Jack S

11/5/14

Arrow of the Blue-Sinned God

                                     Thoughts and Reflections on: The Caste System

The caste system is a social system that has been in India for a thousands of years. It was created by the god, Manu. The system is based on the body of Manu. The head represents the Brahmins or the priests, the biceps represents the Kshatriyas which are the Warriors, the thighs represent the vashyas which are the merchants, and the feet represent the sudras which are the slaves. There is another group of people called the untouchables which are people who are total outcasts in their communtiy. One may think that the untouchable are part of the caste system, but they are not. The caste system in India untied India, but also divided it. Every person in India was part of a caste which brought them closer together with their caste and made it feel like more of a family or team. On the other hand, the caste system created social stratification. This meant that some people were treated better than other or some people were higher than others. The caste system was brought to India in the first place by the Aryans. The Aryans are a group of people from Central Asia who migrated into north India and conquered it. They brought new things to India like the caste system and the Vedas. The caste system was and continues to be one of the largest distinguishing characteristic of Indian society. The caste system continues to be around today because such a big part of a community does not just fade away over time. People in India have followed the caste system for their whole lives as well as their ancestors did, so it has always had such a drastic impact on people's lives and really what people are able to accomplish in their lives. A system with such a huge impact will not disappear very easily throughout time.