Brief Notes on Hinduism, Caste and Hierarchy (and Islam, at the end)
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, that believes in many gods. Life is seen as an endless cycle
of birth, death and rebirth, termed reincarnation and transmigration. Eventually, one is able to
break out of this cycle and achieve moksha, unity with the universal oneness. Where one’s soul
is
situated in this cycle is dependent upon one’s karma, a sort of balance sheet of the good and bad
deeds one's soul has ever committed. When a soul is reborn, it is born into the family, clan
(biradari), sub-caste (jati) and caste (jat) in which that soul was meant to be born, and must now
fulfill its dharma, ritual obligations unique to the position it is born into. For example, if one is
born into a warrior caste, then that individual should strive to be the greatest prince or princess
ever; if one is born into a pot-making caste, then that individual should strive to be the greatest
potter ever.
Some scholars have argued that karma and dharma are anti-materialistic, and that these
concepts
favor fatalism, resignation, other-worldliness and asceticism. Alternatively, the "Bhagavad Gita"
(a section of the Mahabharata -- the Great Tale of India -- meaning "Song of God")
emphasizes
living a life of action without attachments. Therefore, dharma can also be understood to support
the concept of success: both karma and dharma can be understood as supporting materialistic-
oriented actions.
In Hinduism, the principal attribute of the gods is shakti (power). Sacrifices are offered to many
gods, usually specific to an area. Gradually, this is transposed into seeing a trilogy of powerful
gods which we can refer to as the Sanskritic or Great Tradition: Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu
(the Sustainer), and Shiva (the Destroyer).
We simultaneously see a concentration of power into the hands of a few important dynasties in
India: the Mauryan dynasty of King Ashoka (about 250 B.C., who established a model of the
"Great Empire" for India, and whose symbol, the wheel, is now on the national flag of India),
then the Gupta dynasty (200-400 A.D.), and finally that of the Emperor Harsha. Initially, there
had been no concentration of power: as there had been a pantheon of thousands of gods, so too
there had been a virtual pantheon of small rulers. As power is concentrated, we see some gods
becoming more popular in public thought than others.
Hindu society was one of the first civilizations to make a distinction between religious authority
and temporal power, or ‘this-worldly' power. From this distinction, what evolved in India is a
highly articulate stratification system based on hierarchy, which is legitimated by religious belief
and implemented through the jajmani (caste) system.
Hindu social structure and kinship patterns, derived from the jajmani system, are so pervasive
that they strongly affect all social groups in India, not just Hindus. The resultant hierarchical
orientation manifests in all social encounters. For example, there are no peer relationships in a
family; genealogical age (not chronological) often determines formal behavior, which manifests
through the common usage of denotative kinship terms.
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, that believes in many gods. Life is seen as an endless cycle
of birth, death and rebirth, termed reincarnation and transmigration. Eventually, one is able to
break out of this cycle and achieve moksha, unity with the universal oneness. Where one’s soul
is
situated in this cycle is dependent upon one’s karma, a sort of balance sheet of the good and bad
deeds one's soul has ever committed. When a soul is reborn, it is born into the family, clan
(biradari), sub-caste (jati) and caste (jat) in which that soul was meant to be born, and must now
fulfill its dharma, ritual obligations unique to the position it is born into. For example, if one is
born into a warrior caste, then that individual should strive to be the greatest prince or princess
ever; if one is born into a pot-making caste, then that individual should strive to be the greatest
potter ever.
Some scholars have argued that karma and dharma are anti-materialistic, and that these
concepts
favor fatalism, resignation, other-worldliness and asceticism. Alternatively, the "Bhagavad Gita"
(a section of the Mahabharata -- the Great Tale of India -- meaning "Song of God")
emphasizes
living a life of action without attachments. Therefore, dharma can also be understood to support
the concept of success: both karma and dharma can be understood as supporting materialistic-
oriented actions.
In Hinduism, the principal attribute of the gods is shakti (power). Sacrifices are offered to many
gods, usually specific to an area. Gradually, this is transposed into seeing a trilogy of powerful
gods which we can refer to as the Sanskritic or Great Tradition: Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu
(the Sustainer), and Shiva (the Destroyer).
We simultaneously see a concentration of power into the hands of a few important dynasties in
India: the Mauryan dynasty of King Ashoka (about 250 B.C., who established a model of the
"Great Empire" for India, and whose symbol, the wheel, is now on the national flag of India),
then the Gupta dynasty (200-400 A.D.), and finally that of the Emperor Harsha. Initially, there
had been no concentration of power: as there had been a pantheon of thousands of gods, so too
there had been a virtual pantheon of small rulers. As power is concentrated, we see some gods
becoming more popular in public thought than others.
Hindu society was one of the first civilizations to make a distinction between religious authority
and temporal power, or ‘this-worldly' power. From this distinction, what evolved in India is a
highly articulate stratification system based on hierarchy, which is legitimated by religious belief
and implemented through the jajmani (caste) system.
Hindu social structure and kinship patterns, derived from the jajmani system, are so pervasive
that they strongly affect all social groups in India, not just Hindus. The resultant hierarchical
orientation manifests in all social encounters. For example, there are no peer relationships in a
family; genealogical age (not chronological) often determines formal behavior, which manifests
through the common usage of denotative kinship terms.
