Name – Jay Sutariya

Student Number- 3117000

Topic 1
 In this essay, I will discuss how Karma, Caste, and Sacrifice functions in three different

stories that we learned so far. I will discuss Karma in the story of Nachiketa from the Katha

Upanishad. Next, I will discuss Caste in "The Story of my Sanskrit," and I will also discuss

Sacrifice by a man in "Purusa-Sukta" from the Rig Veda. Furthermore, I will try to give my

viewpoint on these three stories and make a debatable comparison with examples.

In ancient times in Hinduism, peoples were divided into lower-caste and higher-caste.

According to Clothey's book, brahmins and communities applied the old varna system, and

they split people into four different castes(jatis) based on their works like brahmins (immense

knowledge of rituals), Kshatriyas(warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), Shudras (workers)

(p.g.90,43). For example, if we consider "the story of my Sanskrit," then Kumud Pawde suffers

for the job before marriage because she was born in lower-caste(p.g.614). Communities'

motive was to assign people caste based on their work knowledge, but some people get work

based on their Caste, which is inappropriate. Due to the discrimination, many people do not

get the opportunity to show their skills.

Nevertheless, if we considered the story of Nachiketa, the last wish questions what

happens after death and what is death? After hearing the answer on death from Yama, I want

to say the death will be painful or not will depend on the situation one creates in his own life.

The bad karmas are the reason for the pain in one's life cycle. As we know from the cycle of

"Samsara" (p.g.56) also states that the cyclic process of death, devolution, and rebirth which is

the logical consequences of the law of karmas. As one should live a life with good karmas as

good karmas will pay back in good ways. Nachiketa inspires us to be kind to everyone, respect

our elders (father, mother), and motivate us to be happy in any difficult situation. For

example, Nachiketa gets three wishes from Yama is because of his Karma. (p.g.4). As Altenburg
stated in the lecture, Karma means action someone does in ritual (Lecture 3.2 7:15). As we all

know, if we want to succeed in life, we should learn to Sacrifice. If you Sacrifice anything which

makes another person happy, then you should Sacrifice. Similarly, the hymn named "Purusha-

Sukta" talks about the creation of everything (world, humans, etc.) by the Sacrifice of

Purusha's body parts. From the largest thing to the smallest creature, all are created by the

small part of Purusha as it claims God is everywhere (body, nature).

However, let's consider "the story of my Sanskrit". It talks about Kumud Pawde, and

she does not get a job because of her Caste. But, according to Clothey, brahmins and

communities’ divided people into four castes. Furthermore, if we talk about "Purusa-Sukta", it

states that Purusa created the caste system from his body parts. For example, Pursua's mouth

became brahmins, and his arms became kshatriyas, his feet and thighs became Vaishyas and

Shudras (p.g.31 Rig Veda). If God created the caste system, then it was to smoothen society.

Now, in Hinduism, high-caste people are getting more benefits than lower-caste due to the

caste system. If the caste system was originated from the body organ, then all four castes are

essential because if one organ stops working, then the whole society needs to suffer.

According to my hypothesis, if we look at stories that I have considered, their themes

are different. For example, "the Story my Sanskrit" is based on the Caste, "Purusa-Sukta" has a

sacrificial piece, and "the Story of Nachikata" is based on Karma. However, let's compare "the

Story of Nachiketa" and "Purusa-Sukta". Both have a theme of Sacrifice, which means

Nachiketa follows his father's order and sacrifice his life and went to Yam Lok, and the Purusa

Sacrifices his body parts to make this beautiful world. As Clothey explained, living the life as a

householder, or worshiping in the temple is Sacrifice (p.g.94). There are two sides to the coin.

Likewise, there are some negative and positive sides of these narratives in Indian religious
tradition. Firstly, if we talk about the negative side, then people in India still believe in the

caste system, and it does not make any difference how good you are at your work. For

example, as an Indian, I have faced many problems due to the caste system in India, such as

high-caste people getting admissions in college compared to lower-caste with lower academic

grades. Secondly, if we talk about the positive side, then because of Karma theory, people get

threatened, which means people will think twice before doing something wrong because they

think if they do something wrong, then something bad can happen to them. Clothey stated

hymns and commentaries from Rig Veda are preserved by the priest and used for chanting

(p.g.47).

To conclude, I have discussed three stories in which I have talked about Karma, Caste,

and Sacrifice. I also explained the impact of these stories in Indian religious tradition and tried

to compare these stories. I want to say that it does not matter which Caste or religion you

belong to, but all that matters is your Karma.

Note :- Please use EPUB file for correct page number for Clothey’s book.