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Varna and Jati Hindu Social Structure | Dr. Pankaj Jain

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Varna and Jati Hindu Social Structure | Dr. Pankaj Jain Varna, Jati, “Caste,” and Ambedkar @ProfPankajJain Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion University of North Texas, Denton “Trifunctional hypothesis” • French scholar Georges Dumezil (1898-1986) • Germanic peoples, Celts, Scandinavians, Greeks, Germans, Romans, Hittites, Persians, Russians, and Indo-Aryans • Tri-partite ‘completeness’ of society: ▫ Priests (wisdom) – Sovereign gods, e.g., Zeus/Jupiter (Greek/Roman), Mitra & Varun (Indian) ▫ Warriors (war) – Power deities, e.g., Mars (Roman), Indra (Indian) ▫ Food producers (wealth) – Bounties deities, e.g., Quirinus, Ceres, Ops, Flora, Lucina & Diana (Roman), Lakshmi (Indian) Four Varnas • Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90) • Brahmin ▫ Spiritual teachers and scholars • Kshatriya ▫ Internal order and external defense • Vaishya ▫ Traders and entrepreneurs • Shudra ▫ Service folks Varna - Vedic Social Class • Varna based on nature, aptitude, and action • Division of labor based on duties not rights • Separation of church, state, and money Sample Sanskrit Quotes • “We were all brahmins or all sudras,” Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.4, 11-5, 1.31) and Mahabharata (12.188) • “The fourfold varna has been created by Me according to differentiation of guna (qualities).” Bhagavad Gita, 4.13 • Manu Smriti (11.157) says, “Just as a wooden toy elephant cannot be a real elephant, and a stuffed deer cannot be a real deer, so, without studying texts and the Vedas and the development of intellect, a brahmin by birth cannot be considered a brahmin.” Examples of Varna Mobility • Vasishtha (From son of a courtesan to Brahmin) • Vishvamitra (from Kshatriya to Brahmin) • Vyasa (author of Vedas, Mahabharata, Purana) ▫ Son of a Shudra woman to Brahmin • Parashar (son of a Chaandal woman to Brahmin) • Valmiki (author of Ramayana) ▫ From Shudra to Brahmin • Janaka (from Kshatriya to Brahmin) • Vidura (Son of a Shudra woman to Brahmin) • Kauravas and Pandavas (Kshatriyas) ▫ Descendants of a Shudra woman and Brahmin man Historical Persons • Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Shivaji ▫ From Shudra to Kshatriya • Kalidasa, Thiruvalluvar, Kabir, Suradas, Ramadas, Tukaram ▫ Not Brahmin by birth • Gandhi, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Mahesh Yogi, Chinmayanand ▫ Not Brahmin by birth Jati and “caste” • Jati = “Kind” • Endogamous ~ many indigenous communities • Anthropological models (Louis Dumont) ▫ Economic – division of labor, bartering? ▫ Religious – Ritual purity? • Ethnosociological model (McKim Marriott) ▫ 5 elements, 3 doshas, 3 gunas ▫ Dividuals • Aspectual model: Mutuality, centrality, hierarchy • Colonial effect: Frozen set of ranked groups (Nick Dirks) ▫ Risley: Exponent of race science, he used the ratio of the width of a nose to its height to divide Indians into Aryan and Dravidian races, as well as seven castes • Caste as political identity, Dalits, Mandal commission, and the Modi era Ambedkar • Studied in USA, UK, Indianized pragmatism • Converted to Buddhism (religion of values) ▫ More moral, rational than Christianity, Islam, Hinduism ▫ Liberation Theology better than violent Marxism ▫ Bodhisattva ideal better than Theravada’s individualism ▫ Nirvana = Scientific rationality ▫ Karma = Theory of causation ▫ Prajna = Rational wisdom ▫ Karuna = Social Justice • Critic of Manu Smriti but admirer of Upanishads • Against Aryan Invasion Theory and Article 370. For Universal Civil Code Ambedkar on Nasal Index “The measurements establish that the Brahmin and the untouchables belong to the same race. From this it follows that if the Brahmins are Aryans, the Untouchables are also Aryans. If the Brahmins are Dravidians the Untouchables are also Dravidians. If the Brahmins are Nagas, the Untouchables are also Nagas. Such being the facts, the theory…must be said to be based on a false foundation.”.
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