September 28th, 2015
Indian society is divided into classes called castes. This division occurred many thousands of years ago and continues to this day. Hindus believe that by following the rules established in your caste, in your next life you can be born as a representative of a slightly higher and more respected caste, and occupy a much better position in society.
Having left the Indus Valley, the Indian Aryans conquered the country along the Ganges and founded many states here, whose population consisted of two classes that differed in legal and financial status. The new Aryan settlers, the victors, seized land, honor, and power in India, and the defeated non-Indo-European natives were plunged into contempt and humiliation, forced into slavery or into a dependent state, or, driven into the forests and mountains, they lived there in inaction thoughts of a meager life without any culture. This result of the Aryan conquest gave rise to the origin of the four main Indian castes (varnas).
Those original inhabitants of India who were subdued by the power of the sword suffered the fate of captives and became mere slaves. The Indians, who submitted voluntarily, renounced their father's gods, adopted the language, laws and customs of the victors, retained personal freedom, but lost all land property and had to live as workers on the estates of the Aryans, servants and porters, in the houses of rich people. From them came the Shudra caste. "Sudra" is not a Sanskrit word. Before becoming the name of one of the Indian castes, it was probably the name of some people. The Aryans considered it beneath their dignity to enter into marriage unions with representatives of the Shudra caste. Shudra women were only concubines among the Aryans.
Over time, sharp differences in status and professions emerged between the Aryan conquerors of India themselves. But in relation to the lower caste - the dark-skinned, subjugated native population - they all remained a privileged class. Only the Aryans had the right to read the sacred books; only they were consecrated by a solemn ceremony: a sacred thread was placed on the Aryan, making him “reborn” (or “twice-born”, dvija). This ritual served as a symbolic distinction between all Aryans and the Shudra caste and the despised native tribes driven into the forests. Consecration was performed by placing a cord, which was worn placed on the right shoulder and descending diagonally across the chest. Among the Brahmin caste, the cord could be placed on a boy from 8 to 15 years old, and it is made of cotton yarn; among the Kshatriya caste, who received it no earlier than the 11th year, it was made from kusha (Indian spinning plant), and among the Vaishya caste, who received it no earlier than the 12th year, it was made of wool.
The "twice-born" Aryans, over time, were divided according to differences in occupation and origin into three estates or castes, which have some similarities with the three estates medieval Europe: clergy, nobility and urban middle class. The beginnings of the caste system among the Aryans existed back in the days when they lived only in the Indus basin: there, from the mass of the agricultural and pastoral population, warlike princes of the tribes, surrounded by people skilled in military affairs, as well as priests who performed sacrificial rites, already stood out.
When the Aryan tribes moved further into India, into the country of the Ganges, militant energy increased in bloody wars with the exterminated natives, and then in a fierce struggle between the Aryan tribes. Until the conquests were completed, the entire people were busy with military affairs. Only when the peaceful possession of the conquered country began did it become possible for a variety of occupations to develop, the possibility of choosing between different professions, and came new stage origin of castes. The fertility of the Indian soil aroused the desire for peaceful means of subsistence. From this, the innate tendency of the Aryans quickly developed, according to which it was more pleasant for them to work quietly and enjoy the fruits of their labor than to make difficult military efforts. Therefore, a significant part of the settlers (“vishes”) turned to agriculture, which produced abundant harvests, leaving the fight against enemies and the protection of the country to the tribal princes and the military nobility formed during the period of conquest. This class, engaged in arable farming and partly shepherding, soon grew so that among the Aryans, as in Western Europe, it formed the vast majority of the population. Therefore, the name Vaishya “settler”, which originally designated all Aryan inhabitants in new areas, began to designate only people of the third, working Indian caste, and warriors, kshatriyas and priests, brahmans (“prayers”), who over time became privileged classes, made the names of their professions with the names of the two highest castes.
The four Indian classes listed above became completely closed castes (varnas) only when Brahmanism rose above the ancient service to Indra and other gods of nature - a new religious doctrine about Brahma, the soul of the universe, the source of life from which all beings originated and to which they will return. This reformed creed gave religious sanctity to the division of the Indian nation into castes, especially the priestly caste. It said that in the cycle of life forms passed through by everything existing on earth, Brahman is the most highest form being. According to the dogma of rebirth and transmigration of souls, a creature born in human form must go through all four castes in turn: to be a Shudra, a Vaishya, a Kshatriya and, finally, a Brahman; having passed through these forms of existence, it is reunited with Brahma. The only way to achieve this goal is for a person, constantly striving for deity, to exactly fulfill everything commanded by the brahmanas, to honor them, to please them with gifts and signs of respect. Offenses against Brahmanas, severely punished on earth, subject the wicked to the most terrible torments of hell and rebirth in the forms of despised animals.
The belief in the dependence of the future life on the present was the main support of the Indian caste division and the rule of the priests. The more decisively the Brahman clergy placed the dogma of transmigration of souls at the center of all moral teaching, the more successfully it filled the imagination of the people with terrible pictures of hellish torment, the more honor and influence it acquired. Representatives of the highest caste of Brahmins are close to the gods; they know the path leading to Brahma; their prayers, sacrifices, holy feats of their asceticism have magical power over the gods, the gods have to fulfill their will; bliss and suffering in the future life depend on them. It is not surprising that with the development of religiosity among the Indians, the power of the Brahman caste increased, tirelessly praising in its holy teachings respect and generosity towards the Brahmans as the surest ways to obtain bliss, instilling in the kings that the ruler is obliged to have Brahmans as his advisers and make judges, is obliged to reward their service with rich content and pious gifts.
So that the lower Indian castes did not envy the privileged position of the Brahmans and did not encroach on it, the doctrine was developed and strenuously preached that the forms of life for all beings are predetermined by Brahma, and that the progression through the degrees of human rebirth is accomplished only by a calm, peaceful life in the given position of man, the right one. performance of duties. Thus, in one of the oldest parts of the Mahabharata it is said: “When Brahma created beings, he gave them their occupations, each caste a special activity: for the brahmanas - the study of the high Vedas, for the warriors - heroism, for the vaishyas - the art of labor, for the shudras - humility before other flowers: therefore ignorant Brahmanas, unglorious warriors, unskillful Vaishyas and disobedient Shudras are worthy of blame.”
This dogma, which attributed divine origin to every caste, every profession, consoled the humiliated and despised in the insults and deprivations of their present life with the hope of an improvement in their lot in a future existence. He gave religious sanctification to the Indian caste hierarchy. The division of people into four classes, unequal in their rights, was from this point of view an eternal, unchangeable law, the violation of which is the most criminal sin. People do not have the right to overthrow the caste barriers established between them by God himself; They can achieve improvement in their fate only through patient submission.
The mutual relations between the Indian castes were clearly characterized by the teaching; that Brahma produced the Brahmanas from his mouth (or the first man Purusha), the Kshatriyas from his hands, the Vaishyas from his thighs, the Shudras from his feet stained in mud, therefore the essence of nature for the Brahmanas is “holiness and wisdom”, for the Kshatriyas it is “power and strength”, among the Vaishyas - “wealth and profit”, among the Shudras - “service and obedience”. The doctrine of the origin of castes from different parts of the highest being is set forth in one of the hymns of the last, most recent book of the Rig Veda. There are no concepts of caste in the older songs of the Rig Veda. Brahmins attach extreme importance to this hymn, and every true believer Brahmin recites it every morning after bathing. This hymn is the diploma with which the Brahmins legitimized their privileges, their dominion.
Thus, the Indian people were led by their history, their inclinations and customs to fall under the yoke of the caste hierarchy, which turned classes and professions into tribes alien to each other, drowning out all human aspirations, all the inclinations of humanity.
Main characteristics of castes
Each Indian caste has its own characteristics and unique characteristics, rules of existence and behavior.
Brahmins are the highest caste
Brahmins in India are priests and priests in temples. Their position in society has always been considered the highest, even higher than the position of ruler. Currently, representatives of the Brahmin caste are also involved in the spiritual development of the people: they teach various practices, look after temples, and work as teachers.
Brahmins have a lot of prohibitions:
Men are not allowed to work in the fields or do any manual labor, but women can do various household chores.
A representative of the priestly caste can only marry someone like himself, but as an exception, a wedding with a Brahman from another community is allowed.
A Brahmana cannot eat what a person of another caste has prepared; a Brahmana would rather starve than eat forbidden food. But he can feed a representative of absolutely any caste.
Some brahmanas are not allowed to eat meat.
Kshatriyas - warrior caste
Representatives of the Kshatriyas always performed the duties of soldiers, guards and policemen.
Currently, nothing has changed - kshatriyas are engaged in military affairs or go to administrative work. They can marry not only in their own caste: a man can marry a girl from a lower caste, but a woman is prohibited from marrying a man from a lower caste. Kshatriyas can eat animal products, but they also avoid forbidden foods.
Vaishya
Vaishyas have always been the working class: they farmed, raised livestock, and traded.
Now representatives of the Vaishyas are engaged in economic and financial affairs, various trades, and the banking sector. Probably, this caste is the most scrupulous in matters related to food intake: vaishyas, like no one else, monitor the correct preparation of food and will never eat contaminated dishes.
Shudras - the lowest caste
The Shudra caste has always existed in the role of peasants or even slaves: they did the dirtiest and hardest work. Even in our time, this social stratum is the poorest and often lives below the poverty line. Shudras can marry even divorced women.
The Untouchables
The untouchable caste stands out separately: such people are excluded from all social relations. They do the dirtiest work: cleaning streets and toilets, burning dead animals, tanning leather.
Amazingly, representatives of this caste were not even allowed to step on the shadows of representatives of higher classes. And only very recently they were allowed to enter churches and approach people of other classes.
Unique Features of Castes
Having a brahmana in your neighborhood, you can give him a lot of gifts, but you shouldn’t expect anything in return. Brahmins never give gifts: they accept, but do not give.
In terms of land ownership, Shudras can be even more influential than Vaishyas.
Shudras of the lower stratum practically do not use money: they are paid for their work with food and household supplies. It is possible to move to a lower caste, but it is impossible to get a caste of a higher rank.
Castes and modernity
Today, Indian castes have become even more structured, with many different subgroups called jatis.
During the last census of representatives of various castes, there were more than 3 thousand jatis. True, this census took place more than 80 years ago.
Many foreigners consider the caste system to be a relic of the past and believe that the caste system no longer works in modern India. In fact, everything is completely different. Even the Indian government could not come to a consensus regarding this stratification of society. Politicians actively work on dividing society into layers during elections, adding protection of the rights of a particular caste to their election promises.
In modern India, more than 20 percent of the population belongs to the untouchable caste: they have to live in their own separate ghettos or below the line settlement. Such people are not allowed to enter stores, government and medical institutions, or even use public transport.
The untouchable caste has a completely unique subgroup: society’s attitude towards it is quite contradictory. These include homosexuals, transvestites and eunuchs who make their living through prostitution and asking tourists for coins. But what a paradox: the presence of such a person at the holiday is considered a very good sign.
Another amazing podcast of the untouchables is Pariah. These are people completely expelled from society - marginalized. Previously, one could become a pariah even by touching such a person, but now the situation has changed a little: one becomes a pariah either by being born from an intercaste marriage, or from pariah parents.
The untouchable caste in India is a phenomenon that cannot be found in any other country in the world. Originating in ancient times, the caste division of society exists in the country to this day. The lowest level in the hierarchy is occupied by the untouchable caste, which includes 16-17% of the country's population. Its representatives constitute the “bottom” of Indian society. Caste structure is a complex issue, but let’s try to shed light on some of its aspects.
Caste structure of Indian society
Despite the difficulty of reconstructing a complete structural picture of castes in the distant past, it is still possible to identify historical groups in India. There are five of them.
The highest group (varna) of brahmanas includes civil servants, large and small landowners, and priests.
Next comes the Kshatriya varna, which included the military and agricultural castes - Rajaputs, Jats, Marathas, Kunbis, Reddis, Kapus, etc. Some of them form a feudal stratum, the representatives of which later join the lower and middle ranks of the feudal class.
The next two groups (vaishyas and sudras) include the middle and lower castes of farmers, officials, artisans, and community servants.
And finally, the fifth group. It includes the castes of community servants and farmers, deprived of all rights to own and use land. They are called untouchables.
“India”, “untouchable caste” are concepts inextricably linked with each other in the minds of the world community. Meanwhile, in a country with ancient culture continue to honor the customs and traditions of their ancestors in dividing people according to their origin and belonging to a caste.
The history of the untouchables
The lowest caste in India - the untouchables - owes its appearance to historical process, which took place in the Middle Ages in the region. At that time, India was conquered by stronger and more civilized tribes. Naturally, the invaders came to the country with the aim of enslaving its indigenous population, preparing them to play the role of servants.
To isolate the Indians, they were settled in special settlements built separately, similar to modern ghettos. Civilized outsiders did not allow the natives into their community.
It is assumed that it was the descendants of these tribes who subsequently formed the untouchable caste. It included farmers and servants of the community.
True, today the word “untouchables” has been replaced by another - “Dalits”, which means “oppressed”. It is believed that "untouchables" sounds offensive.
Since Indians often use the word "jati" rather than "caste", their number is difficult to determine. But still, Dalits can be divided by occupation and place of residence.
How do untouchables live?
The most common Dalit castes are Chamars (tanners), Dhobis (washerwomen) and Pariahs. If the first two castes have some kind of profession, then the pariahs live only on unskilled labor - removing household waste, cleaning and washing toilets.
Hard and dirty work is the fate of the untouchables. The lack of any qualifications brings them a meager income, allowing only
However, among the untouchables there are groups that are at the top of the caste, such as the hijras.
These are representatives of all kinds of sexual minorities who engage in prostitution and begging. They are also often invited to all kinds of religious rituals, weddings, and birthdays. Of course, this group has much more to live on than the untouchable tanner or laundress.
But such an existence could not but cause protest among the Dalits.
Protest struggle of the untouchables
Surprisingly, the untouchables did not resist the tradition of division into castes imposed by the invaders. However, in the last century the situation changed: the untouchables, under the leadership of Gandhi, made the first attempts to destroy the stereotype that had developed over centuries.
The essence of these performances was to draw public attention to caste inequality in India.
Interestingly, Gandhi's cause was taken up by a certain Ambedkar from the Brahmin caste. Thanks to him, the untouchables became Dalits. Ambedkar ensured that they received quotas for all types of professional activities. That is, an attempt was made to integrate these people into society.
Today's controversial policies of the Indian government often cause conflicts involving untouchables.
However, it does not come to a riot, because the untouchable caste in India is the most submissive part of the Indian community. The age-old timidity of other castes, ingrained in the consciousness of people, blocks any thoughts of rebellion.
Indian Government Policy and Dalits
The untouchables... The life of the harshest caste in India evokes a cautious and even contradictory reaction from the outside, since we're talking about about the age-old traditions of Indians.
But still, caste discrimination is prohibited at the state level in the country. Actions that offend representatives of any varna are considered a crime.
At the same time, the caste hierarchy is legalized by the country's constitution. That is, the untouchable caste in India is recognized by the state, which looks like a serious contradiction in government policy. As a result modern history countries have many serious conflicts between individual castes and even within them.
The untouchables are the most despised class in India. However, other citizens are still terribly afraid of Dalits.
It is believed that a representative of an untouchable caste in India is capable of desecrating a person from another varna by his very presence. If a Dalit touches the clothes of a Brahman, the latter will need more than one year to cleanse his karma of filth.
But an untouchable (the caste of South India includes both men and women) may well become the object of sexual violence. And no defilement of karma occurs in this case, since this is not prohibited by Indian customs.
An example is the recent case in New Delhi, where a 14-year-old untouchable girl was kept as a sex slave for a month by a criminal. The unfortunate woman died in the hospital, and the detained criminal was released by the court on bail.
At the same time, if an untouchable violates the traditions of his ancestors, for example, he dares to publicly use a public well, then the poor fellow will face swift reprisals on the spot.
Dalit is not a sentence of fate
The untouchable caste in India, despite government policies, still remains the poorest and most disadvantaged part of the population. The average literacy rate among them is a little over 30.
The situation is explained by the humiliation that children of this caste are subjected to in educational institutions. As a result, illiterate Dalits constitute the bulk of the unemployed in the country.
However, there are exceptions to the rule: about 30 millionaires in the country are Dalits. Of course, this is tiny compared to the 170 million untouchables. But this fact says that Dalit is not a decree of fate.
An example is the life of Ashok Khade, who belonged to the tanner caste. The guy worked as a docker during the day and studied textbooks at night to become an engineer. His company currently closes deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
There is also the opportunity to leave the Dalit caste - this is a change of religion.
Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - any faith technically takes a person out of the untouchables. This was first used in late XIX century, and in 2007, 50 thousand people immediately accepted Buddhism.
Caste is the original civilizational model,
built on its own conscious principles.
L. Dumont “Homo Hierarchicus”
The social structure of the modern Indian state is unique in many ways, primarily due to the fact that, like several thousand years ago, it is still based on the existence of a caste system, which is one of its main components.
The word “caste” itself appeared later than social stratification began ancient Indian society. Initially the term "varna" was used. The word "varna" is of Indian origin and means color, mode, essence. In the later laws of Manu, instead of the word “varna”, the word “jati” was sometimes used, meaning birth, gender, position. Subsequently, in the process of economic and social development, each varna was divided into a large number of castes; in modern India there are thousands of them. Contrary to popular belief, the caste system in India has not been abolished, but still exists; Only discrimination on the basis of caste is abolished by law.
Varna
In ancient India there were four main varnas (chaturvarnya), or classes. The highest varna - brahmans - are priests, clergymen; their duties included studying sacred texts, teaching people and performing religious rites, since they were considered to have the proper holiness and purity.
The next varna is the kshatriyas; these are warriors and rulers who had necessary qualities(for example, courage and strength) to govern and protect the state.
They are followed by Vaishyas (merchants and farmers) and Shudras (servants and laborers). The attitude to the last, fourth varna is told in the ancient legend about the creation of the world, which says that at first three varnas were created by God - brahmanas, kshatriyas and vaishyas, and later people (praja) and cattle were born.
The first three varnas were considered the highest, and their representatives were “twice-born”. The physical, “first” birth was only a door to this earthly world, but for internal growth and spiritual development the person had to be born a second time - again. This meant that representatives of privileged varnas underwent a special rite - initiation (upanayana), after which they became full members of society and could learn the profession that they inherited from representatives of their clan. During the ritual, a cord was placed around the neck of the representative of this varna. a certain color and material prescribed according to the tradition of this varna.
It was believed that all varnas were created from the body of the first man - Purusha: brahmanas - from his mouth (the color of this varna is white), kshatriyas - from his hands (the color is red), vaishyas - from the thighs (the color of varna is yellow), shudras - from his feet (black color).
The “pragmatism” of such a class division lay in the fact that initially, as is assumed, a person’s assignment to a certain varna occurred as a result of his natural inclinations and inclinations. For example, a brahmana became one who could think with his head (therefore the symbol is the mouth of Purusha), who himself had the ability to learn and could teach others. A Kshatriya is a person with a warlike nature, more inclined to work with his hands (that is, to fight, therefore the symbol is the hands of Purusha), etc.
Shudras were the lowest varna, they could not participate in religious rituals and study the sacred texts of Hinduism (Vedas, Upanishads, Brahmins and Aranyakas), they often did not have their own household, and they were engaged in the most difficult types of labor. Their duty was unconditional obedience to the representatives of the higher varnas. The Shudras remained “once-born,” that is, they did not have the privilege of rebirth to a new, spiritual life (probably because their level of consciousness was not ready for this).
Varnas were absolutely autonomous, marriages could only take place within a varna, the mixing of varnas, according to the ancient laws of Manu, was not allowed, as well as the transition from one varna to another - higher or lower. Such a rigid hierarchical structure was not only protected by laws and tradition, but was directly related to the key idea of the Indian religion - the idea of reincarnation: “As childhood, youth and old age come to the incarnate here, so does a new body come: a sage cannot be puzzled by this” ( Bhagavad Gita).
It was believed that being in a certain varna is a consequence of karma, that is, the cumulative result of one’s actions and deeds in past lives. The better a person behaved in past lives, the more chances he had to incarnate in a higher varna in his next life. After all, varna affiliation was given by birth and could not change throughout a person’s life. For modern western man This may seem strange, but such a concept, which completely dominated India for several millennia until today, created, on the one hand, the basis for the political stability of society, on the other, it was a moral code for huge sections of the population.
Therefore, the fact that the varna structure is invisibly present in the life of modern India (the caste system is officially enshrined in the main law of the country) is most likely directly related to the strength of religious convictions and beliefs that have stood the test of time and have remained almost unchanged to this day.
But is the secret of the “survivability” of the varna system only in the power of religious ideas? Perhaps ancient India managed to anticipate the structure in some way modern societies And is it not by chance that L. Dumont calls castes a civilizational model?
A modern interpretation of the varna division might look, for example, like this.
Brahmins are people of knowledge, those who receive knowledge, teach it and develop new knowledge. Since in modern “knowledge” societies (a term officially adopted by UNESCO), which have already replaced information societies, not only information, but knowledge is gradually becoming the most valuable capital, surpassing all material analogues, it becomes clear that people of knowledge belong to upper layers society.
Kshatriyas are people of duty, senior managers, state level administrators, military personnel and representatives of " security forces" - those who guarantee law and order and serve their people and their country.
Vaishyas are people of action, businessmen, creators and organizers of their business, main goal whose goal is to make a profit, they create a product that is in demand in the market. Vaishyas now, just like in ancient times, “feed” other varnas, creating the material basis for the economic growth of the state.
Shudras are people for hire, hired workers, for whom it is easier not to take responsibility, but to carry out the work assigned to them under the control of management.
Living “in your varna,” from this point of view, means living in accordance with your natural abilities, innate predisposition to a certain type of activity and in accordance with your calling in this life. This can give a feeling of inner peace and satisfaction that a person is living his own, and not someone else’s, life and destiny (dharma). It is not for nothing that the importance of following one’s dharma, or duty, is spoken of in one of the sacred texts included in the Hindu canon - the Bhagavad Gita: “It is better to fulfill one’s duties, even imperfectly, than the duties of others perfectly. It’s better to die doing your duty; someone else’s path is dangerous.”
In this “cosmic” aspect, the varna division looks like a completely pragmatic system for realizing a kind of “call of the soul”, or, in higher language, fulfilling one’s destiny (duty, mission, task, calling, dharma).
The Untouchables
In ancient India there was a group of people who were not part of any of the varnas - the so-called untouchables, who de facto still exist in India. The emphasis on the actual state of affairs is made because the situation with the untouchables in real life somewhat different from the legal formalization of the caste system in modern India.
The untouchables in ancient India were a special group that performed work associated with the then ideas about ritual impurity, for example, dressing animal skins, collecting garbage, and corpses.
In modern India, the term untouchables is not officially used, as are its analogues: harijan - “children of God” (a concept introduced by Mahatma Gandhi) or pariah (“outcast”) and others. Instead, there is a concept of Dalit, which is not believed to carry the connotation of caste discrimination prohibited in the Indian Constitution. According to the 2001 census, Dalits constitute 16.2% of India's total population and 79.8% of the total rural population.
Although the Indian Constitution has abolished the concept of untouchability, ancient traditions continue to dominate the mass consciousness, which even leads to the killing of untouchables under various pretexts. At the same time, there are cases when a person belonging to a “pure” caste is ostracized for daring to do “dirty” work. Thus, Pinky Rajak, a 22-year-old woman from the caste of Indian washerwomen, who traditionally wash and iron clothes, caused outrage among the elders of her caste because she began cleaning at a local school, that is, she violated the strict caste ban on dirty work, thereby insulting her community.
Castes Today
To protect certain castes from discrimination, there are various privileges given to citizens of lower castes, such as reservation of seats in legislatures and public service, partial or full tuition fees in schools and colleges, quotas in higher educational institutions. In order to avail the right to such a benefit, a citizen belonging to a state-protected caste must obtain and present a special caste certificate - proof of his membership in a particular caste listed in the caste table, which is part of the Constitution of India.
Today in India, belonging to a high caste by birth does not automatically mean a high level of material security. Often, children from poor families of upper castes who enter college or university on a general basis with big competition, are much less likely to receive an education than children from lower castes.
The debate about actual discrimination against upper castes has been going on for many years. There are opinions that in modern India there is a gradual erosion of caste boundaries. Indeed, it is now almost impossible to determine which caste an Indian belongs to (especially in major cities), and not only by appearance, but often also by the nature of his professional activity.
Creation of national elites
The formation of the structure of the Indian state in the form in which it is presented now (developed democracy, parliamentary republic) began in the 20th century.
In 1919, the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms were carried out, the main goal of which was the establishment and development of a system of local government. Under the English governor-general, who had previously virtually ruled the Indian colony single-handedly, a bicameral legislative body was created. In all Indian provinces, a system of dual power (diarchy) was created, when both representatives of the English administration and representatives of the local Indian population were in charge. Thus, at the very beginning of the twentieth century, democratic procedures were introduced for the first time on the Asian continent. The British, unwittingly, contributed to the formation of the future independence of India.
After India gained independence, the need arose to attract national personnel to lead the country. Since only the educated strata of Indian society had a real opportunity to “restart” social institutions under conditions of independence, it is clear that the leading role in governing the country mainly belonged to the brahmins and kshatriyas. That is why the unification of the new elites was practically conflict-free, since the brahmins and kshatriyas historically belonged to the highest castes.
Since 1920, the popularity of Mahatma Gandhi, who advocated a united India without the British, began to grow. The Indian National Congress, which he headed, was not so much a party as a national social movement. Gandhi managed to accomplish something that no one had succeeded before - albeit temporarily, but he practically eliminated the conflict of interests between the higher and lower castes.
What tomorrow?
In India in the Middle Ages there were no cities similar to European ones. These cities could rather be called large villages, where time seemed to stand still. Until recently (especially intensive changes began to occur in the last 15–20 years), tourists coming from the West could feel themselves in a medieval atmosphere. Real changes began after independence. The course towards industrialization taken in the second half of the twentieth century caused an increase in the rate of economic growth, which, in turn, led to an increase in the share of the urban population and the emergence of new social groups.
Over the past 15–20 years, many Indian cities have changed beyond recognition. Most of the almost “homey” neighborhoods in the center turned into concrete jungles, and the poor neighborhoods on the outskirts were transformed into residential areas for the middle class.
According to forecasts, by 2028, India's population will exceed 1.5 billion people, the largest percentage of them will be young people and, compared to Western countries, the country will have the largest population labor resources.
Today, in many countries there is a shortage of qualified personnel in the field of medicine, education and IT services. This situation has contributed to the development in India of such a rapidly growing economic sector as the provision of remote services, for example in the United States and Western European countries. The Indian government is now investing heavily in education, especially in schools. You can see with your own eyes how in the mountainous regions of the Himalayas, where 15-20 years ago there were only remote villages, state technological colleges have grown up in large areas, with beautiful buildings and infrastructure, intended for local children from the same villages. The bet on education in the age of “knowledge” societies, especially on school and university education, is a win-win, and it is no coincidence that India occupies one of the leading places in the field of computer technology.
This projection of Indian population growth could be optimistic for India and lead to significant economic growth as well. But growth doesn't happen by itself. It is necessary to create conditions: new jobs, ensuring industrial employment and, no less important, providing qualified training to all this huge mass of human resources. All this is not an easy task and is more of a challenge for the state than a bonus. If not fulfilled necessary conditions There will be mass unemployment, a sharp decline in the living standards of the population and, as a consequence, negative changes in the social structure.
Until now, the existing caste system has been a kind of “fuse” against various kinds of social upheavals throughout the country. However, times are changing, Western technologies are intensively penetrating not only the Indian economy, but into the consciousness and subconscious of the masses, especially in cities, forming a new, non-traditional for many Indians model of desires according to the principle “I want more now.” This model is intended primarily for the so-called middle class (“so-called” because for India its boundaries are blurred and the criteria for membership are not entirely clear). The question of whether the caste system can still serve as a protector against social cataclysms in the new conditions remains open.
Since childhood, we have been taught that there is nothing worse than caste society. But oddly enough, castes have survived to this day, as evidenced, for example, by India. What do we actually know about how the caste system functions?
Every society consists of certain basic units that form it. So, in relation to Antiquity, such a unit can be considered a polis, modern to the West - capital (or a social individual owning it), for Islamic civilization - a tribe, Japanese - a clan, etc. For India, from ancient times to the present day, caste has been and remains such a basic element.
The caste system for India is not at all a dense archaic or “relic of the Middle Ages” as we have been taught for a long time. The Indian caste system is part of the complex organization of society, a historically established diverse and multifaceted phenomenon.
One can try to describe castes through a number of characteristics. However, there will still be exceptions. Indian caste differentiation is a system of social stratification of isolated social groups, united by the common origin and legal status of their members. They are built according to the principles:
1) common religion;
2) general professional specialization (usually hereditary);
3) marriages only between “our own”;
4) nutritional characteristics.
In India, there are not 4 (as many of us still think), but about 3 thousand castes and they can be called differently in different parts of the country, and people of the same profession can belong to different castes in different states. What are sometimes mistakenly considered Indian “castes” are not castes at all, but varnas (“chaturvarnya” in Sanskrit) - social strata of the ancient social system.
Varna brahmins (brahmins) are priests, doctors, teachers. Kshatriyas (rajanyas) - warriors and civil leaders. Vaishyas are farmers and traders. Shudras are servants and landless peasant laborers.
Each varna had its own color: Brahmins - white, Kshatriyas - red, Vaishayas - yellow, Shudras - black (once every Hindu wore a special cord in the color of his varna).
Varnas, in turn, are theoretically divided into castes. But in a very complex and intricate way. An obvious direct connection is not always visible to a person with a European mentality. The word “caste” itself comes from the Portuguese casta: birthright, clan, class. In Hindi, this term is identical to “jati”.
The infamous "untouchables" are not one particular caste. IN Ancient India everyone who was not included in the four varnas was automatically classified as “marginal”, they were avoided in every possible way, they were not allowed to settle in villages and cities, etc. As a result of this position, the “untouchables” had to take on the most “non-prestigious”, dirty and low-paid work and they formed their own separate social and professional groups - essentially, their own castes.
There are several such castes of “untouchables” and, as a rule, they are associated either with dirty work, or with the killing of living beings or death (so all butchers, hunters, fishermen, tanners, garbage men, sewer men, laundresses, cemetery and morgue workers, etc. must be “untouchable”).
At the same time, it would be wrong to believe that every “untouchable” is necessarily someone like a homeless person or a “lowlife.” In India, even before independence and the adoption of a number of legislative measures to protect lower castes from discrimination, there were “untouchables” who achieved a very high social status and earned universal respect. Like, for example, the outstanding Indian politician, public figure, human rights activist and author of the Indian Constitution - Dr. Bhimaro Ramji Ambedkar, who received his law degree in England.
One of the many monuments to Bhimaro Ambedkar in India
The “untouchables” have several names: mleccha - “stranger”, “foreigner” (that is, formally all non-Hindus, including foreign tourists, can be classified as them), harijan - “child of God” (a term specifically introduced by Mahatma Gandhi), pariahs - “rejected”, “expelled”. And the most frequently used modern name“untouchables” - Dalits.
Legally, castes in India were recorded in the Laws of Manu, compiled from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD. The varna system traditionally developed in a much more ancient period(there is no exact dating).
As mentioned above, castes in modern India still cannot be considered simply an anachronism. On the contrary, all of them are now carefully counted and listed in a special annex to the current Indian Constitution (Table of Castes).
In addition, after each population census, changes are made to this table (usually additions). The point is not that some new castes appear, but that they are recorded in accordance with the data provided about themselves by census participants. Only discrimination on the basis of caste is prohibited. What is written in Article No. 15 of the Indian Constitution.
Indian society is very diverse and heterogeneous in its structure; In addition to division into castes, there are several other differentiations in it. There are both caste and non-caste Indians. For example, adivasis (descendants of the main indigenous black population of India before its conquest by the Aryans), with rare exceptions, do not have their own castes. In addition, for some misdemeanors and crimes a person can be expelled from his caste. And there are quite a lot of non-caste Indians, as evidenced by the census results.
Castes exist not only in India. A similar public institution takes place in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bali and Tibet. By the way, Tibetan castes do not correlate with Indian castes at all - the structures of these societies were formed completely separately from each other. It is curious that in Northern India (the states of Himachal, Uttar Pradesh and Kashmir) the caste system is not of Indian origin, but of Tibetan origin.
Historically, when the overwhelming majority of the Indian population professed Hinduism - all Hindus belonged to some caste, the only exceptions were pariahs expelled from castes and the indigenous non-Aryan peoples of India. Then other religions (Buddhism, Jainism) began to spread in India. As the country was subjected to invasions by various conquerors, representatives of other religions and peoples began to adopt from the Hindus their system of varnas and professional caste-jatis. Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians in India also have their own castes, but they are somehow different from the Hindu castes.
What about Indian Muslims? After all, the Koran initially proclaimed the equality of all Muslims. A natural question. Despite the fact that British India was divided into two parts in 1947: “Islamic” (Pakistan) and “Hindu” (India proper), today Muslims (approximately 14% of all Indian citizens) in absolute terms live in India more than in Pakistan, where Islam is the state religion.
However, the caste system is inherent in India and Muslim society. However, caste differences among Indian Muslims are not as strong as among Hindus. They have virtually no “untouchables.” Between Muslim castes there are no such impenetrable barriers as among Hindus - transition from one caste to another or marriages between their representatives is allowed.
The caste system was established among Indian Muslims relatively late - during the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th-16th centuries. The Muslim caste is usually referred to as biradari ("brotherhood") or biyahdari. Their occurrence is often attributed by Muslim theologians to the influence of Hindus with their caste system (supporters of “pure Islam” see this, of course, as the insidious machinations of pagans).
In India, as in many Islamic countries, Muslims also have their nobility and common people. The former are called sharifs or ashraf (“noble”), the latter are called ajlaf (“low”). Currently, about 10% of Muslims living in the territory of the Republic of India belong to the Ashraf. They usually trace their ancestry to those external conquerors (Arabs, Turks, Pashtuns, Persians, etc.) who invaded Hindustan and settled for many centuries.
For the most part, Indian Muslims are descendants of the same Hindus who, for one reason or another, converted to a new faith. Forced conversion to Islam in medieval India was the exception rather than the rule. Typically, the local population was subjected to a slow Islamization, during which elements of foreign faith were unobtrusively incorporated into local cosmology and ritual practice, gradually displacing and replacing Hinduism. It was an implicit and sluggish social process. During it, people maintained and protected the closure of their circles. This explains the persistence of caste psychology and customs among large sections of Indian Muslim society. Thus, even after the final conversion to Islam, marriages continued to be concluded only with representatives of their own castes.
Even more curiously, even many Europeans were included in the Indian caste system. Thus, those Christian missionary preachers who preached to high-born Brahmins eventually found themselves in the “Christian Brahmin” caste, and those who, for example, carried the Word of God to the “untouchable” fishermen, became Christian “untouchables”.
Often it is impossible to accurately determine which caste an Indian belongs to just by his appearance, behavior and occupation. It happens that a kshatriya works as a waiter, and a brahmin trades and removes garbage from a shop - and they don’t particularly have a complex about these reasons, but a sudra behaves like a born aristocrat. And even if an Indian says exactly what caste he is from (although such a question is considered tactless), this will give a foreigner little to understand how society is structured in such an outlandish and peculiar country as India.
The Republic of India declares itself a “democratic” state and, in addition to prohibiting caste discrimination, has introduced certain benefits for representatives of lower castes. For example, they have adopted special quotas for their admission to higher education. educational establishments, as well as positions in state and municipal bodies.
The problem of discrimination against people from lower castes and Dalits, however, is quite serious. The caste structure is still fundamental to the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians. Outside of large cities in India, caste psychology and all the conventions and taboos arising from it are firmly preserved.
After leaving the Indus Valley, the Indian Aryans conquered the country along the Ganges and founded many states here, whose population consisted of two classes that differed in legal and financial status.
The new Aryan settlers, the victors, seized land, honor, and power in India, and the defeated non-Indo-European natives were plunged into contempt and humiliation, forced into slavery or into a dependent state, or, driven into the forests and mountains, they lived there in inaction thoughts of a meager life without any culture. This result of the Aryan conquest gave rise to the origin four main Indian castes (varnas).Those original inhabitants of India who were conquered by the power of the sword suffered the fate of captives and became mere slaves. The Indians, who submitted voluntarily, renounced their father's gods, adopted the language, laws and customs of the victors, retained personal freedom, but lost all land property and had to live as workers on the estates of the Aryans, servants and porters, in the houses of rich people. From them came a caste sudra. "Sudra" is not a Sanskrit word. Before becoming the name of one of the Indian castes, it was probably the name of some people. The Aryans considered it beneath their dignity to enter into marriage unions with representatives of the Shudra caste. Shudra women were only concubines among the Aryans.
Ancient India. Map
Over time, sharp differences in status and professions emerged between the Aryan conquerors of India themselves. But in relation to the lower caste - the dark-skinned, conquered native population - they all remained a privileged class. Only the Aryans had the right to read the sacred books; only they were consecrated by a solemn ceremony: a sacred cord was placed on the Aryan, making him “reborn” (or “twice born”, dvija). This ritual served as a symbolic distinction between all Aryans and the Shudra caste and the despised native tribes driven into the forests. Consecration was performed by placing a cord, which was worn placed on the right shoulder and descending diagonally across the chest. Among the Brahmin caste, the cord could be placed on a boy from 8 to 15 years old, and it is made of cotton yarn; among the Kshatriya caste, who received it no earlier than the 11th year, it was made from kusha (Indian spinning plant), and among the Vaishya caste, who received it no earlier than the 12th year, it was made of wool.
The "twice-born" Aryans over time were divided according to differences in occupation and origin into three estates or castes, which have some similarities with the three estates of medieval Europe: the clergy, the nobility and the middle, urban class. The beginnings of the caste system among the Aryans existed back in the days when they lived only in the Indus basin: there, from the mass of the agricultural and pastoral population, warlike princes of the tribes, surrounded by people skilled in military affairs, as well as priests who performed sacrificial rites, already stood out.
At the resettlement of Aryan tribes further into India, into the country of the Ganges, militant energy increased in bloody wars with exterminated natives, and then in a fierce struggle between Aryan tribes. Until the conquests were completed, the entire people were busy with military affairs. Only when the peaceful possession of the conquered country began did it become possible for a variety of occupations to develop, the possibility of choosing between different professions arose, and a new stage in the origin of castes began. The fertility of the Indian soil aroused the desire for peaceful means of subsistence. From this, the innate tendency of the Aryans quickly developed, according to which it was more pleasant for them to work quietly and enjoy the fruits of their labor than to make difficult military efforts. Therefore, a significant part of the settlers (“ Vishey") turned to agriculture, which produced abundant harvests, leaving the fight against enemies and the protection of the country to the princes of the tribes and the military nobility formed during the period of conquest. This class, engaged in arable farming and partly shepherding, soon grew so that among the Aryans, as in Western Europe, it formed the vast majority of the population. Because the name vaishya"settler", which originally meant all Aryan inhabitants in new areas, came to mean only people of the third, working Indian caste, and warriors, kshatriyas, and priests, brahmins(“prayers”), who over time became the privileged classes, made the names of their professions the names of the two highest castes.
The four Indian classes listed above became completely closed castes (varnas) only when Brahmanism rose above the ancient service to Indra and other gods of nature - a new religious doctrine about Brahma, the soul of the universe, the source of life from which all beings originated and to which they will return. This reformed creed gave religious sanctity to the division of the Indian nation into castes, and especially the priestly caste. It said that in the cycle of life forms passed through by everything existing on earth, brahman is the highest form of existence. According to the dogma of rebirth and transmigration of souls, a creature born in human form must go through all four castes in turn: to be a Shudra, a Vaishya, a Kshatriya and, finally, a Brahman; having passed through these forms of existence, it is reunited with Brahma. The only way to achieve this goal is for a person, constantly striving for deity, to exactly fulfill everything commanded by the brahmanas, to honor them, to please them with gifts and signs of respect. Offenses against Brahmanas, severely punished on earth, subject the wicked to the most terrible torments of hell and rebirth in the forms of despised animals.
The belief in the dependence of the future life on the present was the main support of the Indian caste division and the rule of the priests. The more decisively the Brahman clergy placed the dogma of transmigration of souls at the center of all moral teaching, the more successfully it filled the imagination of the people with terrible pictures of hellish torment, the more honor and influence it acquired. Representatives of the highest caste of Brahmins are close to the gods; they know the path leading to Brahma; their prayers, sacrifices, holy feats of their asceticism have magical power over the gods, the gods have to fulfill their will; bliss and suffering in the future life depend on them. It is not surprising that with the development of religiosity among the Indians, the power of the Brahmin caste increased, tirelessly praising in its holy teachings respect and generosity towards the Brahmins as the surest ways to obtain bliss, instilling in the kings that the ruler is obliged to have Brahmins as his advisers and make judges, is obliged to reward their service to the rich contents and pious gifts.
So that the lower Indian castes did not envy the privileged position of the Brahmans and did not encroach on it, the doctrine was developed and strenuously preached that the forms of life for all beings are predetermined by Brahma, and that the progression through the degrees of human rebirth is accomplished only by a calm, peaceful life in the given position of man, the right one. performance of duties. So, in one of the oldest parts Mahabharata It is said: “When Brahma created beings, he gave them their occupations, each caste a special activity: for the brahmanas - the study of the high Vedas, for the warriors - heroism, for the vaishyas - the art of work, for the sudras - humility before other flowers: therefore ignorant brahmanas, ignominious warriors, unskillful vaishyas and disobedient sudras.”
Brahma, the main deity of Brahmanism - the religion that underlies the Indian caste system
This dogma, which attributed divine origin to every caste, every profession, consoled the humiliated and despised in the insults and deprivations of their present life with the hope of an improvement in their lot in a future existence. He gave religious sanctification to the Indian caste hierarchy. The division of people into four classes, unequal in their rights, was from this point of view an eternal, unchangeable law, the violation of which is the most criminal sin. People do not have the right to overthrow the caste barriers established between them by God himself; They can achieve improvement in their fate only through patient submission. The mutual relations between the Indian castes were clearly characterized by the teaching; that Brahma produced the Brahmanas from his mouth (or the first man Purusha), the Kshatriyas from his hands, the Vaishyas from his thighs, the Shudras from his feet dirty in mud, therefore the essence of nature for the Brahmanas is “holiness and wisdom”, for the Kshatriyas it is “power and strength”, among the Vaishyas - “wealth and profit”, among the Shudras - “service and obedience”. The doctrine of the origin of castes from different parts of the highest being is set forth in one of the hymns of the last, most recent book Rigveda. There are no concepts of caste in the older songs of the Rig Veda. Brahmins attach extreme importance to this hymn, and every true believer Brahmin recites it every morning after bathing. This hymn is the diploma with which the Brahmins legitimized their privileges, their dominion.
Thus, the Indian people were led by their history, their inclinations and customs to fall under the yoke of a hierarchy of castes, which turned classes and professions into tribes alien to each other,
Shudras
After the conquest of the Ganges valley by the Aryan tribes who came from the Indus, part of its original (non-Indo-European) population was enslaved, and the rest were deprived of their lands, turning into servants and farm laborers. From these natives, alien to the Aryan invaders, the “Sudra” caste little by little formed. The word "sudra" does not come from a Sanskrit root. It may have been some kind of local Indian tribal designation.
The Aryans assumed the role of a higher class in relation to the Shudras. Only over the Aryans was the religious rite of laying the sacred thread performed, which, according to the teachings of Brahmanism, made a person “twice-born.” But even among the Aryans themselves, social division soon appeared. By type of life and occupation, they fell into three castes - Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, reminiscent of the three main classes of the medieval West: the clergy, the military aristocracy and the class of small property owners. This social stratification began to appear among the Aryans even during their life on the Indus.
After the conquest of the Ganges Valley, most of the Aryan population took up farming and cattle breeding in the new fertile country. These people formed a caste Vaishyas(“villagers”), who earned their means of living by labor, but, unlike the Shudras, consisted of legally entitled owners of land, livestock or industrial and commercial capital. There were warriors above the Vaishyas ( kshatriyas), and priests ( brahmins,"prayers") Kshatriyas and especially Brahmins were considered the highest castes.
Vaishya
Vaishyas, farmers and shepherds of Ancient India, by the very nature of their occupations, could not equal the neatness of the upper classes and were not so well dressed. Spending the day in labor, they had no leisure either for acquiring Brahmin education or for the idle pursuits of the Kshatriya military nobility. Therefore, Vaishyas soon began to be considered people unequal to priests and warriors, people of a different caste. Vaishya commoners did not have warlike neighbors who would threaten their property. The Vaishyas did not need sword and arrows; they lived quietly with their wives and children on their piece of land, leaving the military class to protect the country from external enemies and from internal unrest. In the affairs of the world, most of the recent Aryan conquerors of India soon became unaccustomed to weapons and the art of war.
When, with the development of culture, the forms and needs of life became more diverse, when the rustic simplicity of clothing and food, housing and household utensils began to not satisfy many, when trade with foreigners began to bring wealth and luxury, many Vaishyas turned to crafts, industry, trade, giving money back as interest. But this did not increase their social prestige. Just as in feudal Europe the townspeople did not belong to the upper classes by origin, but to the common people, so in the populous cities that arose in India near the royal and princely palaces, the majority of the population were Vaishyas. But they did not have room for independent development: artisans and traders in India were subject to the contempt of the upper classes. No matter how much wealth the Vaishyas acquired in large, magnificent, luxurious capitals or in commercial seaside cities, they did not receive any participation either in the honors and glory of the Kshatriyas, or in the education and authority of the Brahman priests and scholars. The highest moral benefits of life were inaccessible to vaishyas. They were given only the circle of physical and mechanical activity, the circle of material and routine; and although they were allowed, even obliged to read Veda And law books, they remained outside the highest mental life of the nation. The hereditary chain chained the Vaishya to his father's plot of land or business; access to the military class or to the Brahman caste was forever blocked.
Kshatriyas
The position of the warrior caste (kshatriyas) was more honorable, especially in iron times Aryan conquest of India and the first generations after this conquest, when everything was decided by the sword and warlike energy, when the king was only a commander, when law and custom were maintained only by the protection of weapons. There was a time when the Kshatriyas aspired to become the foremost class, and in dark legends there were still traces of memories of the great war between warriors and Brahmins, when “unholy hands” dared to touch the sacred, divinely established greatness of the clergy. Traditions say that the Brahmins emerged victorious from this struggle with the Kshatriyas with the help of the gods and the Brahmin hero, Frames, and that the wicked were subjected to the most terrible punishments.
Education of a Kshatriya
Times of conquest were to be followed by times of peace; then the services of the kshatriyas became unnecessary, and the importance of the military class decreased. These times were favorable to the desire of the Brahmans to become the first class. But the more firmly and resolutely the warriors held on to the rank of the second most honorable class. Proud of the glory of their ancestors, whose exploits were praised in heroic songs inherited from antiquity, imbued with the sense of self-esteem and consciousness of their strength that the military profession gives people, the kshatriyas kept themselves in strict isolation from the vaishyas, who had no noble ancestors, and looked with contempt on their working, monotonous life.
The Brahmans, having strengthened their primacy over the Kshatriyas, favored their class isolation, finding it beneficial for themselves; and the kshatriyas, along with lands and privileges, family pride and military glory, inherited respect for the clergy to their sons. Separated by their upbringing, military exercises and way of life from both the Brahmans and the Vaishyas, the Kshatriyas were a knightly aristocracy, preserving, under the new conditions of social life, the warlike customs of antiquity, instilling in their children a proud belief in the purity of blood and in tribal superiority. Protected by hereditary rights and class isolation from the invasion of alien elements, the kshatriyas formed a phalanx that did not allow commoners into their ranks.
Receiving a generous salary from the king, supplied from him with weapons and everything necessary for military affairs, the kshatriyas led a carefree life. Apart from military exercises, they had no business; therefore, in times of peace - and in the calm valley of the Ganges time passed mostly peacefully - they had a lot of leisure to have fun and feast. In the circle of these families, the memory of the glorious deeds of their ancestors, of the hot battles of antiquity was preserved; singers of kings and noble families sang old songs to the kshatriyas at sacrificial festivals and funeral dinners, or composed new ones to glorify their patrons. From these songs gradually grew Indian epic poems - Mahabharata And Ramayana.
The highest and most influential caste were the priests, whose original name “purohita”, “household priests” of the king, was replaced in the country of the Ganges by a new one - brahmins. Even on the Indus there were such priests, for example, Vasishtha, Vishwamitra- about whom the people believed that their prayers and the sacrifices they performed had power, and who therefore enjoyed special respect. The benefit of the entire tribe demanded that their sacred songs, their ways of performing rituals, their teachings be preserved. The surest way to achieve this was for the most respected priests of the tribe to pass on their knowledge to their sons or students. This is how the Brahman clans arose. Forming schools or corporations, they preserved prayers, hymns, and sacred knowledge through oral tradition.
At first each Aryan tribe had its own Brahman clan; for example, the Koshalas have the family of Vasishtha, and the Angs have the family of Gautama. But when the tribes, accustomed to living in peace with each other, united into one state, their priestly families entered into partnership with each other, borrowing prayers and hymns from each other. The creeds and sacred songs of various Brahmin schools became the common property of the entire community. These songs and teachings, which at first existed only in oral tradition, were, after the introduction of written signs, written down and collected by the Brahmins. This is how they arose Veda, that is, “knowledge”, a collection of sacred songs and invocations of the gods, called Rigveda and the following two collections of sacrificial formulas, prayers and liturgical regulations, Samaveda And Yajurveda.
The Indians placed great importance on ensuring that sacrificial offerings were performed correctly and that no mistakes were made in invoking the gods. This greatly favored the emergence of a special Brahmin corporation. When liturgical rites and prayers were written down, the condition for the sacrifices and rituals to be pleasing to the gods was the exact knowledge and observance of the prescribed rules and laws, which could only be studied under the guidance of the old priestly families. This necessarily placed the performance of sacrifices and worship under the exclusive control of the brahmans, completely ending the direct relationship of the laity to the gods: only those who were taught by the priest-mentor - the son or pupil of a brahman - could now perform the sacrifice in the proper way, making it “pleasing to the gods.” ; only he could deliver God's help.
Brahman in modern India
The knowledge of the old songs with which the ancestors in their former homeland honored the gods of nature, the knowledge of the rituals that accompanied these songs, increasingly became the exclusive property of the Brahmans, whose forefathers composed these songs and in whose clan they were passed down by inheritance. The property of the priests also remained the legends connected with the divine service, necessary for understanding it. What was brought from their homeland was clothed in the minds of the Aryan settlers in India with a mysterious sacred meaning. Thus, the hereditary singers became hereditary priests, whose importance increased as the Aryan people moved away from their old homeland (the Indus Valley) and, occupied with military affairs, forgot their old institutions.
The people began to consider the Brahmins as intermediaries between people and gods. When peaceful times began in the new country of the Ganges, and concern for the fulfillment of religious duties became the most important matter of life, the concept established among the people about the importance of the priests should have aroused in them the proud thought that the class that performs the most sacred duties, spending its life in the service of the gods, has the right to occupy first place in society and the state. The Brahman clergy became a closed corporation, access to it was closed to people of other classes. Brahmins were supposed to take wives only from their own class. They taught the whole people to recognize that the sons of a priest, born in a legal marriage, have by their very origin the right to be priests and the ability to make sacrifices and prayers pleasing to the gods.
This is how the priestly, Brahman caste arose, strictly separated from the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, placed by the strength of its class pride and the religiosity of the people at the highest level of honor, seizing science, religion, and all education into a monopoly for itself. Over time, the Brahmans became accustomed to thinking that they were as superior to the rest of the Aryans as they considered themselves to be superior to the Shudras and the remnants of the wild native Indian tribes. On the street, in the market, the difference in castes was already visible in the material and shape of clothing, in the size and shape of the cane. A brahmana, unlike a kshatriya and a vaishya, left the house with nothing less than a bamboo cane, a vessel of water for purification, and a sacred cord over his shoulder.
The Brahmins tried their best to put into practice the theory of castes. But the conditions of reality confronted their aspirations with such obstacles that they could not strictly implement the principle of division of occupations between castes. It was especially difficult for the Brahmins to find a means of living for themselves and their families, limiting themselves only to those occupations that specifically belonged to their caste. Brahmans were not monks who took into their class only as many people as needed. They led family life and multiplied; therefore it was inevitable that many Brahman families became poor; and the Brahman caste did not receive support from the state. Therefore, the impoverished Brahmin families fell into poverty. The Mahabharata says that two prominent heroes of this poem, Drona and his son Ashwatthaman, there were brahmins, but due to poverty they had to take up the military craft of the kshatriyas. In later inserts they are strongly condemned for this.
True, some Brahmins led an ascetic and hermitic life in the forest, in the mountains, and near sacred lakes. Others were astronomers, lawyers, administrators, judges, and received a good living from these honorable occupations. Many Brahmins were religious teachers, interpreters of sacred books, and received support from their many disciples, were priests, servants at temples, lived on gifts from those who made sacrifices and in general from pious people. But whatever the number of Brahmanas who found their means of living in these pursuits, we see from laws of Manu and from other ancient Indian sources that there were many priests who lived only on alms or supported themselves and their families with activities inappropriate for their caste. Therefore, the laws of Manu take great care to instill in kings and rich people that they have a sacred duty to be generous to the Brahmanas. The laws of Manu allow brahmanas to beg for alms and allow them to earn their living by the activities of kshatriyas and vaishyas. A Brahman can support himself by farming and shepherding; can live "by the truth and lies of trade." But in no case should he live by lending money on interest or by seductive arts, such as music and singing; should not be hired as workers, should not trade in intoxicating drinks, cow butter, milk, sesame seeds, linen or woolen fabrics. Those kshatriyas who cannot support themselves by military craft, the law of Manu also allows them to engage in the affairs of the vaishyas, and it allows the vaishyas to feed themselves by the activities of the sudras. But all these were only concessions forced by necessity.
The discrepancy between the occupations of people and their castes led over time to the disintegration of castes into smaller divisions. Actually, it is these small social groups that are castes in the proper sense of the word, and the four main classes we have listed - brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and sudras - in India itself are more often called varnas. While leniently allowing the higher castes to feed on the professions of the lower ones, the laws of Manu strictly forbid the lower castes from taking up the professions of the higher ones: this insolence was supposed to be punished by confiscation of property and expulsion. Only a Shudra who does not find hired work can engage in a craft. But he should not acquire wealth, so as not to become arrogant against people of other castes, before whom he is obliged to humble himself.
Untouchable caste - Chandals
From the Ganges basin, this contempt for the surviving tribes of the non-Aryan population was transferred to the Deccan, where the Chandals on the Ganges were placed in the same position pariahs, whose name is not found in laws of Manu, became among Europeans the name of all classes of people despised by the Aryans, “unclean” people. The word pariah is not Sanskrit but Tamil. Tamils call pariahs both the descendants of the ancient, pre-Dravidian population, and Indians excluded from castes.
Even the situation of slaves in Ancient India was less difficult than the life of the untouchable caste. Epic and dramatic works of Indian poetry show that the Aryans treated slaves meekly, that many slaves enjoyed great confidence from their masters and occupied influential positions. The slaves were: those members of the Shudra caste whose ancestors were enslaved during the conquest of the country; Indian prisoners of war from enemy states; people bought from traders; faulty debtors handed over by judges as slaves to creditors. Males and female slaves were sold on the market as goods. But no one could have a slave from a caste higher than his own.
Having emerged in ancient times, the untouchable caste exists in India to this day.
