Ancient India -- Society (New)

The system of dividing society into classes.​

Your are born into the same caste as your parents.

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The caste that someone belongs to is based on their wealth, occupation, and family background.

The Vedas do not state that one caste or class is better or worse than another. All are needed to keep order in society.

• This system dictated who you could:

  • marry

  • the type of job you would have

  • with whom you could socialize

Dharma

Your duty in life is your dharma. Your dharma is determined by which class you are born into.

Everyone has dharma. It is what your purpose on Earth is.

Your dharma can change as you grow older and take on new responsibilities. But some parts of dharma are for everyone, no matter their age or role. These include being honest, kind, and respectful, not harming others, and being a good citizen.

• A child's dharma is to be a good student and learn.

• Parents’ dharma is to care for and support their family.

• A teacher’s dharma is to educate their students.

• The police’s dharma is to protect people and keep the community safe.

Top Caste: The Brahman: The top caste was made up of scholars, priests, teachers, judges, and landowners. They were know as the Brahmin caste or Brahmins. Many Brahmins lived in temples, removed from society. Others spent a great deal of time in contemplation and meditation.

The Kshatriya: Kshatriyas were the warriors. Rulers of towns and cities mostly came from the Kshatriya caste. Any decision they made, however, could be overruled by a member of the Brahman, the caste above them.

The Vaishyas: Vaishyas were skilled farmers, merchants, and craftsmen. Vaishyas could hold office in village government. They might live in very nice houses. Even though they were three down on the social scale, they still had good clothes and food. They might not be the top leaders, but they were certainly a respected part of society.

Bottom Caste: The Sudras: The Sudras were the unskilled workers. They might find a job on a farm or a non-skilled job in a home or business like cleaning. They were the bottom caste.

These were the people who were considered the lowest in society in Hindu India, so low that they were not part of the caste system. They had no rights. If your parent was at this level, so were you. They could not move up or marry out of their social rank.

Reincarnation means that after you die, your soul is born again as a new person or sometimes as an animal. It’s like your soul takes a new turn, starting a new life.

People believed that if you did good things and followed the rules of your group, your next life would be better. If you didn’t, you might come back in a group that had harder jobs.

So, living a good life was very important to get a happier next life!

• Your actions in one life was either a reward or punishment for the actions in your previous life

• One of the biggest draws to Hinduism by people in the caste system was the idea of reincarnation

• It gave hope for a better life, but you had to work for it

​According to the traditional Hindu view of reincarnation, a person who has died is reborn in a new physical form. The type of form depends upon his or her karma, the effects that good or bad actions have on a person’s soul. Evil actions will build bad karma. People with bad karma will face the consequences of their actions in a future birth.

​In contrast, good actions build good karma. People with good karma will see benefits in future births. In time, good karma will bring liberation from life’s worries and the cycle of rebirth. This liberation is called moksha. The idea of karma encourages people to behave well in society.