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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
to regard man as high or low on the basis of his birth.
For the sustenance and maintenance of the society, its members are required to undertake different professions or occupations. The professional activities were broadly classified into four divisions and the members who undertook them formed four classes accordingly. These four classes were given the names brāhmaṇa, ksatriya, vaisya and sūdra.
The brāhmaṇa class corresponded to the intellectual class, the ksatriya class to the warrior class, the vaisya class to the mercantile class and the śūdra class to the labour class. Those who devoted themselves to teaching and learning were called brāhmanas. They spread knowledge among the people, preserved and maintained the cultural and intellectual come down to them through tradition, guided the people in matters religious and spiritual and the rulers in the state policies. They were also the repository of scriptural knowledge. Those who took to the profession of protecting the country were called ksatriyas. It was their business to fight in defence of the country. It was also their duty to curb evil activities harmful to society and thereby to maintain its health. The kșatriya class included rulers and warriors. Those who mainly engaged themselves in agriculture, trade and business were called vaisyas. Their duty was to produce and supply necessities of life. Thus the vaiśya class included the cultivators of soil, merchants and artisans. And those who served the society in some other way by manual labour were called sūdras.
This was the original caste system. There was the functional basis underlying it. The groups or castes were almost always functional. There was considerable freedom to people to choose their professions and occupations according to their aptitude, liking and capacity, and thereby to choose their caste or class. Thus the system was very flexible. Capacity, character and occupation were the determinants of castes. Birth was not the determinant factor. When birth came to be regarded as the sole determinant factor to the disregard of capacity, character and occupation, the system became rigid and perverted, and the society degenerate, weak and degraded. Caste should not depend on birth. It should depend on merit.
All the four types of activities are necessary for happiness, comforts and progress of society. In the absence of any of them, society cannot sustain itself, nor can it make any progress. So we should not regard one man high and another low on the basis of their professions. Profession is not the measure of man and does not determine him as high or low. For
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