GENESIS OF CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA

Brahmanasya Mukham aseed.Bahu rajanya krutha.
Ooru tadasys yad vaisya.Padbhyo sudro aajayatha.



This hymn is from Purusha suktham, the hymn of creation which is the part of Rigveda states that

Brahmin came into being from brahma’s face, rajanya (kshyatriya) from his arms,
Vaishya from his thighs and sudra from his feet.

There are 1028 hymns in Rigveda and incidentally the word ‘ sudra’ is mentioned only in this hymn. According to Rig Veda, Purush, the almighty himself manifested in different forms to create different strata of society. It is interesting to note that there is no category of ‘untouchables’ mentioned in rigveda.

In Srimad bhagwad gita which was rendered Lord Krishna himself, krishna clarifies to Arjuna the origin and purpose of the caste system in sanaatana dharma

(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Shloka 13).

cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ guṇakarmavibhāgaśaḥ .
tasya kartāramapi māṃ viddhyakartāramavyayam ..


The four-fold order was created by Me according to the divisions of quality and work. Though I am its creator, know Me to be incapable of action or change.

Cāturvarṇyaṃ: the four-fold order. The four varnas are named - Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. They constitute the four-fold order. The three gunas - satva, rajas and tamas - and the law of karma - these four elements were divided by Me to create the four varna.

So according to Bhagwad gita the emphasis is on guna (aptitude/ qualities) and karma (function) and not on jaati (birth). The varna or the order to which we belong is independent of sex, birth or breeding. A caste is determined by temperament and vocation - not by birth or heredity.

According to bhagwad gita the whole world was originally of one class but later it became divided into four divisions on account of the specific duties.



ekavarṇama idama pūrvaṃ viśvama āsida yudhiśthira karmakriyāviśesena caturvarṇyama pratiśthitama

Even the distinction between caste and outcaste is artificial and superfical.
In the Mahabharata, Yudhishthira says that it is difficult to find out the caste of persons on account of the mixture of castes. So conduct is the only determining feature of caste according to the sages.

Srimad Bhagvad gita also states that all existing things, animated and inanimated, inherent three gunas( qualities) in different apportionment. Satva guna qualities include wisdom, intelligence, spiritual bent of mind , goodness and other positive qualities. Rajo guna includes qualities like chivelry, pride, valour and other passionate qualities. Tamo guna qualities includes other materialistic qualities.

Accordingly Brahmins are suppose to posses predominantly Satva guna, Kshatrias and Vaisias predominantly Rajo guna , and Sudras predominantly Tamo guna . Srimad Bhagwad gita explains that food also inherents different dosage of these qualities and it affects its eater's qualities. Hence it recommends Brahmins and the Vaisyas to have Satvic diet which includes fruits, milk, honey, roots and vegetables. Most of the meats are considered to have Tamosic qualities and hence Sudras are prescribed to eat different kinds of meat (but not beef) . But for the Kshatriyas, the prescribed Rajasic diet includes some kinds of meat like deer meat, which is considered to have Rajasic qualities.
Hence valmiki in his ramyana says that rama. and lakshmana when they were in forests ate deer meat along with fruits and vegetables

The Verse 102 of 52nd Sarga of Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa says.

Tau tatra caturo mahāmṛgān varāham ṛ śyaṃ mahārurum z
Ādāya medhyaṃ tvaritaṃ bubhukṣitau vāsāya kāle yayaturvanasparitam zz


-Two Brothers ( Rāma and Laksmaṇa) after entering the area(the Vatsya Deśa), killed four beasts e.g. varāha, ṛṣ ā, pṛṣat and mahāruru and, as they were hungry, took the meat of those animals, and in the afternoon they took rest under a tree
(tr. By Tarakanta Kavyatirtha, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa,

In different parts of India the same food was sometimes qualified to have different dosage of inherent qualities. This is mainly due to climatic conditions prevailing in that area. For example there are Brahmins who eat fish which is considered Tamasic food. This was taken as exceptions.








Accordingly in early india though born in the same family, people with different doses of these inherent gunas took different occupations. We can give innumerable examples that brahminhood is a virtue and not reckoned at birth. Sage valmiki who composed the great epic Ramayana was from a hunter family. Sage Viswamitra was a kshatriya by birth but was regarded as one of a brahma rishis(highest form of rishis) . Sage parshara who was a famous law giver was born to a maid servant.
Sage veda vyasa who was the composor of mahabharta with 1.20 lakh slokas was born to sage parashara and fisherwomen by name sathyavati. Vidura who was chief counselor to king dhirthrastra and who was considered as a greatest thinker of his times was son of an ordinary domestic help. There is a medieval myth that women are not allowed to study and recite Vedas. But we can find outstanding women like gargi and maitryee who composed Upanishads. We can also find people who are born in Brahmin families took professions meant for other varnas. Dronacharya, krupacharya and aswathama were all great warriors and took the professions of kshatriyas. Many Brahmins were ministers, counselors to kings and were also actively participated in trade .Hence in early india , just being born in a Brahmin family doesnot qualify a person to be called as a brahmin. It is only in this context brahma sutra states that only a Brahmin can study and recite Vedas.

Here it is worthwhile to mention the story of a great rishi by name sathyakama jabala.
Sathyakama in his adolescent age approaches guru gautama and requests gautama to take him as his disciple. Gautama asks his name and his father’s name and family lineage. To this young sathyakama replies that his name is sathyakama ,his mother’s name is jabala and he doesn’t know his family lineage. The other sishyas of gautama thought that their guru will never accept sathyakama. But to their astonishment gautama told sathyakama , since you have spoken truth abour your antecedents you are a BRAHIMIN. Gautama accepted sathyakama as his disciple and gave him a new name as sathyakama jabala. , jabala being his mother’s name as his second name. (in early India this was quite common…for eg arjuna was addressed as kaunteya ..son of kunti) sathyakama jabala went on to become a great rishi and composed an upanishad.


Thus in early India caste was not determined by birth but only by one’s occupation.
But with the passage of time the caste system became water tight.
The idea of identifying caste through one’s profession became defunct .Slowly the people organized themselves into three major caste groups. The first group was of the hereditary warriors and they called themselves as Kshatriyas. The second group was of the hereditary priests and they called themselves as Brahmins. The third group was of the hereditary farmers and hereditary craftsmen and they called themselves as Vaishyas . The son started to inherit his father's profession .
Even to day it is not totally uncommon to see children taking their father’s profession. We see children of doctors becoming doctors , children of actors become actors and children of politicians become politicians( dynastic politics!!)
What we see today is the replica of what happened in the later years of early India.
The communities who are not included in any of the three groups were called as sudras.

Those were the days when India was situated in centre of the famous silk route which passed from china to west asia. Due to increase in the volume of trade , the craftsmen and traders became rich landlords of the society. In order to secure their status these major caste groups resolved some social and religious rules which allowed only them to be the priests, warriors and the businessmen of the society. Now the skin color was an important factor in the caste system.
Contrary to the meaning given in Srimad Bhagwad gita the meaning of the word Varna" started indicating skin color. The upper castes wanted to keep their privileges intact and wanted to pass on these benefits to their offsprings. So these developed families, professed the same family profession for generations through which, the son continued his father's profession entered into matrimonial relationship only among themselves. Later on as these families became larger and they were seen as communities or sub castes Different subcastes organized themselves as one caste. Interestingly the foreign invaders of ancient India - Greeks, Huns, Scythains and others - who conquered parts of India and created kingdoms were integrated into the Kshatriya fold.

The ensuing period saw the growth of rigid caste system with the new concept of ‘untouchables’.Communities who professed non-polluting jobs were integrated into Sudra caste. And communities who professed polluting professions were made outcastes or untouchables. The so called upper castes believed that diseases can also spread also through air and not only through physical touch. Perhaps because of this reason the untouchables were not only disallowed to touch the high caste communities but they also had to stand at a certain distance from the high castes.
They were allowed to settle only outside the village limits and upper castes had limited social relations with these communities. These middle ages saw the caste system grow more rigid and water tight which made the life difficult for lower castes
Inspite of this handicap we find many people from lower castes who excel in their chosen fields. Thirukacchi nimbi, One of the gurus of the great 12th century philosopher shri. Ramanuja was not a Brahmin. Many of the nayanamars and alwars were non Brahmins.


Thus caste system which identified professions in early India , in the later ages became water tight and is now identifies family lineage.
It has become as a curse to the society and hampering the nation’s progress.