Modernity universalizes Enlightenment ideals of equality, recasting Dharmic order as moral failure. But in Dharma, justice lies not in sameness, but in harmony—each being acting in accordance with its Svabhāva and Svadharma. The caste system, far from being a hierarchy of worth, was a framework of reciprocal duty, now misunderstood and maligned through colonial and liberal lenses. True reform lies not in dismantling tradition, but in reclaiming its wisdom with renewed understanding.
