swami,
please sir, you are not hurting anyone. we are exchanging ideas here. please also, do not consider that i am hurting to you.
i have similar queries like drs. swami, you are bringing a different perspective on current social phenomenon.
not that discussing this, will change the way the world is going. at the most, it might help us reconcile the various paths, and arrive if not at acceptance of the new, atleast an acknowledgement of the same.
swami it is all well and good re reference to the scriptures re intermarraige between castes. i guess there were no inter marriage between religions at that time.
at the time of the scriptures, apparently, we had sharp divisions in society. i do not want to go into anthropological analysis or merits of caste hierarchy.
in olden days, to the best of my knowledge, activities and vocations were sharply defined, and each caste stuck to its own prescribed function. not sure how it all started, and it does not matter.
what matters was that these divisions solidified, and perhaps, i think, if you go through the family tree for a thousand years, the entire family would have practised the same profession.
the separation of castes was complete, not only in terms of professions, but also where they lived and how they treated each other.
along with it, the place of the brahmins at the top of the hierarchy, with very said expectations of the brahmins re religious leadership, practices and non interference in the secular worldly affairs.
with the onset of the 20th century, the brahmins broke these rules. we moved on to professions which were newly created and not even thought of at the time of scriptures. and increasingly so.
so too are the other castes.
today's TBs, i think, we can safely say, shun the priest/teaching profession for various reasons. which is ok.
so do other castes and religions. that is ok too.
we are seeing increasing mingling of castes, on the job and social front.
for example, i can relate to someone with similar interests and job background, from another caste or community, than a TB who is a priest or a doctor.
socio economic factors are now playing a larger part in the decisions of people as to where to live, where to take vacations, which jobs to apply and above all, a sense of clubhood.
should these factors also not be taken into account, along with the scriptures' guidance re inter caste marriages.
swami, i do not mean to hurt any feelings. please treat these queries gently.
what i am trying to do, is to find some reconcilation between the old and the new. there must be some bridges built here, i think.
there should be meeting points. one cannot have exclusive old values for some aspects, and switch to conveniently new values when it suits us for other purposes.
i do not think this is a fair and equitable way of dealing with life's challenges. should we not set a uniform standard all along?
thank you sir.
ps.. one residual thought that keeps knocking at the back of my mind is the word 'prejudice'.
prejudice is our boundary, i think, and defines ourselves. even more, it defines, what we are not. prejudice, today has a bad connotation, which i think, need not necessarily be so.
we can talk about that another time.
thanks again sir.
