The Caste System

The Caste System

Most Americans believe in social mobility. Typical American children think that they can grow up to become anyone they want — a fire fighter, a brain surgeon, the president of the United States. Even kids from poor families have a chance of getting rich.

Under the ancient caste system in South Asia, though, the idea of social mobility made no sense. People were born into strict social positions called castes, and their children belonged to the same social class. In fact, under the caste system, parents knew the jobs their kids would hold even before the kids were born.

The Origins of the Caste System

The Hindu caste system is rooted in the traditions of the Aryan people. The Aryans were a group of people from Central Asia who migrated into North India around 1200 BC. The caste system began after the Aryans invaded India and established their own rules for governing society. The Aryans prohibited marriages between their own people and the people of the lands they conquered.

The Brahmins, or high priests, determined a class order by using the hymns of the Vedas, the Aryan’s collection of sacred religious literature. One famous verse from “The Hymn of Man” said,

When they divided the Man, into how many parts did they apportion him? What do they call his mouth, his tow arms, thighs and feet?

His mouth became the Brahmin; his arms were made into the Warrior, his thighs the People, and from his feet the Servants were born.

Using the human body as a metaphor, this hymn divides society into four distinct classes, or castes, based on occupation. The mouth is the Brahmin, priest. The arms are the Shatriyas, warriors and rulers. The thighs are the Vaishyas, skilled workers and farmers. The feet are the Shudras, servants.

Caste Divisions

According to the Hindu religion, society should be divided into four broad classes called VARNAS. A person had the same varna that his or her parents had. And he or she had it from birth to death — there was no way to change it. Hindus did not question the varna system. It was simply considered a part of the way the universe works.

Hindus rank the four varnas from highest to lowest. In descending order of importance and prestige, they are the BRAHMIN, the KSHATRIYA, the VAISYA, and the SHUDRA.

The Untouchables

There is a fifth major class in Hinduism, but it is considered so low that it doesn't even qualify as a varna. This caste is formally known as the “Dalit”, but most people call it the "UNTOUCHABLE" class because its members are forbidden to touch anyone who belongs to one of the four varnas. If a Brahmin priest touches an untouchable, he or she must go through a ritual in which the pollution is washed away.

Untouchables do all the most unpleasant work in South Asia. They are forced to live on the outskirts of towns and villages, and they must take water downstream from and not share wells with varna Hindus. The untouchables were the outcastes, or people beyond the caste system. Their jobs or habits involved “polluting activities” including:

• Any job that involved ending a life, such as fishing.
• Killing or disposing of dead cattle or working with their hides.
• Any contact with human emissions such as sweat, urine, or feces. This included occupational groups such as sweepers and washermen.
• People who ate meat. This category included most of the primitive Indian hill tribes.

Untouchables were often forbidden to enter temples, schools and wells where higher castes drew water. In some parts of southern India, even the sight of untouchables was thought to be polluting. The untouchables forced to sleep during the day and work at night. Many untouchables left their rigid social structure by converting to Islam, Buddhism, or Christianity.

Many Hindus in the past believed that untouchables deserved this treatment — a treatment that is in many ways even harsher than that inflicted on African Americans before the Civil Rights Movement. Hindus think that a person is born to this class because of bad karma he or she earned in a pervious life.

Job Placement

To a Westerner, this system seems complicated enough, but Hindus actually divide each varna into many little subsections. These subsections, called JATIS, work a lot like the varnas. A person is born in to the same jati as his or her parents and remains there for life.

There are different jatis for every kind of job, such as blacksmith, farmer, shoemaker, and accountant. There may be more than one jati that does a particular job, but most jatis do only one.

Ideally, a person will marry someone in the same jati. This can sometimes be a problem when most of the people in the jati are related in some way. A father in South Asia must take responsibility for finding a good match for his children, and will work hard to find someone in the same jati who is not a close blood relative.

Westerners may find this complicated and sometimes cruel system hard to understand. A Hindu, however, accepts it as natural. Hinduism teaches that in order to be assured of a good life in one's next reincarnation, a person must fulfill their dharma- that they must do everything possible to live up to the expectations of his or her varna and jati. By living up to these expectations, the soul can be born into a higher caste in the next life. But the opposite of this is also true. If a member of a higher caste is without virtue and does not live according to their dharma, he or she may be reborn as a Shudra or an Untouchable. The Indians even believed that a person could be reincarnated into the body of an insect if they did not lead a good life in their current position. A Shudra should work hard; a Brahmin should study religious texts and pray hard. This is what is expected of them in order to avoid punishment in the next life.

The caste system has relaxed somewhat over the last hundred years or so. People can take jobs that are not exactly what their jati requires, especially as new kinds of jobs — such as computer programming, flying airplanes, and installing cable television — that have no traditional association emerge.

In fact, the caste system is officially illegal in India. Affirmative action programs have been adopted to create new opportunities for lower-caste Indians. Even the untouchable caste has had some success getting better jobs, including government positions.

But, the system is not dead. Two of the questions South Asians often ask about each other when they first meet are "What is your jati?" and "What is your varna?" Although most Westerners and many modern Hindus don't believe that the caste system can really say much about a person on the inside, knowing someone's caste gives one some idea of what his or her life and family are like.

The caste system existed almost unchanged for at least 2,000 years, and its effects can still be felt today. But in the last half century, the system has begun to change and the idea of social mobility has arrived in India.

Many castes have begun to improve their status, and others have changed dramatically with the introduction of new technologies. Contact with other cultures has had the most profound change, and today a Shudra or even an untouchable really does have a chance of making a fortune.

Caste System: Part One

1. How did the caste system come to be established in India?

2. Draw the social pyramid of the caste system. Include the name of each caste and the types of jobs members of each caste would be expected to hold.

3. Why have people willingly followed the expectations of this system?

4. What would happen if they refused to follow this system?

5. Define these terms: Varna, Jati, Dalit, dharma, Aryans

6. Is the caste system still in place today? Explain your answer with examples to prove your position.

Caste System: Part Two

If you complete the reading on the Caste system, continue on to read the article “Caste Away” from the Wall Street Journal in 2007. Answer the following questions based on the article.

1. Identify each of the men featured in this article and give details about their lives based on the information provided to you.

Venugopal Thoti:

Jayaker Daniel Erpula:

2. What are some of the challenges these men faced as they tried to find work and make a life outside of the traditional expectations for members of the Dalit?

3. What has changed in India that makes it possible for men like these to find success?