UNDERSTANDING CASTE WITH ITS RELATIVES

In traditional Indian societies, the Caste system is seen as an agency of social stratification. On the basis of the Caste system, the people in Indian societies are categorised as- Brahmin, Kshatrya, Vaishya and Sudra. Thus, the Caste is considered as a dominating system in Indian societies, especially among the Hindus. In understanding caste, an ambiguity is seen that people usually use the two termsVarna and Jati interchangeably to refer the caste system. But these two terms has their specific meaning. Therefore we can't interchangeably use these two terms. Hence, this article is an attempt to break the ambiguity between the, varna and jati. Moreover, we can't properly understand the Caste, alienating it from its relatives with whom the caste keeps intimate relation. Further, the relatives with whom it interacts, made the caste a perpetuate one in Indian societies by reproducing the same. Hence, this article is an attempt to understand the caste with its relatives such as- Endogamy, Division of work, Punishments, the ideology of purity and pollution and Gender.