hinduism does not permit caste system

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Hinduis m d oe s not permit cast e s ys te m, By J.G. Arora

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February 2 7, 05, Open Forum, Organiser

Hinduism does not per mit caste system, By J.G. Arora

There is a misconception in some min ds t hat Hindu scriptures sanction the cas te

system.

Vedas, the pr oud possess ion of m ankind, are the foundation of Hinduism. Vedas

are a ll- embr acing, and treat t he entire huma nity with the sa me respect an d

dignity. Vedas s peak of no bility of entire h um anity (krinvanto vishvam aryam),

and do no t sanction any cas te system o r bir th - based cas te system. Mantra,

nu mbered 10 - 13 - 1 in Rig Veda, addresses t he entire hum anity as divine children

(shrunvantu vishve amr utsya pu traha). Innumera ble mantras in Vedas emp hasise

onen ess, universal brot herh ood, harm ony, hap piness, affection, unity and

comm onali ty of entire hu manity.

A few illustrations are given here. Vide Mantra n um bered 5 - 60 - 5 in Rig Veda, the

divine poe t d eclares, All me n a re br othe rs; no on e is big, no on e is sm all. All are

equal. Mantra nu mbe red 16.15 in Yajur Veda reiterates t hat all me n are brot hers;

no o ne is superior or inferior. Mantra nu mbered 10 - 191 - 2 in Rig Veda calls upo n

hu manity to be united to have a comm on speech and a com mon mi nd. Mantra

nu mbered 3 - 30 - 1 in Atharva Veda enjoins upon all huma ns to be affectionate

and to love one an oth er as t he cow loves her newly- bor n calf. Underlining unity

and har mony s t i ll further, Mantra num bered 3 - 30 - 6 in Atharva Veda com man dshu mankind t o dine together, and be as f irmly united as the s pokes a t tached to th e

hu b of a chariot wheel.

The Bhagavad Gita, which contains t he esse nce of Vedas and Upanishads, has

ma ny shlokas tha t echo the Vedic doctrine of onene ss of hu ma nity. In shloka

nu mbe red V (29), Lord Krishna declares th at He is the friend of all creatur es

(suhridam sarva bhu tan am) whereas shloka nu mbe red IX (29) reiterates th at th e

Lord has t he sam e affection for all creatur es, an d whoso ever remem bers t he Lord,

resid es in t he Lord, and th e Lord resid es in hi m. Shloka n u mb ere d XVIII (61)

declares that God resides in every heart (ishwar sarva bhu tana m hru dyeshe Arjun

tishthti).

Guna (Aptitud e) an d Karm a (Actions)

Hindu script ures speak only about varna which me ans to select (ones

prof ession, etc.) and which is not caste or birth - based.

As per shloka nu mbe red IV (13) of the Bhagavad Gita, depen ding up on a per sons

guna (aptitu de) an d kar ma (actions), the re are four varnas. As per t his shloka, a

persons varna is determined by his guna an d karm a, and n ot by his bir th.

Chap ter XIV of t he Bhagavad Gita specifies th ree g una s viz. satva (pu rity), rajas

(pass ion and at tachmen t) and ta mas (ignorance). These three guna s are p resent in

every huma n in different pr oport ions , and de termine t he varna of every person.

Accordingly, depen ding on ones guna and kar ma, every individual is free to select
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his own varna. Consequently, if their gun as an d kar mas are different, even

me mbers of the sa me family can belong to different varnas . Notwiths tanding t he

differences in guna and kar ma of different individuals, Vedas treat t he entire

hu manity with the same respect and d o not sanction any cas te system or bir th -

based cas te system.

Veda is the Founda tion

Hinduism is a ll- embr acing and grants the sa me respect to a l l hu man s, and

anything to the contra ry anywhere is not sanctioned by the Vedas. Being divine

revelation, the s hr utis (Vedas) are th e ultimat e aut hority on Dhar ma, and

represent i ts e ternal principles whereas being hu man recapitula t ions , smrit is

(recollections) can play only a su bor dinate role. As per shloka nu mbe red (6) of

Chapter 2 in Manu Smriti, Veda is the foun dation of entire Dharm a. Shloka

nu mbe red 2(13) of Manu Smriti specifies th at whe never shr uti (vedas) an d s mritis

differ, stipul ation of Vedas will pr evail over s mritis. In view of this p ositio n,

anything discriminat ory in Manu Smriti or anywhere else is anti- Veda, and

therefore , is not sanctioned by Hinduism and has s ubsequently been inserted with

unh oly intentions, and deserves to be weeded o ut .

Besides, precise codification of Hinduism in one boo k is indispens able to m ake

Hinduism ea sier to be und ers too d by a layman. For this codification, ap pro priate

ma ntras of Vedas and Upanishads , and selected shlokas in the Ramayana and t he

Mahabha rat a (which also inclu des th e Bhagavad Gita), etc. will pr ovide th e basic

material.

Role of Media

In order to us her in a cas te less and har monious society, the a ll- embracing and

universal message of Vedas has t o be followed and spr ead.

Both the p rint a nd electronic media play an im port ant role in a count rys life.

They should con tribut e their mit e to u nite various sections of the s ociety. But in

India, most of the media are u nwittingly s trengthening caste and comm unal

divisions. By pu blishing divisive articles and des cribing political leader s an d

electorates, achievers and sp orts per sons , and even wrong- doers an d t heir

vict ims as m emb ers of a p art icular cas te or comm unity, the me dia is

str ength ening the divisions instea d of unifying the society. The media sh ould play

a positive role so tha t t here is amity all aroun d.

Let Your Heart s be On e

Anyone believing in the caste system is violating the Vedic comm an d of o nenes s

of entire huma nity. Although the f irs t known poe m in the world appeared as the

firs t m ant ra in Rig Veda, and though the Vedas and Upanishads contain the

sublimest th oughts in the sublimest language, because of a faulty education

system, most of the e ducated Indians are ignorant of their r ich heri tage contained

in the Vedas and Upanishads. Most Indians do not know Sanskrit, the language of

Vedic literatu re. Many person s do not know even the m eaning of t heir Sanskrit

na mes. By learning Sanskrit one can read the Vedas, though even tran slated Vedic

li tera ture can be s t udied.


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We have to ensu re th at we do no t lose our rich Vedic heritage as it would amo un t

ot losing our identity. To ensur e the survival of our Vedic heritage, an d to bring

about unity and harm ony in society, it is imperative that the a l l- embracing

message of the Vedes is practised and p ropagated.

(The autho r is a forme r Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. His e- mail add ress is:

[email protected])
mailto:[email protected])mailto:[email protected])

hinduism does not permit caste system

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