The caste
system is a social order based on Hindu religious philosophy. Within this religious system, the
body is to the soul as clothing is to our bodies. The soul is born into and sheds bodies
hundreds or thousands of times in a cycle of reincarnation, gradually improving from lower to
higher life forms. At the pinnacle of the cycle of being are humans who have responsibility for
what happens during their incarnations. This is the notion of karma, in which our past actions
determine our fate. Fortune is not random; bad or good fortune in a current incarnation depends
on how people behaved in previous incarnations.
One's caste is determined at
birth or the moment one is incarnated. One cannot change caste at all in a given lifetime.
However, if one obeys all the rules of one's caste and the other dictates of Hinduism, living a
good and pious life, one can be reincarnated as a member of a higher caste in one's next life.
If one fails badly in a given life, one can be reincarnated as a lower caste or even an animal.
The ultimate reward one strives for is to escape the cycle of reincarnation
entirely.
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