Is Indian mythology or Hindu religion really Opposing Intercaste marriages Part-2

Indeed, God doesn't have any caste, truth be told neither of scriptures talks about caste by birth. This birth-based caste system was created by us humans/ society itself (some documents even prove transition to Caste centric from Varna centric society was introduced and promoted by British and we have been following it ever since) all I did was apply the same to gods who took human nature, to show us how to live.

According to Krishna in Bhagavat-Gita he says he made four Varna & Four Ashrams according to one's Guna(Qualities) and Karma(work) but not by Janma (birth)

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागश: |
तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् || 13||

chātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛiṣhṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśhaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhyakartāram avyayam (Ch-4: S-13)

TRANSLATION: According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable. (Source: Bhagavad-Gita As it is, Published by The Bhaktivedanta book trust)

Then, from where did this birth based varna system come from? The obvious answer is society. WHY?
That is because in the olden days probably from after the 13th century we didn't have skill development centers and we had good self-sustainable village economies. For the continuous flow of society, families became the training centers for their respective skills/professions family training took priority. While Men doing hard labor and Women have an equally important role by providing the support and background raw work for those jobs. So, the source of knowledge and skill is family. The so-called tools are toys for the kids in those families.

For example, Everyone in an Agricultural family knows about the tools and techniques related to Agriculture. Everyone in a merchant family knows the techniques and skills related to business. In short, Nepotism was the basis for society. So, when any matrimonial relations took place people used to choose among the same profession because the newlywed independent family has to operate on their own again.

As profession was a synonym of varna/caste, Marriages within the same caste made sense. And maybe just maybe to avoid brain drain inter-caste marriages were avoided/ prohibited. It is as logical as Doctor wanting to marry a Doctor. An Engineer to another Engineer, Lawyer to a Lawyer in these days.

For anyone to excel in their profession they have to love their job. This love your job became Love your caste (as caste and Profession meant the same) and unfortunately in some extreme cases love your caste lead to hate every other caste.

In conclusion, Hindu mythology has never opposed inter-caste marriages maybe because then we had a central educational system, but because of circumstantial demand society turned towards only intra-caste marriages. Now that we again have a centralized educational system, on a broader perspective still binding to intra-caste marriage is illogical. And let's hope to look forward to a heterogeneous mixture of inter-caste society.


Comments

  1. Wonderful. I agree with all the points you've mentioned. Caste classification was merely a profession those days. But the succeeding human race couldn't carry the same but altered it. And the another thing is, people are not willing to change. Old is gold they say. But more precious metals than gold exist too. We gotta evolve.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Change is a big word
      It's far from reality and close to hope
      As always let's hope for change
      On our part let's be the change we seek

      Delete
  2. Great Research & Wonderfully written!!!
    My view : I feel the problem is even though we let everyone know about these facts, we people find it very hard to accept something which is completely contrasting to our belief system.

    ReplyDelete

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