Varna
Varna (Skt., perhaps from vṛ, ‘veil’, hence ‘colour’).
1. The four social orders, or categories, of Hindu society, Brahmans, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras. These divisions date from the time of the early Aryan settlement in N. India, and, according to the Ṛg Veda, were created by the gods from the body of Puruṣa, the first man. Into these four major divisions the castes (jāti) later fitted. Some maintain there is a fifth category, the Harijans, or untouchables, while others place them within the Śudra division, dividing this into two segments, ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’. The three upper varṇa are termed ‘twice-born’, since the male family members go through a thread ceremony (upanayana) which implies a spiritual rebirth, marking the transition into adulthood, and the student stage (āśrama) of life. Reading, writing, and the pursuit of knowledge were regarded as irrelevant for the Śūdra way of life, so that varna was excluded from the thread ceremonies.
The word varna means ‘colour’, hence the hypothesis that the system reflects an observed difference in appearance between the fair-skinned Aryan (‘noble’) invaders from the north and the darker skinned indigenous inhabitants (dāsas, ‘slaves’).
2. See BINDU.
1. The four social orders, or categories, of Hindu society, Brahmans, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras. These divisions date from the time of the early Aryan settlement in N. India, and, according to the Ṛg Veda, were created by the gods from the body of Puruṣa, the first man. Into these four major divisions the castes (jāti) later fitted. Some maintain there is a fifth category, the Harijans, or untouchables, while others place them within the Śudra division, dividing this into two segments, ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’. The three upper varṇa are termed ‘twice-born’, since the male family members go through a thread ceremony (upanayana) which implies a spiritual rebirth, marking the transition into adulthood, and the student stage (āśrama) of life. Reading, writing, and the pursuit of knowledge were regarded as irrelevant for the Śūdra way of life, so that varna was excluded from the thread ceremonies.
The word varna means ‘colour’, hence the hypothesis that the system reflects an observed difference in appearance between the fair-skinned Aryan (‘noble’) invaders from the north and the darker skinned indigenous inhabitants (dāsas, ‘slaves’).
2. See BINDU.
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