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Social structure of caste system essay answer
Social structure of caste system essay answer
Social structure of caste system essay answer
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Class structure has been part of the entire world from the beginning of civilization to the present day. In the case of ancient India, class division was a severely enforced social classification system, but unlike other cultures around the word the Caste system of India would not only determined someone’s occupation and place in society, but also the “hope for the ultimate salvation”(Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010, p. 36).
Between 1500-1000 B.C.E. Indo-European people coming from what is now Siberia and Central Asia invaded India, the Aryans had lighter skin and a very strong set of class separations. With their arrival they noted that the Indian natives were mostly farmers and a less sophisticated kind of people. This apparent difference led the Aryans to set them aside as a lesser type of human. (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010, p. 36)
The Caste system was a very important factor of the socio-economy in ancient India, but it was also a very important factor for their religion. The link between the Caste system and Hinduism is undoubtedly solid. Hinduism’s core is the circle of life and rei...
The class system has been in place within humanity since the very birth of economic trade. It is a fact of life that others will seek self-betterment and gain power to provide for those that they love and their own personal interest. Throughout the years the implementation of a social class system has helped to differentiate the types of economic situations as nation and serve as a system to work toward the betterment of the society as a whole. However, as the world became more productive and the gaps between the higher classes and lower classes increased the efficiency of the social class system and the decisions made from the individuals within it has been called into question. Kalen Ockerman opened the channel to question if the class system is the helpful institution that benefits of all its citizens or if the lower classes are not getting the support and attention they deem necessary.
Thousands of years ago, Indian society developed into a complex system based on different classes. This system is known as the Caste System. It separated Indians into different castes based on what class they were born into. As thousands of years went by, this system grew larger and became further complex (Wadley 189). This system caused frustration for the Indian citizens because they were receiving inequality.
Firstly, religion and philosophy greatly affected life in Ancient India. Document A states, “India has been an important part of three major world religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.” These religions change people’s day-to-day lives, because of their beliefs. For example, Hindus life their lives based on their dharma, or their spiritual duties they have to fulfill in their lifetime. Hindus believe that by following their dharma and being a good person, they will establish good karma, which is the effect(s) that good or bad actions have on the soul. By establishing good karma, Hindus believe that they will be born into a better caste, or social division. This will definitely change the way people act, since they will want to be born into a better life in
Hinduism is the oldest religion founded in India in 1500 BCE. Hindus believe in one soul force known as Brahman. The followers of this religion follow the Caste system. The four major castes emerged from who was believed to be the first human being, Purusha. The priestly class represented the mouth and were known as the Brahmins. The Kshatriyas were the ruler and warriors within society and represented Purusha’s arms. The legs were unskilled workers, such as peasants and traders and were known as the sudras. The untouchables of the Hindu religion were the lowest class and are not even represented on Purusha (Doc 7). Hindus believed that their good and bad deeds throughout one lifetime would move them closer or further from Moksha, freedom from life and death. With the idea of moksha being
If you ask any Hindu how the caste system started they would lead you to the Brahma who was the four-headed, four-handed deity and worshipped as the creator of the universe. But The origin of the Indian caste system has many theories behind it. Some of them are religious, while others are biological. The religious theories explain that according to the Rig Veda, which is the ancient Hindu book, the primal man, Purush, destroyed himself to create a human society.
The caste system had a very huge impact on ancient Hinduism, as well as the belief of rebirth and karma. Without those convictions, Hinduism would not have been what it was. The caste system told the people what responsibility they had based on the caste they were born into. The idea of good karma leading to reincarnation or rebirth into a better caste was used to keep people in line while also telling them how to live.
Class Struggle In the first page of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the reader learns the three very foundation upon which the social system or caste is allegedly built: “Community, Identity, Stability.” The processes by which these three structures that are achieved and sustained, in spite of that, it seems completely contradictory in the novel Brave New World. For the reader, “community” is understood as a group of diverse individuals, while in World State, people are essentially genetically manufactured to be set into one of five social castes(Alphas,Betas,Gammas,Deltas,and Epsilons). The modern reader of Brave New World understands “identity” to be highly individual, but the caste system prevents anything by conformity and uniformity, and it is through these that stability is reached.
In India, the religion of Hinduism in particular, provides two sources of support in regards to the social structure of the era. These sources are the Vedas and the Upanishads. According to The Rig Veda when Purusha’s body was divided “his mouth became the brāhman; his two arms were made into the rajanya; his two thighs the vaishyas; from his two feet the shūdra was born (Reilly, 92).” By splitting up the body in this way, there was a justification for the creation of the varna or caste system. The highest class or Brahmin’s were the priest class, who were also known as the most pure. In this role, they were the connecting figures between Purusha and his people, which is reflective of them being his mouth. The next upper division class was the Ksatriya or warrior/leader class. In the class, the role was to do the fighting which was reflective of them being Purusha’s arms. The artisan/farmer or middle class was known as the vaisyas. In this class, members represented the role of the thighs of Purusha, who were responsible for doing the brunt or tougher jobs in society. The nethermost social class was the sudra, who were serfs and servants. They represented the feet of Pursha, which is reflective of their status as the lowest class. Along with the Vedas, the Upanishads served as a written guideline for the varna. These works urged the concept of doin...
We are lucky, today, that the majority of the world’s nations are democracies. This has only been the case in very recent times. For the greater part of human history, society has subscribed to the belief that birth is the most important determinant of one’s future. In Elizabethan England, this was especially true. Those born into the nobility enjoyed a lifetime of privilege, while those born outside of their ranks mainly existed to serve them. A century later, the British encountered an even stricter form of this belief when they conquered India. The Hindu caste system, which dictated one’s future based on birth just as British society did, was deemed even by the English to be excessively restrictive. After gaining control of the Subcontinent, the conquerors attempted to supplant the caste system with the semblance of a meritocracy. The new subjects of the Empire, instead of embracing this imposition of a foreign culture’s values, responded with general unrest and discontent, showing that no society, no matter how unfair or prejudiced, tolerates interference well. Shakespeare’s King Lear demonstrates the same concept: that any violation of society’s conception of the natural order brings chaos, and that the only way to restore harmony is to conform to the expectations of that society.
The four main stages of life in Hinduism also take the caste system into account. The first stage is that of a student, being led by a teacher. T...
Upon reading about the historical and religious background of Ancient India, one can clearly assume that the country was strongly influenced by three main religious teachings: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. These three sects in religious thinking have many similarities as all recognize the life-cycle and the need of liberation, they worship one central deity that used to be a human who gained enlightenment and they all recognize the existence of the eternal soul and after-death re-incarnation. However, they also share a lot of differences that mark the underlying principles of practicing them. I will identify the scope of differences and similarities in these ancient religions in an attempt to understand why each attracted followers, why each was shaped a certain way and how they preserved the interest of followers on into the modern times as well.
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.
The ideas of caste, varna and jati extend across the religious traditions of Islam, Hinduism and Jainism; each holding a different meaning to each community. The idea of ‘caste’ is a unique social stratification system native to India which divides the citizens into four varnas: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The idea of caste emphasizes hierarchy and occupational specialization. (Kinsley, 153) However, while Jati, Caste and Varna may all seem similar, they represent very different things across Indian communities.
Hinduism has been a religion for a long time, the Buddha was a Hindu before seeing how terrible the world was, he then found the religion Buddhism. Since the creator of Buddhism was Hinduism as a child, it is only expected for the two religions to be similar. While the two religions are similar they are also quite different as seen by their creation stories. The creation stories are these religions way of explaining how the world started. With most religions the creation story gives the most basic beliefs of the religion as this is where their religion supposedly starts its life. The two stories this paper focuses on is no different, and since they technically have the same origin, it can be obvious as to how they would be similar. However, in the case of the idea of social order and moral decline, they can be different too.
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...