Caste system is considered the biggest bane of Indian society today, yet its roots lie in a social order that can be considered near perfect from the point of view of maximizing social productivity.

Thousands of years ago, the great philosophers and thinkers in India advocated and gave rise to the concept of ‘dharma’. which literally means duty, but is somewhat erroneously equated with religion as understood by the Western world. It will be interesting for many to know that there is actually no religion called ‘Hinduism’, and the word ‘Hindu’ simply refers to people living in the Indus valley, or ‘Hind’ valley as called by Persians, words derived from ‘Sindhu’ meaning river, around which the Indian civilization grew. The Indian religion referred to as ‘Hinduism’ is actually called ‘Sanatana Dharma’, literally meaning ‘Eternal duty’ of the individual.

The ‘Dharma’ is the duty of the individual which he or she must fulfill - just like a follower of Christianity or Islam follows its religion - hence the similarity. ‘Karma’ is the action that he must perform to fulfill his ‘dharma’ and ‘Bhakti’ is his devotion to all that is there to cherish - beginning with the almighty supernatural power called god, and including the parents, teachers, elders, the Sun, the environment etc to whom he owes his existence.

However, the ‘dharma’ or ‘duty’ of everyone is not the same. For a soldier, killing is a duty, while for a scholar or a doctor, killing is a sin. Similarly, for a merchant it is duty to maximize his profits, but for a teacher or a doctor, holding profit above their professional ethics is unacceptable. The duty of the King is to rule, but it is also his duty to protect the scholars and wise men and respect them. The duty of a servant is not to rule, but to serve his master with all sincerity. Thus, the ‘dharma’ or duty of a person is very different depending upon his profession. This differentiation of duty of different professions is the core of ‘VARNA SYSTEM’, which became distorted over the years and exists today as the ‘CASTE SYSTEM’.

‘Varna’ referred to the professional categorization of the individual. The whole society was divided into four Varnas:

1. BRAHMINS - the scholars, thinkers and philosophers, who were also the teachers, advisors to the king and the monitors of social value systems, apart from being the preservers and researchers of all knowledge and wisdom of the society. Their ‘dharma’ or duty was to live a life of austerity, refrain from enjoying material pleasures, have a very high degree of self discipline, never accumulate wealth, and never indulge in either violence or business.

2. KSHATRIYAS - the fighter / soldier class whose duty was to be brave and simultaneously be a man of honour. They were expected to be loyal to their General or King, not be afraid of a fight, to fight for the cause of the nation and society, never to harm the weak, women or Brahmins, and maintain credibility about their promises and words. They were not supposed to do business, but were allowed to enjoy the fruits of life. Usually the King was a Kshatriya.

3. VAISHYA - the merchant, trader and businessmen, who were expected to indulge in trade, and maximize their profits. It was the duty of the vaishya to accumulate and create wealth, but it was not to be done by illegal means. He was also not expected to consume the wealth but was supposed to re-invest it and grow it further and further. However, they were not expected to aspire for political power, and were also expected to support the King and the local army whenever they needed them, in times of war.

4.SHUDRAS - these were the peasant and labor class, whose duty was to do their work with full sincerity, without indulging in vices like addiction or fraud, refrain from violence, respect the social order, take care of their family and women, parents and children, respect the Brahmins, obey the King but refrain from indulging in political struggles. Those who were employed were supposed to be loyal to their masters and work with honesty.

The social order placed the Brahmins at the top. They were respected by everybody including the King and the most wealthy businessmen. It was customary to greet and wish a Brahmin and seek his blessings as they were considered the holy men of the society and protectors of its values and order. Killing a Brahmin was the greatest sin.

Next came the Kshatriyas, who were expected to protect the rest of the society by fighting with anybody who attacked the nation. They were followed by Vaishya, the business people and last came the peasant class.

The peculiar characteristic of the Varna system at the time of its inception was that this system was not linked with birth or ancestry, and so a person could move across the Varnas. This is what gradually changed over the centuries. Most of the education of children was by their own parents, and since the parents knew a particular profession which they followed with almost religious fervor, they tended to teach their children the same, and most of the time the children took the profession followed by their parents and ancestors.

Like all societies, the people of the same professions or Varnas found it easier to understand and communicate and relate with each other. In a society which was absolutely family centric, and where marriages were held between families and individualism was not permitted, most marriages took place between families of the same Varna or profession, creating a closely knit community of each Varna.

Gradually, these closely knit communities started to resist the entry of outsiders, and thus the Varna of a person became more and more dependent upon its ancestry. This was true not only of the higher classes of society, but also the lower ones. Then even between the communities of the same Varna, there were divisions, and on the basis of sub-ancestry sub-classes were formed.

With further rigidity towards ancestry based social order, constant divisions of the communities, ever increasing emphasis upon blood relations, the original Varna system which was created with a view to prepare different people for different duties in their life, got distorted and converted into the modern caste system, where many of the original values were lost, and in modern times, many of them also became irrelevant. In the caste system, the Brahmins, instead of restricting to philosophy and learning, began aspiring for power, and as their dharma did not allow them to accumulate wealth or political power, they created a social order where they reigned supreme. Instead of just being satisfied with the respect of the society, they tried to put down all others through their monopoly over knowledge.

As time went by, a new category of people emerged which did not fell into any of these Varnas, and were considered outcasts, and in some places, even as ‘untouchables’ - this category included tribals, who did not follow the social norms, the nomadics, and those who did menial jobs. The caste system by this time had reached its lowest point. Then started the process of renaissance, from 15th century onwards, with mystics, and saints who emphasized equality of all humans, and it further grew in the last two centuries, as modern India evolved ways and means to empower the lower castes and gave them adequate representation in all forms of power. Today, more than fifty percent jobs in all government positions including the most senior ones are reserved for the lower castes. The cycle is reaching a full circle.