Advantages and disadvanages of caste system

[sachin31]

Hi all!
After being on SD for few months now, and reading all kind of problems, I have started feeling like people can't find a single good thing in this system. This thinking is rare for any existing system, where people can't find any advantages of the system but are abide by the same.
So here is this topic from me..

What are the advantages and disadvantages of caste system.???

Please post your thinking abt the topic and ya I expect a lot more scenarios than just marriage. :)..

[angelus1753]

I guess the caste system is one example of good intentions gone awry. Hindus can boast of having one of the oldest religion in the world, and the caste system is tied to it very closely. It is brilliantly simple - brahmins are the priests, kshatriyas are warriors, vaishyas are traders and shudras are the workers. The last name signifies who you are and what your profession is, and traditionally the son takes over the fathers' business when the father retires. A tailor's son becomes a tailor, a trader's son becomes a trader, and so on. All 4 castes were dependent on one another. Brahmins depend on the dakshina for their income, warriors are fed by the state in return for their 'blood', traders paid the taxes and kept the economy going and workers do everything from tanning leather to cleaning the streets. One caste alone cannot survive on its own.

But like every other system, the higher castes grew arrogant, the warriors grew proud, the traders let money get to their heads and the workers took to violence in order to demand their rights. This is the biggest disadvantage of the system - it relied heavily on good intentions to make it work. But then, doesn't democracy suffer from the same pitfalls??

Anyway, in today's world this is a moot point. Things are much more advanced and the caste system is too antiquated to handle them. For example, divorce. When the Raaj left, they left us a template of their model of governance - democracy. Now, caste is just a tool for marriage, and that too only for those who can't decide on their own.

[Ruhita]

Sachin , I am not Hindu , but want to know one thing . If you are Hindu and if you follow your religion , then how you ask questions about advantage or disadvantage or validity of something in a religion?

But don't take it other way , I seriously want to know , that how it is possible to arise question about a religious rules or custom if it is not created by you?
Here iam not asking whether religion is made for human etc . because all the religion is made for human , butwhat about the uniqueness of religion??? To which you have to show unique respect?

[sachin31]

@Ruhita : Though I am believer in the system, but I also have a scientific side of me.. who know that questioning things make it better only .. and also I found that people have various mis conceptions about the caste system and all. I feel that the system is more involved than we think it is.. I want to know more opinions.. then only I'll put mine...

[alkagupta56]

I am fully agreed with angelus1753, but its been using only as a marriage tool, is 100 % right.

In hindu’s we are not allowed to marry in the same gotra, which Is fully scientific, I have read it some where that it leads to genetic problems,

I feel if someone marry to same caste and same financial status(its too important), they have to struggle less, (because they will have same riti, riwaz).

I added financial status, which is important for the girl, if she marries in the same or high status family, she will adjust easily, otherwise she may find difficulties.

[Ruhita]

HI Alka , how are you ? Are yuo from Kolkata?

[alkagupta56]

ruhita - i am fine, i am from north india (U.P)

[angelus1753]

> alkagupta56 wrote:

> I feel if someone marry to same caste and same financial status(its too important), they have to struggle less, (because they will have same riti, riwaz).


i totally agree...in fact, believe it or not, Kautilya (better known to us as Chanakya) himself has said this in his writings, with emphasis on financial status.

as for Gotra, the concept is that if two people belong to the same Gotra, then technically they have the same forefathers and hence are akin to being brother and sister. that is why there may be genetic problems in the child of such a couple.

the caste system, in addition to catering to roles of individual castes in the larger frame of society, also acted as a means to keep the gene pool pristine. that is the reason that inter-caste marriages and love marriage were taken with a pinch of salt, because it can potentially disrupt the gene pool. but instead of educating, people and families resolved to violence and sometimes even murder in order to enforce this, thus damaging its credibility and good intentions. following Gotra may be one reason why Indians have had a lot less occurrence of genetic disabilities than the western civilizations. unfortunately, this is no longer true, given the chemical world we all live in and how starry-eyed crazy we are in following the western customs and western lifestyles.

p.s.: i am not promoting arranged marriage or against love marriage here. i am just discussing it from the point of view of the caste system.

[SwetaS]

Angelus,

You are very much correct about everything...

Whatever I can say on this topic is already said by you & Alka... So (Y)

[alkagupta56]

sachin-where are your view ?

still waiting for some more replies ?

[rameshraju]

In Vedic Period Caste system was divided on the basis of Profession. Brahmins were scholars, Kshatriyas were kings, Vaisyas were business people, and Sudras were agriculturists. The main purpose of caste system was to recognize a person in a society by profession. Caste system helps the society to run smoothly. Today the caste system is not based on profession. Everything got swapped up owing democracy, after Indian independence. Unfortunately, the feeling of untouchability, supremacy etc in some societies are existing even today.

GENERAL TEXT

[sachin31]

@alkadi : First mera pranam .. aap se waise to baat nahi ho pati aaj kal :(..
Mera Opinion..
I am in complete agreement that the system was invented on the basis of profession. But What I believe is this profession has changed the people's mentality, family atmosphere, financial status,values and everything. (Some times I believe genes too ).. why now no person sees its importance is because of several reasons ... First family atmosphere.. just like education and knowledge supress the animal nature in humans , on the similar lines these days, the education tries to supress this system in us. Because of it, there are different circumstances :
1) The whole family has been educated, through the lineage atleast 3 generations. These people are more advance in these terms as the family atmosphere in itself make the kids learn that all are equal and you should adjust before asking others to adjust.
2) the family is still following the old rules strictly . Things are fine here too. things are black and white. you can do this.. you can't do that.. this has been feeded in the child's sub-conscious mind. though they are educated too, but they follow the rules to its fullest.
3) the family is half following the rules and half they are open minded. These families are in worst scenarios . The possibility of encounters are biggest in these case.. on the above lines you can very well guess why? the children are feeded with half baked rules. Now when these children are educated. though they are educated fine, they show the behavior of equality and all, but the things changes when they are in some kind of excitement. Their subconscious mind start overcoming .. then only a person's capability defines his behavior.

My thesis is this. And I think on the same taking the decision in a matter where intercaste systems are involved...

[alkagupta56]

sachin-jeete raho, khush raho

dekha ye fark hota hai, hi aur pranam ka ya

agar hum kisi ko hi/hello kehte hain to jawab bhi wahi aata hai,

per agar per chote hai to jawab mein aashirwad hi milta hai,

about your post - i think most of us comes under s.no.3

we are flexible according to our wishes/demand and at the same time orthodox whenever we want.

to, kabhi hum aage barte hain kabhi hum peeche hutte hai.

demag aur dil mein uljhan chalti rehti hai,



good thesis well done (Y)

[sachin31]

@alkadi : Thanks di.. mere hissab se yahi sab hota hai mind.. aur heart mein..

[angelus1753]

sachin,

two books come to my mind when i read your post:

1. Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
2. Hearts in Atlantis - Stephen King

One might think i am a nut for suggesting these books cause one is an angst-ridden materpiece and the other is fantasy-horror. But, both novels are influenced by the idea that an entire generation is torn apart by the fast pace of changes happening in the world around them.

We Indians are also in such a situation. On one hand we have this deluge of western influences and lifestyles coming in (mostly because their own markets have saturated), and on the other hand we have our own traditions and culture that we are to adhere to. We can't let any one of these go cause they both define us. What was once unthinkable is now norm (there was a time when even prostitutes refused to act in our movies, and the ladies that acted were considered women of loose character...and now we have bikini babes in every other b-wood movie, and these enjoy star status - Page3, internatinal collaborations, people doing anything to look like them kind of fame). But still the same taboos remain (if i was to fall in love with a girl who openly wore bikinis, would my elders ever agree, no matter how liberal?...forget bikinis, how easy is it for a divorced woman to remarry?). We are not only in the middle of a tug-of-war, but are being torn apart.

I am sure someone someday is going to write an angst-piece on our generation. What we have been through and what craziness we indulged in to cope - everything from apathy to aggression, and much more!

[alkagupta56]

ANGEL

whatever you are saying is change in culture, which changes slowly in evey country/society, it has nothing to do with caste system, for which we are talking here.

whatever you are saying is correct but its culture, which has to be changed.

50 years pehle hum soch bhi nahin sakte thei, ek bahu ghunghat ke bina aur aaj 2 generation baad jeans bhi allowed hai.

aur ye change ek dum se nahin aaya hai, 2 generations ke gap me aaya hai.

mughals ke hindustan mein aane se pehle, yahan pardha nahin tha, jo waqt ki jarrorat ke liya pardha pratha shuru hui. us time girls apna dulha khudh chunti thin swayamvar karke.

hum log yahan caste system ke barein mein baat kar rahe hai, culture to har caste mein ek saath hi badal raha hai.

[Damsel]

Informative discussion is going on...

Keep it up guys (Y)

[Fidodido]

> alkagupta56 wrote:

> ANGEL

whatever you are saying is change in culture, which changes slowly in evey country/society, it has nothing to do with caste system, for which we are talking here.

whatever you are saying is correct but its culture, which has to be changed.

50 years pehle hum soch bhi nahin sakte thei, ek bahu ghunghat ke bina aur aaj 2 generation baad jeans bhi allowed hai.

aur ye change ek dum se nahin aaya hai, 2 generations ke gap me aaya hai.

mughals ke hindustan mein aane se pehle, yahan pardha nahin tha, jo waqt ki jarrorat ke liya pardha pratha shuru hui. us time girls apna dulha khudh chunti thin swayamvar karke.

hum log yahan caste system ke barein mein baat kar rahe hai, culture to har caste mein ek saath hi badal raha hai.

You are right Alka.......I think we are mixing culture and caste....both are different.....A caste is a combined social system of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, and political power. The Caste system does not demarcate racial division. Caste system is a social division of people of the same race.......takinf the forum to next level of discussion here.......

Aren't we divided by caste by the government itself.......reservation is one such example.....

[alkagupta56]

fidodido

reservation starting mein shudro ko diya gaya tha, taki, itni sadiyon se jo vo pichre hue hai, vo bhi samaj mein aagei aayein aur socially and economically strong ho sakein, ye ek acha step tha, achi niyat se kiya gaya tha

per politics ki vajah se aaj uska roop badal chuka hai,

so in present scenario, its better not to talk about it,

govt should reconsider reservation, whether it is required or not

but i know, it is not possible fairly because of our great politicians,

[angelus1753]

i wish i could have read the reply before, but unfortunately i read this just as i am ready to be away for a few days. i will reply to this, but for now i will just say people have read a bit too much into my last post. i was referring specifically to the points 2 and 3. details later tho. ciao.