Thanks Xourov for another extremely well researched, informative and thoughtful piece.
At 11:37 AM -0800 3/26/06, xourov pathok wrote: >a short note on the caste system: > >the varna system, which found its first mention in the >rig veda itself, has been the only unbroken tradition >of hinduism. gods have come and gone (from indra to >rudra to krishna), forms of worship has changed (from >yajnas to puja) but the varna system has persisted. >there is an oft repeated dictum, that hinduism did not >have a name for itself earlier. this is not true. >the name of the religion was varnashram dharma. the >varna system is the most defining aspect of hinduism. > >another dictum is that it divides. this also is >untrue. in fact the varna system makes it possible >for a jati to place itself in a readymade order. this >is important because there is no personal conversion >system in hinduism. instead entire jatis are >converted (by placing them in the varna system), like >the scythians and the koches were made hindus by >placing them in the kshatriya varna. this is >important. because it lets, say, a sarma or a barua >from assam relate in a some meaningful way with a >aiyar or an iyengar from tamil nadu. > >since the varna system is the most defining aspect of >hinduism, how can you remove or reform it out of the religion? > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >http://mail.yahoo.com > >_______________________________________________ >assam mailing list >[email protected] >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
