Origin of the caste system
According to socio-historical theory, the caste system began with the arrival of the Aryans in India. The Aryans arrived in India around 500 B. C. (some claim a much earlier date). The fair skinned Aryans arrived in India from south Europe and north Asia.
Varna
Varna refers to the categorization of the Hindu society by four castes, hypothesized by the Brahmins and their sacred texts.
Varna also means "color" in the Sanskrit language, which is ancient Indian
The four main varnas
According to socio-historical theory, the caste system began with the arrival of the Aryans in India. The Aryans arrived in India around 500 B. C. (some claim a much earlier date). The fair skinned Aryans arrived in India from south Europe and north Asia.
Varna
Varna refers to the categorization of the Hindu society by four castes, hypothesized by the Brahmins and their sacred texts.
Varna also means "color" in the Sanskrit language, which is ancient Indian
The four main varnas
- the Brahmins: scholars, teachers, priests and sages.
- the Kshatriya: kings, soldiers, and rulers.
- the Vaishyas: merchants, cattle herders and agriculturists
- the Shudras: labourers, craftsmen and artisans.
- The fifth varna was that of the "Untouchables", who were the "junk" of the society. They did all the jobs that no one wanted to do, including hard labor and other dirty work. They were believed to be so full of germs, that you could get infected just by touching them, so nobody would ever want to come near them.
Jati
is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs or linguistic groupings define some jatis. In any given location in India 500 or more jatis may exist, although the exact composition will differ from district to district.
- Rules of jati included that when you were born, you belonged to the same jati as your parents, and you could not change that. You usually married people and only spent time with the people that belonged to the same jati as you. Some people became more loyal to their yati than to the government or their religion. You had to treat the people of a higher jati with great respect.
- If rules were broken, you were kicked out from your jati, and that meant you didn't belong anywhere. And it was very hard to function all alone because everyone looked on you if you were an outcast.
- Aryans believed that the caste system made it easier to govern society, as each jati had specific rules. With the caste system, everybody had a task, nobody was "jobless", so it was a great system to get people to do their work. Everybody worked to their full potentional, in the hope of improving their position and moving up one jati in society, which rarely happened to individuals, but more likely to a whole jati from group effort.
Unpanishads
The Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main or old Upanishads
Brahman
Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being. Brahman is conceived as personal, impersonal and supreme depending on the philosophical school.
- Samsara is a belief that when someone dies, they temporarily go to a heaven-like place, and are then reborn into a new existence.
- Karma is the specific existence that someone was reborn into. If you lived a pure life, you were reborn into a better life, for example into a higher jati. But if you lived in sin, you were reborn into a worse life.
- Moksha breaks the cycle of rebirth and lets your soul rest in a state of "dreamless sleep". To attain moksha, you had to lead an extremely simple, pleasure-free life, and meditate until you reached "enlightement".
- The Upanishads were often used to justify the inequality created by the caste system. They stated why one was born into a caste - because of the way one had lived their previous life.
