1. Compare the Brahmins and Vaisyas. The Brahmins were the highest class in Aryan society, and the Vaisyas the third with two more classes below it. The Brahmins are priests, once the advisors of rulers when there were tribes. Over time, their role as religious seers dimmed in importance and they became an official, as well the highest class. The Vaisayas, on the other hand, are known as commoners, or merchants. Like the Brahmins, they once had a single occupation, which was herding animals, before turning towards commercial jobs. They also share the title of being “twice-born” which refers to a puberty rite for young males. Another trait in common is that they both used to work for the king, and lived rather simple lives. Still, …show more content…
This also required parents to pay to find a suitable husband seeing it as payment for the burden the wife would add. Many young girls were married off early either because they wanted children quickly or because they were a burden to their parents seeing as they would join the husband’s family after marrying. Inside the home, they were a key part of the family, and their talents were admired. However, there is evidence they had a role in society, and laws said they were to be respected though not equal. That doesn’t mean they didn’t try to gain equality, sometimes usually their sexuality to dominate over men to get power in any way they could. They also henpecked their husbands. Also, in marriage, women were unable to inherit property, and divorce was not allowed unless the husband deserted the wife. The wife also was expected to kill herself if her husband died, usually through burning. In India, women were usually always secondary to their fathers, husbands, and …show more content…
One was their concept of sacrifice, which merged into Hinduism is in the form of Asceticism. This is a self-discipline of harming oneself, instead of animals and others to gain mystical power and to talk with the gods. It was a meditation of sorts to connect with the spiritual world, better known today as yoga. There is also the Aryan belief in reincarnation, or Brahmanism, much of Hinduism is based on this system. Rebirth is basically being reborn into another life, where your past lives effect your present one. Connected to the idea of reincarnation was karma, or fate, which was decided through dharma, the set of guidelines long ago established for all people. This was one of the reasons they stopped killing animals. Hinduism allowed reincarnation to include not just humans, but animals too which it hadn’t before. The gods of Hinduism also grew from the Aryan pantheon. The principle god, Brahman can be associated with the Great World Soul central to the idea of Aryan reincarnation. Shiva, the Hindu destroyer god and Indus the Aryan warrior god are also very