With the emphasis on Karma, how could the caste system exist for so long?
A.014: The popular conception of the caste system as unchanging is misleading. So when one says that one has had the caste system for so long, it creates the impression that things have not changed for so long. But this is not the case. Hindu civilization already had a few, or even many, centuries behind it before some form of what we call the caste system appeared. It was then called the varna system, that could be based on: (1) birth only; (2) birth plus worth; and, (3) worth only, with these strands in tension. In the medieval times, a jati system gained in importance, and in this jati-varna system, the emphasis on birth increased. Finally, the caste system as such took its shape under British rule when the present caste categories were reified. So, in a way the caste system reflects the tension between birth and worth or karma. The principle of karma is thus potentially and perpetually subversive of a caste system based on birth. –Dr. Arvind Sharma, Birks Professor of Religion, Mc
