Hinduism & Caste System

Caste (varna): Brahmin = Priest Caste; Ksatriya = Rajanya/Ruler/Warrior Caste; Vaisya = Commoner Caste; Sudra = Servant/Slave Caste; and Avarna = Outcaste/Untouchable/Dalit/Candala/Dog-eater. There are also many subsets in each caste. Dvija = twice-born (twice-born = upper 3 castes or sometimes just Brahmin caste particularly). Some Hindus have a delusion that caste is not promoted by any of their holy books. Is that really so? Let’s find out:

“By his very birth a Brahmin is a deity even for the gods and the only authority for people in this world, for the Veda is the foundation in this matter.” — Manusmrti 11:85.

“People here whose behaviour is pleasant can expect to enter a pleasant womb, like that of a woman of the Brahmin, the Ksatriya, or the Vaisya caste. But people of foul behaviour can expect to enter the foul womb, like that of a dog, a pig, or an outcaste woman.” — Chandogya Upanisad 5:10:7.

“If a man of one birth (Sudra) hurls cruel words at one of the twice-born, his tongue should be cut out, for he was born from the rear-end. If he mentions their name or caste maliciously, a red-hot iron nail ten-fingers long should be thrust into his mouth. If he is so proud as to instruct priests about their duty, the king should have hot oil poured into his mouth and ears.” — Manusmrti 8:270-272.

“If a man of inferior caste tries to sit down on the same seat as a man of superior caste, he should be branded on the hip and banished, or have his buttocks cut off.” — Manusmrti 8:281.

“If in the process of negotiating betrothal there are first ten suitors of the non-Brahmana varna for a woman (the marriageable girl), all of them lose their claims of marriage and, only the Brahmin, the learned one, if he grasps her hand would be her husband and only he. Not even the man of Ksatriya varna and not even the man of Vaisya varna but only the Brahmin is the husband of the bride in such cases of claimants of betrothal, and the sun, as it appears, revealing this fact to the people of five classes (4 varnas and the fifth avarna) rises up.” — Atharva Veda 5:17:8-9.

“If someone born in a Ksatriya, Vaisya, or Sudra womb should be unable to pay his fine, he may absolve himself of the debt by labour; a Brahmin should pay little by little. The king should have women, children, madmen, and the old, the poor, and the ill chastised with a whip, a bamboo cane, a rope, and so forth.” — Manusmrti 9:229-230.

“The Sudra’s duty and supreme good is nothing but obedience to famous Brahmin householders who know the Veda. If he is unpolluted, obedient to his superiors, gentle in his speech, without a sense of ‘I’, and always dependent on the Brahmins and the other (twice-born castes), he attains a superior birth (in the next life).” — Manusmrti 9:334-335.

“…thereby the Ksatriya, whenever he likes, says, ‘Hello Vaisya, just bring to me what you have stored away!’ Thus he both subdues him and obtains possession of anything he wishes by dint of this very energy.” — Satapatha Brahmana 1:3:2:15.

“One-fourth of (the punishment for) Brahmin-killing is traditionally regarded as (the punishment) for the killing of a Ksatriya, one-eighth for (killing) a Vaisya, and it should be one-sixteenth for (killing) a Sudra who knows his place.” — Manusmrti 11:127.

“A Brahmin is a great deity whether or not he is learned, just as fire is a great deity whether or not it is brought to the altar. The purifying fire with its brilliant energy is not defiled even in cremation grounds, and when oblations of butter are placed in it at sacrifices it grows even greater. Thus Brahmins should be revered in every way, even if they engage in all kinds of undesirable actions, for this is the supreme deity. If the Ksatriyas become overbearing towards the Brahmins in any way, the Brahmins themselves should subdue them, for the Ksatriyas were born from the Brahmins.” — Manusmrti 9:317-320.

“A Ksatriya in adversity may also make a living by all of these (means); but he should never be so proud as to assume the livelihood of his betters. If a man of the lowest caste should, through greed, make his living by the innate activities of his superiors, the king should confiscate his wealth and banish him immediately. One’s own duty, (even) without any good qualities, is better than someone else’s duty well done; for a man who makes his living by someone else’s duty immediately falls from (his own) caste.” — Manusmrti 10:95-97.

“With whatever limb an inferior insults or hurts his superior in caste, of that limb the king shall cause him to be deprived. If he places himself on the same seat with his superior, he shall be banished with a mark on his buttocks. If he spits on him, he shall lose both lips; If he breaks wind against him, his hindparts; If he uses abusive language, his tongue. If a (lowborn) man through pride gives instruction (to a member of the highest caste) concerning his duty, let the king order hot oil to be dropped into his mouth. If a (low-born man) mentions the name or caste of a superior revilingly, an iron pin, ten inches long, shall be thrust into his mouth (red hot).” — Visnusmrti 5:19-25.

“His (Purusa’s) mouth became the Brahmin; his arms were made into the Ksatriya, his thighs the Vaisya, and from his feet the Sudra was born.” — Rig Veda 10:90:12.

In comparison, Sudras are as low as feet & Outcastes (avarna) are even below that status of course.

 

NO WONDER DALITS LOOK FOR RESPECT

HINDUISM’S TREATMENT OF OUTCASTES (AVARNA)

“Candalas must live out of the town, and their clothes must be the mantles of the deceased.” — Visnusmrti 16:14.

“These (castes) should live near mounds, trees, and cremation-grounds, in mountains and in groves, recognizable and making a living by their own innate activities. But the dwellings of ‘Fierce’ Untouchables (candala) and ‘Dog-cookers’ (svapaca) should be outside the village; they must use discarded bowls, and dogs and donkeys should be their wealth. Their clothing should be the clothes of the dead, and their food should be in broken dishes; their ornaments should be made of black iron, and they should wander constantly. A man who carries out his duties should not seek contact with them; they should do business with one another and marry with those who are like them. Their food, dependent upon others, should be given to them in a broken dish, and they should not walk about in villages and cities at night.” — Manusmrti 10:50-54.

“If one who (being a member of the Candala or some other outcaste) must not be touched, intentionally defiles by his touch one who (as a member of a twice-born caste) may be touched (by other twice-born persons only), he (or she) shall be put to death. If a woman in her courses (touches such a person), she shall be lashed with a whip.” — Visnusmrti 5:104-5.

 

CASTE IN THE GITA
There is ample justification in the Gita alone to maintain caste divisions & oppressions; here are Lord Krsna’s words:

“It is far better to perform one’s svadharma (prescribed duties), even though faultily, than another’s duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one’s own duty is better than engaging in another’s duties, for to follow another’s path is dangerous.” — Bhagavad-Gita 3:35.

“According to the three modes of material nature (goodness, passion, ignorance) and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society (Brahmin/Ksatriya/Vaisya/Sudra) are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable.” — Bhagavad-Gita 4:13.

“It is better to engage in one’s own svadharma (occupation), even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to one’s nature are never affected by sinful reactions.” — Bhagavad-Gita 18:47.

Lord Rama (who, like Lord Krsna, is an Avatar of Lord Visnu) would be in complete accord with the above quotes; afterall, he killed an innocent Sudra, Sambuka, only because he was performing austerities which were not prescribed duties for low-castes (ref. Ramayana 7:88-89).

 

LORD SIVA CONDEMNED FOR ALLOWING A LOW-CASTE (A SUDRA) TO READ VEDAS
Women & Sudras (& outcastes) are not allowed to study the Vedas; this is one reason this “God” Siva is denounced for allowing a Sudra the Vedic teachings. Daksa’s curse is as follows:

“The Brahmins will not sacrifice to you along with the other gods, for Siva has defiled the path followed by good men; he is impure, an abolisher of rites and demolisher of barriers, [who gives] the word of the Vedas to a Sudra. He wanders like a madman, naked, laughing, the lord of ghosts, evil-hearted. Let Siva, the lowest of the gods, obtain no share with Indra and Visnu at the sacrifice; let all the followers of Siva be heretics, opponents of the true scriptures, following the heresy whose god is the king of ghosts.” — Brahma Purana 2:13:70-73; Garuda Purana 6:19; Bhagavata Purana 4:2:10-32.

HINDU GODS DO NOT COMMUNE WITH LOW-CASTES
In Hinduism, it is understood that women cannot sacrifice or conduct official yajnas (nor become priests of course) because a male relative is required. However, the unfortunate news is that Hindu Gods do not talk to those detested things called ‘low-castes’ either:

“Now the gods do not commune with everyone, but only with a Brahmin, or a Rajanya (Ksatriya), or a Vaisya; for these are able to sacrifice. Should there be occasion for him to converse with a Sudra, let him say to one of those, ‘Tell this one so and so! Tell this one so and so!’ This is the rule of conduct for the consecrated in such a case.” — Satapatha Brahmana 3:1:1:10.

Low-castes do not need to despair; Hindu scriptures are utterly ruthless in degrading almost anyone who is Hindu (mortal or divine). Perhaps Brahmins are the exception to the rule though (not women of Brahmins however).

LOW-CASTE WIVES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SERVE THE GUESTS
According to the timeless Visnusmrti, only the twice-born caste wives (Brahmin wives, Ksatriya wives & Vaisya wives) of a twice-born man, but not the Sudra wife, are allowed to serve the guests during the sacrifice. He (and she) will be barred from entering heaven if he permits a low caste wife to offer such hospitalities:

“A union of a twice-born man with a Sudra wife can never produce religious merit; it is from carnal desire only that he marries her, being blinded by lust. Men of the three first castes, who through folly marry a woman of the lowest caste, quickly degrade their families and progeny to the state of Sudras. If his oblations to the gods and manes and (his hospitable attentions) to guests are offered principally through her (a Sudra wife’s) hands, the gods and manes (and the guests) will not eat such offerings, and he will not go to heaven.” — Visnusmrti 26:5-7.

 

Women are mere objects in our hinduism because

HINDUISM SAYS WOMEN ARE LIKE WHORES BY NATURE

Hinduism’s holy dharmasastra teaches that women are like whores and sluts by nature like the bimbo goddess Indrani (ref. RigVeda 10:86:6.):

“Good looks do not matter to them, nor do they care about youth; ‘A man!’ they say, and enjoy sex with him, whether he is good-looking or ugly. By running after men like whores, by their fickle minds, and by their natural lack of affection these women are unfaithful to their husbands even when they are zealously guarded here. Knowing that their very own nature is like this, as it was born at the creation by the Lord of Creatures (Prajapati), a man should make the utmost effort to guard them. The bed and the seat, jewellery, lust, anger, crookedness, a malicious nature, and bad conduct are what Manu assigned to women. There is no ritual with Vedic verses for women; this is a firmly established point of law. For women, who have no virile strength, and no Vedic verses, are falsehood; this is well established.” — Manusmrti 9:14-18.

 

ORIGIN OF HOLY SHIV LINGA
Lord Siva seduces the Pine Forest sages’ wives and is cursed for this immoral behavior. Origin of the holy Linga which is commonly worshipped in Hindu temples:

“When the sages saw Siva naked and excited they beat him and they said, ‘Tear out your linga.’ The great yogi said to them, ‘I will do it, if you hate my linga’, and he tore it out and vanished.” — Kurma Purana 2:38:39-41; cf. Haracaritacintamani 10:74; Yagisvaramahatmya 26a. 14.

In another version, the sages in the forest quote the legal texts regarding the penalty for seducing a guru’s wife when they punish Siva:

“You false ascetic, let your (Siva’s) linga fall to earth here. A shameless and evil man who has seduced another man’s wife should be castrated; there is no other punishment ever. A man who has seduced his guru’s wife should cut off the linga and testicles himself and hold them in his hands and walk until he dies.” — Siva Purana, Dharmasamhita 10:187-90; cf. B. K. Sarkar, pp.234-5.

 

MORE ON ORIGIN OF HOLY SHIV LINGA
Here is another origin of the holy Linga:

“… He (Siva) agreed to this and laughed, for he was secretly amused, and he said to Brahma, ‘There is no good use for this linga except for the creation of progeny.’ And as he said this he broke it off and threw it upon the surface of the earth. The linga broke through the earth down to the subterranean hell and went to the very sky. Visnu sought the end of it below, and Brahma flew upwards, but they did not find the end of it, for all their vital effort. Then a voice arose out of the sky as the two of them sat there, and it said, ‘If the linga of the god with braided hair is worshipped, it will certainly grant all desires that are longed for in the heart.’ When Brahma and Visnu heard this, they and all the divinities worshipped the linga with devotion, with their hearts set upon Rudra (Siva).” — Siva Purana, Dharmasamhita 49:23b-46, 74-86.

 
To all who oppose hinduism on ground that we donot have concept of sin.
We may not have a concept of sin but cursing for doing wrong with fault or without has been in our scriptures for long. Just look at this example and see for yourselves why children get re-birth to same parents.

FAMILIES OF HINDU GODS

“When the gods interrupted Siva and Parvati, two sons were born of drops of Siva’s seed. These sons were then posted at the door to prevent further interruptions while Siva made love to Parvati, having promised the gods that he would not spill his seed in her. One day Parvati came out of the bedroom in great dishabille, half naked, her breasts scored with teeth marks. The two sons chanced to see her like that, and they were upset, but Parvati became angry and said, ‘Why have you looked at me when I was not in a state to be seen by anyone but my husband? You should have closed your eyes. Since you have done this immoral thing, you will be reborn as mortal men with the faces of monkeys.’ Then they were miserable and protested that it was her fault for having come out so suddenly, and they cursed her to become a mortal queen (Taravati) and Siva to be her husband (Candrasekhara) so that they themselves might be born again as their sons, Vetala and Bhairava.” — Siva Purana 3:21:1-8; Kalika Purana 49:1-92, 50:1-64, 51:1-60, 52:1-155, 53:1-217.

18 thoughts on “Hinduism & Caste System

  1. sab jan (people) janmein eik beej (seed) se, sabki mitti ek.
    mann mein duvidha padd gai ho gaye roop aaneik..

    unche kul ( high caste) ke karan tu duniya bhul raha hai.
    jab tan (body) mitti ho jaye tab kul ka hoga kya..

    kehat kabir na garav ( proud) kar na kisi ki hasi uda.
    abhi teri bhi naiya (boat) samudra ( sea) mein jane ke ho jaye..

    jo tu sacha baniya sabse ek sa bol.
    unch neech ka bhedh ( discrimination) chod ek barabar tol..

  2. All Hindu communities in the country follow the varnashram system of Aryans and have divided the society in four castes – Kshatryas, Brahmins, Vaishyas and Shudras. Sindhis do not have such division in their society. They never followed a rigid caste system. That is why Sindhis are considered to be only businessmen. All members of the society inter-mingle with one another without any consideration of four castes of Aryans. There are no untouchables in Sindhis…..These religion and caste set up by mad and stupid people to control others not by god…who are still mentally sick they are following this castesim blindly..i must say be like all sindhi..leave these castesim and make only one hindu religion like sindhi religion dont create any caste,community and class…bcs its only give you tension and create problems for your own self..

  3. who divided society into caste line……only stupid and mentally sick hindu..first change your thinking that all people as a human being so the system ll be change itself understood..be like sindhi religion, make one religion and killed the bloody varan system n caste system…you ll b more happiest person in this world if you all mad hindu change ur narrow minded thinking about these caste n class…Because “I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being–neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there’s no question of integration or intermarriage. It’s just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living around and with another human being.”

  4. God doesn’t need Brahmin priest, god isn’t so narrow minded. god accept everyone. actually Brahmin priest needs god to make money.

    You cannot put people in high and low rank the basis of religious belief and caste. But those people do this who has a problem in their mind.

  5. The brahmin community has been one of the dirty communities which has planned strategically to fool people in the name of god by generating the highest donations in the temple, doing business to fool and loot money in the name of puja, death, marriage, new home… For any occasion, there’s one puja. They charge very high prices and take away all the items after the puja. They have created prostitution in the name of devadasis. They suppress jobs and employment and welfare and equality are destroyed. they have destroyed the Indian medical system. They have killed Indian medical science like siddha vaidhyam and created ayurveda and carnatic music by destroying dravidian music. Even today they have the temples under their control. They say they don’t like untouchables, but they have always been sexually harassing low caste women.

  6. All human-beings are equal in the eyes of God.The human-beings have only created the caste system.There are good and bad people in both high caste as well as low caste.Ultimately,what matters to God is, whether one is a good person or striving to become one, or not.

    One who thinks himself to be of a high caste is actually low. While one who thinks himself/herself to be of low caste is said to be high caste.As per the scriptures, people are known by their nature and the quality of work they perform..

  7. Whole world think that India has many castes which are main reason of discrimination of people but its very very big misconception of caste system spread around the world to defame culture of India because it was the biggest systematically designed system for people from thousands of years. Now let me tell you what is meaning of varna and caste system in India and how its was started. In Ancient India there were two great saints, one was saint Bhrigu and other was saint Bhardwaj. They met to discuss how to structure a stable society for human being to live proper life, First they recognized the four sources which are: 1. Knowledge 2. Weapons 3. Wealth 4. Land

    They decided to make system where nobody has more than one of that. These should not be in one hand, not even two should be in one hand. So those who has knowledge will not have wealth, will not have weapons and will not have lands. Those who will have weapons will rule the country but they will not make policy. They need to go to people having knowledge to seek their permission and advice. Those who are having wealth, their social status will be decided by the how much philanthropy they do not by their wealth. Those who has lands have to produce for the society. In fact none of these four category or “varna” was based on by birth.

  8. Hindu (body) four community: brahmin (head) kshatriya (arm) vaishya (belly) shudra (feet) All these four community called as hindu. We all are parts of one body. Without each part our body is not complete. If we lost one part of our body then we become handicap. The human body is the entire structure of a human being. Human Body is considered so loving that God even wants to have it. Spiritual Yogis have found that after going through the 84 millions species this souls get the most dignified human body. So it is the last step to explore the God or to get the view of almighty father god. We know that the soul never dies it takes birth again and again just like as we take new clothes to wear the soul as it takes new body and it is an infinite process. But the body what we get in next birth depend on our karma that thas been cited in Gita by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. We all here to perform our duties. Our action makes our destiny and nothing else. The result is in the hand of supreme power. Karma is the seed of plant and if the seed is genuine it must be fruitful.

  9. Many a time, man has taken birth in high caste and low caste; but this does not make him great or lowHaving been born in high caste man thinks himself to be great and being born in low caste thinks himself to be low and pitiable; both of these states of mind are wrong because many times man has been born in high and low castes. Hence, one should not be proud of having been born in high caste and not feel low if born in low caste family.
    Greatness has nothing to do with high caste. Man becomes great because of his noble work, exemplary character and becomes loathsome because of his immorality and evil conduct. Thus, it is his conduct only that decides his greatness or lowliness. Who does not know that high family born Ravana, Kansa, Duryodhana and others are censurable; whereas Metarya muni, Harikeshi muni and others, though born in low family, are venerable.Then, what is the importance of high or low caste?

  10. We always talk about religion and castesim but in reality there is no any caste and religion. We all are same our blood are same.then why we believe in discrimination. God never created any caste they made simple human being.. Mentally sick people take the path of fundamentalism and spread casteism and communism. They suffer from inferiority complex and divide the society into “we” and “they”. They (belonging either to higher or lower ranked caste) have a fear in their heart that if they do not get a higher place for themselves in society, “other” people are going to exploit them and going to put them down.They don’t have believe on themselves and their own work. They have doubt own their capability. People with negative mindset suffer from inferiority complex and divide society into compartments like higher castes or lower castes.and can’t tolerate “others” progress or well-being. They cannot work hard and cannot tolerate anybody else’s achievements. These are the people with negative mindset who believe in ranking some belonging to higher castes and/or some to lower castes. They are coward and they are unable to protect themselves…

  11. Inter caste marriage should be encourage..bcoz if people take this step then castesim and religion based discrimination should be stop itself..we all are human being..God never created any caste and religion..even God dnt has any caste and religion…did you know that God belong to which caste and religion..then keep shut your mouth about this stupid varan system and caste system okh.. In ancient times, caste system had the seeds of liberalism. It provided the right and opportunity to get to the top from the humblest origin and earn the respect of the whole society. For example, Vashishtha, the principal of the conservative school of Brahmanism, was the son of Uravshi, a prostitute. Vishwamitra, the maker of the very Gayatri Mantra, the quintessence of the Vedic Brahmanism, was a Kshatriya. Aitreya, after whom the sacramental part of Rig-Veda is named as Aitreya Brahamana, was the son from a non-Aryan wife of a Brahman sage. Vyasa of Mahabharata fame was the son of a fish-woman and he was not ashamed of his origin. Balmiki, an untouchable according to present standards, the original author of Ramayana, is highly respected all over India..And only you can make it good or bad this inter caste marriage. Depends upon how much importance u give to these meaningless and stupid values. And how much importance u give to other people who value these meaningless things. U have to see how much u urself r attached to other people opinions. And since u r asking for opinion, it means u r attached to these meaningless things.

  12. What steps can be taken to convince the people to accept the inter-caste marriages trend?
    It is the responsibility of the younger generation to make their elders realize that the rigid caste system is morbid and has a dark future ahead. The youngsters can take various steps on their part to demolish this system:

    • The girl or boy should be introduced as a friend to the family and be allowed to earn their love and respect
    • The qualities of the person you love should be highlighted in front of the family members
    • Try and learn the customs of each other’s caste. This will enable you to earn the love of the family members
    • Try and show your family members how this kind of systems are obstructing the progress of the nation

  13. My this comment to katar hindu and coward brahmin who haven’t gut to fight for their own love but strange thing is they easily fell in love with other caste girls but dont have got for fight back..

    What you are doing now is not fair.You are not giving any importance to your gal’s feelings.How can you avoid a gal whom you loved for past 4 years at this stage of your life where you need to take serious decisions?If you lack the courage to introduce the matter before your parents,then i can say you are a coward.If you are that much concerned about your parents,you could have think it earlier before you started your love.At least that gal is saved from you.But you gave her all hope,she loved you sincerly as her man and now you want your parents only.

    I am not making you sad.I know that parents are important and they are like God.But this is not at a good solution.You are keeping things hidden from everyone.You are the only son of your parents – that means their only asset for future.So cant they understand your feelings towards that gal?Initially they may be against.But you can convince them slowly.How can you close your true affair even without a single try?Go man,get ready to take some risk for your loved one.Pls dont ignore her.Its like killing her.She made her family ready for you,its your turn now.I hope things will be fine at last.

  14. Some stupid people living in India that’s why this country cant be develop anymore as the other countries are well developed. Bcoz indian people live in caste-ism and egoist by nature especially who belong to upper class which is created by themselves not created by God.God only created human being..He didnt put any human in high and low category..This cheap things only created by some mad people itself who live in India..and they be proud by called themselves hindu..I am also hindu but I feel bad when every person who proudly said they are hindu but their thinking is so narrow minded..now its depend on human what they want to become Devil or Angel..Nobody is lower and higher by caste or religion..they become high and low by their behavior..Reservation should be stop itself when you all leave this stupid casteism..Say no caste and no community..All are hindu who live in hindustaan understood..

  15. Be a nice human being is important not to have a good or high religion and caste.We need to work towards uniting the nation instead of splitting it. Work towards a society in which there will be no lower castes and no upper castes. We need to respect the way people live instead of looking at where they were born.

  16. “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

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