Cast off the caste system

A Tamil and a Bihari or a Maharashtrian and a UPite may have umpteen number of differences. But they have one thing in common and that is their profound belief in the baseless caste system.

No matter where you go in India, you will find people strangulated by the vicious knot of the caste system. According to the records of the Indian government, today there are more than 3200 castes in India !

Many people practise and promote the caste system under the belief that it is an integral part of their religion (Hinduism). And not doing so will make them an adharmi (sinner). However truth is far from it. Caste system has got nothing to do with Hinduism.

Hinduism believes in the concept of Varnas, which is decided not on the basis of birth but on the basis of an individual's occupation. There are four Varnas:-
1. Brahman
2. Kshatriya
3. Vaishya
4. Shudra

History is full of examples where a person born in a Brahmin family has gone on to become a Kshatriya and a person born in a lower Varna has gone on to become a Brahmin. Some of them are mentioned below:-

Valmiki :- Was born as a shudra but went on to become a Brahmin
Vishwamitra:- Was born as a kshatriya but went on to become a Brahmin
Sant Ravidas:- Was born as a shudra but went on to become a Brahmin

The list can go on and on ......

Inter Varna marriage in ancient time:-
The society was very liberal towards inter varna marriage. People of one varna could easily marry people from other varnas. Even Gandharva Vivah was quite common. eg. Dushyant marrying shakuntala, Shantanu marrying Satyavati, Bhim marrying Hidimba etc


Caste system - A menace :
An angry Dilip Tiwary killed his sister Sushma's husband Prabhu and three more members of Prabhu's family in a brutal manner. The only fault of Sushma and Prabhu was that they were an inter caste couple, making them cardinal sinners in the eyes of the society ! Flip the pages of a newspaper and you will come across a Sushma and a Prabhu once every fortnight ! Add to this, the infamous caste wars in states like Bihar and UP which have already taken thousands of lives, and ask just one question from yourself - is this how you would like the world to view India and Hinduism?

If every human being is a creation of the same almighty god, who loves us equally, then who has given us the right to differentiate one creation of the god from the other, on the basis of a man made system? One wonders how can one individual become superior to the other by the virtue of his birth alone? Isn't it against the basic principle of karma (कर्म), the very pillar on which Hinduism stands tall?


Hinduism is the most ancient, a very liberal & a very pious religion. The existing caste system is a corruption which has crept in our beautiful religion. Its a menace that needs to be eliminated at the earliest. We can't change the history. But we can definitely ensure that our coming generations get to grow in a society which is free of this poisonous practise.

At the end I would like to sign off my article by few beautiful lines from an anonymous personality:

धर्म - धर्म चिल्लाने वाले, खून बहाए देश में;
शैतानों ने डेरे डाले इंसानों के भेष में |
कैसे कहेंगे सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दुस्तान को ?
धरती बाँटी, सागर बाँटा, मत बाँटो इंसान को |