Within Hindu civilization, what is commonly called the caste system grew out of the interaction between the scriptural idea of varna and the lived reality of countless jāti groups. Classical texts speak of four broad varnas—Brahmins (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (merchants and farmers), and Shudras (laborers and service providers)—as a way of organizing social functions. In idealized form, this division is linked to qualities and actions, and is framed as a means of sustaining dharma, the moral and cosmic order. Over time, however, this conceptual scheme became closely tied to birth, and society came to be structured through hereditary, endogamous communities with specific occupations and customs. Those placed outside the fourfold varna scheme, now referred to as Dalits, were historically assigned tasks considered impure and subjected to severe exclusion. Thus, what began as a functional differentiation hardened into a graded hierarchy, shaping access to land, education, ritual spaces, and social honor.

From a spiritual standpoint within Hindu thought, the ultimate reality of the ātman—shared equally in all beings—and the pursuit of moksha do not depend on social status, and many teachers and reformers have drawn on this to challenge caste-based discrimination. At the same time, other texts and historical practices have reinforced hereditary hierarchy, purity rules, and restrictions on marriage and social interaction, so the tradition contains both affirmations and critiques of caste. Over the centuries, saints and thinkers have reinterpreted these ideas, some emphasizing that true worth lies in character and spiritual realization rather than birth. This tension between spiritual egalitarianism and social stratification has made the caste system as much a historical and cultural structure as a religious one, continually debated and reshaped from within.

In the modern legal framework of India, caste discrimination and the practice of untouchability are formally prohibited, and there are provisions intended to address the historical disadvantages of marginalized communities. Nevertheless, caste remains socially significant in many spheres of life. It continues to influence arranged marriages, patterns of social interaction, and local power dynamics, especially in rural regions where traditional observances often remain stronger. In urban settings and modern professions, education, economic mobility, and changing values have weakened some of the older occupational and social barriers, though they have not erased caste identity or inequality altogether. Caste affiliations also play a role in political alignments and collective self-understanding, even as many Hindus consciously reject its hierarchical and exclusionary aspects. In this way, the caste system persists as a powerful, though evolving, social reality, standing in ongoing dialogue with both the ethical ideals of dharma and the spiritual vision of equality at the heart of Hindu teachings.