The Caste System
Sakulkiatpotchana 1
“James” Theerapatr Sakulkiatpotchana
Mr. Jeffrey Steers
Current Events
16 May 2013
The Caste System
The Caste system is “Social hierarchy distinguishing India’s social structure from any other nation”(mtholyoke.edu, epandit). The caste system was used to control people and separate them from each other. Date back to 1200 BCE, caste is used to identify a group of people having a specific social rank. Most of the history seemed to disappear and change through time and generations. The history was transmitted orally by speeches. The caste system affected the status of people, meaning who you can talk with, what you can do, and what you must not do.
After each life, the soul does not disappear but it just goes back to a spiritual world, a soul gets reborn into a new life and into a different form. Virtuousness is the main factor of reincarnation. Each soul had different behavior from their previous life, each good and bad actions also called karma. The highest souls can become the lowest forms as the lowest forms can become the best forms in the human world. Shudra caste could be rewarded with rebirth as a Brahmin, if Shudra persevere for the virtuousness.
Not just the human society that the soul can transfer to, they can also be formed as animals, vegetables, or even some material forms such as rocks. Within a lifecycle, people had to strive for virtue, diligent for good morals to attain a higher class the next life.
Sakulkiatpotchana 2
Reincarnation led people to do good in present time for beneficial of next life.
Powerful warriors were the most important factor to conquer all the nations at that time. Nomadic warriors known as Aryans, with fair skin, arrived in India from south
Europe and North Asia. Before their arrival there were other
“James” Theerapatr Sakulkiatpotchana
Mr. Jeffrey Steers
Current Events
16 May 2013
The Caste System
The Caste system is “Social hierarchy distinguishing India’s social structure from any other nation”(mtholyoke.edu, epandit). The caste system was used to control people and separate them from each other. Date back to 1200 BCE, caste is used to identify a group of people having a specific social rank. Most of the history seemed to disappear and change through time and generations. The history was transmitted orally by speeches. The caste system affected the status of people, meaning who you can talk with, what you can do, and what you must not do.
After each life, the soul does not disappear but it just goes back to a spiritual world, a soul gets reborn into a new life and into a different form. Virtuousness is the main factor of reincarnation. Each soul had different behavior from their previous life, each good and bad actions also called karma. The highest souls can become the lowest forms as the lowest forms can become the best forms in the human world. Shudra caste could be rewarded with rebirth as a Brahmin, if Shudra persevere for the virtuousness.
Not just the human society that the soul can transfer to, they can also be formed as animals, vegetables, or even some material forms such as rocks. Within a lifecycle, people had to strive for virtue, diligent for good morals to attain a higher class the next life.
Sakulkiatpotchana 2
Reincarnation led people to do good in present time for beneficial of next life.
Powerful warriors were the most important factor to conquer all the nations at that time. Nomadic warriors known as Aryans, with fair skin, arrived in India from south
Europe and North Asia. Before their arrival there were other
Cited: History of the Caste system in India. Moutholyoke by epandit, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~epandit/page2.html> Caste in Modern India. Moutholyoke by epandit, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~epandit/page3.html> Apr. 2013. <http://asianhistory.about.com/od/india/p/indiancastesystem.htm> The Caste System. Victorianweb, Desmond Kuah ‘04, Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/india/caste.html> History of the Indian caste system, Wikipedia, Web. 28 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. Bowden, Rob, and Darryl Humble. India: Changing World. Mankato: Arcturus Publishing, 2013. Print. Years in a North Indian Village. London: University of California Press, LTD, 1963, 1971, 2000. Print.