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... it influences people to treat others, as they themselves would like to be treated. Reincarnation is the belief that a persons soul will return to an earthly body again and again until it is liberated from the cycle of life and death. The way to become liberated is by becoming increasingly detached from worldly things, a process that is understood to take innumerable lifetimes.
Belief in reincarnation has an effect on behavior by giving Indians a more casual attitude toward the demands of time than is found among Westerners. Hindus also believe that the goal of reincarnation is to eventually become united with Brahman, the ultimate ground of being, which has no attributes that can be seen or felt. Aside from these basic beliefs, Hindus have a great deal of choice in adapting their own personality to their style of worship. There are different spiritual paths that can be chosen, depending upon whether the worshipper is more disposed to work, devotion or knowledge.
In addition, there are hundreds of different deities, both gods and goddesses, which a worshipper can choose from in picking a personal god. The personal god is meant to provide a focus for worship and devotion and to thus help the believer become more aligned with the impersonal god known as Brahman. Even after choosing a personal deity, Hindus still have flexibility in their style of worship. According to Pandian, a Hindu may change the focus of worship, emphasizing the worship of different deities in relation to changes in his or her own intellectual / emotional growth, or may remain devoted to the worship of a particular deity. Although there is a great deal of flexibility in Hinduism, it restricts behavior in certain ways because there are many rituals and obligations that must be consistently followed.
In addition to the village temples where people gather to worship, each Hindu home has its own shrine for the purpose of worshipping the family deity. Religion is such a pervasive influence in India that Pandian says: The daily life of a Hindu villager involves frequent reminders of traditional norms. The Hindu system has also affected behavior because the belief in karma and reincarnation has supported the Indian caste system, in which it is understood that different classes of people have distinctly different roles in life. There is even more diversity in Indian language than there is in the countrys religion. Hindi is the official language of the nation; however, it is understood by only forty per cent or, at most, fifty per cent of the population.
In addition to Hindi, there are fourteen officially recognized regional languages, two hundred and fifty major dialects, and thousands of minor languages and dialects, and many of these are completely unrelated to one another. Throughout Indias history, there have been efforts among intellectuals and scholars to develop a common pan-Indian religious or political language. Over the course of time, the official national language has changed from Sanskrit to Persian to English to Hindi. Although it seems like a positive thing to try to develop an official language for the nation as a whole, this effort has also resulted in enforcing the social divisions of the Indian people. Pandian notes that the people of India are required to know how to speak Hindi fluently if they are to obtain successful jobs.
As Pandian further notes, this has created an unfair advantage for the 40 percent or so of the total population that consists of native Hindi speakers. The social roles of the Indian culture are strongly impacted by the traditional caste system. In the words of Madan, castes and families are the building blocks of Hindu society, and an overwhelming majority of the Hindus of South Asia, particularly those living in the rural areas, identify themselves in terms of their jan or caste. As a general rule, people never leave the caste they are born into.
They tend to marry within the same caste, and sons tend to adopt the occupations of their fathers. Despite the prevalence of the caste system in Indian culture, however, Pandian points out that the system is more complex than it appears on the surface. Thus, anthropological studies of Indian village communities have shown the existence of multiple labels of caste identity and multiple levels of caste ranking. There are also controversial views regarding gender roles in India.
According to Azad, working women in India are subject to oppression, poverty and poor health, and they basically live in an environment of powerlessness. Indeed, Indian women must contend with such things as arranged marriages, female infanticide and wife abuse, among many other things. On the other hand, Seymour argues that respect is also given to women in India, especially when they undertake the role of motherhood. This sense of honor is enhanced by the religious beliefs of Hinduism, in which female deities are seen as being the source of power for the male deities. Because of the high status of motherhood and the belief in powerful goddesses, Seymour says female power and authority is real in both secular and sacred contexts. Seymour further claims that there have been signs of change in recent years in terms of gender relationships in India.
She reports, for example, that recent studies have shown an increasing number of Indian women taking post marital residence in nuclear households where they can be independent of in-laws and have a more intimate relationship with their husbands. Seymour also emphasizes that the restrictions of Indian culture do not only affect women, but the nations men as well. Because of caste and religious obligations, men also have a series of roles and life stages through which they must move, and they are also expected to control their personal desires for the sake of the collective whole. After attaining independence from colonization, India, within a span of 50 years emerged as one of the fastest developing economies in the world. Ranking as the seventh largest country in area and second in population.
She is also the largest democracy in the world. She is the world's second largest producer of rice, worlds largest exporter of tea, jute and computer programmes. She is the third largest manufacturer of motor scooters, the second largest exporter of booster rockets for the space industry, and the second largest center in Asia for low-tech subcontracting and the development of offshore software. On the Economic front, it adopted a Mixed Economic policy on the five-year plan basis. India chalked out a plan for her economic growth in a protective manner. She made major steps forward in improving agricultural output and her industries have expanded to the stage, where she is one among the world's top 10 industrial powers.
However, after 1990, India opened her door for liberalization and now the economic growth is approximately 6 % per annum. When people travel to India to do business, it is important for them to be aware of the unique characteristics of the nations culture. Because India has long had ties to the West, there are many ways in which business relations between Indians and Westerners can be expected to go smoothly. However, Indians also have certain differences in their business style that are related to their cultural and religious beliefs. Belief in the importance of the souls liberation, for example, causes many Indians to have a less materialistic orientation than their Western counterparts. Belief in karma has the effect of causing many Indians to have a heightened awareness of right and wrong.
Regarding the way belief in reincarnation affects the Hindu perspective on time, Lewis warns the Western business traveler that Indians often show little respect for punctuality. The relatively low social status of Indian women has an impact on how women are viewed in the world of Indian business. According to Lewis, business travelers should also understand that the Western value of individualism contrasts with Indian collectivism. Despite the differences in business style between Westerners and Indians, however, Lewis points out that Indians can be shrewd negotiators when they want to be. In business dealings, Indians do not hold Westerners in awe, and they are quite capable of using acting skills in order to negotiate on behalf of themselves or their families. As mentioned above, caste distinctions first became prominent in Northern India following Aryan migration into the subcontinent.
During the postclassical era, the caste system became securely established in Southern India as well. The postclassical era brought a series of political, economic, and social challenges to Indias caste system. The caste system plays a crucial role in India in determining the class and status of not only its people but also migrants. The caste system adapted to the arrival of migrants and helped to integrate them into Indian society. For instance, as Turkish peoples or Muslim merchants pursued opportunities in India, they gained recognition as distinct groups under the umbrella of the caste system. They established codes of conduct both for the regulation of behavior within their own groups and for guidance in dealing with members of other castes.
The caste system also accommodated the social changes brought about by trade and economic development. As merchants and manufacturers became increasingly important in the larger economy, they organized powerful guilds to represent their interests. Merchant guilds in particular wielded political and economic influence, since their members enjoyed access to considerable wealth and contributed to the economic health of their states. Guild members were then able to forge new group identities by working within the caste system.
Merchants specializing in particular types of commerce, such as the silk, cotton or spice trade established themselves as distinct sub castes. Economic development aided this process by encouraging commercial relationships between southern merchants and their caste-conscious counterparts in the north. The emergence of merchant and craft guilds in southern regions strengthened the caste system since guild members usually organized as a sub-caste. Powerful temples also fostered caste distinctions. Brahmins who supervised the temples provided the only formal education available in most regions and also served as centers of local social life. By about the 11 th century C.
E. , the caste system had become the principle basis of social organization in Southern India. Men dominated Aryan society. All warriors, priest and tribal chiefs were men, and the Aryans recognized descent through the male line. Women influenced affairs within their own families but had no public authority. As the Aryans settled in agricultural communities throughout India, they maintained a thoroughly patriarchal society. Only males could inherit property, unless a family had no male heirs, and only men could preside over family rituals that honored departed ancestors.
Also, since they had no priestly responsibilities, women rarely learned the Vedas and formal education in Sanskrit remained almost exclusively a male preserve. The patriarchal spokesmen of Vedic society sought to place women explicitly under the authority of men. Through the Law Book of Manu women and men reinforced the cultural norms of India as it dealt with proper moral behavior and social relationships including sex and gender relationships. This book advised men to treat women with honor and respect, but it also insisted that women remain subject to the guidance of the principle men in their lives, first their fathers, then their husbands and finally any surviving male relative such as a son. Finally, the law book also specified that the most important duties of women were to bear children and maintain wholesome houses for their families. The caste system not only endowed social groups with a powerful sense of identity but also helped to maintain public order.
To conclude, caste system traditionally divided the entire Indian population into a strict system of hereditary groups of people. Consisting of mainly four main castes and a fifth group outside of the caste, the system governed the lives of Indians with an iron hand and strict law and for the majority of the Indian population made life very difficult. The appreciation and acceptance of the caste system relied on the ideas of karma and dharma. Indians believed that people were what they were due to something they achieved in a previous life, karma, and the believer, accepting his situation in life performs the duties expected f him which is dharma.
Each of the 3000 individual castes that existed had its own rules, rituals, customs and spirits. An Indian's place in the caste system was entirely determined by birth, so unlike the traditional Roman system, one could not advance up a caste or two with achievements or recommendations. One could not change his position in the caste system during one lifetime. The caste system imposed uncountable restrictions upon the members of each group, concerning diet, marriage, occupations, behavior and every aspect of life, even down to various ways of washing and brushing teeth. Caste groups have hereditary occupation, there were castes of gardeners, potters, weavers, barbers etc. , the list is endless. One could also only marry and dine within his / her caste group.
The story of Purusha is a myth that can explain the origins of the four caste groups. Purusha was the first man, made by the Creator-God, Brahma. Purusha was sacrificed and from various parts of his body came the four different castes. The highest caste, the Brahmins or priests, was taken from Purusha's mouth. The warriors and rulers, the Kshatriya, came from the arms. The third highest caste, the Vaisya, the skilled workers and traders, came from the thighs, and the Shudras, the serfs, servants and unskilled laborers came from the feet.
Quite obviously, the caste system is an extremely disadvantageous system of running a country, and was clearly designed and bought into existence only by people who would benefit from the system being in place. A key issue is that the highest caste contained such a small percentage of the Indian population that the system really was not a logical one, and for the thousands of people who were not lucky enough to be born into a high caste, life would have been totally unworthy living. The main point in the running of the caste system was the method behind membership. Because membership was achieved only into the initial caste one was born into, this placed huge constrictions and disadvantages to people born in lower caste groups.
The strict rules in place in regard to such things as diet, marriage and occupation were totally illogical, and really were a waste of time, in place only to make people in higher castes feel powerful and important, which is a very bad reason to have the entire Indian society in a system where only a few benefit and have some sort of standard of living. Although there are controversial opinions concerning the efficiency of the caste system in India, it is evident that the system worked well only for those who were members of the superior castes. For all others, and there was a considerable majority of those others, the system was a burden that they could not get rid of. Word Count: 5, 154. Bibliography: Azad, N. (1996).
Gender and equity: Experience of the Working Womens Forum, India. International Social Science Journal 48, pp. 219 - 229. Lewis, R. D. (1996).
Indias Hard Bargain. Management Today (April), pp. 79 - 80. Madan, T. N. (1989).
Caste and the Ordering of Hindu Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mehta, V. (1993). Portrait of India. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Newman, D. (1995). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. California: Pine Forge Press. Pandian, J. (1995).
The Making of India and Indian Traditions. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. Potter, K. (1989). Hinduism. Cambridge University Press.
Seymour, S. C. (1999). Women, Family, and Child Care in India: A World in Transition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sharma, U. (1999). Caste. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Spielvogel, J. (2000). World History, Volume one: to 1800.
California: Von Hoffmann Press. Srinivas, M. N. (1987). The Dominant Caste. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Walsh, J. (1998).
Buddha and the Caste System in India. New York: Harper Perennial. Notes
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