We all knew about the caste system that prevailed in the olden times. Caste system in that age did not mean Marginalization. It only did the job of grouping people with similar attitudes and life style based on their occupation. In a way, I would compare this to a college with students categorized into different departments according to their major subjects. It is people of the later age who marginalized them in the name of untouchables and other. The four major castes are Brahmans, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra.
Let us consider the case of eating meat. Kshatriya, a class of people were strong in their body and took up the job in army and military affairs. They are people whose body could digest the meat by their physical work. Thus, they turned into Non-vegetarians. While Brahmans, another class had no strong physique but a sound mind. They would not eat meat because they had to do a lot of physical work apart from their routine to digest it. Hence, they became vegetarians. This explains the emergence of Vegetarians and Non-vegetarians in the caste system. I prefer it has nothing to do with sympathy towards animals. We had a science and logic behind it. So, people can turn into vegetarians for health related issues but can't blame non-vegetarians for murderers.
As you can see, the caste system's intention was not wholly to arrange people in hierarchy and suppress & rule them. It was a simplified system of lifestyle followed by people of that age.Those were the ages when people restricted themselves and stuck to their Status quo. The whole caste system had its basis on one's occupation and forced its descendants to follow the same. But later came the ages when people came out of their shells and were open to choice of education and occupation. Why should people still cling on to the Caste System ? Why not let it go ?
Most of us would have undergone the compulsion to follow our customs and rituals by our elders. We, the young generation would have felt it superstitious and unnecessary. I too had those experiences. It is then, I started questioning the reason behind the rituals. All my questions were not answered. But I din't want to quit my quest. So, I searched for answers. Browsed, asked my friends, inquired some grannies and finally managed to come up with some logical answers in this site.
Our intelligent ancestors have hidden the true science behind every ritual. It might be because of the common man's mind not understanding the complex science behind every tradition and ritual. The way of living a life 'one with nature' were told to us in the name of religion and tradition. But gradually the cause of religion and tradition faded away where only the superstitious beliefs on God remained. People's innocence of the past time has gradually changed into ignorance. It is the people's ignorance that misled the concept of religion and rituals to this very day. So let us not be ignorant anymore and awe at the findings of foreigners which our ancestors have found far ahead of them.
