The Hindu Caste System – Mahatma Gandhi

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

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The Hindu Caste System – Mahatma Gandhi

 

The Hindu social structure has endured, I believe, on the foundation of the caste system. Sir William Hunter says in his History of India that, thanks to the continuing existence of the institution of caste, there has been no need for any law for the poor (pauper law) in India. This seems to me a sound view. The caste system contains within it the seed of swaraj. The different castes are so many divisions of an army. The general does not know the soldiers individually but gets them to work through the respective captains. In like manner, we can carry out social reform with ease through the agency of the caste system and order through it our religious, practical and moral affairs as we choose. The caste system is a perfectly natural institution. In our country, it has been invested with a religious meaning; elsewhere, its utility was not fully realized and so it remained a mere form, with the result that the countries concerned did not derive much benefit from it. These being my views, I am opposed to the movements which are being carried on for the destruction of the system. However, any defects in the caste system which we may find must certainly be removed and for that purpose we must first study its real nature.

As I pointed out earlier, we have given a religious meaning to the system. It is merely an agency for ensuring self-control. The caste defines the limits within which one may enjoy life; that is to say, we are not free to seek any happiness outside the caste. We do not associate with members of other communities for eating or enter into marriage relationships with them. With an arrangement of this kind, there is a good chance that loose conduct will be kept down. The idea that coming together for purposes of eating promotes friendship is contradicted by experience. If it did, the Great War being waged today in Europe would never have started. The bitterest quarrels are among relatives. We have needlessly exaggerated the importance of eating. The process of eating is as unclean as evacuation, the only difference being that, while evacuation ends in a sense of relief, eating, if one’s tongue is not held in control, brings discomfort. Just as we attend to evacuation, etc., in private, we should likewise eat and perform other actions common to all animals always in private. The purpose of eating is to sustain the body. If this statement is correct, obviously, the less ostentation we make about it, the better. The same thing is true of marriage. Prohibition of marriage with anyone not belonging to one’s community promotes self-control, and self-control is conducive to happiness in all circumstances. The larger the area over which the net is cast, the greater the risk. That is the reason why I see nothing wrong in the practice of choosing the husband or the wife from among persons of equal birth. Even in countries where class differentiation does not rest on religion, they guard against hybrid unions.

This is the meaning of the phrase ‘blue blood’ in England. Lord Salisbury used to boast that he belonged to the same stock as Elizabeth. It was a fact which seemed to him and the British people worth being proud of. In this way, the restrictions in regard to eating and marriage are, as a general rule, wholesome. There is, of course, and there will always be, room for exceptions. This has been accepted by Hindu society, whether it knows the fact or not. Rightly considered, however, there are no exceptions. If I eat in the company of a Bhangi, there being, from my point of view, greater self-control in doing so, the community should have nothing to do in the matter. Or, if I fail to get a suitable bride from my own community and I am likely, if I remain unmarried, to contract vicious habits, it will, in these circumstances, be an act of self-control on my part to marry a girl of my choice from any community and hence my action will not be a violation of the fundamental principle of the caste system. It would be for me to demonstrate that my purpose in taking such a step in disregard of the general rule was discipline of the flesh, and this would appear from my subsequent conduct. Meanwhile? However, I should not resent being denied the usual privileges that go with membership of a community but ought to continue doing my duty by it. The caste system has other laws besides those relating to eating and marriage. It has, ready at hand, the means for providing primary education. Every community can make its own arrangements for such education. It has machinery for election to the Swaraj Sabha (Parliament). Every community with some standing may elect its own representatives.

It has ready provision for arbitration and tribunals to solve disputes. Each community should itself resolve disputes among its own members. If it becomes necessary to raise an army for war, we have already as many battalions as we have communities. The caste system has struck such deep roots in India that I think it will be far more advisable to try to improve it, rather than uproot it. Some may argue that, if these views about the caste system are right, one will have to admit that the more numerous the communities, the better it would be, and that, if that came about, every ten persons would form a community. There is no substance in this argument. The rise and disappearance of communities does not depend upon the will of particular individuals or groups. In Hindu society, communities have been formed, have disappeared and have gone through improvements according to the needs of the times and the process is taking place even today, visibly or invisibly. The Hindu caste system is not merely an inert, lifeless institution but a living one and has been functioning according to its own law. Unfortunately, today we find it full of evils like ostentation and hypocrisy, pleasure seeking and quarrels. But this only proves that people lack character; we cannot conclude from it that the system itself is bad.

Reference:

Mahatma Gandhini Vicharsrishti