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Topic: Varna (caste)

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Vaisya

Ksatriya

Shudra

Caste system

Vaishya

Kshatriya

Nadar caste

Varna

Dalit (outcaste)

Reddiar

Brahmin

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	India Varna, Caste, and Other Divisions - Flags, Maps, Economy, History, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, ...
		Many castes are traditionally associated with an occupation, such as high-ranking Brahmans; middle-ranking farmer and artisan groups, such as potters, barbers, and carpenters; and very low-ranking "Untouchable" leatherworkers, butchers, launderers, and latrine cleaners.
		Inequalities among castes are considered by the Hindu faithful to be part of the divinely ordained natural order and are expressed in terms of purity and pollution.
		An example of such behavior is that of some Leatherworker castes adopting a policy of not eating beef, in the hope that abstaining from the defiling practice of consuming the flesh of sacred bovines would enhance their castes' status.
	www.photius.com /countries/india/society/india_society_varna_caste_and_other_divisions.html (2067 words)

	Social Castes
		Varna refers to the form and colour of something and is used in the Rg Veda to differentiate the Aryans from the indigenous peoples.
		The brahmans belong to the original caste, the ksatriyas to the Treta Yuga or second age, the vaisyas to the Dvapara Yuga or third age, and the sudras to the Kali Yuga or present corrupt age.
		The sacred thread of the brahman is of munja grass, that of the ksatriya is a bow-string, and the vaisya wears one of hemp or wool.
	philtar.ucsm.ac.uk /encyclopedia/hindu/ascetic/castes.html (1257 words)

	India - Caste and Class
		Many castes are traditionally associated with an occupation, such as high-ranking Brahmans; middle-ranking farmer and artisan groups, such as potters, barbers, and carpenters; and very low-ranking "Untouchable" leatherworkers, butchers, launderers, and latrine cleaners.
		An example of such behavior is that of some Leatherworker castes adopting a policy of not eating beef, in the hope that abstaining from the defiling practice of consuming the flesh of sacred bovines would enhance their castes' status.
		Caste associations have expanded their areas of concern beyond traditional elite emulation and local politics into the wider political arenas of state and national politics.
	countrystudies.us /india/89.htm (5053 words)

	Varna
		Caste was dictated by occupation and intercaste mobility was the norm.
		The Hindus believe that the caste one is born into is based on the karma and dharma of one's previous birth Moksha.
		As the caste system became more rigid, the lower castes came to be oppressed by the Brahmins mediated with the godson behalf of mankind by performing sacrifices and praying.
	www.gurjari.net /ico/Mystica/html/varna.htm (553 words)

	Varna - The Caste System - Indian Mythology (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Generally, it is permitted that a higher caste man marry a lower caste woman, with the children of that marriage attaining the caste of the father.
		The marriage of a higher caste man with a lower caste woman was deprecated, with the children of that marriage being outside the proper caste system, and having a lower status in society.
		In addition to the four castes and the mixture of these castes, in latter days, people engaged in certain debased callings (such as those who tan animal hides), were considered totally out of the caste system, and even regarded as untouchable.
	members.cox.net /apamnapat/entities/Varna.html (237 words)

	Caste - Gurupedia
		Caste is derived from a Portuguese word for lineage, breed or race, casta, and originally used to refer to a social division in
		Thus, the varnas were a good way of helping people who had no chance of being warriors or priests, due to their upbringing or native intelligence/ability, to live happily within their life and feel good about attaining God through proper adherence to their own dharma (overall duties).
		Islam, retain their caste identity, often due to the economic benefits it carries, and also to retain their ties with the community for social reasons.
	www.gurupedia.com /c/ca/caste.htm (1845 words)

	caste - HighBeam Encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		The caste is a closed group whose members are severely restricted in their choice of occupation and degree of social participation.
		Indian castes are rigidly differentiated by rituals and beliefs that pervade all thought and conduct (see dharma).
		The explanation that Indian castes were originally based on color lines to preserve the racial and cultural purity of conquering groups is inadequate historically to account for the physical and cultural variety of such groups.
	www.encyclopedia.com /doc/1E1-caste.html (793 words)

	Heart of Hinduism: Varnashrama-dharma and Caste
		Some traditions therefore conclude that the four varnas are natural divisions, inherent in every human society, and that each varna accommodates the corresponding type of person.
		What really differentiates caste from varnashrama-dharma, though, is its hereditary nature – possibly an imposition by brahmanas attempting to consolidate their prestigious position.
		Though lower varnas ministered to the higher, the over-riding notion was of service – to each other, to society,and to the Supreme.
	hinduism.iskcon.com /lifestyle/901.htm (924 words)

	Caste, Jaathi, Varna etc (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		This new system was labeled varna with the four classes as braahmana (upholders of the dharma), the kshatriyas (warriors), the vaishyas (merchants) and the shudras (labourers).
		Though the smrithi texts clearly affirm that varna is decided based on birth and such a practice has often been the norm, but still historically there have been mobility between the varnas where people from lower varnas have ascended to higher varnas.
		Varna stood for prestige and social standing and there's little doubt that the higher varnas used it to control the society.
	www.hvk.org /articles/0206/12.html (3523 words)

	Indian Caste System
		The caste system in the religious form is basically a simple division of society in which there are four castes arranged in a hierarchy and below them the outcast.
		All the Jats accept that the Brahman Varna is the highest Varna in the hierarchy and the untouchables are outcast and lowest in the hierarchy.
		The Rajputs of Rajasthan belong to the Kshatria Varna (warrior castes).
	www.hotathrandom.com /IndianCaste.htm (5922 words)

	Varnashrama dharma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Varna refers to the Hindu beleif that most humans were created from different parts of the body of the divinity Purusha and according to which part they were created from it defines their social standing for issues such as who they can marry and what jobs they can do.
		Varna ("class") (from Sanskrit, literally "arrangement") is a supposed unification of all the Hindu sub-castes or jatis into either four groups: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, or into one of several varna-sankaras वर्ण संकर.
		Mirabai, the 15th century mystical poet and Queen of Chittor is known to have ignored caste distinctions and elected the cobbler, Sant Rohidas, as her guru.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Varna_(caste) (3083 words)

	Aesthetic Realism vs. Prejudice: Teaching Indian Culture
		A person is born into a caste which, for most people of India, determines his general occupation and income level.
		The highest castes are Brahmins, priests; the lowest are servants; and beneath all are the Untouchables.
		I told my students about a lady who was, many years ago, degraded from her caste "indelibly" when "a low-caste Rodiya" transferred something from his mouth to hers.
	www.perey-anthropology.net /India-Caste-Good-Will-TRO.htm (1562 words)

	Hindu Wisdom - Caste_System
		Caste is perceived as an "exclusion-from," but first of all it is a form of "belonging-to," a natural structure of solidarity.
		Sorman further said: "The authority of the caste is a check on the possible abuse of their power by the princes." There has never been a central authority capable of imposing a single language, religion or way of life on the myriad castes that constitute India.
		Caste, on its racial side, is the affirmation of the infinite diversity of human groups.
	www.hinduwisdom.info /Caste_System.htm (9976 words)

	Caste System : Against the Spirit of Varna Vayavastha(System) - Facets of India : Ancient and Modern (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Caste (Work) Pride is made by man and it does not have any value with respect to one's status.
		In spite of all the ravings of the priests, caste is simply a crystallized social institution, which after doing its service is now filling the atmosphere of India with its stench, and it can only be removed by giving back to people their lost social individuality.
		Caste is simply the outgrowth of the political institutions of India; it is a hereditary trade guild.
	www.tri-murti.com /ancientindia/varna.html (3336 words)

	Indian caste system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Indian caste system is the traditional hereditary system of social stratification of India, in which social classes are defined by a number of hierarchical endogamous groups often termed as Jāti.
		A well-known precedent for mobility in the caste system is that of Shivaji, the founder and monarch of the Maratha Confederacy, who was born into a lower caste but was elevated to a higher caste to facilitate his coronation
		Interactions between the oonchi zat (upper caste) and neechi zat (lower caste) are regulated by established patron-client relationships of the jajmani system, the upper castes being referred to as the 'Jajmans', and the lower caste as 'Kamin'.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Indian_caste_system (5406 words)

	Geographica Indica: The Caste System (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Due to the delicate differences, and their intricate relationships --the professions were equated to the nature, and since India had a system of inheriting the parent's profession, the words varna, jati and caste became synonyms in the course of time.
		One of the first references to the four categories of the caste system are found in the Bhagawad-Gita, where Krishna advises the brahmins to be learned, the warriors (kshartiyas) to be brave, vaishyas to be good merchants taking care of cattle and farmlands and the shudras to be faithful servants.
		Caste is a deciding factor in decisions involving marriage, job opportunities, and religious sacraments.
	www.kamat.com /indica/caste (1169 words)

	Caste and Varna (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		These four groups were the Brahmins, the priests or spiritual class; the Kshatriya, the nobility or ruling class; the Vaishya, the merchants and farmers; and the Shudras or servants.
		These four orders of society were called "varna", which has two meanings; first it means "color"; and second it means a "veil".
		As color it does not refer to the color of the skin of people, but to the qualities or energies of human nature.
	www.hindunet.org /varna (198 words)

	India's Caste System
		Still today the values of the caste system are held strongly.
		Within each of these categories are the actual "castes" or jatis within which people are born, marry, and die.
		They all have their own place among each other and accept that it is the way to keep society from disintegrating to chaos.
	www.csuchico.edu /~cheinz/syllabi/asst001/spring98/india.htm (107 words)

	Varna & Jati
		By contrast, varna is the typical functional division of an advanced society.
		It is one of the four large caste groups (Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra) from which most jatis are believed to derive.
		The Vaishyas are the farmers and merchants in the production nature and thus are made up of his belly and the Shudras are the laborers who perform menial chores and thus are made up of his legs.
	codesign.scu.edu /hinduism/varna.html (406 words)

	Thrikodithanam Temple: Tidbits
		Kerala, during the Tamil Sangam Age (1-500 AD) was a very egalitarian society.
		After the defeat of the Cheras by Cholas, Buddhism declined and Brahmins introduced the Chatur-Varna caste-system.
		Behind this apalling caste system they introduced, lay a brilliant strategy aimed at usurping power using religion as a tool.
	www.thrikodithanam.org /tidbits.htm (828 words)

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