Society’s caste system: a philosophical analysis from Swami vivekananda’s vedāntic ideal of equality

Abstract

Caste or varṇa system is still a live issue in the present era. Many socialists and philosophers try to explain the caste system in their own ways. Swami-Vivekananda is one of them. He accepts the caste system based on qualities. To him, we are created with three qualities or guṇas. That is why we are different from each other by nature. So, we should act according to our nature. These three guṇas make someone a brᾱhmaṇa or a kṣatriya or a vaiśya, or a śūdra. We should not treat the caste system as hereditary. For a long time, it has been interpreted in the wrong way. That is why there is more dissimilarity in our society. According to him, we differ from each other only in manifestations not in essence. We are the same in essence as Sat-Cit-Ᾱnanda Brahman. Through this paper, I will show how Swami-Vivekananda explains society’s caste system from the Vedᾱntic ideal of equality.