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{{Short description|Social classes in Brahminical books}}
{{italic title}}
{{Hinduism small}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

'''''Varṇa''''' ({{lang-sa|वर्ण|varṇa}}), a Sanskrit word with several meanings including type, order, colour, or class,<ref name="Doniger 1999 186"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Stanton |first=Andrea |title=An Encyclopedia of Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=USA |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4129-8176-7 |pages=12–13}}</ref> was used to refer to [[social class]]es in Hindu texts like the ''[[Manusmriti]]''.<ref name="Doniger 1999 186"/><ref name="Monier-Williams 2005 924"/><ref name="Malik 2005 p.48"/> These and other Hindu texts classified the society in principle into four varnas:<ref name="Doniger 1999 186">{{cite book |last=Doniger |first=Wendy |title=Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of world religions|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440 |url-access=registration | publisher=Merriam-Webster |location=Springfield, MA, USA |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/186 186]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ingold |first=Tim |title=Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology |publisher=Routledge |location=London New York |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-415-28604-6 |page=1026}}</ref>
*[[Brahmins]]: vaidya/vedic scholars, priests and teachers.
*[[Kshatriyas]]: rulers, warriors and administrators.
*[[Vaishyas]]: agriculturalists and merchants.<ref name="Kumar2002">{{cite book|first=Arun |last=Kumar|title=Encyclopaedia of Teaching of Agriculture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fhWZNMlzHewC&pg=PA411 |year=2002|publisher=Anmol Publications |isbn=978-81-261-1316-3 |page=411}}</ref>
*[[Shudras]]: laborers and service providers.

Communities which belong to one of the four varnas or classes are called ''savarna''. Those who do not belong to any varna were called ''avarna''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hindu Sociology|page=92|publisher=Surabhi Publications|year=2011|author=DR Jatava}}</ref><ref>Yājñika, Acyuta and Sheth, Suchitra (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wmKIiAPgnF0C&pg=PA260 ''The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond''], p. 260. Penguin Books India</ref>

This quadruple division is a form of social classification, quite different from regional ''[[Jāti]]s'' which were later mapped, by the British, to the European term "[[Caste system in India|caste]]".<ref>{{cite book |first=Mark |last=Juergensmeyer |author-link=Mark Juergensmeyer |title=The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwXz4uFWiRgC&pg=PA54 |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-972761-2 |page=54}}</ref>

The varna system is discussed in Hindu texts, and understood as idealised human callings.<ref>{{harvp |Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics |2001|p=8}}</ref><ref name="Thapar">{{citation |title=Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 |first=Romila |last=Thapar |author-link=Romila Thapar |publisher=University of California Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-520-24225-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/earlyindiafromor00thap/page/63 63] |url=https://archive.org/details/earlyindiafromor00thap/page/63 }}</ref> The concept is generally traced to the ''[[Purusha Sukta]]'' verse of the Rig Veda.

The commentary on the Varna system in the ''Manusmriti'' is often cited.<ref>{{cite book |author=David Lorenzen |author-link=David Lorenzen |title=Who invented Hinduism: Essays on religion in history |publisher=Yoda Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-81-902272-6-1 |pages=147–149}}</ref> Counter to these textual classifications, many Hindu texts and doctrines question and disagree with the Varna system of social classification.<ref>{{harvp|Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics|2001|p=9}}</ref>

== Etymology and origins ==
The Sanskrit term ''varna'' is derived from the root ''{{IAST|[[:wikt:वृणोति|vṛ]]}}'', meaning "to cover, to envelop, count, classify consider, describe or choose" (compare ''{{IAST|[[vṛtra]]}}'').<ref>Krishna Charitra by [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]]. V&S Publishers</ref>

The word appears in the ''[[Rigveda]]'', where it means "colour, outward appearance, exterior, form, figure or shape".<ref name="Monier-Williams 2005 924">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUezTfym7CAC&pg=PA924 |page=924 |title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages |first=Monier |last=Monier-Williams |author-link=Monier-Williams |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=2005 |orig-year=1899 |isbn=978-81-208-3105-6}}</ref> The word means "color, tint, dye or pigment" in the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref name="Monier-Williams 2005 924"/> Varna contextually means "colour, race, tribe, species, kind, sort, nature, character, quality, property" of an object or people in some Vedic and medieval texts.<ref name="Monier-Williams 2005 924"/> Varna refers to four social classes in the ''Manusmriti''.<ref name="Monier-Williams 2005 924"/><ref name="Malik 2005 p.48">{{cite book |last=Malik |first=Jamal |title=Religious Pluralism in South Asia and Europe |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford UK |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-566975-6 |page=48}}</ref>

== The Vedas ==
The earliest application to the formal division into four social classes (without using the term ''varna'') appears in the late Rigvedic ''Purusha Sukta'' ([[Mandala 10|RV 10]].90.11–12), which has the Brahman, Rajanya (instead of Kshatriya), Vaishya and Shudra classes forming the mouth, arms, thighs and feet at the sacrifice of the primordial [[Purusha]], respectively:<ref name=Basham>{{cite book |title=The Origin and Development of Classical Hinduism |first=Arthur Llewellyn |last=Basham |author-link=Arthur Basham |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-19-507349-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2aqgTYlhLikC |page=25}}</ref>

{{poemquote|11. When they divided Purusa how many portions did they make?
What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?
12. The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaishya, from his feet the Shudra was produced.<ref name=Basham/>}}

Some modern indologists believe the Purusha Suktam to be a later addition, possibly as a [[Origin myth|charter myth]].<ref name="Jamison 2014 57–58">{{cite book |last=Jamison| first=Stephanie |title=The Rigveda: The earliest religious poetry of India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-937018-4 |pages=57–58|display-authors=etal}}</ref> However, others believe it to be a genuine hymn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pragyata.com/mag/standing-up-for-the-purushasukta-469|title=Standing up for the Purusha Suktam}}</ref> [[Stephanie W. Jamison|Stephanie Jamison]] and Joel Brereton, a professor of Sanskrit and Religious studies, state, "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system", and "the varna system seems to be embryonic in the Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality".<ref name="Jamison 2014 57–58"/>

Traditional commentators of the Vedas like [[Sayana]]charya do not hint at the Purusha Suktam being a fabrication<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/RgVedaWithSayanasCommentaryPart1|title=Rg Veda with Sayana's Bhashya}}</ref>

[[Ram Sharan Sharma]] states that "the Rig Vedic society was neither organized on the basis of social [[division of labour]] nor on that of differences in wealth ... [it] was primarily organised on the basis of kin, tribe and lineage."<ref>{{harvp|Sharma, Śūdras in Ancient India|1990|p=10}}</ref>

In the post-Vedic period, the varna division is described in the ''[[Dharmashastra]]'' literature, the ''Mahabharata'' and in the ''[[Puranas]]''.<ref name="Hiltebeitel 2011 529–531">{{harvp|Hiltebeitel, Dharma|2011|pp=529–531}}</ref>

== The Dharmasastras ==
{{See also|Caste system in India}}
The varna system is extensively discussed in the Dharma-shastras.<ref name="Olivelle 1998 189–216">{{harvp|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|1998|pp=189–216}}</ref> The Varna system in Dharma-shastras divides society into four varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishya and Shudras). Those who fall out of this system because of their grievous sins are ostracised as outcastes (untouchables) and considered outside the varna system.<ref>{{harvp|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|1998|pp=199–216}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Bayly |first=Susan |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-26434-1 |pages=9–11}}</ref> Barbarians and those who are unrighteous or unethical are also considered outcastes.<ref>{{harvp|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|1998|pp=199–203}}</ref>

Recent scholarship suggests that the discussion of varna as well as untouchable outcastes in these texts does not resemble the modern era caste system in India. [[Patrick Olivelle]], a professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions and credited with modern translations of Vedic literature, Dharma-sutras and Dharma-shastras, states that ancient and medieval Indian texts do not support the ritual pollution, purity-impurity as the basis for varna system.<ref name="Olivelle 2008 240–241">{{harvp|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|2008|pp=240–241}}</ref> According to Olivelle, purity-impurity is discussed in the Dharma-shastra texts, but only in the context of the individual's moral, ritual and biological pollution (eating certain kinds of food such as meat, urination and defecation).<ref name="Olivelle 1998 189–216"/> In his review of Dharma-shastras, Olivelle writes, "we see no instance when a term of pure/impure is used with reference to a group of individuals or a varna or caste".<ref name="Olivelle 2008 240–241"/> The only mention of impurity in the Shastra texts from the 1st millennium is about people who commit grievous sins and thereby fall out of their varna. These, writes Olivelle, are called "fallen people" and impure, declaring that they be ostracised.<ref>{{harvp|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|2008|p=240}}</ref> Olivelle adds that the overwhelming focus in matters relating to purity/impurity in the Dharma-sastra texts concerns "individuals irrespective of their varna affiliation" and all four varnas could attain purity or impurity by the content of their character, ethical intent, actions, innocence or ignorance, stipulations, and ritualistic behaviours.<ref>{{harvp|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|2008|pp=240–245}}</ref>

Olivelle states: {{quote|Dumont is correct in his assessment that the ideology of varna is not based on purity. If it were we should expect to find at least some comment on the relative purity and impurity of the different vamas. What is even more important is that the ideology of purity and impurity that emerges from the Dharma literature is concerned with the individual and not with groups, with purification and not with purity, and lends little support to a theory which makes relative purity the foundation of social stratification.<ref>{{harvp|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|2008|p=210}}</ref>}}

The first three<ref>{{cite book|first=Mark |last=Juergensmeyer |author-link=Mark Juergensmeyer |title=The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwXz4uFWiRgC&pg=PA27 |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-972761-2 |page=27}}</ref> varnas are described in the ''Dharmashastras'' as "twice born" and they are allowed to study the ''[[Vedas]]''. Such a restriction of who can study Vedas is not found in the Vedic era literature.

''Manusmriti'' assigns cattle rearing as Vaishya occupation but historical evidence shows that Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Shudras also owned and reared cattle and that cattle-wealth was mainstay of their households. Ramnarayan Rawat, a professor of History and specialising in social exclusion in the Indian subcontinent, states that 19th century British records show that [[Chamars]], listed as untouchables, also owned land and cattle and were active agriculturalists.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rawat |first=Ramnarayan |title=Reconsidering untouchability : Chamars and Dalit history in North India |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-253-22262-6 |pages=53–63}}</ref> The emperors of [[Kosala]] and the prince of Kasi are other examples.<ref name="Kumar2002" />

[[Tim Ingold]], an anthropologist, writes that the ''Manusmriti'' is a highly schematic commentary on the varna system, but it too provides "models rather than descriptions".<ref>{{cite book |last=Ingold |first=Tim |title=Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology |publisher=Routledge |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-415-28604-6 |page=1026}}</ref> [[Susan Bayly]] states that ''Manusmriti'' and other scriptures helped elevate Brahmin in the social hierarchy and these were a factor in the making of the varna system, but the ancient texts did not in some way "create the phenomenon of caste" in India.<ref>{{citation |last=Bayly |first=Susan |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-26434-1 |page=29}}</ref>

== The Epics ==
The ''Mahabharata'', estimated to have been completed by about the 4th century CE, discusses the Varna system in section 12.181.<ref name="Hiltebeitel 2011 529–531"/>

The Epic offers two models on Varna. The first model describes Varna as colour-coded system, through a sage named [[Bhrigu]], "Brahmins Varna was white, Kshtriyas was red, Vaishyas was yellow, and the Shudras' black".<ref name="Hiltebeitel 2011 529–531"/> This description is questioned by another prominent sage [[Bharadwaja]] who says that colours are seen among all the Varnas, that desire, anger, fear, greed, grief, anxiety, hunger and toil prevails over all human beings, that bile and blood flow from all human bodies, so what distinguishes the Varnas, he asks? The ''Mahabharata'' then declares, according to [[Alf Hiltebeitel]], a professor of religion, "There is no distinction of Varnas. This whole universe is Brahman. It was created formerly by Brahma, came to be classified by acts."<ref name="Hiltebeitel 2011 529–531"/>

The ''Mahabharata'' thereafter recites a behavioural model for Varna, that those who were inclined to anger, pleasures and boldness attained the Kshatriya Varna; those who were inclined to cattle rearing and living off the plough attained the Vaishyas; those who were fond of violence, covetousness and impurity attained the Shudras. The Brahmin class is modelled in the epic, as the archetype default state of man dedicated to truth, austerity and pure conduct.<ref>{{harvp|Hiltebeitel, Dharma|2011|p=532}}</ref> Indeed, it goes on to assert that all men are children of Brahmins, which does not make sense, unless understood this way. In the ''Mahabharata'' and pre-medieval era Hindu texts, according to Hiltebeitel, "it is important to recognize, in theory, Varna is nongenealogical. The four Varnas are not lineages, but categories."<ref>{{harvp|Hiltebeitel, Dharma|2011|p=594}}</ref>

The ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' describe the professions, duties and qualities of members of different varnas.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Swarupananda|title=Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbg/sbg23.htm|website=Internet Sacred Text Archive|publisher=John Bruno Hare|access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref>

{{quote|
There is no entity on earth, or again in heaven among the Devas, that is devoid of these three Gunas, born of Prakriti.

Of Brâhmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, as also of Sudras, O scorcher of foes, the duties are distributed according to the Gunas born of their own nature.

The control of the mind and the senses, austerity, purity, forbearance, and also uprightness, knowledge, realisation, belief in a hereafter– these are the duties of the Brâhmanas, born of (their own) nature.

Prowess, boldness, fortitude, dexterity, and also not flying from battle, generosity and sovereignty are the duties of the Kshatriyas, born of (their own) nature.

Agriculture, cattle-rearing and trade are the duties of the Vaishyas, born of (their own) nature; and action consisting of service is the duty of the Sudras, born of (their own) nature.
}}

== Varna in Buddhist texts ==

Ancient Buddhist texts mention Varna system in South Asia, but the details suggest that it was non-rigid, flexible and with characteristics devoid of features of a social stratification system.<ref name="masefield"/>

''[[Digha Nikaya]]'' provides a discussion between Gotama Buddha and a Hindu Brahmin named Sonadanda who was very learned in the [[Veda]]s.<ref name="Walshe1995">{{cite book |last=Walshe |first=Maurice |title=The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A translation of the Dīgha Nikāya |publisher=Wisdom Publications |location=Boston |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-86171-103-1 |pages=129–131}}</ref><ref name="rhysdavids">{{cite book|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/dob/dob-04tx.htm|title=DN4: To Sonadanda, Digha Nikaya Verses 13-21, Translated from the Pâli|last=T. W. Rhys Davids|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
Gotama Buddha asks, "By how many qualities do Brahmins recognize another Brahmin? How would one declare truthfully and without falling into falsehood, "I am a Brahmin?"<ref name="Walshe1995"/>
Sonadanda initially lists five qualities as, "he is of pure descent on both the mother's and the father's side, he is well versed in mantras, he is of fair color handsome and pleasing, he is virtuous learned and wise, and he is the first or second to hold the sacrificial ladle".<ref name="Walshe1995"/><ref name="rhysdavids"/>
Buddha then asks the Brahmin, "If we omit one of these qualities you just listed, could not one be still a true Brahmin?"
Sonadanda, one by one, eliminates fair colour and looks, then eliminates Varna in which one was born, and then eliminates the ability to recite mantra and do sacrifices as a requirement of being a Brahmin.<ref name="Walshe1995"/><ref name="rhysdavids"/>
Sonadanda asserts that just two qualities are necessary to truthfully and without falling into falsehood identify a Brahmin; these two qualities are "being virtuous and being learned and wise".<ref name="Walshe1995"/><ref name="rhysdavids"/> Sonadanda adds that it is impossible to reduce the requirement for being a Brahmin any further, because "for wisdom is purified by morality, and morality is purified by wisdom; where one is, the other is, the moral man has wisdom and the wise man has morality, and the combination of morality and wisdom is called the highest thing in the world".<ref name="Walshe1995"/> Brian Black and Dean Patton state Sonadanda admits after this, "we [Brahmins] only know this much Gotama; it would be well if Reverend Gotama would explain meaning of the two [morality, wisdom]".<ref name="Black2015">{{cite book |first1=Brian |last1=Black |first2=Dean Laurie |last2=Patton |title=Dialogue in Early South Asian Religions: Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions |publisher=Ashgate |location=Burlington |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4094-4013-0 |pages=245–246}}</ref>

Peter Masefield,<ref name="masefield">{{cite book |last=Masefield |first=Peter |title=Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-46164-1 |pages=146–154}}</ref> a Buddhism scholar and ancient Pali texts translator, states that during the [[Nikāya]] texts period of Buddhism (3rd century BC to 5th century AD), ''Varna'' as a class system is attested, but the described ''Varna'' was not a caste system. The Pali texts enumerate the four Varnas ''Brahmin'', "Kshatriya",''Vessa'' (Vaishya) and ''Sudda'' (Shudra).<ref name="masefield"/> Masefield notes that people in any ''Varna'' could in principle perform any profession. The early Buddhist texts, for instance, identify some Brahmins to be farmers and in other professions. The text state that anyone, of any birth, could perform the priestly function,<ref name="masefield"/> and that the Brahmin took food from anyone, suggesting that strictures of commensality were as yet unknown. The Nikaya texts also imply that endogamy was not mandated in ancient India. Masefield concludes, "if any form of caste system was known during the Nikaya period - and it is doubtful that it was - this was in all probability restricted to certain non-Aryan groups".<ref name="masefield"/>

== Varna in Jaina texts ==

[[Ādi purāṇa]], an 8th-century text of Jainism by Jinasena, is the earliest mention of Varna and Jati in Jainism literature.<ref>{{harvp|Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification|1998|pp=294, 285–295}}</ref> Jinasena does not trace the origin of Varna system to Rigveda or to Purusha Sukta, instead traces varna to the Bharata legend. According to this legend, Bharata performed an "[[ahimsa]]-test" (test of non-violence), and those members of his community who refused to harm or hurt any living being were called as the priestly varna in ancient India, and Bharata called them ''dvija'', twice born.<ref>{{harvp|Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification|1998|p=289}}</ref> Jinasena states that those who are committed to ahimsa are ''deva-Brāhmaṇas'', divine Brahmins.<ref>{{harvp|Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification|1998|p=290}}</ref>

The text Adi purana also discusses the relationship between varna and jati. According to [[Padmanabh Jaini]], a professor of Indic studies, Jainism and Buddhism, the Adi purana text states "there is only one jati called ''manusyajati'' or the human caste, but divisions arise account of their different professions".<ref>{{harvp|Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification|1998|p=340}}</ref> The varna of Kshatriya arose when [[Rishabh]] procured weapons to serve the society and assumed the powers of a king, while Vaishya and Shudra varna arose from different means of livelihood in which they specialised.<ref>{{harvp|Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification|1998|pp=340–341}}</ref>

== Varna in Sikh texts ==

[[Sikhism]] is a late 15th-century religion that originated in the [[Punjab region]] of the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Sikh texts mention ''Varna'' as ''Varan'', and ''Jati'' as ''Zat'' or ''Zat-biradari''. Eleanor Nesbitt, a professor of Religion and specialising in Christian, Hindu and Sikh studies, states that the ''Varan'' is described as a class system in 18th- to 20th-century Sikh literature, while ''Zat'' reflected the endogamous occupational groups (caste).<ref name="Nesbitt2005b">{{cite book |last=Nesbitt |first=Eleanor |title=Sikhism – A very short introduction |edition=1st |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford New York |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-280601-7 |pages=116–120}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Harjot Oberoi|title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NKC9g2ayJEC |year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-61592-9|pages=83–84 with footnotes}}</ref>

The Sikh texts authored by the Sikh Gurus and by non-Sikh Bhagats such as the [[Namdev]], [[Ravidas]] and [[Kabir]], states Nesbitt, declared the irrelevance of ''varan'' or ''zat'' of one's birth to one's spiritual destiny. They taught that "all of humanity had a single refuge" and that the divine teaching is for everyone.<ref name="Nesbitt2005b"/> Sikhism teaches a society without any ''varan''.<ref name=singha42>{{cite book|author=H. S. Singha|title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism (over 1000 Entries)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqIbJz7vMn0C|year=2000|publisher=Hemkunt Press|isbn=978-81-7010-301-1|page=42}}</ref> In practice, states Harjot Oberoi, secondary Sikh texts such as the ''Khalsa Dharam Sastar'' in 1914 argued that the entry of certain Sikh castes into major Sikh shrines should be barred.<ref>{{cite book|author=Harjot Oberoi|title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NKC9g2ayJEC |year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-61592-9|pages=105–108 with footnotes}}</ref> Similarly, in practice and its texts, the Gurus of Sikhism did not condemn or break with the convention of marrying (and marrying their children) within the ''jati'', and all the Sikh Gurus were Khatri, had Khatri wives and practiced arranged marriages within their ''zat''.<ref name="Nesbitt2005b"/><ref>{{cite book|author=W. H. McLeod|title=The A to Z of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC&pg=PA42|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6|page=42}};<br>{{cite book|author=W. H. McLeod|title=Sikhs and Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXTXAAAAMAAJ |year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-564745-7|pages=36, 87–88}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=William Owen Cole|title=Sikhism|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism0000cole|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=NTC|isbn=978-0-8442-3747-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhism0000cole/page/92 92]–93}}</ref> According to Dhavan, the Rahit-namas and other prescriptive Sikh texts from mid-18th century onwards accommodate and affirm the "natal and marriage traditions of different caste groups within the Sikh community".<ref>{{cite book|author=P Dhavan|editor=Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech|title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YwNAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-100411-7|page=54}}</ref>

Ravidassi Sikhs and Ramgarhia Sikhs follow their own textual and festive traditions, gather in their own places of worship.<ref name="Nesbitt2005b"/><ref name="ravidassiareligion1">{{cite journal|url= http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v16_1/articles/RonkiRam16_1.pdf |journal=Journal of Punjab Studies|year=2009 |volume=16 | issue=1 |title=Ravidass, Dera Sachkhand Ballan and the Question of Dalit Identity in Punjab |publisher=Panjab University, Chandigarh |author=Ronki Ram |access-date=5 December 2013}}</ref><ref name=paramjitjudge181>{{citation |first=Paramjit |last=Judge |year=2014 |title=Mapping Social Exclusion in India: Caste, Religion and Borderlands |publisher=Cambridge University Press |id={{ISBN|978-1107056091}} |pages=179–182}}</ref> These are varan-based (caste-based) religious congregations that emerged from Sikhism, states Nesbitt.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nesbitt |first=Eleanor |title=Sikhism – A very short introduction |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford New York |year=2016 |isbn=978-0198745570 |pages=112–113}}</ref> The Ravidassia group, for example, emphasizes the teachings of Bhagat Ravidas – a poet-saint born in a family whose traditional untouchable occupation related to dead animals and leather.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1350770/Ravidas |title= Ravidas (Indian mystic and poet) |publisher= Britannica Online Encyclopedia |year= 2014}}</ref><ref name="ravidassiareligion1"/> They consider the teachings of living Gurus and the texts of Ravidass Dera as sacred and spiritually as important as the historic Sikh Gurus. This is rejected by Khalsa Sikhs. The disagreements have led the Ravidassia Sikhs to launch the [[Ravidassia religion]] movement which, amongst other things seeks to replace the ''Guru Granth Sahib'' in their Gurdwaras with the texts of Ravidas.<ref name="ravidassiareligion1"/><ref name="JacobsenMyrvold2011">{{cite book|author1=Knut A. Jacobsen|author2=Kristina Myrvold|title=Sikhs in Europe: Migration, Identities and Representations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3v3t9bjPAcC&pg=PA290|year=2011|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-2434-5|pages=290–291}}</ref>

== Varna and jāti ==
{{Main|Jāti}}
The terms ''varna'' (theoretical classification based on occupation) and ''jāti'' (caste) are two distinct concepts. Jāti (community) refers to the thousands of [[endogamous group]]s prevalent across the subcontinent. A jati may be divided into [[exogamous group]]s based on the same [[gotras]]. The classical authors scarcely speak of anything other than the varnas; even Indologists sometimes confuse the two.<ref>{{citation |last=Dumont |first=Louis |author-link=Louis Dumont |title=Homo Hierarchicus: The caste system and its implications |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1980 |pages=66–67 |isbn=0-226-16963-4}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Dalit]] ('[[untouchability|untouchables]]')
* [[Adi Dravida]]
* [[Classical Hindu law]]
* [[Four occupations]] – fourfold Confucian division
* [[Hindu law]]
* [[Hindu reform movements]]
* [[Manuvāda]]
* [[Trifunctional hypothesis]]

{{colend}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{citation |last=Bayly |first=Susan |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-26434-1 |ref={{sfnref|Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics|2001}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Jaini |first=Padmanabh |title=The Jaina Path of Purification |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1998 |isbn=978-81-208-1578-0 |ref={{sfnref|Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification|1998}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Hiltebeitel |first=Alf |author-link=Alf Hiltebeitel |title=Dharma: Its early history in law, religion, and narrative |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-539423-8 |ref={{sfnref|Hiltebeitel, Dharma|2011|pp=529–531}}}}
* {{cite journal |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Olivelle |title=Caste and Purity: A Study in the Language of the Dharma Literature |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |volume=32 |number=2 |year=1998 |pages=199–203 |ref={{sfnref|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|1998}} |doi=10.1177/006996679803200203}}
* {{cite book |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Olivelle |chapter=Caste and Purity |title= Collected essays |publisher=Firenze University Press |location=Firenze, Italy |year=2008 |isbn=978-88-8453-729-4 |ref={{sfnref|Olivelle, Caste and Purity|2008}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Ram Sharan |author-link=Ram Sharan Sharma |title=Śūdras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order Down to Circa A.D. 600 |year=1990 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsZkAu-RHVgC&pg=PA10 |ref={{sfnref|Sharma, Śūdras in Ancient India|1990}}}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Ambedkar, B.R.]] (1946) ''[[Who were the Shudras?]]''
* [[Alain Danielou]] (1976). ''Les Quatre Sens de la Vie'', Paris
* [[Sri Aurobindo]] (1970), ''The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self-Determination'', (Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust), {{ISBN|81-7058-281-4}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|81-7058-014-5}} (paperback)
* [[Pandurang Vaman Kane|Kane, Pandurang Vaman]]: ''History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law)''—Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1962–1975
* G. S. Ghurye (1969). ''Caste and Race in India'', Popular Prakashan, Mumbai 1969 (Original print: 1932)
* [[Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar]] (1967) ''Human Society-2'', Ananda Marga Publications, Anandanagar, P.O. Baglata,Dist. Purulia, West Bengal, India.
* Ghanshyam Shah, ''Caste and Democratic Politics in India'', 2004
* Welzer, Albrecht. 1994. "Credo, Quia Occidentale: A Note on Sanskrit varna and its Misinterpretation in Literature on Mamamsa and Vyakarana". In: Studies in ''Mamamsa: Dr Mandan Mishra Felicitation Volume'' edited by R.C. Dwivedi. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass.
*[[Lal, Vinay]] (2005), ''Introducing Hinduism'', New York: Totem Books, pp. 132–33, {{ISBN|978-1-84046-626-3}}

[[Category:Varnas in Hinduism| ]]

Varna (Hinduism) - Revision history

imported>Xanzzibar: quotation marks/gloss fixes