Four Classes of Hindu Society

The sages gave each of these types a name.

< Kashatriyas : motivated by power
< vaishyas      : motivated by material objects
< Brahmins    : motivated by knowledge
< Shudras     : unmotivated people

The kshatriyas are your kings and queens. They're your top-level executives and administrators. They're also your military and police personnel, the ones who use force to keep order. For most of its history, India was a patchwork of numberless little kingdoms. So the kshatriyas were primarily your maharajahs and maharanis, your princesses and dukes and their families, and the warriors they retained to help protect those they ruled and conquer those they didn't.

Vaishyas are your business people, traders people, artisans, farmers. Your skilled labor. Brahmins are priests, counselors, educators, philosophers. In India until fairly recently, brahmins were primarily responsible for preserving the Veda and were valued as ritual specialists. Today more brahmins are moving into other fields, such as politics, administration, and medicine. Shudras are your unskilled laborers.

Originally the varnas, or four castes as these groups are called, were somewhat fast and loose designations. But in India as in much of the rest of the world, children learned their trade from their parents.

What Turns you On?

What turns people on? The Hindu sages noted that there are basically four distinct personality types.

The first type is people whose primary passion in life is power. They feel most alive when they're controlling others. They would be miserable if they couldn't express their need to be in charge.

Another personality type is mostly motivated by material things. These folks want to be wealthy.Their satisfaction comes from producing or owning things. Their worst fear is poverty. Or sometimes simply having less than other people do.

The third kind of person is oriented more toward the inner world. It's ideas that turn them on, and internal experiences like spiritual visions. Give them a book, have them teach a class, or let them sit quietly thinking or meditating, and they're happy as ducks in a pond.

Then there are your burger flippers. These are the people who don't particularly want to rule the world. And they aren't money hungry enough to work their way up to a job. They don't necessarily long to be the world's leading philosophers either. They're content and relax with friends and family.

Guidepost

Ever feel like an outcast? Sad to say, the outcastes of India probably feel even worse. Mahatma Gandhi renamed this group of people Harijans, "the children of God".Outcaste status was outlawed in 1950. Today all Hindus are equal before the law.

A Classy Religion

Hindu culture is tightly structured. Everyone knows where they belong-and where they don't. If you're a Hindu, many of life's choices are made for you. What your job will be. Who you'll marry. The class of people you'll hang out with.

For those of us who've grown up in the individualistic West, where our right to self-determination is a paramount value, the hierarchical societies of the East may seem stifling, even inhumane. Yet many Hindus would not trade their way of life for ours. Hindus who move to the West often complain that compared to home, Western culture seems cold and selfish.

Let's look at the way Hindu society organizes itself, and the religious purpose for this way of life.

How Hindus Live

Hindus live in a tightly ordered, hierarchical world with clear moral values. Although India is technically a secular state, for practicing Hindus there is no such thing as a secular life. Everything occurs within the context of religion. Sacraments for every Hindu begin before birth and continue after death. Holy days are frequent. Activities are oriented, directly or indirectly, toward the ultimate goal of Hindu spirituality : liberation of the soul from the bondage of karma and rebirth.

Mother India herself is sacred. You can't travel far without reaching one pilgrimage center or another. Temples appear everywhere, though the most familiar one is right in each Hindu's own home.

Here is how the saints and sages of the Eternal Religion counseled Hindu men and women to structure their society-and how to live with each other and find peace with themselves.

Adi Shankara

Shankara travelled across the subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers. He is reputed to have four mathas ("monasteries"), which helped in the historical development, revival and spread advaita Vedanta of which he is known as the greatest revivalist Adi Shankara is believed to be the organizer of the Dashanami monastic order and the founder of the shanmata tradition of worship.

His works in sanskrit concern themselves with establishing the doctrine (nondualism). He also established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the upanishads and the Brahma Sutra in a time when the mimamsa school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism.

The Zoroastrian Connection

Zoroastrianism is immensely ancient. According to the Hindu tradition, Zoroaster would have lived long before 40000 B.C.E. ( He is mentioned as an ancient renegade teacher several times in the Rig Veda, which was composed somewhere around 4000 B.C.E) Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, confirms that the Persians of his time dated Zoroaster to around 6000 BC.E (Western scholars have been extremely reluctant to accept such ancient dates for Zoroaster).

Zoroaster is one of the most important figures in religious history. When he broke with Hinduism, he established a new set of beliefs which much later would work ideas include the linear nature of time with history ending on Judgment Day, the rest resurrection on the physical body, and the promised return of a savior to inaugurate a millennial period of peace on earth. He also taught the existence of the Devil, a malevolent being nearly as powerful as God.

Hindus accept a modified version of the history of the returning savior. None of Zoroaster's other ideas is accepted in Hinduism.

Breaking with Tradition

Buddha was disgusted by the Hindu priestly caste, in whose rituals he had little faith. He rejected the authority of the Veda, the value of worshipping deities, and the concept of an immortal soul. Most of Buddha's teachings and practices, however, retain a strong Hindu flavor.

Mahavira, who lived around the same time as the Buddha and whose life paralleled Buddha's in a number of surprising ways, also rejected the Veda. His spiritual tradition, which strongly nonviolence, is called Jainism.

The Sikh tradition started in the Punjab in the twelfth century C.E. It emphasized devotion to God and guru, and later to the Adi Granth, the collection of beautiful hymns that eventually took the place of a human guru. Combining Hindu and Muslim ideals, the Sikhs became known for their military valor.

Varanasi

The kashi Naresh (Maharaja of kashi) is the chief cultural patron of Varanasi, and an essential part of all religious celebrations. The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the Ganges. The city has been a cultural center of North India for several thousand years, and has a history that is older than most of the major world religions.

Thaipusam

Thaipusam (Tamil: தைப்பூசம், Taippūcam ) is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in theTamil month of Thai (January/February). It is not only observed in countries where the Tamil community constitutes a majority, but also in countries where Tamil communities are smaller, such as Malaysia, Mauritius Singapore and Myanmar 

The word Thaipusam is a combination of the name of the month, Thai, and the name of a star, Pusam. This particular star is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel "spear" so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman. There is a misconception among people that Thaipusam marks Murugan's birthday; however, it is believed that Vaikhasi Vishakam, which falls in the Vaikhasi month (May/June), is Murugan's birthday.

Skanda (or Murugan) was created during one of the battles between the Asuras (or to be more specific Soorapadman) and the Devas. At one point, the latter were defeated several times by the former. The Devas were unable to resist the onslaught of the Asura forces. In despair, they approached Shiva and entreated to give them an able leader under whose heroic leadership they might obtain victory over the Asuras. They surrendered themselves completely and prayed to Shiva. Shiva granted their request by creating the mighty warrior, Skanda, out of his own power or Achintya Shakti. He at once assumed leadership of the celestial forces, inspired them and defeated the Asura forces and to recognize that day the people created the festival.

in Palani, Tamil Nadu, India, Thousands of devotees flock to Palani and attend kavadi. According to palani.org, "The number of kavadis reaching Palani for Thai Pusam is about 10,000. For Pankuni Uttiram, 50,000 kavadis arrive. It is kavadi to your right, kavadi to your left, kavadi in front of you, kavadi behind you, kavadi above you and kavadi below you."

In Vadalur (Cudalore dist.) near Neyveli, Saint Vallalar (1823–1874) (Ramalinga Adigalar)21-01-1872 Established Sathya Gnana Sabai,(Lotus Temple) inside he kept 7 Screens and Camphor lighted Jothi, every thaipoosam day early morning 6pm then 10pm,afternoon 1 pm then,evening 7 pm, then night 10 pm, and next day early morning 5.30,am like six time full screen Jothi Darisan showing,in this temple. and every monthly Poosam day evening 7 pm half screen Jothi Darshan performing.This was established in the year 1872,the Arutperumjothi Darshan. can be seen monthly once and Yearly six times only, The state Government Declare local Holiday for the cudalore district.

In Haripad Subramayawsami Temple, Alapuzha, Kerala is famous for Kavadiyattom.Almost 5000 kavadis coming to the temple from many temples in the locality. garga

In Vaikom, Kerala, India, Thai Pusam festival is conducted with Kaavadis at Udayanapuram Subramanya temple. Devotees take panchamritha kaavadi, paal kaavadi, bhasma kaavadi, etc.

In Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, Thai Pusam festival is conducted at Satyavageeswara temple. The utsava moorthy is taken in procession on a vahanam (mount). There is nel(Paddy)parai alappu or Nel alavu, as a ritual performed for good luck and prosperity.

In Nallur, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Thai Pusam festival is conducted at Nallur Kandhasamy Temple. Many Tamil devotees irrespective of religion take part in celebrations. Even Tamils from Roman Catholic faith and Muslims take part in Thai Pusam celebrations and take Kavadis.

Hindu Spin-offs

From time to time, great spiritual masters left the Hindu fold to start their own traditions. Hindu policy is so liberal, Hindus are allowed to believe just about anything, so what do you have to do to be excluded from Hinduism? Refusing to accept the Veda as divinely inspired and breaking with the caste tradition entirely will do the trick.

A number of important Hindu sects splintered from the Vedic fold to form their own faiths. Hinduism has no less than four world-famous stepchildren.

The Lousy Accountant

One of the most famous Shakta saints of recent was Ramprasad Sen, who lived in Bengal in the eighteenth century. He was passion for the goddess Kali and neglected his work as an accountant so badly his boss fired him! But when his boss read the beautiful lines of poetry Ramprasad had scribbled in the account books, the businessman was astute enough to realize his clerk was a burgeoning saint. He encouraged Ramprasad to give up accounting and devote his life to spiritual practice. And he sent a generous stipend home to Ramprasad every month so that his employee could actually afford to do so!

Ramprasad is famous for poems in which he approaches the Mother of the Universe like an innocent child. Or like a petulant child at times! Speaking of his meditation practice he writes.

Mother Kali, you dwell in cremation grounds

so I've made my heart a burning pit

where you can dance.

One desire burns in the conflagration of my life:

To watch your blazing dance!

I sit here still as death in my funeral pyre,

looking for You with eyes closed.

God or Goddess?

Philosophically Shaktism is very close to Shaivisim. In fact the two are often considered brother-sister tradition. Their doctrines are essentially identical. However Shaivisim emphasizes the consciousness or Shiva aspect a little more. Shaktism emphasizes the energy or active facet of the divine slightly more.

In the end, Shaivities admit Para Shiva, the highest form of Shiva, contains both Shiva and Shakti. Shaktas says Sadakhya, the highest form of the Goddess, contains both Shiva and Shakti, consciousness and energy. Some difference. Consciousness is energy-living self-awareness.

Thai Pongal

Thai Pongal or Pongal is a thanksgiving or harvest festival celebrated in south India at the end harvest season. It is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Tamilians in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the Indian Territory of Pondicerry and Sri Lanka. Pongal marks the beginning of the northward journey movement traditionally referred to as uttarayana. It concides with the festival Makara sankranthi celebrated throughout India as the winter harvest, and is usually held from January 13-16 in the Gregorian calendar i.e. from the last day of the Tamil Month Maargazhi to the third day of Thai. The second of the four days or the first day of the month Thai is the main day of the festival which is known as Pongal or Thai Pongal. This also represents the Indic solstice when the sun purportedly enters the 10th house of the Indian zodiac i.e. Makar or Capricorn.