ancient varna system in 200 words
Answers
Answer:
varNa is a birth-based classification of Hindus. In the scriptures, four varNas are mentioned. In order of decreasing merit, they are the brAhmaNas or priests and teachers, the kshatriyas or warriors, the vaishyas or farmers and merchants, and the shUdras or worker castes. Within each varNa are hundreds of jAtis (what we call castes in English). Thus, varNa is a superset of jAti. There are hundreds of castes within just the vaishya varNa, for instance: you have Punjabi vaishyas like Agrawal, Oswal, and Gupta, who belong to the baniya caste; you have Rajasthani baniyas such as Mittal and Bansal. But all of these are vaishya castes. There are similarly hundreds of castes within Brahmins. Within Tamil Brahmins, for instance, there are Iyer and Iyengar castes, and within the Iyers themselves, there are many subcastes. These are the jAtis. But all of them belong to the varNa of brAhmaNa. In addition, there are also those who do not belong to any of the four varNas. These are the outcastes, known variously as the panchamas, the backward castes, or the Dalits
Explanation:
Varna means type, order, colour or class. The term refers to social classes in Dharma-shastra books like the Manusmriti.These and other Hindu literature classified the society in principle into four varnas:
Brahmins: priests, scholars and teachers.
Kshatriyas: rulers, warriors and administrators.
Vaishyas: agriculturalists and traders.
Shudras: laborers and service providers.
Communities which belong to one of the four varnas or classes are called savarna. In the present-day context, they include all the forward castes. The Dalits and scheduled tribes who do not belong to any varna, are called avarna.
This quadruple division is a form of social stratification not to be confused with the much more nuanced Jāti or the European term "caste".
The varna system is discussed in Hindu texts, and understood as idealised human callings. The concept is generally traced to the Purusha Suktaverse of the Rig Veda.
The commentary on the Varna system in the Manusmriti is oft-cited.Counter to these textual classifications, many Hindu texts and doctrines question and disagree with the Varna system of social classification.
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