The Caste System of India = The Racism of Today
India’s caste system is among the world’s oldest forms of surviving social stratification.
Manusmriti, widely regarded to be the most important and authoritative book on Hindu law and dating back to at least 1,000 years before Christ was born, “acknowledges and justifies the caste system as the basis of order and regularity of society”.
The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Many believe that the groups originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation.
At the top of the hierarchy were the Brahmins who were mainly teachers and intellectuals and are believed to have come from Brahma’s head. Then came the Kshatriyas, or the warriors and rulers, supposedly from his arms. The third slot went to the Vaishyas, or the traders, who were created from his thighs. At the bottom of the heap were the Shudras, who came from Brahma’s feet and did all the menial jobs.
The main castes were further divided into about 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes, each based on their specific occupation.
Outside of this Hindu caste system were the achhoots – the Dalits or the untouchables.
For centuries, caste has dictated almost every aspect of Hindu religious and social life, with each group occupying a specific place in this complex hierarchy.
Rural communities have long been arranged on the basis of castes – the upper and lower castes almost always lived in segregated colonies, the water wells were not shared, Brahmins would not accept food or drink from the Shudras, and one could marry only within one’s caste. The system bestowed many privileges on the upper castes while sanctioning repression of the lower castes by privileged groups.
Racism, just like a long-running play in our day-to-day lives, rises the curtain of an epic proportion, that has been playing for centuries. The actors wear the costume of their predecessors and inhibit the roles assigned to them. The people in these roles are not the character they play, but they have played the roles long enough to incorporate the roles into their very beings, to merge the assignments with their inner selves and how they are seen in the world. These roles were handed out at birth and can never be changed. They cue everyone in the cast to the roles each character plays and to each character’s place on the stage. Over the run of the show, the cast grows accustomed to who plays which part. Everyone knows who the lead role is, he’s the center stage or the hero, who the supporting characters are, the sidekicks, and who is in the shadow, the undifferentiated chorus with no lines to speak, no voice to sing, but necessary for the production to work. The characters have stayed in their roles so long that they begin to believe that the roles they play are preordained, that each cast is best suited for their assigned roles, and that they belong there and were meant to be cast as they are currently seen. If they stick to their script and to the part they play, they get rewarded. If they veer from the script, they will face consequences. If they veer from the script, the other cast will remind them where they went off the script. Do it too often or at a critical moment and they may be fired, demoted, cast out, or the character may be conveniently killed off the plot.
But in reality, we are not the roles we play. When we are cast to the roles we are not ourselves. We’re not supposed to be ourselves, we perform based on the production.
When teaching yoga, this is a very important aspect to see.
– Do you see the role you were given?
– Do you stick to the role?
– Are you aware of and sensitive to ethical and cultural considerations that may affect the practice and experience of students?
– Do you recognize and respect the diversity of cultures and backgrounds of students who may come from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds?
– Are you mindful of the cultural significance of the practices you are teaching and avoid misrepresenting or appropriating these practices?
– What strategies do you implement in order to create a more equitable and inclusive environment for all students, regardless of their background or abilities?
I have been thinking of writing this for months, I just didn’t want to sound like I’m preaching. I just want to hold the mirror to all of us yoga teachers so we can reflect on the roles we play and maybe by looking at ourselves, we get back to the very important principle of Bhava Karuna.
If you feel you need to talk about this, give me a quick line, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Sources:
Manusmriti the Laws of Manu – Introduction: https://hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/hinduism/dharma/manusmriti.asp
Caste. The Origin of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson
Attitudes About Caste: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/06/29/attitudes-about-caste/