CASTE in STONE??

ARE WE CASTE IN STONE???

Caste has existed in India from the Ancient times, evolving from a fluid social structure to a rigid, oppressive hierarchy that condemns individuals on the basis of their birth.
In today’s fast paced times when business, Knowledge, travel, interaction and communication is at the speed of thought (almost, at the touch of that button on your speed dial) the question that keeps popping up is how much do we understand caste ism and what is its relevance today ?

Turning back the pages, at first we need to understand the history to know our relevant future; The Indus Valley Civilization dating back to 2500 BC – 1500 BC had an extremely efficient system of governance. However till today there is no evidence at all that people living in its towns practiced caste system of any sort.

The Vedic Period from 1000BC -600 BC brought to the fore the Varna system or the effective Fourfold caste system. Primarily in the later part of this period this system came to prominence. However it appears that this system might not have been rigid as certain hymns in the Rig-Veda are believed to say, “I am a poet my father, a doctor and mother a farmer’’, clearly depicting the flexibility and acceptability of inter-caste marriages.
The Manu smruti from 200 BC focused on the basis that we the children of Manu and his descendents have a particular codified system of 4 Layers of caste.

The Bramhins who were Priests & Teachers were at the Top of the Social order.
The Kshatriyas next, who were rulers and soldiers.
The Vaishyas next, who were traders, artisans, businessman and farmers.
The Shudras finally, who were uneducated, illiterate, unskilled workers who served the other 3 Castes above it.

Buddhism came around in 500BC. Later around 100BC its adoption by the rulers, from Chandragupta Maurya to Ashoka gave it the firepower to attack the by now strongly entrenched 4 layered Caste System. Buddhism became widely followed and the traditional Caste system was put in the background. But the disintegration of the Maurya Empire and Buddhism spreading beyond borders of India, its power of universality and opposition to Caste system dimmed. Finally with the revival of Brahmanism by Adi Shankaracharya, Caste system returned to prominence.

During the Bhakti Period 13th -17th Century the Caste System was now strongly making its footprints felt. However, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Vallabha, Surdas, Meerabai, Kalidas, Tulsidas and other mystics challenged the system in the north and taught people that Caste does not determine their right to relate to God.






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Also with Various Power centers in the country from the Muslim Invaders in the North West & Plains, to Hindu Kings in the South and tribal regions of the mountainous North East the Caste system started becoming less rigid. Also its boundaries started to be challenged by converts, ruling patronage, advent of Islam & Spread of Christianity etc.

So there was technically no Pan India Caste System prevalent when the British took over. However the British to counter their disadvantage in numbers understood the importance of the Caste Classification for effective governance.

The British in fact are believed to have re-inforced caste Stereotypes and even created some of them such as the martial race of Gorkhas. This was primarily a Human resource Management & utilization problem of ruling India which was addressed by the British effectively.

Finally Independent India in 1947 decided to out law the caste system. The Founding fathers created a non- discriminatory, secular and open agnostic constitution. This constitution forms the basis of the Republic of India.

If you closely understand and evaluate the History of India, you will find that the Maurya Empire in about 100 BC integrated a Vast Country called Hindustan.

Kautilya or Chanakya was the fundamental thread which ran through this empire.
Kautilya’s Arthashastra considered the First bible of Economics and Accounting clearly tried to focus on the issue of managing the vast and complex empire with a huge populace. A system of segregation, de-centralisation of decision making, allocation of responsibilities, skill based classification of manpower and efficient utilisation of resources was followed.

Knowledge even then became the source of all power. The Manu Smriti Caste system guided and enabled him to maximize the efficient and effective management of the Empire.

Kautilya was a man with purpose, a man who was not only focused but was very clear in his approach to see results in action. Thus I believe he adopted the fundamental basis of classification of human resources which was skill and ability based, for effective management.

Considering this the 4 codified classification Castes would be -
Priest / Teacher /Knowledge Permeator - Lets Say called a Brahmin

Leader/ Ruler /Fighter /Athlete /Administrator - Lets Say called a Kshatriya

Trader/ Manufacturer / Artisan /Businessman, Farmer - Lets Say called a Vaishya
Unskilled/ Illiterate/Uneducated/Labour - Lets Say called a Shudra.


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Thus in an even unbiased analysis it would enable in Kautilya’s (Maurya Empire ) regime an equal chance for Eklavya or Karna to be classified as Kshatriya

In today’s time athletes being yesterdays Gladiators would mean even Sachin Tendulkar /MSDhoni/ Sania Mirza/ Vijender Singh/ Leander Paes etc be classified as Kshatriyas.
Also being effective Leaders, Rulers in the same vein like Sonia Gandhi/ Barrack Obama/ would have to be Kshatriyas.

Thinkers and Teachers like APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr.Manmohan Singh, Dr. Ambedkar, Gandhi and many such would have to be called Brahmins.

Businessmen, Traders, Manufacturers etc from Ambani’s, Wadia’s, to Birla and Tata would thus be classified into the Vaishya’s

Finally Critically uneducated and illiterate & with no classifiable skill sets, like Dhirtarastra & Shakuni (of Mythology Epic Mahabharata), a lot of our Politicians with absolutely no administrative skills and scavenging talent would all be Shudras then????

What fundamental fact comes out of this is that the classification is based only and only on skill sets or ability to be tried /tested/ proved and evaluated and absolutely not by Birth.
The restriction imposed on classification in a caste by birth is nothing, but an egoistic protectionism to retain one’s higher position in the hierarchy of social administration.
A Brahmin’s child however unskilled and good for nothing is pecked up in the high
social order so as to improve his prospects for a fortunate and better life as determined by that social order.
In todays time, when performance is the key to success right from school to business to the playing field any classification based on anything other than ability and talent is just foolhardy. I believe the age old System of Caste as nothing but a Human Resource Management tool for efficient and effective Governance. As it is said the “Intent of law is greater than the law itself.” The intent of such classification may be needs to be understood by one and all. When that happens skill, ability and talent shall be the only basis of evaluation and shall determine the future of a family, institution, organisation, state or a nation.

If Excellence & Prosperity is the ultimate Goal or Vision /Intent of the Republic of India any enquiry, classification, evaluation and discrimination based on caste (read race, creed, religion) needs to be not only opposed but vehemently abolished.