The Hindu Caste System

Johnson, Oliver, A. Sources of World Civilization Volume I to 1500. University of California. Prentice Hall. 2000.

The differences between systems of social classes; which are necessary components of all complex societies, and a caste system, as a feature of Indian civilization, are a matter of degree, but the degree is great. Four characteristics distinguish the Indian caste system. First, it has the sanction of divine law; second, the castes are sharply separated from each other and movement from one to another is extremely difficult; third, the castes are hierarchically organized, with a social abyss separating the highest from the lowest; and, fourth, castes are hereditary--one is born into the caste in which he must spend his life. The beginnings of the caste system are shrouded in the remote past, but it seems to have developed following the Aryan invasion of India in the second millennium B.C.E. Although references to it can be found in much early literature, its formal elaboration appears in The Laws of Manu, a large compendium of Hindu regulations from which the following selection is taken. These laws were, according to Hindu doctrine, established by the demigod Manu, himself a manifestation of Brahma, so represent divine commands. They divide society into four castes-the priests and scholars (Brahmanas), the nobles and warriors (Kshatriyas), the merchants and farmers (Vaisyas), and the common laborers and servants (Sudras). Although the Brahmanas (who wrote the laws that separated society into castes) were preeminent in prestige and honor, all of the first three castes shared the attribute of being "twice born." Besides their original human first birth, they experienced a "second birth" consisting of their initiation into the mysteries of the Hindu religion. The Sudras were excluded from the "second birth" so could aspire to no higher rank than that of servants to the privileged castes. It should be added that the castes as here described offer an idealized oversimplification of the system, as it has actually existed in India. In fact, there are literally thousands of sub-castes, based on such things as different occupations, area of the country, and so on. Hindus found a religio-moral justification for the caste system. According to the divine law of Karma, an individual in each of his reincarnations is born into a rank and level of society that results from the quality of the life he had lived in his previous incarnation. Thus a member of the Sudra caste has earned that status; his position as a servant is just what he deserves. Furthermore, any attempt to change one's status or to modify the caste system itself would be immoral, as well as a breach of divine law. Two further points should be added. Closely associated with the caste system is a set of regulations governing marriage, the status of women, and family relationships in general. Also, it should be mentioned that a substantial portion of the population of India does not fit into any of the four castes. These are the outcasts or "untouchables" who rank far below the Sudras-indeed, are often treated with less respect than animals. In the selection that follows from The Laws of Manu an attempt has been made to offer some insight into the extraordinary complexities of the caste system. To do this, illustrative "laws" have been chosen and reorganized from the original to enhance their coherence; also section headings have been added. The Laws of Manu (Translated by G. Bhler with minor modifications) (Manu, a mythical being both divine and human) The great sages approached Manu, who was seated with a collected mind, and, having daily worshipped him, spoke as follows: "Deign, divine one, to declare to us precisely and in due order the sacred laws of each of the four chief castes and of the intermediate ones. "For thou, 0 Lord, alone knowest the purport, the rites, and the knowledge of the soul, taught in this whole ordinance of the Self-existent, which is unknowable and unfathomable." He, whose power is measureless, being thus asked by the high-minded great sages, duly honored them, and answered, "Listen!"

THE FOUR CASTES

For the sake of the prosperity of the worlds, he caused the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra to proceed from his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet. The Brahmana, the Kshatriya, and the Vaisya castes are the twice-born ones, but the fourth, the Sudra, has one birth only; there is no fifth caste. To Brahmanas he assigned teaching and studying the Veda, sacrificing for their own benefit and for others, giving and accepting of alms. The Kshatriya he commanded to protect the people, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study the Veda, and to abstain from attaching himself to sensual pleasures; the Vaisya to tend cattle, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study the Veda, to trade, to lend money, and to cultivate land. One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Sudra, to serve meekly even these other three castes. The seniority of Brahmanas is from sacred knowledge, that of Kshatriyas from valor, that of Vaisyas from wealth in grain and other goods, but that of Sudras from age alone. A twice-born man who knowingly eats mushrooms, a village pig, garlic, a village cock, onions or leeks, will become an outcast. Some wealthy Brahmana shall compassionately support both a Kshatriya and a Vaisya if they are distressed for a livelihood, employing them on work which is suitable for their castes. But a Brahman who, because he is powerful, out of greed makes initiated men of the twice born castes against their will do the work of slaves shall be fined by the king. But a Sudra, whether bought or unbought, he may compel to do servile work; for he was created by the Selfexistent to be the slave of a Brahmana. A Sudra, though emancipated by his master, is not released from servitude; since that is innate in him, who can set him free from it? With whatever limb a man of a low caste does hurt to a man of the three highest castes, even that limb shall be cut off; that is the teaching of Manu. He who raises his hand or a stick shall have his hand cut off; he who in anger kicks with his foot shall have his foot cut off. A low-caste man who tries to place himself on the same seat with a man of a high caste shall be branded on his hip and be banished, or the king shall cause his buttock to be gashed. If out of arrogance he spits on a superior the king shall cause both his lips to be cut off; if he urines on him, the penis; if he breaks wind against him, the anus. A man of low caste who through covetousness lives by the occupations of a higher one the king shall deprive of his property and banish. Abstention from injuring creatures, veracity, abstention from unlawfully appropriating the goods of others, purity, and control of the organs, Manu has declared to be the summary of the law for the four castes.

THE BRAHMANA The very birth of a Brahmana is an eternal incarnation of the sacred law; for he is born to fulfill the sacred law, and becomes one with Brahman. A Brahmana, coming into existence, is born as the highest on earth, the lord of all created beings, for the protection of the treasury of the law. Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmana; on account of the excellence of his origin the Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to it all. The Brahmana eats but his own food, wears but his own apparel, bestows but his own in alms; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the Brahmana. THE SUDRA
That kingdom where Sudras are very numerous, which is infested by atheists and destitute of twice-born inhabitants, soon entirely perishes, afflicted by famine and disease. A Brahmana may confidently seize the goods of his Sudra for, as that slave can have no property, his master may take his possessions. A Brahmana who takes a Sudra wife to his bed will after death sink into hell; if he begets a child of her he will lose the rank of a Brahmana. The son whom a Brahmana begets through lust on a Sudra female is, though alive, a corpse and hence called a living corpse. A Sudra who has intercourse with a woman of a twice-born caste, guarded or unguarded, shall be punished in the following manner: If she was unguarded he loses the offending part and all his property; if she was guarded, everything, even his life. The foolish man who, after having eaten a dinner, gives the leavings to a Sudra falls headlong into hell. A Sudra who is pure, the servant of his betters, gentle in his speech, and free from pride, and always seeks refuge with Brahmanas attains in his next life a higher caste.

THE DASYUS All those tribes in this world which are excluded from the community of those born from the mouth, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of Brahman are called Dasyus, whether they speak the language of the barbarians or that of the Aryans. The dwellings of Kandalas and Svapakas [low-order Dasyus] shall be outside the village and their wealth shall be dogs and donkeys. Their dress shall be the garments of the dead, they shall eat their food from broken dishes, black iron shall be their ornaments, and they must always wander from place to place. By the king's order they shall always execute the criminals, in accordance with the law, and they shall take for themselves the clothes, the beds, and the ornaments of such criminals. A Kandala, a village pig, a cock, a dog, a menstruating woman, and a eunuch must not look at the Brahmanas while they eat. Let a Brahmana gently place on the ground some food for dogs, outcasts, Kandalas, those afflicted with diseases that are punishments of former sins, crows, and insects. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY A twice-born man shall marry a wife of equal caste who is endowed with auspicious bodily marks. In connecting himself with a wife, let him carefully avoid the ten following families, be they ever so great or rich in kine (cattle), horses, sheep, grain, or other property: One which neglects the sacred rites, one in which no male children are born, one in which the Veda is not studied, one the members of which have thick hair on the body, those which are subject to hemorrhoids, phthisis, weakness of digestion, epilepsy, or white and black leprosy. Let him not marry a maiden with reddish hair, nor one who has a redundant member, nor one who is sickly, nor one either with no hair on the body or too much, nor one who is garrulous or has red eyes, nor one named after a constellation, a tree, or a river, nor one bearing the name of a low caste, or of a mountain, nor one named after a bird, a snake, or a slave, nor one whose name inspires terror. Let him wed a female free from bodily defects, who has an agreeable name, the graceful gait of a Hamsa (swan) or of an elephant, a moderate quantity of hair on the body and on the head, small teeth, and soft limbs. A man aged thirty years shall marry a maiden of twelve who pleases him or a man of twenty-four a girl eight years of age; if the performance of his duties would otherwise be impeded he must marry sooner. The husband receives his wife from the gods, he does not wed her according to his own will; doing what is agreeable to the gods he must always support her while she is faithful. Women must be honored and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands, and brothers-in-law, who desire their own welfare. Where women are honored there the gods are pleased but where they are not honored no sacred rite yields rewards. Where the female relations live in grief the family soon wholly perishes but that family where they are not unhappy ever prospers. The houses on which female relations, not being duly honored, pronounce a curse perish completely, as if destroyed by magic. Hence men who seek their own welfare should always honor women on holidays and festivals with gifts of ornaments, clothes, and dainty food. "Let mutual fidelity continue until death"-this may be considered as the summary of the highest law for husband and wife. Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good qualities, yet a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife. No sacrifice, no vow, no fast must be performed by women apart from their husbands; if a wife obeys her husband she will for that reason alone be exalted in heaven. . A faithful wife who desires to dwell after death with her husband must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand, whether he be alive or dead.

WOMEN Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; thinking, "It is enough that he is a man," they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly. Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be guarded in this world. Knowing their disposition, which the Lord of creatures laid in them at the creation, to be such, every man should most strenuously exert himself to guard them. When creating them Manu allotted to women a love of their bed, of their seat and of ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct It is the nature of women to seduce men in this world; for that reason the wise are never unguarded in the company of females. For women are able to lead astray in this world not only a fool but even a learned man and to make him a slave of desire and anger. Day and night women must be kept in dependence by the males of their families and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control. Her father protects her in childhood, her husband protects her in youth, and her sons protect her in old age; a woman is never fit for independence. Reprehensible is the father who gives not his daughter in marriage at the proper time, reprehensible is the husband who approaches not his wife in due season, and reprehensible is the son who does not protect his mother after her husband has died. A female must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by leaving them she would make both her own and her husband's families contemptible. She must always be cheerful, clever in the management of her household affairs, careful in cleaning her utensils, and economical in expenditure. Him to whom her father may give her, or her brother with the father's permission, she shall obey as long as he lives and when he is dead she must not insult his memory. Drinking spirituous liquor, associating with wicked people, separation from the husband, rambling abroad, sleeping at unseasonable hours, and dwelling in other men's houses are the six causes of the ruin of women.

Guide to The Hindu Caste System

In what ways is the Caste system different from other social class systems? The Laws governing the Castes are attributed to Manu, who was supposed to be Basic four castes: ____________________________= ____________________________= ____________________________= ____________________________= What is second born and who are considered second born or twice born? The people in India that do not fit into the caste system are called: Dos All Twice Born: Donts

Brahmanas:

Kshatriyas: Vaisyas:: Sudra:

Manu lists crimes that might be committed by lower castes and the punishment for each. List two crimes and their consequences: How should Kandalas and Svapakas cloth and feed themselves? What groups cannot look at a Brahmana while they eat?

Marriage: Dos

Donts

Other laws regarding women and family: Do

Dont