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St. Mary's Convent High school, Mapusa is staging a play titled "Lion King" December 1, 2007 - Hanuman Hall, Mapusa to fundraise for a false ceiling for the school hall & upgrading the school playground Headmistress Sr. Namika A.C. / Teacher Mrs. Sonia Noronha [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hinduism is NOT based on caste *Basilio Monteiro * As much as caste is abhorrent to any sensible person, the recent crusades against it, for the most part, are based on misinformed understanding of religion, particularly of Hinduism. Religions emerge within the context of socio-economic-political realities of people's life. They do not come from ABOVE. They usually emerge as way of making sense of many complex dimensions of life, particularly the elemental experiences of human existence: birth, labor/work, suffering, death, etc. Caste by all accounts preceded the development of Vedas, and it was already a well established infrastructure of social economy of those times. The only legitimizing authority of any socio-economic order at that time was the religious authority, which often, if not always, worked hand-in-hand with the prevailing political order. Caste was and is *one* of the reflections of "social asymmetry" (A. Sen) in India. The burden and abhorrence of caste was felt very early in the stratification of society on the lines of caste division. The argument in Mahabarata, as highlighted by Amartya Sen in his *Argumentative India*, points to the uneasiness of the caste based division of the society. The exchange between Bhrigu and Bharadvaja is very illuminating; "Bhrigu tells Bharadvaja that caste divisions relate to differences in physical attributes of different human beings, reflected in skin color, Bharadvaj responds not only by pointing to the considerable variations in skin color *within* every caste ("if different colors indicate different castes, then all castes are mixed castes"), but also by a more profound question" "We all seem to be affected by desire, anger, fear, sorrow, worry, hunger, and labor; how do have caste differences then?" (from A. Sen in *Argumentative Indian*). Hinduism does not have a Pope The outrage against the caste system is as old as caste itself. Gautama Siddhartha confronted the odious system and established Buddhism. Gautama hoped that Buddhism would destroy the caste system. Various enlightened Hindus, and particularly the mystics, such as Kabir, Tulsi Das, etc., throughout the centuries, challenged, in most caustic terms, the perniciousness of caste. Later, Guru Nanak in direct challenge to caste establishes Sikhism; however, till today the social life of Sikhs is ravaged with casteism. Hinduism does not have a central authority to do away with anything by a dictat. It is a matter of individual enlightenment. Societies organize themselves around hierarchies, and these coalesce around local economies. In the course of millennia caste has cloaked itself in religious paraphernalia, but it has very little, if nothing, to do with religion. If Catholics/Christians/Sikhs and people of other religions in India continue to be steeped in caste, it proves that caste has nothing to do with ones religion. The fact is, for most people there is a dichotomy between social and religious life. The ideal is to live an integrated life; but we have a long way to go. Here below is what the Laws of Manu have to say about caste; one can see how the hierarchy of social economy cloaks into religious language, and a social hierarchy gets codified and canonized: "But in order to protect the universe He, the most resplendent one, assigned separate duties and occupations to those who sprang from his mouth, arms, tighs and feet. To Brahmanas he assigned teaching and studying the Veda, sacrificing fir their own benefit and for others, giving and accepting alms. The Kshatryas he commended to protect the people, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study the Veda, to abstain from attaching himself to sensual pleasures. The Vaisya to tend cattle, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study Veda, to trade, to lend money, and to cultivate land. One occupation only the lord prescribed to theSudra, to serve meekly even these other three castes. Man is stated to be purer above the navel than below; hence Self-existent has declared the purest part of him to be his mouth. As the Brahamana sprang from Brahaman's mouth, as he was the first-born, and he posses the Veda, he is by right the lord of this whole creation. The seniority of Brahamanas is from sacred knowledge, that of Kshatryas from valour, that of Vaysias from wealth in grain and other goods, but that of Sudras alone from age. A Brahamana should always fear homage as if it were poison; and constantly desire to suffer scorn as he would long for nectar. A Brahamana must seek a means of subsistence, which either causes no, or least little pain to others, and live by that except in times of distress. For the purposes of gaining bare subsistence, let him accumulate property by following those irreproachable occupations which are prescribed for his caste, without unduly fatiguing his body. Let him never, for the sake of subsistence, follow the ways of the world; let him live the pure, straightforward, honest life of a Brahamana. Teaching, studying, sacrificing for himself, sacrificing for others, making gifts and receiving them are the six acts prescribed for a Brahamana. But among the six acts ordained for him three are his means of susbsistence,, viz., sacrificing for others, and thirdly, the acceptance of gifts. The same are likewise forbidden to a Vaisya, that is a settled rule; for Manu, the lord of creatures, has not prescribed them for men of those two castes. To carry arms for striking and for throwing is prescribed for Kshatryas as a means of susbsitence; to trade, to rear cattle, and agriculture for Vaysias; but their duties are liberality, the study of the Veda, and the performance of sacrifices." *The Laws of Manu (A.D. 100-200). Translated by G. Buehler* * * The below passage from J.L. Nehru's Discovery of India, may further support the idea that caste is a need of social hierarchy, which usually comes out from existing economic structures - *homo hierarchicus *emerges from* homo economicus.* Below is the text: "The coming of the Aryans into India raised new problems - racial and political. The conquered race, the Dravidians, had a long background of civilization behind them, but there is little doubt that the Aryans considered themselves vastly superior and a wide gulf separated by two races. Then there were also the backward aboriginal tribes, nomads or forest-dwellers. Out of this conflict and interaction of races gradually arose the caste system, which, in the course of succeeding centuries, was to affect Indian life so profoundly. Probably caste neither Aryan nor Dravidian. It was an attempt at social organization of different races, a rationalization of the facts as they existed at the time. It brought degradation in its train afterwards, and it is still a burden and a curse; but we can hardly judge it from subsequent standards or later developments. It was in keeping with the spirit of times and some such grading took place in most of the ancient civilizations, though apparently China was free from it. There was a four-fold division of in that other branch of the Aryans, the Iranians, during the Sasanian period, but it did not petrify into caste. Many of these old civilizations, including that of Greece, were entirely dependent on mass slavery. There was no such mass or large-scale labour slavery in India, although there were relatively small number of domestic slaves. Plato in his Republic refers to a division similar to that of the four principal castes. Medieval Catholicism knew this division also. Caste began with a hard and fast division between Aryans and non-Aryans, the latter again being divided into the Dravidians races and the aboriginal tribes. The Aryans, to begin with, formed one class and there was hardly any specialization. The word *Arya *comes from a root word meaning to till, and the Aryans as a whole were agriculturalists and agriculture was considered a noble occupation. The caste divisions, originally intended to separate the Aryans themselves, and as division of functions and specialization increased, the new classes took the forms of castes. Thus at a time when it was customary for the conquerors to exterminate or enslave the conquered races, caste enabled a more peaceful solution which fitted in with the growing specialization of functions. Life was graded and out of the mass of agriculturist evolved the Vaishyas, the agriculturalists, artisans, and merchants; the Kshatryas, or rulers, and warriors; and the Brahmins, priests and thinkers who were supposed to guide policy and preserve and maintain the ideals of the nation. Below these three there were the Shudras or labourers and unskilled workers, other than the agriculturalists. Among the indigenous tribes many were gradually assimilated and given a place at the bottom of the social scale, that is among the Shudras. This process of assimilation was a continuous one. These castes must have been in a fluid condition; rigidity came in much later. Probably the ruling class had always great latitude, and any person who by conquest or otherwise assumed power, could, if he so willed, join the hierarchy as a Kshatrya, and get the priests to manufacture an appropriate genealogy connecting him with some ancient Aryan hero. The word Arya ceased to have any racial significance and came to mean "noble", just as *unarya *meant ignoble and was usually applied to nomadic tribes, forests-dwellers, etc. J. L. Nehru, *The Discovery of India*