Invitation to World Religions

The Teachings of Hinduism  115

of expressing the meaning of varna in this context is through the English term class . There are four main classes in Hindu society: brahmin, the priestly class; kshatriya , the warrior and administrator class; vaishya , the producer class (farmers and mer- chants); and shudra , the servant class. Varna is determined by birth and is propa- gated through endogamy, or marriage only within a particular group. The caste system, and varnashrama dharma generally, has traditionally been most important for males of the three higher classes, the so-called twice-born castes. We encounter the first mention of varna in a poem known as the Purusha Sukta , an early Sanskrit poem found in the tenth book of the Rig Veda (c. 1200 bce). The poem, which describes the primordial sacrifice of the cosmic man, ascribes a mythical origin to the varna system. From the various parts of the cosmic man emerge the component parts of the universe—the sun, the moon, the breath, and fire among them. At the very end, people emerge. From his mouth emerge the brahmins, from his arms the kshatriyas, from his thighs the vaishyas, and from his feet the shudras. The varnas are organized along a continuum of purity and pollution. A person’s state of purity or pollution is determined by the degree of contact with substances that are considered polluting (corpses, for example). Although it might appear from the varna system and from the Purusha Sukta that brahmins are at the top of the

The Hampi Bazaar in the southwest- ern Indian state of Karnataka. Hampi,

home to an important archaeological site, is a sacred town where doorsteps and houses are decorated by ritual protective drawings.

hierarchy, we know that from the earliest period brah- mins and kshatriyas (and to some extent vaishyas as well) existed in close, mutually dependent relationships. The brahmins, with their ritual knowledge, gave legitimacy to kings and ambitious chieftains who might come to power. In turn, kings supported the priestly class with gifts of wealth and land, while merchants and landlords paid taxes and sponsored priestly activities. A fifth group below the shudras, called the “untouch- ables” or “outcastes,” was added. Today, this lowest group constitutes nearly 20 percent of the population of India. During the Indian Independence movement of the early twentieth century, Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi (whom we will discuss later in the chapter) sought to uplift this class socially, referring to them as Harijans, “Children of God.” Many people of this class now refer to themselves as dalit , a word that means “oppressed.” In modern India, educational institutions and government jobs have been opened to the dalits and have helped many with social and economic mo- bility. Nevertheless, dalits continue to suffer terrible oppres- sion, especially in rural communities in India. The caste system is further classified through thou- sands of subcastes called jatis . Jati literally means

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