Cast System, Hinduism and Religious Identity

Abstract

This paper deals with complex problem of Indian cast system/division which had been shaped through the ages and up to now violates the principle of human equality. Socio-caste structure arose and rooted in traditional Hindu ideology of ontological division between dvija/twiceborn and outsiders. Cast division had a strong influence on religious and philosophical identity. This paper takes the profound philosophical system of Shaiva-siddhÄnta as an example, which got an ambiguous identity: not orthodox Hindu darshana (Ästika) and not very heterodox (nÄstika), but some kinds of marginal to Hinduism. Many of Shaiva-siddhÄntin authors were not Brahmins and belonged to shudras and untouchables—not dvija. Status of Shaiva-siddhÄnta reflects cast contradictions, and contemporary battle of ideas and ethno-cultural dispositions between northern and southern India, Aryans and Dravidians, nigÄma (Vedic tradition) and Ägama (para-Vedic).