Hinduism & the Caste System

The Beginnings of Hinduism When the Aryans invaded India from the north, they brought with them parts of their culture Their language, Sanskrit, which the Aryans believed was a holy language, was spoken by the gods. The Aryans’ 4 holiest books, the Vedas, are written in Sanskrit. These four books describe the Aryan religion.

Hinduism Hinduism is one of the oldest religions still practiced today. They worship three main gods Brahma the Creator Vishnu the Preserver Shiva the Destroyer Below these gods are many other lesser gods.

Brahma the Creator Creator of the Universe Four faces to symbolize the 4 Vedas and watching all four cardinal directions

Vishnu the Preserver Preserves the created universe. He is all-powerful and all-knowing Believed to be walking among the people of the world In his four arms he carries a conch shell, a mace, and a discus, symbols of his power and greatness.

Shiva the Destroyer Shiva is responsible for change--both in the form of death and destruction.

Hindu Teachings Hinduism teaches that people live many lives until they reach spiritual perfection Hindus believe in reincarnation: the soul lives on after death and returns to life in a new body. Those who live good lives will be reborn into a higher social caste position Those who live bad lives will return as lower caste or life form

Hindu Teaching: Karma Karma: the belief that our actions, good and bad, come back to us in the future Good karma will reincarnate you to a higher caste; bad karma will reincarnate you to a lower caste

Hindu Teaching: Karma (cont.) Nirvana: like heaven—a state of changeless bliss Ultimate reward of Hinduism: be released from reincarnation and become one with the universe and Brahman

Caste System The priests used the Vedas and the belief in reincarnation to give order to their society. The Aryan social classes are divided into 4 castes. Priests Soldiers and Rulers Farmers and merchants Common people

The Caste A person born into one caste could never change caste or mix with members of another caste. Caste members live, marry, and work within their own group. To the Indian people the caste system was like the human body

The Untouchables Below all the castes were the untouchables. They did all the unpleasant jobs of society. Were though to be impure They had to avoid all contact with the rest of society.

Accepting the Caste System What made life under the caste system bearable was reincarnation They believed that even though life might be hard, but if people did the work of their caste, there was hope that the next life would be better.

In Summary, Why have the Caste System? It kept order in society. People didn’t disobey or rebel. There was always the hope of good karma leading to a higher caste in the next life. ***This allowed Aryan priests to keep order in society for hundreds of years***