Religious notions are the root mechanism sustaining India’s caste system.

Evidence

In the first place, I must dispel the notion that the views contained in that part of the address to which objection has been taken by the committee have come to the Mandal as a surprise. Mr Sant Ram, I am sure, will bear me out when I say that in reply to one of his letters I had said that the real method of breaking up the caste system was not to bring about inter-caste dinners and inter-caste marriages but to destroy the religious notions on which caste was founded, and that Mr Sant Ram in return asked me to explain what he said was a novel point of view. It was in response to this invitation from Mr Sant Ram that I thought I ought to elaborate in my address what I had stated in a sentence in my letter to him. You cannot, therefore, say that the views expressed are new. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 785

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

Related

• Ambedkar held that caste rests on religious notions, not just marriage and dining taboos. (similarity 0.88)
• Ambedkar argued that destroying caste required destroying its religious foundations, not just inter-caste marriages (similarity 0.88)
• Caste can only be destroyed by attacking its religious foundations (similarity 0.87)
• Abolishing caste requires destroying the sacred authority of shastras (similarity 0.85)
• Destroying caste means destroying shastra and Veda authority, a near-impossible task. (similarity 0.85)
• Caste observance stems from religious belief, not human malice. (similarity 0.84)
• Only destroying shastra-based religion can break the caste system. (similarity 0.83)
• Caste is a state of mind, so abolishing it requires a notional change. (similarity 0.83)
• Hinduism’s pervasiveness makes renouncing caste seem impracticable to many (similarity 0.83)
• Caste persists because it is a sacred notion, not a physical barrier. (similarity 0.83)
• Destroying caste requires denying shastra authority outright, as Buddha and Nanak did. (similarity 0.83)
• The Mandal wanted Ambedkar to join its reform struggle rather than exit Hinduism (similarity 0.82)
• Hindu caste is religiously consecrated while non-Hindu caste is merely practice. (similarity 0.82)
• Caste persists as a mental state, not a physical barrier. (similarity 0.82)
• Caste is nearly indestructible because its religious foundation excludes reason and morality (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Caste persists because Hindus follow shastra-backed religious beliefs, not irrational conduct #corroborates (0.80) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 951
• Caste’s reform requires destroying the divine authority of the shastras and Vedas #expands (0.70) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 957
• Caste among Muslims and Sikhs differs fundamentally from Hindu caste. #qualifies (0.65) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 935
• Caste is a state of mind, so abolishing it requires a notional change. #expands (0.60) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 950
• Hindu caste is religiously consecrated while non-Hindu caste is merely practice. #qualifies (0.60) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 938
• Hindu reformers reframed caste as untouchability to avoid addressing economic exploitation. #qualifies (0.50) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 305