a. What is the caste system?

The word Caste comes from “chastity” or European rules of purity for their own three layer caste system. It’s not the same thing as the Hindu system. It is not sanctioned by the Vedas nor other Hindu texts and teachings, and is neither intrinsic to the practice of Hinduism nor did it span all of Hindu history. Hinduism has Varna (personality types, tendencies) and Jati (occupation), not Caste. 

The Varna system in Dharma-shastras classified society into four varnas (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra). Creating thriving ecosystems requires specialization and mutual dependence. Varna-Jati enabled that. A farmer’s son will inherit land and skills needed for farming. “Everyone is exactly the same” does not allow for either specialization or foster a healthy mutual dependence. 

Jati is simply explained when you see that a goldsmith’s son is also a goldsmith. Case in point, George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush shared a common profession. Over several generations you have a Jati. A Kennedy is naturally expected to be a politician. That’s Jati.

Over the millennia, what was to be a skills and aptitude based guild system was rigidified into a hereditary hierarchy. This distortion was a result of certain social practices and taboos gaining acceptance over time and countless foreign invasions.

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Other reading material: Short answers to real questions about Hinduism, HAF articles on Not Cast in Caste, Caste and Class in Colonial India, HAF on Caste, Original Varna Shastra in Sanatana Dharma Vs Today’s Caste System

Relevant videos: Swami Chinmayananda and Rajiv Malhotra, Rajiv Malhotra, Caste and Hinduism Explained, Living with Faith-Dilip Amin (8:30 min), The State vs Hindus, 

Contributor: Gaurav Rastogi