How do concepts of dharma karma and samsara shape the social

How do concepts of dharma, karma, and samsara shape the social order in Hindu societies? What do these concepts have to do with the ideology of the caste/varna system?

Solution

Karma: Karma is the law behind incarnation. It is the law of action and reaction, free will and fate, and karma from the action point of view and karma from reaction point of view. Karma in Sanskrit means action or activity work or Krina in the New Testament. The law of karma is akin to the physical law of action and reaction. To quote Bible, “A man reaps what he sows”. Three kinds of karma are identified which include Karma activities in harmony, karma activities forbidden by scriptures, and karma of higher nature which are not subjected to material laws.

To know what is proper and what is improper is Dharma. This knowledge is crucial for day to day decision making. Dharma is translated as ethical, moral and religious principles. It’s a law, or a virtue or righteous conduct. Dharma upholds both this worldly and the other-worldly affairs. Violated dharma destroys, protected dharma protects, and therefore, dharma must not be violatled.

Sanatana dharma: Dharma defines the way of life but the four basic kind of suffering – birth, disease, old age, and death are inevitable because they are present in this materialistic world. There may be few prisoners who like to stay in jail, but most of them desires freedom. Those who wish to be completely free from all sufferings, are informed by the Vedic scriptures about sanatana dharma or eternal dharma.

Varna/Caste system: What is truly distinctive of Hinduism is its social structure—the caste system—and the religious ideology that underlies it, especially the notion of the superiority and spiritual purity of the Brahman castes. The Varna system classified all human beings into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. This ancient quadruple division is an ancient stratification of society and not to be confused with the much more nuanced “caste”. Hinduism, then, might be envisaged as the label for those traditions that legitimate themselves through the authority of the Veda.

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