Attaining Higher Castes
What follows is descriptions of how, according to the Mahabharata arguably the most important text of Ancient India, a caste member can attain a higher caste level.
From the
Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva
Section
CXLIII
For Sudra to rise up to a Vaisya
If
the Sudra desires to be a Vaisya, he should abstain from meat of animals
not
slain in sacrifices. He should be truthful in speech, and free from pride and arrogance.
He should rise superior to all pairs of opposites (such as heat and cold,
joy
and sorrow etc.), he should be observant of the duties of peace and tranquillity.
He
should adore the deities in sacrifices, attend with devotion to the study and recitation
of the Vedas, and become pure in body and mind. He should keep his senses under
subjection, honour the Brahmanas, and seek the welfare of all the orders.
Leading
the domestic mode of life and eating only twice a day at the prescribed hours he should
gratify his hunger with only such food as remains after
the
needs have been satisfied of all the members of his family with dependants and guests. He
should be abstemious in food, and act without being impelled by
the
desire of reward. He should be free from egotism. He should adore the deities
in
Agnihotra (Sacred Fire Ceremony) and pour libations according to the ordinance.
Observing
the duties of hospitality towards all persons, he should, as already said, eat the food
that remains after serving all others for whom it has been cooked. He should, according to
the ordinance laid down, worship the three fires.
For Vaisya to rise to a Kshatriya
If
a Vaisya,( after becoming a Kshatriya, wishing to become a Brahmana), goes through the
usual purificatory rites,
becomes
invested with the sacred thread, and betakes himself to the observance of vows, he should
make presents, adore the
deities
in great sacrifices with plentiful
Dakshinas
(gifts), study the Vedas. He
should
interfere for dispelling the sorrows
of
the distressed, and should always
righteously
cherish and protect those subjects
that
own his sway. He should be truthful, and do all acts that have truth in them and seek
happiness in conduct like this. He should induce men to do righteous deeds.
He
should pursue the aggregate of Three (Virtue, Wealth and Pleasure), and be always
cheerful.
He should never desire anything from motives of gain or pleasure. He should worship the
Pitris (ancestors) and gods and guests.
In
his own house, he should live the life of a mendicant. He should duly adore the deities in
his Agnihotra, morning, noon and evening every day, by pouring libations agreeably to the
ordinance.
For Kshatriya to rise to a Brahman
Endued
with knowledge and science, purified from all dross, and fully conversant with the Vedas,
a pious Kshatriya, by his own acts, becomes a Brahmana. It is with the aid of these acts,
that a person who has sprung from a degraded order, viz., a Sudra, may become a
Brahmana
refined of all stains and possessed of Vedic lore.
For Brahmana to lower to a Sudra
One
that is Brahmana, when he becomes wicked in conduct and observes no distinction in respect
of food, falls away from the status of a Brahmanhood and becomes a Sudra.
Even
a Sudra that has purified his soul by pure deeds and that has subjugated all his
senses,
deserves to be waited upon and served with reverence as a Brahmana.. This has been said by
the Self-born Brahman Himself. When a pious nature and pious deeds are noticeable in even
a Sudra, he should be held superior to a person of the three regenerate classes. Neither
birth, nor the purificatory rites, nor learning, nor offspring, can be regarded as grounds
for conferring upon one the regenerate status. Verily conduct is the only ground.