Explain the significance of purity and pollution in the caste system Essay

Explain the significance of purity and pollution in the caste system - Essay Example But as time passed, the caste system became a water tight social compartment. Caste system is not peculiar to India. It existed and still exists in parts of Egypt, Europe etc, though in some milder forms. The world caste owes its origin to the Portuguese word 'casta' meaning 'lineage' (Ghurye, 1999, 31). PA Sorokin in his book "Social Mobility writes "Unstratified society with real equality of the members is a myth which never been realized in the history of mankind and when class is somewhat strictly hereditary, we may call it caste" Many theories have been promulgated to account for the origin of the caste system in India (Dumont, 1961, 75). The political theory states it was a shrewd trick of upper class Brahmins. The occupational theory traces it origin to the family's occupation. The racial theory traces its origin to the fact that different races organize their own race to form a separate caste. The mythical theory points towards its creation by the god to perform different functions And last of all comes, the Evolutionary Theory. This theory maintains caste system as a social phenomenon, the origin of which lies in social evolution which came into being through a long and slow evolutionary process. It is quite possible that during the evolutionary process some ugly things did make their entry into the system. The one and probably the worst was the custom of 'untouchability'. With improvement in education, this social evil has almost disappeared from the society. Right from the beginning of twentieth century British officials have used the term 'backward classes' to indicate low status backwards castes, and 'depressed classes' to mean the former untouchables or Scheduled castes (now dalits). They do not seem to have been particular about the terms used, and such sloppiness has continued in independent India. It so worth noting that terms such as Backward classes and Scheduled Castes also served as euphemisms for such unpleasant realities as low castes ands untouchables' (Beteille, 1965, 46). Still the caste system is not without its merit, which should not be ignored. It was based on the division of labor and thus enabled society to function efficiently. It made labor more efficient as the hereditary skill in at was transformed from father to son. Castes served as the social insurances in the society and helped their members in time of need. The caste system solved the problem of choosing careers and the problem of unemployment did not arise. The system provided united action against exploitation. Also by eliminating competition, it protected the poor. Thus for a Hindu the caste system has proved, '' his club, his trade union, his benefit society and his philanthropic society" (Ghurye, 1999, 67) To sum up, in each linguistic area there were about two hundred groups called castes with distinct names, birth in one of which, usually determined the status in society of a given individual, which were divided into about two thousand smaller units- generally known as sub- castes-fixing the limits of marriage and effective social life and making for specific cultural tradition. These major groups were held together by the possession, with few exceptions, of a common priesthood. There was a sort of an overall counting which grouped all of them into five or six classes overtly expressed or tacitly understood. Over a large part of the