Arya Samaj & Buddhist View
Caste by Birth
In the discussion pertaining to varna by birth, the system of Arya Samaj often comes up. The Shankaracharya of Puri mentions that via the works of Dayananda Saraswatiji, it seems that he had full faith in the Manusmriti.
The shastras recommend that the yajnopavita samskara has to be done by the age of 8 years for brahmanas. According to Arya Samajis, whoever is given yajnopavita at the age of 8 years, becomes a brahmana. This practice makes the purpose bodiless and body becomes purposeless.
Like it is for brahmanas, the shastras give the right age for yajnopavita as 11 years for kshatriyas and 12 for vaishyas. However, this same logic does not seem to apply to kshatriyas and vaishyas, according to Arya Samaj. Would they call a 11 year old who gets the yajnopavita, a kshatriya, or 12 year old who gets the yajnopavita a vaishya? Interestingly, not. This view is ending age-old traditions of families or kula paramparas.
According to Buddhism, the Buddha avatara takes birth in a brahmana or kshatriya family. If they don’t consider the varna system, then there will be no avatara of Buddha. The Buddhist Gautam Buddha was born in kshatriya kula and the Hindu Buddha, in a brahmana kula. Even itahasa says so.
