Understanding Caste Ka Chakkar
The real story behind the caste system is glaringly different to what we know. Was it called the caste system then? What was its original purpose? Was the system rigid? Was it designed to breed discrimination or inequality? Was there mobility across the castes? Caste ka real story kya hai?
Go through the historiography of the Indian caste system and you are more likely to get a head-spinning ‘chakkar’. Guess what – it’s too deep a topic and needs to be understood contextually with expert advice. We would probably figure out what this caste system originally was, only if we dig the annals of our cultural and social history, study ancient scriptures, examine expert advice, read medieval travelogues and apply Guru Wisdom.
The Indian social order in its original form was called the ‘Varna Vyavastha’ which meant a “macro sociological scheme”, incorrectly referred to as the ‘caste system’ by the masquerading Portuguese during their first voyage to India in the 16th century. The social order given by Indian scriptures was called ‘Varna Ashrama Vyavastha’, consisting of two schemes, Varna Vyavastha (social scheme) and Ashrama Vyavastha (individual scheme).
The original system has been maligned and exploited by cheap pundits, upholders of orthodoxy, obnoxious polity, invaders and elements outside the India-fold for their own needs. Add to this the mass ignorance and the perception of superiority or inferiority based on birth (Jati) got entrenched in the psyche. Birth meant ‘Jati’ which comes from the root ‘jan’ meaning ‘to beget’. There is a clear contrast between the classical four-fold Varna Vyavastha of ‘Brahmana (Brahmin), Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra’ and how it is practiced in modern India. Today’s caste system is a story of milk turned into an unpalatable sour cream and nothing but a social crime.
Caste seems to be dying out in large cosmopolitan cities. In fact, increasing numbers of open minded educated groups don’t care and aren’t aware of their caste. For some it matters very little that they descend from a Saptarishi (sage) whose teachings they are totally ignorant about anyway. My friend claims descent from Lord Krishna but admits he has never read the Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad Gita. Incidentally there is no sanction of today’s caste system in the Gita.
With the help of the scriptures and expert advice, the Varna system is not difficult to understand. According to the Bhagavad Gita, it can be construed that caste was not so rigid. Lord Krishna says (ch-4, verse 13): “The fourfold-caste (Chatur-varna) has been created by Me according to the differentiation of ‘GUNA’ and ‘KARMA’; though I am the author thereof know Me as non-doer and immutable.”
Varna was based on one's ‘Guna’ (mental quality or trait) and ‘Karma’ (physical actions or conduct). This definition of the Varna not only removes our present misunderstanding but also provides us with some data to understand its true significance. Not by birth (jati or heredity) does a man belong to a Varna but by his mental tendencies and personal conduct.
The Yaksha in the Mahabharat asks Yudhistira “King, how does one become a Brahmana: Is it by birth or character or study of the Vedas or education? Tell me precisely.” To this the dharma-abiding King Yudhistira says “Listen, Yaksha, it is neither birth nor education, nor even the study of the Vedas. Without doubt, it is character alone that marks a Brahmana.” There are lists of traits in the scriptures for each varna-group which are looked upon as components of character. The Varna was ultimately based upon one's aptitude and capabilities, not birth.
A hymn from the Rig Veda (9.112.3) also seems to indicate that one's Varna is not necessarily determined by that of one's family: “I am a bard, my father is a physician, and my mother's job is to grind the corn.” The Rig Veda goes to the extent of saying, “No one is superior, none inferior. All are brothers marching forward to prosperity". Swami Vivekananda remarks, “Though our castes and our institutions are apparently linked with our religion, they are not so. In religion there is no caste. The caste system is opposed to the religion of Vedanta.”
Hindu scriptures declare that ‘Birth cannot give superiority or inferiority to anyone’. The generic definition of the term ‘Varna’ comes from ‘Vriyate Iti Varnaha‘ implies that one can choose the social group, occupation based on your innate tendencies. But building character, changing one’s innate tendencies takes time and effort, unless it is natural or sincerely yearned for.
History is replete with such examples of flexible varna/caste mobility. Swami Vivekananda explains “Take a man in his different pursuits, for example: when he is engaged in serving another for pay, he is in Shudra-hood; when he is busy transacting some piece of business for profit, on his account, he is a Vaishya; when he fights to right wrongs then the qualities of a Kshatriya come out in him; and when he meditates on God, or passes his time in conversation about Him, then he is a Brahmana. Naturally, it is quite possible for one to be changed from one caste into another. Otherwise, how did Vishwamitra become a Brahmana and Parashurama a Kshatriya?”
The ancient Varna system may or may not be relevant today, but its existence as a flexible natural order of society has universal appeal. Certainly the Varna system, in its true import, supports ‘Conduct’. Isn’t conduct more important than the so-called ‘descended–genetic-strands-of-purity’ that seem to lie ever dormant?
The real story behind the caste system is glaringly different to what we know. Was it called the caste system then? What was its original purpose? Was the system rigid? Was it designed to breed discrimination or inequality? Was there mobility across the castes? Caste ka real story kya hai? Go...
The real story behind the caste system is glaringly different to what we know. Was it called the caste system then? What was its original purpose? Was the system rigid? Was it designed to breed discrimination or inequality? Was there mobility across the castes? Caste ka real story kya hai?
Go through the historiography of the Indian caste system and you are more likely to get a head-spinning ‘chakkar’. Guess what – it’s too deep a topic and needs to be understood contextually with expert advice. We would probably figure out what this caste system originally was, only if we dig the annals of our cultural and social history, study ancient scriptures, examine expert advice, read medieval travelogues and apply Guru Wisdom.
The Indian social order in its original form was called the ‘Varna Vyavastha’ which meant a “macro sociological scheme”, incorrectly referred to as the ‘caste system’ by the masquerading Portuguese during their first voyage to India in the 16th century. The social order given by Indian scriptures was called ‘Varna Ashrama Vyavastha’, consisting of two schemes, Varna Vyavastha (social scheme) and Ashrama Vyavastha (individual scheme).
The original system has been maligned and exploited by cheap pundits, upholders of orthodoxy, obnoxious polity, invaders and elements outside the India-fold for their own needs. Add to this the mass ignorance and the perception of superiority or inferiority based on birth (Jati) got entrenched in the psyche. Birth meant ‘Jati’ which comes from the root ‘jan’ meaning ‘to beget’. There is a clear contrast between the classical four-fold Varna Vyavastha of ‘Brahmana (Brahmin), Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra’ and how it is practiced in modern India. Today’s caste system is a story of milk turned into an unpalatable sour cream and nothing but a social crime.
Caste seems to be dying out in large cosmopolitan cities. In fact, increasing numbers of open minded educated groups don’t care and aren’t aware of their caste. For some it matters very little that they descend from a Saptarishi (sage) whose teachings they are totally ignorant about anyway. My friend claims descent from Lord Krishna but admits he has never read the Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad Gita. Incidentally there is no sanction of today’s caste system in the Gita.
With the help of the scriptures and expert advice, the Varna system is not difficult to understand. According to the Bhagavad Gita, it can be construed that caste was not so rigid. Lord Krishna says (ch-4, verse 13): “The fourfold-caste (Chatur-varna) has been created by Me according to the differentiation of ‘GUNA’ and ‘KARMA’; though I am the author thereof know Me as non-doer and immutable.”
Varna was based on one's ‘Guna’ (mental quality or trait) and ‘Karma’ (physical actions or conduct). This definition of the Varna not only removes our present misunderstanding but also provides us with some data to understand its true significance. Not by birth (jati or heredity) does a man belong to a Varna but by his mental tendencies and personal conduct.
The Yaksha in the Mahabharat asks Yudhistira “King, how does one become a Brahmana: Is it by birth or character or study of the Vedas or education? Tell me precisely.” To this the dharma-abiding King Yudhistira says “Listen, Yaksha, it is neither birth nor education, nor even the study of the Vedas. Without doubt, it is character alone that marks a Brahmana.” There are lists of traits in the scriptures for each varna-group which are looked upon as components of character. The Varna was ultimately based upon one's aptitude and capabilities, not birth.
A hymn from the Rig Veda (9.112.3) also seems to indicate that one's Varna is not necessarily determined by that of one's family: “I am a bard, my father is a physician, and my mother's job is to grind the corn.” The Rig Veda goes to the extent of saying, “No one is superior, none inferior. All are brothers marching forward to prosperity". Swami Vivekananda remarks, “Though our castes and our institutions are apparently linked with our religion, they are not so. In religion there is no caste. The caste system is opposed to the religion of Vedanta.”
Hindu scriptures declare that ‘Birth cannot give superiority or inferiority to anyone’. The generic definition of the term ‘Varna’ comes from ‘Vriyate Iti Varnaha‘ implies that one can choose the social group, occupation based on your innate tendencies. But building character, changing one’s innate tendencies takes time and effort, unless it is natural or sincerely yearned for.
History is replete with such examples of flexible varna/caste mobility. Swami Vivekananda explains “Take a man in his different pursuits, for example: when he is engaged in serving another for pay, he is in Shudra-hood; when he is busy transacting some piece of business for profit, on his account, he is a Vaishya; when he fights to right wrongs then the qualities of a Kshatriya come out in him; and when he meditates on God, or passes his time in conversation about Him, then he is a Brahmana. Naturally, it is quite possible for one to be changed from one caste into another. Otherwise, how did Vishwamitra become a Brahmana and Parashurama a Kshatriya?”
The ancient Varna system may or may not be relevant today, but its existence as a flexible natural order of society has universal appeal. Certainly the Varna system, in its true import, supports ‘Conduct’. Isn’t conduct more important than the so-called ‘descended–genetic-strands-of-purity’ that seem to lie ever dormant?
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