Page 105 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes people of this fourth order were not untouchables but to this group belonged peasants, labourers
and servants. Sudras were employed not only as domestic servants but also as cooks. There was
nothing like higher or lower varna in the Vedic period. The division of society into four varnas (or
four orders or classes) was based on the division of labour. Brahmins acted as priests, Kshatriyas
as rulers and fighters, Vaishyas as traders, and Sudras as a servile class. Each varna worshipped
different deities and followed different rituals. This difference was because each group had to
achieve different object according to its occupational role. Brahmins wanted maximum holy lustre
for which they worshipped agni (fire) and recited Gayatri mantras; Kshatriyas wanted physical
strength (viryam) for which they worshipped Indra and recited Trishtubh mantras; and Vaishyas
wanted cattle-wealth (pasavah) for which they worshipped Visvedevas and recited Jagati mantras.
But there were no restrictions on the matrimonial alliances or on the commensal or social relations
or even on the change of membership from one to the other varna. Later on, however, as we pass
from the Vedic (4000-1000 B.C.) to the Brahmanic (230 B.C. to 700 A.D.) period, the four varnas
came to be arranged hierarchically, with Brahmins at the top and Sudras at the bottom.
According to one viewpoint, this distinction and hierarchichal arrangement had probably something
to do with colour difference. Varna means ‘colour’, and it was in this sense that the word seems to
have been employed in contrasting the Arya and the Dasa, referring to their fair and dark colours
respectively. The colour-connotation of the word was so strong that later on when the classes
came to be regularly described as varnas, four different colours were assigned to the four classes,
by which their members were supposed to be distinguished. The colour associated with the Brahmin
is white, with Kshatriya red, with Vaishya yellow, and with Sudra black. Hutton (1963 : 66)
believes that it is possible that this colour distinction is in some way associated with race. But
according to Hocart (1950 : 46), the colour has a ritual and not a racial significance.
Though like the origin of varnas, the origin of castes also is explained by scholars like Risley,
Ghurye, Majumdar, etc. in terms of the racial factors but it cannot be said that castes are the sub-
divisions of varnas. The origin of castes had nothing to do with varnas, though in the process of
development of castes, they came to be associated with varnas, and the hierarchy of the castes and
the mobility of a caste came to be stated in varna terms. Varna, thus, provided a framework which
conditioned all Indian thinking about and reaction to caste (Hsu, 1963 : 96). Srinivas (1962 : 69)
also suggests that varna has provided a common social language which holds good or is thought
to hold good for India as a whole, that is, it has enabled ordinary men and women to grasp the
caste system by providing them with a simple and clear scheme which is applicable to all parts of
India. He further holds that the importance of the varna system consists in that it furnishes an all
India frame into which the jatis, occupying the lower rungs, have throughout tried to raise their
status by taking over the customs and rituals of the top jatis. This has helped the spread of a
uniform culture throughout the Hindu society.
However, to fit in jatis into the Brahmanic and the Sudra groups is easy but to fit them into the
middle groups, that is, in the Kshatriya and the Vaishya groups is difficult and confusing because
one jati in one area may be treated as a Vaishya jati but the same jati in another area may claim a
Kshatriya status. The varna model, thus, has been the cause of misinterpretation of the realities of
the caste system (Srinivas, 1962 : 67). Caste is tied to locality but varna functions on an all India
basis. Therefore, to understand the caste system clearly and scientifically, it is necessary for a
student of sociology to free himself from the hold of the varna model. Hsu (1963 : 96) also has said
that varna is a mere conceptual scheme for the Hindu society as a whole, while caste is a description
of a real situation in the Hindu society.
Caste and Sub-caste
It is not easy to give a clear-cut distinction between a caste and a sub-caste because both have
similar attributes. However, a sub-caste is a sub-division of a caste. For example, Kayasth is a caste

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