Caste and Race in India c7.126

c7.126

Gautama observes: "Men of the several castes and orders who always live according to their duty enjoy after death the rewards of their works, and by virtue of a remnant of their merit, they are born again in excellent countries, castes, and families endowed with beauty, long life, learning in the Vedas, virtuous conduct, wealth, happiness, and wisdom. Those who act in a contrary manner perish, being born again in various evil conditions.”¹ According to Āpastamba, sinful persons are born as low castes and even as animals. A person, for example, who steals a Brahmin’s gold will be reborn as a Caṇḍāla if he is a Brahmin, as a Pulkasa if he is a Kṣatriya and as a Vaiṇa (a mixed caste) if he is a Vaiśya. Men of the lower castes are reborn in higher castes if they have fulfilled their duties, while men of the higher castes are born in the lower ones as a result of their neglect of the prescribed duties.² It is clear that according to this lawgiver conscientious practice of the duties proper to one’s own varṇa, led to a birth in a higher varṇa and thus to salvation. Failure to act according to one’s varṇa duties meant birth in a lower caste and finally spiritual annihilation. In the Mahābhārata, the upward march from one caste to another in succeeding births till a person is born a Brahmin, is described in detail.³