The Indian Caste System Essay Example for Free

The Indian Caste System Essay The Indian word for caste is jati, which means a large kin-community or descent-group. The word caste comes from the Portuguese casta (breed or race). The Sanskrit word applied to these groupings is varna, which means several things but is often interpreted to signify color. In a verse from the first millennium epic, the Mahabharata, Brigu, the sage explains: The brahmans are fair, the ksatriyas are reddish, the vaisyas yellow and the sudras are black (Huttton). In this essay I look at how the caste system existed in ancient India and how it currently exists in modern India. I will also try and explain how the caste system has evolved from its ancient ways and how it currently functions in modern India: for example, what sort of role it plays in Indias politics and in government policies. I will also give my personal opinion on the Indian caste system. Of the many cultures that flourished in India the literary records of the Indo-Aryan culture are not only the earliest but contain the first mention of the components of the ancient Indian caste. The Indo-Aryan, when they entered India, considered themselves more advanced and more developed than the native aborigines of India. When they (Aryans) came they had mainly three well-defined classes amongst themselves, intermarriage between which must have been rather rare, though not forbidden. These three classes to a great extent worked and functioned the way the caste system functioned but the differences between the three classes was not all that rigidly marked. (Bashm). When the Aryans entered India their first task was to exclude the sudras, a class largely composed of the aborigines, from their (Aryan) religious worship. The lowest caste of the Indian society represented the sudras at that time. The sudras were not allowed to practice religious worship that was developed by the Aryans and they were not allowed to be present in the sacrificial halls of worship. The sudras were further divided into two groups pure or not-excluded (aniravasita) and excluded (niravasita). The latter were quite outside the pale of the Hindu society, and were virtually indistinguishable from the body of the people later to be known as the untouchables. According to the brahman cal textbooks the chief duty of the pure sudra was to wait on the other three classes. He was to eat the  remnants of his masters food, wear his cast-off clothing, and use his old furniture (Bashm). Below the sudras was a group of people called the untouchables. Sometimes they were called the fifth class (pancama), but most historians rejected this term, since they believed that this class of people were so low that they were excluded from the Aryan social order altogether. The untouchables were also known as the candala. According to the ancient Indian law the Candals were to be dressed in the garments of the corpse they had cremated (candals cremated the dead), should eat their food from broken vessels, and should wear only iron ornaments (Bashm). The other three classes at that time were that of the brahmans, ksatriya and the vaisya. There was a sharp distinction between the higher three classes and the sudras. The former were twice born (dvija), once at their natural birth and again at their initiation, when they were invested with the sacred thread and received into the Aryan society (Bashm). This distinction was made on the basis of their varna, or skin color. This type of distinction became even more rigid after the fairer Aryans came into contact with the darker aborigines of India. The brahman was a great divinity in human form. His spiritual power was such that he could destroy the king and his army, if they attempted to infringe on his rights. In law he claimed great privileges, and in every respect he demanded precedence, honor and worship. Often the brahman lived under the patronage of a king, and was provided for by grants of tax-free land, farmed by peasants, who would pay their taxes to the brahman instead of to the king. They performed all the religious sacrifices for the kings and other higher classes for which they were paid and given gifts. No other caste besides the Brahmans could perform religious sacrifices. The brahmans were also considered to be the people between the gods and the mortals. At all times the brahmans supposedly led a truly religious life praying to god and learning the scriptures (Bashm). The second class was the ruling one, the members of which were in the Vedic  period called rajana, and later ksatriya. The theoretical duty of the ksatriya was protection, which included fighting in war and governing in peace. In earlier times he often claimed precedence over the brahman. The kings were considered to be ksatriyas and they could check the power of the Brahman, as the brahmans were supposed to check the power of the ksatriya (Bashm). The third class was that of the vaisya, or the mercantile class, though entitled to the services of the priesthood and to the sacred thread of initiation, but this class was poorer than the brahmans and the ksatriya. The vaisya was sometimes also symbolized as the downtrodden cultivator or a petty merchant who was interested in nothing else but his profit. To understand the functioning of the Indian caste system effectively and simply it will be best if we divide the features of the Hindu society into six major groups: Division in society and how the various castes functioned Castes were groups with well developed lives of their own, and individuals membership to his or her own caste was determined by his birth in that particular caste. The status of a person depended not on his wealth but on the traditional importance of the caste that he had the luck of being born into. Each of the castes was supposed to perform a set of activities and follow a set of rules. Often the set of activities and rules that were assigned to different castes were very different from one another. Each caste had its own panchayat or a governing body. Some of the offences that it dealt with, were : (a) eating, or drinking; (b) seduction of or adultery with a married women; (c) refusal to fulfill the promise of marriage; (d) refusing to send a wife to her husband when old enough; (e) non-payments of debts; (f) petty assaults; (g) insulting a brahman; (h) defying customs. The panchayat was also responsible for sentencing punishments. They also looked after the well being of the individuals of their own caste. Thus, each caste was in a way its own ruler. Hence the members of a caste ceased to be members of the community as a whole. The citizens owned moral allegiance to their caste first, rather than to the community as a whole Dennis, Hutton). Hierarchy As I have earlier mentioned in my paper before hierarchy was a major part of the ancient Indian society. The brahmans were certainly at the top of this hierarchical order followed by the ksatriya, the vaisya and then the sudras. This system of hierarchy was common almost all over India except for a few areas in the south where the artisan caste maintained a struggle for a higher place in the social order and disputed the supremacy of the brahmans (Dennis). Restrictions of Feeding and Social Intercourse There were numerous rules as to what sort of food and drink could be accepted by a person and from what caste. All food was divided into two classes: Kachcha and Pakka. The former was any food in the cooking of which water had been used; and the latter was food cooked in ghi or oil without the addition of water. As a rule, a man would never eat Kachcha food unless it was prepared by a fellow caste man, who in actual practice meant a member of his own endogamous group, or else prepared by his brahmin guru. But a brahmin could accept Kachcha food at the hands of no other caste. As for the Pakka food, a brahmin might take it from the hands of some other castes only. A man of higher caste would not accept Kachcha food from one of the lower. The idea of impurity or pollution was also a very important concept in ancient Indian society. A member of the upper cast could become impure just by the shadow of an untouchable or by his approaching within a certain distance of that member of the upper caste. No Hindu of decent caste would touch a chamar or a dom both of whom were members of the untouchable class. The members of a higher class often restricted the untouchables from using the same wells or the same rivers as theirs since they (untouchables) might pollute the water in the well or the river stream if they accidentally touched it with their hands. In certain areas the untouchables were not allowed to come out of their houses during dawn because their bodies cast too long shadows, which might defile a member of a higher class if it fell on him (Hutton, Dennis). Civil and Religious disabilities and Privileges of the different sections   Different areas in India had different ways of distinguishing between people of different classes. In north India impure castes were segregated and made to live on the outskirts of villages. In some parts of east India the lower castes were given some parts of the cities where they were allowed to live. In other parts of southern India the lower castes were given certain streets on which they could live and they were forbidden to enter certain streets because member of the higher classes lived on those. For example a paraiyan (a caste which came under the shudras) would not be allowed to enter a land or a village that was owned by a brahmin and even a Brahmin would not be allowed to pass through their street. If he happened to enter he would be greeted with cow-dung and water. Also, some of the lower castes were made to drag thorny branches with them to wipe out their footprints and lie at a distance prostrate on the ground if a brahmin passed by, so that the foul shadow might not defile the holy brahmin. Even the schools that were maintained at public cost were practically closed to such impure castes as the chamars and mahars (both of which belonged to the untouchables). The shanars and the izhavas were not allowed to build two story houses because their height might cast a shadow on other houses, bringing bad luck. Under some emperors there were distinctions made between the punishments that were given to a brahmin and a member of the lower caste. The brahmin enjoyed certain privileges that were not enjoyed by any other caste. For example a brahmin could accept gifts and food from a clean sudra. No caste could employ any other priests than the brahmins to perform sacrifices any other religious ceremonies. A brahmin never bowed before any one else, but required others to salute him. A brahmin only could promote a person to a higher caste. A brahmin was considered so important in some kingdoms that he was given special protection by the king (Hutton, Dennis, Bashm). Lack Of Choice of Occupation Generally a caste or a group considered some activities as their hereditary occupation which they thought were right for them and suited their status. Thus a brahmin thought that it was right for him to be a priest and a chamar thought that it was right for him to prepare shoes. This was also true of other occupations such as trading, laboring in  the fields and military service. Also, no caste let a member from the other caste take up their work. Preaching was especially reserved for the brahmins. A person who not brahmin born could not preach and would not be allowed to become a priest. The effect of these rules was that the priestly profession was entirely monopolized by the brahmins, leaving aside the people from the other classes (Hutton). Restrictions on Marriage Most of the groups, whose features I have attempted to characterize had a number of sub-groups, every one of which forbade its members to marry persons from outside their own caste. Each of these groups, popularly known as sub-castes, is thus endogamous. In some parts of India, however, the endogamy system was not that strict and a man from a higher caste was allowed to marry a girl from a lower caste. Except for some exceptional cases like the one mentioned above, inter-caste marriage was extremely limited and each group was expected to marry within their own caste or community. However, if this rule was ever broken, then expulsion from the membership of the group was generally the penalty, which the offending parties had to suffer. Generally expulsion from ones own community was a very major thing since he would not get admission into a higher caste and would have to become a member of a lower caste (Hutton, Dennis). After much discussion about the caste system in ancient India, I feel that I will not do justice to the topic unless I look at its influence in modern India. In the following I will talk about how the caste system works in modern India and how it affects the politics and the policies of modern India. I will conclude by giving my personal opinion on the caste system. The caste system in modern India has been deeply influenced by the mobility that was brought under the British rule; the movement to the cities for higher education and for employment. Lower castes were promoted by certain grants and concessions. The caste system became much less rigid during this time, and the artificial barriers that were set by the brahmans between various castes fell. In addition, all the non-Hindus like the Jains, Christians and Muslims were treated equally. Even the ideas of pollution and  untouchability specially weakened in the cities; even the villages experienced a certain amount of liberalization (Srinivas). However, all this change has been accompanied by a large involvement of caste in administration and policies. Election candidates stand from their castes rather than their respective political parties and get elected on the basis of their caste. Numerically, large castes have become important pressure groups in politics at the District and the State levels. For example a candidate from Maharashtra cannot hope to win elections if he does not allot special deals and packages to the marathas, brahmins, and the mahars (all of these castes are the numerically dominant caste in Maharashtra). The same is true for a candidate standing from Gujrat who will have to promote the interests of the banias, patidars and the kolis; and a candidate from Bihar who would have to promote the bhumihar, kayasth and the rajputs (Srinivas). Modern rural India has been divided into villages and each village has a village leader, who normally is fairly rich and is from a high caste. These village leaders play a very important role in the politics of modern India. Political leaders who stand for elections from their area normally need the help of the village leaders to get the votes of the people of that village and to win elections. In return these village heads can ask the political leaders for loans and grants for their village, which are normally not distributed evenly among the people of that village. Since the village leaders often belong to higher classes, they give most of these loans and grants to the people of the higher class and the people from the lower class get very little of this share. Thus, this results in the higher classes becoming richer and the lower classes becoming poorer. Even the political leaders do not bother to improve their condition till they keep getting their votes and keep winning the elec tions (Srinivas). I will divide my conclusion into two parts. In my first conclusion I will judge the caste system according to all the knowledge I have gained from reading books of various foreign scholars. For my second conclusion, I will talk about the caste system based on my experience and cultural insights. In my first conclusion, I would describe the Indian caste system as a necessary  evil. While it was essential to keep the different parts of the Indian society interconnected and together, I think the way it was followed and implemented was wrong. Every stable and developing society has a hierarchy system with a group of people at the top, some in the middle and then some at the bottom. However, I do not believe it correct for the lowest group to be ill treated and abused, as in the case of the sudras and the untouchables. I believe this where the Indian caste system went wrong. For my second conclusion I would like to propose an argument. We really do not have a lot of information on the caste system to make a judgment about it. Most of the information that we have so far is from 19th century colonialist historians who saw only its surface rigidities and made sweeping generalizations, (condemnatory for the most part), based on too little knowledge and even less experience. They probably did not see this sort of division, as parallel to anything they had in Europe so they could have misunderstood the whole concept altogether. Therefore I dont exactly know what to say about the caste system based on their readings, since we really do not have a lot of information on the caste system to be judgmental about it. Could it be possible that the ancient Indians were not really racists and as I have mentioned did not divide society on the basis of their color. Could it be that they divided their people on the basis of their profession and deeds? The truth of the matter probably lays in the fact that varna, like a lot of Sanskrit words, changed its meaning according to the context it is used in and can denote form, quality, class, category, race, merit or virtue. Whatever be the reality the truth is that the caste system is probably not as apparent in modern India as apparent as it was in the ancient India but I think that the influence that it is now having on Indias politics is disturbing.

Is Mass Media Harming our Society? Essay -- Media Dangers, Internet, TV

In today's society, mass media, including television, radio, and newspaper or magazines have become very dependable sources to so many people. People spend many hours everyday reading about celebrities in the tabloids, watching biased news channels, or participating in violent video games. Even though most media is highly entertaining, people have become so reliant on media that we seem to be harming our community in a very negative fashion. Mass media works as a socializing factor and affects the way we view the world and how we interact with other people. However, the messages that are seen in most of the magazines these days are negative images, especially for the youth of the world. For example, on the front page of popular magazines such as Teen and Cosmopolitan, are celebrities whom are extremely thin and suffer from eating disorders or celebrities who are abusing drugs and alcohol and getting away with it. Both of these situations are extremely popular topics, especially in high school and college, and there is no reason we should be advertising it on the front page of tablo...

Marriage, Divorce, and Military Families

Running head: Marriage, Divorce, and Military Families Marriage, Divorce, and Military Families Marriage is a conduit through which God's grace flows to the couple and their children. The church understands marriage between a man and woman to be a sacrament, a visible sign of the grace that God gives them to help them live their lives here and now so as to be able to join him in eternity. Marriage is social as well as religious, but its religious aspects are very important. The Bible repeatedly compares the relationship between man and wife to that between God and Israel or between Christ and his Church. For marriage is a holy vocation. Since the Church sees marriage as holy, it believes it must be treated with reverence. It also recognizes that marriage is basic to the health of society and therefore a public institution that must be defended against harm. Marriage is a public institution. Consequently, proposals that could harm the institution of marriage must be subjected to the same sort of objective analysis that we give any public policy question. Marriage is not just a private matter of emotion between two people. On the contrary, its success or failure has measurable impact on all of society. Rational analysis yields solid, objective reasons for limiting marriage to one man and one woman-reason anyone can agree with on purely secular grounds (Zinn, B. M. , D. Eitzen, S. , Wells, B. , 2008). However, one of the downsides to redefining marriage would be the weakening of the meaning of marriage, which would be divorces. Human nature being what it is, if the meaning of marriage is weakened, it will be psychologically easier for even more people to divorce. Look at what happened when â€Å"no-fault† divorce was legalized. The divorce rate skyrocketed. If the nature of marriage is further undermined in the minds of couples then when things get rocky, more couples will be tempted not to work through their problems and get happy again but rather to divorce and find someone else (Hogan,  P. ,  ,  R. ,  2010). That is a bad idea, because most marriage therapists agree that divorce generally â€Å"doesn't work. † Divorce doesn't solve the problems that caused the first marriage to break up. Divorced people bring the same problems to their new marriages that broke up their old ones. That's why second and later arriages are statistically far more likely to end in divorce than first marriages are. Also, a large majority of couples who contemplate divorce but stay together describe themselves as â€Å"happily married† five years later. So staying together â€Å"works† better than divorce. The Romans had an interesting view towards marriage – ‘matrimonia debent esse libera’ or ‘marriages ought to be free’. This meant that either spouse could opt out of the marriage if things weren’t working out for them. Centuries later, Victorian England had a vastly different view (Bouvier, 1856). People got married and stayed together for better or for worse. Society frowned on divorce and divorced people were likely to find themselves social pariahs. In the present century, both these views prevail. It depends on which part of the planet you live in and in what kind of culture. â€Å"Divorce rates are higher in European or American countries, where individual freedom is given higher stress, than in, say, Asian or African ones, where familial and social opinions cause higher stress. With globalization, of course, the ‘backward’ countries are catching up. Women, especially, with access to higher education and higher salaries, are less willing to put up with traditional roles and expectations† (Devine). Social and cultural moralists are having a field day, predicting, like always, dire consequences for the ‘social fabric’. No, divorce isn’t joy-inducing, but then neither is a corrosive marriage. In such a case, splitting up is preferable to staying together ‘for the children’ or to keep up social appearances. Anyway, it all really depends upon the kind of relationship you have. Some relationships are worth working on, some aren’t. There are many different and complex causes and reasons for divorce, each of them specific to that particular couple’s marital relationship, their individual experiences and personal problems. None of them may seem ‘common’ to the people going through a divorce, of course, but many of the reasons recur enough to warrant the term. These causes for divorce may vary from the lack of commitment to the marriage to the lack of communication between spouses; infidelity; abandonment; Physical, sexual, or even Substance Abuse, etc. Furthermore, it takes a very special person to stand and accept that the rest of their lives are devoted to something larger than themselves and their own little worlds. It takes an incredible commitment and an enduring love to withstand a life supporting someone else who may not be there by their beside on days when you are feeling blue, and who may not hold you in those times when the life around you is not so sweet. Now, marriage is hard enough, there are times when all husbands and wives question the sanity of a relationship that requires such hard work. Couples get through this by being together and keeping at it as a team. Sadly, many military relationships do not have this luxury of being together to keep things on track. This is when the military husband or wife just has to sort through â€Å"couple issues† alone (Rentz et al, 2007). Only the strongest committed individual can carry the weight of two in a relationship, and it takes a strong intimate trusting bond to make it at all possible. The military eases the lives of service members and their families in some very significant ways. Paychecks are regular. Benefits, such as healthcare and legal assistance, are unparalleled in the civilian world. And, in a time of economic uncertainty, the job security provided by the armed forces is a true blessing (Rentz et al, 2007). However, every positive aspect of military life is matched by at least one negative, especially for married service members and their families. Military and civilian marriages face the same marriage-stressors and marriage-killers, but the challenges faced by military marriages are both compounded and additional (Banner, 2008). Danielle Rentz and associates argues that the impact and stress of war may occur before, during, and after deployment and extend beyond the military soldier to include stress and emotional disturbance for his or her family. Anticipation of deployment can lead to feelings of anger, resentment, and hurt within the family. Separation during deployment may create the assumption of new family roles by the partner left behind, disruption of family routines, uncertainty about the service member’s safety, and the inability to plan for the future (Rentz et al, 2007). They base their discussion on the research and studies on the Effect of Deployment on the Occurrence of Child Maltreatment in Military. Betty Myers writes a testimony of her days married to a military man and unravels a story from past that lead to divorce. Her story is yet another cause for divorce within a military family. The stress of war and unknowing of what occurs to a spouse takes a toll on a marriage. This is a testimony of her personal experience and this will assist my paper for the causes of divorce (Myers, 1988). Bennington Banner analyzes the statistical data of military divorce rate in every branch of the Arm Forces. He states that the long and repeated deployments required of many troops have been widely blamed for unprecedented stresses on military couples. Spouses at home must manage families and households without their partner. He concluded that there were an estimated 10,200 failed marriages in the active duty Army and 3,077 among Marines, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press for the budget year ended Sept. 30. His data can help me prove the point that the numbers of divorce in the Arm Forces are staggering (Banner, 2008). Joseph Devine explains that military marriages undergo a very specific set of strains. They face the possibility of sudden moves to far-off locales, rapid deployments, and even premature death. He stated â€Å"when you're married to someone in the military, it's often like you're married to the military itself† (Devine). Your life revolves around what the military wants from you and your spouse, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. In summary, the ways in which each military marriage survives are all personal and unique to their own, but the emotional journey is one that can really be understood only by another military spouse (Hogan,  P. ,  ,  R. ,  2010). The one thing all military spouses have in common with each other is their ultimate pride in their husbands and wives, and to survive the journey as a military spouse, their shared pride of place alongside their incredible military husbands and wives. While military marriages are an entity of their own, the non-military couples could learn many things from them. The special goodbyes for instance are important. A military husband or wife knows the value of not leaving issues unresolved, and has learned the art of letting the silly things go (Hogan,  P. ,  ,  R. ,  2010). They do not have until the afternoon, or the next day or the day after that to get over it, they are too aware that tomorrow is unpredictable. A military marriage does not have the time to wallow in unimportant debate. The most important thing to them is to be sure to let the one they love know that they are appreciated. Petty unimportant arguments have a way of clouding the unconditional love that holds a marriage together. References Banner, B. Divorce rate up in Army, Marine Corps. (2008,  December  3). Retrieved February 3, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID:  1606239161). Bouvier, J. (1856). Matrimonia debent esse libera. (n. d. ) A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. Retrieved April 27 2010 from http://legal-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/Matrimonia+debent+esse+libera Devine, J. Divorce and the Military. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles. com/? Divorce- and-the-Military=3605202 Hogan,  P. ,  ,  R.. (2010). Marriage and the Military: Evidence That Those Who Serve Marry Earlier and Divorce Earlier. Armed Forces and Society,  36(3),  420. Retrieved May 4, 2010, from Career and Technical Education. (Document ID:  2002732321). Myers, B. (1988). Story Of A Thrown-Away Military Wife. Minerva,  VI(2),  77. Retrieved February 3, 2010, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID:  624746591). Rentz, E. D. ,  Marshall, W. S. ,  Loomis, D, Casteel, C. , Martin, S. L. ,   Gibbs, D. A. (2007). Effect of Deployment on the Occurrence of Child Maltreatment in Military and Nonmilitary Families. American Journal of Epidemiology,  165(10),  1199-206. Retrieved February 3, 2010, from ProQuest Health and Medical Complete. (Document ID:  1268687131). Zinn, B. M. , D. Eitzen, S. , Wells, B. , (2008). Divorce and Remarriage. (Ed. 8) Diversity of Families (pp. 393- 410). Prentice Hall

The Male Sex Is Portrayed As More Valuable Than Female Sex

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Men are physically and psychologically more aggressive than women which is why since the beginning of time males were the dominant sex. When it comes to physicality, men are generally stronger than women. According to AZ Central Magazine, males have approximately 40% muscle mass and women have approximately 30%. The magazine also states that most of the man’s muscle mass is distributed to the upper body while most of the woman’s muscle mass is in the lower body. This means that since the beginning of humanity, men were moreShow MoreRelatedHysteria, Not Only Oppressed Female Social Upliftment1566 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the 19th century, Hysteria, not only oppressed female social upliftment but it, led to a misconception of the sexual health of females. This misconception, as well as its unravelling was heavily influenced by the developments of Western medicine. 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