How many castes are there in modern India? The untouchable caste in India: description, history and interesting facts
Indian society is divided into classes called castes. This division occurred many thousands of years ago and continues to this day. Hindus believe that by following the rules established in your caste, in your next life you can be born as a representative of a slightly higher and more revered caste, occupy a much higher position. better position in society.
History of the origin of the caste system
The Indian Vedas tell us that even the ancient Aryan peoples living on the territory of modern India approximately one and a half thousand years BC already had a society divided into classes.
Much later, these social strata began to be called varnas(from the word “color” in Sanskrit - according to the color of the clothes worn). Another version of the name varna is caste, which comes from the Latin word.
Initially, in Ancient India there were 4 castes (varnas):
- brahmanas - priests;
- kshatriyas—warriors;
- vaisya—working people;
- Shudras are laborers and servants.
This division into castes appeared due to different levels of wealth: the rich wanted to be surrounded only by people like themselves, successful people and disdained to communicate with the poorer and uneducated.
Mahatma Gandhi preached the fight against caste inequality. with his biography, he is truly a man with a great soul!
Castes in modern India
Today Indian castes have become even more structured, they have a variety of various subgroups called jatis.
During the last census of representatives of various castes, there were more than 3 thousand jatis. True, this census took place more than 80 years ago.
Many foreigners consider the caste system a relic of the past and are confident that in modern India caste system does not work any more. In fact, everything is completely different. Even the Indian government could not come to a consensus regarding this stratification of society. Politicians actively work on dividing society into layers during elections, adding protection of the rights of a particular caste to their election promises.
In modern India more than 20 percent of the population belongs to the untouchable caste: they have to live in their own separate ghettos or below the line settlement. Such people are not allowed to enter stores, government and medical institutions, or even use public transport.
The untouchable caste has a completely unique subgroup: society’s attitude towards it is quite contradictory. This includes homosexuals, transvestites and eunuchs, making a living through prostitution and asking tourists for coins. But what a paradox: the presence of such a person at the holiday is considered a very good sign.
Another amazing untouchable podcast - pariah. These are people completely expelled from society - marginalized. Previously, one could become a pariah even by touching such a person, but now the situation has changed a little: one becomes a pariah either by being born from an intercaste marriage, or from pariah parents.
Conclusion
The caste system originated thousands of years ago, but still continues to live and develop in Indian society.
Varnas (castes) are divided into subcastes - jati. There are 4 varnas and many jatis.
In India there are societies of people who do not belong to any caste. This - expelled people.
The caste system gives people the opportunity to be with their own kind, provides support from fellow humans and clear rules of life and behavior. This is a natural regulation of society, existing in parallel with the laws of India.
Since childhood, we have been taught that there is nothing worse than caste society. But oddly enough, castes have survived to this day, as evidenced, for example, by India. What do we actually know about how the caste system functions?
Every society consists of certain basic units that form it. So, in relation to Antiquity, such a unit can be considered a polis, modern to the West - capital (or a social individual owning it), for Islamic civilization - a tribe, Japanese - a clan, etc. For India from ancient times to the present day, this basic element were and remain a caste.
The caste system for India is not at all a dense archaic or “relic of the Middle Ages” like for a long time we were taught. The Indian caste system is part of the complex organization of society, a historically established diverse and multifaceted phenomenon.
One can try to describe castes through a number of characteristics. However, there will still be exceptions. Indian caste differentiation - system social stratification isolated social groups bound by a common origin and legal status of their members. They are built according to the principles:
1) common religion;
2) general professional specialization (usually hereditary);
3) marriages only between “our own”;
4) nutritional characteristics.
In India, there are not 4 (as many of us still think), but about 3 thousand castes and they can be called differently in different parts of the country, and people of the same profession can belong to different castes in different states. What are sometimes mistakenly considered Indian “castes” are not castes at all, but varnas (“chaturvarnya” in Sanskrit) - social strata of the ancient social system.
Varna brahmins (brahmins) are priests, doctors, teachers. Kshatriyas (rajanyas) - warriors and civil leaders. Vaishyas are farmers and traders. Shudras are servants and landless peasant laborers.
Each varna had its own color: Brahmins - white, Kshatriyas - red, Vaishayas - yellow, Shudras - black (once every Hindu wore a special cord in the color of his varna).
Varnas, in turn, are theoretically divided into castes. But in a very complex and intricate way. An obvious direct connection is not always visible to a person with a European mentality. The word “caste” itself comes from the Portuguese casta: birthright, clan, class. In Hindi, this term is identical to “jati”.
The infamous "untouchables" are not one particular caste. In Ancient India, everyone who was not included in the four varnas was automatically classified as “marginal”, they were avoided in every possible way, they were not allowed to settle in villages and cities, etc. As a result of this position, the “untouchables” had to take on the most “non-prestigious”, dirty and low-paid work and they formed their own separate social and professional groups - essentially, their own castes.
There are several such castes of “untouchables” and, as a rule, they are associated either with dirty work, or with the killing of living beings or death (so all butchers, hunters, fishermen, tanners, garbage men, sewer men, laundresses, cemetery and morgue workers, etc. must be “untouchable”).
At the same time, it would be wrong to believe that every “untouchable” is necessarily someone like a homeless person or a “lowlife.” In India, even before it gained independence and the adoption of a number of legislative measures to protect lower castes from discrimination, there were “untouchables” who reached a very high social status and deserve universal respect. Like, for example, the outstanding Indian politician, public figure, human rights activist and author of the Indian Constitution - Dr. Bhimaro Ramji Ambedkar, who received legal education in England.
One of the many monuments to Bhimaro Ambedkar in India
The “untouchables” have several names: mleccha - “stranger”, “stranger” (that is, formally all non-Hindus, including foreign tourists), harijan - “child of God” (a term specially introduced by Mahatma Gandhi), pariahs - “outcasts”, “exiled”. And the most frequently used modern name“untouchables” - Dalits.
Legally, castes in India were recorded in the Laws of Manu, compiled from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD. The varna system traditionally developed in a much more ancient period(there is no exact dating).
As mentioned above, castes in modern India still cannot be considered simply an anachronism. On the contrary, all of them are now carefully counted and listed in a special annex to the current Indian Constitution (Table of Castes).
In addition, after each population census, changes are made to this table (usually additions). The point is not that some new castes appear, but that they are recorded in accordance with the data provided about themselves by census participants. Only discrimination on the basis of caste is prohibited. What is written in Article No. 15 of the Indian Constitution.
Indian society is very colorful and heterogeneous in its structure; In addition to division into castes, there are several other differentiations in it. There are both caste and non-caste Indians. For example, adivasis (descendants of the main indigenous black population of India before its conquest by the Aryans), with rare exceptions, do not have their own castes. In addition, for some misdemeanors and crimes a person can be expelled from his caste. And there are quite a lot of non-caste Indians, as evidenced by the census results.
Castes exist not only in India. A similar public institution takes place in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bali and Tibet. By the way, Tibetan castes do not correlate with Indian castes at all - the structures of these societies were formed completely separately from each other. It is curious that in Northern India (the states of Himachal, Uttar Pradesh and Kashmir) the caste system is not of Indian origin, but of Tibetan origin.
Historically, when the overwhelming majority of the Indian population professed Hinduism - all Hindus belonged to some caste, the only exceptions were pariahs expelled from castes and the indigenous non-Aryan peoples of India. Then other religions (Buddhism, Jainism) began to spread in India. As the country was subjected to invasions by various conquerors, representatives of other religions and peoples began to adopt from the Hindus their system of varnas and professional caste-jatis. Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians in India also have their own castes, but they are somehow different from the Hindu castes.
What about Indian Muslims? After all, the Koran initially proclaimed the equality of all Muslims. A natural question. Despite the fact that British India was divided into two parts in 1947: “Islamic” (Pakistan) and “Hindu” (India proper), today Muslims (approximately 14% of all Indian citizens) in absolute terms live in India more than in Pakistan, where Islam is the state religion.
However, the caste system is inherent in India and Muslim society. However, caste differences among Indian Muslims are not as strong as among Hindus. They have virtually no “untouchables.” Between Muslim castes there are no such impenetrable barriers as among Hindus - transition from one caste to another or marriages between their representatives is allowed.
The caste system was established among Indian Muslims relatively late - during the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th-16th centuries. The Muslim caste is usually referred to as biradari ("brotherhood") or biyahdari. Their occurrence is often attributed by Muslim theologians to the influence of Hindus with their caste system (supporters of “pure Islam” see this, of course, as the insidious machinations of pagans).
In India, as in many Islamic countries, Muslims also have their nobility and common people. The former are called sharifs or ashraf (“noble”), the latter are called ajlaf (“low”). Currently, about 10% of Muslims living in the territory of the Republic of India belong to the Ashraf. They usually trace their ancestry to those external conquerors (Arabs, Turks, Pashtuns, Persians, etc.) who invaded Hindustan and settled for many centuries.
For the most part, Indian Muslims are descendants of the same Hindus who, for one reason or another, became new faith. Forced conversion to Islam in medieval India was the exception rather than the rule. Typically, the local population was subjected to a slow Islamization, during which elements of foreign faith were unobtrusively incorporated into local cosmology and ritual practice, gradually displacing and replacing Hinduism. It was implicit and sluggish social process. During it, people maintained and protected the closedness of their circles. This explains the persistence of caste psychology and customs among large sections of Indian Muslim society. Thus, even after the final conversion to Islam, marriages continued to be concluded only with representatives of their own castes.
Even more curiously, even many Europeans were included in the Indian caste system. Thus, those Christian missionary preachers who preached to high-born Brahmins eventually found themselves in the “Christian Brahmin” caste, and those who, for example, carried the Word of God to the “untouchable” fishermen, became Christian “untouchables”.
Often it is impossible to determine exactly which caste an Indian belongs to just by his appearance, behavior and occupation. It happens that a kshatriya works as a waiter, and a brahmin trades and removes garbage from a shop - and they don’t particularly have a complex about these reasons, but a sudra behaves like a born aristocrat. And even if an Indian says exactly what caste he is from (although such a question is considered tactless), this will give a foreigner little to understand how society is structured in such an outlandish and peculiar country as India.
The Republic of India declares itself a “democratic” state and, in addition to prohibiting caste discrimination, has introduced certain benefits for representatives of lower castes. For example, they have adopted special quotas for their admission to higher education. educational establishments, as well as positions in state and municipal bodies.
The problem of discrimination against people from lower castes and Dalits, however, is quite serious. The caste structure is still fundamental basis lives of hundreds of millions of Indians. Outside of large cities in India, caste psychology and all the conventions and taboos arising from it are firmly preserved.
It will come across, I know many Indian travelers who live there for months, but are not interested in castes because they are not necessary for life.
The caste system today, like a century ago, is not exotic, it is part of the complex organization of Indian society, a multifaceted phenomenon that has been studied by Indologists and ethnographers for centuries, dozens of thick books have been written about it, so I will publish here only 10 interesting facts about Indian castes - about the most popular questions and misconceptions.
1. What is an Indian caste?
Indian caste is such a complex phenomenon that it is simply impossible to give an exhaustively complete definition!
Castes can only be described through a number of characteristics, but there will still be exceptions.
Caste in India is a system of social stratification, separate community group, bound by the origin and legal status of its members. Castes in India are built according to the following principles: 1) general (this rule is always observed); 2) one profession, usually hereditary; 3) members of castes enter into relationships only among themselves, as a rule; 4) members of the caste generally do not eat with strangers, with the exception of other Hindu castes of significantly higher social position than their own; 5) caste members can be determined by who they can accept water and food, processed and raw.
2. There are 4 castes in India
Now in India there are not 4, but about 3 thousand castes, they can be called differently in different parts of the country, and people with the same profession can have different castes in different states. Full list for modern castes by state, see http://socialjustice...
What nameless people on tourist and other near-Indian sites they are called 4 castes - these are not castes at all, these are 4 varnas - chaturvarnya - an ancient social system.
4 varnas (वर्ना) - this is ancient Indian system estates. Brahmins (more correctly a brahmin) historically are clergy, doctors, teachers. Varna Kshatriyas (in ancient times it was called Rajanya) are rulers and warriors. Varna vaishyas are farmers and traders, and varna sudras are laborers and landless peasants who work for others.
Varna is a color (in Sanskrit again), and each Indian varna has its own color: the Brahmins have white, the Kshatriyas have red, the Vaishyas have yellow, the Shudras have black, and before, when all representatives of the varnas wore a sacred thread - he was just their varna.
Varnas correlate with castes, but in very different ways, sometimes there is no direct connection, and since we have already delved into science, it must be said that Indian castes, unlike varnas, are called jati - जाति.
Read more about Indian castes in modern India
3. Caste Untouchables
The untouchables are not a caste. During times ancient india everyone who was not part of the 4 varnas automatically found themselves “outside” of Indian society; these strangers were avoided and not allowed to live in villages, which is why they are called untouchables. Subsequently, these untouchable strangers began to be used in the dirtiest, lowest-paid and shameful work, and formed their own social and professional groups, that is, untouchable castes, in modern India there are several of them, as a rule this is associated with either dirty work or murder living creatures or death, so that all hunters and fishermen, as well as gravediggers and tanners, are untouchable.
4. When did Indian castes appear?
Normatively, that is, legislatively, the caste-jati system in India was recorded in the Laws of Manu, which date back to the 2nd century BC.
The Varna system is much older; there is no exact dating. I wrote in more detail about the history of the issue in the article Castes of India, from varnas to modern times
5. Castes have been abolished in India
Castes in modern India are not abolished or prohibited, as is often written.
On the contrary, all castes in India are counted and listed in the annex to the Indian Constitution, which is called the Table of Castes. In addition, after the population census, changes are made to this table, usually additions; the point is not that new castes appear, but that they are recorded in accordance with the data indicated about themselves by the census participants.
Only discrimination on the basis of caste is prohibited, this is written in Article 15 of the Indian Constitution, see the test at http://lawmin.nic.in...
6. Every Indian has a caste
No, this is also not true.
Indian society is very heterogeneous in its structure, and besides the division into castes there are several others.
There are caste and non-caste, for example, representatives of Indian tribes (aboriginals, adivasis), with rare exceptions, do not have castes. And the part of non-caste Indians is quite large, see the census results http://censusindia.g...
In addition, for some misdemeanors (crimes) a person can be expelled from the caste and thus deprived of his status and position in society.
7. Castes exist only in India
No, this is a fallacy. There are castes in other countries, for example, in Nepal and Sri Lanka, since these countries developed in the bosom of the same huge Indian civilization, as well as on. But there are castes in other cultures, for example, in Tibet, and Tibetan castes do not correlate with Indian castes at all, since the class structure of Tibetan society was formed from India.
For the castes of Nepal, see Ethnic mosaic of Nepal
8. Only Hindus have castes
No, this is not the case now, we need to go deeper into history.
Historically, when the overwhelming majority of the Indian population professed - all Hindus belonged to some caste, the only exceptions were pariahs expelled from castes and the indigenous, tribal peoples of India who did not profess Hinduism and were not part of Indian society. Then other religions began to spread in India - India was invaded by other peoples, and representatives of other religions and peoples began to adopt from the Hindus their class system of varnas and the system of professional castes - jati. Now there are castes in Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Christianity, but they are different from the Hindu castes.
It is curious that in northern India, in the modern states, the Buddhist caste system is not of Indian, but of Tibetan origin.
It is even more curious that even European Christian missionary preachers were drawn into the Indian caste system: those who preached the teachings of Christ to high-born Brahmins ended up in the Christian “Brahmin” caste, and those who communicated with untouchable fishermen became Christian untouchables.
9. You need to know the caste of the Indian you are communicating with and behave accordingly.
This is a common misconception, propagated by travel sites, for no known reason and not based on anything.
It is impossible to determine which caste an Indian belongs to just by his appearance, and often by his occupation too. One acquaintance worked as a waiter, although he came from a noble Rajput family (that is, he is a kshatriya). I was able to identify a Nepalese waiter I knew by his behavior as an aristocrat, since we had known each other for a long time, I asked and he confirmed that this was true, and the guy was not working because of a lack of money at all.
My old friend started his labor activity at the age of 9, as a laborer, he removed garbage from a shop... do you think he is a Shudra? no, he is a brahmin (brahmin) from poor family and 8th child in a row... 1 more Brahmin friend sells in a shop, he is the only son, he needs to earn money...
Another friend of mine is so religious and bright that one would think that he is a real, ideal Brahmin. But no, he was just a sudra, and he was proud of it, and those who know what seva means will understand why.
And even if an Indian says what caste he is, although such a question is considered rude, it will still give nothing to the tourist; a person who does not know India will not understand what and why it works in this amazing country. So there is no need to be puzzled by the caste issue, because in India it is sometimes difficult to even determine the gender of the interlocutor, and this is probably more important :)
10. Caste discrimination in modern times
India is a democratic country and, in addition to prohibiting caste discrimination, has introduced benefits for representatives of lower castes and tribes, for example, there are quotas for admission to higher education institutions and for holding positions in state and municipal bodies.
discrimination against people from lower castes, Dalits and tribal people in India is quite serious, casteism is still the basis of life for hundreds of millions of Indians outside large cities, it is there that the caste structure and all the prohibitions arising from it are still preserved, for example, in some temples in India Indian Shudras are not allowed in, this is where almost all caste crimes take place, for example, a very typical crime
Instead of an afterword.
If you are seriously interested in the caste system in India, I can recommend, in addition to the articles section on this site and publications on the Hindunet, reading major European Indologists of the 20th century:
1. Academic 4-volume work by R.V. Russell "and the castes of the central provinces of India"
2. Monograph by Louis Dumont "Homo hierarchicus. Experience in describing the caste system"
Besides, in last years A number of books on this topic have been published in India, unfortunately I have not held them in my hands.
If you're not ready to read scientific literature- read the novel by the very popular modern Indian writer Arundhati Roy “The God of Small Things”, it can be found in RuNet.
On September 24, 1932, the right to vote in India was granted to the untouchable caste. the site decided to tell its readers how it was formed and how it exists in modern world Indian caste system.
Indian society is divided into classes called castes. This division occurred many thousands of years ago and continues to this day. Hindus believe that by following the rules established in your caste, in your next life you can be born as a representative of a slightly higher and more respected caste, and occupy a much better position in society.
After leaving the Indus Valley, Indian arias conquered the country along the Ganges and founded many states here, whose population consisted of two classes, differing in legal and financial situation. The new Aryan settlers, the victors, took over India and land, and honor, and power, and the defeated non-Indo-European natives were plunged into contempt and humiliation, forced into slavery or into a dependent state, or, driven into the forests and mountains, there they led a meager life in inaction of thought without any culture. This result of the Aryan conquest gave rise to the origin of the four main Indian castes (varnas).
Those original inhabitants of India who were subdued by the power of the sword suffered the fate of captives and became mere slaves. The Indians, who submitted voluntarily, renounced their fatherly gods, adopted the language, laws and customs of the victors, retained personal freedom, but lost all land ownership and had to live as workers on Aryan estates, servants and porters, in the houses of rich people. From them came a caste sudra . "Sudra" is not a Sanskrit word. Before becoming the name of one of the Indian castes, it was probably the name of some people. The Aryans considered it beneath their dignity to enter into marriage unions with representatives of the Shudra caste. Shudra women were only concubines among the Aryans.
Over time, sharp differences in status and professions emerged between the Aryan conquerors of India themselves. But in relation to the lower caste - the dark-skinned, conquered native population - they all remained privileged class. Only the Aryans had the right to read the sacred books; only they were sanctified solemn ceremony: a sacred thread was placed on the Aryan, making him “reborn” (or “twice-born”, dvija). This ritual served as a symbolic distinction between all Aryans and the Shudra caste and the despised native tribes driven into the forests. Consecration was performed by placing a cord, which was worn placed on the right shoulder and descending diagonally across the chest. Among the Brahmin caste, the cord could be placed on a boy from 8 to 15 years old, and it is made of cotton yarn; among the Kshatriya caste, who received it no earlier than the 11th year, it was made from kusha (Indian spinning plant), and among the Vaishya caste, who received it no earlier than the 12th year, it was made of wool.
Indian society was divided into castes many thousands of years ago
The "twice-born" Aryans were divided over time, according to differences in occupation and origin, into three estates or castes, with some similarities to the three estates of medieval Europe: the clergy, the nobility and the urban middle class. The beginnings of the caste system among the Aryans existed back in the days when they lived only in the Indus basin: there, from the mass of the agricultural and pastoral population, warlike princes of the tribes, surrounded by people skilled in military affairs, as well as priests who performed sacrificial rites, already stood out.
When the Aryan tribes moved further into India, into the country of the Ganges, militant energy increased in bloody wars with the exterminated natives, and then in a fierce struggle between the Aryan tribes. Until the conquests were completed, the entire people were busy with military affairs. Only when the peaceful possession of the conquered country began did it become possible for a variety of occupations to develop, the possibility of choosing between different professions, and came new stage origin of castes. The fertility of the Indian soil aroused the desire for peaceful means of subsistence. From this, the innate tendency of the Aryans quickly developed, according to which it was more pleasant for them to work quietly and enjoy the fruits of their labor than to make difficult military efforts. Therefore, a significant part of the settlers (“vishes”) turned to agriculture, which produced abundant harvests, leaving the fight against enemies and the protection of the country to the tribal princes and the military nobility formed during the period of conquest. This class, engaged in arable farming and partly shepherding, soon grew so that among the Aryans, as in Western Europe, formed the vast majority of the population. Because the name vaishya "settler", which originally meant all Aryan inhabitants in new areas, came to mean only people of the third, working Indian caste, and warriors, kshatriyas and priests, brahmanas (“prayers”), who over time became the privileged classes, made the names of their professions the names of the two highest castes.
The four Indian classes listed above became completely closed castes (varnas) only when they rose above the ancient service of Indra and other gods of nature. Brahmanism, - new religious teaching about Brahma , the soul of the universe, the source of life, from which all beings originated and to which they will return. This reformed creed gave religious sanctity to the division of the Indian nation into castes, especially the priestly caste. It said that in the cycle of life forms passed through by everything existing on earth, brahman is the highest form of existence. According to the dogma of rebirth and transmigration of souls, a creature born in human form must go through all four castes in turn: to be a Shudra, a Vaishya, a Kshatriya and, finally, a Brahman; having passed through these forms of existence, it is reunited with Brahma. The only way to achieve this goal is that a person, constantly striving for deity, exactly fulfills everything commanded by the brahmanas, honors them, pleases them with gifts and signs of respect. Offenses against Brahmanas, severely punished on earth, subject the wicked to the most terrible torments of hell and rebirth in the forms of despised animals.
According to the dogma of transmigration of souls, a person must go through all four castes
Belief in addiction future life from the present it was the main support of the Indian caste division and the rule of the priests. The more decisively the Brahman clergy placed the dogma of transmigration of souls at the center of all moral teaching, the more successfully it filled the imagination of the people scary pictures hellish torment, the more honor and influence it acquired. Representatives of the highest caste of Brahmins are close to the gods; they know the path leading to Brahma; their prayers, sacrifices, holy feats of their asceticism have magical power over the gods, the gods have to fulfill their will; bliss and suffering in the future life depend on them. It is not surprising that with the development of religiosity among the Indians, the power of the Brahman caste increased, tirelessly praising in its holy teachings respect and generosity towards the Brahmans as the surest ways to obtain bliss, instilling in the kings that the ruler is obliged to have Brahmans as his advisers and make judges, is obliged to reward their service with rich content and pious gifts.
To prevent the lower Indian castes from envying the privileged position of the Brahmans and from encroaching on it, the doctrine was developed and strenuously preached that the forms of life for all beings are predetermined by Brahma, and that the progression through the degrees of human rebirth is accomplished only by calm, peaceful life V given to the person position, faithful performance of duties. Thus, in one of the oldest parts of the Mahabharata it is said: “When Brahma created beings, he gave them their occupations, each caste a special activity: for the brahmanas - the study of the high Vedas, for the warriors - heroism, for the vaishyas - the art of labor, for the sudras - humility before other flowers: therefore ignorant Brahmanas, unglorious warriors, unskillful Vaishyas and disobedient Shudras are worthy of blame.”
This dogma, which attributed divine origin to every caste, every profession, consoled the humiliated and despised in their insults and deprivations real life hope for a better fate in their future existence. He gave religious sanctification to the Indian caste hierarchy. The division of people into four classes, unequal in their rights, was from this point of view an eternal, unchangeable law, the violation of which is the most criminal sin. People do not have the right to overthrow the caste barriers established between them by God himself; They can achieve improvement in their fate only through patient submission.
The mutual relations between the Indian castes were clearly characterized by the teaching; that Brahma produced Brahmanas from his mouth (or the first man Purusha), Kshatriyas from his hands, Vaishyas from his thighs, Shudras from his feet dirty in mud, therefore the essence of nature for Brahmanas is “holiness and wisdom”, for Kshatriyas - “power and strength”, among the Vaishyas - “wealth and profit”, among the Shudras - “service and obedience”. The doctrine of the origin of castes from different parts the highest being is set forth in one of the hymns of the last, newest book of the Rig Veda. There are no concepts of caste in the older songs of the Rig Veda. Brahmins attach extreme importance to this hymn, and every true believer Brahmin recites it every morning after bathing. This hymn is the diploma with which the Brahmins legitimized their privileges, their dominion.
Some Brahmins are not allowed to eat meat.
Thus, the Indian people were led by their history, their inclinations and customs to fall under the yoke of the caste hierarchy, which turned classes and professions into tribes alien to each other, drowning out all human aspirations, all the inclinations of humanity.
Main characteristics of castes
Each Indian caste has its own characteristics and unique characteristics, rules of existence and behavior.
Brahmins are the highest caste
Brahmins in India are priests and priests in temples. Their position in society has always been considered the highest, even higher than the position of ruler. Currently, representatives of the Brahmin caste are also involved in the spiritual development of the people: they teach various practices, look after temples, and work as teachers.
Brahmins have a lot of prohibitions:
Men are not allowed to work in the fields or engage in any manual labor, but women can do various household chores.
A representative of the priestly caste can only marry someone like himself, but as an exception, a wedding with a Brahman from another community is allowed.
A Brahmana cannot eat what a person of another caste has prepared; a Brahmana would rather starve than eat forbidden food. But he can feed a representative of absolutely any caste.
Some brahmanas are not allowed to eat meat.
Kshatriyas - warrior caste
Representatives of the Kshatriyas always performed the duties of soldiers, guards and policemen.
Currently, nothing has changed - kshatriyas are engaged in military affairs or go to administrative work. They can marry not only in their own caste: a man can marry a girl from a lower caste, but a woman is prohibited from marrying a man from a lower caste. Kshatriyas can eat animal products, but they also avoid forbidden foods.
Vaishyas, like no one else, monitor the correct preparation of food
Vaishya
Vaishyas have always been the working class: they farmed, raised livestock, and traded.
Now representatives of the Vaishyas are engaged in economic and financial affairs, various trades, and the banking sector. Probably, this caste is the most scrupulous in matters related to food intake: vaishyas, like no one else, monitor the correct preparation of food and will never eat contaminated dishes.
Shudras - the lowest caste
The Shudra caste has always existed in the role of peasants or even slaves: they did the dirtiest and hardest work. Even in our time, this social stratum is the poorest and often lives below the poverty line. Shudras can marry even divorced women.
The Untouchables
The untouchable caste stands out separately: such people are excluded from all social relations. They do the dirtiest work: cleaning streets and toilets, burning dead animals, tanning leather.
Amazingly, representatives of this caste were not even allowed to step on the shadows of representatives of higher classes. And only very recently they were allowed to enter churches and approach people of other classes.
Unique Features caste
Having a brahmana in your neighborhood, you can give him a lot of gifts, but you shouldn’t expect anything in return. Brahmins never give gifts: they accept, but do not give.
In terms of land ownership, Shudras can be even more influential than Vaishyas.
The untouchables were not allowed to step on the shadows of people from the upper classes
Shudras of the lower stratum practically do not use money: they are paid for their work in food and household supplies.You can go to lower caste, but getting a caste of a higher rank is impossible.
Castes and modernity
Today, Indian castes have become even more structured, with many different subgroups called jatis.
During the last census of representatives of various castes, there were more than 3 thousand jatis. True, this census took place more than 80 years ago.
Many foreigners consider the caste system to be a relic of the past and believe that the caste system no longer works in modern India. In fact, everything is completely different. Even the Indian government could not come to a consensus regarding this stratification of society. Politicians actively work on dividing society into layers during elections, adding protection of the rights of a particular caste to their election promises.
In modern India, more than 20 percent of the population belongs to the untouchable caste: they have to live in their own separate ghettos or outside the boundaries of the populated area. Such people are not allowed to enter stores, government and medical institutions, or even use public transport.
In modern India, more than 20% of the population belongs to the untouchable caste
The untouchable caste has a completely unique subgroup: society’s attitude towards it is quite contradictory. These include homosexuals, transvestites and eunuchs who make their living through prostitution and asking tourists for coins. But what a paradox: the presence of such a person at the holiday is considered a very good sign.
Another amazing podcast of the untouchables is Pariah. These are people completely expelled from society - marginalized. Previously, one could become a pariah even by touching such a person, but now the situation has changed a little: one becomes a pariah either by being born from an intercaste marriage, or from pariah parents.
Sources
- http://indianochka.ru/kultura/obshhestvo/kasty.html
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