Cultural Anthropology, Cast Hierarchy and Religious Values in Modern India

摘要

This paper dedicates to complex problem of interrelations between Indian cast system and cultural anthropological traditions, which are rooted in religious values. Indian cultural anthropological division by cast shaped through the ages up to now is alive notwithstanding many-folded modernization in the country. Caste/jati structure arose and based on traditional Hindu hierarchy of ontological and socio-cultural entities from the top to the bottom: from absolute (Divine) Brahman to cosmos, from dvijas/twice-born people to shudras and other outsiders (so called untouchables). Values of cast way of life, cast cultural-religious traditions (jati-dharma) are still in priority for Indians even for those who are not Hindus. The core of Indian cultural anthropology is hierarchy constructed by Brahmins since the epoch of Upanishads, which not only survived but also reinforced and adjusted in present.