a short note on the caste system: the varna system, which found its first mention in the rig veda itself, has been the only unbroken tradition of hinduism. gods have come and gone (from indra to rudra to krishna), forms of worship has changed (from yajnas to puja) but the varna system has persisted. there is an oft repeated dictum, that hinduism did not have a name for itself earlier. this is not true. the name of the religion was varnashram dharma. the varna system is the most defining aspect of hinduism.
another dictum is that it divides. this also is untrue. in fact the varna system makes it possible for a jati to place itself in a readymade order. this is important because there is no personal conversion system in hinduism. instead entire jatis are converted (by placing them in the varna system), like the scythians and the koches were made hindus by placing them in the kshatriya varna. this is important. because it lets, say, a sarma or a barua from assam relate in a some meaningful way with a aiyar or an iyengar from tamil nadu. since the varna system is the most defining aspect of hinduism, how can you remove or reform it out of the religion? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
