All societies have classes, and Aryan society at the time of the Indo-Europeans' arrival in India was no exception. There were warriors and nobles, the top rung of the social ladder; then came the priests; and below them were the common people.
In virtually every civilization on earth during ancient times and the Middle Ages, there were these same three groups: an upper class of royalty, nobility, knights, and aristocracy (air-uh-STAHK-ruh-see; the very rich); a class of priests, scribes, scholars, and perhaps scientists just below them; and far below these two classes, the great mass of people, who did all the physical work. Sometimes there might be a fourth group, beneath the priests and scholars and above the masses, composed of craftsmen or tradesmen.
This system prevailed until the great social and economic changes that followed the Renaissance (RIN-uh-sahnts)
And later the Industrial Revolution. These events helped create new classes and particularly brought about the rise of the middle class and working class from the "fourth group" composed of craftsmen or tradesmen. But out of the Industrial Revolution also came Marxism, named after the philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883), who proposed a political system that would eliminate all classes.
During the twentieth century, the Soviet Union and other Marxist (or Communist) countries supposedly created classless societies, but in fact their social systems were as rigid as any since the Middle Ages. There were still kings and nobles, only now they were Communist Party leaders. Likewise Communist society, despite its official atheism (Godlessness), still had priests of a sort, only now they were writers, educators, and other intellectuals. Of course there were still the masses of people, still doing all the physical work.
Religions place a high emphasis on the individual person, who must work out a personal relationship with God.
Eastern religions such as Hinduism, on the other hand, are not nearly so concerned with the individual. Instead, Hinduism views all living creatures as part of a vast circle of life. To a certain extent, Hindus believe that people cannot do much to affect their destiny. Nor is there an idea of Heaven and Hell, as in Christianity and Islam. In Hinduism, a person does not die once, but many times. Nor is he or she born once; rather,
A truly classless society, of course, is probably impossible, but the United States (a nation with an economic system almost opposite of Communism) has come closer to it than any society on earth. Even so, the class system is quite strong in America. People at the bottom levels of society are often made to believe that they can never do anything to improve their situation. Likewise people at the absolute top of society can seemingly do no wrong. If one looks closely, one might see the same old classes, with politicians and corporate executives in place of kings and nobles; athletes, movie stars, and members of the media in place of priests; and below these two ranks, the common people— much better off than in ancient times, but still ruled by the two other groups.
America's wealthiest, most powerful families, many of whom live in New York and New England, are sometimes called "Brahmans," the name of the highest caste in India. It is
Interesting that such a nickname came about, because most of America's Brahmans (like most Americans in general) would say that all people are created equal. The Indian caste system, on the other hand, was based on the idea that people are created unequal. A Brahman could not change his luck, which was good; but neither could an Untouchable, a fact that condemned millions and millions of people to lives of misery.
In contrast to a class system, the caste system was more like the official policy of racial segregation that existed in the southern United States up until the 1960s, and in South Africa until the early 1990s. The end of segregation in the American South came about in large part through the efforts of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), a great admirer of the Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948). to Gandhi's efforts, the caste system in India was officially outlawed in 1947.
Hindus believe that a person is reincarnated (ree-in-KAHR-nay-ted) thousands of times.
In the present life, a person may be rich and beautiful, but in the next life, they may find themselves in a lower caste. They may come back as an Untouchable or even as an animal. On the other hand, a member of a lower caste may be reincarnated as a member of a higher one. Because they believe that people can come back to life as animals, Hindus have a deep respect for animal life. For this reason, most of them are vege-
Tarians (people who do not eat meat). Animals are given positions of honor in Hindu life. Thus in modern Indian cities, one may see cows wandering around freely. Cars stop regularly to let them cross busy streets. In some places, one may even see shrines, or holy places, dedicated to animals.
World History
