Hinduism & “Caste”
A Trilogy: How Caste was created, How it is evolving, and Where it might go!
How does an average American view caste?
The question assumes significance in view of the passing of laws and measures taken by various universities and some cities in adding caste to their protected categories. If any of these polices and laws lead to a trial on caste discrimination how would a jury of ordinary Americans view the case?
Where does “caste” come from?
Despite its presumed centrality to life in the Indian subcontinent, “caste” is not a term found in any of the region’s numerous languages. Rather the term has its genesis in the ‘casta’ system of colonial Portugal and Spain and arrived in the 16th century via the Inquisition. This was later utilized by the British colonial administration in India.
It is thus not native to Hinduism or any indigenous Indian religion. They followed more complex, nuanced and flexible systems, including systems based on Varna and Jati. These are distinct concepts and should not be conflated with each other or with “caste”
The notorious British census surveys changed this forever, by conflating various terms into one term, and forcing Indians to categorize themselves by an occupation, and birth based ‘caste’ thus erroneously linking them forever. Recent years have encouraged many to discard this colonial lens, to go directly to the source, Hinduism’s ancient texts, to uncover facts hidden in plain sight and decipher for the modern world the evolution and history of these native social structures.
A 2023 survey by CoHNA revealed how mainstream Americans view the issue.
History and Scripture
Despite its presumed centrality to life in the modern day Indian subcontinent, “caste” is not a term found in any of the region’s numerous languages. On the contrary, the word caste has its genesis in the ‘casta’ system of colonial Portugal and Spain and arrived in India during the 16th century via the Inquisition.
Caste is thus not native to Hinduism or any indigenous Indian religion, which followed more complex, nuanced and flexible systems, including systems based on Varna and Jati. These are distinct concepts and should not be conflated with each other or with “caste”.
The notorious census surveys from later British colonial administrators changed this forever, by conflating various distinct concepts into one term, and forcing Indians to categorize themselves by an occupation, and birth based ‘caste’, thus erroneously linking them. Recent years have encouraged many to discard this colonial lens, to go directly to the source, Hinduism’s ancient texts, to uncover facts hidden in plain sight and decipher for the modern world the evolution and history of these native social structures.
Find out what Hindu Scriptures say:
Jaati and Varna are not ‘Caste’!
The Sanskrit texts refer to two words, one is Jaati/जाति which defines your or your familial profession/occupation which could be an engineer, doctor, jeweler, businessman, soldier etc. in the contemporary context.
Varna/वर्ण on the other hand is something entirely different. It has nothing to do with the family you are born in or any other aspect of your physical identity, but everything to do with your mental setup or Vrutti/वृत्ति. Read more…