The topic of caste is one which has attracted a huge amount of interest (and a proportional amount of hatred) throughout the world, and across socio-cultural and religious divisions. Indeed, it has come to the point whereby any discussion on Hindutva necessitates at least touching on the caste system. The caste system has become, in many such discussions, a way of degrading Hindutva, and has come to be used as a method of "proving" what is seen by many as the inhumanity, cruelness, barbarity and inequality of Hindutva. It is important, therefore, that Hindus themselves examine this system and investigate its true meaning. As one step towards this, I propose here to examine the origins of the system and its intended application, as well as touching briefly on its latter-day social corruption.
The caste system is, of course, generally thought of as that socio-cultural institution, currently prevalent throughout the sub-continent, on the basis of which society is divided up into various "castes", or groups, defined on the basis of birth, and given certain status on the grounds of the specific caste. Whilst this is indeed the nature of the caste system today, this is, as shall be seen in due course, not the true, original concept of the system as proposed by Hindutva.
The origins of today's caste system are to be found in the "Varnashram Vyavastha", the ideal Hindu social model. There are two parts to this - firstly, there is the "Varna Vyavastha", and secondly there is the "Ashram Vyavastha". The former is the part that directly relates to caste, whilst the latter part deals with progressive stages of life, which, indirectly, has a bearing on the application of the Varna Vyavastha.
The Varna Vyavastha itself can be explained with reference to its three forms - Jati Vyavastha, Karma Vyavastha and Guna Vyavastha.
The Jati Vyavastha was the lowest and most crude form of the Varna Vyavastha, and could be termed the Tamsik form of the system. According to this system, each individual was assigned a Varna according to birth. This form of the system was intended for use by hunter-gatherer civilisation, as, in such a civilisation, categorisation by birth was not only the accepted norm, but was, arguably, necessary for the maintenance of intra-Varna loyalties and inter-Varna interaction, giving the smoothest possible running of the society. In the hunter-gatherer civilisation, of course, children inevitably followed in the footsteps of their parents, and marriage (or the equivalent) was, without exception, an intra-Varna affair, so there were no practical problems with following this system. Thus, the teachers were the Brahmins; the fighters the Kshatriyas; the tradesmen the Vaishyas and the workers the Shudras.
The next form was the Karma Vyavastha, which can be thought of as the Rajsik form of the system. According to the Karma Vyavastha, the categorisation of Varna was based on profession, or career, choice. Thus, the intellectuals, academics, teachers, doctors, etc. were classed as Brahmins; the rulers, warriors, law-enforcers, etc. were classed as Kshatriyas; merchants, traders, businessmen, etc. were classed as Vaishyas; and manual labourers were classed as Shudras. In this way, the Karma Vyavastha was able to act as a kind of Trade Union system, which allowed members of each 'trade' to have a common forum, providing security and support.
The highest form was then the Guna Vyavastha, the Sattvik form of the system, under which, classification was to be made on the basis of the individual's Guna, or predominant qualitative make-up. Hence, society could be split into those in whom the Sattvik Guna was predominant, i.e. the Brahmins; those in whom there was a balance of Sattvik and Rajsik, i.e. the Kshatriyas; those in whom there was a balance of Rajsik and Tamsik, i.e. the Vaishyas; and those in whom the Tamsik was foremost, i.e. the Shudras.
Hence, it was intended that, as man's (i.e. society's) general spiritual and mental development progressed from Tamsik to Rajsik to Sattvik, there would be a corresponding shift from the Jati, to Karma, to Guna, Vyavastha. Hence, whilst in earlier times (i.e. hunter-gatherer civilisation), it was right and proper for the Jati Vyavastha to be in place, in the current socio-evolutionary environment, it would be appropriate to follow the Karma Vyavastha. Similarly, in a climate of "Rama Rajya" (which, of course, refers not only to a political system, but to a utopian social, political and cultural environment), the Guna Vyavastha would be the ideal system.
Not only is there this kind of interpretation regarding the transition from Jati through to Guna Vyavastha, but there is also another one. This is where the Ashram Vyavastha begins to have an impact on the application of the Varna Vyavastha.
Just as the Varna Vyavastha deals with the four sections of society, the Ashram Vyavastha deals with the four stages of life. First of all is student life, or "Brahmachaari"; second is married life, or "Grihastha"; third is retired life, or "Vanaspratha"; and finally is renunciation, or "Sannyasa".
Clearly, whilst the individual is studying, mental and spiritual development has not yet fully occured. The Brahmachaari has not fully developed their character, nor has he adopted a career choice. Essentially, the student is still under the influence and guidance of his parents (and guru), and as such maintains his Varna as that of his parents. Thus, in the early stage of life, the individual follows the Jati Vyavastha.
During the next stage of life, the individual takes on a career path and enters into married life. In this stage, since the individual is still primarily concerned with external interests (career, marriage, etc.), their qualitative make-up is unexplored and undefined. Since the individual's life mainly revolves aroun the career in this stage of life, this is what then determines the Varna, and so the individual follows the Karma Varna. It is evident from study of society that it is common (and generally more desirable) for both partners in a marriage to follow the same kind of career, as this adds an element of common interest, which is extremely healthy for the relationship, and so both partners will ideally be of the same Varna according to the Karma Vyavastha.
In the retirement stage of life, the individual is expected to have completed his mental and spiritual development, and should leave his personal work, becoming active in working for the society. Here, the individual has had opportunity to learn about himself and explore his own nature, becoming fully self-aware. Thus, it is possible, at this stage, to make the transition to following Guna Vyavastha.
Finally, once the individual decides to take Sannyasa, he renounces all worldy attachments. Of these attachments, one is the attachment to society and a social structure. Having renounced the world, the Sannyasa has no need for social divisions or classifications. He strives in this stage to attain self-realisation, and with true self-realisation will come the understanding of that fundamental Oneness that is Anuswara.
Having explained the background to the Varna Vyavastha, it is now appropriate to examine its social corruption and transformation into what we know today as the caste system.
First of all, it is poignant to note that the term "caste" is derived from a Portuguese word, and has no basis within Hindutva itself. The origin of the word is from the Portuguese "casta", a word whose direct English translation is difficult to find, but is generally accepted to be approximately synonymous with "breed". This Portuguese terminology for the system arose due to a corrupted translation of "Varna" itself. Whilst the true meaning of the word in this context is "To choose", it is also possible to translate "Varna" as "race" or "colour".
Combined with this external corruption, there came some internal corruption also. Since the responsibility for education and intellectual advancement was placed, for the most part, in the hands of the Brahmins, it was considerably easy for them to appeal to past precedent (i.e. the use of the Jati Vyavastha uptil then), as well as making use of the high esteem in which they were held, to persuade the public that the Jati Vyavastha was the only form of the Varna Vyavastha, and so they were able, by doing this, to maintain a hereditary grip on power. This led to corruption of the system even before the arrival of the Portuguese.
The net result of this corruption of the system has been that, whilst society's nature today is essentially Rajsik, the social order that is being followed is Tamsik. This imbalance leads to what has been termed by Plato as "injustice". Hence, the culprit is not the system itself, but the "injustice" caused by its inappropriate and incorrect application. The answer, therefore, lies not in scrapping the system, as is generally advocated by those who profess a social conscience, but in correcting its application, thus restoring, in Plato's terminology, "justice".
The caste system is, of course, generally thought of as that socio-cultural institution, currently prevalent throughout the sub-continent, on the basis of which society is divided up into various "castes", or groups, defined on the basis of birth, and given certain status on the grounds of the specific caste. Whilst this is indeed the nature of the caste system today, this is, as shall be seen in due course, not the true, original concept of the system as proposed by Hindutva.
The origins of today's caste system are to be found in the "Varnashram Vyavastha", the ideal Hindu social model. There are two parts to this - firstly, there is the "Varna Vyavastha", and secondly there is the "Ashram Vyavastha". The former is the part that directly relates to caste, whilst the latter part deals with progressive stages of life, which, indirectly, has a bearing on the application of the Varna Vyavastha.
The Varna Vyavastha itself can be explained with reference to its three forms - Jati Vyavastha, Karma Vyavastha and Guna Vyavastha.
The Jati Vyavastha was the lowest and most crude form of the Varna Vyavastha, and could be termed the Tamsik form of the system. According to this system, each individual was assigned a Varna according to birth. This form of the system was intended for use by hunter-gatherer civilisation, as, in such a civilisation, categorisation by birth was not only the accepted norm, but was, arguably, necessary for the maintenance of intra-Varna loyalties and inter-Varna interaction, giving the smoothest possible running of the society. In the hunter-gatherer civilisation, of course, children inevitably followed in the footsteps of their parents, and marriage (or the equivalent) was, without exception, an intra-Varna affair, so there were no practical problems with following this system. Thus, the teachers were the Brahmins; the fighters the Kshatriyas; the tradesmen the Vaishyas and the workers the Shudras.
The next form was the Karma Vyavastha, which can be thought of as the Rajsik form of the system. According to the Karma Vyavastha, the categorisation of Varna was based on profession, or career, choice. Thus, the intellectuals, academics, teachers, doctors, etc. were classed as Brahmins; the rulers, warriors, law-enforcers, etc. were classed as Kshatriyas; merchants, traders, businessmen, etc. were classed as Vaishyas; and manual labourers were classed as Shudras. In this way, the Karma Vyavastha was able to act as a kind of Trade Union system, which allowed members of each 'trade' to have a common forum, providing security and support.
The highest form was then the Guna Vyavastha, the Sattvik form of the system, under which, classification was to be made on the basis of the individual's Guna, or predominant qualitative make-up. Hence, society could be split into those in whom the Sattvik Guna was predominant, i.e. the Brahmins; those in whom there was a balance of Sattvik and Rajsik, i.e. the Kshatriyas; those in whom there was a balance of Rajsik and Tamsik, i.e. the Vaishyas; and those in whom the Tamsik was foremost, i.e. the Shudras.
Hence, it was intended that, as man's (i.e. society's) general spiritual and mental development progressed from Tamsik to Rajsik to Sattvik, there would be a corresponding shift from the Jati, to Karma, to Guna, Vyavastha. Hence, whilst in earlier times (i.e. hunter-gatherer civilisation), it was right and proper for the Jati Vyavastha to be in place, in the current socio-evolutionary environment, it would be appropriate to follow the Karma Vyavastha. Similarly, in a climate of "Rama Rajya" (which, of course, refers not only to a political system, but to a utopian social, political and cultural environment), the Guna Vyavastha would be the ideal system.
Not only is there this kind of interpretation regarding the transition from Jati through to Guna Vyavastha, but there is also another one. This is where the Ashram Vyavastha begins to have an impact on the application of the Varna Vyavastha.
Just as the Varna Vyavastha deals with the four sections of society, the Ashram Vyavastha deals with the four stages of life. First of all is student life, or "Brahmachaari"; second is married life, or "Grihastha"; third is retired life, or "Vanaspratha"; and finally is renunciation, or "Sannyasa".
Clearly, whilst the individual is studying, mental and spiritual development has not yet fully occured. The Brahmachaari has not fully developed their character, nor has he adopted a career choice. Essentially, the student is still under the influence and guidance of his parents (and guru), and as such maintains his Varna as that of his parents. Thus, in the early stage of life, the individual follows the Jati Vyavastha.
During the next stage of life, the individual takes on a career path and enters into married life. In this stage, since the individual is still primarily concerned with external interests (career, marriage, etc.), their qualitative make-up is unexplored and undefined. Since the individual's life mainly revolves aroun the career in this stage of life, this is what then determines the Varna, and so the individual follows the Karma Varna. It is evident from study of society that it is common (and generally more desirable) for both partners in a marriage to follow the same kind of career, as this adds an element of common interest, which is extremely healthy for the relationship, and so both partners will ideally be of the same Varna according to the Karma Vyavastha.
In the retirement stage of life, the individual is expected to have completed his mental and spiritual development, and should leave his personal work, becoming active in working for the society. Here, the individual has had opportunity to learn about himself and explore his own nature, becoming fully self-aware. Thus, it is possible, at this stage, to make the transition to following Guna Vyavastha.
Finally, once the individual decides to take Sannyasa, he renounces all worldy attachments. Of these attachments, one is the attachment to society and a social structure. Having renounced the world, the Sannyasa has no need for social divisions or classifications. He strives in this stage to attain self-realisation, and with true self-realisation will come the understanding of that fundamental Oneness that is Anuswara.
Having explained the background to the Varna Vyavastha, it is now appropriate to examine its social corruption and transformation into what we know today as the caste system.
First of all, it is poignant to note that the term "caste" is derived from a Portuguese word, and has no basis within Hindutva itself. The origin of the word is from the Portuguese "casta", a word whose direct English translation is difficult to find, but is generally accepted to be approximately synonymous with "breed". This Portuguese terminology for the system arose due to a corrupted translation of "Varna" itself. Whilst the true meaning of the word in this context is "To choose", it is also possible to translate "Varna" as "race" or "colour".
Combined with this external corruption, there came some internal corruption also. Since the responsibility for education and intellectual advancement was placed, for the most part, in the hands of the Brahmins, it was considerably easy for them to appeal to past precedent (i.e. the use of the Jati Vyavastha uptil then), as well as making use of the high esteem in which they were held, to persuade the public that the Jati Vyavastha was the only form of the Varna Vyavastha, and so they were able, by doing this, to maintain a hereditary grip on power. This led to corruption of the system even before the arrival of the Portuguese.
The net result of this corruption of the system has been that, whilst society's nature today is essentially Rajsik, the social order that is being followed is Tamsik. This imbalance leads to what has been termed by Plato as "injustice". Hence, the culprit is not the system itself, but the "injustice" caused by its inappropriate and incorrect application. The answer, therefore, lies not in scrapping the system, as is generally advocated by those who profess a social conscience, but in correcting its application, thus restoring, in Plato's terminology, "justice".