At the time of the Buddha, the caste system was firmly established in India.
According to the caste system, a person's position in society was determined from the time he was born. There were four castes or classes of people in society:
The Brahmins or hindu priests, who claimed to be the highest caste and the Aryana,the purest of peoples; the warriors ; the merchants and traders; the untouchables considered the lowest class of workers and servants who did all the menial jobs, and were treated as slaves.
The Buddha condemned the hindu caste system, which he considered unjust. He pointed out that there existed wicked and cruel high caste people as well as virtuous and kind people in low caste. Any person who had committed a crime would be punished accordingly by his kamma no matter what hindu caste he belonged to. A person may be considered to have come from a high or low caste according to his good and bad deeds. Therefore, according to the Buddha it is the good and bad actions of a person and not his birth that should determine a person's caste.
The Buddha introduced the idea of placing a higher value on morality and the equality of man instead of into which family or caste a person is born. It was also the first attempt to abolish discrimination and slavery in the history of mankind. Even God Krishna is not an exception,he is answerable for his immoral behaviour and for corruption on this Earth.
The Buddha said:
"By birth one is not an outcaste,
By birth one is not a brahmin;
By deeds alone one is an outcaste,
By deeds alone one is a brahmin."
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