16. (a) How do most Hindus view the caste system? (b) What did Gandhi say about the caste system?

¹⁶ A universally known aspect of Hinduism is varna, or the caste system, which divides society into rigid classes. (See box, page 113.) One cannot help noticing that Hindu society is still stratified by this system, although it is rejected by Buddhists and Jains. However, just as racial discrimination persists in the United States and elsewhere, so likewise the caste system is deeply embedded in the Indian psyche. In a way it is a form of class consciousness that, in a parallel way, can still be found today to a lesser degree in British society and in other lands. (James 2:1-9) Thus, in India a person is born into a rigid caste system, and there is almost no way out. Furthermore, the average Hindu does not seek a way out. He views it as his predetermined, inescapable lot in life, the result of his deeds in a prior existence, or Karma. But how did the caste system originate? Once again we have to turn to Hindu mythology.

17, 18. According to Hindu mythology, how did the caste system start?

¹⁷ According to Hindu mythology, there were originally four major castes based on the body parts of Purusha, mankind’s original father-figure. The hymns of the Rig-Veda state:

“When they divided Purusha how many portions did they make?

What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?

The Brahman [the highest caste] was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made.

His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.”​—The Bible of the World.

¹⁸ Thus, the priestly Brahmans, the highest caste, were supposed to have originated from Purusha’s mouth, his highest part. The governing, or warrior, class (Kshatriya or Rajanya) came from his arms. The merchant and farmer class, called the Vaisya, or Vaishya, originated from his thighs. A lower caste, the Sudra, or Shudra, or laborer class, resulted from the lowest part of the body, his feet.

19. What other castes came into existence?

¹⁹ Over the centuries even lower castes came into existence, the outcastes and the Untouchables, or as Mahatma Gandhi called them more kindly, the Harijans, or “persons belonging to the god Vishnu.” Although untouchability has been illegal in India since 1948, the Untouchables still have a very hard existence.

20. What are other aspects of the caste system?

²⁰ In the course of time, the castes multiplied to match just about every profession and artisanship in Indian society. This ancient caste system, which keeps everyone in his or her social place, is in reality also racial and “includes distinct racial types varying from what is known as the [light-skinned] Aryan to the [darker-skinned] pre-Dravidian stocks.” Varna, or caste, means “color.” “The first three castes were Aryans, the fairest people; the fourth caste, that comprising the dark-skinned aborigines, was non-Aryan.” (Myths and Legends Series​—India, by Donald A. Mackenzie) It is a fact of India’s life that the caste system, fortified by the religious teaching of Karma, has millions of people locked into perpetual poverty and injustice.

Brahman​—the priestly and highest level of the caste system; also the Ultimate Reality. See page 116

Harijan​—member of the Untouchable caste; means “people of God,” compassionate name given them by Mahatma Gandhi

Kshatriya​—the professional, governing, and warrior class and the second level of the caste system

Sudra​—laborer, the lowest of the four main castes

Vaisya​—class of merchants and farmers; third group in the caste system

1. Karma Yoga​—“The way of action, or karma yoga, the discipline of action. Basically, karma marga means performing one’s dharma according to one’s place in life. Certain duties are required of all people, such as ahimsa and abstention from alcohol and meat, but the specific dharma of each individual depends on that person’s caste and stage in life.”​—Great Asian Religions.

This Karma is performed strictly within caste limitations. Purity of caste is maintained by neither marrying nor eating outside of one’s caste, which was determined by one’s Karma in a previous existence. Therefore one’s caste is not viewed as an injustice but as a legacy from a previous incarnation. In Hindu philosophy men and women are not all equal. They are divided by caste and by sex and, in effect, by color. Usually the lighter the skin, the higher the caste.