Varnashrama dharma
Encyclopedia
Varna refers to the categorization of the Hindu society by four castes, hypothesized by the Brahmins and their sacred texts.
This quadruple division is not to be confused with Jāti
or even the much finer division of the contemporary caste system in India
.
The four varnas, or chatur varna, are mentioned in ancient texts in the following (stratified) order, from top to bottom,
The first three varna are considered Arya, and thus allowed to participate in Vedic rituals from which the Shudra varna is excluded, although it was the largest segment of the population.
Separate and shunned by the society, including by the Shudras, were the "untouchable
s" such as the Dalit
and the Chandaal
(cāṇḍāla), who had to deal with the disposal of dead bodies 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. "Now people here whose conduct is good can expect to quickly attain a pleasant birth, like that of a Brahmin, the Kshatriya, or the Vaisya. But people of evil conduct can expect to enter a foul womb, like that of a dog, a pig, or a Chandaal".
The varna system of the Brahminical society is described in the various Puranas
and Smritis, among others. Manusmriti, is one of numerous Dharmashastra
texts reflecting the laws and society of Maurya period India and being a reference work for the Brahmins of Bengal especially, was relied upon by the British colonial administrators and scholars based in Calcutta, the capital city. Manusmriti was almost unknown south of the Vindhyas. The modern Hindu caste system recognizes many more social groupings not mentioned in the Hindu scriptures and only theoretically accepts the necessity of following prescribed duties.
Caste politics
is a controversial issue in the contemporary Republic of India.
term (वर्ण) is derived from the root , meaning "to cover, to envelop" (compare ).
Derived meanings include "kind, sort, character, quality". All these meanings are already present in the Rigveda
's use of the word.
The meaning "class of men, tribe" in the Rigveda refers to the division between Aryas
and Dasa
. The earliest application to the formal division into four social classes appears in the late Rigvedic Purusha Sukta
(RV 10.90.11–12), which has the Brahman, Rajanya (= Kshatriya), Vaishya and Shudra classes made of the head, arms, thighs and feet of the primordial giant, Purusha
, respectively. Other Vedic texts and the Manusmriti, a law text dating to roughly between 200 BCE and 200 CE follow suit.
The varna classification was first described, almost in passing, in the Purush Sukta of the Rgveda 1090.
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 Dumézil
. Dumézil postulates a basic division of society into a priesthood (Brahmins), warrior class or nobility
(Kshatriyas) and commoner
s (Vaishyas), augmented by a class of unfree serfs (Shudras), as was done in ancient Iran and Greece as well (where the fourth class is called pan-Hellenes).
Many Hindu yogis and sages have, over the centuries, constantly commented about inheriting social status. Ramanujacharya initiated people from all castes into his tradition, and broke taboos by inviting them to his house for food. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (15th century), the powerful bhakti
of Krishna
also denounced inheriting social status. He famously distributed the Hare Krishna mantra to 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).
Manusmriti is often quoted in reference to the Varna system as an inherited social class system. However, the Hindu rightists usually point out that the Manusmṛti is a later work that does not form a part of Hindu Scriptures, so it is of questionable relevance. The rightists content that the Manusmṛti has been used by British colonialists, politicians and sociologists to denigrate those of the Hindu faith.
The Manusmṛti claims that by the time it was written in ancient times, 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 into four categories.
. In India and Nepal the sub-communities within a varna are called "jat" or "jati" (the varna is also used instead of jat). Traditionally, individuals are allowed to marry only within their jati. People are born into a jati and normally it cannot be changed, though there were some exceptions in Hindu Scriptures. For example, the sage Vishwamitra was born as a Kshatriya and by deep tapas
(meditation) became a venerable Brahmin rishi
. Good deeds during ones lifetime can allow a low class jati member to ascend to the upper class and study the Vedas as a Brahmin priest.
. 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 serfs, and performed agricultural labour.
Manusmriti assigns cattle rearing as Vaisya occupation, however there are sources in available literature that Kshatriyas also owned and reared the cattle and cattle-wealth was mainstay of their households.Emperors of Kosala
and Prince of Kasi are some of many examples.
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:
s. Generally a sub-community is divided into exogamous group
s based on same gotras (गोत्र). The classical authors scarcely speak of anything other than the varnas; Indologists sometimes confuse the two.
. 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.
Swami Krishnananda
, a foremost disciple of Swami Sivananda
and former General Secretary of the Divine Life Society
, noted the following about inherited social status in his autobiography:
Paramahansa Yogananda
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:
This quadruple division is not to be confused with Jāti
Jati
Jāti is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the...
or even the much finer division of the contemporary caste system in India
Caste system in India
The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....
.
The four varnas, or chatur varna, are mentioned in ancient texts in the following (stratified) order, from top to bottom,
- the BrahminBrahminBrahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s: vedic priests. - the KshatriyaKshatriya*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
: kings, governors and professional soldiers. - the VaishyaVaishyaVaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...
s: bankers and merchants - the ShudraShudraShudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
s: cattle keepers, agriculturists, labourers, artisans and service providers.
The first three varna are considered Arya, and thus allowed to participate in Vedic rituals from which the Shudra varna is excluded, although it was the largest segment of the population.
Separate and shunned by the society, including by the Shudras, were the "untouchable
Untouchability
Untouchability is the social practice of ostracizing a minority group by segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate. The excluded group could be one that did not accept the norms of the excluding group and historically included foreigners, nomadic tribes, law-breakers...
s" such as the Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
and the Chandaal
Chandala
Chandala is a Sanskrit word for someone who deals with disposal of corpses, and is a Hindu lower caste, formerly considered untouchables. Currently it is a term used specifically in Indo-Aryan speaking regions of India. Sandala has become a swear word in the colloquial usage of the Tamil language...
(cāṇḍāla), who had to deal with the disposal of dead bodies 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. "Now people here whose conduct is good can expect to quickly attain a pleasant birth, like that of a Brahmin, the Kshatriya, or the Vaisya. But people of evil conduct can expect to enter a foul womb, like that of a dog, a pig, or a Chandaal".
The varna system of the Brahminical society is described in the various Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
and Smritis, among others. Manusmriti, is one of numerous Dharmashastra
Dharmasastra
Dharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic...
texts reflecting the laws and society of Maurya period India and being a reference work for the Brahmins of Bengal especially, was relied upon by the British colonial administrators and scholars based in Calcutta, the capital city. Manusmriti was almost unknown south of the Vindhyas. The modern Hindu caste system recognizes many more social groupings not mentioned in the Hindu scriptures and only theoretically accepts the necessity of following prescribed duties.
Caste politics
Caste politics in India
The politics of India, in various levels, has been influenced by the prevailing caste system in the country. The caste system is essentially a five-tier social standing apparatus that comes from Hindu culture. At the top of the social hierarchy are the Brahmins, who are typically priests. At the...
is a controversial issue in the contemporary Republic of India.
Etymology and origins
Varna is a SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
term (वर्ण) is derived from the root , meaning "to cover, to envelop" (compare ).
Derived meanings include "kind, sort, character, quality". All these meanings are already present in the Rigveda
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
's use of the word.
The meaning "class of men, tribe" in the Rigveda refers to the division between Aryas
Rigvedic tribes
The Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rigveda are described as semi-nomadic pastoralists; when not on the move, they were subdivided into temporary settlements . They were headed by a tribal chief assisted by a priestly caste...
and Dasa
Dasa
Dasa is a term used with the primary meaning 'enemy', especially relating to tribes identified as the enemies of the Indo-Aryan tribes in the Rigveda....
. The earliest application to the formal division into four social classes appears in the late Rigvedic Purusha Sukta
Purusha sukta
Purusha sukta is hymn 10.90 of the Rigveda, dedicated to the Purusha, the "Cosmic Being". One version of the Suktam has 16 verses, 15 in the meter, and the final one in the meter...
(RV 10.90.11–12), which has the Brahman, Rajanya (= Kshatriya), Vaishya and Shudra classes made of the head, arms, thighs and feet of the primordial giant, Purusha
Purusha
In some lineages of Hinduism, Purusha is the "Self" which pervades the universe. The Vedic divinities are interpretations of the many facets of Purusha...
, respectively. Other Vedic texts and the Manusmriti, a law text dating to roughly between 200 BCE and 200 CE follow suit.
The varna classification was first described, almost in passing, in the Purush Sukta of the Rgveda 1090.
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
Proto-Indo-European society
Proto-Indo-European refers to the single ancestor language common to all Indo-European languages. It is therefore a linguistic concept, not an ethnic, social or cultural one, so there is no direct evidence of the nature of Proto-Indo-European 'society'. Much depends on the unsettled Indo-European...
. Such comparison is at the basis of the trifunctional hypothesis
Trifunctional hypothesis
The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology reflected in the existence of three classes or castes—priests, warriors, and commoners —corresponding to the three functions of the sacral, the martial and the economic, respectively...
presented by Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and society...
. Dumézil postulates a basic division of society into a priesthood (Brahmins), warrior class or nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
(Kshatriyas) and commoner
Commoner
In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title,...
s (Vaishyas), augmented by a class of unfree serfs (Shudras), as was done in ancient Iran and Greece as well (where the fourth class is called pan-Hellenes).
Hindu tradition
The Purusha Sukta in the Rig-Veda 10:90 refers to the four principal varnas, although the word varna is not used, described in Manu's code, viz. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. They are compared to the body of the "primordial man" or Purusha: "The Brâhmana was his head, of both his arms was the Râjanya made. His thighs became the Vaishya, his feet became the Sûdra" (RV 10.90.12) This model is often cited for its hierarchical ordering of the varnas, however, by the same logic the model also implies the concept of interdependence and interchangeability of the varnas. Furthermore reading this mantra within the entire context of the Purusha Sukta, which also describes the Purusha as the origin of the Sun (from his eye), the Moon (from his mind), the sky (from his head), air (from his navel), horses, cattle, etc. leads one to the conclusion that the entire Sukta is emphasizing the point that all these come from the original Purusha.Many Hindu yogis and sages have, over the centuries, constantly commented about inheriting social status. Ramanujacharya initiated people from all castes into his tradition, and broke taboos by inviting them to his house for food. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (15th century), the powerful bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
also denounced inheriting social status. He famously distributed the Hare Krishna mantra to 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).
Dharmaśāstras
The concept of dharma deals mainly with the duties of the different and āśhramas (life cycles).Manusmriti is often quoted in reference to the Varna system as an inherited social class system. However, the Hindu rightists usually point out that the Manusmṛti is a later work that does not form a part of Hindu Scriptures, so it is of questionable relevance. The rightists content that the Manusmṛti has been used by British colonialists, politicians and sociologists to denigrate those of the Hindu faith.
The Manusmṛti claims that by the time it was written in ancient times, 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 into four categories.
"Twice born"
The first three varnas are seen as "twice born" and they are allowed to study the VedasVedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
. In India and Nepal the sub-communities within a varna are called "jat" or "jati" (the varna is also used instead of jat). Traditionally, individuals are allowed to marry only within their jati. People are born into a jati and normally it cannot be changed, though there were some exceptions in Hindu Scriptures. For example, the sage Vishwamitra was born as a Kshatriya and by deep tapas
Tapas (Sanskrit)
Tapasya in Sanskrit means "heat". In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively, denoting spiritual suffering, mortification or austerity, and also the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or tāpasá . In the Rigveda, the word is connected with the Soma cult...
(meditation) became a venerable Brahmin rishi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...
. Good deeds during ones lifetime can allow a low class jati member to ascend to the upper class and study the Vedas as a Brahmin priest.
Traditional occupations
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 defending the people, administering justice, and the duties, of the military profession generally and ruling and expounding all dharmaDharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
. 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 serfs, and performed agricultural labour.
Manusmriti assigns cattle rearing as Vaisya occupation, however there are sources in available literature that Kshatriyas also owned and reared the cattle and cattle-wealth was mainstay of their households.Emperors of Kosala
Kosala
Kosala was an ancient Indian region, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Awadh in present day Uttar Pradesh. According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jaina text, the Bhagavati Sutra, Kosala was one of the Solasa Mahajanapadas in 6th century BCE and its cultural and...
and Prince of Kasi are some of many examples.
Tantric view
The Tantric movementTantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
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 because 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 ."
Varna and jāti
The terms varna (general classification based on occupation) and jāti (caste) are two distinct concepts: while varna is a four-part division of all Hindu groups, jāti (community) refers to specific endogamous groupEndogamous group
Endogamous group is a community in which the members generally marry within the group. The caste in India and the tribes in many of the cultural regions of the world form endogamous groups....
s. 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.Examples of exogamous groups are:* Gotras and Clans in the castes in India.* "Fis" among the Albanians...
s based on same gotras (गोत्र). The classical authors scarcely speak of anything other than the varnas; Indologists sometimes confuse the two.
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 DalitDalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
. 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.
Swami Krishnananda
Swami Krishnananda
Sri Swami Krishnananda Saraswati Maharaj was a Hindu saint. He was a foremost disciple of Swami Sivananda and served as 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 proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism...
and former General Secretary of the Divine Life Society
Divine Life Society
The Divine Life Society is a religious organization and an ashram, founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in 1936, at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, India...
, noted the following about inherited social status in his autobiography:
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda , born Mukunda Lal Ghosh , was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a...
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:
See also
- Forward Castes
- Backward Class
- Four occupationsFour occupationsThe four occupations or "four categories of the people" was a hierarchic social class structure developed in ancient China by either Confucian or Legalist scholars as far back as the late Zhou Dynasty and is considered a central part of the Fengjian social structure...
– fourfold Confucian division - Hindu reform movementsHindu reform movementsSeveral 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...
- Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar
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 Jyotiba 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 AurobindoSri AurobindoSri Aurobindo , born Aurobindo Ghosh or Ghose , was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru, and poet. He joined the Indian movement for freedom from British rule and for a duration became one of its most important leaders, before developing his own vision of human progress...
(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 BatraRavi BatraRaveendra Nath "Ravi" Batra is an Indian-American economist, author, and professor at Southern Methodist University. Batra is the author of six international bestsellers, two of which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list...
, "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, KoenraadKoenraad ElstKoenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...
Update on the Aryan Invasion DebateUpdate on the Aryan Invasion DebateUpdate 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....
. 1999. ISBN 81-86471-77-4 http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/books/ait/index.htm - Kane, Pandurang VamanPandurang Vaman KaneBharat Ratna Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane was a notable Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. He received India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1963. He was born in a conservative Chitpavan Brahmin family in the Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, India. Eminent Historian Professor R.S...
: 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.
- Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, by Susan Bayly and Gordon Johnson.
External links
- Maanoj Rakhit on the Varna system
- Jati system in India at AttributetoHinduism.com
- 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
- Varna Ashram and Hindu Scriptures (pdf) at Hindu-International.org
- Articles on caste] by Koenraad ElstKoenraad ElstKoenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...
- Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism? at EPW.org.in