The people of scheduled castes who are given very lowly status in Hindu society are considered untouchables. This is justified by the term Karma which says that these people must have done something bad in their past lives to have earned a lowly status in their current lives. The same kind of explanation can be presented to explain why Brahmins are considered special.
Karma is one concept that has become so closely aligned to reincarnation that it is impossible to separate the two. Wadia (1965) writes: "...the Law of Karma has become attached to the idea of reincarnation, the idea that what is called death relates only to the death of the physical body, while the soul remains unaffected by it and may be reborn in another body, human or animal." (p. 145) This happens because we see that not every good person always prospers and he too goes through bad times and not every evil person is punished....
This would mean that the concept of Karma can be falsified. But Hinduism feels that if a person is not punished or rewarded in this life, he would be in the next and this leads to a cycle of rebirths. But when does this chain stop? One may ask. This is what creates confusion and further confusion arrives when we see that Karma traces its history to Vedas but Vedas do not mention reincarnation. Close to this concept is the idea of mukti or moksha, which frees the soul from eternal damnation, or eternal cycles of pains and suffering. Karma is thus one of the essential beliefs of Hinduism and occupies an important in the teachings of this religion.
References
David Pocock, Mind, Body and Wealth, Oxford, 1973
Wadia, a.R. Philosophical Implications of the Doctrine of Karma. Philosophy East and West V. 15, No. 2 (1965) University of Hawaii Press. Hawaii, USA
