Caste System and Hinduism

We are on our way to Madras which is an administrative subdivision of our company. I noticed some interesting things during the trip, for example, our Indian guide who is a priest yells at his daughter for talking to the son of a peasant.

 An Indian Priest, Kamura                Priest's daughter, Diljan 

       

       I asked Lakshmana who is another Indian guide on the train. His answer to my question really surprised me. He said that people from different caste can neither talk nor eat together. 

       I heard about caste system before, but I thought it is just another term for social hierarchy. I mean, in England, we also have social hierarchy. But at least we can talk to a person who is from a higher or lower social rank. 

       However, caste system is a extremely strict religious and social order. People can only talk to, eat with, and marry to people who are in the same caste with them. And, there is NO social mobility, you belong to the same caste for your whole life and past your caste to your descendants. If your are a priest or a teacher , then you are in the highest caste, brahmans. Warriors are in the Kshatriyas, landowners and workers are in Vaisya system, peasants and servants are in sudra caste. 

       I will be in Sudra caste if I am an Indian because my parents are both workers in the factory. Caste system is based on blood, which means I am in the same caste that my parents are in. 

Sudra Caste

       Also, Kamura told me that caste system is strongly related with Hinduism. Hindu believes that your soul will never die with your body, it will reborn. And if you take your Dharma which means your duty to your caste, you will get good Karma which means your caste will ascend when you reborn. 

       I think this belief keeps people and everything in order. People take their responsibility because they believe in reincarnation and caste system, so they can still function together very well even though they don't have a very strong government now. 

       Then I get very interested in Hinduism, so I asked him if he can teach me something about this religion. 

       As we mentioned before, Hinduism is largely based on caste system. Hindu also believes in reincarnation which means that your soul will reborn when your body dead. Their final goal is to achieve Moksha, which is the state that your soul is released from body and life cycle. 

     Hinduism is polytheistic, in fact, they have thousands of gods. The most important three gods are Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. We call them the Holy Trinity of Hinduism.

     Brahma is the Creator, he creates everything includes Shiva and Vishnu. He has 4 heads, and each one represents one from Vedas. He is also the God of sacrifice. Compare to other gods, he seems very peaceful because he doesn't hold any weapons.

Brahma

     Shiva is the Destroyer, and she also represents the regeneration. He appears as naked. He is encircles with serpents and demons, and he also wears a necklace that made of skulls. He is depicted as white, with a dark blue throat, with several arms and three eyes. In myths, his third eye provides him perception beyond ordinary sight. 

      The fact that he represents both death and regeneration suggests that Hinduism believe in the life cycle. They treats death as a new beginning rather than the end.

The Shiva that I painted

      Vishnu is also a major god in Hinduism. He is the preserver of the universe. He has thousands of names and appearances. 

First Incarnation of Vishnu

Third Incarnation of Vishnu

      In Hinduism, may gods are depicted as blue. Vishnu is depicted as blue because he is associated with water. In Hinduism, gods who have depth of character and the capacity to fight evil are depicted as blue skinned.