Karma
Marga
The way of action.
Samsara
Is the eternal cycle of birth, death and
re-birth, into which every living thing
is locked. Its inherent nature is
suffering, so it is something that
Hindus believe that we should wish
to escape from.
Atman
Is trapped
within…
How is it trapped?
Samsara
How can it be
liberated?
Is liberation
from…
Moksha
How is it trapped?
By Karma – action & the fruit of action.
Karma is a universal law, whatever you do, the universe
must pay you back – good for good, evil for evil.
Atman must return until the balance of good and evil
restitution is worked out.
He… is a doer of deeds that bear fruit, and enjoyer of
what he has done… and assuming all forms, he roams
about (in successive rebirths) according to his actions.
The embodied one chooses forms, gross and subtle
according to his qualities.
Shvetashvatra Upanishad V.7, 12-13
How can one effect Karma?
By obeying dharma – duty.
If one acts according to dharma (dharmic action) one
gains good karma, and by acting against dharma
(adharmic action) one gains bad karma.
Macrocosmic – similar to the vedic rita – the way that
things should be.
Microcosmic – one’s individual duty according to one’s
position in society & stage in life.
Four – there are
four stages in life
& four stages in
society
Level of society – the
“caste” into which one
is born
Stage in life
“Duty” – what should be
done.
“One’s duty according to one’s stage
in life & position in society”.
The Caste System
“Casta” – Portuguese for “Colour” – thus another
etic discourse, imposing foreign views on India. In
fact, two hierarchies running side by side:
Varna –
Jati –
Ancient religious social
hierarchy, predicated
upon spiritual pollution –
divides all of Hindu
society up into five
groups.
“Class system” based
upon financial wealth
& traditional
employment of the
family.
Brahmana
The dharma of a Brahmana is to perform his
duties as a priest – to learn how to perform
rituals, say mantras, offer sacrifices, instruct
others in their dharma, and to be spiritually
pure.
Kshatriya
The dharma of a
Kshatriya is to prepare
to fight to defend the
principles of Dharma, to
defend those elsewhere
in the Varna system,
and to be skilled in the
arts of warfare &
governance.
Vaisya
The dharma of a Vaisya
is to make money, to
fund the rest of the
social system, and to be
skilled in the means
appropriate to doing
that successfully.
Sudra
The dharma of a Sudra is to labour for the
others, and to ensure that food & raw materials
are produced for all in the system
The ideal of the varna system is that it should
be a perfect model of a well-organised
society – each part interdependent with the
others, and all of equal importance. Many
scholars believe that this is an idealised
model of Vedic society, and many Indian
thinkers argue that it is a good model for
contemporary societies. Each village should
possess some representatives of each Varna,
thus the different social roles are fulfilled.
Greater is thine own
work, even if this be
humble, than the work
of another, even if this
be great. (Bhagavad
Gita 18:47)
Think thou also of thy
duty, and do not waver.
There is no greater good
for a kshatriya than to
fight in a righteous war.
There is a war that
opens the doors of
heaven, Arjuna! Happy
the warriors whose fate
is to fight such a war.
Bhagavad Gita 2,31-34.
"The law of Varna teaches us that we have each
one of us to earn our bread by following an
ancestral calling..... teacher- and of a scavenger
are equal and their due performance carries equal
merit before God and at one time seems to have
carried identical reward before man."
“I believe that every man is
born in the world with
certain natural tendencies.
Every person is born with
certain definite limitations
which he cannot overcome.
From a careful observation
of those limitations the law
of Varna was deduced”.
Hinduism as a religion is
but an aspect of this
social system, with no
independent status apart
from it.
T. Parsons,
The structure of Social
Action, 557.
Untouchables
Scheduled castes
The Dalits
Are those who are totally outside the
Varna system – at the bottom of the
pollution hierarchy, whose physical
presence may literally pollute, and
who make up a large percentage of
the poorest & most oppressed of
Indian society
Harijans
Backward Castes
Antiquity
The Varna system is very old
certainly going back to Vedic
times, some have suggested as far
as the Indus Valley. Few will be
keen to abandon what is seen as
an ancient part of their heritage.
Religious Authority
The Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda
describes the creation of the
physical universe from the body of
the Primal Man, sacrificed in a
Yajña by the Gods.
The Varna system is described as
part of this created order – thus it
is something created by the Gods,
not by Mankind.
When they divided the man,
into how many parts did they
disperse him? What
became of his mouth, what
of his arms, what were his
two thighs and his two feet
called? His mouth was the
Brahmana, his arms were
made into the Kshatriyas,
his two thighs were the
Vaishyas, and from his feet
the Sudras were born.
(Rig Veda X. xc. 11-12).
Commensality
Commensality literally means “The people that you eat
with”. Of course, in a system based upon purity, you
can only eat with people as pure, or purer than you,
and you can certainly only eat food prepared by
someone as pure, or purer than you. Food prepared
by a lower Varna can be viewed as polluting.
Commensality
This also effects where you live as well, and in the
villages of India a good deal more than that. High
Varna individuals will have houses nearer to the well
(and some Dalits can only draw water at night, or
must use a different well). Some Dalits still remain
effectively banned from some temples, although such
discrimination is illegal in modern India.
Endogamy
Endogamy is a term used to denote marriage within a
group, and both Varna and Jati are extremely
important when Indian Parents are selecting a
potential partner for their children.
Brahmacharya
Vanaprashta
Grihastha
Sannyasin
Brahmacharya
The Dharma of a Brahmacharya is to submit
themselves to their Varna – Guru, to learn the
skills that they will need to fulfil their
Varnadharma in later life.
They should work hard, be obedient, practice
celibacy, and self-discipline.
Grihastha
The Dharma of a Grihastha is to marry and raise
children. They should practice their Varnadharma,
and where appropriate, earn money to support the
other Varnas in society. They should perform
certain religious rituals.
Vanaprastha
The Dharma of a Vanaprastha is to retire from
public life, and devote more time to personal
religious practice, and the religious education of
(grand) children.
Sannyasin
The Dharma of a
Sannyasin is to
renounce all aspects of
society, and to go in
search of personal
spiritual development.
Four – there are
four stages in life
& four stages in
society
Level of society – the
“caste” into which one
is born
Stage in life
“Duty” – what should be
done.
“One’s duty according to one’s stage
in life & position in society”.