Hindu Caste System Myths & Misconceptions answered

Discussion in 'Myths and Misconceptions' started by garry420, Jan 17, 2016.

  1. garry420

    garry420 Well-Known Member

    Question: Why Hinduism has divided people into Casts? it's Castesm that has created problem today in society?

    Answer: Many people have misconception about Sanatan Dharma that it has provision for Castism which is not right. there is no castism in Sanatan Dharma, There is provision for Varna's (class) in which people were classified into four classes with relation to their aptitude and vocation. Four orders of society were recognized based upon the four duties of human beings and established society accordingly.It's completely upto person what varna he/she wants to choose and live life according to that, Varna has more than four meanings, first it means "Color" and second it means a "Veil" & third is "which is chosen" and fourth is "Race", As color it does not refer to the color of the skin of people, but to the qualities or energies of human nature. As a veil or class it shows the four different ways in which the Divine Self is hidden in human beings. Varna is not made to discriminate but to assimilate in a way to support the organized behavior of society or country by assigning social/cultural/individual duties i.e Dharma accordingly. Varna is a Sanskrit word made up of "VRIN" dhatu which means "Something which is chosen" i.e it's not superimposed but is selectively chosen by any individual. A similar usage happens in common used word “Varan” meaning “choosing” or “Var” meaning a husband chosen by the girl. This also shows that in Vedic system the girl had complete rights to choose her husband.

    In ancient India, these divisions were not based on birth but based on Qualifications & Skills or you can say Varna of any person depends on what skills & qualities person has & the way he contributes to society for his own living.

    There are four Varna's in Sanatan Dharma :- Bhramin, Khatriya, Vaishye and Kshudra.If any person who is doing business i.e has got business skills, that person belongs to the Vashye Varna.

    Any person who is a warier or serving in defense or security of the nation or is soldier in army or anywhere working or contributing in defense he is Kshatriye,

    A person who is knowledgeable and spread education in society through teachings or a person who can also be supreme advisor of the king who assists king to take right decisions, who is brain behind societies welfare and growth belongs to the Bhramin Varna. Bramins are also seen as the deity of the earth. A persons who may be laborer's or service providers, mostly workers in any factory or company, or in short person who most of the time executes or follows the orders of Kshatriya or Vaishya or Brahmin's belongs to the Kshudra Varna.

    In Hinduism varna is not assigned on the basis of Birth, Dynasty or Last Name, Any person can change his Varna by changing his work and skills like doctor can also become an actor or an merchant.. all 4 varnas are equal as human being and have same human rights but they will have different set of powers and responsibility on them thus there will we difference of respect between these 4 designations.

    In Ancient India there were Rishis (Sages or Researchers) like Rishi Vedvyasa who wrote Baghwat Gita, his mother was a Fisher Women & belonged to Kshudra Varna but her son Vedvyasa was a Bramin, Similarly there was another rishi Valmiki who wrote the Ramayana belongs to a dalit family (Kshudra) but valmiki was bramin because of his Guna (i.e Skills or Qualites) and Karma (Duties or Responsibilities), Similarly there was rishi Vishwamitra guru of lord Rama, Vishwamirta belongs to Kshatriya family but he was bramin himself, So by this you can understand that KARMA's and GUNA (Skills or Qualities) of any individual decided his/her Varna.

    So it is possible, that any person who is Shudra many have Bramin ancestors several generations ago, and any Bramin may have Shudra ancestors few generations ago!

    In fact Manu Smriti 3.109 clearly states that one who eats by glorifying his Family's Varna or Status is considered an eater of his own vomit. Thus, as per the Manu Smriti that the self-proclaimed birth-based Brahmins or upper-castes believe in, the very act of glorifying their varna to demand special privileges makes them deserving of condemnation.

    Misconceptions about Varna's begun after the Muslim rule in India, Muslim invaders destroyed Hindu culture killed more than 100 Million Hindu's , forcefully convert bramin's into Islam, demolished more than 40,000 Hindu temples, burned many Vedic litretures, and after that British did the rest of the manipulations in Vedic text books and did religious conversions. It's was after this era all confusions started about these concepts.

    Question: Does a new born child have any varna?

    Answer: No, a child cannot have any varna, b'coz child cannot have enough maturity to decide and choose Varna in which he is interested. A child is not even Arya (civilized) & he/she remains Anarya until he/she completes his/her education and chooses any one of the four varna.

    Question: Can i change my varna 10 times a day?

    Answer: you can change Million times a day, but this will be nonsense, if people goes like this then society will loose it's balance & it will become much difficult to manage such kind of society or country. There are several shlokas in Manusmriti that state that a person belonging to high Varna falls down to level of a Shudra (uneducated) if he does not conduct noble deeds. So, you just need to ignore your duties & responsibilities the society and corporate system in country will change your varna in anyway grin emoticon smile emoticon

    Question: Which varna is worst & filthy among all four you mentioned?

    Answer: Non-sense question, all varna's are same and have equal respect & value at the level of humanity, the difference occurs at the level of duties, designations and responsibilities. An employee must respect his manager and follow his orders, but a manager need not to follow orders of his subordinates.

    Question: Does Manusmriti teaches your society to gives equal respect to Shudra also ?

    Answer: Manu was a great humanitarian. He knew that not all Shudras miss their education deliberately. Thus he ensured that even Shudras should also get their due respect in society. Thus he never used any insulting adjective for Shudras. On contrary their are several instances of Manu using respectful adjectives for Shudras. According to Maharishi Manu: Being vulnerable due to lack of education, Shudras deserve greater sensitivity in treatment from rest of the society.

    Manusmriti Says:





    Question: Okay if that is so, then, Can a Shudra become teacher of Bramin?

    Answer: According to Manusmriti, YES, Even Shudras can teach
    Manusmriti says:
    9.Though Shudra means an uneducated person but skilled (eg carpenter etc) & civilized person, a Shudra can also become a teacher for specific knowledge that he has about his skills.



    Question: Does Shudras have right to study Vedas and conduct Vedic rituals?

    Answer: Vedas very clearly provided right to Shudras (and women) – in fact entire humanity – to study Vedas and conduct Vedic rituals like Yajna. Refer Yajurveda 26.1, Rigveda 10.53.4, Nirukta 3.8 etc.


    Question: If a person after acquiring all the knowledge & skills that a Bramin should have, behaves or serves not in a way a Bramin should serve a society, then would that person still be called as Bramin?

    Answer: ManuSmriti says: 2.157: A Brahmin devoid of education\skills or duties is equivalent to an elephant made of wood or a deer made of leather. They are merely namesake and not real.
    2.28: The body is made fit to be called Brahmin only through study of scriptures, discipline, noble selfless deeds, study of duties, science, mathematics and meditation, charity and goal oriented actions.

    Question: Why today we see people asking for reservations on the name of casts like dalits?

    Answer: Constitution has special provisions for Schedule casts & tribes, and the parameter they have kept for detecting any schedule caste is their Last Name, whereas it should have been Skills & Profession. There are plenty of people with name Yadav who became IAS officers but still take benefits of schedule casts & think themselves as shudra's. Another reason is Politics, Politicians themselves don't want to reveal the real concepts, coz that will make them loose their votes.
  2. garry420

    garry420 Well-Known Member

    Question: Then why Dronacharya refused to teach Eklavya & Why parshuram cursed karan when he came to know that he belongs to Kshatriya family?

    Answer: Eklavya was the son of Hiranyadhanus who was King Jarasandha's chief equestrian and was the leader of the Nishadhas, i.e Eklavya was a young prince of the Nishadha. Dronacharya was royal preceptor to Kauravas and Pandavas only, so by the laws he was allowed to teach & reveal his weaponry and martial art. to royal personalities of Hastinapur Kindom only, So this became the prime reason for him to refuse Eklavya & Karana both,But because Eklavya was self-motivated and was determined to learn from Drona, He practiced the arts of Drona in front of Drona's image. When Drona and his more fortunate disciples came to practice in the forest, Eklavya used to secretly watch from behind the trees and build upon those tips by self-practicing and showing his work to the pseudo guru he created himself in the image of Drona.

    One day when Drona and his students were going out into the forest, Arjuna saw a dog that was unable to bark due to an amazing construction of arrows all around his mouth, due to which that dog was not able to bark. Drona was amazed, but also distressed. His favorite student, Drona and his students investigated, and found Eklavya, practicing archery with a mud statue of Drona looking over him. Eklavya, upon seeing Drona, came and bowed to him.

    Drona asked Eklavya where he had learnt archery. Eklavya replied "Under you, Guruji", and showed Drona his statue.

    Dronacharya thought, dogs naturally bark if they see any strange object or person, that is the nature(Dharma) of Dogs, and Ekalavya harmed a dog behaving naturally(exercising dharma), he is a dangerous person and if this dangerous person practices archery he will cause lot of chaos in the world by troubling innocent beings, so Drona decided to stop him for well being of society. Drona then said "For a Guru to have a deciple, the deciple must be ready to offer his guru a Guru-dakshina". Dronacharya asked for his thumb as Guru dakshina, Eklavya took out his knife, and without hesitation sliced off his thumb and offered it to Drona. Later predictions of Drona about Eklavya also came true about Eklavya, He was killed in battle by Krishna, who hurled a rock at him.

    Finally, why Parshuram cursed Karan?,

    One afternoon Parashurama was somewhat tired. He rested with his head in Karna's lap. He fell asleep. At that time a bee flew in from somewhere. Flying hither and thither it settled on Karna's thigh. Within a few minutes it began to bore Karna's thigh. Karna could not attempt to drive it away. Even a slight movement of his thigh would disturb his master. So inspire of the increasing pain Karna sat still. He thought that his suffering did not matter if the teacher's sleep was not to be disturbed. The bee continued to bore Karna's thigh. Blood began to ooze from the thigh. The blood touched Parashurama's cheek, He woke up and said:

    "What is this, child? Where did so much blood come from?"

    Karna explained what had happened.

    Asked Parashurama: "Did you put up with so much pain without a murmur?"

    "The pain did not seem unbear able to me."

    Parashurama was surprised. He looked at Karna from head to foot. He had all along assumed that Karna was a Brahmin boy. But a soft-bodied Brahmin could not have endured so much pain. Karna was not a Brahmin. Thus, Parashuram, who had sworn vengeance against all Kshatriyas suspected strongly that Karna belongs to Kshatriya dynasty. Angrily he spoke to Karna in a harsh voice:

    "You, Karna I"

    "Yes, master?"

    "Tell me the truth, who are you? Have you not hidden something from me?"

    "What have I hidden, I do not "Are you a Brahmin boy? Tell me, tell me the truth."

    Karna did not reply. He stood silent, with his head bowed. as per Karna's knowledge he was really the son of Adhiratha who brought him up, Adhiratha was a charioteer. Karna, was a charioteer's son (Soot Putra); neither a Brahmin nor a Kshatriyas, Karan did't knew he belongs to the family of Kshatriya's, What answer could he give to his teacher? He was Miserable and filled with fear. Karna's silence convinced Parashurama that his suspicion was confirmed, So that made Parshuram to Curse Karna.

    Question: Who are Achuut (Untouchables) in Hindus?

    Answer: There is no word like achuut mentioned for any person anywhere in any vedic texts, also these is a word Chandala this also does not mean untouchable, this ill concept came after muslim invasion in India, many people who did't even had proper skills or knowledge to even read and chant vedic mantras or texts became self proclaimed brahmins and started exploiting & looting poor illiterate people for their personal benefits. Secondly , yes this is true that bramin, rishi's or sadhu's avoid touching people even if the other person is also brahmin, the reason behind that is electro-magnetic field (the aura), every person has this aura around his body, but this aura has high intensity & range in yogi's, bramins & rishi's,
    also their aura used to be extremely uniform and pure (undisturbed), these rishi's or brahmins chant several mantras to increase their power & range & purity of aura, thus during that period they avoid touching other person in order to protect their aura from getting disturbed. But due to unawareness many people thought may be Anarya's are achuut's, thus they stared disrespecting them. Do you remember lord Ramji's friend Guhu who was King of Nishaad's & a great devotee of Lord Rama, how Ramji embraced him like his own brother, remember that boatmen (Kevat) whose job was to unload people on the opposite side of the bank, kevat was adamant and told Guha that he would like to wash Lord's feet before he got into the boat, Lord Rama appreciated his pure and innocent faith and let him what he wanted to do, Both Guha & Kevat were Anarya's i.e they were not even Shudra's, but if there would have anything like untouchablility then why would have Lord Rama let them touch.

    Question: If this is the case then why many Bramin's and Saints let follows to touch them or their feets?

    Answer: Take an example of Surgeon who is in process of conducting a surgery, he will wash & clean himself, sanitize his entire body before conducting that surgery of patient, Now think you are also there to see him (surgeon), will he let you do handshake or a hug? 　 No, he will give you a smile or will talk you for a short while but he will not let you to touch him, b'coz then bacteria on your clothes will reach to his clothes and may then reach to the patient also, so he (Surgeon) will stay careful while interaction, but once he performs and finishes entire surgery, he could touch you, he will let you to hug him embrace him, whatever smile emoticon , Similarly Rishi's take enough precautions which doing anusthans, yagna's, mantra jap etc etc.

    Question: What is the meaning of “Savarna” & “Avarna”?

    Answer: Savarna is civilized one who's Qualities & Skills fit him/her into any of the 4 varna's, i.e one who is Arya. Avarna is one who is uncivilized with no skills & knowledge, i.e one who is Anarya.

    Question: If Varna is based on Guna-Karma ( Gita 4:13) ,then why is the word “Varna Shankara” translated as “Mixture of castes” by the most of the commentators including Shankara?

    Answer: Varna sankar is someone whose parents belong to two different varna's. For example if someone's mother belongs to Bramin varna and father to Shudra varna, then the genetics of their child will neither inherit 100% pure bramin qualities nor 100% pure Shudra qualities, thus that person is known as varna sankara untill later he aquires proper skill and qualities through his/her education & practice. Varna sankara are also who are result of cross breeds or different races, like child of american father & African mother or viceversa, so that child will neither inherit pure American qualities nor pure African qualities. lastly if any women conceives child without marriage, then that child is also said as varna sankara, but remember word Varna is a Sanskrit word and has many meanings like Color, Race, Veil and "one which is chosen", so you have to be careful where it means what.

    Question: Why did Rama kill Shambuka, was it because he was Shudra?

    Answer: Ramji found Shambhuka doing Tapasya. on being asked the reason he said, that he was a shudra and doing tapasya to win over Indra, take his place and become new Indra of heaven. as shudra & vaishya doing tapasya was also adharm (against law) in satyug & tretayug, due to his extreme penance his body started emitting extremely high intensity radiations (similarly what happened in case of Rishi Vishwamitra when he was doing tapasya for 1000 years) due to which a very young age boy lost his life, so it was essential for a king to punish him to set example for others. All deities were very tensed & frightened due to his penance,thus they decided to request Narad muni ji to inform Ramji about this & suggest to help them.

    If Lord Rama would have been caste biased, then why would he kill Ravana, who was Brahmin? Lord Rama meets Shabari ,old woman belonging to lower caste family, Lord Rama accepted her half-eaten fruits.
    Also Lord ram embraced Guha who was Nishada King (out caste,not even lower class).
  3. garry420

    garry420 Well-Known Member

    Question: What is the meaning of Dwija? Why are Non-Dwijas not considered for Upanayana (Sacred thread ceremony) by the Manu Smrithi & Yajnavalkya Smrithi?

    Answer: Dvija (Sanskrit for "twice-born") is a male member of the first three varnas in Brahmanical Hindu society: the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas are included in the Dvija category. As i "Dvija" means "twice-born", the first birth is physical, while the second birth is a 'spiritual' one or after acquiring education, knowledge & skills to serve the society, i. e The second 'birth' occurs when one uptakes fulfilling a role in society, at the time of Upanayana initiation ceremony. For example, a Brahmin is initiated into the ultimate pursuit of life Brahmopadesha (Preaching/Advising in the matter of the nature of Brahman, the ultimate reality). Traditionally, a Kshatraiya would start learning the use of arms, while a Vaishya would start a trade apprenticeship. The ancient Asvalayana sutra indicates that a non-dvija child may also be inducted into the Dvija category, if he wishes to pursue the duties associated with these varnas.

    Manusmriti says: Education is the true birth.

    So, Those who were unable to complete the education remain Shudra. This has nothing to do with birth or heredity. This is pure meritocracy. Like a person who could not able to get high score in CAT will not be able to study in IIT or IIM. Similarly same was the reason Uneducated one's i.e Non-Dwijas not considered fit for Upanayana Sanskara according to Manu Smrithi. smile emoticon
    but stll many scholars says, nowhere in the context of Upanayan (education initiation) does Manu forbid Upanayan or sacred thread for Shudras. On contrary Manu said, one who refuses to accept Sacred Thread of education is called a Shudra!

    This also means that merely because a person did not complete education does not make him a villain. He is still regarded as a noble person if his deeds are noble. And if he completes the education, he can become a Dwija as well. Thus Shudra is an adjective and NOT a nomenclature for any castes.

    Finally , Manusmriti says:




    Never insult anyone born in lower family:



    Question: Okay, Can you provide some other example of Varna migration apart from Vishwamitra or Valmiki in ancient time?

    Answer: Sure, here are those examples:-


    c ) Satyakaam Jaabaal was son of a prostitute but became a Brahmin.




    f ) Dhrist was son of Nabhag (Vaishya) but became Brahmin and his son became Kshatriya (VP 4.2.2)

    g ) Further in his generation, some became Brahmin again (VP 9.2.23)

    h ) As per Bhagvat, Agniveshya became Brahmin though born to a king.

    i ) Rathotar born in Kshatriya family became a Brahmin as per Vishnu Puran and Bhagvat.

    j ) Haarit became Brahmin though born to Kshatriya (VP 4.3.5)


    Similar examples exist of Gritsamad, Veethavya and Vritsamati.

    l ) Matanga was son of Chandal but became a Brahmin. (Mahabharat Anushasan Parva Chapter 3)

    m ) Raavan was born from Pulatsya Rishi but became a Rakshas.

    n ) Pravriddha was son of Raghu King but became a Rakshas.

    o ) Trishanku was a king but became a Chandal(who is not even considered Arya) .

    p ) Sons of Vishwamitra became Shudra. Vishwamitra himself was a Kshatriya who later became a Brahmin.

    q ) Vidur was son of a servant but became a Brahmin and minister of Hastinapur empire.

    r ) Vatsa became a Rishi though born to a Shudra (Aitareya Brahman 2.19)


    Question: Isn't it truth that, Manu legalized harsh punishments for Shudras and special provisions for upper-castes and especially Brahmins.?

    Answer: No, There are few things about which many people are unaware, like at the time when India was under British rule, people like Macalay & Willum Hunter who were Sanskrit scholars added & manipulated many verses in Manusmriti and other vedic text books, with intention to divide & rule on Hindus & also do religious conversions of Shudras, Willum Hunter also submitted a complete report at British Court mentioning details about the manipulations he made in vedic books.
    This is the reason why you may see some verses provoking other 3 casts to give harsh punishments to Shudra especially. Where as the truth is Manu kept harshest punishments on crimes for those who are well educated like Bramins then Kshatriyas and then Vaishya, mercy is mostly for those who are Shudra's or not even Arya's.

    Also in some english translations of Manusmriti, you may see words like "Slave" for Shudra's, whereas there is no such word used anywhere in any of the Vedic Books or Manusmriti, whereas you can see words like Sevak, this word was also used of Lord Rama, Dashratha, Lakshman, Sita, Janak etc. Another synonym for word "Sevak" is "Das", Sewak is bound by his Dharma (duties) only, and shastra says Sewak gets free of his duties if his Swami tells him to do Adharma i.e something which is not his duty. On the other hand synonym for word "Slave" is "Gulam", who do not have any human rights, he cannot even think to resign else he could be killed by his owner. Today our Prime Minister is also a Sevak of Praja.


    Several gotras are common across Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Dalits implying that all of them hailed from same family but rather got entrapped in the stupid casteism. So now you know that Varna is not made to discriminate but to assimilate in a way to support the organized behavior of society or country by assigning social/cultural/individual duties i.e Dharma accordingly.

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