Caste System

The Caste System

Caste System

The Hindu society was organized into different categories, or Castes.

The basis of the Caste systems can be found in Ancient Hindu Hymns.

The Hymns broke down creation into 4 classes, or Varnas.

The four Varnas are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras.

People were born into each Varna depending on the amount of good or bad
karma they accumulated throughout their previous life.

People from the different classes live very differently and are not allowed to eat
together or marry each other.

The Untouchables.

There is a fifth Varna, known as the Untouchables.

These people have “unclean” jobs, such as tanning, the removal of dead animals,
or washing toilets.

Because of how “unclean” their work is, they have to live apart from those in the
other Castes.

Gandhi fought to have these people included in mainstream society.

Reorder

Reorder the following Varnas in order

• Untouchables

• Shudras

• Brahmins

• Kshatriyas

• Vaishyas

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

The Caste System Today

India’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms bans discrimination based on gender,
caste, race or religion.

The Indian government has put in place many laws, and programs to help those
who have been oppressed by the Caste System.

In small groups, look at the chart provided, and discuss each castes’ jobs, roles,
and characteristics.

List Pros and Cons.

Open Ended

In small groups, look at the chart provided, and discuss each castes’ jobs, roles, and characteristics.  

List Pros and Cons.

The Stages of Life

Stage One

Student: discipline mind and body

Gain knowledge

Learn rules and rituals of hinduism

Show respect towards elders.

Stage Two

Householder: marry and have a family

Provide for the family

Give to charity

Care for family elders

Practice religious and social traditions

Stage Three:

Forest Dweller: retire and transmit household duties to wife or son

Read and study

Participate in religious pilgrimages (journeys to holy places)

Stage 4:

Ascetic: Give up worldly life

Wander

Meditate

Attain Salvation

Four Goals in Life

Dharma: conduct your duties with compassion towards all beings. Forbearance,
absences of jealousy, purity, tranquility, goodness, absences of cruelty and
absence of greed.

Artha: earning money by honest means to provide for your family; acquiring
wealth and power

Karma: pursuing lover and physical pleasures to balance life and to sanctify
marriage

Moksha: Leading the soul towards salvation, through honest, moral actions.

Women In Hinduism

The Manu, or Hindu Law book, gives different views on the role and status of
Women.

“Women must be honoured and adored by their fathers, husbands, brothers, and
brothers-in-law who desire welfare. Where women are honoured, there the Gods
are pleased, but where they are not honoured, no sacrifice yields reward.”

Laws of Man 3.56

By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done
independently, even in her own house. In childhood a female must be subject to
her father, in her youth to her husband, where her lord is dead, to her sons; a
woman must never be independent.”

Laws of Manu 5.147-148

The second passage is closer to the reality of Hindu life for women, especially
those in lower castes.

Divorce is not encouraged, but allowed.

As women work outside the home, roles are changing, but most still do the bulk
of household work.

The government and other institutions are doing more to provide opportunities
for women to develop skills and join the workforce.

However, women from higher castes have been working for years; becoming
doctors, professors, authors, lawyers, parliamentarians, officers in the military,
etc.

One of the first three female Prime Ministers in the world was Indira Gandhi,
and her aunt was the first female president of the United Nations.

Questions

Explain the difference between:

1.Atman and Brahman

2.

Dharma and Karma

3.

Samsara and Moksha

Summarize the responsibilities of a Hindu at each stage of life. Each stage is
roughly twenty-five years. How are your responsibilities similar at each stage?
How are they different?

Open Ended

Explain the difference between:

1. Atman and Brahman

2. Dharma and Karma

3. Samsara and Moksha

Open Ended

Summarize the responsibilities of a Hindu at each stage of life.  Each stage is roughly twenty-five years.  How are your responsibilities similar at each stage? How are they different?

Questions

Write a short letter to a female Hindu Goddess about the role of women in
Hinduism. Outline your concerns about how women fit into the society.

Word Cloud

Write 1 to 2 words of how you would describe the female role in Hindu society.