Castes Flashcards
Caste
A type of social organization or hierarchy in which a person’s occupation and position in life is determined by the circumstances of his or her birth and there was no way to change your caste and marriage was only allowed among members of the same caste and personal contact with other castes was restricted and there was an acceptance of a fixed place in society and members of a caste relied on each other for support, so the system worked fine
Brahma
Thought of as the creator, each caste was thought to be born out of him
Reincarnation
When a person dies, lives again, and is reborn many times and souls are born and reborn many times until they are pure enough to be with the creator, Brahma
Karma
When a person’s social position in the next life was determined by his conduct in the present life
Dharma
What your caste was determined by, it was a code of behavior or set of moral or ethical rules that govern conduct of each social class and each group has a different set of rules to live by
Laws of Manu
A Hindu book of sacred law that had rules and restrictions of daily life, but most laws were passed on from parents to children
This caste was considered to be the thinkers or the head and they were priests, teachers, and judges, but they didn’t usually own land and therefore, they needed others to work the land and and provide for them and their purpose was to help people from other castes fulfill their dharma and they perform rituals and observe vows for the sake of others
Brahmans
This caste was considered to be the doers or the arms and hands and they were the warriors and rulers or landowners and are responsible were responsible for the leadership of other people and they relied on the advice of Brahmans
Kshatriyas
This caste provided nourishment and was considered to be the stomach and they were skilled traders, merchants, and farmers who are shopkeepers who sell products
Vaisyas
This caste did the work and farming and were the feet and they were the unskilled workers, laborers, and craftworkers who sell service and each subgroup of this caste performs special services, gardeners, potters, clothes washers, and more
Shudras
Sometimes called “The Children of God” these people were sometimes considered to not even be part of a caste and were expected to do the dirty jobs, such as cleaning toilets, cremating people, cut umbilical cords, remove dead animals from the roads, tan hides, and clean gutters, and they were considered to be so vile that it was thought that even their shadow can pollute another person
The Untouchables
