Immortality of caste in Buddhism and Jainism

The presence of Caste System in the Jain and Buddhist community has often been seen as a problem by the observers and scholars. Jainism as well as Buddhism religion as such does not recognise the castes in the community. Some Scholars believes  It was at later stage that the These Religions adopted casteist  feature. But the seeds of Casteism was existed in both the religions from the very beginning of their establishment. Variety of factors can be related to the formation of the caste system among the Jains and Baudhs. In many respects the caste system among the Jains and Baudhs shared similarities with those of the Hindus. Yet by twentieth century certain unique and typical features emerged in These Religions. The paper will discuss this dynamics of the caste system in the Jainism and Buddhism. It has been long recognised that Buddhism and Jainism were not movements for social reform directed against the caste system, and that the Buddha's doctrine did not aim at transformation or improvement of the social conditions. Still, the Buddha's criticism of the caste system in general and of the social superiority claimed by the brahmanas is still interpreted by some to mean that the Buddha held that "all men are born equal" or that his ideal was to establish a classless society.3 We are of the view that the Buddha by his teaching unwittingly strengthened the caste system by explaining it in terms of the doctrine of karma.