Casting away caste

Issues relating to the factor of caste, as commonly talked about in public domain across the country have got churned to a point of insanity in our times. The other factor, namely religion, meaning ‘an organised system of beliefs, ceremonies and rules to worship a God or Gods with piety and devotion’ has done incalculable harm to society with no signs of the land’s people following different faiths living harmoniously in an ambience of amity. As if to add insult to injury, the more vociferous ideologues of some religions, take fascination to speak from both public platforms and before their captive audiences, marked by impressive oratory, to whip up emotions in their followers often leading to wordy battles, clashes, bloodshed and loss of life and property, as reported by dailies virtually everyday. The clarion calls given by the leading lights in society to eschew violence in the cause of religions doesn’t seem to have resulted in perceptible change of ethos among the volatile sections.

We hear scholars citing the line from Bhagavad Gita, the distinct part of the epic Mahabharata, authored by sage Veda Vyasa, referring to the four-way classification of people according to their calling in life and further explaining that it is not correct to assign any of those four classifications to individuals based on birth. That is the crux of the matter in the context of caste identity of the land’s people.

Continuing the debate on the topic of caste from a lay person’s perspective, two more points may be considered relevant. Firstly, the four primordial castes based on the calling pursued by people namely Brahmana, Vyshya, Kshatriya and Shudra apparently got smeared in black as it were because of their hierarchy into upper caste and lower caste. Second and the most despicable practice of untouchability turned out to be the worst feature and outcome of the caste system. Restricted space of this column may not prevent another delicate point to be raised, namely the narrow-minded character of public display of one’s caste, a feature that didn’t go down well in society.

While the well-marked sections in the country’s population are being bestowed some privileges ostensibly aimed at creating an inclusive society, the demon of caste is no where near being reined in. Maybe, the nation’s people owe it to themselves to cast away the current divisive caste dispensation and adopt the system featured in the Bhagavad Gita.

Some sections in the population may take umbrage at this suggestion, but there is always a way where there is a will, in the best interests of the nation and its citizens. If we do it now, all future generations shall be grateful to us.