VARNA DHARMA

Varna Dharma
• Varna Dharma is the dharma of
social planning
• The principle of planning as
conceived within Hinduism
makes movement from
vocation to vocation,
profession to profession,
impossible
• It is the obligations & rules
necessary for a well-organized
society

Varna Dharma
• As a Dharma it deals with duties, not rights,
with social utility & self realization rather
than class identity & individual privileges
• Varna Dharma may not have been designed
to distinguish the high & the low, the good &
the bad, the fact that is it has acquired value
distinctions

Varna Dharma
• The Brahmin is the one
who has moved further
along in development
towards the Perfection of
Man than has the other
classes
• He is better, although since
Hinduism has no theory of
the inevitable progress of
the individual, he may slip
from the status he has
attained

Origin of the Caste System
• Origin of the caste system
cannot be established
• Many theories on the origin
of castes
• Castes appear to have
originated in northwestern
India among the invading
Aryans as a technique to
avoid assimilation with the
dark skinned aboriginals.

• Before coming into India
the Aryans distinguished
between nobility (Ksatra)
& the common people
(vis) of their own tribes
• Perhaps they has also
participated in an ancient
Iranian division into
priests, warriors,
agriculturalists & artisans

• After settling in the Indus valley
they were confronted with the
problem of maintaining their own
identity
• They began to distinguish
themselves as Aryans (Nobles)
from the conquered peoples,
whom they called Dasas (black
ones) or Asuras (non-shinning
ones).

• The former term came
to mean slaves, the
latter came to mean
demons

• In the Rig Veda these peoples are described as
black in color, speechless (probably meaning
that they did not speak the Aryan tongue),
without rites, without any purpose in life, &
without the gods (Adevas).
• Those Aryans who married Dasas fell in the
social scale of the conquerors

Origin of the Caste
System
• As a religious rite became
more complicated, those who
were in charge of the
sacrificial lore were shown
special deference, & they
rose in social ranks.
• By the close of Vedic period a
fourfold division of society
had been accepted & had
been given religious sanction

• The religious sanction for
the caste system can be
found in the Rig Veda in the
myth of the Purusa, the
primeval man who existed
before the foundation of
the universe
• Purusa is the primordial
sacrifice slain before the
foundation of the world is
laid

• The gods
immolated
him making
the firmament
from his navel,
heaven from
his head, earth
from his feet,
space from his
ear…
Man also came from him: “His mouth
became the Brahmin, his arms became the
Ksatriya, his thighs became the Vaisya &
the Sudras was born from his feet

• These classes of men
were not called Varna’s
in the Rig Veda but later
the term Varna was used
to signify the priestly
scholars, the warriors &
ruler, the merchants &
the serfs or laborers

• The fact that Varna
mean color has
caused some to
make the facile
assumption that the
classification was a
color distinction
• However, Varna also
mean species, kind,
character, nature &
form

Varna among the gods
• In the Brahmanas, the
Varna system is found
among the gods
• Agni & Brhaspati are
Brahmins
• Indra, Varuna, Soma &
Yama are Ksatriya
• Vasus, Rudra & the Maruts
are Vaisya
• Pusan is a Sudras
• Maitrayani Samskara 1.10.13; Satapatha
Brahmana 14.4.2 23-25

HINDU MYTHOLOGY
• In the Hindu mythology we
find men of lower castes
ascending to positions of
eminence and authority
• Some important characters
in the epics Ramayana and
Mahabharata belonged to
lower castes Ramayana

HINDU MYTHOLOGY
• Lord Rama was assisted
by mostly men of
humble origins, who
lived in the forests and
were ignorant of the
Vedic scriptures.
• Lord Krishna himself
was brought up by a
family of cowherds.

HINDU MYTHOLOGY
• So was Balarama, his
step brother, who is
sometimes included in
the list of Vishnu's ten
incarnations.
• Only three or four of
the ten incarnations of
Lord Vishnu came from
higher castes

HINDU MYTHOLOGY
• Of the ten only one, the incarnation of
Vamana, belongs to the Brahmin caste.
• Rama, Parashurama and the Buddha
belong to the Ksatriya caste while other
incarnations such as the incarnation of
fish, turtle, boar and the half man and
half lion are actually animal
incarnations, which in other words
means once born, just like the forest
dwellers that assisted Lord Rama in his
battle against the demon king Ravana.

Many ancient sages and rishis also
came from humble backgrounds
• Sage Parashar, the famous law
giver, was the son of an outcaste
(Candala).
• Rishi Vashishta was born to a
prostitute
• Sage Vyasa, the original author of
the Mahabharata, was born to a
fisherwoman.
• Rishi Valmiki the original composer
of Ramayana came from a tribal
family of traditional hunters

Portuguese & Casta
• When the Portuguese came to
India in the 16th century, they
used the word Casta for Varna
• Casta means an unmixed race,
a tribe, or a clan, is a poor
translation.
• It denotes groups that rise &
fall in a social scale, but the 4
Varna’s are fixed

Maurya
period (300
BC)
• While the Varna remained
four, the castes became many.
• Inter caste marriages, practice
of polygamy, assimilation of
foreigners, creation of vast
administrative machinery that
resulted in new classes of
people and new positions of
authority, and geographical
expansion of the empires to
the south which exposed new
groups and communities to
the Vedic religion contributed
to this new development and
added diversity and
complexity to the social fabric
of ancient India.

Gandhi reflect a late point of view
• The class distinction may
have been originally based on
the Gunas: Rajas (active
individual), Sattva
(intellectual types), & Tamas
(sluggish people)
• The Bhagavad Gita 4.13 can
be used as a proof text for
such a claim : “The 4 fold
order was created by Me
according to the divisions of
quality (Gunas) & work
(Karma)

MANU - BRAHMIN
• The Brahmins are to study &
teach Vedic lore, to conduct
sacrifices, to give & receive
gifts
• They are the middle men
between gods & men
• They acts as temple priests &
invoke gods on behalf of others

MANU - BRAHMIN
• They are expected to show
exemplary behavior & spend
their lives in the pursuit of
divine knowledge &
preservation of the traditions
• According to Manu, the law
maker, a Brahmin was an
incarnation of Dharma
(sacred Tradition), born to
serve & protect the Dharma

MANU - BRAHMIN
• He belonged to the excellent
of the human race, endowed
with intelligence & knowledge
to attain Brahman
• He was the highest on earth,
the lord of all created beings.
• Whatever that existed in the
world was the property of a
Brahmana & he was entitled
to all

MANU - KSATRIYA
• The Ksatriya are to protect
the people, to give gifts, to
study the Vedas, & to
abstain from sensual
pleasure
• It was a king’s duty to
protect his kingdom & his
people
• He had something in
himself of the gods such
Indra, Vayu, Yama…

MANU - KSATRIYA
• A king should not be
despised even if he was an
infant
• His authority should not be
questioned except when he
ignored his duties in
supporting & protecting
Brahmins

MANU - KSATRIYA
• The king has the right to
punish, but he must be fair
in his punishment
• It was king’s responsibility
to protect the caste system
& the social order & lavish
the priests with generous
gifts at every opportunity

MANU - VAISYA
• The Vaisya are to tend
cattle, to give alms, to
sacrifice, to study the
Vedas, to lend money, to
cultivate the land
• They had the right to
perform & participate in
certain Vedic rituals but
they were not allowed to
marry woman of higher
caste

MANU - SUDRAS
• Sudras to serve meekly the
other castes.
• The line of distinction is
between the 3 upper Varna’s &
the Sudras, not between
Brahmins & non Brahmins
• Brahmins, Ksatriya & Vaisya
are to study the Vedas, but this
is not mentioned as a Sudras
duty
• Sudras are forbidden to study
the Vedas

MANU - CANDALA
• The lowest of the Sudras
were called Candala or
the impure ones
• They were treated as
untouchables because of
their gory religious
practices, penchant for
sacrifices, magical rites &
unclean habits

MANU - CANDALA
• In ancient times they
were not allowed to enter
a village or a city during
the day time or walk in
the same street where
men of other castes
walked.
• Even their shadow were
considered impure & their
very sight as a bad omen

MANU - CANDALA
• So they lived mostly on
the fringes of society,
unknown & uncared for,
following some esoteric
religion of their own &
working mostly in the
grave yards & cremation
grounds or as hunters,
butcher & professional
cleaners of human waste

• Sankara quotes with approval the
following passage from the Veda
• The ears of him (Sudras) who
hears the Veda are to be filled
with molten lead …
• For a Sudras is like a cemetery,
therefore the Vedas is not to be
read in the vicinity of a Sudras

• The tongue of a Sudras is
to be slit if he
pronounces the Vedas, &
his body to be cut if he
preserves the Veda.
• Only the members of the
3 upper Varna are to
study the Veda, to
participate in Vedic
sacrifices, & to bestow
gift in Vedic fashion

• Sankara recognize that this
general rule may at times be
alter
• If a Sudras despite the rule
somehow acquire Vedic
knowledge, he will be
liberated, “since knowledge
in all cases bring it fruit.”
• Sankara acknowledge that
the Ithihasas & the Puranas
may be taught to the Sudras

• He quotes the Mahabharata to
support his view: “He is to teach
the 4 castes.”
• But to make sure his principal
point is not lost, Sankara adds as
a concluding remarks: “It
remains, however, a settled
point that they (Sudras) do not
possess any such qualification to
the Vedas

• Brahmins, Ksatriya & Vaisya are
twice born, that is the male
members of these Varna
undergo at puberty a sacrament
marking their spiritual birth.
• Sudras, once born that is they
do not have a spiritual birth
• The supreme Varna Dharma for
the twice born is to engage in
self perfecting.

• The chief obligation of the
once born is to serve the
twice born, knowing that
their status as Sudras is the
result of Karmic forces & that
the twice born state is a
possibility for them in later
reincarnation
• There is no necessity that
each individual to go through
the 4 Varna’s, that is the
Vaisya & Ksatriya do not
need to anticipate becoming
Brahmins as part of their
Sadhana

• Brahmin are given
extremely high status in
Hindu law book
• The gods are invisible
deities, but Brahmins are
visible deities
• A Brahmin whether learned
or not, is a great deity
• Their duties are chiefly
concern with the
conservation of the Vedic
lore

Brahmin Privileges listed
in the Dharma Sastras

Privileges
• They must serve as
guru to all the Varna
• They must expound
the proper duties &
conduct to all classes
• They may eat sacrificial
food
• They cannot be given
corporal punishment

Privileges
• They are free from
taxation Example
there is lighter
punishment for
adultery committed
by a Brahmin than
for adultery
committed by a
Sudras.
• They may keep all
found treasure
• They do not sin by
dying without an heir

Privileges
• They are favor on the
roadways
• Killing a Brahmin is
the greatest sin
• Threatening or
striking a Brahmin is
severely condemned
• They received lighter
punishment for some
offences

Privileges
• They cannot be called
as litigant by a
member of a lower
Varna
• They may be guests at
Sraddhas (Oblations
to the dead)
• They are the only one
who can perform
certain sacrifices

• They cannot study the Veda
nor perform Vedic rites
• Nor engage in most of the
sacraments
• They cannot gain merit by
giving gifts to the Brahmins
• They cannot cook for the
Brahmin, nor eat with them,
nor touch them.
• They are to spend their whole
life in the householder stage

How the Caste
System was
Enforced
• HEREDITY
• CASTE RULE
• MARRIAGES
• PREFERENTIAL
TREATMENT
• ROYAL SUPPORT

How the Caste System
was Enforced
• The caste system was
enforced with the help of
law books such
as Manusmriti and the
support of kings who
considered themselves as
upholders of dharma.
• The force of tradition,
superstition, religious
beliefs, fear of punishment
also played an important
role in its success

Heredity
based on birth.
• People inherited caste
from their parents and
passed it on to their
children.
• Individuals had no
right to change their
caste as long as they
practiced the Vedic
religion.

Heredity
• But they could be
excommunicated from the
caste by the kings or the
local administrators or
village heads in case of
serious transgression.
• In case of inter caste
marriages which were rare,
children inherited the castes
of their fathers.

Caste Rules
• The caste rules were
enforced strictly through
the fear of political and
religious authority.
• The success of the
system depended upon
the performance of
duties prescribed for
each caste.
• The rules varied from
caste to caste

Caste Rules
• People of higher castes
enjoyed privileges but were
also expected to be good
role models.
• For a Brahmin study of the
Vedas, practice of rituals
and leading a pure and
austere life were a must.
• Otherwise he was
considered to be equal to a
Sudra in the eyes of his
fellow caste members

Caste Rules
• Women were
expected to assist
their husbands in
observing the caste
rules.
• Purification
ceremonies, fines and
minor punishments
were prescribed to
annul the negative
effect of violating
caste rules.

Marriage
• The caste system
prohibited marriages
outside one's caste to
avoid inter mixture of the
castes (Varna samkaram),
which was considered to
be a sign of decline of
dharma and the very
reason why the caste
system was devised.

Marriage
• The law books
allowed certain types of
inter-caste marriages as an
exception rather than rule.
• Marriages between a
higher caste men and lower
caste women were less
objectionable than
Marriages between Sudra
males and higher caste
females and marriages
between men of upper
castes and Sudra women

Preferential
treatment
• The three upper castes
enjoyed distinct
advantages in society
compared to the Sudras
whose job was to serve
the three upper castes
and live like fourth class
citizens.

Preferential treatment
• People born in the three
upper castes were given
initiation into the study of
the Vedas and treated as
twice born, while Sudras
were not allowed to study
or even hear the Vedas.
• They were treated on par
with animals and
considered once borne

• The laws were
discriminatory in matters
of rewards and
punishments.
• They prescribed lighter
punishments for higher
castes than the lower
castes who had
technically little recourse
against the former in
criminal cases

• For the same offence
committed, a lower caste
person might attract physical
torture, slavery or death
penalty while a higher caste
person might get away with a
simple fine or chastisement or
purification ceremony.
• The lower caste persons were
also not allowed to act as
witnesses or sit in judgment
against higher castes

Royal Support
preserved and enforced
mostly through royal
support.
• The relationship between
the priestly class and the
warrior class was one of
convenience

Royal Support
• The kings took upon
themselves the tasks of
protecting the caste
system and preventing
caste intermixture while
the priests performed
sacrificial ceremonies and
purifications ceremonies
seeking the welfare of the
king and a place for him in
heavens

Royal Support
• The scriptures
proclaimed the king as a
god in human form and
protector and preserver
of castes and caste order
• The very notion of
punishment was a
created by God and given
to the kings upon earth
to help them destroy evil
and keep men on the
path of dharma

Royal Support
• The scriptures suggested
that a king should start
his day by worshipping
three Brahmins on
waking up and follow
their advice with
humility and modesty.
• He should also appoint a
Brahman to the position
of a chief minister with
and deliberate with him
on the most important
affairs concerning royal
policy

VEDAS
KARMAS
GUNAS
RELIGIOUS LAW

Justification in the Vedas
• No Vedic tradition is valid unless it is found in
the Vedas.
• The caste system would not have found
approval among the Vedic people unless
there was some reference to it in the Vedas.

• The Purusha Sukta in the 10th Mandala of the
Rig-Veda describes how the castes came into
existence, from different parts of Purusha, the
Cosmic Soul, at the time of a grand sacrifice
performed by the gods.

• The Brahmins came out of
his mouth, the Ksatriya
from his arms, the Vaisya
from his thighs and the
Sudras from his feet.
• Many scholars believe that
concepts and the imagery
of Purusha Sukta belong to
later Vedic period rather
than the Rig-Veda period
and so it was probably a
later day interpolation

Karma Justification
• The concept of karma
perfectly justifies the
caste system based on
birth.
• It favors the argument
that people of lower
castes have to blame
themselves for their
plight because of their
bad karma in their past
lives.

Karma Justification
• Their pitiable plight is a stern
warning to the rest of the
humanity that the wheel of
dharma operates inexorably,
sparing none and favoring none.
• This line of argument is found in
many scriptures, including the
Bhagavad-Gita, according to
which people of good merit and
those who had developed
detachment or dispassion were
born in pious families Bhagavad
Gita echoes the same theme

Karma Justification
• In the fourth chapter of the
book, Lord Krishna declared
that the fourfold Varna system
was created by him based on
the triple Gunas and
mechanism of karma
• By combining the belief in
karma with the caste system,
the ancient law makers
prescribed different vocational
and occupational duties for
each caste and expected
people to follow them
sincerely as an integral part of
their religious duty

Karma Justification
• Observing these duties without
questioning them was an act of merit,
which entitled them to progress on the
path of dharma and obtain a better life in
the next birth

GUNAS JUSTIFICATION
• According to many schools
of Hindu philosophy, all
beings and objects in the
world contain the triple
Gunas or qualities of
Prakriti.
• Their dominance or
suppression cause people
to act and behave
differently and make them
fit for certain types of
occupations

GUNAS JUSTIFICATION
• These three qualities are
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
• Sattva is characterized by
purity and spirituality and
manifests in men in the
form of knowledge,
intelligence, faith, sincerity,
devotion, piousness and so
on.
• Sattva is believed to be the
predominant quality
among the men of
knowledge, in other
worlds, Brahmins

GUNAS JUSTIFICATION
• Rajas is characterized by
egoism and materialism and
manifests in men as ambition,
pride, desire for wealth and
personal power, lust,
hypocrisy, attachment and so
on.
• Rajas are believed to be the
predominant quality in case of
men of action, in other words,
in Ksatriya and Vaisya

GUNAS JUSTIFICATION
• Tamas is characterized by
lethargy and manifests in men
in the form of ignorance, lack
of ambition, extreme
austerities, demonical resolve,
uncleanliness, negative
attitude, unhealthy habits and
other forms of undesirable
behavior.
• Tamas is believed to be the
predominant quality in men
who are unclean and ignorant,
in other words, Sudras

RELIGIOUS JUSTIFICATION
• The caste system was justified
by most of the Smrti
literature, Manusmriti being
the most notorious among
them and by such religious
scriptures as the Puranas, the
Sutra literature and scriptures
such as the Bhagavad-Gita
and some later day
Upanishads.
• The law books not only
justified rigid caste system but
prescribed severe
punishments in case of
violation.

RELIGIOUS
JUSTIFICATION
• The very purpose for which
the law books were composed
and the manner in which the
information was organized in
them on caste lines suggest
that in ancient and medieval
India they were meant to
perpetuate and justify the
caste system and provide clear
guidelines to the
administrative machinery to
enforce the laws concerning
social divisions with little
confusion

Caste in other
religion
• Despite the obvious
defects, problems &
injustices of the castes,
the systems pervades the
lives of many in India who
are not Hindus
• The caste system has
entered Islam with
divisions into Sayed,
Mughal, Sheikh, & Pathan

Caste in other
religion
• Zoroastrianism in
India had developed
similar divisions:
Atharvas,
Rathaesthas,
Vastrtafshuyans &
Huiti
• Christians in India
have also formed
groups analogous to
castes

• It direct the people
attention of people to
ceremonies & magical
practices rather than to
moral issues
• Deaden human sympathies
towards the less fortunate
people of society
• Fragment & narrow the
human compass of
humanitarian concerns, &
places a higher values on
birth then on character &
attainment

• They did not attempt to
abolish the caste system
as they saw in it a great
opportunity to maintain
their hold by keeping the
society divided.
• The Christian
missionaries found in it a
convenient means to
convert people to
Christianity and keep the
Hindu society defensive

• Ambedkar, an untouchable
who earned a doctorate at
Columbia University,
suffered all his life at the
hands of people inferior to
him in education yet
superior to him by reason of
Varna
• Office helpers in the
government buildings at
New Delhi used to slam
inter office communications
on his desk as an expression
of their attitude towards his
untouchability

In conversation with Gandhi on
August 14, 1931
• “Gandhiji, I have no
homeland; &this
religion my own
wherein we are
treated worse than
cats & dogs, wherein
we cannot get water
to drink? No self
respecting
Untouchable worth
the name would be
proud of this land

Ambedkar
Conversion
• On October 14, 1956 — and a
mere two months before his
death — Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the
scholar and political leader who
was principally responsible for
the drafting of India’s
Constitution, converted to
Buddhism in a public ceremony
in Nagpur.
• Somewhere between 100,000
and 500,000 of his Dalit
followers — the accounts vary
— embraced Buddhism in the
immediate wake of his
conversion

• After independence,
Indian constitution
guaranteed equal status
and fundamental rights to
all classes of people.
• Practice of untouchability
was officially declared as
a serious crime,
punishable with severe
penalties.
• Provisions were made to
identify and protect the
lower castes from
exploitation and ill
treatment.

• Reservation policy created
a level playing field and
protected them from unfair
competition from higher
castes in matters of
employment and
education.
• Today the lower castes
occupy positions of
authority and leadership
and are engaged in every
profession.

• While a lot of improvement
in their overall status is still
required, through
constitutional guarantees
the Indian government
established many
safeguards for the lower
castes and improved their
status in society
considerably so much so
that often the high castes
complain of being
discriminated and at a
disadvantage

• By granting constitutional
guarantees to the lower
castes and protecting them
from unfair competition, the
Indian government averted a
major disaster for the newly
independent country such as
a civil war or civil strife or
mass conversions to other
religions

VARNA DHARMA

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