Confucianism is deeply concerned with principles in everyday life such as good conduct and proper social relationships, and its ethics contain four important things in our lives: love, goodness, humanity, and human-heartedness. Taoism maintains that the individual should ignore the dictates of society and seek only to conform to the underlying pattern of the universe. Buddhism follows the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold path, focusing on the suffering humans endure and the proper way to overcome such suffering. The principle of Hinduism is defined with regard to what people do rather than what they think. The importance that these religions place on the behavior of the individual is also apparent in the Islamic religion, as with the Five Pillars that the Muslims strive to achieve and the teachings of the Koran.
What is in ideology and religion of Indian culture makes the castes possible, and why did they not develop amid the cultures of "Abraham" religions? Are there parallels to castes in these and other societies?.
The caste system of India represents one of the most complex and long lasting systems of social organizations. It was introduced in the sacred Indian writings called the Vedas around 1200 B.C. and has been supported by the most prominent religion in the area, Hinduism, which provides a justification for the social hierarchy. The caste system has survived not only because of its connection with Hinduism, but also because it serves many purposes in Indian society. Moreover, it should be noted that among the other "Abrahamic religions," Christianity and Judaism, there was no development of a formal caste system. One might inquire as to many reasons why this was the case, but it seems most striking is the connection that India has to Hinduism, as the mention of a caste system was introduced in the Vedas and supported in the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad-Gita.