Varna (Hinduism)

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Varna is the term for the four broad ranks into which traditional Hindu society is divided. The four varnas
are:
the Brahmins: priests and scholars.
the Kshatriyas: kings, governors, warriors and soldiers.
the Vaishyas: cattle herders, agriculturists, artisans
[1]
and merchants.
[2]
the Shudras: labourers and service providers.
This quadruple division is the ancient division of society into "principal castes"; it is not to be confused with
the much finer caste system in India based on occupation as it emerged in the medieval period.
[3]
Though only laid out in detail in post-Vedic Brahmanism (in the Manusmti, the oldest of the
Dharmashastras, compiled during the time of the Kushan Empire), the varna division is alluded to in the late
Rigvedic Purusha Sukta, and it has been theorised to reflect a much more ancient tripartite society,
ultimately cognate with the western "estates of the realm" (viz. division into a priestly class, a warrior class,
and a class of commoners or free farmers, apart from a population of unfree serfs excluded from society
proper).
Contents
1 Etymology and origins
2 Hindu tradition
3 Varna and jti
4 Modern India
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Etymology and origins
Further information: vara (disambiguation) and trifunctional hypothesis
Varna is a Sanskrit term vara ( ). It is derived from the root v, meaning "to cover, to envelop" (compare
vtra). The meaning of the word as used in the Rigveda has the literal meaning "outward appearance,
exterior, form, figure, shape, colour" besides the figurative "colour, race, kind, sort, character, quality,
property". In the Rigveda, the term can mean "class of men, tribe, order, caste", especially expressing the
contrast between the ryas and dsas.
[4]
The earliest application to the formal division into four social classes (without using the term varna) appears
in the late Rigvedic Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90.1112), which has the Brahman, Rajanya (instead of
Kshatriya), Vaishya and Shudra classes emerging from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet of the primordial
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giant, Purusha, respectively:
[5]
11. When they divided Purusa how many portions did they make?
What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?
12. The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was produced. (trans. Ralph T.H. Griffith)
In the post-Vedic period, the division is described explicitly and in great detail in the Dharmashastra
literature, later also in the Puranas and other texts. The Manusmriti is the oldest of the Dharmashastra
texts, reflecting the laws and society of Gupta period India.
[6]
Rigvedic evidence of such a quadruple division of society has been compared to similar systems, especially
with a view to reconstructing hypothetical Proto-Indo-European society. Such comparison is at the basis of
the trifunctional hypothesis presented by Georges Dumzil. Dumzil postulates a basic division of society
into a priesthood (Brahmins), warrior class or nobility (Kshatriyas) and commoners (Vaishyas), augmented
by a class of unfree serfs (Shudras).
Hindu tradition
See also: Caste system in India and History of the Indian caste system
The concept of dharma deals mainly with the duties of the different varas and ashramas (life cycles).
The first three
[7]
varnas are seen as "twice born" and they are allowed to study the Vedas.
The occupations of the Vaishya are those connected with trade, the cultivation of the land and the breeding
of cattle; while those of a Kshatriya consist in ruling and protecting the people, administering justice and
expounding all dharma. Both share with the Brahmin the privilege of reading the Vedas. To the Brahmin
belongs the right of teaching and expounding the sacred texts and other knowledge. Shudras provided
services and labour to all the society.
[8]
Manusmriti assigns cattle rearing as Vaishya occupation, however there are sources in available literature
that Kshatriyas also owned and reared the cattle and cattle-wealth was mainstay of their households. The
emperors of Kosala and the prince of Kasi are some of many examples.
[2]
Separate and shunned by higher levels of ritual society, including the Shudras, were the "untouchables", now
known as Dalits, who had to deal with the disposal of dead bodies and similar menial taks and are described
as dirty and polluted. There was a belief that one's Karma in the past, resulted in one's condition in this birth.
The Tantric movement that developed as a tradition distinct from orthodox Hinduism between the 8th and
11th centuries CE
[9]
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 because although many of our known
Tantric teachers were non-Brhmaas, rather belonging to the lower ranks of society, almost all
of the known authors of the Tantric treatises were Brhmaas."
[10]
Varna and jti
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Main article: Jti
The terms varna (theoretical classification based on occupation) and jti (caste) are two distinct concepts:
while varna is the idealised four-part division envisaged by the above described Twice-Borns, jti
(community) refers to the thousands of actual endogamous groups prevalent across the subcontinent. A jati
may be divided into exogamous groups based on same gotras. The classical authors scarcely speak of
anything other than the varnas; even Indologists sometimes confuse the two.
[11]
In India and Nepal the sub-communities within a varna are called "jaat" or "jati". Traditionally, individuals
marry only within their jati. People are born into a jati and normally it cannot be changed.
Modern India
Main article: Caste politics in India
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. 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 what they believed to be true Varnashrama dharma as described in the Vedas.
See also
Forward Castes
Backward Class
Four occupations fourfold Confucian division
Hindu reform movements
Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar
Manuvda
References
^ Walter Hazen, (2003) Inside Hinduisum (Milliken Publishing company, St.Louis, Missouri, U.S.A) p.4 [1]
(http://books.google.ca/books?id=-Jfi2UPKOrkC&pg=PA4)
1.
^
a

b
Arun Kumar (2002). Encyclopaedia of Teaching of Agriculture (http://books.google.com
/books?id=fhWZNMlzHewC&pg=PA411). Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. pp. 411. ISBN 978-81-261-1316-3.
Retrieved 4 July 2011.
2.
^ Mark Juergensmeyer, (2006) The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions (Oxford Handbooks in Religion and
Theology), p. 54
3.
^ Monier-Williams, Monier (2005) [1899]. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically
Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages (http://books.google.co.uk
/books?id=zUezTfym7CAC&pg=PA924) (Reprinted ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. p. 924. ISBN 9788120831056.
4.
^ Basham, Arthur Llewellyn (1989). The Origin and Development of Classical Hinduism
(http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2aqgTYlhLikC) (Reprinted ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 25.
ISBN 9780195073492.
5.
^ Translation by G. Bhler (1886). Sacred Books of the East: The Laws of Manus (Vol. XXV)
(http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu.htm). Oxford.
6.
Varna (Hinduism) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism)
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^ Department of Global and International Studies University of California Mark Juergensmeyer Professor of
Sociology and Director, Santa Barbara (12 October 2006). The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions
(http://books.google.com/books?id=SwXz4uFWiRgC&pg=PA27). Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 27.
ISBN 978-0-19-972761-2. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
7.
^ Translation by G. Bhler (1886). Sacred Books of the East: The Laws of Manus (Vol. XXV)
(http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu.htm). Oxford. pp. chapter 1, line 8890.
8.
^ Flood, Gavin, "The aiva Traditions" in: Flood (2005; paperback edition of Flood 2003) p.208 9.
^ N. N. Bhattacharyya. History of the Tantric Religion, p. 44-5. 10.
^ Dumont, Louis (1980), Homo hierarchicus: the caste system and its implications, Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, pp. 6667, ISBN 0-226-16963-4
11.
Further reading
Ambedkar, B.R. (1946) Who were the Shudras?
Alain Danielou (1976). Les Quatre Sens de la Vie, Paris
Sri Aurobindo (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, 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 90-04-12842-5.
Elst, Koenraad Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. 1999. ISBN 81-86471-77-4 [2]
(http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/books/ait/index.htm)
Kane, Pandurang Vaman: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil
law)Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 19621975
"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.
Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, by Susan Bayly
and Gordon Johnson.
Lal, Vinay (2005), Introducing Hinduism, New York: Totem Books, pp. 13233, ISBN
978-1-84046-626-3
External links
Varna (Hinduism) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism)
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Maanoj Rakhit on the Varna system (http://www.maanojrakhit.com/e_book11_varn_system_text.htm)
India Together on Caste (http://www.indiatogether.org/society/caste.htm)
Annihilation of Caste with a Reply to Mahatma Gandhi Part I (http://wcar.alrc.net/mainfile2.php
/Documents/76/) & Part II (http://wcar.alrc.net/mainfile2.php/Documents/77/) by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
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Categories: Varnas in Hinduism
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