Acharya Prashant dismisses the Indian caste system as entirely bogus, asserting that any division of humanity based on birth is illogical. He questions the validity of birth as a criterion for vocation, noting that being born into a specific family does not guarantee skill or wisdom. He argues that the caste system has outlived any perceived utility and should be relegated to history. According to him, caste is merely an expression of the ego's inherent tendency to create boundaries and divisions to sustain its limited existence. He highlights that such divisions are not unique to Hinduism but are found across various religions, including Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, and Buddhism. This universality demonstrates that the egoistic mind will find any criteriaâbe it race, money, or creedâto separate people. Acharya Prashant emphasizes that caste truly disappears only when individuals lose interest in knowing another's caste. He uses the example of a medical emergency, such as a blood transfusion, where notions of caste purity vanish in the face of survival, proving that such distinctions are a sham. Referring to the Vajrasuchika Upanishad, he explains that caste resides neither in the body nor in the self, but is a mental construct. He states that everyone is born as a Shudra and one's status is determined by consciousness and life choices, not birth. He argues that dropping caste requires self-knowledge and an understanding of the ego. Furthermore, he links casteism to other forms of ignorance like ritualism and superstition, suggesting that true spirituality, particularly Vedanta, negates caste by teaching that one is not the body.
