In each society, there are different types of rules and ideologies that are used in order to help govern its people. Within these communities, these rules create a social hierarchy developed through a ranked system based on either economic value or religious beliefs. A type of ranked system that most people are familiar with is the Caste System in India, which is a system of classification in a society based on birth. This complex social structure is most prevalent in India, where social hierarchy is in affiliation with Hinduism. It recognizes two concepts known as Varna and Jati. Varna is a word in Sanskrit meaning color and includes four main groups: the Brahmans, Kshtriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. The fifth group, the most segregated caste in the system, is the Untouchables. Within each Varna contains an array of sub-caste called Jatis, which are also based on birth. The rules of the cases are governed through religious ideas of purity and pollution. These two socially constructed ideologies determine whether or not you were respected in the community. Caste assignments in India are predestined at birth rather than a personal choice. Individuals act and dress like those of their own caste in public, due to strict caste laws. Pressures of these rules tend to brainwash people into conforming into what society considers pure, as we’ll see in Kakar & Kakar’s reading. As human nature takes precedent, caste rules become less relevant. Indulging in one’s own desires or needs, especially during times of hardship, outweighs any types of rules that we’ll see in Freeman’s reading and the movie Distant Thunder. Though the caste system is such an intrinsic part of life, when faced with needs to survive, it becomes nothing more than just a... ... middle of paper ... ... over people’s lives, no amount of rules can ever take away a person’s drive to take what they want. Work Cited Bhattacharya, S. (Producer) & Ray, S. (Director). 1973. Distant Thunder. [Movie] Balaka Movies. Freeman, J.M. 1979. Untouchables: An Indian Life History. Stanford University Press. Pp. 3-53. Hinduism: Caste Systems, Reincarnation, and Karma.2009. Oriental Philosophy. Retrieved January, 28,2014, from http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/caste.html Kakar & Kakar. The Indians: Portrait of a People. Pp. 35-37. Pandey, T. N., 2014. Lecture 1/9/14: Culture of India: Aryan and Indigenous Population. Cultures of India. U.C. Santa Cruz. Pandey, T.N., 2014. Lecture 1/14/14: Cultures of India: Hierarchy Structure in India. Cultures of India. U.C. Santa Cruz. Paz, O. 1995. In Light of India. Harcourt, Inc. Pp.56-58
Daily life was influenced in both Ancient India as well as in Ancient China by religion and philosophies. Their caste system, their beliefs, and their well being affected the religion and philosophies.
Smith, Paul Chaat. 2009. Everything You Know about Indian Is Wrong. Minneapolis: Unviersity of Minnesota Press. Print.
“This system in found in the traditional Hindu population of India” (Haviland 256). Although it is found in other parts of the world, In North America, it is not indicated as a caste system, but is classified as a social class or class system. In Sociology: The Essentials, social class or class is described as the social structural position groups hold relative to the economic, social, political, and cultural resources of society. With this characterization in mind, a persons “class determines the access different people have to these resources and puts groups in different positions of privilege and disadvantage” (Sociology 172). With this perception of class in mind, it shows that people do not have the same amount of resources or privileges as others.
The social structures of the Hindu caste system, The Bantu peoples of Africa and medieval Europe differ greatly in their social structure. The role of top class of three systems are different as well. However, there are also similarities in the way that medieval Europe and India treat lower class people.
This contribution also heavily influences the order in a society, this is what the people see as right and wrong, laws to obey, elders to look up to, etc. Government is far from just the people in authority and laws to follow; it’s about socialization, trade, exchange, interactions with other countries, contradiction of what was thought to be right, justice, positions, jobs, skills, and so much more. In the 21st India there was a caste system in which created a “stable social order” (Document D). This system “dictated status and occupation” (Document D) and was not equal to all people but to only some of which are part of a higher class and social rank. There are many disadvantage for the ones who are on the lower end of the rank like less nutrition accessibility, lower education, and fewer relations or contacts to essential “social institutions” (Document D). This system of India is part of their government. It shows what they are like and how they want things to be and go according to. Their government is influencing their order by making things go a certain way. This government is making it where there are advantages for the high classes and not very many for the lower class. Making it almost impossible for someone to get themselves out of the lower class and move up into the higher class. There was also a system in Aryan society like this one but very different. This system also had
Throughout the history of the world there have been many ways that a civilization has justified their social class. A social class as defined by the dictionary states that a social class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. Religion is one of the many factors that lies on the heart of a civilization when justifying a social class. One of the world’s elite and well followed religion is Hinduism. Hinduism is one of the oldest religion in the world. The oldest religions has one of the oldest social classes which is called the caste system. The caste system has affected the lives of millions of people around the world from the ancient times to the modern and changing world in India and other Hindu nations today. A Caste system is a social structure that is determined by
There are four main castes and one in which they consider to be the outcastes. The four main castes are the Brahmin, the next is the Kshatriya, the third is the Vaishya, and the fourth is the Shudra. The outcastes are in the group called Dalits. Each caste has a purpose in life, the Brahmin are considered to be the priestly caste in which they are teach the Veda, and are to “sacrifice for others and receive alms” (Institutes of Vishnu 5-10, pg. 44). The Kshatriya is considered the warriors or the ruler caste, they have constant practice in battles, and they are to protect the world from harm. The Vaishya are to be the merchants and the farmers, they tend to the cattle, they, “engage in farming, keeps cows, trades, lends money at interest, and grows seeds” (Institutes of Vishnu 5-10, pg. 44). The Shudra are the manual laborers who according to the Institutes of Vishnu under the Four Castes, are to serve the twice born men who are to sacrifice and to study the Veda, the Shudra also engage in all the different duties of craftsmanship (5-10, pg.44). In case of a crisis, each caste is allowed to follow the occupation of the caste that is below them in rank. The duties in which all four of these castes, whatever gender or stage of life, are to follow and hav...
The Indian concept of social stratification is peculiar. It is based on what is called Vanna (Varna). Before and during the Buddha?s time, the people were classified according to Vanna. In the Vedic period, the stratification was based on the religious faith. The Rg-veda, the earliest source of the Br?hmnical theory, described the origin of human beings: ?the Br?hman was his (purusha?s) mouth; the R?jahya was made arms; the being (called) Vaisya, he was his thighs; the Sudra sprang from his feet?.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Purusa Sukta, Rgveda, X, p. 618.]
Indian society was patriarchal, centered on villages and extended families dominated by males (Connections, Pg. 4). The villages, in which most people lived, were admini...
India has a characteristic of more ethnic and religious groups than most countries in the world. Despite this multiplicity of religions, there exists a broad group of interrelated traditions called Hinduism. Although other religions within the nation such as Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity have occasionally challenged its dominance, Hinduism is the most prevalent religion in the South Asian region. Some of the outstanding differences between Hinduism and other denominatio...
In The Laws of Manu the caste system is described in great detail. It explains everything one must do to be a part of their caste. In Hinduism each social class (varna) has its own dharma, or social law. The concept of dharma regulates all parts of life for Hindu’s and outlines their duties. However, there are different levels of dharma for people in the twice-born varnas, which includes the Brahmin, Ksatriya, and Vaisya. The different levels of dharma are based on the stage of life that an individual is at. The four stages an individual can be at are a student, a householder, a forest-dweller, or a sannyasin. A sannyasin is the lowest stage one can be in and one reaches that stage when they have cut all of their ties to society. In the text from The Laws of Manu it is stated that a householder may “never, for the sake of subsistence, follow the ways of the world: let him live the pure straightforward, honest life of a Brahmin” (Smart & Hecht 214). The Hindus believed in living a very simple life and being very honorable. The Laws of Manu states that no Brahmin should “attach himself to any sensual pleasures” (214) and also to “avoid all (means of acquiring) wealth which impede the study of the Veda” (214). In The Laws of Manu the idea of final liberation is brought up very frequently. Final liberation is the goal of all Brahmins. A Brahmin lives his whole life striving to reach final liberation and he does so by following dharma. He does not challenge dharma at all and believes that if he follows it, he will reach final liberation.
Caste represents the most memorable, comprehensive and successful attempt ever made by an order to oppress humanity in its own interest. Its enactments broke up the race into many fragments never to be reunited, separating Aryans from other peoples by impassable barriers, permanently fixing their occupations, interests, associations and aspirations. As men were born so they must remain. Their course of life was prescribed, their places after death predetermined. (Porter, 25)
Divided into four major social categories, the caste system categorizes Hindus, who act accordingly to their caste, into Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra. Another class, the “untouchables,” is considered outside of the system. These five different classes of society define each person greatly. Castes are unchangeable and rarely intermarry. This social division is yet another example of how religion disbands organizations of people.
Embree, Ainslie Thomas, Stephen N Hay, and William Theodore De Bary. Sources of Indian Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
The current manifestations of the caste system are now far more generalized across the Indian subcontinent than was the case in former times. Caste as we now recognize has been endangered, shaped and perpetuated by comparatively recent political and social developments. This is evident even i...