What is the caste system in Hinduism?
Hinduism: The Caste System, Reincarnation, and Karma. I. The Caste System–(groups assigned by birth not personality). The Hindu conception of the social order is that people are different, and different people will fit well into different aspects of society.
What are the limitations of the caste system?
The socio-economic limitations of the caste system are reduced due to urbanization and affirmative action. Nevertheless, the caste system still exists in endogamy and patrimony, and thrives in the politics of democracy, where caste provides ready made constituencies to politicians.
What is the meaning of caste in anthropology?
Social and cultural anthropology. Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a lifestyle which often includes an occupation, status in a hierarchy, customary social interaction, and exclusion.
What are some ethnographic examples of social stratification in India?
Its paradigmatic ethnographic example is the division of India’s Hindu society into rigid social groups, with roots in India’s ancient history and persisting to the present time. However, the economic significance of the caste system in India has been declining as a result of urbanisation and affirmative action programs.
The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras.
What is the status of Kshatriya in caste system?
Kshatriya is the second highest-revered community but their status is that of below Brahmins. 3. Vaishya – Vaishya is the trading community. Their job is to trade. Their status is that of below Kshatriya. 4. Shudra – Shudras are considered to enjoy the lowest status in the hierarchy of caste.
What is the Hinduism hierarchy?
The system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, but here it means duty) is generally accepted to be more than 3,000 years old.
What is an example of a subcaste in Hinduism?
For example, In Brahmins, there are subcastes like Chitpavana Brahmins, Deshastha Brahmin, Kayastha Brahmin, Vaishnava Brahmins, Kokanastha Brahmins, and a lot. When a baby is born in a Hindu family, he/she is not only a Hindu but is also attached to a particular caste and subcaste, which his/her family is from.