Chapter 13 The Brahmanical Caste System

readx;? The researchers also found that the ancient city also had a good drainage system that protected the Aryans from flooding. Pen | fun | pavilion www. biquge。 infoThe inhabitants of the area also have good fire protection measures: the wooden floor slabs and the houses themselves are soaked with fireproof material, a substance that is so effective that its remnants can still be found in the ruins of the city.

Each house is equipped with all the amenities, and each house has a well, an oven, and a food storage room. Each well also creates two different ventilation paths: one leading to the oven and the other to the food storage room, which provides cool air to the oven and storage room. At the same time, this cold air also creates a strong pull force for the furnace, making it possible to smelt bronze here.

And the central square in the centre of Yerikovan is the only square building in the city. Given the traces of fire found on it, researchers believe that it was a special site.

In 3000 BC, the Aryans expanded into the Ganges River valley, and continued to integrate with the local indigenous population, bronze technology began to be introduced, large areas of forests and swamps were reclaimed, agriculture began to become the main source of income, and the Aryans cultivated crops according to the season. In addition to wheat and beans, rice and cotton have also begun to be cultivated. The handicraft industry also developed greatly at this time, and a large number of professional work departments and occupations appeared.

With the expansion and frequency of wars, as well as the development of the economy, the Aryans began to divide internally, the power of the "Raja" increased, the power of the monks and nobles also increased, the clan tribal system and the military democratic system of the Aryans collapsed one after another, private ownership began to emerge, a large number of poor people began to become debt slaves, the Varna system (that is, the caste system) began to appear, some tribes began to transition into the state, and the "Raja" became hereditary monarchs. The Aryans began to enter the late Vedic era.

Varna system: Three distinct classes emerged within the Aryans, namely the Brahmins, the Rajayans (later the Kshatriyas), and the Vaishyas. In addition, the Shudras (indigenous people) are the four major castes in India, and intermarriage and meals are not allowed between the castes, and in addition, the four castes are not different in terms of religious rituals and social rights.

In addition to the varna system, Brahmanism began to rise as the dominant religion of the late Vedic era.

In order to adapt to social changes, the Vedic religion centered on the Rig Veda began to carry out reforms, and finally formed Brahmanism with Vedic revelations, sacrificial omnipotence, and Brahmanical supremacy. This is the change of the yang world, the biggest change in the world of gods, is the rise of Brahma - there is the great Brahma, the head of the gods, who created all things and guarded the universe. Indra's god-king status actually declined, and he became a subordinate of Brahma who got his name for worshipping Brahma.

Brahmanical beliefs have Brahma as the main god, followed by Shiva, the god of destruction and dance, and Vishnu, the god of light. Brahmanism also preaches the concept of the reincarnation of good and evil, and advocates the idea of the unity of Brahmanism and self.

Samsara karma is the belief that each person's soul will be resurrected in another body and reincarnated after physical death. Each person is divided into the form of reincarnation according to his or her actions in the world, such as the "Shinto", "Ancestral Path", and "Beast Path", and one can liberate oneself from the arduous practice of samsara (asceticism, generosity, righteous action, non-killing, truthfulness, abstinence, compassion). That is, the three reincarnations.

In addition to this, Brahmanism also advocates human sacrifice, which is extremely barbaric.

In the process of its emergence and development, Brahmanism has formed many philosophical schools, among which the most influential ones are the number theory, the yoga school, the victory theory, the orthodox theory, the Mimancha school and the Vedanta school.

1. Number theory holds that the world is created by the combination of the 'God-self' and the primordial matter (self-nature). The God-Self is a spiritual entity that neither creates nor is created, eternal and unchanging. When the primordial matter is in a state of chaos and unchanging, it has three virtues: joy, sorrow, and darkness. The union of primordial matter and God-self destroys the balance of the three virtues, thus pushing the primordial matter to mutate and form various things in the world. But in the process of mutation of the primordial matter, the God-Self is only an 'inactive being', an 'observer', who plays the role of contemplation.

2. The Yoga school was originally very closely related to number theory. Number theory is the worldview of yoga, and yoga is the practice method of number theory. The Yoga school believes that the union of the primordial matter and the self is the root cause of all suffering, so it takes it as its fundamental purpose to cut off the root of suffering and make the self exist alone. The practice of yoga has been adopted by many religious and philosophical schools in India.

3. The theory of victory holds that the material world is an objective existence independent of our cognition, composed of eternal atoms (infinitesimal) of different properties, the accumulation of multiple atoms forms the various forms of the physical world, and the union of atoms is driven by the law of invisible forces.

4. Positive theory mainly examines various phenomena in the world with the help of logical reasoning, therefore, it focuses on the objects of understanding, methods, logical reasoning, ways of debate, and causes of errors. It divides the objects of knowledge into souls, bodies, sensory tubes, sensory objects, intellect, minds, actions, faults, other beings, karma, suffering, liberation, and so on. The object of knowledge of orthodox theory includes both the natural viewpoint and the religious and ethical thought, which recognizes both the origin of matter (elements, organs, etc.) and the origin of spirit (soul, intellect, mind, etc.).

5. The fundamental purpose of the Mimancha is to study sacrifice, believing that sacrifice is an activity to communicate the relationship between gods and men, and therefore the most important obligation of man. On this basis, it proposes the theory of quantity and the theory of acoustic permanence. Quantitative theory refers to the logical method of knowing and proving truth, and the theory of sound permanence regards sound as a permanent and unchanging reality behind language. The Mimancha school acknowledges that man's retribution and the destruction of the world are produced by the power of the sacrifice itself, and that there is nothing before the sacrifice and a new power can be generated after the sacrifice, the 'Wuqian', which in effect denies that the Heaven of Freedom or the Supreme God is the Creator.

6. The Vedanta sect believes that the supreme ruler of the world is Brahman. Brahman is the spirit of the universe, infinite, omnipresent and eternal, without distinction, form or attribute, which can neither be understood by concepts nor expressed in words, and is the ultimate cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of all phenomena in the world. Brahman is the "highest self" and the individual soul is the "life self". The living self has the connotation of a universal soul or the highest spirit, evolved from the highest self, and is essentially the same as the highest self, except that it is limited by a non-eternal organ. This theory is known as "Brahman-self-oneness". Brahmanism believes that drinking alcohol is the best way to attain liberation and return to the unity of Brahma and Brahma.