Caste System, First Borns and Technology

India is one of the most diverse countries in the world with a very rich cultural and philosophical heritage. It has also been making notable contribution to science, mathematics and medicine since ancient times. But as they say, one bad fish can spoil the whole pond. And in the case of India, that bad fish is the caste system. It is quite unfortunate that many of our intellectuals see ancient and medieval India primarily through the looking glass of caste system, and often ignore other aspects that will make any human feel great. There are some who are genuinely perturbed by the prevalence of social ills like untouchability and there are others who find vilifying India as a road to acceptance among other intellectuals who think that way. It is very strange that so many intellectuals in India take great pride in having read Plato and Aristotle, but feel no need to read Vivekananda and Aurobindo. Isn't that another form of caste system and untouchability? Vivekananda once said, "The caste system is opposed to Vedanta. Caste is a social custom, and all our great preachers have tried to break it down. From Buddhism downwards, every sect has preached against caste, and every time it has only riveted the chains. Caste is simply the outgrowth of the political institutions of India; it is a hereditary trade guild. Trade competition with Europe has broken caste more than any teaching."

The caste system in India has led to serious divisions in the society whose effects can be seen even today in a magnified way during elections. There are several political parties that directly cater to certain sections of the society and ignore the rest. Ironically, this very section of society which votes for them is often forgotten for the next four years as soon as the election results are out. But, of course, the fifth year is election campaign time! However, this does not imply that things are not changing. With the advent of technology and jobs in the industrial sector, the old agrarian customs are giving way to new social norms. The son of a cobbler can now get the same job and treatment as the son of a landlord. And they may both be room-mates in Bengaluru and get drunk together! Many youth in India today perhaps don't even know the caste to which they belong. But when did all this  segregation of society into various castes start and how?

That is a very difficult question to answer and one can only speculate about the origins of caste system in India. Some people like to put the blame on the Vedas, without ever having made the effort to read these texts and understand their true essence. The Vedas and even the Gita do surely mention the four varnas into which humans can be divided, but they do not say that only a Brahmin can give birth to another Brahmin.  However, what goes against the Vedas here is that there is also no mention of a clear mechanism by which a human being can be classified into these four varnas. Due to this, it is often assumed that the Vedas provide an implicit support to the birth based caste system. This idea also seems all the more true because the perpetrators of the caste system are often the upper caste Brahmins who claim to have mastered the Vedas. 

It is very important to understand that Vedas and the Gita are very different from scriptures of other religions. The purpose of the Vedas and Gita is not to establish a certain social order, but to help a human go beyond his/her physical existence. But then, do these texts explicitly say that birth based caste system is wrong? They do not and perhaps they should not. Here, it is very important to understand that the idea that certain social customs are intrinsically evil and certain others intrinsically good is alien to someone well versed in Indian philosophy. The goodness or badness of a social custom is fully dependent on external factors that keep changing with time and space. It is not possible to come up with an objective measure for these things the way we do in physics. There may have been a time and place when the birth based caste system served a certain social purpose. Every father would want his child to do well in life and it is natural for the child of a resourceful father to get better education and opportunities. We see this in our society even today where birth based caste system is changing form into nepotism. The forms may be different but the core problem is the same. 

The concept of caste system is also deeply tied to the higher stature accorded to the eldest son of a family in India. Interestingly, Brahmins are also considered to be the first born and hence, enjoy a higher stature in society as compared to others. And among brothers, the eldest son is usually married first and is likely that his son will be the eldest among all children born in the next generation. Now is it wrong for the eldest son to be automatically crowned the next king? Some may say so and perhaps they are right too. But what is the alternative? Should the brothers fight among themselves and the one who survives in crowned king? Or, should we have another kind of competition among the brothers? Though this may look fair outwardly, it is not free of problems either. Effectively ruling a kingdom in a monarchy requires immense support of family members, which is not possible if the brothers are fighting with each other for the throne. Hence, in a certain time and place, making the eldest son the king prevents such infighting and helps in establishing a more peaceful rule of law. Mahabharata is perhaps the greatest example of the bloodshed that can happen when brothers start fighting with each other for the throne. But does it imply that the younger brothers should always accept the might of the elders?

Certainly not, but there has to be a mechanism in place which ensures harmony even in the face of competition. And this mechanism is made possible by modern technology and industrial society. There are no all powerful monarchs today and the world is literally run by economics. People are no longer dependent on their fathers' property and business for prosperity. Business houses are largely run in a professional manner with the CEO being chosen from a long list of applicants who most often have no blood relation with the founders of the company. All this is made possible by technology which was not available during ancient and medieval times. However, this also does not mean that the current societal structure is necessarily better than what existed earlier. It is very important to understand that all new things look good only up to a certain time limit and then they need to be changed according to the requirements. The only constant in this universe is change. As Charles Darwin once said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."