Vedic Religion – A structured society
Varnas
(Sanskrit “colour”)
• These are the social classes, also social functions, according to which (as in medieval Europe) society is structured: priests (brahmanas), nobles (ksatriyas), merchants (vaishyas) and labourers (shudras).
• The system of social classes entails a system
of duties for the individual classes.
• In India today, different models of the varna-system prevail.
Castes
(derived from Portuguese “casta” = “clean”)
• These correspond to a complex system of social classification according to family and clan affiliation, regional provenience, class and occupational distinctions.
• The castes took form at the earliest in the 3rd Century CE.
• In the 19th Century, British colonial officers counted some 2378 castes; today there are many more.
• Since 1949, discrimination on the basis of caste membership or exclusion
therefrom (“untouchables”) is prohibited by law.
