Caste System and the Society - All societies function on the same basis of the Varanashram. Firstly, every society has a vision and a constitution; this is its very backbone. Secondly, there are people who implement and protect this vision. Thirdly, each society has producers who create the resources and wealth, and then the majority are the workers who help all towards achieving and securing that vision. It is important to understand that this division exists in all organized societies; without proper vision and a certain division of labour, there will be total chaos and confusion.
Opinion
15/06/2018
1275
Sub : Caste System and the Society -
All societies function on the same basis of the Varanashram. Firstly, every society has a vision and a constitution; this is its very backbone. Secondly, there are people who implement and protect this vision. Thirdly, each society has producers who create the resources and wealth, and then the majority are the workers who help all towards achieving and securing that vision. It is important to understand that this division exists in all organized societies; without proper vision and a certain division of labour, there will be total chaos and confusion.
Ref : Srimad Bhagavad Gita Chapter-4. Slokam-13.
"chātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛiṣhṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśhaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhyakartāram avyayam"
Sum of the Slokam :-
The four categories of occupations were created by me according to people’s qualities and activities. Although I am the creator of this system, know me to be the non-doer and eternal.
Discussion :-
The Vedas classify people into four categories of occupations, not according to their birth, but according to their natures. Such varieties of occupations exist in every society. Even in communist nations where equality is the overriding principle, the diversity in human beings cannot be smothered. There are the philosophers who are the communist party think-tanks, there are the military men who protect the country, there are the farmers who engage in agriculture, and there are the factory workers.
The Vedic philosophy explains this variety in a more scientific manner. It states that the material energy is constituted of three guṇas (modes) : -
1. Sattva guṇa (mode of goodness), 2. Rajo guṇa (mode of passion), and 3. Tamo guṇa (mode of ignorance).
1.The Brahmins are those who have a preponderance of the mode of goodness. They are predisposed toward teaching and worship.
2.The Kshatriyas are those who have a preponderance of the mode of passion mixed with a smaller amount of the mode of goodness. They are inclined toward administration and management.
3.The Vaishyas are those who possess the mode of passion mixed with some mode of ignorance. Accordingly, they form the business and agricultural class.
4.Then there are the Shudras, who are predominated by the mode of ignorance. They form the working class.
This classification was neither meant to be according to birth, nor was it unchangeable. Shree Krishna explains in this Slokam that the classification of the Varnasramam system was according to people’s qualities and activities.
Although Lord Sri Krishna is the creator of the scheme of the world, yet he is the non-doer. This is similar to the rain. Just as rain water falls equally on the forest, yet from some seeds huge banyan trees sprout, from other seeds beautiful flowers bloom, and from some thorny bushes emerge. The rain, which is impartial, is not answerable for this difference. In the same way, Lord provides the souls with the energy to act, but they are free in determining what they wish to do with it; Lord is not responsible for their actions.
NOTE :
I. Nation and Varnam :-
1. A clear example is of our nation. We have a constitution which is important and provides the vision. The government and other branches are meant to protect the constitution. Then there are the producers of wealth. In a predominantly agricultural nation, the farmers produce wealth from the land. We get our wealth from nature, from the forest, rivers and mountains. This helps in fulfilling the vision.
2. The whole purpose is to accomplish the vision. All those who work for it may not have a holistic understanding, but have a role in achieving the vision. For example, when there is a threat to society, it is the duty of the Kshatriyas to protect it, but others also help them.
II. Vision and Varnam :-
1. A comprehensive vision is very important. If it is un-holistic and narrow, then the whole society will not be benefitted. In our scriptures, the Brahmins have the knowledge of the Vedas, which provide the vision of dharma and Brahman. Whatever may be your immediate goal or your background, your ultimate goal and aim should be to follow the path of dharma and attain Brahman. The Brahmins spend their entire lives studying this vision and imparting it to society. Accordingly, each member, based on his/her station in life and capacity, helps in making this vision come true.
2. It is only when a society moves towards this vision that each and every individual, irrespective of who they are, benefits from it. All move towards that sublime goal. Thus, the Brahmins have a major role to play. They are not the upholders of wealth. This is why they are usually are described as poor! Even Kshatriyas are not the upholders of wealth. It is the Vaishyas who create and have wealth, but this wealth should be used for the purpose of fulfilling society’s vision.
III. A Holistic Society :-
1. In Rama Rajya, Dashrath Maharaj, the king is a Kshatriya. Rishi Vashishtha, a Brahmin had the vision for the entire kingdom and imparted it to the king. The Kshatriyas have to, from time to time, approach and fine-tune its implementation with their teacher, the Rishi, because their duty is to execute and protect the vision. They are not the creators of the vision. They get it from the Brahmins and see that it is executed. The Vaishyas provide the resources for that purpose and everyone else helps in this.
2. This is the society which was conceived by the Lord and this system has also been given by Bhagavan Himself. The society as a whole, functions well when all the members know their job and do it properly. In organizations each one is given a respective job. They cannot leave their own duties and start doing a job assigned to someone else. Similarly, in a society, people belonging to the different varnas must do their respective jobs.
3. The system of the four varnas exists in Kaliyuga also, but not in its pure form. As the varnas become impure, we suffer as individuals and also as a society. Our own constitution is such that it looks after only artha and kama and a little of dharma, but does not have moksha as the goal. We may have freedom of speech, life, education and food, but this is part of artha and kama only.
4. Thus, though this system fluctuates, it exists. It is not destroyed totally. It is created by the Bhagavan Himself and will remain as long as the world exists.
OPINION :-
1.
Caste in Indian society refers to a social group where membership is decided by birth. Members of such local group are endogamous, i.e. they tend to enter into marital relationships among themselves. They often have related political preferences.
2.
For political/government purposes, the castes are broadly divided into :-
1.Forward Castes (about 15% of population)
2.Other Backward Classes (OBC) (about 41% of population)
3.Scheduled Castes (about 20% of population)
4.Scheduled Tribes (about 9% of population)
The Indian Muslims (13.4%), and Christians (2.3%) often function as castes since they too marry among themselves.
Official lists are compiled by states recognizing the OBC, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The dividing lines can be ambiguous, several castes have demanded a lower rank so that they can avail the privileges offered. The term Upper caste also refers to Forward castes, when news reports refer to the Scheduled castes in relation to the two upper groups.
3.
The removal of the boundaries between "civil society" and "political society" meant that caste now played a huge role in the political arena and also influenced other government-run institutions such as police and the judicial system. Though caste seemed to dictate one's access to such institutions, the location of that caste also played a pivotal role. If a lower caste were concentrated enough in one area, it could then translate that pocket of concentration of its caste members into political power and then challenge the hegemony of locally dominant upper caste. Gender also plays a significant role in the power dynamic of caste in politics. Women's representation within the political system seems to also be tied to their caste. Lower, more conservative castes have less female participation in politics than upper, more socially liberal, castes. This has caused a disproportionately large number of upper-caste women to occupy political office when compared to their lower caste counterparts. The hierarchy of caste and its role in politics and access to power and resources has created a society of patron-client relationships along caste lines. This staunchly rigid structure was most prevalent during the Congress-dominating period. This eventually led to the practice of vote banking, where voters back only candidates that are in their caste, or officials from which they expect to receive some kind of benefits.
4.
Historically it has been very hard to change the structure of caste politics in India. More recently however, there has been a flux in caste politics, mainly caused by economic liberalisation in India. This upsurge in lower-caste empowerment was accompanied in some regions by a spike in the level of corruption. This was partly due to lower caste perceiving development programs and rule of law as tools used by the upper caste to subjugate lower castes.
5.
Contemporary India, however, has seen the influence of caste start to decline. This is partly due to the spread of education to all castes which has had a democratising effect on the political system. However, this "equalising" of the playing field has not been without controversy. The Mandal Commission and its quotas system has been a particularly sensitive issue.
It has been argued by Professor Dipankar Gupta that the role of castes in Indian elections have been overplayed.
6. Political Corruption :-
i.
Corruption thus translated into power and a means to enter the political arena, once only open to upper caste members. Corruption in India became a way to level the playing field. This struggle for empowerment that was forced to operate outside of the rule of law produced caste-based mafia networks. These mafia-networks began to chip away at upper caste control over state institutions.
ii.
However, unlike their predecessor, these caste mafia groups were not concerned with ‘development’, but mainly viewed elections and democracy as a way of gaining control of the state, which would enable them to level social inequalities. This new state envisioned a government of "Social Justice" through caste empowerment. Within the context of "social justice" corruption pontificated by the caste mafias became tolerated, and in some cases, as in the province of Bihar, even celebrated.
iii.
The very nature of caste politics inherently means that there are no boundaries between "civil society" and "political society", as demonstrated by the proliferation caste mafia. The mafia dons became mayors, ministers, and even members of Parliament. Therefore, there was no alternative to fight against these mafia figures and political brokers. Because rule of law was perceived to be a mechanism of upper caste control, corruption used by caste mafia became popularly accepted, as it was perceived to be a means to achieve lower caste empowerment. The corruption elevated to such a level that nearly all elected officials in some towns and regions were also criminals. The upper castes who had used their control over the state to discreetly plunder its institutions for their own gain, were now replaced by the mafia dons who now openly pillaged the state institutions. Many of these elected ministers/mafia dons were jailed for the illegal practices they employed; however, this was widely touted as the upper castes trying to regain dominance by eliminating "social justice" supporters. Corruption and politics became so common that at a time it was not uncommon for election results to be contested from a prison cell.
iv.
Corruption therefore translated into power and a means to enter the political arena, once only open to upper caste members. In this way corruption was seen as a way to level the playing field, and as a result was tolerated and in some villages championed under the banner of "social justice".
v.
In the 1990s, many parties Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal started claiming that they were representing the backward castes. Many such parties, relying primarily on Backward Classes' support, often in alliance with Dalits and Muslims, rose to power in Indian states. At the same time, many Dalit leaders and intellectuals started realising that the main Dalit oppressors were the so-called Other Backward Classes, and formed their own parties, such as the Indian Justice Party. The Congress (I) in Maharashtra long relied on OBCs' backing for its political success.
vi.
In Tamil Nadu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party rose to power promising representation of all castes in all important sectors of society.
***
CONCLUSION :-
1. VARNAS AS SAID BY LORD KRISHNA IS BASED IN SANATANA DHARMAM, NO ONE CAN CHANGE THAT, EXIST IN THE WHOLE WORLD;
2. BUT THE PRESENT CASTE SYSTEM IS NOT BASED ON GUNA AND KARMA, IT IS MAN MADE, COUNTED BY BIRTH, WHICH IS SATANIC, SO TO BE ABOLISHED;
3. VARNASRAMAM IS CHANGEABLE THAT IS SUDRA CAN BECOME BRAHMANA BY CHANGE ( UPLIFT BY OWN SELF ) OF GUNAM AND KARMAM;
4. IF THIS NATION TO PROVE TO BE DEVELOPED, THEN THIS MAD CASTE SYSTEM BY BIRTH AND EXPLOITATION MUST BE ENDED.
5. WHAT LORD KRISHNA CREATED IS RESPECTABLE AND NOT THIS MAN MADE FOOLISH ONE, WHICH STILL PERSISTS AFTER 70 YEARS OF OUR INDEPENDENCE, SHAME, SHAME, THESE POLITICAL CLASS LIVELIHOOD IS ON EXPLOITING THIS SYSTEM MUST BE CONDEMNED; DOWN THIS POLITICS
IMPACT :-
1."The system of the four varnas exists in Kaliyuga ( at present ) also, but not in its pure form."
2. As the varnas become impure, we suffer as individuals and also as a society.
3. Our own constitution is such that it looks after only artha and kama and a little of dharma, but does not have moksha as the goal.
4. "We may have freedom of speech, life, education and food, but this is part of artha and kama only."
5. We lack DHARMA ( ON WHICH OUR NATION EXISTS ) and MOKASHA (AS GOAL )
6. PM ONLY TALKS ABOUT VIKAS WHICH IS MATERIAL ONLY ( ARTHA AND KAMA )
7. PM NEVER TALKS ABOUT DHARMA AND MOKSHA, THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT.
8. LOSS OF DHARMA AND MOKSHA IS VISIBLE AS WE HAVE LALUS, RAHULS. MAMATAS AND OTHER ASURAS ...
9. Thus, though this system fluctuates, it exists. It is not destroyed totally.
10. It is created by the Bhagavan Himself and will remain as long as the world exists.
VANDEMATHARAM
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