[Assam] caste system

[Chan Mahanta]

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
>assam at assamnet.org
>http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org