chinah Kirata Daradah Khashah ||44||

— (Manusmritti, X.43-44)

which according to Indian History Sourcebook (The Laws of Manu) translates as follows:

43. But in consequence of the omission of the sacred rites, and of their not consulting Brahmanas, the following tribes of Kshatriyas have gradually sunk in this world to the condition of Shudras;

44. (Viz.) the Paundrakas, the Chodas, the Dravidas, the Kambojas, the Yavanas, the Shakas, the Paradas, the Pahlavas, the Chinas, the Kiratas, the Daradas and the Khashas.

Indian History Sourcebook: The Laws of Manu, c. 1500 BC, translated by G. Buhler

Intermarriage

Notwithstanding the barriers placed between the four castes, the practice of intermarrying appears to have been too prevalent in early times to have admitted of measures of so stringent a nature as wholly to repress it. To marry a woman of a higher caste, and especially of a caste not immediately above one's own, is, however, decidedly prohibited, the offspring resulting from such a union being excluded from the performance of the obsequies to the ancestors, and thereby rendered incapable of inheriting any portion of the parents' property.

On the other hand, a man is at liberty - according to the rules of Manu - to marry a girl of any or each of the castes below his own, provided he has besides a wife belonging to his own class, for only such a one should perform the duties of personal attendance and religious observance devolving upon a married woman.

If the mother of a child born from such an unequal match belongs to a twice-born caste (one of the three upper castes), the child has the rights and duties of the twice-born. Otherwise they, like the children of the former class of intermarriages, share the lot of the shudra, and are excluded from the investiture and the svitri. For this reason, the marriage of a twice-born man with a shudra woman is altogether discouraged by some of the later law books. At the time of the code of Manu the mixture of the classes had already produced a considerable number of intermediate or mixed castes, which were carefully defined, and each of which had a specific, hereditary profession assigned.

Sacramental rites

The three first castes, however unequal to each other in privilege and social standing, are united by a common bond of sacramental rites (satiskdras), traditionally connected from ancient times with certain incidents and stages in the life of the Aryan Hindu, as conception, birth, name-giving, the first taking out of the child to see the sun, the first feeding with boiled rice, the rites of tonsure and hair-cutting, the youths investiture with the sacrificial thread, and his return home on completing his studies, marriage, funeral, etc.

It is from their participation in this rite that the three upper classes are called the twice-born.

For a Brahman, the ceremony takes place between the ages of 8 and 16. For a Kshatriya, between the ages of 11 and 22, and for a Vaishya, between ages 12 and 24.

Those who have not been invested with the mark of his or her class within this time is forever excluded from uttering the sacred savitri and becomes an outcast, unless absolved from sin by a council of Brahmans. After the performance of a purificatory rite, one may resume the badge of one's caste.

With one not duly initiated, no righteous man was allowed to associate or to enter into connections of affinity. The duty of the Shudra was to serve the twice-born classes, above all the Brahmans. He was excluded from all sacred knowledge, and if he performed sacrificial ceremonies he must do so without using holy mantras. No Brahman could recite a Vedic text where a man of the servant caste might overhear him, nor may he even teach him the laws of expiating sins.

Transition in Caste

There is the Upanishadic story of a boy who went to a guru to learn the Hindu scriptures. His guru asked him what his caste was. Consulting his mother, who was actually a prostitute and didn't really know what her caste by birth was, the boy returned to the guru and responded that he was all castes. He worshipped the Gods, thus fulfilling the duties that are ordinarily a Brahmin's, he earned his keep like a Vaishya, took care of cleaning the house, like a Shudra, and protected his family's interest like a Kshatriya. The guru was pleased and told the boy he was fit to be taught and initiated into the Brahmin's life. However the very fact that the boy had to refer to his birth to determine his caste as a first step indicates that the default caste of a person was always determined by birth.

The caste system originated in nomenclature and was changed through the influence of a powerful elite into an enforced system. Indeed, the Dharmashastras (which are collections of Hindu codes and laws) say that caste is not determined by birth but by action in life. One must also keep in mind that since the dawn of Vedanta and with the increase of Tantrics of the Shiva-Shakti variety many Vedic-rooted people (i.e. Hindus) rejected the stratified and corrupted version of varna-ashram that became caste. On the other hand, caste still retained a significant influence on modern Hindu society.

Brahmin (priest), Kshatriya (warrior, nobility), Vaishya (large group of ordinary workers, merchants, businessmen, etc.) and Shudras (menial workers, janitors, sweepers, etc.) were the four varnas. Each varna was said to possess certain characteristics: i.e. the shudra was often someone with a violent temper, crude tongue, given to intoxicants, not loving of God; the Vaishya was hardworking, dutiful but given to avarice and while believing in God, was not spiritually inclined. The Kshatriya was noble, learned and beyond all selfless, his or her duty being the administration of the people and fighting of battles against intruders; often very spiritually inclined. The Brahmin was kind, loving, was the society's storehouse (especially when scriptures were memorized) of the ancient scriptures, the performer of rituals, a lover of God and the most spiritually advanced member of a community.

Thus, one sees that the original conception of caste was that people who acted a certain way, fell into a certain category. If one were born into a Brahmin family, but drank and had no respect for one's fellow living beings and God, one was simply not a Brahmin. This view is supported by a reading of the Bhagavad Gita that held that caste was a function of practice, rather than based on birth. It is worthy to note that all three acharayas, Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva all subscribed to this view. The lives of great Vaishnavite saints such as Kanaka Dasa and Tukaram demonstrated that single-minded devotion to God was the sole criteria for Him, not birth.

It was considered highly auspicious if someone had the good fortune to be born into a Brahmin family and then, following the family tradition, established oneself as a Brahmin by actually living the life of a Brahmin. Hence, the term twice born, or dvija. Clearly it is far easier to move down than up the ladder of caste.

One sees in scriptural descriptions of caste another motivation: it was a way of explaining the natural inequalities into which all human societies are necessarily born. It was the unhappy truth that some people were born into poor families, or in the slums, and others into the families of holy men. Explaining to people in clear terms that the natural processes of life and death, reincarnation, led to certain circumstances with which one was confronted. Thus, the varnas were a good way of helping people who had no chance of being warriors or priests, due to their upbringing or native intelligence/ability, to live happily within their life and feel good about attaining God through proper adherence to their own dharma (overall duties).

Over and over again, the Upanishads and other great texts spoke to the nature of caste being a mere name and not defining whom one was. Calling someone a Vaishya was supposed to be like calling someone a blue-collar worker today.

The established Brahmins, whose duty it was to act as gurus (teachers) for new generations of Brahmins, by culling those worthy of Brahminhood from all the young boys of the society, began discriminating based on caste. This practice began to become more ingrained, and social mobility became a thing of the past but for in a few areas of India. Even today, however, in the most traditional of circles, sanyassis (renunciates of the world) are given the utmost respect, as it is said that by leaving human society, they leave behind their distinctive social characteristics, including caste.

The Hindu tantrics are a part of Hinduism whose scriptural texts, the Agamic strand known collectively as the Tantras, assert their descent from the Vedas, especially the Atharva-Veda. Claiming that the Vedic rituals no longer applied to Kali Yuga, the fourth and final age of humanity in Hinduism that sees morality ebb to complete dissolution until the end of the earth, the Tantrics see themselves as natural continuations of the Vedas through Hindu yogic practices. Among other progressions from Vedic Hinduism, the Tantrics spoke of the caste system as it had evolved as unfounded and inapplicable to humanity and spiritual growth.

Many Hindu yogis and sages have, over the centuries, constantly denounced enforced caste as an aberration of any faith in God. The great non-dualist, Vedantic jnana-yogin (Yogi of discrimination) Shri Adi Shankaracharya (8th century), denounced caste as but one more indication of one's weak, ego-driven self and the flouting of Brahman (the impersonal, ultimate monist basis of Hindu belief). Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (15th century), the powerful bhakti (loving devotee) of Brahman in its manifestations of Vishnu, also denounced caste. But like most societies across the world, the tenets of the religion were completely ignored in the face of personal gain and the corruption of power. The strongly cemented and oppressive caste hierarchy was so ingrained in the Indian consciousness that it was all but indestructible.

Modern perceptions of caste

The caste system was perhaps first exposed to the Western world during the British occupation and rule. Herbert Risley's The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, published in 1892, was one of the first works on this practice by a Western scholar. Some scholars suggest that the resulting depiction of the caste system was as much a product of European racist theories, and the interests of colonial rule, rather than Indian cultural realities. Certainly the color hierarchy from "white" to "black" was typically interpreted at this time in racial terms. Modern scholars further suggest that prior to the colonial era, castes were much more open and flexible. There are several passages in the Vedas that indicate that the four varnas were initially based on professions and not simply determined by birth. It was during a later period that the current rigid caste system came into place.

In any case, the Vedas are said to talk about only four castes. Contemporary India however, has numerous castes and sub-castes, many of which are officially documented (primarily to determine those deserving reservation, an affirmative action process similar to and predating the US system) through the census, and these divisions have fragmented the Indian society. Caste-based politics have strong roots in many Indian states. Sometimes, converts to other religions like Christianity, or Islam, retain their caste identity, often due to the economic benefits it carries, and also to retain their ties with the community for social reasons.

The embracement of the lower castes into the mainstream community was brought about by Mahatma Gandhi who called them "Harijans" (people of God).

Presently, India has tough laws against individual discrimination on the basis of caste. There is a policy for the socio-economic upliftment of the erstwhile lower castes, by the provision of free education till graduation, reservation of admission seats in institutions for higher education, and a 50% quota in government jobs with faster promotions. In spite of these affirmative actions, identification and discrimination based on castes is quite common in the Indian society.Matrimony between members of different castes is still looked down upon and not very popular. Caste based atrocities are still fairly common in many economically backward states and isolated rural districts.

These affirmative actions have often been challenged in courts, and through mass protests. Anti-reservation activists allege that the process, which they suspect is fuelled by political gains, artificially fosters the divisions. A few allege that in the process of categorizing people "who need reservation", caste based identities become firmly entrenched in the Indian psyche. Many also allege that the progress of the meritorious is cramped by the reservation system, which has not been set any deadline by the Constitution of India. Pro-reservation activists allege that the system helps in upliftment of the long-suppressed masses and needs to be in place until all sections achieve an equal status in the Indian society. There is a third viewpoint, which suggests that reservations should be continued but based on the financial plight of an individual rather than on his/her caste. This debate has raged on for the last two decades in India.

The coming of printing to India caused a doctrinal crisis in what Brahmins can do within their customs. Traditionally Brahmins do not do manual work. But, when Indian sacred books such as the Ramayana were first printed in India, the text, both as printed paper and as typeset type, was considered sacred and not to be touched except by Brahmins. To solve the dilemma, young Brahmins had to be trained to operate printing equipment.

Caste Internationally

Anthropologists use the term more generally to refer to a social group that is endogamous and occupationally specialised; such groups are common in highly stratified societies with a very low degree of social mobility. Broadly understood, South Africa during the era of apartheid, the practice of slavery in the antebellum South of the United States through the Civil Rights movement, colonial Latin America under Spanish and Portuguese rule, and India prior to 1947 were all caste-based societies.

Quotes about Caste

The late Swami Krishnananda, the successor to Swami Sivananda and former head of Divine Life Society, noted the following about caste in his autobiography:

"While the caste system was originally evolved for the necessary classification of human duty in order to preserve the organic stability of society, its original meaning and its philosophical foundation was forgotten through the passage of time, and bigotry and fanaticism took its place through the preponderance of egoism, greed and hatred, contrary to the practice of true religion as a social expression of inner spiritual aspiration for a gradual ascent, by stages, to God Almighty. Vidura, famous in the Mahabharata, was born of a Shudra woman. But he had the power to summon the son of Brahma, from Brahmaloka, by mere thought. Which orthodox Brahmin can achieve this astounding feat? It is, therefore, necessary for everyone to have consideration for the facts of world-unity and goodwill, Sarvabhuta-hita, as the great Lord mentions in the Bhagavad Gita. Justice is more than law. No one's body is by itself a Brahmin, because it is constituted of the five gross elements,- earth, water, fire, air and ether. Else, it would be a sin on the part of a son to consign to flames the lifeless body of a Brahmin father. It is, therefore, not proper to victimise a colleague by an action plan of any religious community wedded to fundamentalist doctrines."[1]

Even as early in the Mahabharata period, those same feelings were evoked. Yudhisthira, when questioned by Yama in the form of a Yaksha, about what makes one a Brahmin. Yudhisthira, without hesitation, said that it is conduct alone that makes one a Brahmin.

Traditional Last Names by Varna

Brahmin --- Sarma, Deva; eg. Vishnu Sarma
Kshatriya --- Varma, Trata; eg. Rama Varma
Vaisya --- Gupta, Bhuti; eg. Candra Gupta
Sudra --- Datta, Dasa; eg. Krishna Datta

(Information obtained and translated with modification from entry 'jatidyotakam' from the Malayalam dictionary 'Sabdataravali' by Sreekanteswaram Padmanabha Pillai.)

External links

Murni's in Bali: Names, Titles and Castes
The Caste System in India
Jati system in India
Caste & the Tamil Nation - Brahmins, Non Brahmins & Dalits
Annihilation of Caste with a Reply to Mahatma Gandhi Part I & Part II by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
Writings by Dr Ambedkar about Caste Online texts
Comments from ISKCON's Shri Prabhupada on caste.
Koenraad Elst's articles on Caste: Caste in India, Buddhism and Caste, Indian tribals and Caste, Physical anthropology and Caste, Etymology of Varna

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