caste system

In the Hindu lands of ancient India, there was a class structure called the caste system. It divided the society into four, well defined groups. It was born of dharma which dictated a rigid class structure. In spite of the divisions among different class members, the system worked well. Buddhism came along and challenged the notion. Buddha taught that birth and the happenstance of who or what your parents were, was not a basis for …

…destroyed the bonds of becoming; he is free in his perfect wisdom."(SOIT 132). Buddha says "whoever among the classes" meaning that anyone who wants to enter monkhood can and is free to do so at any time, regardless of class. It would be his own desire to do so, and not his place in society. The caste system worked and continued to function despite good arguments to the contrary by the Buddha and his followers.