The 'Indian caste system'

Varna ( ) is a Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
term derived from the root meaning "to enclose". In historical Indic traditions the varna and caste systems
Caste system in India

The 'Indian caste system' describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamy hereditary groups, often termed as jatis or castes....
are not the same system, although they are related. Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
categorizes the people into four "Varnas" according to the body part of the divinity Purusha
Purusha

In Hinduism, Purusha is the "Atman " which pervades the universe. The Vedas deity are considered to be the human mind's interpretation of the many facets of Purusha....
from which each group was created (Rigveda 10.90) and these categories define the group's social standing. Originally this division was based on the social class and not always on birth.






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Varna ( ) is a Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
term derived from the root meaning "to enclose". In historical Indic traditions the varna and caste systems
Caste system in India

The 'Indian caste system' describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamy hereditary groups, often termed as jatis or castes....
are not the same system, although they are related. Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
categorizes the people into four "Varnas" according to the body part of the divinity Purusha
Purusha

In Hinduism, Purusha is the "Atman " which pervades the universe. The Vedas deity are considered to be the human mind's interpretation of the many facets of Purusha....
from which each group was created (Rigveda 10.90) and these categories define the group's social standing. Originally this division was based on the social class and not always on birth. For example, according to Hindu tradition, Valmiki
Valmiki

Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic, Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself....
, the composer of the Ramayana was a hunter by profession and Veda Vyasa, the composer of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata

The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
and the compiler of the Vedas
Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
, was born into a fisherman family. Yet on account of their intellectual and spiritual prowess, they achieved the highest position in social hierarchy and are regarded as Maharishis.

Background

Vedic tribal societies and kingdoms were built on hierarchies and various roles and responsibilities were assigned to various groups of people in the society. These roles and responsibilities were (mostly) hereditary.

In this scheme, it was mostly Brahmins who possessed religious and ritual superiority. The varna of a newborn child was determined by that of his father just as caste is. The boys of the Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisyha varnas undergo an initiation ceremony, Upanayana, which confirms their varna status.

Varna is a functional hierarchy system
Functionalism (sociology)

Functionalism is a sociological paradigm that originally attempted to explain social institutions as collective means to fill individual biological needs....
proposed by the post-Rigvedic Yajurveda and Brahmana texts to organize society. Later on, Indian society was organized, in addition, according to Jatis. The oldest mention of the varna system is in the Purusha sukta of Rigveda 10.90.12 which states: "The Brahmana was the mouth of the purusha, his two arms were made into the Rajanya, his two thighs were the Vaishya, and from his two feet the Shudra was born".

The later Hindu concept of Varnashrama dharma (IAST
IAST

The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is a popular transliteration scheme that allows a lossless romanization of Brahmic family....
:, Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ????????? ????) refers to the system of classes of social life and stages of individual life in Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
. The classes of society are as follows:

* Brahmin
Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
- "scholarly community," includes the priests, scholars, law specialists, ministers, and diplomats.
* Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
- "high and lower nobility" includes kings, noblemen, soldiers, and administrators.
* Vaishya
Vaishya

The Hindu varnas system, a Vaishya is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional Indian society. It comprises merchants, artisans, and cultivators....
- "mercantile and artisan community" includes merchants, shopkeepers, businessmen and farm owners.
* Shudra
Shudra

Shudra is the lowest Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic civilization India was that of farmers, craftsmen and labourers....
- "service-providing community" includes mostly manual and farm labourers.



In Vedanta
Vedanta

Vedanta is a spiritual tradition explained in the Upanishads that is concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality and teaches the believer's goal is to transcend the limitations of self-identity and realize one's unity with Brahman....
the caste system (Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ????) is defined in detail. According to Vedant the caste system is more of a scientific analysis of the person's mental and intellectual capability. Suitable professions were suggested for each such caste for benefit of the person. There was never a restriction forcing a person to belong to a specific caste only. However, over the years the real intention behind the caste system got diluted and was mis-interpreted as a system based on one's caste is inherited from parents, specifically father.

The original Vedantic system is based on three attributes of a person's mind and intellect viz., (1) "sattwic" or "peaceful, pure and noble qualities", (2) "rajasic" or "aggressive, passionate and agitated qualities", and (3) "tamasic" or "lethergic, dull and inactive qualities". Each person has a combination of these qualities of which one is prominent. Based on these combination the caste system was devised. Vedanta defines the caste system as follows:

* Brahmin
Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
has more sattwic qualities and almost no rajasic or tamasic qualities.
* Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
has some sattwic qualities, more rajasic qualities and some tamasic quality.
* Vaishya
Vaishya

The Hindu varnas system, a Vaishya is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional Indian society. It comprises merchants, artisans, and cultivators....
has almost no sattwic qualities, some rajasic qualities and more tamasic quality.
* Shudra
Shudra

Shudra is the lowest Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic civilization India was that of farmers, craftsmen and labourers....
has no sattwic quality, no rajasic quality and only tamasic qualities.



The post-Vedic Asrama refers to the four stages of individual life of the Hindus. The ideal lifespan of a hundred years was divided into four stages. Brahmacharya
Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is one of the foundational commitments in the practice of Yoga for achieving enlightenment, and is also the first ashram in Vedic culture, in which a person is dedicated to the quest for self-realisation....
("student life") for 25 years, Grihastha
Grihastha

Grihasthya refers to the second phase of an individual's life in the Vedic ashram system....
("householder life") after marriage for another 25 years, Vanaprastha
Vanaprastha

A Vanaprastha is a person who is living in the forest as a hermit after partially giving up material desires. Also known as Sannyasin.This word is generally used to denote a particular phase of life in the Vedic ashram system when a person is between the ages of 50 and 74....
or age of retirement for another 25 years ("anchorite life") and if after that somebody lives, Sannyasa
Sannyasa

Sannyasa, is the order of life of the renouncer within Hindu scheme of asramas, or life stages. It is considered the topmost and final stage of the Varna in Hinduism and vedic ashram system systems and is traditionally taken by men at or beyond the age of fifty years old or by young Brahmacharya who wish to dedicate their entire lif...
("renunciate life") or permanent seclusion from social activities for the rest of life. Hindu tradition holds this system as a dharma
Dharma

The term , is an Indian Indian philosophy and Indian religions term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term....
("sacred law") sanctioned by the scriptures.

Etymology

Varna is a Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
term (???? means "color". However, it has come to be associated with the qualities and divisions of , , Vaisya and Sudra. The concept of is first articulated in the (10.90) and is taken up again by many contributors to the Dharmasastra tradition, including Manu, the putative author of the Manavadharmasastra. As an organisational category, is a large 'command-level' division, and should be understood in contrast to "jati" (compare entry), a subdivisional category of kin groups.

* In the Zoroastrian Avesta
Avesta

The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language....
and the Gathas
Gathas

The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrianism faith....
, the word Varana or Varena (from the root Var ("put faith in, to believe in") is used in the sense of preference (or religious affiliation, conviction, faith, religious doctrine, choice of creed or belief). The language of the Gathas
Gathas

The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrianism faith....
(the oldest part of the Avesta) is very similar to the language of the Rig Veda.
* It may also come from the root Var- "choose", as in "svayamvara", “[a girl’s] own choice [of a husband]”, or from the root vri (which means "one's occupation").
* In the Rig Veda, the word varNa occurs 22 times and means lustre. In 17 out of 22 times it refers to the "lustre" (i.e. "one's own typical light") of gods like Soma
Soma

Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic civilization and Greater Iran cultures....
, Agni
Agni

Agni is a Hindu and Rigvedic deities. The word agni is Sanskrit for "fire" , cognate with Latin ignis , Russian ????? , Polish "ogien," Lithuanian - ugnis - all with the meaning 'fire' -, with the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root being h1?gni-....
or Ushas
Ushas

Ushas , Sanskrit for "dawn", is a Vedic deity, and consequently a Hindu deities as well.Ushas is an exalted divinity in the Rig Veda, sometimes spoken of in the plural, "the Dawns." She is portrayed as welcoming birds and warding off evil spirits, and as a beautifully adorned young woman riding in a golden chariot on her path across the sk...
. In RV 3.34.5 and RV 9.71.2 it refers to the lustrous colour of the sky at dawn.
* According to Hindu tradition, Varna refers to sounds of speech or language. Western Indologists have wrongly interpreted varna as "a letter of the alphabet". According to Welzer (1994 (229-230)), Varna can be grammatically derived from the term "class" (vide Panini), but it has acquired the incorrect meaning of "colour".



Social development

Varna (class) and the jati (caste) system is used by Hindus, particularly in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Bali
Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located at , the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 Provinces of Indonesia with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island....
and Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
for reasons of determining lineage and is passed down through patrilineal descent. It is based on the older four-varna system varnas which later became attached to the members' families. Sometimes mlechha (people excluded from caste) are referred to as fifth varna.

Jati

The terms Varna (general classification based on occupation) and Jati (caste) are two distinct concepts. Varna (from Sanskrit, literally "arrangement") is a supposed unification of all the Hindu castes or jatis into either four groups: Brahmin
Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
, Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
, Vaishya
Vaishya

The Hindu varnas system, a Vaishya is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional Indian society. It comprises merchants, artisans, and cultivators....
, Shudra
Shudra

Shudra is the lowest Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic civilization India was that of farmers, craftsmen and labourers....
, or into one of several varna-sankaras ???? ????. Jati (community
Community

In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment .In human communities, intention, belief, Natural resource, preferences, Need assessment, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the Identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness....
) is an endogamous group
Endogamous group

Endogamous group is a community in which the members generally marriage within the group. The Indian caste system and the tribes in many of the cultural regions of the world form endogamous groups....
. Generally a sub-community is divided into exogamous group
Exogamous group

Exogamous group is a section of society within which marriages are prohibited. A marriage within an exogamous group is regarded as incestuous....
s based on same gotras ?????. The classical authors scarcely speak of anything other than the varnas. Indologists sometimes confuse the two.

Many of the Hindus could be classified into a specific varna. But not all. During the British rule, several cases went to court to settle the "varna" of a sub-community. For example, the farmers are sometimes given Kshatriya status because many ruling Chieftains may have risen from them. On the other hand some classified them as Vaishya
Vaishya

The Hindu varnas system, a Vaishya is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional Indian society. It comprises merchants, artisans, and cultivators....
, based on an older occupation of artisans. Orthodox Brahmins may classify them as Shudras, because they do not have a tradition of undergoing through the thread ceremony, that would make them dvija
Dvija

Dvija is one of the members of the first three varnas in Hindu Dharma. Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are included in Dvija, although in many Shastras, Dvija usually refers to Brahmin....
????? .

The twice born

The first three varnas are seen as 'twice born'. They are allowed to study the Vedas. In India and Nepal the sub-communities within a Varna are called Jat or Jati (The varna is also used instead of Jat). Traditionally, each Jati members are allowed to marry only with their Jati members. People are born into their Jati and normally it cannot be changed, though there were some exceptions in Hindu Scriptures. For example, sage Vishwamitra was born as a Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
(ruling class) and by deep meditation (tapas) became a venerable Brahmin rishi (saint). Once someone is born to certain sub-community or Jati he or she cannot normally change their Jati, However in that life time, good deeds can allow a lowclass jati member to ascend to the the upperclass and study the vedas as a Brahmin priest. The occupations of the Vaishya are those connected with trade
Trade

Tradeis the willing exchange of goods, Service , or both. Trade is also called commerce. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter , the direct exchange of goods and services....
, the cultivation of the land and the breeding of cattle
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
; while those of a Kshatriya consist in ruling and defending the people, administering justice
Justice

Justice is the concept of morality rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness and equity."...
, and the duties, of the military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
profession generally and ruling and expounding all Dharma
Dharma

The term , is an Indian Indian philosophy and Indian religions term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term....
. Both share with the Brahmin the privilege of reading the Vedas. To the Brahmin belongs the right of teaching and expounding the sacred texts. Shudras were the serf
SERF

A spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetometer achieves very high magnetic field sensitivity by monitoring a high density vapor of alkali metal atoms precessing in a near-zero magnetic field....
s, and performed agricultural labour. Muluki Ain has incorporated the entire ethnic group of Nepal into the social hierarchy.

Cyclical theory of history

The Varnas have also given birth to a theory of historical development. P.R. Sarkar
Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar , also known by his spiritual name, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, was an Indian philosopher, author, social revolutionary, poet, composer and linguistics....
propounded his Social Cycle Theory on the basis of a quadri-divisional social order rooted in the core of human psychological motivity. Nascent such ideas emerged in the works of Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo was an demographics of India nationalist, scholar, poet, mysticism, Evolution , yoga and spiritual Guru. After a short political career in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for Indian independence movement from British rule, Sri Aurobindo turned to the exploration of the subtle realms of human existence...
.

Instances in Hindu texts and tradition

The Rig-Veda refers in the Purusha Sukta to the four principal varnas described in Manu's code, viz. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. The term Varna is not associated with Brahmins or Kshatriyas in the Rig Veda, and the term Varna does not occur in the Purusha Sukta.

The Purusha Sukta' hymn (Rig Veda 10:90) mentions the names of the four varnas and compares them to the body of the "primordial man": "The Brâhmana was his mouth, of both his arms was the Râjanya made. His thighs became the Vaishya, from his feet the Sûdra was produced." (RV 10:90:12) In the Purusha Sukta hymn the word Varna is not used, and it is the only hymn of the Rig Veda where the words Vaishya
Vaishya

The Hindu varnas system, a Vaishya is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional Indian society. It comprises merchants, artisans, and cultivators....
and Shudra
Shudra

Shudra is the lowest Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic civilization India was that of farmers, craftsmen and labourers....
are used. The Purusha Sukta hymn is considered to be one of the youngest parts of the Rig Veda.

There is an Upanishadic story of a boy who went to a guru
Guru

A guru is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses these abilities to guide others....
to study the various holy Hindu scriptures. His guru asked him what his varna was. Consulting his mother, who was actually a prostitute who didn't really know what her varna was, the boy returned to the guru and told him that he was all the varnas. He worshipped the Gods, thus fulfilling the duties that are ordinarily a Brahmin's, he earned his keep like a Vaishya, took care of cleaning the house, like a Shudra, and protected his family's interest like a Kshatriya. The guru was pleased and told the boy he was fit to be taught and initiated into the Brahmin's life.

The Dharmashastras (a collection of collections of Hindu codes and laws) say that varna is not just determined by birth, but by action in life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
accordance to the dharma of varna-ashram as well. But the contemporary Indian society seems to follow the notion that Varna comes from birth.

The Brahmins (priests), The Kshatriyas (warriors, nobility
Nobility

Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
), the Vaishyas (the craftsmen and men of commerce), and the Shudras (agriculture workers; menial workers) were the four varnas. A person of each varna was said to possess certain set of characteristics: the Shudras, they believed, were of the tamasic nature; the Vaishyas were either tamasic or rajasic; the Kshatriyas were believed to be noble, learned and selfless, his or her duty being the administration of the people and fighting of battle
Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment....
s against intruders, often very spiritually inclined; and that the Brahmins were religious, pure, Society's bank of knowledge and wisdom for their memory of holy scriptures, the performers of rituals. However, there is a dispute as to which varna holds the greatest spiritual purity.

Hindu tantrics are a part of Hinduism whose scriptural texts, the Agamic texts known collectively as the Tantra
Tantra

Tantra , or tantram is a religious philosophy according to which Shakti is usually the main deity worshipped, and the universe is regarded as the divine play of shakti and shiva....
s, assert their descent from the Vedas, especially the Atharva-Veda. Claiming that the Vedic rituals no longer necessary in Kali Yuga
Kali Yuga

Kali Yuga , is one of the four stages of development that the world goes through as part of the cycle of Yugas, as described in Indian scriptures, the others being Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga....
, that the fourth and final epoch of humanity in Hinduism shall see morality ebb to complete dissolution until the end of the earth, the Tantrics see themselves as natural continuations of the Vedas through Hindu yogic
Yoga

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
practices--and not of any particular caste, yet not Untouchables.

Many Hindu yogis and sages have, over the centuries, constantly commented about inheriting social status. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (15th century), the powerful bhakti
Bhakti

Bhakti is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning devotion. Within Vaishnavism bhakti is only used in conjunction with Vishnu, Krishna or of the associated avatar, who are the source of attractiveness....
of Krishna
Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
also denounced inheriting social status. He famously distributed the Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna

The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the Maha Mantra , is a sixteen-word Vaishnava mantra made well known outside of India by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ....
mantra to non-brahmins all around India, claiming this was the True path to moksha.

Kanakadasa of the 15th century also denounced inherited social status. He believed that Life in every human being is Divine, and that only the ignorant wrought injustice against their own brethren by this practice. Basavanna of the 12th century is said to have denounced inherited social status and tried to unify all communities under the Linga (form of Shiva).

Rigveda

In Sanskrit, Varna means color, as in quality (just as the term "Saguna Brahman.") One of the hymns of the Rig Veda, one of the holiest Hindu scriptures, gives the following enumeration in the famous Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90):

???? ?????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ??????? ?
????????? ???? ???????? ???? ??????? ????? ?
???????? ?? ?????? ???????? ?????? ????? ?



Its rough translation is : "What became of his (the Cosmic Spirit's) face or mouth? What became of his two arms? What became of His two thighs? What were (the products of) the two feet called? From His face (or the mouth) came the brahmanas. From His two arms came the rajanya (the kshatriyas). From His two thighs came the vaishyas. From His two feet came the shudras."

In the Purusha Sukta hymn the word Varna is not used, and it is the only hymn of the Rig Veda where the words Vaishya
Vaishya

The Hindu varnas system, a Vaishya is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional Indian society. It comprises merchants, artisans, and cultivators....
and Shudra
Shudra

Shudra is the lowest Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic civilization India was that of farmers, craftsmen and labourers....
are used. The Purusha Sukta hymn is considered to be one of the youngest parts of the Rig Veda.

The Dharmasastras

The concept of dharma deals mainly with the duties of the different and ashramas (life cycles). Therefore most of the dharmasastras lay down the duties of people during the different parts of life and the duties of the different castes. The dharmasastras were written by Brahmins for Brahmins, therefore the greater part of them deals with the duties of the Brahmins. The part pertaining to the court system deals with the role of the , in their role as the ruling class. However, the sections reserved for the Vaisyas and the Sudras are very short. In fact, in the Manusmrti, the section marked for the Sudras simply reads that they should do what they can to serve the Brahmins, and indicates that if they do well by the Brahmins they will be reborn into a higher caste. Though they are not allowed to recite the ritual formulas, they may do what they can to know and practice the Law through the imitation of Brahmins, as long as they do not do it out of envy..

Manu Smriti

, also known as 'Manava-Dharmasastra' , is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmasastra textual tradition of Hinduism....
is often quoted in reference to the Varna system as an inherited social class system. The is a later work that does not form a part of Hindu Scriptures, so it is of questionable relevance. Use of the by the British colonialists has been used by politicians and sociologists to denigrate those of the Hindu faith..

The claims that by the time it was written, Hindu society included another class (untouchables) of people without a position in any of the four Varnas and therefore associated with the lowest of the jobs. The upper classes, who were supposed to maintain ritual and corporal purity, came to regard them as untouchables. The people of this "fifth varna" are now called Dalits (the oppressed) or Harijans; they were formerly known as "untouchables" or "pariahs". However, this last addition social strata is not a part of the religion of Hinduism. Hinduism only categorizes occupations in to four categories.

Intermarriage

It is very clear that in the early Vedic times, the Varna system (if at all it existed) meant classes with free mobility of jobs and intermarriage. One hymn of the states:

??????? ??? ???????????????? ??? ? (RV 9.112.3)



"I am a bard, my father is a physician, my mother's job is to grind the corn......"



While intermarriage between Brahmana bridegrooms and Kshatriya princesses was extremely common (even sanctioned by the later ), in many instances, marriages between Kshatriya princes and Brahmana brides was also observed (severely condemned by ). One of such instances is marriage of Yayati, a Kshatriya King, with Devayani, a daughter of the sage Shukracharya.

In later times, with the elaboration of ritualism, class status became hereditary (the historians disagree as to when) and the Sudras were not even allowed to hear the sacred word of the Vedas.

When it comes to intermarriage, a low-born wife will achieve high status accorded to the one she married. They gain their husbands distinguished qualities “like a river uniting with the ocean.” However, she does not completely lose her class. If there are wives from different castes, their seniority is based upon their caste. According to Manu, “Among all these, only the wife of equal class may care for her husband’s physical needs or participate in his daily rites prescribed by Law."

Movement between

According to Yajñavalkya, the mixed caste children can through continuing to marry into higher castes and producing children can obtain that caste. For example, if a Sudra woman marries a Brahmin, and her mixed caste daughter marries a Brahmin, and this pattern continues, at the seventh generation, the child is a pure Brahmin. The number of generations needed for this to happen is reduced by one according to the castes. So, a Vaisya would take six generations to become a Brahmin and a would take five. The reverse can also happen. If a Brahmin begins to follow the livelihood of a Sudra, and his son does the same and so on, by the seventh generation, the son becomes a Sudra. This does not mean that the opposite is true, and a Sudra can become a Brahmin through following a Brahmin’s livelihood, as one should never do the particular duties and activities associated with a higher .

Punishment

A portion of the deals with certain offenses and how one of a certain caste should be punished for that offense. The punishments can vary greatly according to the the offender belongs to. For example, if a Sudra should insult a Brahmin, he get a heated spike driven through their tongue. If a Brahmin insults a Sudra, he is only fined 12 units.. According to Narada, if a Sudra insults a king, while the king is “engaged in his duties,” he will also be punished corporeally. In Manu, a Sudra is the only one who must suffer corporeal punishment for insulting the twice-born castes. The other castes are merely fined, with the amount of the fine increasing for each caste level.

On the other hand, within the , , Vaisyas, and Sudras are all susceptible to corporeal punishment. When it comes to violent acts, the punishments are applied uniformly to members of each caste. Brahmins, however, cannot be corporeally punished. Bhava says this is due to the reverence owed to their caste.

Much importance is placed on the respect of the upper . If a Sudra touches a Brahmin in an inappropriate way, the only way to atone for it is to rid them of the limb they used to commit the offense. Certain roles that people of particular are supposed to fill are also shown consideration and given importance, such as the role of the king. Narada says, "If an evil-minded man assails a king, even a sinful king, it is worse than murdering one hundred (Brahmins)."

Penance

When it comes to penances, Brahmins have to perform more penance, and the amount needed gets increasingly less with the descending . However, at the same time, there are types of penance that are unavailable to certain var?as. For example, Sudras are not allowed access to the Vedas, and therefore cannot achieve purification through the recitation of the Vedas. However, there are still opportunities for them to expiate themselves through such prayascitta as pilgrimages and vratas (religious vows).

Particular Tasks and Times of adversity

There is a lot of effort put into making sure each caste does the tasks specifically related to the caste, if conditions allow. If the castes “deviate from their specific activities, they throw the world into confusion.” Manu says that when a Vaisya is willing to farm animals, then no other caste should do that task. If a Sudra wishes to give instruction on the Law to Brahmins, he is corporeally punished. Both Manu and Narada instructs the ruler to pour boiling oil into his mouth and ears. Sudras are also not given leave to get wealthy. According to Manu, if he does, he harasses Brahmin. The greatest activity a Sudra can engage in is the service of Brahmins. Manu states, “…the Sudra was created by the Self-existent One solely to do slave labor for the Brahmin.”

However, the also provides for times of adversity, when it is not always possible to survive when one’s activities are restricted by the caste system. While Brahmins are instructed to provide for those in need of a livelihood if possible, this is not always practical. If a Sudra is unable to make a livelihood through the service of Brahmins or the other twice-born, he may then engage in artisanship. Conversely, if a Vaisya is unable to make a living doing his duty, he may resort to the work of a Sudra, and should discontinue this work as soon as it is possible. A Vaisya or , however, cannot be forced into slave labor against their will.

Opposition within Hinduism

Critics point that the effect of communities (jatis) inheriting varna was to bind certain communities to sources of influence, power and economy while locking out others and thus create more affluence for jatis in higher classes and severe poverty for jatis in lower classes and the outcaste Dalit
Dalit

Dalit is a self-designation for a South Asians group of people traditionally regarded as untouchables or of low caste system in India. Dalits are a mixed population of numerous caste groups all over South Asia and speak various languages....
. In the last 150 years Indian movements arose to throw off the economic and political yoke of an inherited class system that emerged over time, and replace it with true Varnashrama dharma, described in the Vedas.

In the religious scripture Mahabharata
Mahabharata

The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
, Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira

In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Hastinapura and Indraprastha, and "World Emperor"....
, is questioned by Yama
Yama (Hinduism)

This article is about the deity Yama in Hinduism. For yama in the sense of a code of conduct, see Yamas. For a general article about Yama, see Yama....
in the form of a Yaksha, about what makes one a Brahmin. Yudhisthira, without hesitation, said that it is conduct alone that makes one a Brahmin.

Ramananda
Ramananda

Ramananda , also referred to as Saint Ramanand or Swami Ramanand, was a Vaishnava sant, a Ramayat . He is considered to be the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya religious system....
, an ascetic of the Sri Ramanuja
Ramanuja

Ramanuja , also known as Ramanujacharya, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete. He is seen by Sri Vaishnavism as the third and most important teacher of their tradition, and by Hindus as the leading expounder of Vishishtadvaita, one of the classical interpretations of the dominant Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy....
's Sri Vaishnava sampradaya, accepted all varna as his disciples. Mirabai
Mirabai

Mirabai was a Hindu mystical poetess whose compositions are popular throughout India. Mirabai is held to have been a disciple of Ravidas. Mirabai composed between 200 to 1300 prayerful songs called bhajans....
, the 15th century mystical poet and Queen of Chittor is known to have ignored varna distinctions and elected the cobbler, Sant Rohidas, as her guru
Guru

A guru is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses these abilities to guide others....
. Annamacharya
Annamacharya

Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya or Annamayya was a Telugu song-writer and Carnatic music composer. He is the earliest known musician in South India to compose Bhajan....
, a 15th-century telugu
Telugu people

Telugu people refer to the group of Dravidian people who natively speak the Telugu language. They are one of the most ancient ethnic groups found in India, existing prior to the writing of the Vedas and mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharat epics....
poet's famous Bramhamokkada song, preaches equality of all in the eyes of God and condemns inheriting social status as un-Vedic. And proposed a return to traditional varnashrama dharma. Which promoted equality and stressed the importance of all varnas. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the 19th century Hindu religious leader, also did not recognise varna distinctions and took his first alms as a twice-born Brahmin
Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
from a Shudra woman.

The late Swami Krishnananda
Swami Krishnananda

Swami Krishnananda was a foremost disciple of Swami Sivananda and the General-Secretary of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, India from 1958 until 2001....
, a foremost disciple of Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda

Swami Sivananda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a well known proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai which is in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu....
and former General Secretary of Divine Life Society
Divine Life Society

The Divine Life Society was founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, India in 1936. Its aim is to disseminate spiritual knowledge in the following ways:...
, noted the following about inherited social status in his autobiography:

"While the [varna] system was originally evolved for the necessary classification of human duty in order to preserve the organic stability of society, its original meaning and its philosophical foundation was forgotten through the passage of time, and bigotry and fanaticism took its place through the preponderance of egoism, greed and hatred, contrary to the practice of true religion as a social expression of inner spiritual aspiration for a gradual ascent, by stages, to God Almighty. Vidura
Vidura

Vidura was half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu. He was a son of a maid-servant who served the queens of Hastinapura, Ambika and Ambalika. In some accounts, he was an incarnation of Yama or Dharma Raja, who was cursed by the sage, Mandavya, for imposing punishment on him that exceed the sin....
, famous in the Mahabharata, was born of a Shudra woman. But he had the power to summon the son of Brahma, from Brahmaloka, by mere thought. Which orthodox Brahmin can achieve this astounding feat? It is, therefore, necessary for everyone to have consideration for the facts of world-unity and goodwill, Sarvabhuta-hita, as the great Lord mentions in the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism, and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world....
. Justice is more than law. No one's body is by itself a Brahmin, because it is constituted of the five gross elements,- earth, water, fire, air and ether. Else, it would be a sin on the part of a son to consign to flames the lifeless body of a Brahmin father. It is, therefore, not proper to victimise a colleague by an action plan of any religious community wedded to fundamentalist doctrines."(*)



Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda , born Mukunda Lal Ghosh , was an Indian yoga and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi....
also opposed what he called to the un-Vedic inherited social status as we know it today. He taught that varna originated in a higher age, but became degraded through ignorance and self-interest. Yogananda said:

"These were (originally) symbolic designations of the stages of spiritual refinement. They were not intended as social categories. And they were not intended to be hereditary. Things changed as the yugas [cycles of time] descended toward mental darkness. People in the higher [classes] wanted to make sure their children were accepted as members of their own [class]. Thus, ego-identification caused them to freeze the ancient classifications into what is called the ‘caste system.’ Such was not the original intention. In obvious fact, however, the offspring of a brahmin may be a shudra by nature. And a peasant, sometimes, is a real saint."
—from Conversations with Yogananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers, 2003.



Tantric view

The Tantric movement
Tantra

Tantra , or tantram is a religious philosophy according to which Shakti is usually the main deity worshipped, and the universe is regarded as the divine play of shakti and shiva....
that developed as a tradition distinct from orthodox Hinduism between the 8th and 11th centuries CE also relaxed many societal strictures regarding class and community distinction. However it would be an over generalization to say that the Tantrics did away with all social restrictions, as N. N. Bhattacharyya explains:

"For example, Tantra according to its very nature has nothing to do with the [class] system but in the later Tantras [class] elements are pronounced. This is due to the fact that although many of our known Tantric teachers were , rather belonging to the lower ranks of society, almost all of the known authors of the Tantric treatises were who could not give up their [class/community] prejudices notwithstanding their conversion to Tantrism."



Further reading

* Ambedkar, B.R. (1946) Who were the Shudras?
Who were the Shudras?

Who Were the Shudras? is a book written by B.R. Ambedkar. Ambedkar dedicated the book to Mahatma Jyotirao Phule .In this book, Ambedkar argues that the Shudras were originally Aryans belonging to the Kshatriya class....
* Alain Danielou (1976). Les Quatre Sens de la Vie, Paris
* Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo was an demographics of India nationalist, scholar, poet, mysticism, Evolution , yoga and spiritual Guru. After a short political career in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for Indian independence movement from British rule, Sri Aurobindo turned to the exploration of the subtle realms of human existence...
(1970), The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self-Determination, (Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust), ISBN 81-7058-281-4 (hardcover), ISBN 81-7058-014-5 (paperback)
* Ravi Batra
Ravi Batra

Raveendra N. Batra is a United States economics and professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He is best known for his best selling books The Great Depression of 1990 and Surviving the Great Depression of 1990....
, "The Downfall of Communism and Communism: a New Study of History", Macmillan, New York, NY, USA, 1978
* Sohail Inayatullah, Understanding P. R. Sarkar: The Indian Episteme, Macrohistory and Transformative Knowledge, Brill Academic Publishers, 2002, ISBN 9004128425.
* Elst, Koenraad
Koenraad Elst

Koenraad Elst is a Demographics of Belgium writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal TeKoS from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke, Secessie and The Brussels Journal....
Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate
Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate

Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate is a book by Koenraad Elst. The book discusses various aspects of the Indo-Aryan migration debate and concludes by proposing a chronological order for the events in the spread of Aryans Out of India theory....
. 1999. ISBN 81-86471-77-4 (*)
* Kane, Pandurang Vaman
Pandurang Vaman Kane

Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane was a notable Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. He was born in a conservative Chitpavan Brahmin family in the Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, India....
: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law) -- Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1962-1975
* "Brahmanotpatti-martanda" Harikrishna Shastri, (Sanskrit), 1871
* Jati Bhaskar", Jwalaprasd Mishra, (Hindi), published by Khemaraj Shrikrishnadas,1914.
* G.S. Ghurye (1961). Caste, Class and Occupation. Popular Book Depot, Bombay.
* G.S. Ghurye (1969). Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai 1969 (1932)
* Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (1967) Human Society-2, Ananda Marga Publications, Anandanagar, P.O.Baglata,Dist. Purulia, West Bengal, India.
* Ghanshyam Shah, Caste and Democratic Politics in India, 2004
* Welzer, Albrecht. 1994. Credo, Quia Occidentale: A Note on Sanskrit varna and its Misinterpretation in Literature on Mamamsa and Vyakarana. In: Studies in Mamamsa: Dr Mandan Mishra Felicitation Volume edited by R.C. Dwivedi. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass.



External links

* Maanoj Rakhit on the Varna system
* Jati system in India
* India Together on Caste
* Annihilation of Caste with a Reply to Mahatma Gandhi Part I & Part II by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
* Writings by Dr Ambedkar about Caste Online texts
* Varna Ashram and Hindu Scriptures (pdf)
* Articles on Caste by Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst

Koenraad Elst is a Demographics of Belgium writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal TeKoS from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke, Secessie and The Brussels Journal....
: Caste in India, Buddhism and Caste, Indian tribals and Caste, Physical anthropology and Caste, Etymology of Varna
* Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism?
* Authentic Caste System by Monk of The Century:Shankaracharya Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahar..
* Association of Devotees



See also

* Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar
* Hindu reform movements
Hindu reform movements

Several contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism. Although these movements are very individual in their exact philosophies they generally stress the spiritual, secular and logical and scientific aspects of the Vedic period traditions, creating a form that is egali...
* Forward Castes



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