The caste system is the most important social system and norm in traditional India, which once promoted the stability of Indian society and inhibited the development of royal power to a certain extent.
Although this system has now been abolished, the influence of the caste system on Indians has long been deeply rooted.
For people in most countries in the world, the mysterious and dirty things of the Indians are really like the things of another planet, making people wonder why there is such a bizarre phenomenon in the Asian powers under modern civilization.
So don't look at China and India as neighbors, and they are both big countries in Asia, so it looks like two species, and it has been very normal for chickens and ducks to talk about for a long time.
One of the most surprising is the caste system that has been passed down in India for more than 3,000 years, although the independent India legally abolished this system, but in the actual social operation and life of India, the shadow of the caste system exists all the time.
Regarding the caste system, Xuanzang wrote in the Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty that there are "four major surnames" in India that are strictly hierarchical and passed down from generation to generation.
The "four surnames" here correspond to the "caste system", which divides people into 4 levels:
Namely Brahman, Shaktiri, Vedas, Sudra.
The four levels correspond to the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of the "original person".
As for the untouchables, excluded from the body of the "original man", they are not counted as human beings.
This is the hierarchical system described by Xuanzang, with the four hierarchies having strict rules on status, power, occupation, and obligations, and passing on from generation to generation.
The Brahmins at the top of the chain of contempt were mainly monks and nobles, in charge of religion.
They have the right to interpret the final interpretation of all texts and doctrines, and they have the ability to call the wind and rain, to do whatever they want, and to refer to deer as horses.
At the second place in the chain of contempt is Chatili, in charge of military affairs.
Combined with thugs, financial management, and administrative powers, he is the personal bodyguard of the Brahmins, one person is above ten thousand people.
At the third place in the chain of contempt is the Vedas, the lord of commerce.
The cake is so big that two knives are enough, and the barking at the third level is not scored.
So they were ordinary people, with no privileges, but obligations—Mane, who had gained business, had to give alms and taxes to the two big men at the head.
So the meaning of the existence of the Vedas is to be a leek, to earn money to raise Brahmins and Kshatriyas.
The world's leeks are as bitter as ah!
As for the Shudras, who despised the fourth place in the chain, the Vedas on their heads were all leeks, and their status could be imagined, and they were servants of the main business.
Someone who earns money to raise two big guys has to have someone to wash and cook for the big guys, and Shudra is born for this, they are born as high-level servants and craftsmen, which is a natural skill given to them by God.
Some people have to say that India is so big and has so many people, it can't all be four major castes, right?
Of course not, vested interests will always be in the minority.
In addition to the "four castes", India also has a large number of "fifth castes", that is, "untouchables" who have been disqualified by the big guys.
"Untouchables" are not included in the "four major castes", so they are not counted as people, they are engaged in the lowest professions, serving as cattle and horses for high-caste bigwigs.
This system lasted in India for more than 3,000 years until it was abolished after the establishment of the state.
But that is more than 3,000 years of inheritance, ah, think about it is terrible, how many days does it take for this influence to be removed?
Thus the legal caste system has been abolished, and the ideological caste system is still alive.
The terrible influence of the caste system is mainly reflected in the lower castes and the "untouchables" outside the caste.
In most rural areas of India today, "untouchables" still have to avoid walking and not let their shadows fall on others, so as not to pollute others.
The saddest thing is that there is also a segregation of "class division" in the bottom of the "untouchables".
Under the extreme gap between rich and poor, it is often the poor themselves who are embarrassed by the poor.
The "untouchables" look down on each other, the pig slaughterers look down on the rat catchers, the mouse catchers look down on the ones who dig up the dung, and the ones who take the dung don't care about the food.
In addition, the vast majority of criminal cases are basically cannibalism between the bottom people, and very few people at the bottom steal and kill the top class.
This is the coldness and cruelty of the underclass.
Some people will ask, why don't the "untouchables" at the bottom force them to resist so hard?
Because the caste system of more than 3,000 years has allowed the "untouchables" and the lower castes to already have identities.
Simply put, they tacitly accepted their status as "untouchables".
What else can you say?
Lamenting its misfortune and angering it?
No kidding, "untouchables" have spiritual goals.
Most of them place their freedom from the sea of suffering in the "next life," silently bearing the difficulties of this life, waiting for the next life to be reincarnated into the Brahmin family, or touching God by enduring a life of hardship that ordinary people cannot tolerate, and blessing them from the sea of suffering.
Proper spiritual victory method.
If you think that this kind of identity and hierarchical thinking exists only among "untouchables", you are very wrong.
The idea that "low caste = low morality" is still widespread.
Shudra is still despised by the Vedas, who in their eyes are poor because they are lazy, and those who sympathize with and help Shudra are considered bastards and virgins.
And the Vedas, who despised Shudra, were even more naïve in believing that the two big men who had earned money to feed them for thousands of years would be protected by the gods.
However, the Brahmins and Shaktiri, who stand at the top of the chain of contempt, can bring the Vedas of non-righteousness into the list of Shudras.
Leeks must have the consciousness of leeks, and it is useless to think about it every day.
This is the caste system that has existed for more than 3,000 years.
It has been more than 70 years since the abolition of the "caste system", but the long-standing idea and habit of relying on caste to distinguish people's treatment, community and identity has long been ingrained, resulting in the solidification of all classes of Indian society, with little intersection between high and low castes.
As the world can see, it still has a significant influence in Indian society.
The terrible thing is that this legally non-existent system is still active in the indian concept, and the concept can only be improved with the development of science and technology and the popularization of education.